Rick500 Posted December 21, 2006 Report Share Posted December 21, 2006 I sorta jumped in and started posting without introducing myself, so here goes. Hello all! I just got into building, over the last year or so. I started building small parts (truss rod covers, etc.) and got the bug. I started on an SG-inspired project last year (I've been working on it now and then; it's coming along very slowly). Then I decided maybe I should stick closer to an existing guitar design for my first build, for practice, and come back to the SG after. In there somewhere I got sidetracked and built a router-based fretboard radiusing jig and turned out a few fretboards. So at least I know what I'm doing when it comes to fretboards and truss rod covers now. Here's a shot of my "SG+" project, which hasn't really gotten past a rough cut of the body. Mahogany body, mahogany neck (bolt-on), cocobolo fretboard (although I have a nice piece of bloodwood too...). It's pictured with a maple neck, but I ended up going with mahogany. Links are to what I'm actively working on, which will basically be a rear-routed double humbucker Strat. Mahogany body, maple neck, cocobolo fretboard, fixed bridge, Carvin C22J and M22SD humbuckers, Sperzel tuners, all black hardware. Most likely going with an oil finish over the whole thing. Rough cut body, back Body, after I had to cut out some very nasty endgrain tear-out Cocobolo fretboard, radiused Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psw Posted December 21, 2006 Report Share Posted December 21, 2006 Welcome to PG Rick500... That's some nice wood and things seem to be going together nicely. As it happens, I just bought an early Xmas present of a Squier Mahogany strat, sounds and looks good and works well with the Humbucker... Hope you enjoy your time here... pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted January 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2007 Thanks, Pete. That's a nice looking Squier there. Mine's starting to look a little like a guitar now (which is a big deal to me, seeing as how it's the first one). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted January 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2007 Carved the belly contour this evening. I set out to do it with an angle grinder with a 60 grit flap disc, but ended up doing it by hand with a rasp and sandpaper. This is the first hand carving I've done on anything, ever, and boy did I have a great time! I was worried I was gonna screw something up, but the contour practically appeared on its own with minimal help from me. Gives me a lot more confidence for when neck shaping time rolls around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SG3390 Posted January 21, 2007 Report Share Posted January 21, 2007 Here's a big tip. When it comes time to do the neck, get a spokeshave. It will help LOADS in the carving time. I had the same experience you had with curves just sort of appearing naturally, and the spokeshave stays true to that. Best $25 I ever spent. Hope that helps. Good luck! Looks Good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted January 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 Thanks. Yeah, a spokeshave is on my list. Any recommendation as to what type? I've seen at least a half dozen different ones on eBay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Telenator Posted January 24, 2007 Report Share Posted January 24, 2007 Nice work! Looking forward to seeing that SG project. I have been very tempted to build an SG style guitar that had a nice hefty body to counterbalance the long neck. I love the shape but find them difficult to play because the neck always wants to fall to the floor. I have a hard enough time playing as it is without trying to hold the neck up in position too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SG3390 Posted January 25, 2007 Report Share Posted January 25, 2007 Find one that has a flat bottom. I bought mine from Rockler: Flat Face Spokeshave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted March 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2007 Just got the fretboard (cocobolo) slotted and getting ready to inlay. (Dots in the pic aren't inlaid yet; have to attach the fretboard to the neck and trim it up first.) Pic of eveything so far laid out together: http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y193/rick...k_fretboard.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted April 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2007 Okay, got the fretboard fixed to the neck. I had a gluing crisis the first time around (the fretboard slipped a little as I was clamping it), and the glue had started to set, so I pulled it back off, removed all the glue, and tried again. Perfect this time. Now to get a nice transition from the fretboard to the headstock, and shape the fretboard body overhang, then neck shaping. This is the first neck I've made, and it's been easier than I had imagined. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted April 3, 2007 Report Share Posted April 3, 2007 Awesome work, that looks pretty sweet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
!WOOD!! Posted April 3, 2007 Report Share Posted April 3, 2007 Looks great!!.love the fretboard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted April 3, 2007 Report Share Posted April 3, 2007 Nice! (And responding to the older comments: forget the spokeshave, spend out on a set of good hand-ct asps, like the Dragon ones StewMac sells, or Ariou if you can stretch that far. Far, far more versatile, and just as fast. Although a shave can be fun if the wood's not runouty, overly figured, etc.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted April 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2007 Fretboard drilled for dot inlays: Although I test-fitted my 4mm abalone dot inlays in a piece of pine, the hole ended up being a little smaller in the fretboard than in the test (more likely, it's just that cocobolo is harder than pine ). So I ran a round file around one of the inlay holes, put in a little epoxy, and tapped the inlay in. It worked okay, but it was a pain and I'm trying to come up with some other way to open up the holes a little for the rest of the abalone dots... Edit: I wrapped a little 150 grit sandpaper around the shank of an appropriately-sized drill bit to open up the holes for the inlay a little. Got them all in today. Did I mention I *hate* working with epoxy? I'm going to use CA next time. (I used it for the side dots and it was fine.) I also was able to fix my little problem with the neck pocket today. (My template slipped a little when I was routing the pocket, and I took away some wood I didn't mean to.) I mixed up some epoxy with mahogany dust, and along with a 1/64"-thick (or so) veneer of mahogany, it's as good as new and fits tightly to the neck. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y193/rick...neck_inlays.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y193/rick...body_neck_2.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted April 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2007 Got the fretboard leveled, carved the neck heel, and drilled the holes for the neck screws and ferrules today. Hey, it looks just like a guitar now! http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y193/rick...d_assembled.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y193/rick...el_carved_2.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y193/rick...at_and_bolt.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted May 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2007 Fretted! My first fret job, at the same time easier and altogether more work, than I expected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted May 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2007 I've shaved down the neck heel a good amount. Now I'm trying to decide how to handle the sharp edges of the recesses for the two neck screw ferrules nearest the edge of the body (they're deeper since the heel is contoured over them). I'm leaning toward just rounding them off a bit with sandpaper, but I thought I'd ask if anyone had any other thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielM Posted May 26, 2007 Report Share Posted May 26, 2007 that's what I would do, otherwise stick a roundover bit in there, that would round off the edges but sandpaper is the safer option. it's looking good btw keep up the good work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted June 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2007 Roughed out the control cavity and drilled for the bridge today. I'm very happy with how the holes for the strings turned out. [ignore the erroneous center line down the back of the body...I redrew it on the front and hadn't corrected it on the back in this pic.] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted June 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2007 Moving right along... I had a little more tearout trouble while routing the pickup cavities. This time I made sure I took tiny amounts of wood off per pass, but still had a little tearout in the corners where the main part of the pickup cavity and the cavity "tabs" meet. Don't know what I'm doing wrong. Maybe the bit is not as sharp as it should be. It wont' be noticeable when the pickups are installed, but I may make bezels anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted June 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2007 Gettin' there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoundAt11 Posted June 21, 2007 Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 Looking good, sorta shaped like the Satriani Ibanez model. I especially like the rounded heel. I really hate the square heel on my strat and may need to sculpt it down like yours is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted June 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 Thanks. I tried to make it as ergonomic as possible. I'm hoping the profile of the neck heel will make a noticeable difference. Here's the latest work... You can't see it very well in the pic, but part of the control cavity cover split off, so I'll have to make another one. It could stand to fit a little tighter anyway, so I'll make the new one a little oversized and fine tune it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim_ado Posted June 22, 2007 Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 hows the Sg coming along sorry ive missed somthing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted June 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 The SG was my first attempt at building. I didn't do much else than cut out the body when I decided that I should shift gears and more or less copy a guitar I already had first before setting off on a new design. So I'm finishing the Strat-ish guitar first. It's been a valuable learning aid, having a guitar very similar to it as a model to refer to. I've learned enough though, that I'm confident I won't have any trouble with the SG now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.