Geo Posted April 8, 2007 Report Share Posted April 8, 2007 Hey y'all. This is my second project. I finished it yesterday and played it in church today! My first build was NOT good--this guitar is sweet. Body--poplar; top--spruce (w/small cavity and soundhole); neck--mahogany; fingerboard--cocobolo; scale--25 1/4"; electronics--2 Golden Age humbuckers from Stewmac; master coil cut; PU selection; master volume. http://s134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...uitarfinished1/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hector Posted April 9, 2007 Report Share Posted April 9, 2007 (edited) Hey y'all. This is my second project. I finished it yesterday and played it in church today! My first build was NOT good--this guitar is sweet. Body--poplar; top--spruce (w/small cavity and soundhole); neck--mahogany; fingerboard--cocobolo; scale--25 1/4"; electronics--2 Golden Age humbuckers from Stewmac; master coil cut; PU selection; master volume. http://s134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...uitarfinished1/ hey man nice one. I see some bad tearout and some burn marks on the sides... you should sand some more til the burn marks are gone, and maybe glue some piece of spruce where its missing (you can route paralel to the grain,avoiding the winter lines, glue anothe piece of spruce there i can garantee you that if you do a good job, it will be invisible), sand again and then refinish. Edited April 9, 2007 by Hector Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denis Posted April 9, 2007 Report Share Posted April 9, 2007 (edited) Dunno, Hector. I do agree with you about sanding the burn marks out - I may be sounding like the sales rep for them (which I am not), but if I hadn't used the Carroll sanding drums, I would have been sorely tempted to have left my first (and only so far) like Geo left his. I cannot believe the ease and speed at which I got a supersmooth edge, and got rid of all the burn. I have a bad breakout too, in the side rather than the top, and decided to leave it superglued back in place as a reminder to use the router more gently next time - but will my newly found enthusiasm let me? Denis Edited April 9, 2007 by Denis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted April 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2007 Thanks for the replies. This project was something of a transition between not caring out mistakes, and trying to do a professional job. With making this guitar playable, I couldn't live with mistakes... but aesthetically, for this guitar, I just didn't care. I feel like now I have gotten some of the skills down (neck carving, fretting, the scarf joint) and I'm now free to do a better aesthetic job on the next project. So, just some explanation for that... I have to use a jigsaw to cut out things like bodies and headstocks, and sometimes it just won't budge--and by the time you see smoke, it's already burned. I also do all sanding by hand (I know, I'm stuck in the dark ages ), so I didn't sand the sides any farther than trying to remove some saw-wandering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biliousfrog Posted April 10, 2007 Report Share Posted April 10, 2007 Do you have a router? Rather than cutting the body with the jigsaw, cut out a template in some 10mm MDF or Ply & run a router round that. You can cut out the body with the jigsaw but leave 5mm or more around the final line for the router to finish off, you'll get a much better finish & the template can be used over & over. Better to spend some time on a decent jig than waste some good wood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted April 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2007 I don't have a router. I should probably get one, but they're so expensive! Then I could do bindings too, so I guess I'll have to get one some time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted April 10, 2007 Report Share Posted April 10, 2007 I'm curious as to how you cut the trussrod channel without a router. It looks off center and twisted. A router is a great tool for guitar building. I use it more than any other power tool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted April 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2007 (edited) I'm curious as to how you cut the trussrod channel without a router. It looks off center and twisted. A router is a great tool for guitar building. I use it more than any other power tool. How can you see the trussrod channel buried under the fingerboard? I see what you're saying. I'm not sure why it looks that way in the picture. I cut the channel on a table saw, and I know it's at a right angle to the glued face of the neck. Sometimes digital pictures are deceiving, I guess. I know, I'm really going to save my pennies for a router now. Thanks for the advice. Edited April 11, 2007 by Geo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted April 11, 2007 Report Share Posted April 11, 2007 (edited) You can tell by looking at the strings, it looks about centered, but the truss channel follows the angle of one of the strings. So from the picture, it looks like it twists, off centered, or angled. Congratulations on the build. Do you have any pictures of the back of the body? Edited April 11, 2007 by Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biliousfrog Posted April 11, 2007 Report Share Posted April 11, 2007 routers needn't be expensive, you get what you pay for. My first one was only £40 (about $80 ish), it still works fine & did whatever I needed it too, the only problem was that it needed to have the button pressed all the time to work so I couldn't table mount it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aidlook Posted April 11, 2007 Report Share Posted April 11, 2007 a bit of duct-tape could fix that problem.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setch Posted April 11, 2007 Report Share Posted April 11, 2007 Or a velcro strap, but *ony* if you do it properly and have a no-load switch or foot switch so you can still swicth the router on an off easily. A power tool which is jammed on is a dangerous accident waiting to happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted April 11, 2007 Report Share Posted April 11, 2007 A power tool which is jammed on is a dangerous accident waiting to happen. I would just like to point out how important this is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biliousfrog Posted April 11, 2007 Report Share Posted April 11, 2007 Exactly, which is why I got a DeWalt with a nice on/off slider switch. Actually neither of those solutions would have worked, it's a very stiff switch that's tricky enough to press in with my thumb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted April 11, 2007 Report Share Posted April 11, 2007 A nice soft start is a big plus in a router . If you can see if you can start the router once before you buy it. That can clue you in as to how much it will want to torque on you when you start it. Variable speed is another huge plus.These features only cost a few bucks more, but they will help prevent some accidental slips(well worth the money compaired to the work you will save from damage). To me these are an even bigger plus when working on thin woods or precise routing(such as binding, truss rods, rosettes, etc..). Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted April 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2007 Thanks for all the router info, guys. "Congratulations on the build. Do you have any pictures of the back of the body?" Thanks Jon. No pics of the back yet, but I'll take some when I get a chance. Basically... it's the same color as the sides, with some Strat-style relief carving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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