Build #2

[Xanthus]

So I realize that this is more and more just an update to keep myself informed than anything else. That's cool too.

Drilled out the jack hole and cavity like I said. Also doweled and glued the lower wing. It will be good to cut off sometime after 1:00pm EST tomorrow. More importantly, pictures are up! From here on out, it's basically just cutting/carving/routing/sanding the wood away to reveal the finished product. A shiny stone in the rough. Certainly not a diamond, but we take what we can get.

Ordered parts from Warmoth:

1 x Gotoh Stop Tail Piece, Black $16.00

1 x Gotoh Tune-O-Matic Bridge, Black $20.00

2 x Capacitor, .022uf $1.00

2 x Metal Humbucker Mounting Ring, Black $17.50

6 x Schaller Mini Locking Tuners, Left, Black, Each $54.00

They're coming in tomorrow via shitty UPS ground, but whatever. They ain't no StewMac, that's for sure. The mounting rings were kind of a ripoff, but I justified them by the fact that I'd have to pay a separate shipping charge getting them from another website. So it's kinda ok. Right?

The only things I've left to order (also super pumped about):

-paint/stain supplies

-strap (nonessential at the moment, but it's on the list anyways)

-pickup cover screws/height screws/screw tubing

-2x Dimarzio PAF Pros. Guitar Center has a price match feature I might take advantage of, if I can find them for cheaper, seeing as it's right down the street

-MAYBE EMG-style pickup covers. I'm not a huge fan of exposed pickups. Those can be an afterthought.

Other than that, I'm all set, and super pumped! I can see the finish line finally. Might order some fret files/leveling/crowning stuff too. I have this inkling in the back of my mind that I'm going to finish this build only to string it up and find that it doesn't play due to a crappy fret job. And with super tiny SS frets, I might be hard pressed to find someone to do it for me.

Oh, and also, start on a custom case for the finished project. I've got my sights set on project 3, which is going in an entirely different direction than originally envisioned, and unfortunately is a total ripoff of another design. But I'm not doing anything radical here in the first place haha.

I've started seriously sketching out the designs for a bowed guitar, seeing a few instances of a "violin LP" pop up on the boards. I'm envisioning something much closer to a viola or cello than a solidbody electric, though.

[TemjinStrife]

http://www.scottfrench.com/s/Gallery/Finis...%20SF3%20Guitar

Scott French beat you to it. I like the design a lot, especially since I am a cello player first and foremost.

[Xanthus]

http://www.scottfrench.com/s/Gallery/Finis...%20SF3%20Guitar

Scott French beat you to it. I like the design a lot, especially since I am a cello player first and foremost.

*channeling Planet of the Apes* "Damn you Scott French!!!"

Yeah, that was something more like what I was looking at doing, and it's no surprise that probably a thousand people have beat me to it. I was going to go with traditional woods (maple/spruce) and try and keep the dimensions closer to a viola. I'd probably use individual piezo saddles instead of real pickups.

I mean honestly, it's not going to happen, but when you're sitting around with nothing to do, waiting on your guitar to glue up, the mind does wander

[Xanthus]

http://public.fotki.com/Xanthus/build-2/page3.html

Ok, I've got a few problems... Again. The latest two pictures I uploaded are of some hella tearout that I'm a bit more than pissed about. Especially since I've got the body up to like... 85% final shaping. I don't honestly know what happened. I was using my template bit to finalize the inside curve before I took it to the robosander. I think that when I was moving from the soft mahogany to the hard maple I just wasn't prepared for the change in density and the router skipped in my hand.

I wouldn't be nearly as angry if it was on the backside, but Murphy's Law states that such an event be impossible. I'm debating ways on how to fix the issue, but any action will probably wait until after the body is just about done. My main snag here is that I want to finish the guitar in either oil (tung most likely) or a satin finish. I like the way the woods look, and would like to show it off. So that means wood putty is out, as is the superglue/wood dust method. I can't take the template and modify it, because the inside curve is already dangerously close to the jack cavity cover, and I don't want to end up beveling into the cover. Grafting a new piece in there would be difficult as well, because the damage is in the mahogany and the maple. Any advice would be more than appreciated, because this will hold up the process significantly.

Second issue: The cord for the Dremel got caught on the edge of the table, and the dremel fell onto the floor, shattering the routing base. So now I have no router base for the dremel, and no way to finish the recessed TOM/tail channels. You can see in the second picture I put up of the tearout damage, I started to drill the holes with a Forstner bit. Seeing as I'm pretty much giving up on the router unless using it for the pickup/electronics cavity, I'm out of ideas on how to finish the routes. My original plan was going to be to make a template to clean out the cavity with, because the 1/2" diameter bit isn't wide enough.

Any ideas? In need of

[Xanthus]

Got some progress done today. Neck pickup, recarved the hand cutaway, filled the bridge holes, and planned out where the electronics will go.

If you notice the closeup of the neck pickup with the pickup ring on it, the left wing is much closer to the pickup ring than the right wing is. My fault entirely, I spent too much time getting the wing straight and square and OCD that I forgot about how much material I was taking off. Well, gotta live with it. I would cut the right wing in to match, but I'd run into the dowel I stuck in there when gluing the wing up. Once again, didn't plan thoroughly enough. Gotta live with it. The hand cutout makes it look off-kilter as is, though I hope the hardware doesn't throw the look off even more.

I'm going to return the Schaller tuners to Warmoth and get a set of Sperzels with tall posts, because those Schallers are too damn short. Still need to get a killswitch at Radio Shack. Now, when it says "momentary open" it means "momentary off," correct? So I need a momentary CLOSED button, easy enough.

[Xanthus]

Right-o, got to work for the first time since being back at school. Things accomplished:

-redrilled shoddy bridge holes. Still just a hair too wide, but we'll make it work.

-sent back the tuners to Warmoth. Still waiting on a refund credit... odd. Will get Sperzels afterwards (edit: scratch that, they deposited it today. most excellent)

-Drilled holes for knobs and switch. Lined 'em up all in a row, matching the slant of the lower wing. Looks good

-Hogged out and cleaned up (partially, i got lazy) the control cavity. Looks like a Tele setup, very small and clean.

-Started smoothing out the inside curve of the V. With any luck I'll be able to sand away most of that tearout.

Things left to do:

-Get tuners

-Get and drill hole for killswitch

-Finish up control cavity and put lip in for the cover

-Buy veneer to make covers (truss rod too)

-Make jig to recess bridge/tail

-Finish up nut shelf

-Sand body to final dimensions

-Carve bevels

-Finish

Does anyone have any opinions on finishing this beast? I was thinking of doing some sort of oil, be it tung, Tru, or linseed. Now, though, I'm thinking that I'll want a hard finish to protect the sharp points, as I've already whacked the top wing of my Explorer a few times. I blame the cramped living quarters, but oh well. I'm still planning on doing this one natural, which will also give me the option of doing a black grainfill. I'm thinking that would look sharp with just a satin clear over the whole thing.

Input is appreciated, but not expected Pictures should be up sometime tomorrow.

[RestorationAD]

Hope your tear out sands out... mine didn't fare well.

Looks good so far. Can't wait to see it finished.

As for a hard clear finish.... Thinned epoxy? Super Glue? Not sure what to tell you as I am using tung oil on the King V... IF I break a point off... oh well. All I can say is Build 2 then you won't care as much. You can never have enough Vs....

I am doing the dark grain filler/ebony stain/ sanding back/amber stain in hopes of bringing out the figure in mine. The dark wood filler is a pain but it looks really good.

[Xanthus]

Yeah, I'm still not sure if it's going to sand out all the way. Most likely not, but it's cool. Your progress on the V and the color scheme sounds pretty damn sweet, and it should definitely pop the grain. I like the color the way it is, and I'm hoping the black grain filler will just accentuate what's already there without needing to stain it. I wanted to go with oil because I spent SO much money on the finish for my first one and it STILL chipped on the point.

As for building two, I did have enough material to get two neck blanks out of my stock, and I do have another neck sitting there and a project to go with it.

http://public.fotki.com/xanthus/

It's in my album under Build 3. Basically, I want a shredder and a jazz box in one guitar. I know the diagrams show a Sustainer. Nix it. I've got enough scrap mahogany left over from my two builds that I think I can butcher block together a body core. Most of it's going to be hollowed out anyways, y'know?

But no, you can never have enough V's, even though this is going to be my first

::EDIT::

Pics are up! We're looking at the bridge holes redrilled still not 100% perfect, I dunno why. I'm going to put a VERY tiny shim on the outside of both holes to force the posts towards each other a bit.

Also, I drilled the holes for the switch screws and pots. I know the pot holes aren't precisely lined up, and I'm trying to not let it bother me I hogged out the cavity with a 3/4" dia forstner and cleaned it up halfway with a router. I just got impatient and wrapped it up for the night; I'll finish it later.

How do you cut out the channel for the blade switch, with a dremel and straightedge? I honestly forget how I did mine for the first build hahaha, I'll take any suggestions.

[RestorationAD]

One volume knob always solves the "Are my pots lined up problem..." <grin>

<opinion> 5 way switches mean you have to many pickups... Use a push pull knob to wire one bucker/split or do up = neck and down = bridge. </opinion>

As for how to cut the 5-way.... A dremel and a straight edge will work... drill 2 - 1/8" holes and play connect the dots.

On build 3 ... So you are going to waste a lot of Mahogany? Every time I think about a semi-hollow I think "Man hate to wast good wood by routing chambers in it so maybe it would be cool to buy a back and sides for an acoustic then bend them.... then I .... well I .... ummmmm... just build another solid body.

Let me know how you fare hollowing out the body. It looks like it should shred. Make sure it has a Wizard neck like my 80's RG470.

[Xanthus]

Yeah, I was going to get concentric pots, but then I realized I already had spare pots, and a concentric setup would have cost me a straight $30, 10 for each knob, and 10 for the pot.

I'm using a P Megaswitch from SteweyMac to get series/parallel options. Should sound pretty cool.

I don't think I'm going to WASTE all that much. I mean, the wood's scrap as is, it's not really doing anyone any good to begin with. I hear it's not uncommon to get a block of wood and hollow out the shape (Myka does it, it must be ok ), as opposed to bending sides, which is WELL beyond my capabilities

I have a full-scale plan of the Jem777 that I'll make templates out of, and go from there. Sides should get to 1/2" thick, maybe a tiny bit less.

[Xanthus]

Went home for the weekend, got a bit of work done.

I got these tuners for the project and oh man, I think I have a new favorite. They look amazing, even better in person. They have kind of a 1920s Art Deco vibe. On top of it, they're ultra light, and have a smaller footprint than the normal ones. My only complaint is that the set pins seem juuuust a tad short.

As far as progress goes, I only managed to get the bridge and tail recesses done. Took a lot of work with the dremel and forstner bits, and the tailpiece is less-than-perfect, but I'm going to deal. I bought a pack of tiny momentary switches for the killswitch, and am having a bit of trouble finding a placement that doesn't feel cramped. That lower wing has precious little space to work with. Right now I'm thinking of placing it halfway between the treble post of the tailpiece and the volume knob.

To do:

-Drill for switch slot and killswitch

-Finish up electronics cavity

-Clean up sides/back of headstock

-Drill for sperzel set screws

-Drill from bridge pickup to electronics cavity

-Shape neck and neck join

-Final shaping/bevels

-Make cavity covers

-Drill for strap button

-Install nut

And then some sort of finish that's still up in the air. Either oil or clearcoat. Most likely black grain fill in either case.

[Dirge for november]

Those tuners look great!! Do you by any chance know if there's a place where I can order them in the EU?

[Xanthus]

No clue, man, sorry That website is the only place I can find in the US, not saying anything for the EU. Sperzel's website is constantly under construction, so I haven't been able to find any information about them.

[Mattia]

Lots of places to get Sperzels in the EU (almost all of the Dutch webshops carry them, anyway) but it's not necessarily cheaper than getting them from TKinstruments or one of the other US/North American vendors, considering the strength of the Euro/weakness of the dollar.

[Xanthus]

Lots of places to get Sperzels in the EU (almost all of the Dutch webshops carry them, anyway) but it's not necessarily cheaper than getting them from TKinstruments or one of the other US/North American vendors, considering the strength of the Euro/weakness of the dollar.

Except TK has stopped shipping internationally :-/

[orgmorg]

Those ARE cool tuners. Nice choice, they will look perfect on that guitar!

[Mattia]

Shane Neifer at High Mountain Tonewoods (Canada) sells them as well, and is a joy to deal with. StewMac also has them.

In NL: tonefactory.nl, guitarsupplies.nl

[Dirge for november]

@Mattia, Thanks! But those don't have the openback sperzels, the normal Sperzels I had no problem finding.

[Mattia]

Shane at High Mountain has them for sure:

http://www.highmountaintonewood.com/id27.htm

[Dirge for november]

Tanks a lot!

On topic: The guitar looks great!

[Xanthus]

Things accomplished:

-Killswitch hole drilled

-control cavity finished

-control cover finished

-switch slot done

Yet to do:

-Clean up sides/back of headstock

-Drill for sperzel set screws

-Drill from bridge pickup to electronics cavity

-Shape neck and neck join

-Final shaping/bevels

-Make cavity covers

-Drill for strap button

-Install nut

Getting there, slowly but surely. The control cavity cover recesses came out just like the jack cavity recess: chippy. I don't know what it is about the dremel, or maybe the mahogany is too dry, but the dremel/straightedge method doesn't produce a nice fine line like a router. Maybe I should invest in a top-loaded bearing bit with a very short cutting length. I'll just have to finish it up with sandpaper.

The control cavity itself came out decent. I used a piece of corian with a 5" diameter, to try and get a nice graceful curving line to connect the main cavity with the hole I drilled for the killswitch. I probably should have used a smaller radius so you could see the curving line more, but the way it came out looks more like a straightedge. I dunno, who cares. Pictures, when I get them up sometime tomorrow night, will illustrate this better.

In the meantime, I wanted to see if I could get some feedback on how to go about the heel carving. It's a square now, and you can check my pictures for reference. I'm not sure whether to do a convex heel carve like an Alexi or Rhoads, or a concave carve going from the apex of the hand cutout to the point where the upper horn attaches to the body, using this method. I think the latter will look better, but the former takes away less wood and will probably be sturdier/more structurally sound. I'm not worried about fret access, because I'd be able to comfortably reach all 22 with minimal heel carving. Thoughts?

[Xanthus]

Hey, all. Body shaping is going well, just working on the inside curve of the V. I'm home for spring break, so progress will be speeding along. I'm hoping to have it 100% aside from finishing by the end of the week.

I wanted to hear some opinions on how to carve the neck join, though. I found a good picture of what I'm talking about for the concave curve. My only reservation is that I won't get it to come out smooth like I want it, in trying to keep the top and bottom corners at the original height, like he did. I'm leaning more to the traditional V neck carve because I can easily reach all of the frets as-is, but I still wanted to see if people could persuade me.

I'm going to start another thread for this, but I need opinions on finishing, too. I can't find any good pictures on grainfilling with black epoxy, but I'm thinking of filling with black epoxy, sanding back, and shooting a few coats of clear. Either that, or grainfill with black filler and clear. Another concern if that because the maple is so close-grained, it won't take either method, and I'll only end up darkening the wings and not the neck part. Initial speculation thinks that that won't turn out to look so good. Third option is to use black filler or epoxy, and stain the whole thing trans black, and clear over it.

[Supernova9]

Hey, all. Body shaping is going well, just working on the inside curve of the V. I'm home for spring break, so progress will be speeding along. I'm hoping to have it 100% aside from finishing by the end of the week.

I wanted to hear some opinions on how to carve the neck join, though. I found a good picture of what I'm talking about for the concave curve. My only reservation is that I won't get it to come out smooth like I want it, in trying to keep the top and bottom corners at the original height, like he did. I'm leaning more to the traditional V neck carve because I can easily reach all of the frets as-is, but I still wanted to see if people could persuade me.

I'm going to start another thread for this, but I need opinions on finishing, too. I can't find any good pictures on grainfilling with black epoxy, but I'm thinking of filling with black epoxy, sanding back, and shooting a few coats of clear. Either that, or grainfill with black filler and clear. Another concern if that because the maple is so close-grained, it won't take either method, and I'll only end up darkening the wings and not the neck part. Initial speculation thinks that that won't turn out to look so good. Third option is to use black filler or epoxy, and stain the whole thing trans black, and clear over it.

That guitar you've just linked to was built by jammy, a member here. I'm sure he'll come along to tell you how he did it if you ask nicely

[Xanthus]

Mmm, I saw his thread about it. It is a really nice looking guitar, and sounds great too! I've got a general idea of how to go about a carve like that, involving rasps and files and a sandpaper pad on a handheld drill. There's a tutorial on the main page for doing a similar thing on the back of an Ibanez.

[Xanthus]

Photos are up! I spent most of the day on Friday carving out the neck heel with sandpaper, files, and probably the largest, most intimidating rasp I've ever seen. I'm not even sure whose it is, but it's the only thing I have that makes headway with the maple.

The pictures make the carve look better than it is, I feel. I'm still struggling with trying to make it "flow" better. Thinking in 3 dimensions is pretty hard for me, sometimes.

I started on hogging out the material around the first fret. Total thickness from back to fingerboard is around 1-1/8". I think leaving it there at the heel and taking it down to 1" at the first fret will be fine, seeing as how much sanding I'll need to do to get it to the final dimensions.

Still trying to figure out a jig to take some thickness off the headstock. The tuners still don't want to get on.

The guitar fell off the workbench yesterday. Landed face-down on the floor. Took a chip out of the tip of the headstock and the upper wing, as well as denting the bass side of the fretboard, right up against the nut. The wing is ok, that'll be beveled off, but I'm bummed about the rest. I'm almost positive the frets will need work, if not an entire fretjob, after that fall. I haven't even looked at them yet; they're still taped up.

Progress is slow going. I think I've decided on Tru-Oil for the finish, mainly because I just want the thing done at this point. Probably won't get to work on it until after the semester gets out.