Geo Posted October 4, 2007 Report Share Posted October 4, 2007 This will be my third "real" guitar build. Flamed maple top, chambered mahogany body, maple neck, bloodwood fingerboard and headplate, LP Jr-style bridge/tailpiece. Being a cheapskate, I'm making my own pickups. My top is 3/4" thick and my body 1 3/4" thick, which adds up to (you guessed it) 2 1/2"! I will do some radical carving of the top and back to slim it down. It feels huge right now. I didn't route the chambering very deep in the body (about 1"), meaning I have lots of room to carve a comfortable Strat-style gut recess. You'll notice on the body that I have left about 3/8" around the outside bottom un-routed. I will be rounding/carving the edges pretty heavily, and my bearing bit couldn't reach much farther. For the pickups, I'll be winding two P-90's. I made wooden bobbins, which I know is not the best plan. However, I plan to wind them rather loosely in the hopes that there will be room for the bobbin to expand without busting the wire. For the pickup covers, I'll cut up a rosewood acoustic bridge blank from a failed "project". The guitar will be totally natural in color, with an oil finish. I'm thinking the woods should look pretty dramatic. Body: http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/100_5957.jpg Top: http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/100_5956.jpg Plan (note that there is some camera-angle distortion of perpendicular lines): http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ihollowplan.jpg Any comments appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PTU 7's. Posted October 4, 2007 Report Share Posted October 4, 2007 Nice top you have there. But i don't think that's so thick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted October 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2007 Nice top you have there. But i don't think that's so thick. Hey, thanks. It's not actually bookmatched, but I really like it anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted December 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2007 It's been a while, but my semester ended a few weeks ago and I finally got some work done on this. Routing the neck pocket. http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/100_6647.jpg Son, when I was your age, we used to cut our own fret slots... http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/100_6665.jpg Planing the fingerboard. http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/100_6713.jpg On a whim, I decided to "inlay" this pattern into the fingerboard. I had to stretch it a little to fit between the frets. If you know your constellations... http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/100_6716.jpg http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/100_6717.jpg http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/100_6718.jpg http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/100_6720.jpg http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/100_6727.jpg Gluing the neck in. http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/100_6721.jpg http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/100_6722.jpg Heel carving. http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/100_6725.jpg Bridge pickup hole cut. http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/100_6726.jpg Back view of whole guitar. http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/backview.jpg Front view http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge.../freontview.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exoticwood Posted December 27, 2007 Report Share Posted December 27, 2007 That's a very pleasing shape, very well thought out composition. Also like the constellation idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inisheer Posted December 27, 2007 Report Share Posted December 27, 2007 Looks awesome! I like the shape, the woods, and the inlay idea. Since constellations consist of dots, you'd think that there would be more inlays like this, but this is the first time I've seen this idea. It is also cool that they are still on the usual frets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecowboy Posted December 28, 2007 Report Share Posted December 28, 2007 You got some pretty cool design elements in there man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted December 28, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2007 Thanks guys! I'm envisioning more complex constellation inlays in the future. You could get several different sizes of rod to represent different magnitudes of star. Only astronomy geeks like me would recognize the patterns, but it could be pretty sweet. My next challenge is to route the neck pickup cavity. The end of the fingerboard will provide part of the template, so the jig that I make will have to be recessed from beneath. (I need template above the fingerboard for the first passes.) Probably doing it the wrong way, but oh well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted December 28, 2007 Report Share Posted December 28, 2007 That inlay is simply fantastic. What a great idea! Coming from an astronomy freak, I really like it. Do more inlays like it! You've really caught my eye with this one, keep up the good work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted December 28, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2007 That inlay is simply fantastic. What a great idea! Coming from an astronomy freak, I really like it. Do more inlays like it! You've really caught my eye with this one, keep up the good work. Thanks dude! I think Perseus could make a cool inlay. It's sort of a "long" constellation with a lot of clusters and stuff. Of course, no one would recognize that one.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted December 28, 2007 Report Share Posted December 28, 2007 Yeah, that'd be nice, it wouldn't be too "crowded." I might do something like that for my next build, I know a guy who's amazing at inlaying I was looking at your fullsize plans, though, and I wanted to know if those tuner positions were the final positions? The break angle over the high and low E strings looks problematic... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted December 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2007 I was looking at your fullsize plans, though, and I wanted to know if those tuner positions were the final positions? The break angle over the high and low E strings looks problematic... Yeah, you're exactly right. I adjusted the positions on the plan after I took that picture. In the original plan, I got a little carried away with making a headstock shape that complimented the body shape. I routed the neck pickup pocket and drilled the bridge post holes. After final sanding, I can start finishing! Body: http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/100_6747.jpg Another view: http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/100_6749.jpg Mockup: http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/100_6746.jpg Closeup of mockup: http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...ct/100_6752.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted January 8, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2008 Well, the guitar is MOSTLY done. The neck pickup is reading open, so I have to take it apart and fix it, and I haven't installed the truss rod cover; but otherwise it's finished! The tone is amazing. I need to do a little more fret leveling as it's a little buzzy in some places, but otherwise it rocks. Some videos of me playing it... Purple Haze http://s134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...nt=100_6806.flv Another song http://s134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...nt=100_6807.flv Some smooth riffs http://s134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...itardone001.flv Jazzy riffs http://s134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...itardone002.flv part of another song http://s134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/Ge...itardone003.flv This guitar was built without a drillpress! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maikman Posted January 8, 2008 Report Share Posted January 8, 2008 very nice, Im halfway through a prs-ish semi-hollow ("u" routed) thats probably close to the same thickness and I'm hope it turns out sounding similar to yours. What neck angle did you end up using/ whats the scale length? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willy78 Posted January 8, 2008 Report Share Posted January 8, 2008 Good job!! very original!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted January 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 What neck angle did you end up using/ whats the scale length? I never was able to measure the neck angle on my plans or on the actual guitar because I can't find my protractors. (I have two or three!) It's a fairly steep angle for the bridge, though, and it couldn't be much steeper (although the bridge is plenty stable). The scale length is 25 1/4". If you're wondering about a neck angle for your project (I'm reading into it here)... it's best to get your bridge and then base your neck angle on that. @willy: glad you liked it. 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.