Conflagration Posted January 21, 2008 Report Share Posted January 21, 2008 (edited) First, the specs: Bolt-on Maple Warmoth Neck with Jackson Headstock and Cream Binding Ebony Fretboard with Sharkfin Inlays and 22 Gold Frets Gotoh SG38 Tuners 25.5" Scale Alder Body Original Floyd Rose EMG-81 in the Bridge EMG-60 in the Neck 1 Tone Control, 2 Volume Controls, 1 Three-way Switch Black Hardware Black Finish with Gold Pinstripes Alright. Only one update, but it's a biggy. My neck from Warmoth arrived. It's a beauty. Unfinished at the moment, but I touched it a bit. It feels amazing. I couldn't get binding on a 24 fret neck, so I decided to get a bound 22 fret instead of an unbound 24. The extra two frets were just a luxury anyway. I can live without them. I'm also practicing the bevels now. Soon I'll be ready to work on my nice alder piece. Click on the thumbnail to enlarge. Go to my album for all the pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/562217...vhost=community Edited April 16, 2008 by Conflagration Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanhorton Posted January 21, 2008 Report Share Posted January 21, 2008 good start, should be a cool project. just wondering, are you gonna cut the body out with the wood grain perpendicular to the body's center line like in the picture, or parallel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 good start, should be a cool project. just wondering, are you gonna cut the body out with the wood grain perpendicular to the body's center line like in the picture, or parallel? That's the plywood he cut the template out of, not the wood for the actual body. It looks like a nice build! Where did you find/make that template? It honestly looks better/more accurate than the one I got from GuitarPlans. I feel like I should have just blown up an internet picture like I did the first one. Check out the link in my signature for the thread my pictures are on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
METALSUSTAIN Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 If you could link us to that template it would be great i love the alexi guitar hope you have a good build , it sounds good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conflagration Posted January 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2008 (edited) I actually got the template custom made by http://www.guitarplansunlimited.com. He did all the controls and the bigger cutout for me. He even made it fit the Warmoth neck. I just made a copy, cut the body out and glued it onto the plywood. Edited January 25, 2008 by Conflagration Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPLOAD Posted January 25, 2008 Report Share Posted January 25, 2008 pretty much what i want to make for my next project. How are you planning to do the bevelling? that is really the main thing that has me stumped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conflagration Posted January 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2008 Yup, I'm gonna use a router for the straight, outside bevels and I'll do the curved, inside ones by hand with a rasp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted January 25, 2008 Report Share Posted January 25, 2008 Yup, I'm gonna use a router for the straight, outside bevels and I'll do the curved, inside ones by hand with a rasp. Router? Pray tell your method on achieving that. I do all of the beveling with a rasp and sandpaper. ::EDIT:: I'm surprised you ordered your template from the same place I did, it looks really sharp. I dunno what body outline he got to do the Rhoads, but I can tell you that it's nowhere close to accurate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conflagration Posted January 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2008 Basically, I'll angle the piece over the router and move it closer/farther away to get the fade. I can only do it on straight parts though. The curves have another dimension to worry about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killemall8 Posted January 26, 2008 Report Share Posted January 26, 2008 Yup, I'm gonna use a router for the straight, outside bevels and I'll do the curved, inside ones by hand with a rasp. Router? Pray tell your method on achieving that. I do all of the beveling with a rasp and sandpaper. ::EDIT:: I'm surprised you ordered your template from the same place I did, it looks really sharp. I dunno what body outline he got to do the Rhoads, but I can tell you that it's nowhere close to accurate. what? that rhoads template is almost exact. the only difference is that the curve at the bottom is more rounded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted January 26, 2008 Report Share Posted January 26, 2008 Yeah, that's my biggest deal with it, the curve is rounder, not as sharp. The wing lengths are a bit more offset compared to the template as well, I found. I shouldn't really be complaining because as I hold it up and play with it standing, the rounder wing is much more comfortable around my thigh than a pointy one. But in a business where accuracy counts... *shrug* ::EDIT:: Sorry, meant to respond to the OP too If you use a router with a traditional bit, you're going to end up with a straight 45 degree cut taken off the corner. If you go that far in on the point, you'll be going that far down as well, I think you'll run into the problem of the point of the wing being an actual POINT. I like my pointed bevels wide, but shallow. I think the bevels on my explorer only go about 1/2" deep on each side, leaving an inch or so between them. I guess it all comes down to the bit you use, but I've never seen a router bit with a really shallow angle like that. Then again, I'm a man of limited tools to begin with, hahaha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conflagration Posted January 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2008 I'll use a router table and angle the piece. I'll make a jig that will angle it right. I'm bevelling both sides (front and back) so I need to be careful of how deep they are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted January 26, 2008 Report Share Posted January 26, 2008 *shudders* Sounds like quite a hefty jig to set up. Take some pictures, I'd love to see how you go about making one, though I think I'll be done carving my own bevels by then. Who knows. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted January 28, 2008 Report Share Posted January 28, 2008 I used a nice Stanley #4 plane for the straight bevels on the King V I am doing. My bevels are not going to be as aggressive as a real Jackson or Alexi but getting the same results is easy. If you start at the point and cut towards the neck using heavy pressure and easing up as you reach the neck you should get the desired results and keep your fingers. With the hand planar you can control how much you cut. AND it is easier to remove more wood than it is to put back. Sometimes hand tools are just the better option. Nothing worse than destroying weeks worth of work with a slip. A router will not care if it destroys the top of your guitar. Good luck. And if you do use the jig post some pics... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted January 28, 2008 Report Share Posted January 28, 2008 Nothing worse than destroying weeks worth of work with a slip. A router will not care if it destroys the top of your guitar. My router seems to be especially cold-hearted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conflagration Posted February 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2008 (edited) UPDATE (but no pictures) Ok. I've got the body template basically done. I'll try it out on some pine soon and see if I need to fix anything. I also got my body blank. I'm going to cut it so that the grain runs at an angle with the wings (like so ///|\\\). This should help it be stronger. The one problem is that the blank is about 3/4" too short. I'm going to use dowel joint to put a 2" piece of offcut from the blank to make it long enough. I don't think that it'll affect the tone or sustain since it's such a small piece of wood compared to the size of the body istelf. I might be wrong but... Input please? Anyway, it's coming along nicely. Edited February 9, 2008 by Conflagration Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted February 9, 2008 Report Share Posted February 9, 2008 Tone/sustain? No, it's really just a question of aesthetics, especially since you're trying to orient your grain a certain way. I tried to do that with my V build, not exaggerated of course, but if the grain ran a bit more diagonal one way, then I'd use it on that side. Where do you need to add the wood? Let's get some pics!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conflagration Posted February 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2008 (edited) Click on the thumbnail to enlarge and go to my album. I've got the pine test piece almost done. I just have to add a bit of wood at the end of the longer wing and wait for a new router bit to get here. Then I can finish the body shape up. You can see how the grain runs down the wings in that picture. I've got a picture of how I clamped it and a picture of the alder blanks with the way I'll cut. They're in my album too. You can see that I need to add wood in those pictures. I'm gonna practice it on the pine too, so you can see how it turns out. Also, I've decided that I'll only use the router to take some wood off to make the bevels go quicker. I'll finish them off with a rasp. Edited February 11, 2008 by Conflagration Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killemall8 Posted February 11, 2008 Report Share Posted February 11, 2008 do not glue on a piece of wood by endgrain. i hope thats not what your planning on doing for your real one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conflagration Posted February 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2008 (edited) If you mean the piece I'll add on, I'm gonna use a few dowels, so it should be strong. Edited February 11, 2008 by Conflagration Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted February 11, 2008 Report Share Posted February 11, 2008 do not glue on a piece of wood by endgrain. i hope thats not what your planning on doing for your real one It's not at as bad an angle as it could be. I quite like the look, and with the dowels there shouldn't be much of an issue with gluing it up. It's definitely a striking effect for a bookmatched top, we'll see how it looks on a whole body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conflagration Posted February 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2008 (edited) I'll be finishing the guitar with black later, so I just need to make sure you can't feel the join. I don't care if the grain matches up exactly since the finish will hide that. You're right, that would look awesome as a bookmatch, especially on a V. Edited February 11, 2008 by Conflagration Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conflagration Posted April 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 (edited) Alright. First update in a while, but it's a biggy. My neck from Warmoth arrived. It looks really great. Unfinished at the moment, but I touched it a bit. It feels amazing. I couldn't get binding on a 24 fret neck, so I decided to get a bound 22 fret instead of an unbound 24. The extra two frets were just a luxury anyway. I can live without them. I'm also practicing the bevels now. Soon I'll be ready to work on my nice alder piece. Edited April 16, 2008 by Conflagration Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan316 Posted April 29, 2008 Report Share Posted April 29, 2008 About your bevels. I'm gonna recommend against using the router at all. Instead, draw your lines where your bevels will meet the flat top and flat sides, then rasp and plane down to the lines. Using a flat plane, drawing at a 45-degree angle, will give you a flawless smooth bevel, and the pencil lines will keep you from going too deep. The planing work will go quicker than you expect, especially since you'll be drawing directly with the grain. Maybe 2 hours tops of planing and you'll love the results. Leave the router alone, cuz it'll reduce the chances of the bit biting into the wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bass-Man43 Posted April 30, 2008 Report Share Posted April 30, 2008 Im going to have to agree with the post above, this is exactly how i did my bevels except i didnt do a 45 degree angle cause that is quite extreme. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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