Custom Guitar Build Log

[DIYiT]

Well, I'm posting here as a new member to this site. I already have a thread going on diyaudio.com in their musical instrument section, but the conversation is somewhat dead right now, so I'm starting a thread here too. I'll be updateing both threads, and I'll try to carry any important questions/comments back and forth between the two. The first bunch of posts will be copied from the the DIYaudio forum.

-------------------------------------

Hi there, all.

I'm going to start a build log of my custom guitar. I'm going to go with a design based on the shape of a Schecter 006 Elite (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/prod...itar?sku=513057) with a Gibson style bridge/tail piece.

The guitar will be a neck-through design made of walnut and maple much like the Carvin DC400W (https://www.carvinguitars.com/catal...hp?model=dc400w), though it won't have the highly figured walnut grain.

I've also already ordered a set of EMG 81/85 pickups (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/prod...-Set?sku=301511), however I did notice that the specs list the pots at 25k ohms. Is this correct? I can't find pots listed at any guitar parts replacement sites with pots lower than 50k ohm. Since I want to minimize the amount of switches, knobs, and other clutter, I'm looking into getting a concentric pot like this (http://store.guitarfetish.com/cp50kcopomo.html) to possibly add onboard distortion (black ice) or similar, however they only sell them in 50k and 100k ohm. Is the EMG spec correct?

Now onto some pictures: Below is a shot with all of the walnut and maple on a workbench at school.

Below: A picture of the walnut stock showing the larger blocks for the body, and the two strips I'll be using for the neck.

Below: This picture shows one of the knots I'll have to work around

Below: This picture gives a small preview of what the grain will look like most likely. Not as exciting as the Claro Walnut on the Carvin guitar, but the walnut was donated by a friends father, and it'll still look great.

Below: Last, a picture of the Maple I was able to get. I bought this from a local woodshop, so it's not as exciting as the walnut, so I only took this one picture.

[killemall8]

that shop looks almost exactly like the shop at my old highschool!

[DIYiT]

Also, I drew up a basic design in Photoshop so that I could lay it out on my guitar to find the body shape. This is just a guideline and not a actual blueprint, so things will be off.

------------------------

bump....

Can anybody help me with the pot question?

Are the EMG specs correct. Are the pots only 25k ohm?

Sorry, but it has at least one too many strings and the scale could be about 9" longer. Then I might be interested.

Best of luck. My woodworking skills are exceeded when I need to glue two random pieces of mdf together. Have you tried the Luthier forums?

25k pots are correct. The trick is that they're active pickups, so you don't need the high value pots because the output of the pickups is low impedance due to the buffer/preamp built into the pickups. Pretty sure you can get stacked 25k/25k pots but I can't remember where at the moment...

Bear in mind that it means you'll need room for a 9V or two in either your control cavity or in a separate battery box (I like the battery boxes for quick change convenience).

I got no issue with the number of strings but I agree with Brett on the scale (9-10" longer), and I'd have a wider neck and none of the speed bumps that it looks like you're putting in....

The headstock is doing weird things to my head, kinda looks like its bending to the left. Either that or I've spent too long at this sodded computer...

25k pots are correct. The trick is that they're active pickups, so you don't need the high value pots because the output of the pickups is low impedance due to the buffer/preamp built into the pickups. Pretty sure you can get stacked 25k/25k pots but I can't remember where at the moment...

EMG's have am O/P Z of about 10k and will work with higher R pots quite nicely.

Bear in mind that it means you'll need room for a 9V or two in either your control cavity or in a separate battery box (I like the battery boxes for quick change convenience).

Power it offboard!!!!

Touche. I didn't actually look at their output impedance, just assumed it would be smaller.

Another good call with the outboard PS, that way you could put some more interesting effects onboard (compared to the black ice, which I haven't tried but also haven't heard particularly good reports), without as much concern for current requirements.

Sorry, but it has at least one too many strings and the scale could be about 9" longer. Then I might be interested.

Best of luck. My woodworking skills are exceeded when I need to glue two random pieces of mdf together. Have you tried the Luthier forums?

Yes, I have those also. I have an Ibanez Ergodyne 5 string bass, and what appears to be a Fender P-Bass, but that was bought from a pawn shop and restored by a guy who didn't keep any of that information around.

25k pots are correct. The trick is that they're active pickups, so you don't need the high value pots because the output of the pickups is low impedance due to the buffer/preamp built into the pickups. Pretty sure you can get stacked 25k/25k pots but I can't remember where at the moment...

Bear in mind that it means you'll need room for a 9V or two in either your control cavity or in a separate battery box (I like the battery boxes for quick change convenience).

I got no issue with the number of strings but I agree with Brett on the scale (9-10" longer), and I'd have a wider neck and none of the speed bumps that it looks like you're putting in....

The headstock is doing weird things to my head, kinda looks like its bending to the left. Either that or I've spent too long at this sodded computer...

Yes, I know I'll need the battery box.

Also, the headstock probably is off since I merely traced a picture I found online.

EMG's have am O/P Z of about 10k and will work with higher R pots quite nicely.

Power it offboard!!!!

well that's good to hear. If I find some concentric or DPDT pots at 50k ohm you think it'll have little or no effect compared to the 25k ohm?

I have class today, so I'll have time to start planing some of the wood. Maybe even get some of it glued if I'm lucky. I'll have updates tonight.

[DIYiT]

Make sure you use animal glue if you want it to stay together.

Here's a pic of my homebuilt made in 1980. It was a combined effort, with a very good friend, Fred, assisting me with this very complex project.

Those 27 years seems to have passed rather quicky after extolling about a year and a half of tedious, part-time labor. I remember it like it was yesterday, the day we finished it. It's one project that I'm glad to have finished, and I'm not looking forward to building another one anytime soon. It would have been a major waste of effort had I used a typical woodglue, as this guitar would certainly be in pieces by now.

Any project worth doing, is worth doing right the first time.

Body is Hawaiian Koa, Eastern Hardrock Maple with Rosewood borders and pinstripe.

Neck is thru-body, Eastern Hardrock Maple, with Rosewood center stripe, Ebony fretboard, Abalone dot inlays and sidemarkers, jumbo frets on a 24-3/4" scale, Schaller machine heads. Action is SUPER low without one iota of fret-buzz. Nut is compensated for near perfect intonnation and made of brass. The Nut has to be compensated because of the super low string height, as a super low action reduces string "stretch" when fretting notes.

The finish is Dupont's Concept 20/20 catalyzed enamel, no primer or sealers were used because it could have a tendency to delaminate between the finished layers after several years. The finish it tinted slightly with red mother-of-pearl and it looks gorgeous under proper lighting.

Pickups are circa 1978 - Carvin SD models.

Switching behind the bridge is for individual coil selection and pickup phasing. It encorporates an active homemade buffer and uses standard RJ-45 network patch cables to supply external power and redundant low impedance / balanced output signals to a homemade stomp-box style interface. I never really liked 1/4" phone jacks. RJ-45 is a more modern concept that actually WORKS, and patch cords last longer, and are cheaper to replace. NO HUM... EVER!!!

It is a dream to play. A super fast action, tons of sustain, and the weight is perfectly balanced.

If I were forced to build another, I would I widen the neck about a 1/4 inch, and flatten the radius just a tad, but only because I have big hands and fat fingers. I would probably add a wang bar too, if I could ever find one that worked right. Otherwise, it is perfect as is.

Sorry the pix are so bad. I don't have a digital camera, and the guy that took these obviously lacks the concept of composition.

I wish you the best of luck, and skill, on your most worthwhile project.

well that's good to hear. If I find some concentric or DPDT pots at 50k ohm you think it'll have little or no effect compared to the 25k ohm?

I've used 250k with no issues I could detect, so 50k should be fine. I think EMG sell the pots if you really want to do it that way.

Grizzly (woodworking machine supplier) has a lot of guitar parts and kits (the owner makes guitars as a hobby)

Grizzly.com

I would disagree with the use of animal glue. Having built pipe organs for over 30 years, I'm very familiar with animal (hide) glue. In pipe organs we use it for applying leather and other things that will eventually need replacing because the glue can be easily removed with window cleaner. Titebond (alphatic resin glue) is used by over 90% of instrument makers.

Photo of one of the many organs I built.

[DIYiT]

well, I've gotten a little bit of work done on the guitar. Sorry, no pictures of the wood, my camera batteries were dead. I've gotten the wood for the neck planed down to the correct thickness (or just about), and the body blanks were squared off and cleaned up. Unfortunately, one of the large walnut blocks has a fairly large crack running through it. I'm going to have to cut the block along the crack, edge plain it, and glue the block back together. In the meantime, however, I've ordered most of the hardware and extras for my guitar.

Here's the stuff I was able to get from Guitar Fetish:

I've also ordered an ebony fretboard, preslotted for 24 frets and radiused to 12" from LMI, pore filler, pick guard material, truss rod, fret wire, nut, and other miscellaneous items.

[DIYiT]

Well, today was a good day for my guitar. While class was shortened because of a 2 hour late start due to snow, I did manage to get the neck glued together today.

These first two show the 7 layers I'm using for the neck/center of the body. The whole thing measures 4 - 4 1/4" (I can't remember exactly). The humbucker pickup rings are slightly skinnier than this block of wood.

Here's a picture showing the clamps used to hold the whole thing together.

And two more views showing the clamping of the neck.

In addition to getting this small part completed, I came home to find a shipment from LMI. In this, I received my fretboard, fret wire, truss rod, side and front mother-of-pearl inlays, and pick guard material which I'll use for cavity covers.

So here's a picture of all of it sitting on a chair.

Now the two different sized MOP inlay dots

A close up of the Madagascar Ebony fretboard, pre-slotted for 24 frets, and radiused to 12".

And finally a close up of the fret wire

Next, I plan to plane the neck so that it's flat, and begin to draw out the cuts I'll need to make.

Since I want an angled neck, I'm thinking I'll do a rough cut at the ~3 degree angle on the table saw. To flatten it, I'm thinking I can run in through the edge planer to get a perfectly flat surface to glue the fretboard to. Next, I'll cut the angle for the headstock to attach to. After this, I will route the truss rod cavity. Then I'll go back, cut the neck down to the correct thickness. Then I should be able to glue the fretboard on, and taper the neck down.

In the meantime, I also plan to first cut out the rough shape on the two blocks of walnut. This way, when I glue the neck to the wings, It won't be too wide to send through the planer, and it also will make cutting the horns on the band saw easier (our school has a fairly small band saw. A buddy of mine is also building a guitar and he's further than I am, and he cut the body out after gluing the neck in, but I think my way will be easier.)

Then I'll route the pickup and electronics cavities.

After this, comes the real work, I plan on carving both the front and the back of the body. On the back, I'll do the standard cutout for the chest, but I'm also planning on doing a small amount of carving since I like the feel of my Epiphone SG which is thinner than my homemade Telecaster (my first custom guitar - done in a class with a pre-built necks).

So with the basic plan I've outlined here... does anybody see any major problems/flaws or things I should watch out for?

[DIYiT]

wow! it look great

I know you want to finish it fast, but be sure to let the glued-up parts set for at least a couple of weeks before machining. The glue puts a lot of moisture into the wood that makes it swell. If it isn't really dry before machining, it can cause a lot of grief down the road. Found this out the hard way...

Sorry for the long wait between updates. Unfortunatly, class has been canceled because of weather a few times, and I've also forgotten my camera.

Well, I finally have updates. Since my last update, I've managed to plane the neck flat again, draw oou all of my cuts, cut off the headstock portion of the neck, and re-glue it on. Here's a few pics:

In this picture, you can see how I glued the whole thing together. The piece on the bottom is only there to give me parallel surfaces for the clamps.

In this next picture, I have a few dowels which I set into both the headstock piece and the neck since I didn't want the pieces to slip after I had clamped them together.

Unfortunately, the block I was using to clamp against was also glued to the neck, so when I pulled it off, I had a small amount of tear-out; I'm fairly sure it won't affect the finished product, but I'm a perfectionist, and having looked over this simple fact makes me somewhat worried about what other mistakes I may make later which will affect the guitar.

Next, is look at the whole headstock glued onto the neck. As you can see on the right hand side of the picture, the headstock piece is set down from the plane of the neck blank. This is because I'm planing on having an angled neck, so the line drawn is where the neck will actually be.

Next I need to figure out how to cut the neck angle. I had thought I would use the edge joiner at my school, block up the bottom end of the neck, and slowly shave the neck down to the line, however, the out-feed table on the jointer has been messed with, so it leaves a slight arch to anything being sent across it. Right now, I'm looking for somewhere else that I could cut this angle on their jointer, and I'm looking for some other way to cut the angle of my neck and ensure that it's flat. Any tips?

Between the need to cut the neck angle, and the lack of wood for the body, I'm somewhat at a stand still right now. The walnut blocks I have, cracked further after acclimating to the room. Where as I could have worked around the checks and splits as shown in the pictures above, I wont' be able to now. So I am now in the process of looking for walnut. If anybody knows of any good dealers in North Central Iowa who will have something in stock for me to look at, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Preferably, I would like two blocks 2" thick, 9" wide, with one being 19" long and the other being 24". However, if I can't find anything, I may go with a Mahogany body with a walnut top, where I'd still need the same dimensions, except I'd only need it 3/4" to 1" thick.

Does anybody know of online places I could look too? I've found plenty of sites where I can buy gunstock or table top sized slabs of walnut, but the gunstock chunks are too narrow, while the table tops are way too big, making them much too expensive. While I would like something with a slight amount of figuring, I don't need AAAAA grade figuring (I can't afford it).

Any help, comments, or criticisms are appreciated.

[DIYiT]

I have had real good luck getting great wood at good prices off of ebay. Takes a little searching, but well worth it. Heres a couple places I look;

http://instruments.search.ebay.com/...aMEFSRCHQ3aSRCH

http://crafts.search.ebay.com/wood_...aMEFSRCHQ3aSRCH

Also, if I'm not mistaken, EMG p'ups come with the correct pots already wired up-at least all the ones I have bought over the years have.

Hers a link that might help you with your jointer;

http://www.owwm.com/FAQ/JointerTune.asp

Oh, btw, that fingerboard doesnt look like ebony to me, it looks more like rosewood

Anyway, it looks like you have a great start to your project, so good luck!

you can prevent clamps and clamp blocks from sticking to your workpiece by using butcher paper or wax paper between. Putting paper below the glue project helps with cleanup from all the glue drips too.

Edit:

forgot to add:

I've bought very high quality lumber from Paxton Lumber Co. http://www.paxtonwood.com for over 20 years now. They have several outlets and will ship too. Give them a call and see what they can do for you.

If you are interested in African mahogany, I have about 600 bd ft left over from a project from about 12 years ago. It's all 8/4 rough cut, most is over 12" wide, some 16 - 20" wide.

Well, I've found my wood. Got a recommendation for a place about an hour from my house where they might sell me some good quality walnut. Went up there this morning, and sure enough, they had some 2" thick walnut slabs. I got a piece 2" thick, 9" wide, and 34" long for around $35. I just got back home, and I have to leave for work in only a few minutes, so I'll have pictures up tomorrow of the block.

[DIYiT]

Well, as promised, here are the pictures of the slab I bought.

Here's a picture of the slab placed next to the neck blank. As you can see, the slab has been lightly planed, but some work is still needed in order to get it flat.

Another shot showing the slab and the neck.

This picture shows some type of oil residue down the left hand side of the block, but you can also see the grain pattern running the length of the wood.

In this picture, I have lightly wetted the surface of the block to show the grain better. I believe the grain will look stunning when finished. I'm very happy with the purchase.

---------------------------------

Oops! I found a few pictures I had lost track of on my computer. The first two are pictures of the cut I made for my headstock. The last two will show the further cracking of my original walnut blocks, and why I needed to buy a new block.

[DIYiT]

Nice looking chunk of walnut you have there. Looks like the other walnut wasn't quite dry when you got it.

Should be a beautiful project when finished. What are you going to finish it with?

Yes, the new block is very nice; kiln dried this time so I know it's good. The other block should have been dry; I really don't know what happened to them. They were over 25 years old, air dried in a nice shed/barn in a loft with spacers between all of the wood, and they were protected from the elements very well. The man I got the wood from has plenty of other walnut that is perfectly fine under the same conditions; only the thick blocks seemed to crack, so the drying methods needed must be different. I guess the blocks just weren't going to cooperate with me.

Yes, I'm hoping it will turn out as beautiful as I'm envisioning. Right now, I'm thinking a tung oil or similar finish since I believe a matte finish will look better than a high gloss finish will.

are you going to have round frets, ot flat frets? i once built a bass with a Hagstrom neck that had low flat frets. it had a nice smooth action, and was a dream to play.

I've got round fretwire for the frets. It's the jumbo fretwire from LMI. For me, the higher frets feel better to play on.

I got the wings for my body cut today. Pictures will come when I get home. Right now, I've got musical practice after school, so everybody sit tight.

[DIYiT]

Well, here are the pictures showing the results of cutting the body out. I cut the rough shape out with the band saw, then did the smoothing of the curves with a drum sander, and last i flattened the side which will be attached to the neck with a disk sander. I'll be sending that edge through the edge jointer next time.

The first picture shows the body shapes cut out of their blocks. I'm keeping the cut away parts so that I will be able to clamp the body to the neck with a fairly even pressure and so that the clamps have parallel surfaces to clamp against.

The next two pictures show the wings with the neck blank. It's finally starting to look recognizable as a guitar.

An angled shot showing the wings with the neck blank.

And a closeup.

I did manage to make one mistake. I cut the end of the block off before positioning my templates and cutting the blocks out. The wood has some small splits on the lower wing. The two splits to the right hand side I think are positioned in a place where I can drill them out in order to place my jack and jack plate/cup. The one on the left I'll have to fill with epoxy or something.

PS. I have all of these pictures and more on Picasa Web Albums. I didn't want to clutter this site with more photos than necessary. You can see this build log here .

I also have a few pictures of the guitar I built this past summer in a class put on by the high schools in my area. I don't have nearly as many pictures of this guitar or the building process. You can see those photos here.

[DIYiT]

Well that's everything from the diyaudio.com site. Thanks for looking, and any comments/criticisms are welcome.

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread....threadid=116376

[mattharris75]

Looks very nice thus far. However, this thread should be in the 'in progress' section, which is where all the build threads are posted. Also, the mods here typically prefer that each post only have one image with the rest being links or thumbnails. Good luck as you continue to progress, I'm sure you'll find much help here.

[ProfDrum]

If I remember rightly, EMG pickups WILL work with 250/500Ks, but will go from full volume to dead silent in something like a few degrees turn.

[DIYiT]

Looks very nice thus far. However, this thread should be in the 'in progress' section, which is where all the build threads are posted. Also, the mods here typically prefer that each post only have one image with the rest being links or thumbnails. Good luck as you continue to progress, I'm sure you'll find much help here.

Sorry about that; both for posting in the wrong section and for the number of pictures. I guess I skipped over the "in progress part" and got straight to the "finished work." Would a mod please move this if it is deemed necessary? Also, I'll try to abide by the rules of one picture per post. Most forums I've visited have always preferred either attached images or inline like I did. Different forum different rules: no biggie. I'll do so from now on.

If I remember rightly, EMG pickups WILL work with 250/500Ks, but will go from full volume to dead silent in something like a few degrees turn.

Yeah, since I made that post on DIYAudio I've since found information such as that. My main reasoning behind looking for new pots was that I wanted to do concentric pots because I was thinking it would make it look cleaner, but I also didn't have the EMG's yet and didn't realize they came prewired, so why waste the time and money redoing what they've already got done for me, but thank you for the information anyway.

[JohnRossitter]

Looks great.

Also looks like you know what you are doing

Keep it up

[DIYiT]

Looks great.

Also looks like you know what you are doing

Keep it up

I wish I did really "know" what I'm doing. Mainly, I'm picking things up by reading online, through reading Make Your Own Electric Guitar by Melvyn Hiscock, and by talking to an industrial tech teacher at a local college who helped me (along with a small class) build our own guitar bodies this past summer. This is much more complex and I'm constantly second guessing myself, but I figure if I go slow, and take my time, I can minimize any huge mistakes I might make.

I also hope that by posting to these forums, people can help me avoid any problems before I hit them.

[DIYiT]

Well today, I didn't get a whole lot done. I'm sort of waiting with anything until next week when I am going to a local college where I can use their edge jointer to cut the neck angle before I progress much further. I decided to draw out the basic layout today to keep me busy and thinking. The hardware I will be using is chrome, not the black shown in the picture. That hardware belongs to a friend who is building a through neck Mockingbird (maple neck, purple heart strips separating the neck from the mahogany body).

Anyway, I'm not sure about all the layout yet, just trying a few things out. This picture shows the possible placement of pickups and knobs, though I'm not sure whether to do four inline or a 2x2 grid like on SG's and LP's. I've also drawn out the cuts to bring the neck down to the correct width and where I plan to bevel the two cutaways.

Here is a closeup showing the lines bit better.

http://www.jdjlab.com/~logan/Guitar%20Buil...ut/IMG_0644.JPG

And here's a picture of my buddy and I with our guitars. I'm on the right.

http://www.jdjlab.com/~logan/Guitar%20Buil...ut/IMG_0640.JPG

[joshvegas]

an make a sugggestion? have you cut the headstock shape yet?

because if you havent.

It's your guitar obviously but i think the headstock and body knit together better this way.

[avengers63]

Anyway, I'm not sure about all the layout yet, just trying a few things out. This picture shows the possible placement of pickups and knobs, though I'm not sure whether to do four inline or a 2x2 grid like on SG's and LP's. I've also drawn out the cuts to bring the neck down to the correct width and where I plan to bevel the two cutaways.

Just my $0.02 worth:

Four in-line pots looks kinda cluttered & really spread out. At least it does the way you have them set on the body right now. I'd say bunch them together more. Notice that you haven't places the pup switch yet. It's placement might spread things out further. Two concentric pots are always an option...

Aside from that, the whole thing looks great so far. Walnut always looks so rich. It's a great looking wood choice.

[Azrael]

Just wanted to put an idea out there, why not use the 250K concentric pot and simply wire in the the correct resistor in parallel to make it value 25K?

http://projectguitar.com/tut/potm.htm

http://www.electronics2000.co.uk/calc/calcrsp.htm

Looks like placing a 27.778k resistor in parallel with a 250K will yield 25K. Of course, allow for tolerances....But you should still arrive at a value close to 25K.

[Geo]

FYI, it looks like all of your wood is slab sawn rather than quarter sawn. There's a reason people usually use quartersawn wood.

It's comin' along. Keep up the good work.

[DIYiT]

Well, I'm finally getting around to posting more updates... My stupid camera is old and eats through batteries, so I haven't had a camera to take pictures with for a while, but I finally was able to borrow my brother's.

Well, here's the progress up until the beginning of class today (I had the camera last time, track meets kept me from updating until today)

The front hasn't changed a whole lot... all that you can see from the front is that I have planed the wings flat, routed the cavities for the humbuckers, and drilled the holes for the pots. However, I've also routed the electronics cavity and the slot for the battery box to reside in.

First, the humbucker cavities. I ended up routing the cavities by hand with a router using only a 1/4" bit and a 1/2" with no bearings, so theres a couple spot where I lost a bit of control and the line got a bit off track. I also had to chisel quite a bit to get the humbuckers to fit properly, especially around the two ears (? where they mount with the bolts).

pic1

pic2

As you can probably see, I routed the neck pickup first. By the time I had finished that, I had gotten a technique figured out so my second cavity went a lot better.

I also routed my truss rod cavity.

pic3

Now the back of the guitar is where I've spent more time. I've gotten the electronics cavity routed. The battery box is going to be located right next to the control cavity, so I routed one large cavity. I will be mounting the battery box to the cavity cover. The cavity will also be routed slightly larger; the cavity cover will be slightly larger and more round, and I'll be routing out a little more room for the pots so that things aren't so cramped.

pic4

pic5

Once again, the cavities were routed by hand.

Today, I did a rough cut of my neck. I cut both the taper width-wise, and the thickness of the neck. I'll be spending quite a bit of time getting them straightened up since I used the bandsaw to make the cuts, but it's really starting to look like pieces of a guitar now. (I'll get pictures as soon as I can).

[DIYiT]

Well, I got some work in yesterday during class and this morning before school started. I managed to make the rough cut of the neck, the taper width-wise and the thickness, and I've done a bit of work to smooth it out on the drum sander this morning.

Here's an overall view of the cutout. I managed to make the cuts on the band saw, though it was hard because of the small base and the small amount of clearance on the left hand side (that is why there's such a large amount of wood left at the headstock/neck joint.

Here you can see the closeup the cut into the headstock area, and the large piece of wood left at the joint.

picture 1

Here's what the neck to body join will look like somewhat. It's a combination of the normal Schecter/Fender join where the two horns join at different fret positions, but I'll be making a straight line across much like a PRS has.

picture 2

Then, I set up a guide and used a router to trim the rough edges down to a nice straight line. This was only done on the width of the neck. I didn't think it would be wise to attempt to wield the router on the side of the neck. I think I'll be block sanding the thickness down (40 grit seems to have eaten through pretty well in a couple minutes, so I'll probably continue with that).

picture 3

Then this morning when I came to school, I used the drum sander to carve out the block of wood at the headstock/neck joint (I really don't like the taste of walnut and maple dust). I think it turned out pretty well, though I still have some work to do on it.

Is there a name for the extra wood left at the neck/headstock joint? I've referred to it as a thumb stop, but what do you call it?

picture 4

picture 5

Here's a sketch of the possible headstock design. It's loosely modeled after the Schecter headstock. I'm not sure if it's too fat at the top because the strings will have to bend outward to reach the tuning pegs. I might need to skinny it up a bit to create a straighter line on either side of the nut.

picture 6

Lastly, here are two shots of a piece of scrap walnut that I have applied tung oil to. These shots show the piece after only 2 coats of oil. Since then, I took these pictures, I've sanded the finish with 400 grit sandpaper and have applied another coat of oil. I'll be doing this a number of times more to see if I like the finish. I haven't fully decided whether I want a satin or gloss finish. If anybody has recommendations for finishes that may look good, I have a few more scraps I could try the finish on. (though, I need to be able to acquire the finish in small enough quantities so that I'm not wasting money.)

picture 7

picture 8

[mattharris75]

Is there a name for the extra wood left at the neck/headstock joint? I've referred to it as a thumb stop, but what do you call it?

Looking good so far. The name for this extra wood at the headstock/neck joint is the 'volute'. And if you want to try a different finish, give 'Tru Oil' a shot. You can buy it in small quantities, it's fairly cheap, super easy to apply, builds quickly, and can be made to be satin or gloss. Good luck!