My First Build, Something Different, Day One Results

[bluesy]

Just wanted to share aome pictures of my first attempts.

I have been reading howto's and watching some excellent instructional videos on youtube, so today I took the plunge and started a guitar project. Basically I need to learn how to use the tools as well as how to make a guitar, so I am taking it slow, and using cheap wood, just to "wet my feet".

I had some pine shelving that was only 290mm wide and 19mm thick. I decided to scale down a Les Paul shape to fit the 290mm width, and to glue the shelving to double the thickness to 38mm, then I had an idea to sandwich a piece of ply between them - to produce a nice stripe effect on the side, and take the depth up to 41mm or so.

So yesterday I made the sandwich, glueing them with titebond, and left it clamped overnight. This morning, I made a template, then rough cut the guitar body out with my jigsaw, then routed the exact shape. I also used the router to round over the edges. Next I made a template for the neck pocket (I will initially bolt on an old neck from a Telecaster copy. I might attempt to make my own neck later). I routed out the pocket and fit the tele neck.

Here's how it looks so far. I am thinking of playing around with a floating bridge as in the photo. Nothing is sanded yet, so it is still a bit rough.

Here's a detail shot of the stripe from the ply from the side - I think it looks great.

Edit: just realised I should probably have posted this in the forum for "in progress work". Not sure how to move it though.... sorry 'bout that

Edited July 5, 2008 by bluesy

[willus]

that llooks good man,

i dont have anything to say haha

except that it looks pretty cool

[zyonsdream]

Loops like an LP Jr shape to me which is really cool. If you are planning on using that bridge you are going to need a hell of a lot of neck angle. I'd loose the base and mount the bridge directly to the body. Sort of like a Nashville style but use the wooden one instead.

[Mickguard]

I believe this should be moved to the Projects in Progress section.

I can understand the temptation to build with 'cheap' wood. Especially for learning to use the tools. It's a good idea to practice on the pine, sure. But after you've practiced each step, why not repeat it, but this time using proper guitar wood?

Wood IS cheap. A decent quality blank will only set you back a few more bucks and you'll end up with a playable guitar at the end. Certainly the price of the wood is very little compared to the final cost.

[zyonsdream]

Who was it on here who did the junk wood tone post where they built a guitar from lesser quality lumber and then posted sound samples. I've always thought that pine could have the ability to make a nice tonewood given it was painted with a nice thick hardcoat to keep the body from denting easily. I've owned plywood guitars that sounded awesome and some pine has awesome grain patterns that could look really nice with a subnburst. My very first guitar was out of poplar and I'm glad I didn't kill a nice piece of black limba doing it so making one out of pine might not be that bad of an idea.

It does seem kind of funky seeing a Les Paul body with a telecaster headstock but we all started somewhere and my first guitar was a true disaster.

[bluesy]

I believe this should be moved to the Projects in Progress section.

I can understand the temptation to build with 'cheap' wood. Especially for learning to use the tools. It's a good idea to practice on the pine, sure. But after you've practiced each step, why not repeat it, but this time using proper guitar wood?

Wood IS cheap. A decent quality blank will only set you back a few more bucks and you'll end up with a playable guitar at the end. Certainly the price of the wood is very little compared to the final cost.

It's partly the cost, it's also not wanting to ruin a nice piece of guitar wood. I really expected to completely screw this up as I have never used a router before. Hence I used stuff I had around the garage. There's also that pine looks nice and Fender did use pine for some early bodies, so maybe it'll actually work?

[bluesy]

Loops like an LP Jr shape to me which is really cool. If you are planning on using that bridge you are going to need a hell of a lot of neck angle. I'd loose the base and mount the bridge directly to the body. Sort of like a Nashville style but use the wooden one instead.

Are you worried about the neck angle because there might not be enough string tension to hold the bridge down? Yes, I didn't think of that. OK, I can fix the bridge to the body, thanks for mentioning it.

As it happens, this morning's job is to manufacture a short tailpiece. Because the guitar is reduced in size, the tailpiece I have (from the same old guitar that the bridge came from) is too long. I am thinking of making one from wood. When I have it made, I will string the guitar and see what happens with bridges.

[bluesy]

Who was it on here who did the junk wood tone post where they built a guitar from lesser quality lumber and then posted sound samples. I've always thought that pine could have the ability to make a nice tonewood given it was painted with a nice thick hardcoat to keep the body from denting easily. I've owned plywood guitars that sounded awesome and some pine has awesome grain patterns that could look really nice with a subnburst. My very first guitar was out of poplar and I'm glad I didn't kill a nice piece of black limba doing it so making one out of pine might not be that bad of an idea.

It does seem kind of funky seeing a Les Paul body with a telecaster headstock but we all started somewhere and my first guitar was a true disaster.

You are so right about pine denting easily. One of my learnings from my first day of building is to keep the worktop clean and flat. Mine had a couple of marks and glue spots that made some small dents in the wood. Just makes the filling and sanding harder.

As for sound, well, I'll go as far as I can with this one, certainly to the point of mounting a pickup and trying it out. Maybe I'll like the sound...

[zyonsdream]

I'm not so much worried about string tension as I am the action at the bottom of the fretboard. The bridge is tall. Take a straight edge (or even a relatively straight piece of board that will extend from the nut to the bridge. That will give you a good indication of how high the strings will be at the higher frets. From the looks of things you will need a lot of neck angle for that bridge to work. If you take note, you notice that most guitars that use those bridges are arched topped guitars with neck angle or a relatively high set fretboard. You may find issues with this.

As for using Pine... it's not too much of an issue if you are filling and painting but if you are planning on using a burst or trans stain where you can see the wood then you need to be careful not to dent it too much.

When it comes down to it I personally believe that the wood does play a part in the overall tone of the guitar but on a solid body guitar most tone issues can be overcome with electronics and pickup choices.

My guess...and it's only a guess, the guitar will sound warm and have a lot of bass response and it will lack in the high tone department. I'd start out with a super distortion or something bright. Something with ceramic magnets just to brighten the thing up a bit. If you've ever played a BC Rich artist series with those BDSM pickups, that's what I guess it will sound like. Throw a super distortion into that BCR and it sounds a whole lot better.

Just me rambling though. Like I said, tone is so subjective.

On a side note again... don't be afraid to use lesser woods to cut your teeth on. I use a lot of exotics when I build but I have no problem using woods commonly found at lowes if I have a quick project I want to work on.

[bluesy]

I'm not so much worried about string tension as I am the action at the bottom of the fretboard. The bridge is tall. Take a straight edge (or even a relatively straight piece of board that will extend from the nut to the bridge. That will give you a good indication of how high the strings will be at the higher frets. From the looks of things you will need a lot of neck angle for that bridge to work. If you take note, you notice that most guitars that use those bridges are arched topped guitars with neck angle or a relatively high set fretboard. You may find issues with this.

I see, well working in my favour is the fact that the body is a few millimetres thinner than the Tele body the neck came from, so, because I kept the same amount of wood under the neck so the screw length would be right, this means the neck is set fairly high relative to the body. A straight edge, as you suggested, indicates I am close, and will only need a small neck angle certainly within easy adjustment.

[bluesy]

OK, so, anxious to hear it, I knocked up a quicky tailpiece from some hardwood and a kitchen cupboard hinge (no kidding). I used some double sided sticky to mount an old single coil pickup that I use to experiment, and tried it in a few positions from the neck to the bridge.

I suppose everyone says their first attempt sounds great? Well, I am quite happy with mine too I was surprised to find that no setup was required. Of course the neck had the right set in it already from using it on the tele, but bridge height, and intonation were very close to spot on. No rattles either. Seems my measurements and woodwork are pretty close. I just spent 45 minutes playing it and enjoying it!

Here's what it looks like now.

[dpm99]

So you more or less made a working guitar in two days? Well, I'm impressed.

[bluesy]

So you more or less made a working guitar in two days? Well, I'm impressed.

If I had the electrical stuff, I suppose I'd have had time to route a few more holes for the pickups and wire it up properly, but of course there's all the finishing - sanding and painting - still to go.

but yeah, I am happy to get this far.

[zyonsdream]

That guitar screams delta blues, looks likes something that you'd see on an album cover from the early era delta blues recordings. Oh, and my first guitar played like crap and sounded just as bad...my second, not so bad but that was a long time before the internet caught on to guitar building.

[Dudz]

Les Pinecaster I would call it! How does that thing sound? This thing definitely interests me I think I'll even try something similar!

[bluesy]

Les Pinecaster I would call it! How does that thing sound? This thing definitely interests me I think I'll even try something similar!

It rings nicely, has a definite twang, but that was with the test single coil pickup.

I have since routed a neck position humbucker into place, and I am about to route a hole in back for the controls. I also made a nicely grained wooden pickguard - styled a bit like an archtop pickguard. I also plan to use a hard stop piece rather than the temporary tailpiece in the photo. Progress has slowed because I am only doing a bit of work each night, but I hope to get to finishing it this weekend. I am thinking a satin finish clear coat will look good on the pine.

[Bryan316]

Give it a golden oak stain, then clear coat it. Give it a rich deep color, and that grain will stand out like safety flares!

[bluesy]

Give it a golden oak stain, then clear coat it. Give it a rich deep color, and that grain will stand out like safety flares!

I need to practice staining. I have tried a couple of times on things like the overhead light housing on my aquarium :-) and the result was woeful. Maybe because I was trying to stain pine to a dark walnut, but it just didn't come out even.

[dugg]

It's really beautiful. Stains have solid pigments in them and might block some depth looking into the grain. I'd just use straight shellac, it really makes the grain 3D and hardens the surface a bit too. If you wanted color, I think dye first then shellac. I've used RIT fabric dye on quite a few wood projects with great results. Cheap and easy to find.

[ihocky2]

Pine can be difficult to get to stain evenly. Like maple and cherry, pine has different densities throughout the grain structure. Some absorb stain like a sponge some do almost nothing and you get a blotchy result. It can take a while to get some of those woods to stain evenly. That is why a lot of people spray tinted clear over them, you get the color you want and not blotching. The other option is gel stain, it is a lot thicker so it doesn't soak in and get blotchy, but it also covers any figuring.

[bluesy]

Pine can be difficult to get to stain evenly. Like maple and cherry, pine has different densities throughout the grain structure. Some absorb stain like a sponge some do almost nothing and you get a blotchy result. It can take a while to get some of those woods to stain evenly. That is why a lot of people spray tinted clear over them, you get the color you want and not blotching. The other option is gel stain, it is a lot thicker so it doesn't soak in and get blotchy, but it also covers any figuring.

I might just leave this one natural blonde and spray some clear over it. I will do some practice on off cuts also however.

[deadmike]

i know a lot of purists on here will scoff. but i made my first guitar from pine, not even good solid pine. i glued two cubboard doors together. and out of my 7 guitars (varying in expensive and materials) i predominantly play my crappy pine built one because i believe it sounds the best. thats maybe my ears though

so dont be put off until you play it and hear it

[bluesy]

so dont be put off until you play it and hear it

I have, and I am very happy with the sound. The only thing that might prevent me using pine again is the softness and how easily it damges.

[Bryan316]

I need to practice staining. I have tried a couple of times on things like the overhead light housing on my aquarium :-) and the result was woeful. Maybe because I was trying to stain pine to a dark walnut, but it just didn't come out even.

Quite simple. SLOOOOOW.

Get your stain, and some alcohol, and a plastic tub. Cool Whip makes awesome mixing tubs.

Use the alcohol to thin your stain out a lot. A LOT. Then use an old shirt for your applicator. Soak the whole rag in the stain, BUT ring it back out, so there's not a lot of stain in the shirt. Start rubbing the stain in, which will take a lot of coats to get it dark and solid. This gives you a lot of room to fudge around and make sure it goes in evenly.

[avengers63]

I need to practice staining. I have tried a couple of times on things like the overhead light housing on my aquarium :-) and the result was woeful. Maybe because I was trying to stain pine to a dark walnut, but it just didn't come out even.

Use a washcoat before staining. This will help stop the blotchiness and uneven absorption of the stain.

And buy Bob Flexner's book.