Galaga_Mike Posted September 21, 2008 Report Share Posted September 21, 2008 Hey everyone, This is my third guitar. I had a lot of black hardware from various guitars. I'm not a fan of black hardware so I'm taking this opportunity to try some new techniques. The shape is kind of a distorted LP. This one will have a carved maple top with cherry base. Laminated cherry and maple for the neck and bocote fretboard. Floyd tremelo, locking nut, and two humbuckers. Like I said this is a learning experience more than anything. First carved top, first tremelo, first laminated neck, first custom inlay (although it's simple and small), first bolt on neck from scratch. So far I think it's going really well except that the neck and strings ended up a little off center relative to the body (stupid measurement mistake during planning stages). It still plays great, so it's just aesthetic. I've finished the neck and bolted it on for a quick string up. It looks pretty good. Now I'll disassemble and carve and mount electronics. Thanks for looking! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I'm Not Rex Brown Posted September 21, 2008 Report Share Posted September 21, 2008 love the shape but i kinda dislike headstock... maybe it's the pics fault Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killemall8 Posted September 22, 2008 Report Share Posted September 22, 2008 dont like the shape or the headstock, but i love wood combos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galaga_Mike Posted September 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2008 New progress...I've routed out the pickup cavities, the rim for carving, and the recess for binding. The holes for the electronics are also drilled. Ignore the mess on the top of the body, I've been using a spray adhesive to stick templates to the body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galaga_Mike Posted October 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 Finished the carving and did most of the rough sanding. I still have a lot of work to do on the details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reantel Posted October 6, 2008 Report Share Posted October 6, 2008 wow....that carving looks cool......nice and deep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenneth Posted October 6, 2008 Report Share Posted October 6, 2008 I have to agree. Really nice carve!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narcissism Posted October 6, 2008 Report Share Posted October 6, 2008 very nice! i like the recessed electronics cavities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted October 6, 2008 Report Share Posted October 6, 2008 Finished the carving and did most of the rough sanding. I still have a lot of work to do on the details. I agree... that's one deep carve. It really grabs your attention. Is the trem cavity lined up right? It looks off to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galaga_Mike Posted October 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2008 Is the trem cavity lined up right? It looks off to me. Yeah, it's right but it looks funny because the treble side is much longer to accommodate the bar. That's my first tremelo mounting experience so I checked it a million times. As I mentioned earlier, the one problem that I should have avoided is that everything (bridge, pickups, tremelo) is shifted off of the center line about 1/4" to the treble side. Oh well, live and learn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galaga_Mike Posted November 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2008 First full string up. It took a lot of truss rod and intonation adjustments but it's playing great now. Since last post I've put on the black binding, made some pickup rings out of bocote, and cleaned up a lot of the rough spots. I give myself a C+ on binding, I've got a lot to learn. Overall, it's a really comfortable guitar and it's really lightweight. The pickups I used are really bad, though, so I'm sure I'll order new ones since the guitar plays so nicely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAK Guitars Posted November 2, 2008 Report Share Posted November 2, 2008 Thats a great carve, what method did you use? Also what pickups are those? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galaga_Mike Posted November 3, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2008 Thats a great carve, what method did you use? Also what pickups are those? Thanks! For the carve I routed a lip with a router overhang jig (one I saw here, I forget who posted it) and then carved with an angle grinder with a 60 grit wheel. The pickups are from a Hondo strat copy. Not surprising that they sound terrible, but those where the only black pickups I had and I started this guitar with the idea that I wouldn't buy any hardware. Now I like it and so I'll upgrade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travismoore Posted November 3, 2008 Report Share Posted November 3, 2008 First full string up. It took a lot of truss rod and intonation adjustments but it's playing great now. Since last post I've put on the black binding, made some pickup rings out of bocote, and cleaned up a lot of the rough spots. I give myself a C+ on binding, I've got a lot to learn. Overall, it's a really comfortable guitar and it's really lightweight. The pickups I used are really bad, though, so I'm sure I'll order new ones since the guitar plays so nicely. Looks awesome are you going to give it a natural finish? I think it looks amazing as is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElysianGuitars Posted November 3, 2008 Report Share Posted November 3, 2008 (edited) it looks like the carve goes under the pickup rings on the bass side, gotta be careful about that in future builds... i dig the depth of the carve though, it looks pretty good. Edited November 3, 2008 by ElysianGuitars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted November 3, 2008 Report Share Posted November 3, 2008 it looks like the carve goes under the pickup rings on the bass side, gotta be careful about that in future builds... i dig the depth of the carve though, it looks pretty good. Pickup rings suck anyway.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galaga_Mike Posted November 3, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2008 it looks like the carve goes under the pickup rings on the bass side, gotta be careful about that in future builds... i dig the depth of the carve though, it looks pretty good. Yeah, I was really worried about that. It turns out that it only hangs off at the very corner of the pickup ring. There's an optical illusion in the pictures with the grain. Anyway, I'm planning on putting a piece of sandpaper on the contour and sanding down the bottom of the pickup rings for a custom fit. To answer another question, I'm planning on doing some kind of natural oil finish since I've never done that before and this project is all about new things. I'm thinking tru-oil, but I haven't read about what kind would be the best. Suggestions anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted November 3, 2008 Report Share Posted November 3, 2008 Suggestions anyone? SHELLAC!!!!! Seriously. One good soaking coat to seal it up. Buff it out with steel wool. Give it another coat and buff it out as well. It'll offer a LOT more protection than oil, and will seal the wood a lot better. You can even get the shellac with an amber tint for that "fender neck" look. IIRC - tru-oil is a poly/oil blend, so I just can't classify it as an oil finish. Don't believe me about shellac as a finish? Here ya go. The wood has a very light, natural feel to it, despite having 6 coats on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ripthorn Posted November 4, 2008 Report Share Posted November 4, 2008 That's a good looking shellac finish. Was that padded or sprayed or what? I really like tru-oil, personally. It will darken things up a fair bit, so be aware of that. I would think maybe just a good straight clear like nitro or poly would really give that baby a nice shine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted November 4, 2008 Report Share Posted November 4, 2008 Something to think about...cherry and maple combine to make a VERY bright guitar...painfully so...I built one and I cold not stand to listen to it...it hurt my ears... So....I would suggest you redefine some of those lines(for looks...just smooth them out) and Put a VERY thick finish on it...think poly...think THICK.. I don't know if it will help...but anything that will dampen some of those shrill highs will be good....wait until you plug it in...you will see what I mean.... Or maybe you are luckier than I. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted November 4, 2008 Report Share Posted November 4, 2008 PS...mine also had a bocote fretboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted November 4, 2008 Report Share Posted November 4, 2008 That's a good looking shellac finish. Was that padded or sprayed or what? It was brushed on. I laid it down fairly thin after the initial coat. It was virtually self-leveling, so when it was time to buff it out, I only had to spend about 10 minutes with some 320 before I could buff it with some steel wool. I ended up with a very light, natural feeling, matte finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galaga_Mike Posted November 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2008 Something to think about...cherry and maple combine to make a VERY bright guitar...painfully so...I built one and I cold not stand to listen to it...it hurt my ears... So....I would suggest you redefine some of those lines(for looks...just smooth them out) and Put a VERY thick finish on it...think poly...think THICK.. I don't know if it will help...but anything that will dampen some of those shrill highs will be good....wait until you plug it in...you will see what I mean.... Or maybe you are luckier than I. Thanks for the input. I've only plugged it in for a short while, but the pickups actually sounded a little muddy (probably because they're horrible pickups). Now that you mention it, though, it sounds really bright unplugged. Now I know why I keep playing twangy country licks on what is supposed to be a shredder guitar. I'll get some more playing time through an amp before I decide on a finish. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galaga_Mike Posted May 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2009 Finally getting some time to finish this one. This is after about 4 coats of Tru-Oil. I really like working with this Tru-Oil, it's good stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sthell Posted May 1, 2009 Report Share Posted May 1, 2009 Your guitar just looks awesome. I really love the deep carve. The finish is turning out very beautiful aswell. Keep on it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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