Keegan Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 So I've just barely gotten started on my first build. Here's the wood, with the body(3pc walnut) already glued up and the padouk i'll be using for the top: And the padouk resawn/glued: Yes, yes I did just turn a 18x5.5x0.75 piece of padouk into a 3/8" top(to be sanded to 1/4") The neck I'm just going to order from Warmoth, since I don't have the tools or the balls to make a neck yet. The plan is to rout control channels in the walnut, prepare the padouk, glue the padouk down, bandsaw the rough shape out, and then take it down until I'm happy with the shape with an oscillating sander and hand sanding. Then I'll rout the **** in the top, round-over the edges with a router, do some final sanding, finish it with a few coats of Danish oil, and save my money for the rest of the parts =P Does anyone see any problems with my plan? Final Parts List Neck - Warmoth Padouk/Ebony Baritone Conv. Neck w/ Strat headstock Hardware - Earvana Compensated Nut(blk), Schaller 475 top mount bridge(blk), Gotoh SG38 non-locking tuners(blk), Tele-style control plate(gold), Metal Humbucker mounting rings(gold), Battery box, string retainer(if needed, I've never needed one on a strat headstock though, you just have to string it a certain way) Electronics - EMG 60A Neck, EMG 58 Bridge, Stacked Volume/tone, 3-way switching, EMG EXG, EMG PA2, Electrosocket jack Total Cost = about $1000(including cost of tools, rented shop time, and stewmac templates) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 Cool, I like your creativity in making that wood work for you. It's hard to tell, but I hope you got a good invisible glue line on the edges of the top. Does anyone see any problems with my plan? I think it will work... you might make it easier on yourself if you make a template of your final body shape and use that and a bearing bit to bring your body down. Then it will be square and won't need so much sanding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keegan Posted November 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 (edited) It should be invisible once it's sanded. The walnut was and I didn't even clamp it as well and used more glue. I have a template, but it's not good enough to actually use as a guide(I tried to bandsaw it along the line, instead of outside it), so i'm just using it to draw rough shapes of the body. Also, the only ball bearing bit I have is only deep enough for doing the neck pocket and electronics routing. How will I place the bridge since it's a baritone conversion neck? Can I still just use the stew-mac calculator? EDIT: What kind of weight should I be looking for, so that I know whether to chamber it or not? Edited November 29, 2008 by Keegan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesy Posted November 29, 2008 Report Share Posted November 29, 2008 EDIT: What kind of weight should I be looking for, so that I know whether to chamber it or not? I was worried about weight with mine, and I found a site with weights of all their bodies. The heaviest seemed to be about 7 kg. That's the bare body only, and that's what mine weighed even after chambering. I have stood and played that guitar for 2.5 hours straight, and it felt comfortable. Heavy, yes, but it didn't hurt my back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keegan Posted November 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2008 Hmm, I'm at 5.2 kilos before any shaping or thickness sanding. It'll be at...4.3 kilos after thickness sanding it, assuming it's the same density throughout. Even Warmoth's heaviest LP is only 2.5kg. How in the hell did you make a 7kg guitar? Did you build it out of MDF? To chamber or not to chamber? I think some holes may be in order, especially since i'm not rear-routing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesy Posted November 29, 2008 Report Share Posted November 29, 2008 Hmm, I'm at 5.2 kilos before any shaping or thickness sanding. It'll be at...4.3 kilos after thickness sanding it, assuming it's the same density throughout. Even Warmoth's heaviest LP is only 2.5kg. How in the hell did you make a 7kg guitar? Did you build it out of MDF? Easy, I'm an idiot. It was 7 lbs, not 7 kg. Can't remember which site I looked at, but looking around again today, they heaviest I found was 3.1 kg for a Strat - i.e. about 6.8 lbs - and the guitar I made was a 335 copy - i.e. bigger than a strat, and I needed to chamber it as well. It ways just under 5 kg now, fully built with all hardware on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keegan Posted December 3, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2008 (edited) Well I just got the top glued on. It kept trying to shift when clamping it though. Good pour out though, would have been nicer if those stewmac cam clamps had some decent pressure. Edit: Guitar building is nerve-wrecking. Edited December 3, 2008 by Keegan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keegan Posted December 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2008 If I have to stop working on this for awhile, is there anything I should do to the wood? Like seal it with oil or something to keep it from cracking/warping/doing funky stuff? The walnut is old as hell, so it's not going anywhere, I'd be more worried about the padouk cracking though, especially with how dry it is here in winter(25% rel. humidity right now in my room where the wood is). I've decided to hold off on certain parts of the construction(neck, pickup, and bridge routing) until I have the hardware, so I may have to store the wood indefinitely after getting it shaped and routing the control cavity. Until then, I'll probably be practicing my routing on less-nice wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted December 6, 2008 Report Share Posted December 6, 2008 (edited) Looking good, did you route the selector switch channel as well as a control cavitiy in the walnut before glueing on the top as per your plan? If so did you take photos? Edited December 6, 2008 by Muzz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keegan Posted December 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2008 Nah, I just routed from one pickup to the other, no pictures though. I wasn't quite sure where I was going to put the control cavity, so I didn't rout to it. I'll have to drill from the pickups to the control cavity later. Anyone know the answer to my question in my last post about storing wood? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hector Posted December 18, 2008 Report Share Posted December 18, 2008 Nah, I just routed from one pickup to the other, no pictures though. I wasn't quite sure where I was going to put the control cavity, so I didn't rout to it. I'll have to drill from the pickups to the control cavity later. Anyone know the answer to my question in my last post about storing wood? that's a lot of glue! i just hope the channel you routed isn't filled with glue now. always nice to see someone other than myself using a 4 piece top. about storing, i always leave the pieces standing up, or hanging from some wire to make sure that the air is moving evenly on both sides of the wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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