Build #3

[Xanthus]

Allrighty folks! Back on the boards with another project in the works, basically something to keep my hands busy for the winter break. This one shaping up is a hardtail mahogany RG set neck, using the other maple/walnut neck from my stock. I'm taking lots of inspiration from Stewey's RG build and putting a bevel around the body front and back. It's going to be finished in a matte finish with some sort of oil, more than likely grain-filled black as well.

Specs:

Neck - maple/walnut/maple

FB - rosewood, 24 frets

body - mahogany one-piece

tuners - Open-back Sperzels, black

Bridge - Gotoh Hardtail, black (easy to replace with a Kahler down the line if I choose)

Pickups - PAF Pro neck, ??? Bridge

Electronics - 1V 1T, P-Megaswitch

Pics are up on the Fotki account.

That's a $35 RG body that I picked up to use as a crap-kicker-outter/test bed/beater guitar. I stole and modified my grandpa's router bed to put on the bevels. I won't have a tummy or forearm cut, so use your imagination to connect the bevels, eh? Also I'm not looking to get marks for my routing job haha. It adds to the character.

My only issues are these:

-AANJ

-Output jack

-Pickups

AANJ - I'm doing the bevel all around, including the AANJ. The bevel will be 1/2". I'm having trouble working out the dimensions for the set neck/cavity. If I allow an extra 8th inch before the pocket (which will extend the length of the pickup cavity as well), that will be 5/8" to the cavity. The cavity will then be 1-1/8" deep. Taking off the 3/4" for the depth of the pickup cavity, the neck wood left under the pickup will only be 3/8". Will that be sufficient wood for a joint? Yes, it will be the full thickness under the AANJ, but I'm just looking for extra security.

output jack - I was thinking of doing a JEM-style output jack using the same barrel jack as my other two builds. But the rubber washer around the jack requires the drilling of a 3/4" hole, which won't be possible with the bevels. I could do without the rubber washer, in which case I would need a 5/8" hole. Still very tight tolerances for me. Can anyone offer alternatives? No endpin jack, because (aside from their not coming in black) I'm going to use strap-loks. No strat-style jacks, because they're ugly. I could do the jack non-recessed without a rubber washer, but I would prefer not to.

pickups - I'm looking at something a bit more high powered than the Tone Zone I have now, with more treble presence. I don't feel like it's picking up my harmonics as powerfully as I want it to. I'm planning on using the same P-Megaswitch as on my second build, to get some Strat-type sounds. My picks so far are the Steve's Special from Dimarzio and either the JB, Duncan Custom, or Custom 5 from Seymour (more than likely, the first 2). I have another PAF Pro, so chances are that will be going in the neck. Any opinions or other suggestions?

Man, it feels good to have another project to work on.

[ae3]

Beveled RG's looks really cool!

For the bridge pickup, you say your harmonics are not getting picked up enough, so why not try a Seymour D. Blackout?

There're supposed to have all the harmonic content of EMG's, without being overly compressed and sterile. (Sorry EMG fans)

I have no idea how to wire that with a PAF Pro in the neck, but it's probably possible

Also, I'm not sure that it will work with the Mega-switch.....

Anyways aside from that, I have a JB in one of my guitars and it's a wonderful all-rounder with great harmonics.

How about an Ibanez S style series output jack?

They look pretty sweet and the lead never gets in the way.

http://www.lifeismusic.co.uk/Products/vide...20zr%20trem.jpg

That's what I'm talking about

Will keeps tabs on this build.

[Xanthus]

aaaah yes, I forgot about the S-style jack. I actually see a few people putting them on the back of the guitar too. I'll have to look into that, thanks! There was a thread detailing it here a while back. I think the agreed-upon angle was 60 degrees off perpendicular.

I've never played a blackout, but I have EMGs in my first build and they're a tad too powerful for me. I was actually debating an X2N because one of my buddies had one, and because I'm a huge Michael Romeo fan, but I fear that it would be the same deal, too MUCH output. I've had the benefit of playing a Steve's Special on my friend's Petrucci signature and it's quite nice. The JB is always great. Brings out the 80s rocker in me I do wish that more guitars at GC had more than just the JB, Jazz, and 59...

With the Megaswitch, I'm trying to balance the different projects I'm in. I'm in a European-styled heavy metal thing, and I do my own rock thing with lots of effects, U2-esque. I also take Jazz lessons. As opposed to spending a lot of money and getting a guitar for every project, I'm trying to balance them out. The PAF Pro I find is very nice for Jazz. I don't need to roll off the tone as much, which I like. So I'm looking for a good hard rock pickup that will go parallel well with the PAF Pro for Strat sounds to use clean with my delay/verb. The Tone Zone goes parallel very well with the PAF Pro, it's just a hair softer than I'd like it to be. I know this is because of parallel and what not, but a higher output bridge pickup would help this problem.

[guitar2005]

Man... that's too bad you screwed up with the router around the input jack, but I don't understand how you did the same mistake twice. Looks like the router bit's ball bearing followed the input jack recess.

Is that intended?

[Xanthus]

Man... that's too bad you screwed up with the router around the input jack, but I don't understand how you did the same mistake twice. Looks like the router bit's ball bearing followed the input jack recess.

Is that intended?

Read: "That's a $35 RG body that I picked up to use as a crap-kicker-outter/test bed/beater guitar."

[Stewey]

Excellent, I love beveled RG's

[Xanthus]

Excellent, I love beveled RG's

Yeah, I figured you might, Stewey

So I glued in a splice to fill in the truss channel (messed it up on the test run last year, no biggie). With that dry, I added ears on the headstock and just glued the mahogany veneer on the headstock. My plan is to sand the veneer in a such a way that the nut will sit over it. Kind of like what people will do to the binding on the side of a headstock, give it a nice little sharp point under the nut. We'll see how it turns out.

In other news, I've been debating the headstock for a bit now. I was very much set on my traditional Ibanez-ripoff headstock, which I think is definitely one of the more pleasing designs as far as headstocks go. Since this again will be another hard rockin' body style, I was thinking the same, but I'm looking to challenge myself a bit more. Now some of you might not think a different headstock is challenging, but it certainly is different. I didn't know if anyone had any opinions about the following:

A: My usual headstock

B: The Ibanez 3x3

C: The Jackson 3x3

I was thinking of tossing in the ESP 3x3, but I don't feel that it would fit the proposed body style enough. Thoughts?

Also, anyone have any firsthand experience with the Steve's Special pickup? I hear it's very different to work with, and was wondering what the learning curve might be.

[ae3]

JACKSON 3x3!

I used it on my V and IMO it's the coolest headstock of all time.... besides the Jackson 6-inline.

The Jackson 3x3 would suit the RG very well.

[Xanthus]

Thanks for the vote, ae3! I'm thinking the Jackson 3x3 will look good too, well better than the Ibanez 3x3 at least. Still not sure, though.

I'm still getting used to the Mac setup, so I haven't been able to find a good Photoshop replacement program (Or a Cakewalk MIDI replacement program, for that matter...) to whip up some crappy mockups. In the mind's eye it seems to work, so we'll see.

Didn't get any work done today (holidays. duh.). More hopefully tomorrow, at least trimming the veneer to shape and figuring out a routing solution for a truss rod channel on an already-tapered neck....

[guitar2005]

Man... that's too bad you screwed up with the router around the input jack, but I don't understand how you did the same mistake twice. Looks like the router bit's ball bearing followed the input jack recess.

Is that intended?

Read: "That's a $35 RG body that I picked up to use as a crap-kicker-outter/test bed/beater guitar."

But aren't you trying to make this into a guitar again? .... or are you just fooling around with this body as scrap and throw it away ?

Edited December 26, 2008 by guitar2005

[Xanthus]

Basically just fooling around with it as scrap. I have no plans to throw it away, though, don't worry! I'm as frugal as the rest of them. I'm watching the neck pocket and bridge in case I feel like digging up an AANJ neck and piecing this together into a complete guitar.

And then when I become rich and famous for my Franken-RG you can say you saw it on the PG forums first!

[j. pierce]

I'm a huge fan of that Ibanez 3x3 - I think some subtle tweaks could make it more your own - but really it's not that different than the Jackson one, in the end. Either one would be cool. I really think those kind of 3x3 headstocks are very nice looking, and I prefer them to the 6 in lines.

[ElysianGuitars]

steve's specials are the 6 string version of the blaze, very scooped, but they work quite well if you have a mid happy amp. you can get some absolutely crushing tones out of them, especially if you tune low.

Excellent, I love beveled RG's

Yeah, I figured you might, Stewey

So I glued in a splice to fill in the truss channel (messed it up on the test run last year, no biggie). With that dry, I added ears on the headstock and just glued the mahogany veneer on the headstock. My plan is to sand the veneer in a such a way that the nut will sit over it. Kind of like what people will do to the binding on the side of a headstock, give it a nice little sharp point under the nut. We'll see how it turns out.

In other news, I've been debating the headstock for a bit now. I was very much set on my traditional Ibanez-ripoff headstock, which I think is definitely one of the more pleasing designs as far as headstocks go. Since this again will be another hard rockin' body style, I was thinking the same, but I'm looking to challenge myself a bit more. Now some of you might not think a different headstock is challenging, but it certainly is different. I didn't know if anyone had any opinions about the following:

A: My usual headstock

B: The Ibanez 3x3

C: The Jackson 3x3

I was thinking of tossing in the ESP 3x3, but I don't feel that it would fit the proposed body style enough. Thoughts?

Also, anyone have any firsthand experience with the Steve's Special pickup? I hear it's very different to work with, and was wondering what the learning curve might be.

[Xanthus]

Thanks for the info, Elysian! I never check the 7-string section of Dimarzio because my small(er) hands and 7 strings don't really get along I think they would sound quite nice in my project, but the only thing I'm worried about is having to totally reconfigure my tones on my amp and effects units. None of my guitars have mid-scooped pickups; on the contrary, my favorite guitar has a Tone Zone in it, which is very mid-heavy. It's still up in the air. I'm hoping to get a slab of mahog in the next couple of days.

[Xanthus]

Update! Spent all day down the basement, as well as the past couple days. Here's what I've done:

-chopped off headstock

-cut a new scarf joint

-glued on a piece of walnut for the headstock, a la scarf option #2

-sanded the walnut down to match the fretboard surface.

-made aneck taper template with 42mm-53mm taper

-used the template attached to the neck blank to run against the router bit

-shaved down the neck/tenon with the router

-cut off the bulk of the headstock shape. I've decided on a traditional 6il Ibanez-styled headstock, like my other two

The walnut looks pretty snazzy as part of the neck, as well as the headstock. The walnut piece continues for about 3" under the fretboard/nut. I hope the walnut will help to tame some of the highs on those first few frets when I play open chords

The taper goes the whole length of the tenon, which is about 3" longer than the fretboard. By having an angled tenon, I'm hoping to add some strength to the join as well as make it easier to pass the Perry-approved neck joint test

I'm devising a plan to use the template/jig for cutting the neck taper template, and work it into a jig that would cut my truss rod channel on the router table. I think I've almost got it figured out...

Next on the list is get out the spindle sander and take down the headstock to thickness, then cut and sand it to shape. Or maybe just cut it to rough dimensions, in case it gets a bump along the creative process way.

I took pics, but don't have the adaptor to get them off my cell phone. Will rectify next week when I get back to the dorm.

[Southbound]

hey Xan,

if you haven't decided on the headstock yet...

I like your usual head stock...maybe you could adapt that into a 3x3.

It might like cool (and just a little out of the ordinary) with 3 on the straight edge and 3 on the curved edge. I'm imagining somewhere between the "usual" one and the Jackson. You may need to frig with the overall downward angle a bit so the bottom 3 strings don't angle to far south. But hey, it's a thought (and you did ask for some )

[Xanthus]

I'm pretty set on the 6-inline headstock. I was debating the Jackson 3x3 for a while, but I like all my tuners on the same side, really Also, I cut out a bit slice from the headstock that would follow the top edge of a 6il, so I don't think I have any room to change my plans anymore...

On a different note, I found myself strangely debating bolt-on versus set neck. Without opening a can of this method better than that method, what do people think about these?

http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/thirdproducts....On+Neck+Inserts

The website says that two screws/inserts is enough for one neck. I don't really know if I buy that, not having even seen a bolt-on with less than 4 screws. It would be nice for convenience's sake in the event of a guitar tragedy, to have a bolt-on neck. Then again, I don't gig any more ( ) and take good care of my instruments. With the way I'm doing the heel, I would be extending the tenon under the neck pickup. I don't think the inserts/screw setup would work under the neck pickup, because I would route out a bit of the neck to put the pickup in. Also, gotta keep those metal parts from affecting the magnetic field of my neck pickup No wonder bolt-ons sound terrible!

Also, not getting the inserts, I would save myself $10. Not much, but every bit counts. This is a recession guitar.

Also, I seem to have run into a truss rod issue. I'm thinking of a way to use my taper jig to cut a truss channel, but all the methods I can think of will make a straight cut through the headstock, which will be much longer than it needs to be, and would necessitate a fairly large truss rod cover. Are there any easy methods of doing this with a router table? I'm thinking I might have to make a router stand and do it that way...

::EDIT::

Whipped up a quick price guide for the build, and before shipping, my total cost BARELY breaks $400. This will be kick-ass.

Edited January 13, 2009 by Xanthus

[RestorationAD]

<opinion> Glue it in.... Unless you are traveling with the guitar. </opinion>

[Xanthus]

<opinion> Glue it in.... Unless you are traveling with the guitar. </opinion>

Only in a case, in a car, back and forth to school. Safe enough, methinks. I think I'll go with you on the glue-in.

[RestorationAD]

<opinion> Glue it in.... Unless you are traveling with the guitar. </opinion>

Only in a case, in a car, back and forth to school. Safe enough, methinks. I think I'll go with you on the glue-in.

Did it on the Randy Rhoads V I built for my brother and I was very happy with the results. It makes for a different beast, more custom feel if you will. So unless you subscribe to "the only way to fly" is with the detached neck school of thought there is no need for bolt on. You never question vibration transfer/neck alignment/shims/positive connection force after.... you may however still question life, the universe, and everything.

Good Luck!!!

[Xanthus]

Quick update, got the truss rod installed with a few dabs of silicone. I put 5 dots behind the rod: one under each end, and 3 others spaced out evenly. Let it sit for an hour or two, come back and it rattles when I go a'rapping on the neck. Would this be because the fretboard isn't on? I hope I don't have to do some surgery on the guitar if I get it up and running. Maybe it's because it isn't exerting any pressure against the strings, and this will go away.

Should I take any precautionary measures to fix this now, or will it go away on its own? I've read of people thinning down rubber cement and pouring it into the channel as repair work...

Also shaped the headstock up to 80grit. I traced the outline and more or less freehanded the whole thing, so it's a bit different in shape than the other two, but that's cool with me. The headstock is 11/16" thick. Thinking of keeping it thick and recessing the tuners from the front. Here is a picture from Hector's PRS, to get a sense of what I'm talking about. More sustain with a thicker headstock (how much difference will it make? who knows!), and a sharper break angle over the strings (how much difference.....etcetc. ). Not too worried about headstock dip, as my plans put the top horn between the 11th and 12th frets, a good balance point. I'm going to use the open-back tuners from Sperzel, much lighter than their others.

Moving back to campus tomorrow, so I don't know how much progress there will be for the next month or so. I'm planning on gluing up the fretboard tomorrow, just to get another step in progress before I move back. Hopefully I'll get a reply about the truss rod before then.

::EDIT::

I was wondering if anyone had any opinion on the "back of the guitar angled jack" placement like Perry's Vine guitar? Almost like an Ibanez S series jack setup on the back of the guitar. I'm just a bit concerned about drilling a jack recess of 5/8" and then a jack hole, on the guitar side that only has 3/4" of thickness to do so. It's a bit hairy, tight tolerances and all. I wanted to do a JEM jack before I decided to put bevels around the edges.

Edited January 19, 2009 by Xanthus

[dpm99]

Xanthus,

A friend gave me this trick, and it might help you. Take some plastic wrap (Saran Wrap or whatever) and wrap it around your truss rod. It should stop the rattling, and will keep glue away from the rod too.

-Dave

[Xanthus]

Ah, that's a very cool trick, Dave! Thanks a lot. I'm definitely doing that this weekend. Seems a lot safer/nonintrusive than pouring rubber cement down the shaft

[Xanthus]

Quick, infrequent update/question, per usual.

The Saran Wrap idea worked like a charm, Dave! Thanks again!

In other news, I was doing some mocking-up and measuring and what-have-you, and realized that the width of the neck is a hair smaller than I want it to be. It's EXACTLY on the button with the measurements that I want it to be at, but the edges were hit with the router bit, and I'm afraid that sanding it up the grits when I come to do finishing is going to take it below what I want it to be at. I KNEW I should have hit it with the robosander instead, because I would have both a sanded edge and another few mms to play with to get it to final dimension. Stupid stupid stupid!

Any ideas, anyone? Much appreciated!

[ae3]

It's a horrible feeling, knowing that something might just be too small.

Is the neck to small for the neck pocket?

If so, you could add a veneer to the inside of the pocket, it might work.