jeremyp Posted March 13, 2010 Report Share Posted March 13, 2010 (edited) Picked up about 8 dollars of wood at homedepot and am about start making a sg body to replace the cheap plywood les paul clone body. This is more of an introduction to building a guitar from scratch so i'm looking to spend as little as possible. The wood? 'whitewood', I'm under the impression it is spruce. I'm going to have a center of this whitewood with a 1/4 inch top and bottom of something else, maybe birch?. My sg will use a strat style tremolo so I'm aiming at around 40mm thick. I'm going to have the once bolt on neck glued in after i go through and re-fret it. I'm wanting it to be light so I am planning on chambering the body. Nothing special with the pickups, just the random two humbuckers that came with the old lp. Edited March 13, 2010 by jeremyp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremyp Posted March 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2010 i need 14inches wide so i am adding strips along the side to get from 11 and 1/4 to 14 inches. i'll glue this stuff up tomorrow, its kinda cold so i don't want any issues with the wood shrinking and messing up. after this i'm going to get it planed then start cutting it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremyp Posted March 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2010 the core is all glued together. gonna let it set and then start cutting tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodenspoke Posted March 14, 2010 Report Share Posted March 14, 2010 You could have just picked up some African mahogany and made an SG. It may have cost $10 more and taken maybe two hrs less to glue it all up. Just saying. I want to point out how this works. Lumber is priced by the sq foot, except at Home Crapo.. A body is normally less than 4 sq ft. The price of African mahogany from a lumber yard is $6 a sq ft for 2" think stock.. Thats about $24 for a mahogany body blank.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samba Pa Ti Posted March 14, 2010 Report Share Posted March 14, 2010 what strat style trem are you thinking of using ? all the ones ive got have 37mm high blocks which would leave you with 3 mm for the springs and a cover unless it was cut down, i know its possible to get smaller ones but just thought i would throw that out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killemall8 Posted March 14, 2010 Report Share Posted March 14, 2010 You could have just picked up some African mahogany and made an SG. It may have cost $10 more and taken maybe two hrs less to glue it all up. Just saying. I want to point out how this works. Lumber is priced by the sq foot, except at Home Crapo.. A body is normally less than 4 sq ft. The price of African mahogany from a lumber yard is $6 a sq ft for 2" think stock.. Thats about $24 for a mahogany body blank.. I'd say 6$ is pretty dang cheap for AM... Most people dont have access to it htat cheap. It is usually about 8 or 10$ a bd ft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremyp Posted March 14, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2010 as i said, this is kind of a practice run for making a guitar. AND I don't believe there's a good cheap supply of non-native woods at those prices near me. BUT i WILL keep this in mind for my next build lol. the block is 35mm. If i need to, i can cut the block down a bit. I was told it is from a marshall guitar? I figure with the bridge FLAT on the body i'll have 5mm gap. IF the bridge is slightly elevated i'll gain a couple mm of space. I'll probably be using non standard springs i can find at a hardware store so i can use multiple skinny springs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killemall8 Posted March 14, 2010 Report Share Posted March 14, 2010 never heard of a marshall guitar... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremyp Posted March 14, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2010 yeah, i honestly have no clue. its definitely something import as was decided in another thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mender Posted March 14, 2010 Report Share Posted March 14, 2010 never heard of a marshall guitar... The Marshall Rocket Special is a Strat copy aimed at the beginner. They've been around for a few years. Nothing special, but the bridge pickup isn't bad for a starter guitar http://www.dv247.com/guitars/marshall-gap1...amp-pack--46712 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremyp Posted March 14, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2010 haha thanks mender. I only have the bridge for it so i'm going to have to find parts to complete the tremolo setup. Any suggestions of where to look for some 1/4 mahogany to top my guitar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
low end fuzz Posted March 14, 2010 Report Share Posted March 14, 2010 mahogonay that has been cut and dressed down to 1/4" will probly cost as much as your body there; if your doing this on the cheap for learning purposes, just get a set of veneers for the top and back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremyp Posted March 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2010 here's where i'm at. Tomorrow i'm going to get it taken down to about 27.3mm from 38.1mm. i think i'm going to do a 1/2inch top out of oak. i'm chambering the body so i'll have some 1/4 inch recessions about the chambers in the lower part. Is it going to be heavy? shouldnt be. 1)the amount of oak is minimal 2)the other part of the body is really light already plus it's getting chambered 3) and this should keep it from neck diving. 4) Brian May's Red Special used oak 5) the 1/2 oak should be about right to get all the way to the edge for the beveling that happens 6)oak is tough stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremyp Posted March 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2010 taken down to 9/8 inches thick and routed for wires and preamp 1/8 oak control cavity covers fit em in. not perfect but filler will make it look a little nicer haha tomorrow i'm going to go get some oak for the top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremyp Posted March 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2010 I've got all my controls drilled for and fitted. then i started cutting out the hole for the tremolo. didnt have enough time in my friend's shop to finish that so i started carving the sides back home. It's lookin pretty awesome. It actually about 42mm thick but i need to sand the back a bunch before i carve it so i'll get closer to my target 40. hopefully i can get some done tonight and finish routing by the weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremyp Posted April 6, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2010 just have to route humbuckers(don't have a router available) then finish painting. I'm pleased how the oak's grain shows through the paint also the white binding still looks nice after i got off all the old paint and repainted the neck. accidently routed too big for the bridge, i realized its cool as now i'll be able up-bend the tremolo more than normal. not sure if i'll do a full pick-guard or make rings, either way i'll have to make em so i'll have somewhere to mount the switches for the pickups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted April 7, 2010 Report Share Posted April 7, 2010 That looks cool, I also like the grain showing through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremyp Posted April 8, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2010 thanks, i'm eager to finish this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blazer Posted April 9, 2010 Report Share Posted April 9, 2010 (edited) That looks really good. I know a thing or two about oakwood SG's since I made one myself. Mine, like yours has a sandwich construction of Oak on top and whitewood at the back, mine, like yours also has a far thicker body than a standard Gibson SG and mine, probably like yours, ended up sounding and playing more like a Fender than a Gibson. This picture shows off the grain of the oak And here you can see the sandwich construction. Edited April 9, 2010 by Blazer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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