oblaty Posted March 28, 2010 Report Share Posted March 28, 2010 Mark I would make it a little more amber-ish and less of that red burst Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarnut Posted March 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2010 As I get further into this build, I realise that without having a WG in front of me, some of the details have to be researched. The first question I had was how is the spoke nut truss rod installed. I know it's between the fretboard and neck in a channel, but the bigger question is at the heel. My templates don't seem to reflect what I've seen in photos. While the fretboard template is notched, the neck template isn't. From what I've seen, they should both have notches. I started with this photo and made a few assumptions. You can see from the overlay I did that I initially thought the neck heel ended where indicated. But, after locating this pic, it's clear what's going on. The neck and the fretboard are indeed notched the full thickness of the spoke nut and the fret board extends over the guitar top. The top is not routed here. What I originally marked as the end of the neck is in fact the beginning of a radiused corner that continues forward in the pocket as it rounds out. You can see that the neck heel sits fully forward in the pocket like a strat or tele and is notched back for the spoke nut. Peace, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarnut Posted March 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2010 Another template issue: The neck profile template that came with this set appears to be inaccurate. The template of the neck profile is this... This means using a neck blank that is 1.25" thick. From what I've seen, the neck appears to be made from a .75" blank like Strats and Teles with the .25" fretboard making up the rest of it's thickness. Please correct me if I'm wrong... Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarnut Posted March 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2010 Something else that I need to verify is the neck angle. I've read a quote that listed the neck as being "slightly angled" on the Peavey version of the Wolfgang but I've not seen any evidence of this carrying over to the EVH model....it's not mentioned in reviews or specs. This pic shows the neck sitting parallel to the top of the guitar but it could be following an angle in the carve...like a Les Paul... with the bottom of the pocket being angled. I can't find confirmation either way. If someone can confirm or post a straight on side pic of an EVH Wolfgang that would be very helpful. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarnut Posted March 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2010 With eveything glued up I started profiling today. Here are the top and back with the template traced out on them... And, after rough cut on the bandsaw. I gave the top of the back a quick blocking to knock down any height differences in the joint. I attached the template and made 3 shallow passes with a pattern bit. I'll flip the body and finish it out with a flush trim bit. While I had the template in place, I traced out the other routes...not for routing at this point, but for a reference later. I don't have a piloted bit this small, so I used my truss rod setup to route the channel between control cavities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarnut Posted March 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2010 I took the channel .500" deep. I figured the top would be no more than .500" here and with a pickup route of .750" or so from that finished thickness, that should leave me with .250" clearence below the PU cavity. I'm not sure that's how it's done but I'd rather have a bit too much than not enough after that top is glued on. Using the traced cavities from before, I lined up the template for the control cavities. I was wondering why they stopped short of each cavity with that channel. Well, if you ran it all the way into each cavity, the side of the cavilty would have a hole in that the router bit bearing would bump thru...causing a divot in the side. I also made a couple of starter holes for the router bit. So, I made one pass with the template and then removed it to take it out of harm's way....using the previous pass as my template, I moved on. When I got to within .250", I stopped and placed the body on a couple of 2x4s.... ...then drilled thru holes that I can flip it and insert a flush trim bit thru to finish them up later. I don't want to route them thru just yet. I don't want to have to deal with open cavities during radiusing and other operations on the back of the body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarnut Posted March 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2010 Here's a step you don't want to forget...connecting the channel to the control cavities. I blocked out the joints on the top where I made my patches...came out pretty nice if I do say so myself. :grin: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarnut Posted March 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2010 I also did some work on the neck. Since I don't have the exact specs on the WG neck, I'm going to build this one like a Tele neck. I went back to a .750" blank...the other half of my resaw from yesterday. I layed out the neck on the flamiest (sp) part of the blank. The spoke truss rod was first for me. I'm not sure if the WG rod installs this way but the StewMac rod has to be installed with the spoke nut and active rod down. So I had to move slowly. I know that the rod doesn't extend past the end of the heel, so I worked back from there. I layed it out using the fretboard template to mimic the fret board position. Then I used it to route the recess. Not the prettiest channel I've ever done but funtional none the less. I'll go back and clean it up later before I glue up the fretboard. The actual end of the neck will be the pencil lines close to the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarnut Posted March 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2010 With the TR taken care of, I attached the template and profiled the neck. I made to passes on the top with a pattern bit... Then flipped it and finished with a flush trim bit. I would normally take the template off by this stage I left it attached to guide the bearing past the notch...could have put a nasty gouge in the neck heel otherwise. So, there it is. My first WG neck. The brass fittings on the TR sit about 1/32" below the surface. I'm going to install a wood strip in this space so that the fretboard really bites down and hold the fittings in place...otherwise, the rod could be slipped out the heel end. A shot form overhead with the fretboard template in place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorgo Posted March 28, 2010 Report Share Posted March 28, 2010 A quick mockup...the neck/headstock would be flame maple instead of birdseye. Peace, Mark Is that a special program that you have for the mockup? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarnut Posted March 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2010 A quick mockup...the neck/headstock would be flame maple instead of birdseye. Peace, Mark Is that a special program that you have for the mockup? I use Photoshop. Once I have everything set up, I can change color, the type of wood, add or remove the burst and so on. Peace, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarnut Posted March 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2010 My last act of bravery tonight is to glue up the top. Nothing special here...just lots of glue and clamps. Clampzilla!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarnut Posted April 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2010 Well, a little more progress. I'm back at work this week so the updates may be few and far between as I ramp up on client projects...been out of the office for a week. The top glued up nicely. I had a dream that the Titebond turned to powder and the top fell off in my hands. Not sure what that's about...probably anxiety over gluing such a thick top. Maybe? Anyway... Here it is out of the clamps... It has a fairly large edge to clean up. I'll use a flush trim bit and make several passes...not pushing the bearing up to the body right away. Tearout at this point would be very sad... It came out nicely.... And a pass on the spindle sander made it even better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarnut Posted April 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2010 The neck pocket seemed like the next logical step. I haven't been able to nail down an exact number on the angle so I went with 1.5 degrees. It's very subtle. The bridge should be in tomorrow and once I get it routed and mounted, I can check everything...considering how tall the binding is at the neck pocket, I really doubt it's a steeper angle than that. Anyway, I cut some wide wedges on the bandsaw and placed them under the template...it's a bit scary. I'll have to come up with something more solid next time. I took it down to 5/8" at the pickup end of the pocket. Again, I don't have firm numbers on the depth but this guitar is very similar to Fenders so I felt this was a safe depth. Please don't go by my numbers until all the results are in. The neck is a nice fit although the template has almost square corners and my pattern bit couldn't get all the way in there so I had to hand radius the corners of the neck to get it seated all the way into the pocket. The truss rod is a nice fit... And the fretboard template set into place just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarnut Posted April 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2010 Another shot of the fretboard template in place. With the measurement fletch confirmed for me, I can move on to the actual fretboard tomorrow. More work on the neck. Thanks to the measurements I collected from Dave , I was able to get the fretboard done. It was a bit of a process but having the distance from the heel of the neck to the 12th fret, and the end of the fretboard to the 12th fret, I was able to lock things up. I started by doing a finish cut on the heel end of the fretboard. From that edge, I measured 155mm (6.102")and marked the FB. I then laid the fret scale template into my miter box. I place double sided tape on it and removed the top backing paper. I slid the scale down to the 12th fret position and laid in the fretboard. I lined it up with the guides at the mark I had made and then stuck it in place on the tape. I double checked with the fret saw...looks good. Then I just cut the slots as I normally would. I made sure to mark the leading edge of the nut as well. I then made a mark on the side of the neck at 151mm (5.945"). Lining up the 2 marks places my fretboard on the neck at the right place along the scale. The angle of this shot makes it hard to see but I have a 4mm overhang as measured by Dave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarnut Posted April 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2010 I laid out the fretboard template and routed the recess for the spoke nut. More progrees with the neck. After taking the neck out of the clamps, I wanted to get the route for the nut done while the fretboard was still full width. Here we see the layout for the nut. I marked the forward position of the nut while I had the fretboard in the miter box. It's the cut you see here. The piece of maple behind it will be lined up with the cut and used as a routing template to remove the material. After the first pass...the shot is blurry, but I'm setting the nut in to check my progress. After a second pass with the router...just taking off 1/32" or so each pass. After I finished with the routing for the nut, I wnated to thin out the headstock before profiling the fretboard. I marked a line for the max cut and set up the bandsaw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarnut Posted April 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2010 I transferred the line to the side to make the cut. Because the fretboard is offset and wider than the headstock, I could use it to support the neck and keep it parallel to the table as I cut. The finished cut... I used a cutoff from another neck and a piece of 3/4" stock to guide the rasp as I blended the fretboard into the headstock. Still needs some blocking but it's roughed in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarnut Posted April 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2010 I started the carve by placing the neck up on 2 blocks allowing me to set my depth at each end and get the calipers under the neck without having to unclamp it. I roughed in the detail at the heel... ...and headstock. Then I got started on the carve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarnut Posted April 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2010 The carve is done but still nees some finish sanding and shaping. I also detailed the headstock. It's looking like a guitar. I'll start the carve on the top tomorrow or this weekend. Peace, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzzedd Posted April 2, 2010 Report Share Posted April 2, 2010 Looking really good. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Buttman Posted April 2, 2010 Report Share Posted April 2, 2010 Nice work! The neck wood is crazy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Traveler Posted April 3, 2010 Report Share Posted April 3, 2010 this is coming along very nicely.....will follow this build with much interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarnut Posted April 3, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2010 Since the current Wolfgang models have matching headstocks, I got the bright idea to make a HS veneer. Not only will it match out the top of the guitar, it will also make up the the height difference between the headstock and the thin piece of the fretboard that the locking nut sits on. I'm not sure I'll use it but I'll have it handy if I go that way. It was cut from the same board as the top wood. You know your resaw setup is dialed in when you can cut a .080" thick veneer! I broke out the bending iron I made back during my Maple Thinline build. It still smells like singed maple. After a couple of quick bends, I clamped it in place to let it cool...I learned this last time around too...the wood will snap back if it's not held to shape while it cools down. A big socket keeps it pressed into the valley. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarnut Posted April 3, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2010 I got in more hardware today. The Floyd Rose Speed Loader bridge and pearl knob 16:1 tuners. And, I'll be winding my own humbuckers for this build. I plan to build a winder this weekend. I think I have all the goodies I need. Not pictured is a pair of 3"x3"x1" Ndym magnets for magnetizing the pole pieces. To count winds, I plan to remove the hammer from the back of the pedometer and solder leads to each side of it's circuit. These leads will attach to the reed switch which will be triggered by a spinning magnet. The sewing machine motor and it's foot controller will be the heart of the winder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarnut Posted April 3, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2010 I want to start off this update with a quote...from Telecaster.com I thought that the headstock was going to be angled back 8 degrees. In your photos it looks like a scooped Fender style. I've not seen a 'real' one so maybe I've missed something. When I first read this I was bit bothered by it. Not that he mentioned it, but that I so easily decided not to stay true to the actual design of the guitar. So, this morning I went back to the original maple billet that I had planned to use. I did a quick layout and sure enough, it's thick enough to make an angled headstock. After routing the truss rod channel...I'll have to finish out the end when I get another rod in next week. I rough cut it on the bandsaw, and set up to profile it... ...finishing up with a flush trim bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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