Jump to content

Adrian Smith Sandimas Copy With A Twist


Recommended Posts

Hey I may have missed this in the thread but where did you go to get those templates laser cut? Looks great so far by the way.

Thanks! Ive done everything at school (design college) so far, including the laser stuff. They charge $0.40 minute to use them, so If Im cutting something really intricate, it adds up pretty quickly. I found that out when I cut the recess for the body inlay of my Tabar Zin project,

(Please excuse the cheesy Pirate Metal.)\m/ :D\m/ Edited by MuffinPunch
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 80
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Progress has been kinda slow lately since ive been wrestling with building the "cores" for my seven string projects. Im starting to realize that much of the equipment at school, however plentiful and diverse it is, has been really abused and is therefore quite hard to work with and innacurate. As you all guess, this makes building a good guitar by hand very challenging. However, I was able to get my necks ready for fretboards and shaping in the past couple of days.

I got my faux truss rod fillet done, and the actual truss rod channel routed.

100_5270.jpg

Then I rough cut the necks on the bandsaw.

100_5272.jpg

I then double stick taped the templates on to clean them up with the router before finally installing the truss rods.

100_5273.jpg

Ill work more on it tomorrow and update with pics.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bitter sweet day of woodworking today... I feel like I actually got quite a lot done considering. I had to buy a new pattern bit to rout the cavities. I thought I could get away with just using a cheap Rockler bit. It worked for about an hour...

I got my template positioned to rout the front of the guitars and prepped the router and what not.

100_5375.jpg

Got the whole body routed, one down one to go.

100_5376.jpg

I am putting a 2 degree angle on the neck pockets for the top mount FR, so after doing all of the standard routing I packed shims under the template to raise the end of the board to match the angle while I routed the neck pocket. Somehow the bit cought on the edge of my template on the second pass and blew the baring. I had no idea until I realized the router wasnt running smoothly accross the template. Epic FAIL Rockler! (it was probably my own stupid fault, but I sure like to shove the blame off onto someone else after a screw up like that!)

100_5380.jpg100_5379.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So I decided to continue on with the "good one" so as to not go on a fiery rampage and destroy the entire shop. I figured Id go ahead and put the radius on the edges so I dont forget and inadvertently drill the output jack first. Then I rough shaped the body and arm contours on the spindle and belt sander.

100_5383.jpg

100_5384.jpg

Trem cavity is a bit rough on this one cuz I used a dull cutting bit on the milling machine. I was happy to use a router after that.

100_5385.jpg

its amazing how much lighter the bodies are after routing! Makes me want to get them (or at least one of them) ready for finishing along side the sevens! So I decided to order soome of the hardware for these two the other day. Mostly interim parts designed for replacement until I can come up with some money to buy the good stuff. I want to equip these with OFRs and DiMarzios, but for now I think they will have to settle for chinese knockoffs. Does anyone know of a cheap licensed Floyd has the exact same mounting points as an OFR? I want to just make the swap later on without having to modify anything on the guitar. I had thought about going with the Floyd Rose Special, but it seems silly to drop that kind of cash on a bridge that Im am designing to be replaced as soon as possible.

Edited by MuffinPunch
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very little progress on this one since last update, but I did get the fretboards prepped and inlay holes drilled. More pics later when I have better progress to show.

p_00156.jpg

p_00155.jpg

By the way, does anyone have any advice in leveling the inlays after gluing them in on a compound radiused fretboard? I bought these pre-radiused and I dont wanna sand it down when I go to level the dot inlays. Thanks in advance!

Edited by MuffinPunch
Link to comment
Share on other sites

By the way, does anyone have any advice in leveling the inlays after gluing them in on a compound radiused fretboard? I bought these pre-radiused and I dont wanna sand it down when I go to level the dot inlays. Thanks in advance!

The build is looking nice. Sucks about the router bit incident. I wouldn't give up on that body...it can be patched. I had a similar incident when building my ash thinline. If you didn't know that it happened, you would never pick it out.

On the inlays, I would use a small flat file that fits between the fret slots and work parallel to them...across the fretboard. That way if you do alter things a hair, it won't affect the fret slots and should maintain the compound radius.

Peace,

Mark

Link to comment
Share on other sites

By the way, does anyone have any advice in leveling the inlays after gluing them in on a compound radiused fretboard? I bought these pre-radiused and I dont wanna sand it down when I go to level the dot inlays. Thanks in advance!

The build is looking nice. Sucks about the router bit incident. I wouldn't give up on that body...it can be patched. I had a similar incident when building my ash thinline. If you didn't know that it happened, you would never pick it out.

On the inlays, I would use a small flat file that fits between the fret slots and work parallel to them...across the fretboard. That way if you do alter things a hair, it won't affect the fret slots and should maintain the compound radius.

Peace,

Mark

Good call, that's how I did it, works a treat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

By the way, does anyone have any advice in leveling the inlays after gluing them in on a compound radiused fretboard? I bought these pre-radiused and I dont wanna sand it down when I go to level the dot inlays. Thanks in advance!

The build is looking nice. Sucks about the router bit incident. I wouldn't give up on that body...it can be patched. I had a similar incident when building my ash thinline. If you didn't know that it happened, you would never pick it out.

On the inlays, I would use a small flat file that fits between the fret slots and work parallel to them...across the fretboard. That way if you do alter things a hair, it won't affect the fret slots and should maintain the compound radius.

Peace,

Mark

Cool! Thanks! Thats next on the agenda. Got a bit more done today with this one. Got the pick guards cut. The blue one is actually clear acrylic with protective film over it. The black one is PVC, which apparently is pretty toxic if you cut it with laser. It turned out alright but the heat from the beam caused a couple of little "melt" spots that look a little tacky. I will just use clear acrylic for both and paint the back of the black one. Same with the trem cavity covers.

100_5400.jpg

I also tried my hand at carving a neck on a piece of cutoff from one of the cores. About 20 min. into I felt like I was starting to get the hang of it. I feel relatively confident that I will be able to do a half decent job now. With a bit more care of course.

100_5401.jpg100_5402.jpg

Then I threw together a quick mockup of all my progress and parts thus far.

100_5406.jpg

I ordered a licensed FR from Guitar Fetish the other day, so hopefully that will suffice for the time being. Should be here later this week. Besides that I pretty much have everything I need to complete these puppies! The SCs are cheap, plastic, Chinese made place holders for the moment. I got 4 of them for like $20. I'd rather have a completed, crappy sounding guitar that can be upgraded later than to have an unfinished guitar lying around for who-knows-how-long. Ill probably end up changing out all of the hardware for nicer stuff eventually, but for now they will be lookers/silent shredders. I do plan on installing real DiMarzios in the bridge at least. Im looking into a Super D for one, and a D Activator for the other, or I could just use the Evo 2 I got for another project... we'll see.

Edited by MuffinPunch
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks great I love this whole project! I was wondering how are you planing to to do the graphics themselves?

Thanks BigJim! I havent completely decided on how Im doing the graphics just yet. Most likely I will print it out on vinyl and glue it on after primer, then shoot black on the back and transition the burst, then clear. Originally I was thinking canvas, but the surface is so coarse and the image wouldn't be quite so crisp.

KpCrash: \m/ :D

Edited by MuffinPunch
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am putting a 2 degree angle on the neck pockets for the top mount FR, so after doing all of the standard routing I packed shims under the template to raise the end of the board to match the angle while I routed the neck pocket. Somehow the bit cought on the edge of my template on the second pass and blew the baring. I had no idea until I realized the router wasnt running smoothly accross the template. Epic FAIL Rockler! (it was probably my own stupid fault, but I sure like to shove the blame off onto someone else after a screw up like that!)

So when I get a new bit the first thing I do is take the allen set screw out of the collar and put some lock tite on it. Had more than one creep on me...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So when I get a new bit the first thing I do is take the allen set screw out of the collar and put some lock tite on it. Had more than one creep on me...

Good thinking. Rockler replaced the bit no problem. Ill see when I get back to working on that body. Big time crunch right now with everything else goin on...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks great I love this whole project! I was wondering how are you planing to to do the graphics themselves?

Thanks BigJim! I havent completely decided on how Im doing the graphics just yet. Most likely I will print it out on vinyl and glue it on after primer, then shoot black on the back and transition the burst, then clear. Originally I was thinking canvas, but the surface is so coarse and the image wouldn't be quite so crisp.

KpCrash: \m/ :D

Another possibility is do the colour base coat on the body, print out the graphic on water slide membrane and slide it on, then some clear over the top :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks great I love this whole project! I was wondering how are you planing to to do the graphics themselves?

Thanks BigJim! I havent completely decided on how Im doing the graphics just yet. Most likely I will print it out on vinyl and glue it on after primer, then shoot black on the back and transition the burst, then clear. Originally I was thinking canvas, but the surface is so coarse and the image wouldn't be quite so crisp.

KpCrash: \m/ :D

Another possibility is do the colour base coat on the body, print out the graphic on water slide membrane and slide it on, then some clear over the top :D

That actually sounds like it could work better... I dont have much experience using water slide though. Ill have to look into it. Thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks great I love this whole project! I was wondering how are you planing to to do the graphics themselves?

Thanks BigJim! I havent completely decided on how Im doing the graphics just yet. Most likely I will print it out on vinyl and glue it on after primer, then shoot black on the back and transition the burst, then clear. Originally I was thinking canvas, but the surface is so coarse and the image wouldn't be quite so crisp.

KpCrash: \m/ :D

Another possibility is do the colour base coat on the body, print out the graphic on water slide membrane and slide it on, then some clear over the top :D

That actually sounds like it could work better... I dont have much experience using water slide though. Ill have to look into it. Thanks.

I just looked into this, this really looks like the way to go

Link to comment
Share on other sites

HOW DARE YOU?!?!! lol Those are cool! I really like the Aces High one! If you want the templates I made I can post them up in the downloads section of the forum... I think you should make one too! We all should!!!

In other news, I got my Floyd the other day, so I will be drilling the last few holes before finish sanding, then its primer for this baby! Ill be working on the necks at the same time, so dont expect anything too soon. Ill finish up one of them first since Im running short on time for my other projects. The other will be on the back burner for a few months I think.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

HOW DARE YOU?!?!! lol Those are cool! I really like the Aces High one! If you want the templates I made I can post them up in the downloads section of the forum... I think you should make one too! We all should!!!

In other news, I got my Floyd the other day, so I will be drilling the last few holes before finish sanding, then its primer for this baby! Ill be working on the necks at the same time, so dont expect anything too soon. Ill finish up one of them first since Im running short on time for my other projects. The other will be on the back burner for a few months I think.

THe templates would be awesome, i'd would totally appreciate it. I think your right everyone should build one as a right of passage I mean who does not love eddie

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...

Sorry to hijack this thread, I just wanted to share a story (it really doesn't go anywhere nor it's that interesting, you've been warned!).

I've been a Maiden fan since 2003 and playing guitar since 2004. It was a logical choice for me to get a Strat, but I sure as heck didn't have the do-re-mi for the real thing (Fender) nor for the wee bit less real thing (MIM, Squier). So I got this really cheap Encore Strat, it was (still is) so bad, you couldn't do harmonics with it. Anyway, on one fateful day I was surfin' the web and stumbled upon an old Adrian Smith image. It was this picture (although the one I saw was in higher resolution and better colors):

Adrian+Smith+A+Smith.jpg

It was one of those moments where it was appropriate and expected that a choir of angles would descend and start singing "HALLELUUJAH". This was the guitar I wanted.

Of course I couldn't just go out and buy it, I was a 17 year old kid with no money or the means to get any money. But I did manage to convince my mom to get me one of the pieces from that guitar, it was the humbucker pickup. At that time I didn't know jack about anything, I just wanted a black humbucker to stick on my cheap guitar. So it was only by chance I got her to get me the exact same pickup Adrian (and Dave) used in Maiden in the early days, when they were still using guitars with humbuckers (of course they used them later too, Dave still uses them but in SC size). I just chose a random pickup (Dimarzio DP101 Dual Sound, it's the same as DP100 Super Distortion but with split coil option) which seemed to be good because it cost much (129.74 USD to be exact, it cost more than in the US because of the whole Europe and dealer thing). I did the reading on their site and thought "Screw it, let's test this sucker out".

It took some time getting here and by the time the pickup arrived I decided I'd better not waste any money on this Encore Strat so the pickup was put aside until 2007, when the guitar I'd dreamed about, was finally built. Alas, not by me but by a local respected guitar luthier.

I did my fair share of research for this guitar (the guitar on the picture) and found out that this was a Jackson, obviously a custom. I don't know if they called it San Dimas back then. The guitar had HSH combination of pickups, 2 pots (starting from the usual first tone postion) with some non-Fender knobs, a switch, front routed jack, Original Floyd Rose, a black pickguard probably with only 1-2 layers or all black layers. It was a bit harder edged than your usual Strat and also seemed a bit thicker. No idea on the back contour, but it had one on the front side.

Adrian-Smith-with-Steve-Harris.jpg

At some point I dwelled deeper and found that Adrian used PAF type humbuckers so I set after DiMarzio DP103 PAF and finally got one from a BC Rich guitar.

My guitar was finally completed in the summer of 2007 and I got it. This isn't a 1:1 copy, because I was a bit strapped for cash and just let the luthier use a Strat body and neck (with Squier/Strat '70s size headstock) he was already making for someone who dropped the order (this is why my guitar's body was initially routed for SSS). The boby is thicker than a regular Strat, it's about the same as Adrian's Jackson. The body is not as rounded as a regular Strat but it's still quite round. The neck has 22 frets too, but it has rounded edge, unlike the square edge Adrian's guitar has. I didn't want HSH so I got HH instead. I researched the question of OFR vs Schaller made Floyd and found that Schaller made OFRs at some point and that their own are somewhat superior, sound wise. The usual consensus was that OFR and Schaller FR didn't differ that much, since Schaller was simpler to find I got their 1370 (the same as 370 but black). For the tuners I got Schaller M6 Minis. The pickguard is 3pc ply.I also used Fender knobs for the potis or rather one pot, since I still haven't gotten the electronics properly soldered and use one pot. I will in the future, this will give me split coil feature too.

This is my guitar (due to lighting, the colors a wee bit off):

DSCF0042.jpg

------------------

Now. I wanted to add a couple of my thoughts on the 2008 Jackson San Dimas. They basically stayed true to the original concept of the white and black strat. I don't know if this is a coincidence but the 2008 SD was built when Maiden was doing the Somewhere On Tour thing, you know, their Early Days pt2. An era when the original white-black Jackson was used by Adrian. The new SD differs in some ways, first of all there's a totally white alternative, with a different neck, but that's not important. On the second version, first of all, there's the HSS combination. Looking at the specs, Adrian still wants DiMarzio's DP100 Super Distortion in the bridge while having Fender's default single coils in the middle and neck positions. Notice how the input jack has been moved to the bottom side of the guitar. The body also seems to be a bit more rounded, but I may be wrong here. The are 2 pots, again, without the Fender knobs and 1 piece ply black pickguard.

Adrian played the San Dimas guitar on the 2008 tour and in 2010. What is interesting though, is that it seems he may have used the original white-black on the recent tours as well. Here's a rather new picture of him playing a guitar which obviously isn't 2008 SD.

adrian-smith--large-msg-123878479491.jpg

This could've been a prototype for the 2008 but look at the fretboard, bad lighting or not, it looks as it has gotten its share of heavy wear.

----

Fhew. I'm spent, I wonder how Ed Romain keeps churring up **** like this day after day?

We want to see how the project went on!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...