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Yea time sorta got away from me. It turned out ok in the end. I used a 7 string strat trem. I think I might block the trem but cos I dont like it..Ill try post final pics tonite...Wheres the progress on this one turtles???

Didn't you have problems with the paint Floody, my man??

Pics and an explanation please.

:D

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Yea time sorta got away from me. It turned out ok in the end. I used a 7 string strat trem. I think I might block the trem but cos I dont like it..Ill try post final pics tonite...Wheres the progress on this one turtles???

Didn't you have problems with the paint Floody, my man??

Pics and an explanation please.

:D

HAHAHA look what the cat dragged in!!!

Long time no see old man hahaha!

I did have problems with the paint. It developed some cracking.. Never got a definitive answer as to why though..Still havent bothered to repaint it. It sure plays well but lol.

So where have you been daddyo?

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I finally got back to work today, and while I was planing the scarf joint up, I noticed a gap that I could fit my fingernail through. I knew there was a gap there, but I didn't think it was that bad, so I went ahead and used a razor blade to smear glue around inside the crack and clamped it up. My dad just got a sweet new bench grinder, too, so now the plane is super super sharp.

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It was a pretty small gap that only extended about 3/4" into the neck, but better safe than sorry.

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The joint in question. So once it dries up, I'll get back to work. The truss rod route is scaring me because I haven't ordered the truss rod yet.

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First off a correction: that gap did not extend 3/4" into the neck. It was maybe 1/8".

So I was planing my neck up, and things were looking pretty sexy...

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The joint I fixed turned out perfect.

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I got the accent piece flush.

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And then, bad news bears again. Another gap, this time larger. It was hiding under glue so I didn't see it until after I planed the joint. Again, I fixed it.

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Should be fine. It only went about 1/4" into the neck, so it would've been cut off anyways, but I'm a stickler and I want this thing to last a long long time, so craftsmanship is important.

I can only correct my mistakes and learn from them.

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That gap closed up mostly. Good enough for me at least.

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Alright so lately I've been a little frustrated/anxious about doing this. I don't have any of my stuff like my truss rod or my bridge so things are a little difficult. I also tend to overthink everything. I figured I'd better just do something, so I made my humbucker template and I drew on the control cavity.

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Definitely not perfect, but that's what mounting rings are for.

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Success!

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Here I mapped out the control cavity and the hole that I need to drill for the recessed jack cavity. At this point I'm not sure whether I should route the cavity into the template or trace it onto some paper, and make a separate template. Suggestions?

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If it were me, id definately cut the control cavity into the body template so you can get everything aligned to the centerline, and I would clean up that pup template too and put a centerline on it. If your template looks like that, you might as well freehand the rout on the guitar, cuz its not going to be much help. If you dont already have Melvyn Hiscock's book, get it! Theres a whole section with template drawings in the back for different sizes and shapes of pickups that come in handy as well. Thats what I use to get measurements for cutting cavity templates.

Edited by MuffinPunch
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Use another piece of MDF to run the bearing of your router on when making your templates. For curved areas I like to use an oscillating sander. For your control cavity cover, stay away from small angles as you have drawn it in the picture, its hard to get tight angles with a router bit unless you chisel out the points.

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  • 3 weeks later...

HOLY ****! PROGRESS!

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I've been working on some other stuff, plus I spent a week at the beach, so that's why I haven't been working much on this.

I've been completely modding a standard squier strat (my first guitar) into a shred machine. I've scalloped the frets, carved various crap, converted to a wraparound, redrilled the neck holes, and lots of other things. Right now It's getting refinished.

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I'll post more pictures of it when it's done.

Does anybody know if it's a good idea to rip an ebony fretboard with a table saw? Or should I just get a bandsaw?

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  • 2 months later...

I'm finally back at it. I bought a bandsaw hoping to rip my ebony fretboard, but it didn't have the power, and it's old. I waited all summer, then took it to school to get it ripped. Today me and my dad got it all planed and now it's 1/8" thick heavy, which is good to me. We slotted it and glued on the fretboard. I don't wanna say now that progress is going to be picking up, but now that I'm past the fretboard, I can get down to business. :D

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My radiused boards are 3/16" thick...and that is pretty thin...I think were I you I would use this as a chance to laminate a 1/16" piece of contrasting wood to the back of the fretboard.But fret slots are not nearly that deep....I would worry about it being too close though...a laminate will fix it.

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:D I never really thought about it being too thin. The piece is actually not the same thickness throughout. In most areas, it's 3/16", maybe a 1/64 short, and then there's an area on one of the edges that's about 1/8" plus 1/32" (I said 1/8 heavy. Should've been more specific). I was thinking because it's on the edge, I'll just end up fixing the difference while sanding the 16" radius in. I'm using just regular jumbo frets, so the tang is only .060" instead of .072", so the slots aren't as deep.

I sketched it in CAD and I should have room if my measurements are correct, but it'll be close.

I really appreciate you guys helping me catch my mistakes. I don't think I would've thought about this much and it could've messed me up big time if I didn't.

I would think about gluing some contrast wood to the fretboard just in case, but it's already glued on and I'm kind of afraid of loosening the neck laminate joints that are all right there.

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  • 1 month later...

The fretboard is on and I rough cut the profile.

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I don't have many updates, but I ran into a problem and I had a question. I glued on the fretboard untapered, thinking I'd cut the taper once it got glued on, but now I realize I should've tapered it first. Should I route just the fretboard to the right taper (leaving the rest of the neck untouched), or steam it off and make a new one, or something else? I'm afraid of a lot of tear out routing along a glue joint and a brittle wood, but I don't really know about wood enough to be sure. Help?

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I always cut the taper with a bandsaw while it is just like you have it there...

Something else...you do not need a neck template to rout the taper,all you need is a straight piece of wood that is long enough...what that means is that if you are worried about tearout(and I would be on that wood) you can set a straight routing edge out about 1/4" away from your final taper,and that will get you close to the final taper(repeat on the other side too),then you can use any benchtop or spindle sander to slowly get down to the final taper..that way any tearout you may have will be in the unused area.

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I was planning on doing pretty much what you're describing, but I'm confused. If the neck is tapered up to the 24th fret, then the sides of the neck aren't going to be perpendicular, and when I try to glue the wings on (around the 22nd fret), they won't have a parallel surface in that area to be glued to. Does that make sense?

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when I try to glue the wings on (around the 22nd fret), they won't have a parallel surface in that area to be glued to. Does that make sense?

Correct..I always take the taper all the way through the body area and just taper the wings as well...but it is also common to outline the body where it meets the neck and just stop the taper there.On the fretboard in that case you have to extend just the taper of the fretboard separately on that area.

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  • 3 years later...
Hey guys. So I've been out of the game for three years...
My life is very different now. I'm three years older, I'm in college, I lost my virginity. ;)
Anyways, I'm on a break from school and work for a month or so, and I decided I wanted to finally finish this thing. I am going to try my best to get this done. I will be updating this thread regularly with my work.
So I have yet to find my old drawings and whatnot. The majority of this build is going to be the same, however I am going to make this guitar a 7 stringer. I haven't decided on a hardtail bridge or a tune-o-matic. Probably a hardtail. So on to the progress...
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I drew on the body shape. Actually I just retraced it a bit darker. My dog ate the template a few years ago and all I have left is a piece of scrap, so I'll be redoing that soon... I also cut out a few bits so that the clamping of the wings will work a little better (more pressure on a smaller area = better join).
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Radiused my fretboard to 16 inches up to 400 grit. This ebony dust is nasty stuff. Smells like my friend's feet.
So my thinking is that I need to pick a bridge and figure out if I need to recess that bridge or not. I am not having a neck angle on this one.
I need to glue on my wings, buy some tuners, recut the fret slots, route my body shape, cut the headstock in the near future. I don't even remember what I ended up making the scale length :D . I think it's 27.5".
I am really excited about this guitar!!!!!!!! :)
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