madawgony Posted June 23, 2010 Report Share Posted June 23, 2010 This will be my first attempt at a pointy guitar at the request of my son. He really liked the Kelly (I did too) so after some research we decided to go for it. For the body outline I pulled a jpeg from the Jackson site of a front on view. Photoshoped to get an outline and used an overhead projector onto paper taped to the wall. Adjusted the scale until the measuremetns were correct and traced it out. I dug up a nice two-piece mahogany slab (1.75" thick) that has been glued up and stacked for the last two years. Got the body shape cut, left plenty of room to carve the neck heel into a smooth transition (havent done that before). The neck will be a two-piece mahogany. It will be a set-neck construction and not a "neck-through". We are planning on a bound FB with shark fin inlays. Our next decision is the fret board; tiger maple or bolivian rosewood. I have used the rosewood on other builds and it finishes out nice. But I saw a Jackson neck with a maple FB with dark inlays - very cool. Pics of the stock below: Give me some feedback on the FB material please, thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted June 23, 2010 Report Share Posted June 23, 2010 It's hard as he11 to get big inlays into maple and have it look good. Assuming using epoxy for the inlays, it'll dry as a dark line and fill in the gaps, hiding any gaps. A filled line in maple becomes an irregular semi-dark line. I made little templates for these inlays that were the EXACT size/shape, but I still got a little line. If you do maple, I seriously suggest using dots. Aside from that, my only question would be what are you going to do with the body: paint or natural? That would go a long way in determining which board to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madawgony Posted June 23, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2010 Aside from that, my only question would be what are you going to do with the body: paint or natural? That would go a long way in determining which board to use. I want to put a natural finish with a hint of amber burst on the body. After looking through some more pics I see that the light colored fret board wouldn't fit well with the darker body. And I see what you mean about trying to inlay on the maple. I will go with the rosewood FB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted June 23, 2010 Report Share Posted June 23, 2010 IDK that amber over mahogany will show up very well. Personally, I would like the maple with the mahogany. Then again, I like high contrast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted June 23, 2010 Report Share Posted June 23, 2010 The Kelly is a fantastic adaptation of the Explorer shape and you have done a great job on the body cut/route out, this is gonna be sweet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madawgony Posted June 23, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2010 IDK that amber over mahogany will show up very well. Yeah, you are right, it wontshow up well without being darkened somewhat. But I just want a hint so I will darken it up a bit with black. Something like this but with a thinner dark outer band. Come to think of it, I darkened that up a lot. But I love the look of mahogany with a natural finish. I can't recall how I did the grainfill/finish on that strat. I think I may have used a dark filler to enhance the grain but I dont remember. I definitely went heavy on the black when I was spraying the outer band. I will have to look at it when I get home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madawgony Posted June 24, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2010 Got the neck roughed out. Hopefully I will have a fingerboard cut tomorrow. I am getting as much work done before July 1st because I have shoulder surgery and that will lay me up for a couple of weeks more than likely. Planned for 25" scale with 22 frets, 12" radius Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuffinPunch Posted June 24, 2010 Report Share Posted June 24, 2010 Some really cool builds are goin' on here at PG lately! We need to see more of these "pointy" guitars! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madawgony Posted June 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2010 Didnt get to the fingerboard, will try to get that this weekend. But I did get the neck pocket routed. Pretty good fit. I still need to shave off about 1/8" off the heel to get it to the right height. I will wait to do that though when I have the FB on. Man, I love working with mahagony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madawgony Posted June 27, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2010 Finished planing the heel on the neck to the right thickness. The tenon extends into the bottom side of where the pup route will be. Also I radiused and slotted the rosewood fretboard this morning. The darker areae in the middle is where I hit it with some sandpaper so I got more to do on that after I do the inlays and binding. I am going with maple binding, not sure on theinlay material yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted June 27, 2010 Report Share Posted June 27, 2010 I suggest doing the inlays BEFORE attaching the binding. Should any glue get into the fret slots, it'll be a hellofalot easier to clean them out without the binding in the way. Unless it's just dots. In that case, nevermind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAK Guitars Posted June 27, 2010 Report Share Posted June 27, 2010 What method did you use to radius the board? Looks great so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madawgony Posted June 27, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2010 Since I didnt angle the head stock I am going to use a string tree to get the neccessary break across the bridge. Looking around I didnt really want to order a $5 item and pay $10 in shipping. I found this drain plug actuator and ground a flat side. I am going to drill two holes; off to Home depot to see if I can find some really thin screws to mount it. I will have lots of sanding to get it shiny but it should work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted June 27, 2010 Report Share Posted June 27, 2010 Looking around I didnt really want to order a $5 item and pay $10 in shipping. I found this drain plug actuator and ground a flat side. I will have lots of sanding to get it shiny but it should work. That's why you try and order all your parts at the same time. Good job on scavenging for parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verhoevenc Posted June 27, 2010 Report Share Posted June 27, 2010 Good choice, I was about to say that that Pau Rosa looks DELICIOUS. And it's a DREAM to work with. I really like the stuff. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madawgony Posted June 27, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2010 What method did you use to radius the board? Looks great so far. This is a jig I built a few years ago. Makes short work of the job. The router travels the length of the board on the rail using a temple bushing guide and the fboard is underneath. I only have two radius sanding blocks so I built the jig to cut 9.5" and 12" radii(?). Creates a really clean board with some minor sanding afterword. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madawgony Posted June 27, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2010 Good choice, I was about to say that that Pau Rosa looks DELICIOUS. And it's a DREAM to work with. I really like the stuff. Chris I dont particularly like working with it, but it is a beautiful wood. It absolutely destroys my allergies. I was fortunate and picked a few board feet up at this place in Dallas that is now gone (Bluelinx which used to be Austin hardwoods). As I have started working with more types of wood I have discovered just about everything bothers me, which is unfortunate as I really enjoy woodworking. Speaking of which woods we like to work with I am partial to mahogany. Mills great and looks great finished. The drawback is the grain filling required. Although hitting it with a dark grain filler and then a lightly tinted amber clear can make it absolutely glow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madawgony Posted July 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2010 Back from shoulder surgery...sort of. I probably shouldn't be out in the shop but I am going stir crazy! Routed out the pup cavities. Rough cut the bevel. Even though I have never held a Kelly I can tell by the pics that I was way too aggressive. I did say "Kelly-ish" lol. Well, it will be even more pointy so that will be good with my son. Getting good clean lines on this type of bevel is going to be tough. I have a couple of areas that need some refinement. The jack I have planned for this wont have a plate so it will fit in-between the bevels on the backside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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