jimmy g Posted July 5, 2010 Report Share Posted July 5, 2010 This is my first post after hanging around for a while. i just recently finished my FIRST build, a Music Man Petrucci clone. I have the real thing and thought that I'd use it as a reference while building. Of course, my build is not even close in terms of precision and workmanship. I bought a piece of birdseye maple on ebay for cheap and made 4 similar necks from it - 2 of which were usable. The others were butchered. I ruined 3 fretboards until finally making a fret press jig that worked well. I also ruined 3 nuts. I sealed, painted, then stripped the thing a grand total of 4 times. Auto primer was not bonding well with the paint that I was using. One thing after the other... The cavities in the back look awful. I taped the recesses off and after 15 coats of either sealer, primer, paint, or lacquer, the cavity was no longer recognizable. Now, I realize (after chipping the edges from removing the tape) that I have exposed wood that borders the cavity. The neck bolt ferrules suffer the same fate - sloppy, bare edges. I'm not really even sure how to finish them properly. Do you leave them uncovered and spray as you would the rest of the guitar? Anyway, to covert this up, I might make one big cover plate that is not flush mount and covers both the trem cavity and the control cavity. As far as playability, its pretty nice, but compared to the real thing, it sounds a bit thin despite having a Dimarzio Evolution in the bridge. It sustains pretty well in the higher registers, but it doesn't have the chunky rhythm resonance. It is a bit lighter than the Music Man. Perhaps this is due to the oversized trem block that the Petrucci has? The basswood is a bit denser? I might block my Wilkinson and see how that effects the tone. Anyways, the forum has provided a ton of help with this build. Thanks. Since I made a second neck, I'm now moving on to an Axis/wolfgang build with a maple top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supplebanana Posted July 5, 2010 Report Share Posted July 5, 2010 first build? wow !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
necroreaper Posted July 5, 2010 Report Share Posted July 5, 2010 Dude, this is awesome! I've just started making a JP7 with an ash body and birdseye maple neck/fretboard... I hope it turns out half as good as this! How did you find the arm contour carve? I've been wondering how difficult this will be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oblaty Posted July 5, 2010 Report Share Posted July 5, 2010 looking great for a first-timer my first and second was MusicMan Steve Morse-ish build. I did not look as good as I want, but it did sound great... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted July 5, 2010 Report Share Posted July 5, 2010 Jeez, I was building for 3 years before I made a guitar that looked nearly that good. Just goes to show you have what it takes, to not give up and keep trying until you get it right, because from here, that looks incredibly nice, even for a 5th or 6th build! Maybe try a Mahogany core body at some point, I think it'll give you the chunk you're looking for. Extraordinarily sweet sweet looking job! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmy g Posted July 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2010 Thanks guys for the feedback. I think the pictures might make it look better than it really is... Mohogany body does sound like a good idea to incorporate into this build (i've got the templates now). I know the jpx has a mohogany tone block. You could even do a 3 piece body with basswood horns and mohogany center. As far as the forearm contour, I suggest just looking closely at images and scribe baselines on the edges and an arc into the body. The real thing is amazingly ergonomic. I didn't remove as much wood as I should have. Both rear and front contours are quite deep. Where they meet at the top of the guitar, there's about half an inch of wood. Do you guys tape off your control cavities entirely? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted July 5, 2010 Report Share Posted July 5, 2010 Well, part of my finishing process is to grab a Q-tip and seal any and all holes/exposed wood. Sometimes I use a Q-tip dipped in lacquer, sometimes I use CYA glue...as long as everything gets coated somehow, it's usually good. The control cavities...seriously, mine usually are left open when I'm spraying, so they usually get covered with 15 coats of lacquer before all's said and done. If not, I make sure one way or the other they're coated with something. My big deal is that a lot of times, I use a Fender style 5-way switch and that area in the control cavity is -extremely thin-, so if it's not coated with some kind of sealer, it will warp or crack over time, especially with weak woods like Spalts, which absolutely have to be protected somehow. I'm having a hard time imagining what your problem is w/o a pic tho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmy g Posted July 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2010 Its embarrassing how bad it looks, but here it is. Lacquer just cracked leaving rough edges. They're sealed, but not painted as they should have been. Too late now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarkid4143 Posted July 5, 2010 Report Share Posted July 5, 2010 I heard from Kevin Warmoth in Melvyn Hiscock's book that birdseye maple is not good for maple. Cool build though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted July 6, 2010 Report Share Posted July 6, 2010 I 'think' I know where you were going with your question now. One way around that is to route the control cavity cover ledge just a tad deeper than need be, and just let your finish fill it in. As long as your finish isn't ridiculously thick, should be OK. Still, for a first build, don't be too hard on yourself, it still looks great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmy g Posted July 6, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2010 That's a good idea about just routing a little deeper to accommodate a finish build. Oh well, my Ernie Ball has no recessed cover plates. They are metal, though. guitarkid4143, I read that it's quite the opposite concerning birdseye stability. I think he was saying that grain and structural elements ALSO apply to birdseye, or flamed maple for that matter. I don't think birdseye is inherently unstable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted July 6, 2010 Report Share Posted July 6, 2010 Wow, that's beautiful. Any chance you could send me some measurements of the guitar (length, width, thickness)? I'm looking to build one of these, and while I've got some good drawings of it, they are lacking dimensions. Any help would be great. Thanks. Also, sometimes i find that scoring the paint with a razor blade or X-Acto knife around the masking tape can at least minimize the chipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihocky2 Posted July 6, 2010 Report Share Posted July 6, 2010 The finish turned out great for a first build and the overall look is great. I'm glad to see you kept going back to repair your mistakes instead of just settling for them as they were. The best way to learn is from your mistakes. I admire that you are willing to admit your mistakes on your first build. It shows that you are level headed and know you are not perfect and are willing to work to get better. Keep working on it, you can only get better. And from this as a first build, you have a nice place to start growing from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmy g Posted July 6, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2010 Measurements: Headstock tip to fretboard side of nut - 5 7-8" Body thickness - 1 13/16" The bevel around the bottom edge drops from the top about 1/4" and increases to about 5/8" at the horns. The horns progressively taper from body thickness to about 1 1/4" at the tip. Headstock end to end of fretboard: 25 1/4" Headstock thickness: 21/32" Thickness of maple neck (without fretboard) - 55/64" Width of neck at 24th fret - 1 1/4" Width of body at widest point - about 12 3/4" Length of body - about 18 1/2" Neck thickness at 1st fret - about .700" 12th fret -about .760" Like I said earlier, the forearm shaping is pretty severe - about 7" (diagonal) x 3" (into the body) arc. Hope that helps some Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killemall8 Posted July 6, 2010 Report Share Posted July 6, 2010 I actually rout the cavity recess AFTER the paint/finish is done. As long as your bit is really sharp, it wont chip the finish. This saved me a ton of trouble in the past. Nice looking guitar, love the color. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarnut Posted July 6, 2010 Report Share Posted July 6, 2010 As others have said, great first effort. They're only going to get better. I'm of a slightly different opinion when it comes to leaving a mistake as is. I make myself go back and correct it. Just a personal preference. It took me over 18 months to get my first one completed because I agonized over the finish and little details. Look at it this way. In the future looking back, you're never going to kick yourself for going back and correcting the cavities. But it will always nag at you if you leave them as they are. My first build... On the subject of your next build, I just finished a Wolfgang recently. They're fun to build because they're similar enough to other guitars to be familiar but different enough to keep it challenging. Best of luck on the next one. Peace, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmy g Posted July 6, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2010 I just got the crazy idea to strip the whole thing, plane the back down to the ugly, misshapen recesses and start over again. Routing after the fact sounds like an okay idea, but I don't trust that I can get the recess that perfect. I might route new recesses and paint and lacquer them. The other option is making some nice surface mount covers to just mount after. I guess I'll have time to think about it while I'm scraping and sanding away two weeks of work... Thanks for the kind words, everyone. It's pretty inspiring to get feedback from folks into the same thing who do far better work than I. It's a goal. God knows my girlfriend gets an earful every time I screw up. I tend to make half-assed things sometimes. Like Guitarnut said (I love your builds and photos of the process - they help a ton!), the cavities will nag at me every time I look at the thing. A guitar is something you have for a long time, so why make it something just okay when it can be pretty nice with a bit more elbow grease. Patience is a virtue. I should have fixed it first time around -James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted July 6, 2010 Report Share Posted July 6, 2010 Measurements: Headstock tip to fretboard side of nut - 5 7-8" Body thickness - 1 13/16" The bevel around the bottom edge drops from the top about 1/4" and increases to about 5/8" at the horns. The horns progressively taper from body thickness to about 1 1/4" at the tip. Headstock end to end of fretboard: 25 1/4" Headstock thickness: 21/32" Thickness of maple neck (without fretboard) - 55/64" Width of neck at 24th fret - 1 1/4" Width of body at widest point - about 12 3/4" Length of body - about 18 1/2" Neck thickness at 1st fret - about .700" 12th fret -about .760" Like I said earlier, the forearm shaping is pretty severe - about 7" (diagonal) x 3" (into the body) arc. Hope that helps some Wow thanks! that's exactly what I've been looking for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmy g Posted July 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2010 Oh yeah, the nut is a heavy 1 11/16" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmy g Posted July 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2010 Well, I've stripped and resanded the body. I really like the music man 'dargie delight' color despite its lowrider-esque appeal. I got a quart of Duplicolor metallic green paint and added a bit of black dye to tone it down a bit. Oh, and that stuff never really gets out of the spray gun I've found. Oh well. This is after 3 coats of clear lacquer. I'm pretty happy with it so far. More to come... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted July 18, 2010 Report Share Posted July 18, 2010 WoW! B) That looks GREAT! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarnut Posted July 18, 2010 Report Share Posted July 18, 2010 Yep, looking good! How did the back turn out this time? Peace, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmy g Posted July 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2010 The back looks good. I ended up planing down past the cavity cover recesses. I cut some sheet metal for the covers and plan on surface mounting them. I've got some metallic textured black paint that should look pretty nice. The music man has surface mount covers, so I figure it'd look at least true to the intended design. I'm going to have to patient while this thing cures before I polish it. The good thing is that I've played it the first time around, so that urge to throw it together and get it working is under control. Thanks for the encouraging words guys. More to come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King_Petrucci Posted July 19, 2010 Report Share Posted July 19, 2010 Dude, this is awesome! I've just started making a JP7 with an ash body and birdseye maple neck/fretboard... I hope it turns out half as good as this! How did you find the arm contour carve? I've been wondering how difficult this will be. Wheres the thread?? As the name suggests, Im a bit of a fan lol.. Thats a really nice build for a first go. Put my first to shame! Those measurements you gave could come in handy too!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted July 19, 2010 Report Share Posted July 19, 2010 Looking great, that finish is smoooth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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