bghk6581 Posted November 10, 2010 Report Share Posted November 10, 2010 Hey guys. Even though this is my first post, I've been reading through the forums for quite awhile. I posted these pics in another forum, but I only got one reply. The specs of this guitar are: '58 Flying V body Custom 3x3 headstock inspired by the KL headstock 24.75 scale length honduras mahogany 2 piece neck and 2 piece body bubinga top, control cavity cover, and headstock cap pao ferro 22 fret fretboard with gaboon ebony binding and no inlays black hardware EMG 60/81 Graphtech nut Here is my progress so far of my build. My inspiration of the headstock came from a Ken Lawrence explorer that was made for James Hetfield of Metallica. This one however has my own twist. to it I'm not sure which wood I'm going to use for the fretboard. The top two is pao ferro and the bottom two is gaboon ebony. One of the ebony has a couple of small knots in it so I might just use it for binding. Here is the wood for the body. Honduran mahogany for both body and neck. The headstock will have a bubinga cap and also the body will have a bubinga top. I'm debating on whether the top should be 1/4" or 3/8". Don't mind the knot there on the side. It should be gone once I lower the headstock thickness around the bubinga cap I still have to resaw the bubinga for the top. I might try Scatter's method I saw him do of using a table saw to cut the sides and use a hand saw to finish the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bghk6581 Posted November 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2010 I had some divets and tearouts when I used my router to edge the body after I rough cut it. I gotta fix those this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bghk6581 Posted November 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2010 I clamped the neck to the body just to see how it would look as a whole. Closeups of the side of the headstock. Both the bubinga cap and sides of headstock should be smaller. I'm not sure as to what thickness I'm going to make the cap. Maybe 1/8". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verhoevenc Posted November 10, 2010 Report Share Posted November 10, 2010 Hope for at least a couple good mess-ups (that don't ruin the build). It's the best way to learn Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted November 10, 2010 Report Share Posted November 10, 2010 Are you sure that you have enough room for the tuners on the headstock? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bghk6581 Posted November 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2010 Are you sure that you have enough room for the tuners on the headstock? Enough room? You think its too thick or too thin? I'm going to use Sperzel tuners and I have another guitar that has a headstock that is going to be the same thickness that this one will be. It will probably be around 1/2-3/4" thick headstock. The bubinga cap and headstock will be thinner when I finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted November 10, 2010 Report Share Posted November 10, 2010 (edited) Are you sure that you have enough room for the tuners on the headstock? Enough room? You think its too thick or too thin? I'm going to use Sperzel tuners and I have another guitar that has a headstock that is going to be the same thickness that this one will be. It will probably be around 1/2-3/4" thick headstock. The bubinga cap and headstock will be thinner when I finish. Not referring to the thickness of the headtsock, although you should keep that in check. I'm referring to the mount of room to line up the tuners along the sides of the headstock. Have you drawn it out to determine whether it will fit? Edited November 10, 2010 by guitar2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bghk6581 Posted November 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2010 Are you sure that you have enough room for the tuners on the headstock? Enough room? You think its too thick or too thin? I'm going to use Sperzel tuners and I have another guitar that has a headstock that is going to be the same thickness that this one will be. It will probably be around 1/2-3/4" thick headstock. The bubinga cap and headstock will be thinner when I finish. Not referring to the thickness of the headtsock, although you should keep that in check. I'm referring to the mount of room to line up the tuners along the sides of the headstock. Have you drawn it out to determine whether it will fit? Yeah I should have enough room. If not I'll adjust the sides when I'm fitting the tuners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bghk6581 Posted November 11, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2010 Some new pics from today: I thinned out the headstock to about 1/2" and then carved out the sides where the bubinga isn't on and lowered that part another 1/4" Here is a contrast from the unfinished on the left and the carved on the right: I thought that the knot would go away but you can see in this pic a little remained. I can fix that later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bghk6581 Posted November 11, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2010 Finished with the headstock for the day. I still have to sharpen the sides and finish shaping the cap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bghk6581 Posted November 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2010 Today, I worked on the top. Its a two piece bubinga top that I had to cut down the middle using a table saw, then handsaw the rest. I then planed it down to about 3/8". In order to stop the middle of the two pieces of bubinga to stop bucking inward, I had to use a block of my Indian rosewood(future neck) to stabilize the joint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bghk6581 Posted November 14, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2010 Last night, I glued up some walnut veneer to go under the bubinga top. You can barely see the glue line. I need to sand off some of the leftover glue. The top came out nicely. Still gotta clean it up later today. I wet the top a little to see what it would look like after it is oiled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bghk6581 Posted November 14, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2010 I rough cut the bubinga top to shape and test fit it to the body. I also made a bubinga control cavity. I finally figured out how to deal with the knot. I'll just put the input jack there. This way, the jack cover "covers" the knot. Here is the control cavity cover that I made out of left over bubinga from the top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted November 15, 2010 Report Share Posted November 15, 2010 You are going to need more clamps when you plan on gluing that top on. A lot more clamps.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bghk6581 Posted November 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2010 You are going to need more clamps when you plan on gluing that top on. A lot more clamps.... Oh yeah, I know. Those clamps in the pics are homemade spool clamps I made a few weeks ago. I have alot of them and I'm going to make some more this week to glue up the top to the body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted November 15, 2010 Report Share Posted November 15, 2010 You are going to need more clamps when you plan on gluing that top on. A lot more clamps.... Oh yeah, I know. Those clamps in the pics are homemade spool clamps I made a few weeks ago. I have alot of them and I'm going to make some more this week to glue up the top to the body. Ok. You will probably need some pressure in the middle of the body. The easiest way to do that is make a maple spanner bar that has a slight curve in the bottom. Then you clamp it on each side. The curve loads the middle with pressure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bghk6581 Posted November 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2010 You are going to need more clamps when you plan on gluing that top on. A lot more clamps.... Oh yeah, I know. Those clamps in the pics are homemade spool clamps I made a few weeks ago. I have alot of them and I'm going to make some more this week to glue up the top to the body. Ok. You will probably need some pressure in the middle of the body. The easiest way to do that is make a maple spanner bar that has a slight curve in the bottom. Then you clamp it on each side. The curve loads the middle with pressure. I was thinking about either that or putting some weights in the middle of the body for added pressure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted November 15, 2010 Report Share Posted November 15, 2010 I was thinking about either that or putting some weights in the middle of the body for added pressure. IMHO weights do not add enough pressure.... Maybe if you parked the car on it for the afternoon. Here are a few other articles to read. While they are not he be all end all I will say that they are a good explanation on why 60lbs of sand is probably not enough. How to Glue-Up Joints: Different Woods Need Different Clamping Pressure - Fine Woodworking How to Glue-Up Joints: The right number of clamps - Fine Woodworking How to Glue-Up Joints: Tips on gluing - Fine Woodworking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bghk6581 Posted November 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2010 I was thinking about either that or putting some weights in the middle of the body for added pressure. IMHO weights do not add enough pressure.... Maybe if you parked the car on it for the afternoon. Here are a few other articles to read. While they are not he be all end all I will say that they are a good explanation on why 60lbs of sand is probably not enough. How to Glue-Up Joints: Different Woods Need Different Clamping Pressure - Fine Woodworking How to Glue-Up Joints: The right number of clamps - Fine Woodworking How to Glue-Up Joints: Tips on gluing - Fine Woodworking Thanks for the articles. I guess I gotta get some maple boards along with my spool clamps. Do you have any pics of a clamped up guitar for reference? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted November 15, 2010 Report Share Posted November 15, 2010 Thanks for the articles. I guess I gotta get some maple boards along with my spool clamps. Do you have any pics of a clamped up guitar for reference? I always have pictures of clamps!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted November 15, 2010 Report Share Posted November 15, 2010 (edited) I always wondered if those spring loaded clamps and the pistol gripped clamps exerted enough pressure. Judging from your builds, I guess they do. SR Edited November 15, 2010 by ScottR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted November 15, 2010 Report Share Posted November 15, 2010 I always wondered if those spring loaded clamps and the pistol gripped clamps exerted enough pressure. Judging from your builds, I guess they do. SR i wouldnt trust them alone, certainly not for a join of this size... and from the pic it doesnt look like RAD would either Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted November 15, 2010 Report Share Posted November 15, 2010 I always wondered if those spring loaded clamps and the pistol gripped clamps exerted enough pressure. Judging from your builds, I guess they do. SR i wouldnt trust them alone, certainly not for a join of this size... and from the pic it doesnt look like RAD would either Nah don't trust them...the spring loaded are not good for much. The pistol grips are only good for about 200 pounds of pressure so I put them right next to each other in the spaces between the larger screw clamps. I use them in between the screw clamps. One time I got cute and only used spring clamps on a headstock plate and it had a bad glue line... only did that once I have large screw clamps for most of the pressure. Sometimes I use my vise to put pressure on the butt of the guitar. Screw clamps are as strong as the guy turning the handle so I like them. Unfortunately it is hard to get enough on a body to get even pressure all the way around the edges. Also you need less pressure on softer wood. On the spalted top big clamps would leave to many marks so I try to spread the force evenly. On something like a bloodwood top I use as many large Screw clamps as I can get on it. Large C-Clamps are cheap and are a good option for holding the maple bars against the top. I really like the wooden screw clamps though and would spend the money on good ones if I could. (I have some from Harbor Freight and some Jorgensons... no comparison.) Ultimately I am going to move to vacuum clamps for tops. That is the only real way to get it right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bghk6581 Posted November 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2010 Today I decided to work on the control cavity since thats the last thing I have to do before I glue the top on. I thought it turned out well. I made my own templates for the cavity. I had to make one for the inner cavity with the portions of wood that the screws go on, as well as the template for the outer cavity. I used a drill press and largest forsner bit to route the inner portion of the control cavity. Then I used the router for the rest. I put on a layer of glue with a small paint roller and I will let it sit and dry before I put on my walnut veneer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAK Guitars Posted November 21, 2010 Report Share Posted November 21, 2010 Whats the reasoning behind the glue layer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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