Stavromulabeta Posted January 28, 2014 Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 Hi all, I thought I'd start a build diary for my latest creation and see what people think! I've been messing around with guitars for a while now and was lucky enough to have some help from my dad in learning a bit of woodworking when I was still in school. He helped me through a couple of builds back then and I've done some kits by myself. Now though, it's been 5 years since the last one. I've moved out, got a job, and it's time to go it alone! Anyway, this is number 5. I've wanted an explorer of my own for years and thought it a good place to start. I'm a bit late starting this blog, so there's some catching up to do.. So here goes! The plan. I really liked the idea of the through-neck showing in the body. I went for a three-stripe neck, with some additional stringers down the sides for accent. I drew out accurate, full-scale plans as I wasn't quite sure on the design process here. Here's the body one, just to give an idea of the whole! Details-wise, I wanted to get something a bit different from my other guitars - all 25.5" scales with floyds. I decided to try out a slightly shorter, PRS-style scale-length at 25" for a more bluesy/classic vibe. After years of tuning/action frustration with the floyds, I'm also really looking forward to having a TOM bridge. I found a lovely little roller-saddle unit on axesrus (fantastic UK-based site). Woods I sourced all my wood from a great place in Surrey (Surrey Timbers). Really helpful and some really incredible looking stock! Heartily recommended for those of you in the UK. Here's everything together, I got enough for a couple of projects here and probably only spent £150. * Curly maple and Bubinga for the neck laminations (neck core shown made up here) * African rosewood for the body wings * Purpleheart for the body stringers * Curly cherry for the top (body and headstock) Here's another pic which shows off the African Rosewood a little better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu. Posted January 28, 2014 Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 You've got some great-looking wood there! It's also very wise to get everything drawn out before you start, so props on that too. Give me a shout if you need any other UK suppliers for tonewoods, hardware and other luthier wotsits. Are you going with a recessed bridge or a neck angle for this one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stavromulabeta Posted January 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 Hi Stu, thanks! I'm really excited with how it's turning out. I'll be sure to give you a shout if anything comes up . Ah, the neck angle... After much wailing and gnashing of teeth I went for a shallow 1.5deg angle. Having started out with fenders and floyds, I always feel a bit uneasy with those high TOMs and big neck angles. I was a little unsure if this was a good direction or not though. From drawing (and re-drawing a lot!) I think I can just recess the thumbwheels and have the bridge itself a fraction off the body - I guess it does just come down to preference really.. [On the drawing front, I'm an engineer now, so the idea of leaving home without a plan and at least a little maths done makes my skin crawl, haha.] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stavromulabeta Posted January 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 The build so far... Here's a quick run through of things so-far. I made hay while at my parent's place over Christmas to get on my dad's bandsaw and get the body-wings roughed out - that African Rosewood is so damn hard to work! Unfortunately though, they wouldn't go under side on, so a couple of hours hand-sawing was needed to get them to the required thickness! Still, getting in early on the xmas recovery and managed to get a 10mm top for another explorer out of it! I also did the longer bits of cutting e.g. neck lams and the purpleheart stringers. I layed it all out together for a sneak-peek of the design . First-stop, I actually made up an excel spreadsheet which would give me fret-distances (checked against Stew-mac!) and then help to work out the required neck widths and radii for the compound radius fretboard. This actually helped a lot with trying stuff out when ordering components. [The maths is spelled out pretty well on the Stew-Mac site, but if anyone is interested in the tool, let me know as I'm happy to share!] From here, I could make up the fretboard blank and slot/dot it. And get something real to see against the marking up! So, then it was on with the difficult bits! As I was saying above, I ended up choosing a 1.5deg angle for the neck with a partially recessed TOM. This did mean bonding a small fillet onto the neck-blank which would go under the fretboard's heel end. I then cracked out the saws and planes (back home now, so no bandsaw luxury!) and got to work. It was a scary few hours, but in the end I got out a really good, level result. A bit of marking up and I could also take off the 13deg angle for the headstock scarf. This is probably a good spot to take a break, I'll put up another installment to come up to the present when I get time. I'm hoping to finish of the last of the major neck-work this week so there's a little to catch up on. Hope you all enjoy the thread. Cheers for getting this far through my ramblings! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Original Posted January 28, 2014 Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 That looks great so far. Nice work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killemall8 Posted January 28, 2014 Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 The question is, how did you factor everything in to work with a TOM bridge and a 1.5* angle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stavromulabeta Posted January 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 I think that the bridge I have is quite low-profile anyway, and I put in the 3mm fillet under the fretboard heel too. I drew it all out full-size and it fitted with a conservatively low action and a bit of room for error under the bridge. I've seen some other posts on the web which put 1.5* as a lower bound without recessing, so I thought I must be in around the right ballpark for a partially recessed TOM(?). You've got me worried now! I guess I'll see this week once the frets are in and I can test it with a straightedge... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted January 28, 2014 Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 that African Rosewood is so damn hard to work! Also known as Bubinga, which is gorgeous and sounds good, but is very tough stuff indeed. Also heavy. You should have a real beast when this is done. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maull Posted January 28, 2014 Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 I think that the bridge I have is quite low-profile anyway, and I put in the 3mm fillet under the fretboard heel too. I drew it all out full-size and it fitted with a conservatively low action and a bit of room for error under the bridge. I've seen some other posts on the web which put 1.5* as a lower bound without recessing, so I thought I must be in around the right ballpark for a partially recessed TOM(?). You've got me worried now! I guess I'll see this week once the frets are in and I can test it with a straightedge... An LP with a TOM uses a neck angle of approximately 4 degrees. I would suggest drawing out your neck and bridge and confirming before going to far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stavromulabeta Posted January 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 I think that the bridge I have is quite low-profile anyway, and I put in the 3mm fillet under the fretboard heel too. I drew it all out full-size and it fitted with a conservatively low action and a bit of room for error under the bridge. I've seen some other posts on the web which put 1.5* as a lower bound without recessing, so I thought I must be in around the right ballpark for a partially recessed TOM(?). You've got me worried now! I guess I'll see this week once the frets are in and I can test it with a straightedge... An LP with a TOM uses a neck angle of approximately 4 degrees. I would suggest drawing out your neck and bridge and confirming before going to far. As I said, I drew everything out full scale and checked the parts against the drawing as well . I believe that the LP doesn't have anything under the fretboard at the neck heel which makes quite a difference(?).. Also, doesn't the body angle (lower than the neck angle) give a shallower effective angle at the bridge? Just checked it out again on the real thing when I got back from work and it looks fine for clearance, I know things will change a tiny bit with neck bow, but I'm pretty confident that especially with recessed thumbwheels I'll have plenty of room to play with! Glad people have got my back to make sure I check though! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stavromulabeta Posted January 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 that African Rosewood is so damn hard to work! Also known as Bubinga, which is gorgeous and sounds good, but is very tough stuff indeed. Also heavy. You should have a real beast when this is done. SR Ah, interesting.. I didn't realise that it was the same species as bubinga! I was sold two lumps, one as A.R and another as bubinga - they look pretty different in figuring, so I assumed different woods. They are both absolutely gorgeous bits of wood though, I'm really pleased (even if my tools are protesting!). I was actually considering hollowing out a bit of the top wing (like the control cavity) to negate some of the weight! Although it would probably negatively impact the sound... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted January 28, 2014 Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 I doubt you'd notice any negative effect soundwise from adding some body cavities......especially since you will not get to hear how it would have sounded without the cavities. I played a studio Les Paul a few years ago that had been extensively hollowed out, it was as light as an alder strat. It still sounded like a Les Paul. Here's some info on Bubinga/African Rosewood. http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/bubinga/bubinga%20fact%20sheet.htm There is a huge variety of figure found in this wood. http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/bubinga.htm Did you scroll down and see the shots of how big those trees are? No wonder there is so much variety. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu. Posted January 28, 2014 Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 Hi Stu, thanks! I'm really excited with how it's turning out. I'll be sure to give you a shout if anything comes up . Ah, the neck angle... After much wailing and gnashing of teeth I went for a shallow 1.5deg angle. Having started out with fenders and floyds, I always feel a bit uneasy with those high TOMs and big neck angles. I was a little unsure if this was a good direction or not though. From drawing (and re-drawing a lot!) I think I can just recess the thumbwheels and have the bridge itself a fraction off the body - I guess it does just come down to preference really.. [On the drawing front, I'm an engineer now, so the idea of leaving home without a plan and at least a little maths done makes my skin crawl, haha.] I did exactly the same thing on my first real build, so I'm super wary now. I arrived at ~2° using some estimated measurements, then ended up needing to recess the bridge posts and most of the thumbwheels (thank goodness for the screw tops). You're already doing a lot better than I did! A ToM is definitely easier on the set-up than a hardtail or FR too. Keep at it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stavromulabeta Posted January 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 Wow, you learn something every day! I can certainly see both of the figures which I have here. A very good point, and interesting about the LP. I quite like a nicely weighted axe, but this has the possibility to be a back-breaker! I'll definitely consider some cavities . Cheers Scott. Progress so far - installment 2! So, with the neck-core cut to the right angles, it was time to fit the headstock blank. I think I made a bit of an error here, in that I wasn't too keen on continuing the stripe out of the top of the headstock. I still think that with a bit of effort in neck shaping, I can bring the bubinga to a natural point whilst the maple matches, but it looks a little odd at present see pics. I made up a maple and cherry blank up and fitted it, planed it off to square and routed around an MDF template. Here's the truss-rod (double action) in, and ready for the fretboard! With the fretboard on, next was cutting down the neck-blank to thickness (again much more effort by hand!). I then cheated a bit with a router and guides to get the taper before finishing it by hand. Here it is, dots in, ready for radiusing and binding. I really love the way that the cherry has come up with sanding. Glad I chose it to top the body too! I've since taken out the binding channels (whilst it's all square). I'm hoping to get radiusing/binding/frets/ done this week as it'll let me properly lay everything up and check alignment before I get stuck into the body-building proper over the weekend . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stavromulabeta Posted January 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 I did exactly the same thing on my first real build, so I'm super wary now. I arrived at ~2° using some estimated measurements, then ended up needing to recess the bridge posts and most of the thumbwheels (thank goodness for the screw tops). You're already doing a lot better than I did! A ToM is definitely easier on the set-up than a hardtail or FR too. Keep at it! Ok, well I'm fairly up for recessed thumbwheels anyways (chose my bridge with the screw tops for a reason). Let's see how close I got with the drawings! Thanks a lot! I just had a skim though your last thread, cracking work there. How is the zebrano one coming on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stavromulabeta Posted January 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2014 Hi all, I'm having a little trouble with applying binding. I started with the headstock, but after a couple of unsuccessful attempts I thought I ask for some pointers.. (meanwhile, I'll clean this glue off...) I have black 0.02" and cream 0.04" strip which I plan to use together for a little accent stripe. The testers I made up looked great, but getting around the tighter corners on the headstock without gaps appearing is proving difficult. * Should I apply each layer independently, or put the two together first? (I tried both without getting it right..) * Am I using the right glue? I have a UHU style, acetone based glue which is applied as contact adhesive * The tape an bands aren't working too well as the binding is a bit taller than the channel and it bends under the pressure.. * Should I mould with the heat gun and glue as I go round the shape or try to fit up the whole shape before gluing? * Also, fretboard binding before radiusing or after? Any help on any of the above would be much appreciated! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu. Posted January 30, 2014 Report Share Posted January 30, 2014 I've never made my own multi-ply, but I'm under the impression that you should join it first with a wipe of acetone. My method at the moment is to cut the channel, then prepare the binding to fit the shape using a heat gun. Once I'm happy with the shape, I'll go ahead and glue it. Filament tape is nice and strong, but it leaves a lot of residue and doesn't have much stretch to it... so you can't always get it that tight... blue masking tape is more flexible, but the tack isn't very strong and the glue soaks in. The UHU Hart glue is pretty good in general. The only problem I've found is in dealing with any gaps - we're not talking about anything serious, just a fraction of a mm near a horn or whatever. Your main risk is the glue filling the gap completely and drying clear, so you can't fix it. If you're lucky, you'll have a tiny gap, which you can fill with some binding paste (put a few cuts of binding into a container with a little acetone, then scrape the melted paste off and touch-up). Doing the whole thing with binding paste from the start still gives a great result, with a little more time involved. Definitely route your channel before radiusing, then see how confident you feel about your fret slot depths. Binding first will make your taping a lot easier, but it limits your options for slotting deeper. Binding after allows you to monitor the depths, but having the binding taller than the board makes taping it perpendicular a bit harder. The more experienced and savvy guys might have some firmer advice though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stavromulabeta Posted January 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2014 Thanks, that sounds like good advice. I thought that I probably should stick it together first. I'll have another bash tomorrow after work (and see what other tips come in as well). I've looked around for acetone, but I can't seem to find it... Do you know where the best place to look in the UK is? I actually have my binding channels routed already, they turned out really nicely . I made a point of keeping everything square up to this point for it. Since the fretboard is well joined to the neck-core, I thought I could probably cut reasonably confidently with the slots ahead of binding and radiusing. (From tonight, I think anything to help the taping is worth it!) Sounds like I might have been a little to hasty in abandoning attempt one, I wasn't sure how fixable any gaps would be. Clearly I need to bag some acetone! Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu. Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 I don't know about the best place, but I bought my last bottle from eBay. Be careful with it though, because it's highly flammable, the vapours are unpleasant and it'll melt through anything plastic (including latex or nitrile gloves, albeit slowly). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stavromulabeta Posted February 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 So... Success! Thanks Stu for your advice. I managed to get hold of both acetone (from the pharmacy) and Weld-On 16 (from a friendly luthier who it turns out operates right next to my house! [i take it I'm not meant to namedrop here?]). Anyway, more fiddling later and the joins are good with no gaps - I even got the mitred corners to work! I think the pinstripe looks pretty cool as well. I'm on to fretting now, which is taking a fair while but looking great and getting faster as I go. Really chuffed with how it's looking . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XBIGJIMX Posted February 2, 2014 Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 The headstock binding is a real nice touch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stavromulabeta Posted February 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 Thanks! It was tricky, but all the effort was worth it in the end! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu. Posted February 6, 2014 Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 It's still looking very tidy... keep up the good work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stavromulabeta Posted January 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 Right, this thread is long overdue for an update! To cut a long-story short, I moved over to Spain with work and haven't been able to crack on with the explorer! Anyway, the festive period gave me a great excuse to head back to my parents and sponge a bit of workshop space off my Dad and it's almost done! Here's a few photos to get up to date. Body-wise, I made myself a template from some 6mm MDF and recreated my paper plans on it as a drilling guide. I managed to get the bubinga/african rosewood down to a sensible depth (no band-saw.. you can probably imagine that hand-sawing it almost killed me...) and planed. I also hand-sawed off the larger excess. Same story with my cherry top. It took a bit of playing with the template to get the best bits of grain in on both sides. Taking advantage of the two-part body, I routed out the wiring channels and took a chunk of weight out of the top-wing (that African Rosewood is beautiful, but I didn't want a back-breaker on my hands!) Neck radiusing, I squared off, planed and stuck on the purpleheart sides (do they count as "stringers"?). I ended up shaping a slighty asymmetric neck profile (similar to the Ibanez Ergodyne's). I play quite a lot of SRV-style leads, and a bit more shoulder on the top is really nice to wrap your thumb around for those big bends - but lets me keep a slender, quick profile for the twiddly bits! I left the final bits to take out once i'd got some stings on to judge the feel better. Wings go together separately, squared-off and planed then sash-clamped onto the core. Starting to take shape! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 Yep, it is looking distinctly guitarish now. If your fretboard is a good indicator it is going to be a classy looking beast when you finish her up. And I'm in awe of your fortitude to hand saw bubinga and African rosewood down to a reasonable thickness. I'll bet that left a few blisters. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.