Epiphone Coronet 1966

[oerni]

Hi guys,

first of all i´ve never built a guitar on my own, but i build a lot of other stuff with wood and know how to handle all the required tools. So for a long time it´s my dream to build myself a Epiphone Coronet, just because as a student i can´t afford to buy an vintage ´66.

So the design of the guitar is not that difficult. Just one P90 in the neck and 1Tone and Volume Poti. But I´m really curious about the neck. It seems that i have to build one. I was hoping that i could by one and it would fit into the design but that´s not possible. (If you have any ideas please let me know)

by the way: It´s a 22 fret neck with an extension so you can glue it to the body

so is it possible for me to build my own neck although i´ve never build a guitar before? :/ 

thanks for your replies and if you have any tutorials for this type of guitar please let me know!

66 Epiphone Coronet.pdf

[curtisa]

Not familiar with the Coronet - looks like a set neck construction?

No reason why you couldn't modify the body shape slightly to give it a Strat-style heel and fit a bolt-on neck if you're worried about building your own.  Plenty of aftermarket pre-assembled bolt-on necks available online.  Looks like the headstock shape could almost be cut down from a plain Strat-style headstock too.

You'd need to be aware of the scale length of any premade neck you decide to go for, as it has an impact on the location of your bridge relative to the position of the frets.

Stewmac have ready-to-go bolt on necks.

Lots on Ebay (some dubious quality, but much cheaper than Stewmac)

Warmoth

Allparts

[ScottR]

Sure it's possible to build a neck even though you've never built a guitar before.  I did that very thing when I built my first guitar. If you are a competent woodworker and have researched what's required to build a guitar - check out Melvin Hiscock's "Building an Electric Guitar" - it's our bible; you can build a guitar including a neck. In fact, most of us find the neck one of the most enjoyable stages, after we've built a few.

SR

[Prostheta]

Hi Oerni!

I'd go as far as saying that an Epiphone Coronet - along with a Les Paul Jr - are one of the best instruments to get into guitar-building with. They're a bit more difficult than a flat-pack IKEA Fender design, but with a bit of thought you can make one every bit as good as an original.

I would study this page for every last detail:

http://c-nelson.com/1962-epiphone-coronet-2/

Yes, it's a set neck Scott. It looks like a standard Gibson-style single acting rod with Maple filler arrangement, maybe with little to no neck angle. The neck tenon could actually be extended all the way back to the pickguard if you wanted super-string coupling Oerni. That's why I'm going to do a full build thread on an SG Jr with my wife at some point in the future ;-)

[oerni]

YOU guys are amazing! seriously! I´ve been to a lot of forums but never met guys like you! i will read me trough the stuff you sent me and some tutorials about neck building and of course I´m gonna let you know who i decided to build this guitar! I also started a document where i will write a step to step guide for how to build a coronet as easy as possible! 

but one theres another question: Which modern/still produced P90 is the best for this job? I´m thinking of this one ( http://www.thomann.de/at/seymour_duncan_santp90de_b_blk.htm )! 

 

It´s gonna take a long time for me to build this guitar because under the week im studying for university but i will not forget to write my final post here! 

 

Again, Thank you guys!

 

[Prostheta]

There's a lot of P-90s out there, especially here in Europe. Over in the UK you have Bare Knuckle producing some really high-end stuff. I reckon their Nantucket is a good bang for the buck:

https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/main/pickups.php?cat=p90s&sub=p90s&pickup=nantucket_90

Alternatively here in Finland there is Veijo Rautia producing some well-received P90s. Not sure if they come with dog ears like that though.

http://www.rautiaguitars.net/

Thanks for the positive comments! We've got a lot of new stuff coming out over the next few months and beyond too.

[Prostheta]

You might want to check out The Creamery in the UK too:

http://www.creamery-pickups.co.uk/custom-handwound-pickups-from-the-creamery/custom-handwound-replacement-p90-pickups.html

[oerni]

These creamery pickups are pretty cheap so if they sound good too it would be perfect  

By the way: I found a good series of videos in youtube where a guy builds a gibson les paul jr which is actually the same guitar ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBDlUTreI1M ) 

if you are a beginner like me i would recommend to watch this

[Prostheta]

Yes, the Coronet is pretty much the same kind of thing!

[Prostheta]

Those videos are very "by the numbers". It makes the build look extremely easy, but there are a lot of very high quality tools being used. For an estimate, I would say that it would be cheaper to buy 6-8 Les Paul Jrs.