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My first full build from scratch


birch

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So far all my work has been hotrodding of cheap factory guitars including adding and changing pickups and hardware, and custom paint. Sadly I have no pictures of many projects due to a fried hard drive and my tendency to procrastinate backing up files.

 I have one example on my first thread on this site of a strat I painted a couple years ago.

 I started my first scratch build last year and have been making slow progress through buying a house and moving, renovating and otherwise eating my spare time away. 

I am now making more progress each week and thought it was time to get some feedback before I tackle some of the tasks I've never tried before.

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I'm contemplating a neck joint that I've been thinking about but haven't been able to find any examples of its use so I'm wondering if there is a good reason that I'm not aware of... I want to do a set neck but my neck blank is not long enough to to a traditional tenon so I'm thinking about glueing it in through the back of the body. This would allow me to avoid a heel and carve a smooth transition from neck to body and make a nice flamed maple accent in the back of the body. I think it would also provide enough surface area for a strong glue joint.

Is there any reason why this is a bad idea?

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2 hours ago, birch said:

Is there any reason why this is a bad idea?

Nope, that will work if executed properly. Avengers did a couple of similar joins 4 or 5 years ago, although his tenon was longer. You will need to get your neck angle from the route, so plan that out carefully. You made your routing job a bit trickier by carving first, so you'll need to be a bit creative in mounting your template. I must say, I do like the shape and carve, very nice. Are you contemplating a flame shaped F-hole?

SR

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3 minutes ago, ScottR said:

 Are you contemplating a flame shaped F-hole?

SR

Thanks, I am working out a design for a flame shaped F-hole and fretboard inlay but I'm not happy with what I've come up with so far.

 I was planning on doing all my 2 degree angles on the tenon so that my body route template can sit flat to the body.  It has been suggested to me that there might not be enough glue surface area by not using the back of the heel as glueing surface. I will try to find Avengers builds if they are still on the site.

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On 2/19/2016 at 11:37 AM, birch said:

I'm contemplating a neck joint that I've been thinking about but haven't been able to find any examples of its use so I'm wondering if there is a good reason that I'm not aware of... I want to do a set neck but my neck blank is not long enough to to a traditional tenon so I'm thinking about glueing it in through the back of the body. This would allow me to avoid a heel and carve a smooth transition from neck to body and make a nice flamed maple accent in the back of the body. I think it would also provide enough surface area for a strong glue joint.

Is there any reason why this is a bad idea?

 

 

On 2/19/2016 at 2:28 PM, birch said:

Thanks, I am working out a design for a flame shaped F-hole and fretboard inlay but I'm not happy with what I've come up with so far.

 I was planning on doing all my 2 degree angles on the tenon so that my body route template can sit flat to the body.  It has been suggested to me that there might not be enough glue surface area by not using the back of the heel as glueing surface. I will try to find Avengers builds if they are still on the site.

There's plenty of surface to glue to there. It could be tricky clamping that to get the neck angle accurate though.

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  • 2 weeks later...

That looks great.  I meant to say before - that is how I do my through necks.  Exactly the same principle except I keep going with the router until I run out of wood :)

i think it makes for a strong joint and leaves the top untouched.  As they say, great minds think alike :D

 

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A little more... Drilled the bridge stud holes, tuner holes (I need to get a 25/64" drill bit to finish) and routed the pickup cavity. Had a bit of tearout due to a dull bit judging by the burn marks. Not sure how to fix that yet...

still trying to come up with an f hole design I'm happy with too.

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3 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

That looks great.  I meant to say before - that is how I do my through necks.  Exactly the same principle except I keep going with the router until I run out of wood :)

i think it makes for a strong joint and leaves the top untouched.  As they say, great minds think alike :D

 

Thanks, I'm pretty happy with the way it's turning out too.

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3 hours ago, Prostheta said:

I missed this thread! The only immediate disadvantage with a rear-mounted neck is that it will need a bit more depth to account for lost glueing surface area.

I think I have enough glue surface to account for the loss. One thing I haven't figured out yet is how to effectively clamp the body to the sides of the neck heel while glueing. I'm going to have to make some funny shaped cauls to clamp against.

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