gpcustomguitars Posted February 24, 2016 Report Share Posted February 24, 2016 We had a really slow day at work the other day, and while browsing the net, I came upon a pic of a Billy Bo made out of some scrap wood, knots and all. I had a cherry plank, 2" thick set to become a coffee table, embedded pebbles etc, but that plan was immediately off, and a dive into the parts bin yielded a old neck I have replaced on my tele, russian made pink humbucker really overwound (cca 16kohm I think), GFS vibrato unit slightly corroded, chinese TOM-type roller bridge and some caps for the stove, brand new I have some used pots, scrap plastic in black, so, here goes: 001 by Goran P, on Flickr 002 by Goran P, on Flickr 003 by Goran P, on Flickr 004 by Goran P, on Flickr The back was roughly carved with a hatchet: 005 by Goran P, on Flickr 006 by Goran P, on Flickr 007 by Goran P, on Flickr 008 by Goran P, on Flickr Then some spokeshaving and rasps: 009 by Goran P, on Flickr Changed the shape a bit to avoid the lack of material in this area: 0010 by Goran P, on Flickr I decided to lighten it up a little by accenting the body curves on the back, hatchet followed by more conventional shaping methods : 0012 by Goran P, on Flickr 0013 by Goran P, on Flickr And this is what it looks now - it took most of sunday morning. 0014 by Goran P, on Flickr 0015 by Goran P, on Flickr I want to route the neck pocket , and as large a cavity possible for the pup and the electronics from the back. The crater on the top I will try to preserve somehow, most probably by adding some black acrylic backing from inside. Still don't know about the finish, but no colors definitely, oil/wax or some brushed nitro... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted February 24, 2016 Report Share Posted February 24, 2016 You are about half crazy, you know that? I love this project. I'll be eagerly watching to see how this one turns out! SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted February 24, 2016 Report Share Posted February 24, 2016 HAHAHAA Goran, you make any day fun when you post stuff like this. I agree with Scott ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightroExpress Posted February 25, 2016 Report Share Posted February 25, 2016 Awesome! I don't think I've ever seen someone use an axe to carve a guitar. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirspens Posted February 25, 2016 Report Share Posted February 25, 2016 Yes. The hatchet is my favorite part of this build so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris Posted February 25, 2016 Report Share Posted February 25, 2016 I look forward to when you set it to gas mark 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted February 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2016 Thanks! I try to keep it fun. I just finished repairing a Ibanez acoustic with cracked and little bit dented top, cracked back brace and a missing portion of multi-ply binding, so after all the little details in lacquer filling, scraping, steaming out dents etc, a hatchet was a nice change Actually, if kept sharp, that little axe is incredibly useful - this whole bog chair was carved with it last summer, from same batch of cherry. I just sawed the sides of the sitting part of it, and split them lengthwise. It also doubles as a hammer somewhat, handy in the yard. I've also carved some bows with it, rough carve doesn't take much time. The jar with the wooden handle is obviously, for tea stolica sekirce i krigla by Goran P, on Flickr I've set up the routing jig for the neck pocket, so I hope to actually route it later today. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted February 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 (edited) A small update: The top is not completely flat, and I want it to stay that way, but fixing rails for neck pocket routing was a bit complicated. It went well, just realized I didn't take a pic with neck on... It has a 4 deg angle, and looks enough for the bridge I'm using. For the headstock shape, I think this will be it - it has a slight Fbird vibe, I'll probably paint it black. If I came across a 3+3 at some point, I might swap it. I've drilled 2 18mm holes for the humbucker, the top is crumbly in that area, so probably no router, I've started by hand with a chisel, and will continue with Dremel sanding drums. I'll probably flood the sides of the cavity with CA to be on the safe side, and use the existing crack as a wire route to the pots, wires visible. I'll also inject PVA into all the cracks. I want to add some "weight" to the vibrato unit, so it will get a black acrylic cover/tailpiece, will see how that looks. Any ideas on strengthening the humbucker top area for the height adjustment screws are welcome. I might make 2 "dogears" out of brass or alu and epoxy them on, to distribute the stress more evenly? Beer caps? Brass picks? Coins??? 0016 by Goran P, on Flickr 0017 by Goran P, on Flickr 0018 by Goran P, on Flickr 0019 by Goran P, on Flickr Edited February 26, 2016 by gpcustomguitars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pan_kara Posted February 26, 2016 Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 This is awesome! I love the idea of turning seemingly hopeless wood pieces into guitars, I recently acquired a pine ikea table top that almost got thrown away during a move but I decided we'll keep it and I'll try to make a pinecaster (or two) - I figure every guitar builder has to make a pinecaster at some stage in their life ... Looking forward to seeing this build progress! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted February 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2016 So true! You'll find that pine makes nice sounding guitars, only downfall being easiness to ding them, but that can be solved in a number of ways Here's some progress: went trough the body for the humbucker, some routing still to be done, CA'd the insides, used a syringe with a needle to deeply fill the cracks with PVA, then routed for the back cover with the Dremel. Changed the look of the back some more, heel is now standard, and the rest is 52mm thick here and there Most fun today was making the vibrato unit look a bit more interesting than it is. I've cut the trapezoid cover out of 4mm black acrylic, routed the recess for the vibrato with a dremel, and then sanded away the gloss. Then covered what I wanted with tape, and with some coarse StewMac polish brought it back to shiny. Old window lever provided a brass handle completely covered in old paint and after some brushing and polishing with a rotary tool has just the right look. It will be useful for flipping the guitar over to show the "BEER" sticker AND it will hold the cover in place while looking cool Still haven't figured out where to put the jack, but it will most likely end up on the square patch with the strap button. If I manage to find a acoustic-type of jack socket/strap button, that would be a nice solution. 0020 by Goran P, on Flickr 0021 by Goran P, on Flickr 0022 by Goran P, on Flickr 0023 by Goran P, on Flickr 0024 by Goran P, on Flickr 0025 by Goran P, on Flickr 0026 by Goran P, on Flickr 0027 by Goran P, on Flickr 0028 by Goran P, on Flickr 0029 by Goran P, on Flickr 0030 by Goran P, on Flickr 0031 by Goran P, on Flickr 0032 by Goran P, on Flickr 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted February 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2016 A few more things done! I've made the pickguard, and had the idea to try out the same technique, just trying to add a "ZZ". This time, I masked the area to remain polished, and sanded the rest, but I think the first procedure is easier and allows for finer details. Also, cutting lines should be strictly point to point...It's OK on such a gritty guitar I guess... Got some upholstery antique brass nails, I think they go well with the theme, so I'm approaching the tricky part - what to do with the crater, which MUST remain visable??? I have some long necked pots, that will be very helpful I think. I'm having second thoughts about the stock bridge, a brass one would look the part better and I'm reconsidering stove caps, since they are white...any ideas on getting them yellowish cracked etc? 0033 by Goran P, on Flickr 0034 by Goran P, on Flickr 0035 by Goran P, on Flickr 0036 by Goran P, on Flickr 0037 by Goran P, on Flickr 0038 by Goran P, on Flickr 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted March 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2016 A really small update - I'm making some furniture for children's room, so no real time to work on this. I did manage to get dark brown, almost black pot caps for this, same as these, and some self-adhesive alu tape for shielding. I've figured out how to try to make the electronic cavity, so a real update is coming soon... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted March 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2016 Furniture is done, and nicely :), if I do say so myself, so finally a real update! I decided to try to make a plate to go from the front side, mimicking a clay pocket. We'll see if I can pull that off. First, I picked a place for the pots, marked, and drilled trough to the other side. Then routed from the back, careful not to got too deep and damage the crater. I've applied some PVA to all the cracks and the inner surfaces. It becomes clear as it dries, but has a subtle sheen, which accents the cracks a little. Then, made a paper approximate of the shape of the crater, and cut a black acrylic shape. Sides of the crater were then somewhat routed with a dremel, to create a small ledge where possible, but keeping the original edge intact. After some more fine tuning, it fit right in, and was glued with CA. I first soaked the edge with CA to get some saturation, and a while later, added more glue and set the insert in place. Then I've sanded it, packing the resulting dust into the crevices, and added CA over that, sanded back, CA, etc. The end of crater was built up similarly, with some chunks of wood that I've saved from routing. I want to save the crater end that goes to the pup cavity, to show the wires going from the pup, so I have to further "naturalise" a small straight portion of the acrylic on that side. I think that the brown caps are a better fit than the white ones, and they go to 6, not only up to 3 0039 by Goran P, on Flickr 0040 by Goran P, on Flickr 0041 by Goran P, on Flickr 0042 by Goran P, on Flickr 0043 by Goran P, on Flickr 0044 by Goran P, on Flickr 0045 by Goran P, on Flickr 0046 by Goran P, on Flickr 0047 by Goran P, on Flickr 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted March 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 Not much of an update, but managed to drill the holes, and got an idea to try this: 0048 by Goran P, on Flickr It's a bit smaller, and brass, perhaps it would work better with the theme...? Opinions please! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 8, 2016 Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 Those would work. I do kind of like the black chicken heads though. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitaraxz Posted March 9, 2016 Report Share Posted March 9, 2016 On 24 de febrero de 2016 at 11:28 AM, ScottR said: You are about half crazy, you know that? I love this project. I'll be eagerly watching to see how this one turns out! SR Half crazy would make him half sane! No way! Completley bonkers ina cool way! Personally I prefered the white stove knobs, Scott prefered them black, you prefered some brass ones so nobody agrees haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris Posted March 9, 2016 Report Share Posted March 9, 2016 White stove knobs get my vote Maybe bury them in the back garden for a couple of weeks to gain some patina to match the rest of the aesthetics? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted March 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2016 Can't decide...we'll see when it's assembled, perhaps it will be more obvious then... Anyway, some more progress, shaped the pup cavity some more, and made the covers. Also, v1.0 of the jack plate. All will get the same sand back /polish treatment of some sort. Covers are shaped a bit, to blend with the existing body curves. Still have to do some minor routing on the pup cavity and then drill for the jack. Then it's just finishing, or lack of it 0049 by Goran P, on Flickr 0050 by Goran P, on Flickr 0051 by Goran P, on Flickr 0052 by Goran P, on Flickr 0053 by Goran P, on Flickr 0054 by Goran P, on Flickr 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted March 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2016 The pup cavity is done, drilled the holes for the screws, trimmed the pickguard to fit the pup. All the versions of the pot caps I have so far - white, dark brown, 12gauge. Also, another dilemma - as support for the bass-side pup screw I have either a old coin (to be drilled and cut in almost half) or another bit of black plastic, perhaps even in shape similar to this on the pic. 0055 by Goran P, on Flickr 0056 by Goran P, on Flickr 0057 by Goran P, on Flickr 0059 by Goran P, on Flickr 0060 by Goran P, on Flickr 0061 by Goran P, on Flickr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted March 13, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2016 A small update, but detail by detail, it's almost done! Oil is next! The way I mounted the pickup got in the way of the "BEER", but I went around it: Masked and sprayed the letters, then masked again with the cover in place, and did the "polish back" thing again. I messed up because it's supposed to be upside down, but never mind, it's highly unlikely that anyone would get me a beer during the set anyway 0062 by Goran P, on Flickr 0063 by Goran P, on Flickr 0064 by Goran P, on Flickr 0065 by Goran P, on Flickr My coin-or-plastic dilemma solved itself as while cleaning the garage today I found this remnant of the disk brake. It even has a 3.5mm hole in just the right place. Bent the little lip it has into the pickup well using a vice. 0066 by Goran P, on Flickr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirspens Posted March 13, 2016 Report Share Posted March 13, 2016 On 3/11/2016 at 0:35 PM, gpcustomguitars said: 0060 by Goran P, on Flickr I like the coin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted March 15, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 Oiled it last night with my home made mix of lineseed, thinner and varnish. While it's drying, I'll reshape and paint the headstock, and then after some wax, it's assembly time! 0067 by Goran P, on Flickr 0068 by Goran P, on Flickr 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 15, 2016 Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 Now see, that wood looks so nice on the back it makes me wonder what it looks like under the aged weathered surface of the front....which looks very cool weathered and aged. That happens too me every time I work with a piece of old timber. Most of the time I cannot stand not knowing what it looks like on the inside. SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted March 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2016 Cherry + some oil and wax is just great, and this piece has some black streaks that just highlight the natural look of cherry. I decided to make a guitar body out of this based on the healthy back. The top is pretty rotten (or spalted ) so to get to solid ground I would have to remove about 10mm, so there would be no character left. And I would have to do a lot more sanding I'm curious too, but I do have the rest of that plank in the garage, and it will probably become some mutant V or a Moderne and I'll just mill the top flat and we'll see what happens. I must admit it's not all natural look of the wood. I've filled all the cracks with PVA, so those arreas don't darken as much in contact with the oil mix. I might try "drawing" with PVA at some point, using a pen-like glue bottle on bare wood to make a pattern, sand back and then oil. Areas covered would probably not oxidize or darken and would have some slight shine different to surrounding surface. It's waxed now: 0069 by Goran P, on Flickr 0070 by Goran P, on Flickr I've used an old batch of oil mix which became really thick. I was wondering will it be OK, but, one thick coat I applied was enough, it was completely dry to touch and looks as I've used lacquer. I guess I'll mix some more and just leave it for a while... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted March 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2016 I've put the strings on, and did the setup! Sounds really lively, plays nicely and despite it's looks is not heavy. Headstock became much prettier I think...I have yet to solder it together later this week. As this is a Parts-box-build, decided to get some caps from this old italian mic preamp, and I think these are the right pot caps for this guitar! Then again, if I do make an similarly styled Moderne out of the remaining piece of cherry, I might need all 3 Will try to record a few sounds once I'm done! 0071 by Goran P, on Flickr 0072 by Goran P, on Flickr 0073 by Goran P, on Flickr 0074 by Goran P, on Flickr 0075 by Goran P, on Flickr 0076 by Goran P, on Flickr 0077 by Goran P, on Flickr 0078 by Goran P, on Flickr 0079 by Goran P, on Flickr 0080 by Goran P, on Flickr 0082 by Goran P, on Flickr 0083 by Goran P, on Flickr 0084 by Goran P, on Flickr 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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