iamzelix Posted July 25, 2016 Report Share Posted July 25, 2016 After reading many threads on this forum I decided it might be prudent to do a practice run with some cheap wood before I jump out and buy some expensive wood only to ruin it. I've learned a lot of lessons in doing this. lesson 1 Make sure the joiner is perfectly square. Lesson 2 have plenty of clamps on hand. I have to buy more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamzelix Posted July 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2016 Lesson 3 have new and/or sharp router bits. I used some old router bits my father gave me. You can see the lovely results. Of course I can't blame it all on the bits. I'm equally to blame and own up to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamzelix Posted July 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2016 Lesson 4 Jigsaw blades. Make sure you have a sharp new blade. I went thru hell to get it to this point.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamzelix Posted July 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2016 Lesson 5 Make damn sure you know which side the electronic cavity goes on. Notice anything wrong with this picture? Hint: Cavity on the wrong side. (I'm a lefty) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamzelix Posted July 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2016 (edited) Lesson 6 When taping off for a paint job make sure the tape is firmly on. I got some "over spray" under the areas the tape wasn't firmly put on. Fun Fact: You can clearly see the join is not done properly here. Edited July 25, 2016 by iamzelix Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamzelix Posted July 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2016 Lesson 7 Less is more. Don't go nuts with the design.... less is more. This is where I left it at last night. I'm not really "proud" of it as it stands so far. What I am proud of is everything I've learned so far in a short time. It isn't too terribly bad for a noob I don't guess but it's riddled with flaws. LOL I've got to get some more supplies. My belt sander died on me. It was over 30 years old. I also have to get some new router bits. Thanks for viewing this thread. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted July 25, 2016 Report Share Posted July 25, 2016 At least the pots are in the front side, I've seen worse mistakes from some people... Well, every error you get is a goldmine, if you don't fail you'll never learn. The paint design is not so bad, I like more than the common EVH you see everywhere. ^^ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIMpleONe89 Posted July 25, 2016 Report Share Posted July 25, 2016 Lots of lessons learned! Good thing you practised on cheap wood. I did that for my first build too and was much more confident when I used the more expensive wood. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitaraxz Posted July 26, 2016 Report Share Posted July 26, 2016 it's a good thing that you started with a bolt-on neck. I started with a set-in neck and quickly realised that was a bad idea and that with a bolt-on it is easier to fix problems. I don't see the neck in your build, personally I prefer to make the neck first and the neck pocket afterwarrds, IMO this way one can meassure the width and depth of the pocket better. No matter what happens finish your build and good luck! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamzelix Posted July 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2016 9 hours ago, Guitaraxz said: it's a good thing that you started with a bolt-on neck. I started with a set-in neck and quickly realised that was a bad idea and that with a bolt-on it is easier to fix problems. I don't see the neck in your build, personally I prefer to make the neck first and the neck pocket afterwarrds, IMO this way one can meassure the width and depth of the pocket better. No matter what happens finish your build and good luck! I just made the body as a practice exercise. I didn't make a neck for it yet. I went ahead and ordered a tele template off the net. When it gets here I'll try again with another piece of pine. Hopefully this time it will come out better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zack Posted July 26, 2016 Report Share Posted July 26, 2016 Not a bad start. Much better to ruin some cheap wood for sure but you pulled through and kept going. The paint looks pretty cool to me. It a great idea to overthink the project before you make any cuts, but I started measuring the wrong side to make the last cavity too so... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted July 28, 2016 Report Share Posted July 28, 2016 To repeat what has already been said, you learned quite a lot very quickly. That may very well be the most valuable guitar body you ever make. don't beat yourself up to badly over the routing and joinery. Pine is a very difficult wood to machine. The hard soft hard aspect of the growth rings play hell on cutting and shaping tools. You'll find hardwoods actually machine easier.....unless they are highly figured. Those produce a whole new set of challenges. I like the paint job better than Frankenstein too. SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIMpleONe89 Posted July 28, 2016 Report Share Posted July 28, 2016 I agree! I found pine harder to shape than mahogany! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamzelix Posted July 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2016 23 hours ago, ScottR said: To repeat what has already been said, you learned quite a lot very quickly. That may very well be the most valuable guitar body you ever make. don't beat yourself up to badly over the routing and joinery. Pine is a very difficult wood to machine. The hard soft hard aspect of the growth rings play hell on cutting and shaping tools. You'll find hardwoods actually machine easier.....unless they are highly figured. Those produce a whole new set of challenges. I like the paint job better than Frankenstein too. SR It seems that beating my head against the wall like this will really make building a guitar with proper tools on proper wood seem like a dream. I've got another pine body blank ready for when I get the template. I'll do one more with pine then I'll get move on to 'real' wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted July 29, 2016 Report Share Posted July 29, 2016 Poplar is a good choice for a step up from pine. It costs a little more than pine but is still relatively inexpensive and is easy to work. And it sounds good too. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamzelix Posted July 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2016 2 minutes ago, ScottR said: Poplar is a good choice for a step up from pine. It costs a little more than pine but is still relatively inexpensive and is easy to work. And it sounds good too. SR I can get 1 X12 popular here. I guess I could laminate a couple of pieces to make it thick enough for a guitar. I'm thinking 1-1/2" thick would be a minimum thickness for a guitar body. I found a place online that sells "exotic" woods at a decent price. I'll be ordering some to make hopefully a good guitar next. I want to finish up learning before I jump out and get real wood. I'm trying to get my uncle to hook me up with some local hardwood. He cuts trees for a living and sometimes get a portable sawmill to process some lumber. I'll like to try some pecan, or hickory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted July 29, 2016 Report Share Posted July 29, 2016 11 minutes ago, iamzelix said: I'm trying to get my uncle to hook me up with some local hardwood. He cuts trees for a living and sometimes get a portable sawmill to process some lumber. I'll like to try some pecan, or hickory. I think that would be very cool. We've got a member over in Tennessee, OrgMorg, that we haven't seen for a couple of years, that used to do that. It would be a great way to see what non-conventional hardwoods look like inside. Wes cut up some box elder a couple years back that had some great red streaks inside. I've seen some awesome looking spalted pecan, that would make gorgeous tops and I've always thought hickory would be an excellent neck wood. Plus they're great in the BBQ pit if you totally screw it up. And you can still cook over the off-cuts when the guitar comes out just as planned. SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim37 Posted July 29, 2016 Report Share Posted July 29, 2016 They arnt mistakes, they are things to avoid next time. You are on the right track screw up on cheap wood first. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamzelix Posted August 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2016 On 7/29/2016 at 1:09 PM, Tim37 said: They arnt mistakes, they are things to avoid next time. You are on the right track screw up on cheap wood first. Well I have to thank all of you good people here for that. I've been reading many a post and came to that conclusion. I'll make another body out of pine then I'm going to go for it. wish me luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted August 1, 2016 Report Share Posted August 1, 2016 Okay......Good luck! SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamzelix Posted August 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2016 Still waiting for the template and the wood to arrive. I decided to use up some old pine I had and continue on with the practice. I also picked up this rigid sander. One of, if not, the best things I've ever bought. I had some old stain laying around. I thought I'd give it a whirl... I have sanding sealer on it now. I kinda like how it's an old beat up looking guitar already. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted August 9, 2016 Report Share Posted August 9, 2016 That belt sander caught my eye right off the bat, I may have to look into that. It looks like you flame treated your pine, without actually lighting a fire. SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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