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This is what you see peeking through the soundhole. Part of me thinks I wasted time, but another part says it felt good, even if it's hidden. 

And if by some miracle this guitar sounds beyond fantastic (in the hands of an accomplished player, not me!), I can claim that the sound waves travel between the chambers smoothly in precise waves of tonal reverberation ... exactly as I calculated beforehand.

😜

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Dug out all the clamps I own, got them all lined up, pencil-marked their locations, then used Titebond Original to glue up.  Template is taped to the back, and the top will be thicknessed in the router box.  Also, two screws are for location purposes and to clamp the bridge block and neck pocket. 

Found a pair of "Y" clamps, but just could not find a place for the last one ... poor guy 🙁.

Sure hope I haven't forgotten anything. 😨

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Popped the clamps this morning, and threw the body back into the router box.  As expected the top had uneven thickness ... I only flattened the glue side.  Took it down to the desired 5mm top thickness, and had minor tearout on only one side of the Kaede maple.  That disappeared with a bit of sanding, now quite flat and smooth.  Glue joint seems (pun!) seems tight, but the real test is after beveling.  Weight down a bit more.  Taps nice!! 

Question: When I test sprayed the urethane over unsealed Kaede, it really soaked up the paint, but unevenly, which probably helped with the warping I witnessed. Do you think a natural shellac might help?  I really want to keep as much of the natural maple character as possible ... any suggestions?  Thanks!

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Here's a few pics of my parts choices (again).

Seymour Duncan Pro Shop Vintage Stack for Tele STKT-1N ... noiseless vintage output.  I have used this in a Tele, and like it!

Allparts USA PC 5763-003 Pickup ring for Tele, black powdercoat over solid brass.

HipShot 6 String Fixed Guitar Bridge (aka Hardtail), chromed brass

Solid brass string retainer block from @Juliusjahnmaker on FB

HipShot Chrome O-Ring Knobs

Montreux Electrosocket, chromed brass

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Topside, bridge positioned correctly, through-holes go through, ground wire hole goes where it should.

Neck pocket operation went well, still gotta go down another 2mm, but can't get 35mm (11mm template + 24mm pocket depth) with this bit.  Will finish depth another day.  But the pocket is reasonably tight and very, very straight ... no noticeable deviation from centerline. Yay!

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Again using recessed M5 threaded receptacles, but knocked a two of the prongs off ... two do the job, and they will be epoxied along with the carbon fiber rods later.  Pressed in just fine.

Instead of using a bolt, I cut an M5 rod, then used another hex-wrench threaded receptacle ... this helps counter the slight (0.525 degree) top plane.  Both receptacles sit flush and tight.

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But!

The neck fit tight, but was binding a bit ... I found that I had cut the neck about 1mm too short!  So took the cutoff, routed a radius, then glued it on and recut.  I other words, added a 1mm shim.  Under the fretboard, you won't see anything, so happy ... but not happy about another mistake.  Neck fits without binding, and the scale is spot-on.

Sigh

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Had another WHAT?!?!?! moment ... laid the LMI Ebony fretboard on the neck and the neck was WAY too long ... until I looked at the label and saw it was pre-slotted to 22 frets, not the 24 frets I was measuring to.  This picture doesn't show the board in the correct position, just showing the proposed position of the pickup.

Phew!

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Not sure if this will work, but thinking about following the natural wood for the soundhole ... something akin the Ric 300 series slash.  This is just a horrible MSPaint drawing, but will make a few black paper cutouts before deciding the final shape.

Gotta be able to see at least a little bit of the interior! 😉

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Forget the black paper idea.  Just found some tracing paper and outlined the natural grain lines, then used them as a guide.  Not totally sure about what I drew here ... the bottom of the slash will probably be more in line with the upper horn shape and angle.  

I think I'm getting close to final shape and location.  Please note I'm not very artistic, this is the first time I've ever really tried to do anything artsy.

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On to the pickup!

I was just gonna rout for pickup and screw the ring into the body.  (will no longer call it "ring"" or "plate" ... being solid brass, I think "bezel" sounds better!)  Somehow, just didn't like that ... looks a bit clunky on this guitar.  So made a template for the BEZEL and a pickup rout, and then tested on a scrap of thin maple. The bezel is 3mm thick, so routed down 2mm, hopefully making it look more "on purpose" than surface mount. 🤔

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Slash Template!

Front is the "idealized" pointy version, and the backside shows what it will be with a 3.2mm (1/8") router bit in the Dremel tool. If I really want to make the edges sharp, I guess freehand with files is a possibility. Another that comes to mind is re-positioning the template, and using my 0.6mm fret bits.  Can cross that bridge when I get there. 😉

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I will be epoxying the carbon fiber rods (these have a round hole in a rectangular rod, manufacturer says nearly as strong as solid) in soon, but before that wanted to flatten the headstock from15.5mm to 13.5mm. While I was at it, it thought I'd give it a small (1.5 degree?) angle to give me a bit more break angle on D and G strings. Also, the neck had twisted a bit ... just like the other Padauk neck, I waited this long, resurfaced, then straightened, THEN add the rods. Worked well on the Limba Six, so should be okay.

Elbow tendinitis is flaring up again, so will have to slow down a bit.

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Epoxied the rods in, and made a "point press" to hold the rods down.  (Last neck I almost had a terrible mess when a few bubbles pushed the rods up.  Fortunately, I caught it before it set, and pushed the rods down with bamboo sticks ... and some of the bamboo is buried under the fretboard)  Sure enough, the next morning there we a few bubbles ... on top of the rods (this time), which were seated firmly in their channels. Removed the tape and a few swipes with a card scraper got the neck ready for fretboard.

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Fretboard at 6.35mm (1/4") was a tad too thick for my tastes, so took 0.5mm off the middle with a trimmer, then scraped/sanded/scraped to 5.8mm. I will later take a bit more off the top, with a little angle toward the nut to offset edge thickness, and then bind it with 1.5mm black.  (I understand this is a bit unusual, but hoping it is a "good" unusual.

Glued and clamped, waited and released, the joint looks nice, the truss rod works without binding. Now I just hope it works WITH binding, Haha! 😉

A coat of urethane over the shellac tells me that the shellac performed it's sealing task as advertised. Considering a light burst, and natural maple edges around the bevels and soundhole.

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Got out the triangle section sanding beam for the first time, and found the pre-slotted, pre-radiused Ebony board, needed more than cursory work.  Used #180 with the beam, then #400 on the Stew-Mac block, finished with the #1500 abrasive pad.  

I would like a bit more shine ... but don't know how.  (first time to do Ebony)  Any tips?

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