10pizza Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 Hey all I've been wanting to create my own custom model for a while and recently I got some wood and starting designing my own shape. very, very hard. I ended up loaning some nice things of various guitars I like (see If you can identify them ) anyway, hope to get started on building soon. Good thing is I have most of the parts needed, so not much acquisition needed. here's two pictures of the design process. First one didn't leave enough room for the neck cavity , a bit too quick drawing the pickups. Second has a neck cavity drawn with AANJ. hope to create a template somewhere this week. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 That shape looks surprisingly similar to mine! As for the template, depending on what you're going to use for cutting, all you may need is scissors. Look at my template at Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris Posted March 23, 2020 Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 Welcome back. It's been a while Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10pizza Posted March 23, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2020 Thanks Norris, I feel guilty not being here that much, but with 2 little kids, 2 jobs and running a guitar service shop as a hobby I find my time quite limited for visiting .... @Bizman62 the upper part has similar lines indeed! Looking good! Hope you believe I didn't nick that part from you! The lower part is actually Mosrite inspired, I always like the asymmetrical shape of that guitar. a few weeks ago I got me a nice Metabo band saw. Will use that with some MDF to make my template. There will be some new things to find out in this build though: carving, designing a headstock. Not sure about the electronics yet either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted March 24, 2020 Report Share Posted March 24, 2020 10 hours ago, 10pizza said: the upper part has similar lines indeed! Looking good! Hope you believe I didn't nick that part from you! Heh, I've come to the conclusion that there's not too many unused variations left in guitar building as long as we have the strumming arm resting on the lower bout and a leg under the waist area to keep the guitar from wandering if we play in a sitting position. Standing up obviously eliminates the need of the latter but the need for balance emphasizes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayT Posted March 24, 2020 Report Share Posted March 24, 2020 I don't see this fingreboard detail on your 2nd drawing, are you losing that? Very cool detail I thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10pizza Posted March 24, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2020 I still might do it, just didn't draw the fretboard in the second drawing Will try to draw a neck and headstock this week Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10pizza Posted March 26, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2020 Designing the headstock, trying hard not to copy an existing shape. Before I get a cease and desist order from someone 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted March 26, 2020 Report Share Posted March 26, 2020 On 3/24/2020 at 6:54 PM, 10pizza said: I still might do it, just didn't draw the fretboard in the second drawing Will try to draw a neck and headstock this week Yes - I agree with @JayT The extension is a neat feature Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10pizza Posted March 26, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2020 Ok, that's settled then. It will be added. Thx for the feedback guys 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10pizza Posted March 27, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2020 I'l have to put on a different trussrod in that case. Was going for a wheel adjustable rod at the body. I have another rod somehwere, I can use that. We'll see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10pizza Posted April 12, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2020 managed to get some work done yesterday in the yard. Lovely spring weather, so got my bandsaw and sander outside. Created a template for my neck. Found out my neck-blank isn't wide enough, so I'm probably getting some walnut pieces to make a laminated neck and also do my first scarf joint neck. I also cut my body from the basswood blank that I've got for this project. Love my bandsaw! It's great to do be able to do this stuff in my yard without having to go to my friends workshop. Put my router in my workmate and used a piece of MDF to level and create a flat surface for routing the body with my template that I made. I found that the neck-cavity on my template was cut too short for an AANJ, so that part still needs to be shaped. Here's the specs that I've planned sofar: Bolt on maple neck with maple fretboard Bridge humbucker and slanted singlecoil size neck humbucker 5-way switching using coil-taps from the humbuckers 1-Vol-1-Tone Gotoh or Wilkinson Trem Gotoh tuners Back-routed cavities, no pickguard here's some pics from yesterday 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted April 12, 2020 Report Share Posted April 12, 2020 2 hours ago, 10pizza said: I'm probably getting some walnut pieces to make a laminated neck and also do my first scarf joint neck. Are you going to do those on the same neck? If so, the walnut stripe has to line up perfectly to look good and it may be tricky. Also bear in mind that a laminated neck as one piece is stronger than a scarf joint. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10pizza Posted April 12, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2020 Thanks Norris, this is what's great about this forum! I'll post a Pic of what I mean, not sure if I'm naming it right Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10pizza Posted April 13, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2020 here's what I mean: thanks to @Gogzs for the picture. In stead I'm thinking maple-walnut-maple-walnut-maple. Of course the pieces will need to be perfectly flat before gluing together, but that's where my friends workshop comes in handy with the right equipment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10pizza Posted April 13, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2020 I also might just stick 2 pieces of maple on the side to broaden the headstock for my shape. That will make it easier as I don't have to get new wood. As this is a prototype, I want to keep the cost down. Will go for the scarf joint to allow for a proper headstock angle though. funny how you keep running in decisions to make when you think you thought of everything already that's the difference between experienced vs non-experienced builders I guess! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10pizza Posted April 20, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2020 ok, decided to not do a laminated neck but instead glue two pieces to the headstock to widen it enough for my design. yesterday built a jig to cut my neck blank at an angle of 13 degrees and cut my headstock carf joint. still need to do some sanding to make it absolutely flat for gluing on. Looks like I've could used a bit more length on my headstock, but it will just be enough I think. After today I will have 2 weeks of holiday from my work as math teacher, so hope to be able to make some more progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10pizza Posted April 20, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2020 today made some time to further sand the headstock parts, route the peghead to the right thickness and glue them together. I was a bit worried I didn't have enough length in my peghead, but ofcourse by routing it to 15mm thickness I gained a few extra cm's of flat surface. I added two sideburns to allow for my peghead shape to fit, the neck blank just wasn't wide enough. next up: routing the truss channel. I must say I'm getting handier creating temporary routing jigs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted April 20, 2020 Report Share Posted April 20, 2020 1 hour ago, 10pizza said: I must say I'm getting handier creating temporary routing jigs Anyone with some spendable cash can get a CNC'd jig or template. A true builder improvises, at least on a once in a lifetime build. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10pizza Posted April 27, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2020 allrighty, today's our King's birthday, so a day off and nice weather to work in the garden. On guitars that is! I set up my new G&W miter box using the forum's tutorial. Very nice addition to my toolset! slotted the fretboard and also used my bandsaw to shape the neck. Because I already had the scarf joint I needed to draw the outline on the back so as to have a flat surface to use on my bandsaw. did some sanding and glad to see it's coming alive! Hopefully more progress this week! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10pizza Posted May 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2020 another week gone by, some more work done. last weekend I glued on the fretboard on the neck. Unfortunately I was a bit too quick with the bandsaw so my fretboard ending is just a plain straight one instead of the intended curve... Yesterday and today I had my tools out again as I'm doing some in-house renovating, creating a play room for the kids. a couple of hours yesterday and today and I was able to do some of the body routing: trem+cavity, bridge and neck pickups and the neck pocket. I thought I was done routing but I forgot the electronics cavity haha! Some work left for tomorrow then. A bit busy the rest of this week, so probably not much progress until the next one. Then it will be time for the challenging and fun part: body and neck carving! As this is my own model I will have to think it through where and how I want the body to be carved/curved. Looking forward to turning it into it's final shape1 some pics: glueing the fretboard measuring and positioning the hardware routing the bridge pickup, it will be a body mount pickup neck-pocket and the front routing is done! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10pizza Posted May 14, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2020 This build is going a lot faster than the first one. Managed to get work done yesterday. I routed the control cavity and also did an angled route in the trem cavity to allow for more room for the trem to move ( divebomb!) Next was the fun and scary part: taking my Shinto rasp and start making contours on the body. I made some markings on the side of the body to help with that, but things kind of naturally came together. I feel like michelangelo carving out a statue: it's already in there, you just need to uncover it Sanded the body to see the result. Will have to go at it again with the Shinto as I'm not yet satisfied with all the contour lines, but it's getting there! pic 1: getting started pic 2: the bottom will stay wide for proper leg resting pic 3: the top will be more radically contoured for comfort pic 4&5 : lots of sanding, but very satisfying! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted May 14, 2020 Report Share Posted May 14, 2020 Looking good! SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10pizza Posted May 14, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2020 thanks sir! done some more shaping today. Tonight I'll start on the neck carve as well. after that It will be almost time for finishing. what kind of grain sealer would you guys recommend for basswood? I want to stain it into a blueburst using my keda-dyes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted May 14, 2020 Report Share Posted May 14, 2020 For something as soft as basswood, I usually opt for something that leaves a hard film like epoxy or CA. But pretty much any finish you use will act as a grain sealer. SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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