Finished Pics! Trini Lopez Semi Tribute

[Andyjr1515]

Next job was to get a couple of swifts at the 12th fret.  Normal stuff of MoP cut out with a jeweller's saw, chambers routed out with a 1mm bit in the Dremel and glued in with epoxy mixed with ebony dust:

 

In the meantime, Jack was able to confirm where he wanted the toggle and pots (we're going conventional 3-way, V/V/T) and so I was able to thin the ebony internally for the switch to fit - taking a paper template so that I knew exactly where the thinning was -  and then glue to second top section on:

 

And then this morning was able to mirror the soft carve on the bottom half.  And any excuse for a mockup 

The fretboard here is longer than it will finish up (this is slotted at 24 frets and it will end up at 21 or 22) and so the neck pickup position will be 2-3cm closer to the nut - but it gives a general idea of how it's going to look:

 

And actually, Jack has sent me some custom Mojo (a well respected UK boutique maker) wide-range pickups for it so this is probably a better representation, again with the neck pickup 2-3cm higher up than in the shot :

[ScottR]

Did you know it was going to end up at 21 or22 frets when you slotted it at 24?

SR

[Andyjr1515]

21 minutes ago, ScottR said:

Did you know it was going to end up at 21 or22 frets when you slotted it at 24?

SR

Yes, Scott.  Where it is going to end square, I usually cut to 24 and the use the fret slot to cut down to final length with a properly square end.  If I'm going to do a shaped end, I cut the final number of slots so I can leave plenty of length for the end section.

Even though the original was only 20 frets, we are opting for 22 which will mean that the neck pickup will be a couple of cm closer to the bridge.

[ScottR]

I use the fret slot to cut off the fretboard as well. Typically I just cut the twenty-third slot all the way through the board and call it done. I don't like cutting slots well enough to cut a couple extra that will end up in the bin a bit later. On the other hand, I don't seem to mind filling a hole with lacquer over and over again.....

SR

[Andyjr1515]

Well, it's starting to look like a guitar at last.

 

I finished off the binding with some maple and ebony offcut.  Bent on the side-bending iron and then using the iron-on veneer method as with a number of my previous builds:

 

And then onto the pickup chambers.  As many of you know, I hate routers, but for this job they are jolly useful.  Nevertheless, I minimise the amount done with the router and only use it when it is fully captive.  The wide range Mojo pickups have narrow fixing tabs and so may well be solid fixed.  There may be a covering ring of thin ebony, or maybe not...whatever Jack prefers.

Again, I've gone over my slightly unconventional method before but, in brief:

I mark out the external lines and drill the corner radii:

I hog out with a Forstner (hand held as the 335-size body is too wide for my small drill-press):

By the way, that is a continuous multiwood strip - stretched out it's over a foot long.  Those Fisch Wave forstner bits are something else!

This next bit is where I drift away from the conventional - the use of routing templates...but I hate routing templates even more than the pesky router itself.  So I chisel up to the external line down to around 5mm from the top:

And now, with the top-bearing router bit totally captive, use that to tidy the sides up to the chiselled line and rout down to the final depth:

And, with just a bit of chisel tidying to do, we have a couple of chambers:

 

Next job is fretboard taper, fretting and binding   

[mistermikev]

tttttttight.  nice work (pickup route).

[ScottR]

This is looking good enough to eat, Andy.

SR

[Andyjr1515]

4 hours ago, ScottR said:

This is looking good enough to eat, Andy.

SR

One of my friends said it looked like a black forest gateau...so I know what you mean, Scott. 

[Andyjr1515]

And so, all going well, this week should see the fretboard tapered, fretted, glued, neck tapered and headstock shaped.

For the fretboard, Jack is opting for no binding and a veneer pinstripe - this kind of thing:

That all done, then that will leave just the neck profile to do (Jack will be sending me profile tracings and sizes taken from his favourite neck.  All necks have their own feel but, hopefully, I can get him a pleasing familiarity with it ) and the build itself will be essentially finished. 

And after that, the finishing can start...and that's where the magic really starts with nice woods like these

 

[ScottR]

5 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

And after that, the finishing can start...and that's where the magic really starts with nice woods like these

Amen Brother!

SR

[Andyjr1515]

And so, on a 'measure 14 times and cut once' basis, the fretboard taper was cut this morning:

And, using a G&W steel fret cutting template as my flat surface, the maple veneer glued onto the bottom - you can never have too many clamps (or radius block cauls)!

And that done, I've been able to start the fretting.

I'm using Evo Gold fret wire (I've used those on all my personal guitars and basses and the majority of builds for other folk). 

After de-tanging the ends of each fret: I 'wipe' a triangular needle file along the slot to take the brittle edge off; then apply a teeny thread of titebond; position it in the slot; whack it one side, then the other, then the middle to engage the tangs; wipe off the squeeze-out; then clamp a 12" radius block (the radius of the fretboard) for good measure while I then prepare the next one to be done.

14 done, 8 to go

[ADFinlayson]

Ooh nice I've never seen anyone direct mount wide ranges before. A friend I'm building for was talking about them and I told him no   starting to look really good - adding the fretboard to the equation has really made the top look good, especially with the exposed neckthrough, love it. 

[Gogzs]

21 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

And so, all going well, this week should see the fretboard tapered, fretted, glued, neck tapered and headstock shaped.

For the fretboard, Jack is opting for no binding and a veneer pinstripe - this kind of thing:

That all done, then that will leave just the neck profile to do (Jack will be sending me profile tracings and sizes taken from his favourite neck.  All necks have their own feel but, hopefully, I can get him a pleasing familiarity with it ) and the build itself will be essentially finished. 

And after that, the finishing can start...and that's where the magic really starts with nice woods like these

 

So much going on in this picture, this will be one damn fine instrument when it's done. Like someone before said, looks delicious, I wanna have a bite

[Andyjr1515]

8 hours ago, ADFinlayson said:

especially with the exposed neckthrough, love it.

Thanks, Ash

Although it's on the very edge of OTT, the exposed neckthrough will, once all the metalwork is in place and the finish has darkened it, look quite good.  It was, however, born out of necessity - the 335 shape is a VERY wide guitar and this is pretty much the widest you can reasonably easily get hold of ebony.

With the frets in (fretboard not glued yet) it's definitely starting to look like a guitar now, though

[Andyjr1515]

So with the fretboard done, time to prepare for attaching it to the neck.  But first, while I still have a flat surface to be able to put into my home-made router thicknesser jig, I need to get the neck down to final planned thickness.  With a 2.5mm packer at the nut end to give me the taper of thickness, off we go.  The clamps double up as end stops for the router carriage:

 

Then the truss-rod fitted and protected from glue squeeze-out with a thin strip of masking tape:

 

You can never have too many clamps:

 

And - to my admitted surprise and relief - one straight and gap free fretboard fitted

  

Just got the neck carve and headstock to do and then the main build part is complete 

Of course, then comes the finishing...and I've got no idea yet quite what I will do for that... 

 

[ScottR]

4 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

And - to my admitted surprise and relief - one straight and gap free fretboard fitted

That is a most unforgiving method and step in the assembly for attaching a fretboard Andy.

Though obviously not too much for a man of your skills.

Well done!

Showoff.

SR

[Andyjr1515]

26 minutes ago, ScottR said:

That is a most unforgiving method and step in the assembly for attaching a fretboard Andy.

What I meant  to do, and then forgot, was to leave the excess at the nut in place and pop a couple of panel pins in, then remove the pins and overhang once the board was on.

But I forgot and cut the overhang off first.

What I do, but realise didn't show on the photo, is file the neck flush with the board at the nut and body end and pop a couple of spool clamps over the board and against the neck at each end to hold the board from surfing left or right - so I only had to watch that it didn't creep forwards or backwards.  It's not as sure as a pin, but generally works.

Of course, if I was a normal builder, I'd fret after putting the board on and so hide the pin holes in a couple of the fret slots.  But why make things easy for yourself when you have the opportunity to make it much, much harder?  

[Andyjr1515]

We're still fine tuning the shape of the headstock, but it is likely to be in the Firebird/Thunderbird ilk.  The original Trini Deluxes seem to have had a number of variations but most appear to have had something like the Firebird.  This will be fitted with the Steinberger banjo replacements so, within reason, the wood can be any shape.

 

Also the neck carve is basically done.  Jack took me some profiles from his favourite playing guitar and I've used those to try to gain a familiarity of feel with this build.  I use a combination of spokeshave, micro-plane blade and cabinet scraper to creep up towards the shape:

The chalk line along the spine is so that I never dig into the spine which would affect the neck depth.  The neck carve is my favourite part but is often too quickly done and gone!

 

And then the preparatory work on the finishing of the body.

 

I use a rough version of the Tru-oil slurry and buff method early on to act as a:

- grain fill / gap fill / sanding sealer

- 'reveal coat' to show up any glue residue, sanding marks etc.

 

To do this, I sand with some brutal 120 grit emery (with the grain always) used wet where the wet is lashings of Tru-oil.  You end up with a slurry of wood dust that is then wiped off and allowed to dry.

 

Even at this early stage, it's showing some promise

 

[Nicco]

Nothing to add other than this looks sensational! 

[ScottR]

She's got a lovely back side Andy.

SR

[Andyjr1515]

OK - I think we are on the final furlong   

With grandparenting duties done for a few weeks I have a fairly uninterrupted run to finish this off.

Jack and I have been doing some work on the headstock arrangement and he has come up with a shape that I think works beautifully.  It gives a respectful nod to the original but is its very own.  This is a mockup, but later today I will be cutting and gluing on the actual ebony plate.

At the same time, I've been experimenting with some ebony offcuts from the top wood to see how well a 'no finish, just sanding & buffing' approach (think violin fretboard) works.  The trials went well and so I did a quick and nasty to see how it works on the whole top.  I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder but...I reckon it works

[curtisa]

I know I haven't piped up on this build much recently, but can I just say this is the first time I've been on television?

Looks pretty spectacular, Andy

Have you got a '11 secret herbs and spices' plan in mind for how it will be finished? I'd be nervous that so much dark timber would end up just looking like eighty shades of murky brown if any old varnish or oil was applied

[mistermikev]

headstock really looks great - nice design.

[ADFinlayson]

Looking very glassy, I take it there is a bird to go on the headstock? 

[Andyjr1515]

1 hour ago, curtisa said:

I know I haven't piped up on this build much recently, but can I just say this is the first time I've been on television?

That statement must have one of those uniquely Tasmanian traditional references in it 

1 hour ago, curtisa said:

Have you got a '11 secret herbs and spices' plan in mind for how it will be finished? I'd be nervous that so much dark timber would end up just looking like eighty shades of murky brown if any old varnish or oil was applied

Yes indeed.  To use a less unique Anglo Saxon traditional reference, I'm going to wing it   

 

Tru-oil slurry and buff.  This will darken the timbers and bring out enough of the figuring of the walnut and will end up a very similar satin sheen and feel to the untreated ebony.

 

I've got some more Tru-oil coming today or tomorrow so will be able to see if my winging works (and try saying that after a few pints of Titanic!)

The plan is to finish the build elements this week and finish the finishing next.  Mind you, you know about the plans of mice and men (origin unknown).