Starting a new build (After a brief pause)

[Dward13]

Glued-up the body pieces for the now current build.

Plan on roughing out the outline to cut down on the surface area before running it through the drum sander.

The headstock template I ordered came in, from a guy called gitrbilder2010 on ebay.

Seemed to be nicely made, only glitch was the holes were 3/8 instead of the 10mm the machines use.

Assume that's a newer version of the machines.

Made a working copy, even had some scrap from the neck leftover.

[Bizman62]

5 hours ago, Dward13 said:

the holes were 3/8 instead of the 10mm

Isn't it better that way around, assuming the two smaller holes match?

I ran into somewhat of a similar problem as the lacquer had downsized the holes. There was no reamer but it appeared that the round files in our workshop are slightly conical so I simply dropped the file into each hole and instead of the normal back and forth movement I spun the file between my palms, applying some downward pressure. After getting the first hole done there was a rim of dust which served as a depth marker for the rest of the holes.

[Dward13]

3 minutes ago, Bizman62 said:

There was no reamer but it appeared that the round files in our workshop are slightly conical

I also used a round file that was slightly bigger than 3/8" (9.525mm) at its largest point.

Put it in a drill turning backward so it won't just dig in and ran it back and forth hitting the sides all the way around.

Then turned a 10mm bit in the hole by hand as I was afraid it would just dig into the plastic and break it with too much force being applied.

I used this trick all the time with punching holes in thin lexan and kydex plastics in my RC car bodies.

There is always that residue left on the file as a depth marker.

[Bizman62]

Oh, you enlarged the holes in the template! Didn't think of that! But I did think about putting the file in the drill... In my case the lacquer was so soft that rotating the file between the palms was efficient enough.

But getting the template just right is definitely a better option.

Giving the template a further thought made me think of having used that as a master template to make sacrificable work templates out of any material you have at hand. That would have allowed you to use a 3/8" brad point bit to mark the center of the tuner hole and it would then be easy to use a 10mm brad point drill to get the holes just right in a drill press.

For a one-off  the 3/8 brad point bit could have been used directly on the headstock but as I've noticed it's too easy to miss the center by a visible fraction. It's safer to make a template and if it fails make another.

--

Oh, and I forgot to mention that using the blocks to keep your body piece level is simply ingenious!

[Dward13]

A few dozen trips through the drum sander and round and round with the router and the body is almost ready for the top.

Still need to figure out a good path for the neck pickup wire.

For my purposes I don't really need high dollar components so I got these "Guitar Madness" ceramic P90s; less than $30 for the pair vs. the $200+ for "good" ones.

I'm more of a woodworker than a guitar player, should probably just go with no pickups. (Maybe no strings)

But, with YouTube there is some hope that my playing might improve somewhat.

[Bizman62]

5 hours ago, Dward13 said:

For my purposes I don't really need high dollar components so I got these "Guitar Madness" ceramic P90s; less than $30 for the pair vs. the $200+ for "good" ones.

I'm with you in not being a guitar player, then again I don't consider myself a woodworker either! But it's satisfying to be able to build a playable instrument. The cheap pickups make a sound distinctive for the type in question and at least for me that's close enough. Better players may want more this and less that in the sound but for me it's enough that I can hear the difference between a P90 and a humbucker.

That said, a fellow just bought a 1960's Teisco semi-hollow. The seller said that the original pickups sound crap, my friend was all "wow" as they had just the perfect sound for the style of music he likes to play.

[Dward13]

I wanted a nice straight path for the neck pickup wire, but the lightning voids were in the way.

I had some leftover balsa wood (saved from the time of the Reagan administration*) so I made a couple plugs and routed a 1/4 in. square channel.

I should be able to just drill a hole straight through for the bridge pickup as I did in the last build.

*Hoarders get a bad rap!

[JGTay]

1 hour ago, Dward13 said:

I had some leftover balsa wood (saved from the time of the Reagan administration*) so I made a couple plugs and routed a 1/4 in. square channel.

I should be able to just drill a hole straight through for the bridge pickup as I did in the last build.

*Hoarders get a bad rap!

Looking very good.

I hoard as well, got so many wood offcuts I could probably make quite a few patchwork guitar bodies. The wife goes mad at me for my hoarding, but I always find a use for it all. 

[Dward13]

Been experimenting with Tru-Oil on a scrap from the quilted top.

Seems to work pretty good, but I can probably find a way to screw it up given my history with finishing.

I'm at least assuming you can always sand this back down to the base layer without too much trouble and start over .

[Bizman62]

6 hours ago, Dward13 said:

I can probably find a way to screw it up given my history with finishing.

Oil finishing is pretty forgiving but it takes some time to build a shiny layer. Then again, the Acryl lacquer I used on my current build is still soft, starting to relic before it has cured...

The main thing is to apply it very thinly, only so that the surface looks moistened but not flooding. A pool of oil may never dry so it's very important to get the layers thin - if you've ever seen an oil bottle with sticky spills on the outside you know what I mean! There's several methods of applying TruOil, one of them is using just your fingertips. The method I'd use is to apply as much as the wood will absorb, rubbing properly to drive the oil in. And then wipe all excess off with a lint free shop towel. And wipe again after a quarter. That's a fool proof way to keep the layers thin.

 

[Dward13]

Thanks for the tips, I’ve been zeroing in on the same ideas.

I messed with french polishing a couple years ago, but wanted a simpler applicator.

Developed this one using a 1/4 shop towel, a piece of thin cardboard and masking tape.

I fold the shop towel in half - fold up the cardboard in it and tape it up on the back.

This works well to make a solid surface to rub the oil around without it grabbing and wadding up.

I use two small wholes in the foil on the Tru-Oil bottle so I can dispense it out one drop at a time. 

Usually the first few seconds of rubbing leaves visible swirls, but after a few more it seems to blend out to a thin layer. 

Sometimes adding a few more drops helps with this. 

It’s kind of an instinct you develop on when and how much oil to add. 

I’ve had good luck with it drying up within a few hours just leaving the thin layer on without wiping it off. 

This is of course after you have an initial layer soaked in and built up a little.  I still need to try wet sanding and buffing.

With these pieces I didn’t do a wet sand on the first layer like many of the videos do. 

I just kept adding oil until it started to get tacky and didn’t seem to be absorbing more and then wiped off the excess. 

I’ll experiment again with the wet sanding trick and see how that works.

[Bizman62]

7 minutes ago, Dward13 said:

It’s kind of an instinct you develop on when and how much oil to add. 

Exactly! The first application can take quite an amount of oil, the next layers only a drop or three.

Your tool looks interesting. For what I've experienced it seems a bit overkill but it's not too complicated to build and if it feels comfortable it's the best option for you.

If you mean applying more oil using wet sanding paper notice that the paper may leave coloured residue. At least that's what I found out using the Scotch-Brite type felt. It might also have been some dirt and grime from my hands...

[Dward13]

My alignment trick for gluing top to body.

Blanks are cut to approx. 1/8 in. from outline.

Band saw cuts at each end just up to the outline.

Lexan "pins" hold the two aligned and I add spring clamps to secure them for drilling center hold down screw holes.

I know it would probably be a better connection to leave tabs on the pieces that could be screwed together, but this method works for me.

 

[Bizman62]

That's a neat little trick there! It's way too easy to nudge the opposite end a bit off every time you're aligning the centerline at the other end.

[Dward13]

Checked off a couple big jobs, routing the pickups and neck pocket.

Had some masking tape running down either side of the top center line, tape was really stuck after clamping, seems like my purpleheart block clamps really do put plenty of pressure on the center.

Neck checks out to be well aligned to the center line.

[Dward13]

Something like this, not 100% sure on knob placement and will do some carving on the top.

Will just go with 1/4 in. radius on the back edges.

[mistermikev]

top is real nice.  i lke the tie in of the brown inlay and the stripe.  nice job.

[Bizman62]

Hmm... don't they make P90 covers in chocolate brown? To match the inlays and knobs, that is. Really, a quick search revealed that Bare Knuckle sells covers in all the colours of a rainbow but when searching for brown only wooden ones were found. Then again, there was 30 woods listed at DKnob and more by request.

[Dward13]

Hadn't thought much about changing the color of the pickups, kind of reminded of the old LP Gold Top with the cream p90s.

I've experimented with making walnut crotch wood "veneer" by tack gluing a thin strip to a board and running it through the drum sander.

I can get them down to around 1/16 thick, they of course buckle some when removed from the board.

I've had good luck putting them in boiling water then clamping between two slotted boards and baking in the oven at 250 to get them flat.

I might try gluing a piece to the p90 cover then sanding it thinner once it's on.

One thing I noticed playing with this was that the neck and bridge pickups are slightly different sizes, is this true for all pickups?

Also found a cheap piece of walnut burl veneer on eBay, was only $9 for a 1/42 x 9 x 13 in. piece due to the fact that it was buckled.

But, for something as small as a pickup cover it should be little problem to press it down flat for gluing.

I also use to use adhesive vinyl on my RC cars, you could easily put a piece on the pickup cover to get any color you wanted.

[Bizman62]

4 hours ago, Dward13 said:

One thing I noticed playing with this was that the neck and bridge pickups are slightly different sizes, is this true for all pickups?

The reason behind that is that your string line is wedge shaped and some pickup makers take that into account to locate the polepieces right under each string. But not everyone, even on high priced brand guitars the pickups can be identical. It certainly looks better when viewed close enough but tonally the difference is not that big. The magnetic fields are quite large anyway. At least large enough to cover the entire surface of the polepiece.

[Dward13]

The walnut veneer seems to work fine to accent the pickup cover.

Roughed up the plastic with sandpaper, used a thin layer of Gorilla Glue and just wet the veneer, didn't foam too bad.

Punched out the holes with a small drill bit then opened them with a tapered Dremel cutter.

Still needs a couple more coats of Tru-Oil.

[Bizman62]

Looks nice!

[Dward13]

Started doing some carving, but to be more accurate I'd call it rounding.

Even managed to find my Ibex thumb plane.

Decided to make a flat area for the controls rather than individual low spots, you can kind of see that in the side profile view.

 

[Dward13]

Got both pickup covers with the walnut veneer, should look cool mated with the walnut fret markers.

Sure like working with the P90's. no ugly tabs sticking out like humbuckers.

[Bizman62]

It's amazing how a sliver of veneer can take the looks to another level! 

IMO the standard look of P90's has always yelled "cheap!". The covers look just what they are, plastic pieces from a well polished mould with small humps and bumps where the plastic has slightly deformed while cooling down. Even leveling and sanding matte makes a huge difference! Not to mention what you did. And it only takes a minute or three!

Speaking about plastic covers, my hometown used to have a factory where they made the covers for Nokia phones back when 2110 was the top of the line. Obviously, considering the price, even the standard quality was good but the customizers really made some stunning covers. I especially liked the fake walnut, it looked real enough to match with the panels of a Mercedes...