Walnut & Quilted Maple

[Lumberjack]

Greetings lads - it’s been a while! I haven’t had time to build in a bit, but am excited to dive back in on this one. 
 

Here’s the wood, just got everything planed to thickness today: 

Lightly figured walnut body, 1/4” quilted maple top, walnut neck, ebony fingerboard.

It will be a 25.5” super strat sort of thing, but with a tune-o-matic bridge and stoptail, 3+3 headstock, and 2 humbuckers - the trace looks pointy but I’m going with rounded/softer shapes for this. Still a bit torn on 22 vs 24 frets for this one. Headstock shape and overall color of the top will be a game-time decision as well, but I’m leaning toward a darker amber/tobacco/reddish brown sorta burst for the top and leaving all the walnut natural with dark grain filler. PRS style faux binding on the body and headstock, big ergonomic carves for belly and arm. 

 

Cheers!

 

 

 

[Bizman62]

Oh my... This is going to be fun to watch!

[avengers63]

Without any color, walnut & maple are a great visual combination. Tonally, the maple will compliment the maple as well. As a woodworker, I LOVE working with walnut. It just takes to being shaped like it was made for it.

[Lumberjack]

My super-elite joining method for bookmatch tops = sandpaper, heh heh

Looks dumb, works great though:

 

After glue up:

 

A little bummed by the heartwood/sapwood contrast on the scarf, but I think by the time I’ve carved the neck and cut the headstock I’ll have cut through the bit of sapwood on the edge, we’ll see.

Top & body squish:

 

Clamping some quilt onto the face of the headstock: 

[curtisa]

4 hours ago, Lumberjack said:

My super-elite joining method for bookmatch tops = sandpaper, heh heh

Absolutely nothing wrong with that method. I do the same exact thing myself.

[Bizman62]

Absolutely nothing wrong with the build quality, clean and precise! Seeing the seam in the top was quite an effort.

 

[Stu.]

Glad to see you're still alive! The build is looking great so far!

[ScottR]

Yep, this is going to be fun!

SR

[Lumberjack]

Thanks guys!  Good to be back to woodworking.  I got into building pedals and modding amps, which took up a lot of my free time for a while - certainly lots of fun, but not the same type of satisfaction that woodworking brings, and at the end of the day there's nothing quite like bringing an instrument into the world.  

Anywhooo, I got a bit more done on this neck: maple glued to the face, truss rod routed, etc. 

I've had bad luck routing the little pocket that the end of the trussrod sits in, and decided to do this by hand with a dremel.  Might do this more often; I've chewed up a headstock or two trying to route these, not sure why, but this was much easier to control.  I use an allen wrench that I sawed short so I don't have to cut such long pockets in the headstock.  

Question for you guys on truss rod rattle; have you ever had a build that did it?  I had one rattle a while back and ever since I've used a couple dabs of silicone or similar type of sealant in the truss rod channel near the ends and a couple along the channel, never had a problem since.  I've been using StewMac hotrod trussrods for years and was surprised when that one rattled since I've never had any issues putting them in dry before that, but a rattling rod is a real pain and it was enough for me to start using silicone.  Any thoughts/methods/materials you all recommend or advise against?  I've heard of folks using electrical tape, teflon tape, silicone, and am always looking to learn more.

[Bizman62]

2 hours ago, Lumberjack said:

truss rod rattle

Never had an issue with that. If it has rattled, a quarter turn has been enough to mute it. My necks seem to be so stiff that no further tightening is needed, just a notch off the free position. I've been using cheap flat face two way rods for all my builds. The ones with two separate round rods may be more prone to rattle.

A couple of pieces of masking tape rolled glue side out was the first hint I have seen for eliminating rattle.

[ADFinlayson]

I'm with Biz re cranking the loose rod up, you can turn it enough to tighten it without adjusting relief, though I've only ever had to do that once or twice. 

Re truss rod access, I made this crude but effective jig a few months ago.

it's a router base I made out of perspex with a strip of wood slightly thinner than the channel, then I clamp in a stop block to stop it going too far towards the neck and the strip works as a stop block going the other way

I use a round nose router bit which doesn't give me any tear out and if I start at the front of the channel then it's a much shallower pass to start with due to the headstock angle. That gives me a neat access channel which I just drill through to join them up.