Conflagration

Yeah, I did the bevels without the router. I measured at a guitar store and went from those measurements. I just had to draw lines and go from there. They came out pretty nice. I'll just practice some more on the pine and then try it on my scrap alder.

Alright. First update in a while, but it's a biggy. My neck from Warmoth arrived. It looks really great. Unfinished at the moment, but I touched it a bit. It feels amazing. I couldn't get binding on a 24 fret neck, so I decided to get a bound 22 fret instead of an unbound 24. The extra two frets were just a luxury anyway. I can live without them. I'm also practicing the bevels now. Soon I'll be ready to work on my nice alder piece.

I'll be finishing the guitar with black later, so I just need to make sure you can't feel the join. I don't care if the grain matches up exactly since the finish will hide that. You're right, that would look awesome as a bookmatch, especially on a V.

If you mean the piece I'll add on, I'm gonna use a few dowels, so it should be strong.

Click on the thumbnail to enlarge and go to my album. I've got the pine test piece almost done. I just have to add a bit of wood at the end of the longer wing and wait for a new router bit to get here. Then I can finish the body shape up. You can see how the grain runs down the wings in that picture. I've got a picture of how I clamped it and a picture of the alder blanks with the way I'll cut. They're in my album too. You can see that I need to add wood in those pictures. I'm gonna practice it on the pine too, so you can see how it turns out. Also, I've decided that I'll only use the router to take some wood off to make the bevels go quicker. I'll finish them off with a rasp.

UPDATE (but no pictures) Ok. I've got the body template basically done. I'll try it out on some pine soon and see if I need to fix anything. I also got my body blank. I'm going to cut it so that the grain runs at an angle with the wings (like so ///|\\\). This should help it be stronger. The one problem is that the blank is about 3/4" too short. I'm going to use dowel joint to put a 2" piece of offcut from the blank to make it long enough. I don't think that it'll affect the tone or sustain since it's such a small piece of wood compared to the size of the body istelf. I might be wrong but... Input please? Anyway, it's coming along nicely.

I'll use a router table and angle the piece. I'll make a jig that will angle it right. I'm bevelling both sides (front and back) so I need to be careful of how deep they are.

Basically, I'll angle the piece over the router and move it closer/farther away to get the fade. I can only do it on straight parts though. The curves have another dimension to worry about.

Yup, I'm gonna use a router for the straight, outside bevels and I'll do the curved, inside ones by hand with a rasp.

I actually got the template custom made by http://www.guitarplansunlimited.com. He did all the controls and the bigger cutout for me. He even made it fit the Warmoth neck. I just made a copy, cut the body out and glued it onto the plywood.

First, the specs: Bolt-on Maple Warmoth Neck with Jackson Headstock and Cream Binding Ebony Fretboard with Sharkfin Inlays and 22 Gold Frets Gotoh SG38 Tuners 25.5" Scale Alder Body Original Floyd Rose EMG-81 in the Bridge EMG-60 in the Neck 1 Tone Control, 2 Volume Controls, 1 Three-way Switch Black Hardware Black Finish with Gold Pinstripes Alright. Only one update, but it's a biggy. My neck from Warmoth arrived. It's a beauty. Unfinished at the moment, but I touched it a bit. It feels amazing. I couldn't get binding on a 24 fret neck, so I decided to get a bound 22 fret instead of an unbound 24. The extra two frets were just a luxury anyway. I can live without them. I'm also practicing the bevels now. Soon I'll be ready to work on my nice alder piece. Click on the thumbnail to enlarge. Go to my album for all the pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/562217...vhost=community

That link didn't work, but I searched around a bit, and I think I found them. Are they valley arts ones? If they are, then they don't have the mounting washers, nut ferrules or the screws. The other black Gotohs I found were left handed or locking. I searched for "black gotoh tuners" and only 3 results came up. If the Gotohs are good, then I think I'll just get them off Warmoth. I won't have to pay extra for shipping because I'll be getting them with the neck.

Regular headstock and black hardware. I can't find Grovers in black. I see what you mean...

You'd know that I was deciding between the Razorback and the Alexi. The Alexi is easier to build because the bevels on the Razorback are super tricky. It looks better than the Razorback, and after playing both, I decided on the Alexi for sound too. I've got my design now, and the template just arrived. I'm almost ready to order my neck from Warmoth, but I have one issue. I have no idea what tuners I should use. I'm gonna use an original floyd rose, so locking tuners won't be needed, but I don't know anything about different brands of tuners. I'm thinking of Gotoh SG38s, but I don't know if they'll stay in tune. I know I won't have to worry too much about tuning because of the locking nut, but I don't want piece of crap tuners that'll fall apart. Just incase you need to know, the specs for it are: ESP Alexi Body shape (bigger cutout like on the pink ones) The finish will be black with gold pinstripes (the thin kind on the Japanese Alexis) Bridge Pickup: EMG-81 in the bridge Neck Pickup: EMG-60 in the neck Bridge: Original Floyd Rose Controls: 2 volume , 1 tone, 1 3-way pickup selector All black hardware 24 Fret bolt-on Warmoth neck with: Gold frets Jackson shaped headstock Ebony fretboard Sharkfin inlays Cream binding (It's the most gold looking I could get.)

I'm working on an Alexi, but I don't feel up to making the neck myself. I'm getting a Warmoth bolt-on, but I want to make the whole neck black. I've only seen bolt-ons finished with a clear finish, so it got me thinking. Is it bad to do a color on a bolt on, or is it just coincidence?