So I've just barely gotten started on my first build.
Here's the wood, with the body(3pc walnut) already glued up and the padouk i'll be using for the top:
And the padouk resawn/glued:
Yes, yes I did just turn a 18x5.5x0.75 piece of padouk into a 3/8" top(to be sanded to 1/4")
The neck I'm just going to order from Warmoth, since I don't have the tools or the balls to make a neck yet.
The plan is to rout control channels in the walnut, prepare the padouk, glue the padouk down, bandsaw the rough shape out, and then take it down until I'm happy with the shape with an oscillating sander and hand sanding. Then I'll rout the **** in the top, round-over the edges with a router, do some final sanding, finish it with a few coats of Danish oil, and save my money for the rest of the parts =P
Does anyone see any problems with my plan?
Final Parts List
Neck - Warmoth Padouk/Ebony Baritone Conv. Neck w/ Strat headstock
Hardware - Earvana Compensated Nut(blk), Schaller 475 top mount bridge(blk), Gotoh SG38 non-locking tuners(blk), Tele-style control plate(gold), Metal Humbucker mounting rings(gold), Battery box, string retainer(if needed, I've never needed one on a strat headstock though, you just have to string it a certain way)
Electronics - EMG 60A Neck, EMG 58 Bridge, Stacked Volume/tone, 3-way switching, EMG EXG, EMG PA2, Electrosocket jack
Total Cost = about $1000(including cost of tools, rented shop time, and stewmac templates)