Blackdog

OK, time for an update. I bought the router bit for the dishing of the control holes as suggested. Worked very well, only problem is that for the speed knobs I want to use, the dishing is rather small. It ends up hidden by the knob... I'll have to see if I can get a slightly bigger bit (or smaller knobs). But no accidents, thanks Leo. I also made a new control cavity cover. This time I got some maple and mahogany veneer. Made my own plywood of mahogany/maple/mahogany, cross grained, and cut the cover from that. It looks fantastic (much better than the walnut veneered plywood I tried before) and it's surprisingly rigid. Just what's needed. I might do the same for the jack plate, let's see. The commissioned neck should have been ready by now, but it's still going to take a good while... Fortunately an alternate solution came across my way, last saturday at a local guitar show. A retired builder had a couple of left-overs to sell, and for 35 euros I got this nice Piece of Wood. It was even rougher, at the time of the picture I had already shaped the head (it was a big paddle), and trimmed the fretboard for lenght, at the nut and body end. It's a nice one piece Flame Maple neck with an even nicer Birdseye fingerboard. It was already tapered, with the truss rod installed and the fingerboard glued on. But this kind of money won't even buy the woods !! So a lot of progress has been made. I drilled the Pegholes. And after spending some time building a router sled for neck work I cleaned the excess fingerboard wood and thicknessed The Heel (still need to cut it shorter). Here's a picture of the tuners test-fit: I'm very happy. I get to do a lot more by myself: Carving the back of the neck, radiusing and slotting the fretboard and doing the fretwork. So this is much more like making my own neck. For build #2 neck I'll have the chance to do the couple of tasks that were done for me on this one, like routing and installing the truss rod, tapering the neck and gluing on the fingerboard. I'm very confident with the router now, so I don't expect any major surprises with those. I never expected to build a maple neck/fingerboard guitar, but it might sound nice on the all-mahogany body. It will certainly look good. Comments, warnings, critics always welcomed.

Thanks LEF, it's pretty much what I figured. This situation is unlikely to happen again, next time I'll slot the fretboards untrimmed and out of the neck. So maybe I'll try to make some jig to use as a saw guide at a fixed angle (the proper angle, of course) to clamp to the neck for sawing the slots. I have to think a bit, but I might come up with a workable solution.

We're talking 335 here, right ?? Well, simple is not necessarily easy... You'll need lot's of patience. In earlier 335 guitars the electronics went in through the f-holes. Later models had a some wood removed from the bridge pickup cavity comunicating it with the control's area. The electronics went in through the bridge cavity in these models. But there's a simple technic for removing, and more important, replacing the electronics in these guitars: Simply attach something to every piece of hardware "before" removing the nuts and letting them fall loose into the body. In this way you can later pull the thing back into it's hole. I use normal cotton strings for this, just tied to the pot post. Some people use surgical rubber tubing on the posts. When you're putting the pieces back in place you simply pull the string/tubing until you have the pot/switch close enough to guide it with your fingers through the f-holes into their holes. Then, while holding them from the back (through the f-holes), you attach the nuts back. First time you do it will take some time. By the third of fourth time you'll be pulling the electronics out and putting them back in in half an hour. I suppose the factory guys can do it in 15 mins....

If you draw a line down the center of the fingerboard, you can find how much the sides taper. Then you can cut a strip of wood with the same taper, and temporarily glue it to the side of the neck stock with the thick end of the strip at the nut end of the fingerboard. Now, when you put the neck in the jig, the centerline will be parallel to the fence. Mmm, I'n not sure I follow. A strip of wood similarly tapered (a fretboard template for instance) side to side with the fretboard (opposite taper) will indeed render both sides parallel again, but the fret slots would end up at an angle, not perpendicullar to the sides of the piece. Right ?? LEF: I don't know what a bevel gauge is (any pictures or links ??), but I think I get the idea. It's reassuring to know that cutting free-hand is not necessarily considered sacrilege... Thanks for the replies !!

It's hard to tell as it might be very subjective. I was recommended these guys: http://www.holz-faszination.de I bought from them and the service is great. And you actually choose the piece you want to buy from their online pictures. If you don't see what you're looking for email them with your requirements and they'll send you pictures of other pieces for you to consider. Pricewise they seem to be reasonable, they ship fast. So I would recommend them too.

While I'm still waiting for the neck I commissioned for my number 1 build (it should be ready, but they say they need at least 4 more weeks), yesterday I scored something interesting: I got at a guitar show, from a former builder, a rough neck that might be just the ticket: One piece heavily flamed maple with an amazing quilt/bridseye maple fingerboard. It's rough cut, the back is still squared, it has already been profiled and has a paddle headstock already thicknessed, and it even has a veneer applied already. The TR has been installed and the fretboard is already glued on. This last thing might be the problem though, since the fretboard must still be slotted and radiused but the sides are not parallel anymore.... I was considering making some kind of miter-box for my future fretting jobs, but I always though of rectangular fretboards, any ideas on how to do this in this case ?? Thanks for your help.

+1 I'm sorry for the people tired of these maple topped PRS projects, I'm quite interested in your progress. I'm, working on one myself and is also going to be my first neck.

I'm starting work on my second build which will be again a carved-top, this time maple on mahogany. I've noticed that some deep-carved guitars angle the top (with respect to the body) before carving. PRS among them. Others don't: like Hamer I believe. And yet others just angle the area of the top where the fingerboard sits, like the venerable LP. I got away reasonably well without angling the top on my first build. And was wondering if I should do it for the second. So the question for the carved-top enthusiasts in the Forum: Do you angle the top or not ?? And what are your reasons if you do ?? Thanks for the insight !!

And while we are at this, when should we glue the CF rods in ?? I read that it's a good idea to rough carve the neck as much as possible before gluing the FB on it, removing as much unnecessary wood as possible to allow the wood to "express itself" and make any corrections before the FB goes in. So, should we let the wood do its thing with or without the CF rods glued in ?? Thanks for sharing your experience !!!

I have just started with this building addiction myself, and I would like to support a couple of concepts already expressed here: Do your practicing on some reasonable wood. I bought an inexpensive piece of mahogany for the test-model, it went well and it's now becoming a guitar. The better piece of wood I bought for the project is now going to be Build#2. I commissioned the neck for the first one, so I only needed to concentrate on the making of the body. For the future I'm making my own necks, I'm just starting but it certainly looks like fun. For the first build I copied a design from an actual guitar, that I used to make the templates. I made the calculations for the layout of the parts all the same: This way I didn't have to worry about measurements much, and I could verify that my methods for calculating the position of things are actually correct. And patience, that's the part I suffer the most. Building in my free time means that a build takes many months. There are no ways around this, accept it and have fun in the process. Welcome and enjoy.

and maybe it will have a working pickup. Better tell him not to try making his own this time. Apparently, the pickup is an empty little pine box. Interesting design... Is it hum cancelling too ??

It's relatively simple, assuming you have access to a plunge router or a dremel tool with a routing base, and some experience with them. Replacement H-S-S pickguards are readily available from a number of sources. And, you might just be lucky: Many Strat style bodies are factory routed for humbuckers already !!!

I think it's just a matter of peace of mind. In the PRS bolt-on models the neck tenon and pocket are identical to the glued-on models, and the neck gets just bolted at the bottom. And it still works... I think we're safe, then. Thanks for the reply rhoads56. (edited for clarity)

You mean something like a mounted stone ??

For clarification purposes: What I'm asking is, basically, will something like this be stable enough: Short tenon or will I need something more like this (or something in between): Long tenon (Pictures borrowed without permission from Jeff Miller's website, for illustration purposes only) Your expert opinions will be greately appreciated.

Thanks for the info. A picture is worth a thousand words !! Now I get the picture.

Dear people, I'm already working on ideas for my second build (this is addictive !!). It's a double-cut in the LP Special/DC shape. This time I want to go with a maple carved top on a mahogany back, and the set mahogany neck is going to be PRS style (full heel into the neck cavity). It will have 24 frets, and the idea is to have the neck joining the body at the 23rd. Meaning that just a couple of cm into the body, the neck pickup cavity begins. The neck pickup sitting right at the end of the fingerboard. The neck will obviously go into the body until the end of the pickup cavity, again PRS style, but will this be enough for a stable neck joint ?? In my current (first) build the configuration is pretty much the same, only 22 frets maple neck in an all mahogany body, but the neck P90 sits right at the end of the fretboard, some 2 cm into the body. It's not finished yet, I'm hoping it will be strong enough, it seems to work for PRS anyway. But considering I will have a maple top this time, would it be advisable or convenient to extend the neck tenon into the body (under the top) beyond the neck pickup cavity ?? I know it's not simple, and that the top will have to go onto the body "after" setting the neck, but with a clever sequence of operations it seems doable. Opinions ??

Sure there is...get started building your own neck. You thought carving the body was fun? It's nothing compared to carving the neck. Try it, you'll see. You say I should start doing some work on these ? As I said before, I comissioned the neck for this first build, so technically speaking, this would not be Build #1, but Build #2 And so it should be on a different thread, shouldn't it ?

Precisely: After all the work I've done by hand I would really appreciate the convenience of an AC-powered solution... I've just ordered the router bit.

A stereo jack has three connexion points that correspond to the ground, ring and tip of a stereo plug. When you use a mono plug into a stereo jack, the sleeve connexion of the jack makes contact with the ground of the plug (as it has no ring). This is normally used to ground the negative pole of the battery in active pickups configurations, thus effectively acting as an on-off switch for the electronics. When no cable is plug into the guitar the electronics are off. If you're using passive pickups, with a mono plug and cable, running into a single amplifier, then there's no use for a stereo jack. You might as well use it, simply leave the ring connexion of the jack unconnected and it's goint to be the same as a mono jack. If you plan to use a stereo cable (or two mono cables and a "Y" splitter), into two separate amplifiers, then you might think of some stereo wirings in your guitar. The ES-345/355/Lucille Gibsons come to mind: you can run the neck pickup into one amp and the bridge pickup into another. Another possible use of a stereo jack with passive pickups is when you add a piezo-loaded bridge, connecting its output to the ring connexion of the jack. Then you can split the output as above and run the piezo into one amp and magnetic pickups into another. Or, if you simply plug a normal mono plug and cable, use just the magnetic pickups in the normal way, ignoring the piezo.

Ok, I think it is time for an update... This is where I stand at the moment: Another view of the top carving... And another... The carving of the horns was too tall, I carved them down quite a bit. The visual difference is huge, much more balanced look. Next build will definitely have an angled top surface to compensate this. The control cavity was deepened to the final values, the control layout is going to be vol, tone, rotary. The jack hole has been drilled on the side. BTW: Has anybody found a clever way of doing the "dishing" of the control holes on the top like on the PRS ?? The back has been slightly contoured like shown here: The control cover is actually a walnut veneer on 3 mm thick plywood. I like how it looks and it's quite rigid. I have bought some mahogany veneer, so I might change it to mahogany for a more consistent look. The back of the cover will be covered with some shielding material anyway, hiding the plywood in the process. Maybe next time I'll go with an all-proper-wood cover.... The body is basically finished, so not much I can do on this one until the comissioned neck arrives.... Maybe it's time to start with build number 2.....

I love P90s too !! I have found that the original Gibson P90s (the modern ones) are quite good for general use, and specially on the neck position. Duncan SP90-1 would be pretty similar to these. Alnico 5, 8K range. But for the bridge position I prefer something with more wire in it. And that is what I would suggest for a Jr. type instrument. The BK P93 seem to be in the ballpark. I haven't tried them, but their humbuckers are really good. I have been told that Lollars are a little too well behaved, which is not what I would want in a P90. These days I'm using P90s in two of my guitars (SG Standard converted, and BlackBeauty 54RI): for the neck positions I use the stock Gibson, and for the bridge position I had some made to my specs (10K, A5) by an independent winder, member of The Les Paul Forum, by the nick Zhangliqun. These P90s he made for me are all that I wanted and more, and they are ver affordable. I would suggest that you look him up there. Don't be fooled by the low prices, he winds GREAT pickups.

A have a piece of each for making an all-mahogany carved top solidbody. Which one will make the better guitar, which one will be easier to carve ?? Will appreciate your opinions, thanks...

Thanks for the replies, I bought a Stanley #5 and a smaller one. I'm still learning but already starting to find my way around them. I don't know what you mean by "router sled" instead of a jointer, etc. Can you please clarify this a little more (or point me to the right tutorial...) Thanks !! With repect to the prices I was referring to some Lie Nielsen (and some others) handplanes, that are well above 300 euros around here... Thanks again.

I do not have ANY planer at the moment. I need some to plane a body blank, to plane a fingerboard or neck FB surfaces. I have been checking prices and I don't quite understand: A pretty decent electric planer goes for about eur150, while that kind of money isn't even in the ballpark of the price of a good hand planer. What am I missing here ?? There seems to be something mystical about hand planers... What can you do with the hand tool that you cannot with do the power tool ?? Waat is each one good for, then ?? Can someone please enlighten a newbie ?? TIA