johnsilver

Setch, beautiful work. It's helpful to me to watch it come together, especially some of your techniques using a router and how you made the neck tenon / mortise. I am making an LP style guitar now but am behind where you are so this is helpful. A couple of questions. When you use your router jig for tapering the neck, do you extend your router base somehow? Otherwise, how does it ride flat on the aluminum guides as you move the router side to side? Did you chamber the body for tonal qualities or weight or both? I have a set of plans for a late 50's LP, and there are no chambers indicated. Thanks. Keep it up. Inspiring.

Oops. Operator error. Try these.

Lucky1, your original post got me thinking. Since I am making an SG style guitar as well as the LP, I was now forced to address the neck/body join question that I have been putting off. So, I went out to the old garage (I mean workshop ) yesterday and cut a mortise for the neck tenon. I decided to extend the mortise into the neck pickup cavity as you can see below. I also decided to create the neck/body join at the 19th fret because that gives me more support on the sides without extending too far in to the body. I wasn't confident enough to join at the 22nd fret like the SG Supreme I am modelling after (thin flame maple top over mahogany body). You can see that my tenon will need to be trimmed at the end to fit into the pickup cavity without obstructing the pickup. Anyway, sounds like you are good to go.

I definitely don't qualify as a guru, but I may have what you asked for. I have a set of plans that give the original tenon dimensions off of a late 50's LP. The tenon was 3" long and 1 3/16" wide. It was 1 11/32" thick and was flat across the bottom as the neck pocket was angled and not the tenon. The neck angle on this guitar was 4.5 degrees. I also attached a couple of pics of my LP neck tenon in progress. It's still rough. I may not have understood your design correctly. Please keep in mind that the tenon dimensions I've given are to fit a LP body that was a full 2" thick at the edges. That LP was a single cutaway with a carved top and the neck joined the body at the 16th fret. That means there was plenty of wood on either side of the tenon to give good support so a long, narrow tenon was ok. You mentioned you are making a double cutaway style guitar with a flat top. That sounds more like an SG or double cutaway LP Junior as far as neck / body join construction is concerned. What I mean is that your neck/body join is probably more like at the 19th fret (or even higher such as at 22nd fret). That means the tenon is likely to extend into the place where the neck pickup route will be. You may need a tenon that is basically as wide and as thick as your neck in order to get sufficient glue surface after routing the pickup pocket. Hope this is clear. Sorry I don't have dimensions for a SG tenon. Wish I did though as I am making one of those also and will need that soon enough. Also, your neck angle will be different than on a LP - likely less is my guess. I understand some SGs had no neck angle as the neck/fretboard was raised in the body to adjust for the height of the TOM bridge. In any case, I highly recommend Melvyn Hiscock's book "Make Your Own Electric Guitar" if you don't have it. Hope this helps. Good luck.

Thanks man. I may give the video a shot. Stewmac already has the rest of my money.

I made a tele style guitar recently - my first project. I used alder for the body (very nice to work with) and maple for the neck and fretboard. I used black hardware and black dot inlays and finished the body in black lacquer with white/black binding. Basically, I was looking for a black/white guitar. The pickups are Seymour Duncan humbuckers since I was looking for more rock (including fairly heavy capability) and less twang. I used a Screamin Demon in the bridge and a 59 in the neck. Here is a progress pic - the guitar is assembled for test purposes (I couldn't wait). I still need to apply the clear nitro. I'll post a sound clip when I can get organized. Good luck!

I ordered the quilt from Luthiers Mercantile Intl. It was 15/16" thick in two pieces when it arrived, but one board had a persistent twist (like some people I know ) so I took it to my local hardware supplier and they milled it flat down to 13/16". I plan to carve it similar to a LP. My son has requested a finish something like this test piece.

You can find 1/4" bookmatched quilted maple tops at Stewmac.com and at Luthier's Mercantile International (lmii.com), but I wouldn't exactly they are cheap. I've seen some folks in this forum buy guitar woods off Ebay - I haven't done that. Let me know if you find cheap quilt.

With an id like MegaData, I was more in the on-line Warlock camp for a while, but then I also found the extra set of backslashes. In any case, I used some gap filling CA on the crack in the back and applied some slight clamping pressure. It came out good. I cut out the body shape and overall the back appears structurally very sound with a slight cosmetic blemish in the raw. I'll try to handle that in my finish - yet to be fully decided. Here are pics of the repaired crack and the body cut out - front view. I believe the pics will be too large - will try to do better next time.

Thank man. That's the pic. Not sure how you did that though...........

I recently ordered a figured maple top and it arrived in two pieces. The edges of each piece weren't jointed sufficiently to glue up using the method described by Jehle (I agree, don't wait to buy Melvyn Hiscock's book ) and I don't have a jointer. Besides, on pieces this thin (about 3/8") a jointer may not be the best solution. I do have a hand plane though - an inexpensive Stanley plane I bought at a hardware store years ago. I used a scrap piece of MDF that was as long as the top pieces as a "shooting board" or a straightedge guide for the plane. The technique was to place the MDF, which is very straight on it's factory edge, on my work bench, and clamp the two pieces of maple to it with the edges to be jointed just proud of the edge of the MDF. I then laid my plane on it's side, which is perpendicular to the bottom where the blade is, and then planed the edges flat. What I got was a joint that fit nicely and was easily glued as per above. My guess is that my explanation isn't clear. Sorry if not. Good luck.

Here is a pic of the mahogany back. I hope it came through - I haven't posted a pic before. The crack developed on the back at the glue line when I glued the maple top to the back - guess they weren't as flat as I thought. The mahogany back was previously glued together using Titebond, was clamped for 24 hours, and had been glued up for several weeks before I attempted to glue the top on. I used the same bottle of Titebond to glue up two other backs and all is well. The mahogany came from a batch I purchased for all 3 guitars I am working on, and again, so far so good with the other two. I am thinking my glue job on this back was faulty - perhaps I applied too much clamping pressure on this half of the back and squeezed out too much glue. The top half of the back isn't cracked. I agree with you that if properly glued, the wood would be more likely to split than the glue to give way. Given that, I am desperate for solutions. The guitar is for my son, and he doesn't want an opaque finish on the back - more a dark stain with either clear finish or a translucent cherry. The quilted maple top will be dyed black, sanded back and then dyed cherry with a clear nitro finish. The only options I can think of are to use a syringe with CA glue or epoxy to fill the crack and hopefully add structural strength. The crack is a MAXIMUM 1/32" of an inch at the widest and narrows as it goes up. Since the filled gap would be visible, I could route a channel and inlay a decorative back strip of some sort, then finish the way he wants. Any help would be appreciated.

I'll get a pic of the crack and post it when I get home. The back is two pieces of 1 1/4" thick mahogany (approx 8" wide each) that were jointed and edge glued together. The joint looked perfect - almost couldn't see it with the grain of the wood. When I glued the top to the mahogany, the crack developed under the clamping pressure, right along the glue line.

Hey guys, let's focus on the maple and not the ladies. Seriously, when I glued the maple top to my mahogany base, I managed to develop a crack in the back of the mahogany base - a very narrow crack that follows the glue line about 2/3 the way up the back. Any thoughts to repair that before proceeding? I'd just try to fill it before finishing, but I'm a little worried about structural soundness.

Darren, thanks for the tip. I am making this guitar for my son, and he doesn't want an opaque finish on the back (could be too bad). How about if I did what you suggest and try to fill with gap filling CA, then rout out a channel for an inlay strip up the center of the back? The top of the guitar is quilted maple that will be stained black, sanded back and then stained cherry red. I planned on finishing the mahogany back with a dark mahogany stain, then clear coat the whole thing. If I inlay a strip, what would you suggest? Maybe an ebony strip or something. The fretboard and headstock are ebony.

OK, thanks a lot, I've got it working now. More pics to come...

can anyone see that pic? It's acting weird for some reason....any advice?

Just test-posting an image.

I am working on a solid body electric - quilted maple top on mahogany base. I edge-glued two pieces of 1 1/4" mahogany to form the base and did the same with the bookmatched 13/16" maple top. After several weeks (I get distracted), I then glued the maple top to the base using the same process I've used numerous times before - clamps and cauls. The top adhered well to the base, but the clamping tension caused a crack on the back side of the mahogany base along the glue line - guess my original glue job there was inadequate. The crack is narrow - less than 1/32" at the max and it extends about half way up the body getting thinner all the time. I need advise on repair options. Can I inject some epoxy or some other adhesive such as gap-filling CA using a syringe and then clamp it? I can fill the crack for cosmetic purposes, but I am worried about structural soundness.

I am working on a solid body electric - quilted maple top on mahogany base. I edge-glued two pieces of 1 1/4" mahogany to form the base and did the same with the bookmatched 13/16" maple top. After several weeks (I get distracted), I then glued the maple top to the base using the same process I've used numerous times before - clamps and cauls. The top adhered well to the base, but the clamping tension caused a crack on the back side of the mahogany base along the glue line - guess my original glue job there was inadequate. The crack is narrow - less than 1/32" at the max and it extends about half way up the body getting thinner all the time. I need advise on repair options. Can I inject some epoxy or some other adhesive such as gap-filling CA using a syringe and then clamp it? I can fill the crack for cosmetic purposes, but I am worried about structural soundness.

Thanks for the silver tips. You can see from my id I have an interest. As I said, sometime in the future. I was thinking about inlaying a silver sheet logo on an ebony headstock. From your notes, that's definitely possible. Craig, checked out your website. Crazy stuff!!!

I ordered the TonePros TOMs from StewMac's latest catalog. I ordered 3. One is stamped Gotoh Japan, and the other two are stamped TonePros, by Gotoh. I ordered matching tailpieces, and they are stamped the same as the bridges. Whad'ya think? Should I be worried?

I just received a TonePros System II TOM bridge I ordered. Paid too dang much, but it is supposed to be "top of the line" with mods they put in it to lock it and the tail piece down for more stability and sustain. ESP for one is putting it on their top of the line guitars selling above $3500. When I received it, it was a Gotoh bridge (inscribed right there on the bottom of the bridge) that I guess had been modified by the TonePros folks. I hope it's good - looks great.

I was thinking about using sterling silver as an inlay material (in the far, far distant future). Do you mind revealing your general source of silver material - a jeweller perhaps? Can you get silver shaped in a flat form like MOP for cutting, or do you have to form it into sheets before cutting? I assume that under lacquer, it doesn't tarnish? BTW, you should be proud of the toucan.

Thanks for jumping in. I was beginning to think I either asked a really dumb question or that I needed to give up on the idea of binding the headstock. I understand your method, and if it works for something like binding f-holes, then maybe I have a hope of binding a relatively straightforward headstock although the mitres won't be 45 degrees - don't guess that matters. Thanks again.