gpcustomguitars

Not much of an update, but managed to drill the holes, and got an idea to try this: 0048 by Goran P, on Flickr It's a bit smaller, and brass, perhaps it would work better with the theme...? Opinions please!

I just love the neck binding! Great work!

Furniture is done, and nicely :), if I do say so myself, so finally a real update! I decided to try to make a plate to go from the front side, mimicking a clay pocket. We'll see if I can pull that off. First, I picked a place for the pots, marked, and drilled trough to the other side. Then routed from the back, careful not to got too deep and damage the crater. I've applied some PVA to all the cracks and the inner surfaces. It becomes clear as it dries, but has a subtle sheen, which accents the cracks a little. Then, made a paper approximate of the shape of the crater, and cut a black acrylic shape. Sides of the crater were then somewhat routed with a dremel, to create a small ledge where possible, but keeping the original edge intact. After some more fine tuning, it fit right in, and was glued with CA. I first soaked the edge with CA to get some saturation, and a while later, added more glue and set the insert in place. Then I've sanded it, packing the resulting dust into the crevices, and added CA over that, sanded back, CA, etc. The end of crater was built up similarly, with some chunks of wood that I've saved from routing. I want to save the crater end that goes to the pup cavity, to show the wires going from the pup, so I have to further "naturalise" a small straight portion of the acrylic on that side. I think that the brown caps are a better fit than the white ones, and they go to 6, not only up to 3 0039 by Goran P, on Flickr 0040 by Goran P, on Flickr 0041 by Goran P, on Flickr 0042 by Goran P, on Flickr 0043 by Goran P, on Flickr 0044 by Goran P, on Flickr 0045 by Goran P, on Flickr 0046 by Goran P, on Flickr 0047 by Goran P, on Flickr

A really small update - I'm making some furniture for children's room, so no real time to work on this. I did manage to get dark brown, almost black pot caps for this, same as these, and some self-adhesive alu tape for shielding. I've figured out how to try to make the electronic cavity, so a real update is coming soon...

A few more things done! I've made the pickguard, and had the idea to try out the same technique, just trying to add a "ZZ". This time, I masked the area to remain polished, and sanded the rest, but I think the first procedure is easier and allows for finer details. Also, cutting lines should be strictly point to point...It's OK on such a gritty guitar I guess... Got some upholstery antique brass nails, I think they go well with the theme, so I'm approaching the tricky part - what to do with the crater, which MUST remain visable??? I have some long necked pots, that will be very helpful I think. I'm having second thoughts about the stock bridge, a brass one would look the part better and I'm reconsidering stove caps, since they are white...any ideas on getting them yellowish cracked etc? 0033 by Goran P, on Flickr 0034 by Goran P, on Flickr 0035 by Goran P, on Flickr 0036 by Goran P, on Flickr 0037 by Goran P, on Flickr 0038 by Goran P, on Flickr

So true! You'll find that pine makes nice sounding guitars, only downfall being easiness to ding them, but that can be solved in a number of ways Here's some progress: went trough the body for the humbucker, some routing still to be done, CA'd the insides, used a syringe with a needle to deeply fill the cracks with PVA, then routed for the back cover with the Dremel. Changed the look of the back some more, heel is now standard, and the rest is 52mm thick here and there Most fun today was making the vibrato unit look a bit more interesting than it is. I've cut the trapezoid cover out of 4mm black acrylic, routed the recess for the vibrato with a dremel, and then sanded away the gloss. Then covered what I wanted with tape, and with some coarse StewMac polish brought it back to shiny. Old window lever provided a brass handle completely covered in old paint and after some brushing and polishing with a rotary tool has just the right look. It will be useful for flipping the guitar over to show the "BEER" sticker AND it will hold the cover in place while looking cool Still haven't figured out where to put the jack, but it will most likely end up on the square patch with the strap button. If I manage to find a acoustic-type of jack socket/strap button, that would be a nice solution. 0020 by Goran P, on Flickr 0021 by Goran P, on Flickr 0022 by Goran P, on Flickr 0023 by Goran P, on Flickr 0024 by Goran P, on Flickr 0025 by Goran P, on Flickr 0026 by Goran P, on Flickr 0027 by Goran P, on Flickr 0028 by Goran P, on Flickr 0029 by Goran P, on Flickr 0030 by Goran P, on Flickr 0031 by Goran P, on Flickr 0032 by Goran P, on Flickr

A small update: The top is not completely flat, and I want it to stay that way, but fixing rails for neck pocket routing was a bit complicated. It went well, just realized I didn't take a pic with neck on... It has a 4 deg angle, and looks enough for the bridge I'm using. For the headstock shape, I think this will be it - it has a slight Fbird vibe, I'll probably paint it black. If I came across a 3+3 at some point, I might swap it. I've drilled 2 18mm holes for the humbucker, the top is crumbly in that area, so probably no router, I've started by hand with a chisel, and will continue with Dremel sanding drums. I'll probably flood the sides of the cavity with CA to be on the safe side, and use the existing crack as a wire route to the pots, wires visible. I'll also inject PVA into all the cracks. I want to add some "weight" to the vibrato unit, so it will get a black acrylic cover/tailpiece, will see how that looks. Any ideas on strengthening the humbucker top area for the height adjustment screws are welcome. I might make 2 "dogears" out of brass or alu and epoxy them on, to distribute the stress more evenly? Beer caps? Brass picks? Coins??? 0016 by Goran P, on Flickr 0017 by Goran P, on Flickr 0018 by Goran P, on Flickr 0019 by Goran P, on Flickr

Thanks! I try to keep it fun. I just finished repairing a Ibanez acoustic with cracked and little bit dented top, cracked back brace and a missing portion of multi-ply binding, so after all the little details in lacquer filling, scraping, steaming out dents etc, a hatchet was a nice change Actually, if kept sharp, that little axe is incredibly useful - this whole bog chair was carved with it last summer, from same batch of cherry. I just sawed the sides of the sitting part of it, and split them lengthwise. It also doubles as a hammer somewhat, handy in the yard. I've also carved some bows with it, rough carve doesn't take much time. The jar with the wooden handle is obviously, for tea stolica sekirce i krigla by Goran P, on Flickr I've set up the routing jig for the neck pocket, so I hope to actually route it later today.

We had a really slow day at work the other day, and while browsing the net, I came upon a pic of a Billy Bo made out of some scrap wood, knots and all. I had a cherry plank, 2" thick set to become a coffee table, embedded pebbles etc, but that plan was immediately off, and a dive into the parts bin yielded a old neck I have replaced on my tele, russian made pink humbucker really overwound (cca 16kohm I think), GFS vibrato unit slightly corroded, chinese TOM-type roller bridge and some caps for the stove, brand new I have some used pots, scrap plastic in black, so, here goes: 001 by Goran P, on Flickr 002 by Goran P, on Flickr 003 by Goran P, on Flickr 004 by Goran P, on Flickr The back was roughly carved with a hatchet: 005 by Goran P, on Flickr 006 by Goran P, on Flickr 007 by Goran P, on Flickr 008 by Goran P, on Flickr Then some spokeshaving and rasps: 009 by Goran P, on Flickr Changed the shape a bit to avoid the lack of material in this area: 0010 by Goran P, on Flickr I decided to lighten it up a little by accenting the body curves on the back, hatchet followed by more conventional shaping methods : 0012 by Goran P, on Flickr 0013 by Goran P, on Flickr And this is what it looks now - it took most of sunday morning. 0014 by Goran P, on Flickr 0015 by Goran P, on Flickr I want to route the neck pocket , and as large a cavity possible for the pup and the electronics from the back. The crater on the top I will try to preserve somehow, most probably by adding some black acrylic backing from inside. Still don't know about the finish, but no colors definitely, oil/wax or some brushed nitro...

Thanks for the pics, looks like a very good idea! I tried something similar on my own headless tuners, even if it looks a lot different to yours. My solution was to cut trough lengthwise trough some inserts in wood, they self-tap into the pre-drilled hole in the wood and are threaded inside. So the string can use the cut in the insert to get itself out of the way for a bolt to go in after the ball end. When the bolt is turned it goes downward and pushes the ball end down, tightening the string. I still have to finish it, but it works. Only major issue is that you can't tune with your bare hands, it needs a wrench. Hope that makes sense For the anchoring the strings on the neck side, I used a brass electrical ground bar, it's already drilled and has screws tapped to hold the wires in place. 6-holed one is 44mm wide. Have you tested it yet, is it twisting the string?

I will, just hadn't had the time to work on it since, due to other projects. The hums were made by Fedor Chernyshev, he is a Moscow-based pickup maker. I used to work there for a few years about 15 years ago, so I bought them when I started the build.

Excellent build! How does the bridge work? Any additional photos would be great!

Great looking SG, Andyjr1515! The top looks great, maple? What was the finishing procedure? I'll post another pic, stating the usual state of things on my desk that pic was taken right after I cleaned the table following a repair that involved some sanding, and I couldn't find my chamfering file, so I was forced to clear the table It's now back to my usual creative mess.

I keep it to the right most of the time, so that any electronics work is towards me on the bench, but it's also to the right when I'm cutting nut slots on the guitar. Just refitted a tele nut today like that, using a bone nut I made all the way from the butcher's. Good thing I have almost non-existing sense of smell Thinking of it, it's to the left only for work done on the headstock, mainly because of the light source position. BTW, what recipes do you guys use for preparing bone for the nuts? For my current batch I first made a good soup from it, and then boiled it for a while again, changing clean water a few times. Then it's washed with Fairy or something similar, and left in the sun for a few days. Seemed logical, but there must be more methods out there?

It can either work or not, but I always hope that it will Not much of an update, just chamfered the slots and cleaned old glue in a few of them, but I can't resist showing off my (for a split second) clean work space! 003 by Goran P, on Flickr

OK, a small update - squeezed a little time for the SG in the growing line for repairs (which is actually very nice!) 002 by Goran P, on Flickr Fretboard needed some more leveling, higher grits and some glue cleanup, ready for the frets now, I think tonight! I'll use PVA instead of my usual CA, and the fretboard will stay nice and clean after wiping it down with a wet rag. I'll use Sintoms, 2mm, smallish, I like them and I think they will also go nicer for playing with a slide. I think I might make another set of black strap buttons, they might go well with black hardware and oil finish. On a side note, I'm making a wraparound bridge in aluminum, just hand tools for now. It'll probably go on a LP Jr I have in the works (if I succeed, that is :)) 0017 by Goran P, on Flickr 0016 by Goran P, on Flickr

I use those a lot, even more after your advice some time ago to turn a hook that way! I always have at least three on the table. Usually, I turn the hook so that the index hole on the blade is in my left hand when working downward, that way I don't have to check which side is which. With thickness going down, your stain in the wood should be perfectly fine! Nice hardware, I would still go with 2 pups for better sound range. How thick is the planned tenon? Could you still have at least a part of it's thickness going full length?

Very nice! Looking forward to see some progress on this! What's the body thickness? I have some mahogany of really similar color in my stash that I've only made one neck out of so far, and I remember it as really light and resonant. I think that the stripe won't be that visible, probably not visible at all when you deduct the tenon area, pickups etc. Is the neck 3 piece, can't say from the pic? Btw, I'm repairing an acoustic for a guy who's brother is a demonstrator/salesperson/repairman in a company for old furniture restoration and one-off finishing of such products AND he plays guitar. He came along yesterday to my shop and the talk was very interesting - lots of practical knowledge on all types of finishes, plus I got invited to go see the works and get some samples and a set of dyes...nice They use and make scrapers all the time, so he offered to show me how they do it. So my ideas on finishing this might change a lot in the near future. Have you made any decisions on hardware?

Sounds very interesting! Any pics to show? The cutaways are supposed to be even, it must be the pic angle, but keep in mind I did this over 10 years ago, so I have to look it over and measure and double measure a lot of things, starting with scale I'm pretty sure it was supposed to be 25.5, to go along with the no neck angle and the Trilogy Strat replacement bridge, but I'm not sure.

With the Yamaha rebuild almost done, I can start on this old project! This is a guitar for me, I've always loved SG's, but I've wanted to add some twists of my own. I will probably make a classic one at some point, but current specs are: 2-part mahogany body 1 piece mahogany neck, no angle ebony fboard tortoise binding & pickguard hotrod and 2 graphite stripes for tuning stability veneered headstock from both sides, w some MOP inlays smallish frets, 2mm wide 2 custom made hums balance pot, 2 tones, 1 master volume Hipshot Trilogy bridge, hence no neck angle Finish is still not decided on, but definitely not 2k, it's tru oil, shellac or nitro...also red or mahogany brown??? I still have to check the fretboard for straightness, install the frets and dress them, sort out a few dings and scratches from 10+ years of storage and finish the shape of the neck. IMG_20160109_182919-001 by Goran P, on Flickr

I'll change a few frets between 1st and 12th, but that won't change the appearance, so I'll call this done! What's left of the original? Well... Here's an before / after photo: 0117-001Before-after by Goran P, on Flickr They don't look much alike, but it's the same top, back and neck. The bridge insert out of brass was a first, and I think I'll probably make more. It took just a few minutes, it shapes nicely with just a file, and seems to sound nice too. The only problem I had with it was soldering, I had to pull out the big soldering iron for that. I think I learned a few things from this, and it sure was fun! Now, I'll start finishing the SG between repairs!

Soldered the insert in place and put on some old strings I had on the table, sounds nice! First few frets are done, no helping them, I'll have to pull them out...my customer didn't want to go into a refret but this is just too much for my taste. 0114-001 by Goran P, on Flickr

Finished the brass insert! Should redo the jack plate and get some strings, and then there'll be no excuse not to plug it in and try it out 0104-001 by Goran P, on Flickr 0105-001 by Goran P, on Flickr 0106-001 by Goran P, on Flickr 0107-001 by Goran P, on Flickr 0108-001 by Goran P, on Flickr 0109-001 by Goran P, on Flickr 0109-001 by Goran P, on Flickr 0110-001 by Goran P, on Flickr 0111-001 by Goran P, on Flickr 0112-001 by Goran P, on Flickr 0113-001 by Goran P, on Flickr

Soldered it all together, and cracked the jack plate cover using a little bigger screw that needed. Should have gone to bed...will have to make another one. Other than that, it's missing the brass bridge insert and some strings & setup ! In the background, a attempt at putting together a fuzz. 0103-001 by Goran P, on Flickr

Thanks a lot! This might not be the proper place for this, so I'll open a new thread in electronics if needed, but as stated above, for the SG I want a blend pot, with 2 separate tone pots and a master volume. The best I came up with was to take an standard 2 hum schematic for 1 vol 2 tones with a toggle, and to substitute in the blend pot the way Stew-Mac suggests that a blend pot is supposed to be wired in the place of the toggle. Would this work? Electronics is not really my strong suite, I can read the schematics and solder them just fine, but to actually design one... IMG_20160114_150959 by Goran P, on Flickr Thanks in advance!!!