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Here's my build with a TOM. The distances are the same as on an Epiphone LP. So you see the angle.

But don't listen to me. This is my first build ever and I still have the neck angle to worry about (bolt on, though).

EDIT: Don't worry about the fretboard in the pic. It's not glued =)

I think that's commendable work as your first from-scratch build, as you've built a great looking (and hopefully great sounding and playing!) instrument for very little. Fantastic. I think that once it actually IS ready, you should enter it in the GOTM on the basis that you made it for next to nothing, and it's a great result. I hope that when people vote, they look at the important aspects of the build such as it being your first and the uBer-low cost!!

Thanks! Maybe I'll post it in there. Let's just wait 'til I get the trussrod and frets done. Gotta do some neck shimming to get the right angle, too.

I'm really happy with the results so far.

I have to ask about the inlays...did you do them yourself? The corners on the pyramids look almost as though they were started with a 2-3mm drill bit and then joined "dot to dot" to form the shapes. Other than that, it's a great build for sure! I do like neck-through guitars with TOM bridges :-D

I bought the fretboard. It's a cheaper one. I didn't want to use much money on this project, because if everything goes wrong, wouldn't be a big harm.

Actually, the fretboard's the only thing I've spent money on this project. Otherwise it's been free =)

Maybe my next one (if this will ever be ready) will have decent woods etc.

I'm normally a solid color guy, but that guitar looks amazing!

That maple neck really flows with the rest of the Guitar, Great job!

-Stormy

Thanks! Let's hope everything goes well with the trussrod and frets..

After oiling:

A few coats and some sanding:

Update:

To me, it just looks like he used REALLY coarse sandpaper. That could be the effect your seeing that looks like it was brushed.

I haven't sanded it yet. It's now three thin layers of coat.

I used a brush for the coats. Let's see how it'll look like after showing some 500 grit paper to it.

A few coats and the latest one isn't dry on this pic yet. Time for some sanding tomorrow and more coats. No side-effects this time =)

I have seen several of your swirls, they all look interseting. However I notice that the finish is a bit rough right after you swilrled it. Do you have and pictures of a final completed swirl??

I know. I have a lot to learn in clearcoating. The previous one got screwed up so I sanded it down. Guess I'm resanding, swirling and clear coating these until I get 'em look right

i really like that... the vibrant green and orange cutting through the black really do look awesome

Thanks! I really like those narrow oranges. And that large yellow/green under the pickup cavities

is really interesting, too.

Interesting, thats the cool thing about swirls. you never know what your gonna get and it will for sure be a one of a kind. I like it.

Thanks!

I had quite a lot of black in there. Could've been a little less, but I like it this way.

So, my black and white didn't work out so I decided to sand it down and start something different. Here's the result:

Green base colour and I used black, orange and yellow for swirling. Was supposed to use green and orange but didn't find green in the stores I visited. I think it became quite interesting and a bit different than what's usually seen.

What do you guys think about this?

You are supposed to seal the body first.I hope you did that?

Yes, I did.

Looks great, that red was definitely not cooperating with you. But it looks as if the body was not completely prepared. Like raw wood (can see the grain in some pics). But I do think that you have great skills on the style! I tried a few times and got frustrated quickly. I might give it a shot, since my son appears to like it (thanks to you I guess)!

Yeah, thought it was well prepared. Looked nice and was sanded with 500 grit paper.

There's still a lot to learn. But as far as the swirl's conserned, I'm really happy with it.

Looks great!

How thick a layer of floating paint do you need... I ask because I'm imagining it would be pretty easy, especially with the handle cutout, to get spots that might not touch any paint.

I may be wrong; I've never seen it done.

Not thick. The paint is fully dried in a few minutes after it's pulled back from the water. Touch dry in 5 seconds.

What kind of clear did you use? Any pics of what it did to the paint? Or description? Looking at the before's of the swirls, clearing would take several coats to get it nice an even. I have never seen one in person, but I think the enamel dries unevenly based on how the paint lays for the swirl. Or at least it looks that way from the pictures...Gotta make sure all your paints from fillers, sealers, primers, base, etc are compatable...

I used a local clear that's supposed to work well with both oil-based and water based paints.

Well, you'll always learn more things. I'm happy with the swirl, though =)

Seems that I don't know anything about clearcoating... The clearcoat did something to the paint. Anyways, it looks really nice in person and I like it. Not selling it, so doesn't matter to me =)

wow thats awesome, care to share your technique?

Thanks!

The way I do it is no secret and nothing else I've read on the Internet.

- Water

- Borax. A few cups of it.

- Revell enamel paints. Gloss ones, not matt.

I mixed the borax in the water, let it settle down for 15-20 minutes. Then

I drop in the paints. Only a little of 'em. Dip the body, get rid of the paint

that still floats on the surface and pull the guitar out.

Took me quite a few tests to get 'em look right. Now I've swirled two

gutar bodies.

A few more of those bad pics...

And a pic w/flash with the lights turned off:

Body's alder, and it'll have a Jem 7VWH neck, with black headstock and orange logo:

Sorry for bad pics. Orange, black, some red and yellow, too. Red colour run a bit below the trem cavity Opinions?

Is a TOM really considered a hardtail? I always considered a hardtail a strat non trem bridge.

Anyway,

It will be really hard building a neck around a body that already has a neck pocket routed. Why did you rout it already, when you dont even have the neck ready?

Because I'll do the neck to be an exact copy of an Ibanez neck. So no worries. First I add the neck and then measure the distance to get the bridge in the right place.

No idea about how I SHOULD do everything. This is my first attempt, as I said =)

Some attempts with hardware. Hardware will be black, white/black pickups and knobs too.

very nice

i have been wanting a hardtail RG for a while now. I wanted to trade my rg270dx for the rg321 but i tested a 321 yesterday and damn did it ever feel like crap compared to my 270.

Interesting because mine is an older model (96-99) made in korea and the new 321 in made in Indonesia

Anyway, great looking build

Thanks! This is actually the first one I've ever started to build from scratch. And I've used a router only once before today. I'm quite pleased with the

pickup cavities, though they're a little sloppy. But there'll be pickup rings, so the bad places won't be seen.