Cyclone

Greg have you thought about going with the Gotoh 510 bridge or the Hipshot Babygrand. They are both different from the norm while still keeping that classy/classic look. I my self will be using the 510 on my current project.

Not a problem. I am glad that I was able to help. Let me know how it works out.

Ok then after I sand out the run should I polish it or just sand it clean it and on to the next coat? After you sand out the run, scuff the whole guitar clean it and coat it. Thank's for all the help man , and I will ask about the clear EDIT:> How should I do that one that freaks the HELL out of me it wount damage the finish, how much presser should I use and at what point should I stop with the steel whool and move on to the next coat? Look at it this way, if you are going to sand out a run you are basicly marring the finish and depending on how much clear you have on the guitar to work with will dictate how much you can get away with sanding off. With regard to how hard you should press, that is something that you will have to figure out on you own through trial and error. I know that is now what you want to hear but its not something that I can really expalin. For the steel Whool, you should stop when it looks like you are looking at the guitar through murky water. There should be no glossy spots on the guitar. EDIT:> ok yes another edit now I just praiced sanding out a run on one of my old dead guitar bodies and I have one more Question when Sanding out a run should I sand it until it's flat but I can still see it or should I go until i can't see it at all? You should sand the run until it blends with the rest of the paint/clear. You will notice that as you sand it down there will be a glossy outline around the run. You want to sand until that outline disapears. !!METAL MATT!! ← I hope that this helps

Thanks for the help sofar but I still have a few Questions if you don't mind? 1.Ok I only have the one coat on sofar can I still sand out the run? 2.After how many coats should I wet sand? and in what order of sanding grit's 3.Iam not really sure what you mean by (scuffed and cleared) And Iam not realy sure what type of clear Ben uses but it's not automotive for sure !!METAL MATT!! ←

I have the back carved now. This is my first attempt at doing somenting like this so I welcome any constructive critisism. I may start to carve the top tonight, it all depends on how much time I can manage to get away from the wife and son.

Matt, dont sweat the small stuff, we were all boobs at one time or another and remember the only stupid question is the one not asked. If anyone here gets frustrated with your questions they should reevaluate why they are here. If I am not mistaken this forum is here to help everyone learn and grow from our experiences. with regard to runs you can wet sand them down with the 600 however, after which the whole guitar should be scuffed and cleared again as Madien mentioned earlier. For tips on spraying. When you go to shoot the clear on after the removal of the runs you should first spray a light coat on the body. This is known as a "tac coat". Let this sit for about 10 to 15 minutes. What is happening in that 10-15 minutes is the light coat is starting to cure so when you come back you can spray a heavier coat on and if it is not too thick it should not run. Wait another 15-20 minutes and shoot on another heavy coat. Let this cure over night or for better results wait 2-3 days before wet sanding again. this will allow for a good proper cure of the clear. When I paint/finish a guitar I use automotive paints and clears typically PPG products so the methods that I employ are those used by automotive painters. If you let me know what type of clear and brand I may be able to help you more. Good luck and keep the pics comming.

Matt, I am going to ask some questions first. Is the body already cleared if, I assume that it is frome the pics, If so the 600 grit should only be used to take off the heavy orange peal because it will leave scratches in the finish that you will not be able to buff out. At this point you should go to a 1000 grit to even it out then 1500 grit to remove the rest of the scrathces and finally 2000 grit. when you are finished with this process get some finishing compound and buff it to a high gloss. I am not sure how many coats of clear you have on the guitar but I would not even think about going through the above process with out having at least 10 coats on the guitar. I am not sure what your knowledge is with regard to painiting and finishing so please forgive me if I have included something above that you may already know. Additionally you progress thusfar is very impressive and I am looking forward to seeing it finished.

I had a chance to get the top glued on and routed to shape in addition to routing the pup cavities. My next step is to carve the back and then the front. As soon as I get the back done I will post an update. On another note, I brought the guitar to a local music store to compare it to a PRS as it has an undoutable resemblance. Believe it or not it is the exact same shape as a PRS only about 1/4 inch bigger. I was devistated when I saw this because I had drawn this out almost entirely free hand and thought that I had created something that was my own. Oh well I guess its like I said a few posts back ,"there is only so much that can be done with a piece of wood". If I get another chance I will take a pic of the two together and post it.

Everyone thanks for the well wishes. My wife and son are both still doing fine and oddly enough my wife has been so busy taking care of my son that she has not complained about me working on the guitar in most of my free time. For the update: I have managed to make a pup template and route them into the core of the body. I figured that I could do it this way so that if i messed something up I could fix it before I glued the top on. I had to route the binding on the neck off because I accidently cut into it when shaping the neck. It was no big deal, I just hate to redo work. I guess that I will just chalk it up to a learning experience. I was able to glue the Bookmatched top down last night. Today I should be able to route the excess off and start carving the back and top. As soon as I get the top routed to shape I will post some more pics.

If anyone has been following the progress, my appologies for not updating sooner but I have been busy for the past couple of days. My son was born this past friday and he and my wife have been taking up most of my time. I wass however able to get some work done and the update is as follows; the first pic is of the neck with the head stock drilled for the tuners and the mahogany binding glued on. The second pic is of the neck glued onto the body. I think that the next thing that I will do is to prelocate the pickups and electronics cavities prior to gluing on the top. Everyone please feel free to comment.

I am presently in the process of building my first from scratch guitar and I am torn between two bridges the 510 and the hipshot babygrand. I am leaning more toward the 510, how is it working for you and what are your thoughts on it.

Jay, Not yet, for this one I plotted a board out using autocad and printed it 1:1 then glued it to the board and clamped a thick stright edge along each line. Using a Japaniese pull saw I cut the slots. I do however have plans to build a jig that will cut all the slots in one pass. If and when I get around to this I will post it in the tools section.

Here is a pic of the finger board that I will be using. I slotted it earlier this weekend. I am still waiting to recieve my truss rod and fret wire from Warmoth. Im getting a little eager. If I would have gotten them earlier, like say this past friday I probably would be finished with the neck and have it glued in place with the maple top glued on. Oh well it should be here by tomorrow after noon. After I get the rod in place and the fret board glued on I will add another pic. Thanks every one for viewing and commenting.

Sounds real classic.. should look great! Talk to Drak about this, but you may want to stain black first, to highlight the grain. I'm no expert, but I think it makes a difference. ← Mushy, Thanks for the complements. I should be experimenting with the staining within the next couple of weeks. I will then post some picts. for review.

Thats cool, I almost feel like Im back in SoCal. Cant wait to see it finished.

Last night I was able to glue the headstock bookmatched laminate on and to day I was able to shape the headstock and thickness the rest of the neck. Here is a picture of the simi-finished product. Please feel free to comment. For some reason my picture isnt uploading right. I will try again later. Sorry for the delay. Ok here is the picture.

To cut the scarf joint I had to get a little creative. I drew out two 13 degree angles on autocad and glued one to each side of the neck. I then clamped two guides along the outline of the angle with the neck sandwiched inbetween. I then took a pull saw and ran it along the guides to follow the line. Once the scrap was removed I took a sanding block with 80 grit and cleaned it up. At this point I said to myself there has to be a better way of doing this so for the headstock I printed the two angles again glued them to either side of the head stock and cut along the line using my band saw. This was much quicker and the clean-up didnt take as long as I thought. I hope this answers your question and also helps. Good luck with your neck.

Bill, I bought two pieces of wood for $58.00 US. (see the first pictures in my very first post). From those two pieces I have made everything thus far. Thanks for the complements.

Here is another update on my progress. The first picture is of the completed neck blank. It has a 13 degree angle and as soon as I recieve my parts from warmoth I will be cutting the slot for the double expanding truss rod. The next picture is of the finger board blank. I will be making a fret jig this week or week end to use in locating the frets. I have not decided on weather or not I will be inlaying it as of yet although it will have side markers. The final picture os of the headstock design glued to the bookmatched top of the headstock. I know what everyone is going to say, "It looks like a PRS headstock". Thats because it is the style of headstock that I wanted. If any one has any questions or comments please feel free to reply.

Cud, Yes the top will be getting a flame maple cap as well. I am going for that classic Jazz guitar look in a thinline solid body electric.

Please dont take this the wrong way, I did not post my progress or choose to share what I am creating to have the business aspect of it judged or criticized. By all means if there is something that anyone has a question or comment regarding the progress, assembly, or method of maufacture on my project please feel free to ask or give constructive criticism. I will be more than happy to respond. As far as it being special, its special to me and that is what matters the most. The only thing that could be more special about this guitar is to see it being played by my son in years to come as it is the first one that I build from scratch and with in the next couple of weeks he will be my first born. I know that thats kind of sappy but its how I feel. With regard to its design, as I have posted earlier, the design comes from aspects of my favorite guitars (Les Paul, Soloist style strat, and PRS) that appeal to me the most. The influences are definitely present. What I didnt do was an exact copy of what is already out there and lets face it there is only so much that can be done with a piece of wood. I hope that I havent come across as benig rude as that was not my intention. I just want everyone to keep what is important in perspective and that is all of us here sharing our hart soul and craft. And now I am getting off of my soap box. For the binding, it will be 1/8" natural on the body both top and back. The neck angle will be 1 degree and the tinon will extend through the body to the bridge. I havent decided on weather or not I will be binding the neck.

For a finger board I will be using flame maple from the same board that the back and front came from. For the bridge I think that I have narrowed it down to either the Gotoh 510, the Hipshot Baby grand, or Schaller 456. If anyone has used any of these bridges please give me your thoughts as all I have ever used are the Floyd Rose tremlos and gibson fixed bridges.

For a finish it will be stained in a burst. I plan to use two minwax colors "butter pecan" for the inner color darkening to "serdona red" with a polyurathane clear coat.

For those that might have been keeping up with my progress, sorry that I have not posted any new updates, but I have a few pics to post on my current progress. The first is a pic of the body with the back "bookmatched" flame maple glued and trimmed. The next pic is of the "bookmatched" top that will be going on. The third is of the neck. It consists of two strips of mahogany on the outside and one strip of flame maple in the center. After it is dry I will cut a 13 degree angle on one end for the head stock to be glued into place. This weekend I will be cutting the strips for the head stock in addition to making the plank for the finger board. When I am done with them I will post more pics. Everyone please feel free to comment.