Crazy Carl

Idch, I went w/the 5-ply binding & pickguard, 'cos I was kinda going for a bit of Les Paul Custom type vibe. Could see how some find it a bit 'busy', but I dig & think it's kinda classy. JMHO, of course.

Color/cosmetics were just coincidence, really. I initially was going to go w/o a pickguard, but had to, in the end, due to a minor goof/mis-measurement in the neck p/u route area. Shape is the bass side of my TCM Royal & the treble side of my TCM FLE. Neck joint area massaged a bit, tho. Xlr8, got the binding from Stew Mac & LMI. But, new MSDSs musta come out lately, 'cos Stew Mac won't ship it overseas/via air anymore. LMI would, as of a month ago, but haven't checked lately. I think the LMI stuff is less expensive, but is also cheaper/poorer quality. AND, the thinner multiply is only available b/w, not ivoroid/black, to match the outter iv/blk/iv binding. Anywho, the binding was 2 'courses'- an inner course of .04" iv/blk (.02/.02) & the outter course is .09" iv/blk/iv (.02/.02/.05). Dunno if I mentioned it, but the neck is BIG- 1 11/16" to 2 1/4" taper & 1.05" thick at the 1st fret, tapering up to 1.15" at the 12th fret. I like baseball bat necks, what can I say?

Hey thanks, guys. 'Preciate it. RGGR, we're cool bro. No prob. Jay5- Yep, all mo-hawg. Back/sides/neck will be natural. Mebbe a slight amber tinge after I seal w/shellac. Got some CA staining/runout on the headstock that I couldn't sand out w/o going thru the outer layer of binding (I was NOT gonna re-do that). Since the CA won't take stain, I figgered to hell w/it & pore-filled w/CA. I think it'll be a nice contrast. As far as the p/g, I used a LP Jr. p/g drawing & modified it to taste. Cut a template outta 1/2" ply, chucked up a bevelling bit in the router & voila. Couple other folks have mentioned the Red Special thing. Furthest thing from my mind, actually. Cool coincidence, tho. I think it's the color/cosmetics more than anything. I'm sure most of you know this, but multi-ply binding is a PITA! Now I understand the heinous upcharge for it as a custom option. Worth it, in the end, but mega frustrating while in process.

Got everything porefilled, sanded back, stained, etc. Scraped the stain off the binding (what a bitch!). Made the scratch plate & trussrod cover. Stain is 20ml 'cherry red', 5ml 'vintage amber' & 16oz. alcohol. Not as red IRL as the pics, more a burnt/rust kinda thing. Think it'll really pop once I seal 'er up w/shellac. More front/body shots- front shot 'nother frontal Nice shot of the 'board Here's the trussrod cover I made from fretboard scrap. Wanted to run w/the grain length-wise, but the scrap was about 1/8" too short. Still cool, I think. trussrod cover Gotta make a nut & the jack plate this week. Hope to be spraying nitro by the weekend.

Yeah, I just got those plans for a visual reference, as I wasn't building a 'pure' Junior. Eh, lesson learned. Still turned out all good.

Edit- moved to 'new post' on original thread.

Setch, it was the actual physical size of the p/u's that was off. It caught me, 'cos I had everything laid out, marked, etc. Was going to run the neck joint to far side of the neck p/u route & not use a pickguard. Measured everything several times, then trimmed neck accordingly. Ended up putting the p/u 3/8" past the end of the fretboard & now I have to use a pickguard to cover the discrepancy between neck joint route & p/u routed. Measured my P90s against the drawings & the drawings were 1/8" thicker. At any rate, I dunno where the disconnect was, other than the p/u drawings being off size-wise. The thing that cheesed me, was that I could have run a 2" longer tenon if I'd known I'd end up using a pickguard anyway. That said, the V drawings seem great, but are also obviously of a much higher quality, i.e. tons of precise measurements for everything, angles, etc. BTW, noice Junior. I dig it.

Use those MIMF Junior plans at your own peril. I didn't check every spec, but the p/u's thickness are off by an 1/8". Dunno how accurate they are otherwise, but that one spec cause me enough heartburn to be wary.

Lemme add that if you get CA squeeze-out, stains, whatever on your wood, pray you can sand it out. 'Least if yer doing a trans finish. It won't take stain worth a darn. I'm finishing my back & neck 'trans natural' w/a CA porefiller due to a few spots I couldn't sand out w/o sanding thru the outer layer of binding.

Looks like re-fin Mexi Strat, but that finish is great. Very noice. Gives me hope for finising mine w/rattle-cans (CLOU nitrocellulose).

Oops. Nevermind.

Gawd I hate that one. 1/2 sleeves & several other pieces & when I hear that question, I just wanna smack 'em.

Fryovanni, got the headstock bound today & drilled for tuners. Gonna route the neck pocket tomorrow. Will try to toss up a pic or two w/the neck 'dry' fitted.

RGGR, in case you haven't noticed, I don't post here often. In fact, I've never even seen a rules section. I just try to follow accepted guidelines for not being a 'net jackass. My point was that if you were gonna be a wiseass, so could I. Dunno why the pics are so big. I thought Photobucket hacked 'em down to 250kb automatically? If the pic size is too much I'll start hackin 'em down a bit. Again, RGGR, advice, tips, links to the rules section, etc. are always appreciated, but some BS, sarcastic, 'cool guy' attitude is just gonna piss me off.

Ripsvr 'n Al, thanks, bros.