On 2/7/2023 at 6:36 AM, avengers63 said:

The blank is supposed to be African mahogany. That's how it was labeled at Rockler. BUT... when I was cutting & planning it, it let off a somewhat acrid medicinal odor. I don't remember African mahogany smelling like this, but it's also been quite some time since I've worked with it

To me that looks like Meranti which is from Malaysia. We use it in Australia extensively for doors, door frames, skirting and so forth. This is a length of architrave. I wish I had a bigger piece to demonstrate how much it looks alike. Having said that though, I've never seen Meranti in big chunks like that, I think the biggest we get is about 130x40mm

On 4/27/2023 at 6:34 AM, MiKro said:

...Wow how time is moving forward. LOL!!!

Yeah we're living in the future!

.....I'm dizzy.........

Hello Fenderbender, welcome to the forum, hope you find interesting discussions here and helpful advice. Nice looking body you have to start with, looks like a flamed maple top, so the pressure is already on to do a good job LOL!

The first thing that comes to my mind, you say you want P90's but the body appears to be routered for a Humbucker at the Neck and Tele PU at the Bridge. If you want to go ahead with P90's things will be difficult from the start because it would require extra routing and will leave gaps. P90's are longer and thinner than Humbuckers. I would suggest using Seymour Duncan "Phat Cat" pickups. They are Humbucker-shaped P90 style pickups that will slot straight into the neck and you can get Tele bridges made for Humbuckers

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/185652470690?chn=ps&_ul=AU&_trkparms=ispr%3D1&amdata=enc%3A130YWYHh-RQ6BzJP_A5nmWA15&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=705-139619-5960-0&mkcid=2&mkscid=101&itemid=185652470690&targetid=&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=1000653&poi=&campaignid=15984321586&mkgroupid=&rlsatarget=&abcId=9300814&merchantid=664028163&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIsv2_ybm9_gIVSLaWCh0mKQJZEAQYASABEgKfAvD_BwE

Thinking about it, building an entire guitar out of one piece of wood would probably need a fretboard unless its Maple you're going to use. But putting that aside, my ambition is to actually get something finished!

One of my Les Pauls with Mahogany shim in place

On 4/2/2023 at 5:51 PM, ADFinlayson said:

This is the Kawasaki river mark, Will is big into his Bikes

A friend of mine had a Kawasaki KX500, broke his leg a couple of times on it! I've never seen that logo before but looks really good on the fretboard, very nice work

5 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

A gift item indeed!

Yeah I have a birthday coming up, anybody want to gift me a Telecaster I have no problem with that!

16 hours ago, ADFinlayson said:

I've got a scrap of strat scratch plate

Blimey mate, what a tongue-twister!

Yes chipping at the edges is what I would want to avoid, I thought there might be after-market saddles that cater for this but the concern for sideways movement is still there. I think the best way to achieve my goal is to have a cradle to hold the saddles in place, taking some ideas from a Tunomatic bridge

By the way that Wilkinson bridge is great for matching the Tele to the Strat but would still require some attention to achieve Gibson spacing. But putting that aside did you read the ad? It goes;

"The telecaster is small in size and easy to carry. it can be used as a gift for your friends or family members on special occasions"

I am Laughing so hard! What do they think it is, a box of chocolates?

To answer the first question, yes I'd like them to be narrower to match Gibson bridge spacing. There's not a lot in it but I do find myself missing the string sometimes when I play my Fender Stratocaster and it would be nice if I could get my Strat the same as a Gibson. I was wondering if there are after-market saddles (or something) rather than filing because I would mess it up. When you consider the differences you wonder why there would be a problem, the spacings of guitars and bridges I have are:

59 Reissue LP 51.59mm

Gotoh TM bridge 52mm

Fender 50's Strat 52.5mm

Fender Tele bridge 54mm

Once I get these Fender style guitars finished I will see how it goes. I might find the fretboard radius is more the problem rather than string spacing

Hi, I've been wondering if there's a good way of changing the string spacing on a Strat or Tele bridge? I realise it will mess with the positioning of the strings over the pole pieces but I will deal with that later if its a problem

On 4/2/2023 at 10:26 PM, mistermikev said:

9. build an entire guitar out of one piece of wood

7 hours ago, avengers63 said:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L3AY4DU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Interesting, what I use is simply a 7/8" round bit which is good for the Nut end but I used to use a 1 inch bit which is good for the heel end. I had to be careful with that because it can leave the Nut end too "C" shaped

The trouble with a neck profile is they're usually a different diameter each end, like a compound fretboard

2 hours ago, avengers63 said:

...... This thing feels REALLY good. It feels a hellofalot better than it should, considering I've done -zero- additional shaping to it whatsoever, This is stupid and a table roundover bit should NOT have worked so well

Yes I think the same thing, I do all this extra shaping to get a 50's Les Paul profile but I often think "why don't I just leave it?"

By the way what size is the router bit?

I think it would be okay, it is so short

Yes its most likely oil

And I like how the bottom section has blended with the rest after sanding. I hope it stays that way after spraying

I did some work on this today and its turning out really nice

The only thing that annoys me is the glue (or oil) stains across the lower bout. The thought crossed my mind to do that all over and have an effect like Leopard spots...but I think I will leave it as is

On 3/11/2023 at 5:23 AM, Professor Woozle said:

I guess that'll be hard to see once the fret's in place, if it's visible at all?

On 3/12/2023 at 8:05 PM, avengers63 said:

My thought as well

Well I'm counting on it being covered by the fret!

...where is this dumpster?

So no comments....

Must be because nothing wrong here, no stuff-ups, so I shall have to redeem myself

Here's how the neck is coming along. I messed up one of the fret slots

But it mostly came out after doing the radius

Interesting build! and did you say Motorbikes?

1985 XR600 and 1988CR500

10 hours ago, curtisa said:

Yikes - I still haven't taken final pics!

That's something else, your photography skills are also superb!

Got the first coat of Nitro on the body, nothing spectacular but its progress!

Funny how you just started this topic, I took a photo of my Landlord's drill press recently...

and in my lounge room I have guitar wood stacked in front of the TV LOL