Johnny Foreigner

There's going to be missing wood if you saw out a plug... I'm not sure how you're going to glue this in without any obvious lines in the front and back.

on the front won't matter because there'll be a maple cap on top. On the back it will be the line around the cavity cover you'd expect to see anyway. It's just an issue of how big the gap is.

slice 1/16" off the entire body? that's sounds even more perilous than what I'm proposing... and I'd still need to cut out the cover shape.

I think the best approach is to pick up a coping saw or fret saw and give it a try on scrap.

The most accurate (and perhaps easiest) way to get a matching cover would be to route down the guitar back by 1/16" but leave the cover area proud of the surface. Make it oversized so that you can best match the grain. Use a flush cutting saw to cut the cavity cover off the body and then trim it to size. Route the cavity, etc as normal.

Not sure if I explained that very well but it's early in the morning...

no, that makes perfect sense, but I don't think I have 1/16" to lose from the back.... maybe I could... I'll have to think about that.

slice 1/16" off the entire body? that's sounds even more perilous than what I'm proposing... and I'd still need to cut out the cover shape.

I think the best approach is to pick up a coping saw or fret saw and give it a try on scrap.

ok, you've piqued my interest.

Is that not a cavity I see drawn in on the template? Where is your battery box going? hmmmm!

And I have not yet figured out to get it started without an obvious drill hole.

SR

I was thinking a series of 4-5 small drill holes that I could join up with a sharp knife to create a starting slot.

Why patience? It's not a quality I possess in great quantities....

On my third build, which has been reduced to more hand tools than power tools since I moved to an apartment, I've decided I'm going to for for a cavity cover matching the back of the guitar.

Here's vaguely how I think I'm going to achieve this:

The guitar is super skinny - a 13/16" limba base with a 0.29" spalt maple top.

Before I glue the top down, I'm going to saw out from the limba the entire area of the cavity cover - sawing along the black line here (this is the back of the guitar):

I'll then take the plug I've sawn out, and slice off the top 1/16" or so to give me my actual cover.

With the rest of the plug, I'll mark out the lip for the cavity that the cover will sit on, and drill/route it out:

and I'll glue that ring back where it came from, before gluing the top on:

so my questions are:

1) is this method sound, or is there an easier way?

2) what hand saw can I use that has a kerf thin enough to achieve what I'm trying to do, but will still cut through 13/16" of limba without two many hassles? I feel like a plain old hacksaw might be too thick, but maybe not... any thoughts?

I realize a scroll saw is almost certainly the easiest tool for the job but I don't have one, and I'm not going to buy one, given my limitations of space, noise, funds, etc.

Ok, the guitar was received today and the recipient's girlfriend obliging took some photos:

This is great work.

Personally, I will *never* understand why you'd want to deliberately beat up a beautiful guitar just because some famous dead dude had a beat up guitar, but that's just me.

this is a great build.

what sort of laser are you using to line everything up?

If you have a drill press, the sanding drums you can get work pretty well for maintaining a 90 degree sand.

also, how much the pitch changes on fretting depends on how hard you fret. You can't legislate for different playing styles - you and I playing exactly the same guitar might have different results because you fret lightly and I push the string all the way to the fretboard.

welcome!

I just like the aesthetics of now ring. I think I first saw it on the Peavey EVH guitars and was impressed. Not because I'm an EVH fan - it's all about the aesthetics for me.

So it didn't make you laugh?

I thought the pictures spoke for themselves, it was a failure and I had to start again. Btw the one-piece body from Exotic Woods is still safely in the cupboard

Wow.

Next time I can't sleep, I'll just re-read this thread.

:D

Where can I get threaded inserts and what do they look like? So far, I've been enlarging the pickup plate so that a small wood screw fits through but I'm looking for a better method of doing this.

In general, I use foam under the pickups. It a dark grey foam that comes in 3/8" thickness. I forget where I get it from though. Its been a while since my last complete build.

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...st&p=468069

got mine off amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Z-LOK-Threaded-Inser...9198&sr=8-1

I thought someone would have commented on the 4th picture in the 3rd post...any comments?

I kinda wondered what was going on there and how it fit in with everything else.

I take it the vinyl wasn't adhesive backed?

No, it was marketed as a 'window cling' - that way i'd have more control over the adhesive used....

Window cling, aka static cling, clings to very smooth surfaces because it has a very high level of plasticizers in it. That creates an almost oily film that holds it to the glass. That may be what is keeping your adhesive from curing...or it may be curing but just won't stick to the "cling". When we print on it here, we often have to wipe the excess plasticizers off with alchohol to get the ink to stick to it. You should probably at least do that and then test your adhesive by applying it to the vinyl and seeing if it will stick. Did you save any scrap?

SR

of course not. that would have been the sensible thing to do, therefore the thing that I didn't do!

I'll try the hairdryer thing and if that doesn't help I'll maybe rethink...

O - and the vinyl isn't allowing the air to dry your spray-glue , so it's being preserved underneath. Try a hairdryer to warm it up a bit , but be wary , it could make the vinyl stretchy too......... If you sealed the body first, it'll likely never dry..... well, one day, but who knows how long thatll be?

no, i didn't seal the top. i'll try the hairdryer trick..... carefully.

and no, he has zero idea about it - will try to ship it out before xmas.

I take it the vinyl wasn't adhesive backed?

No, it was marketed as a 'window cling' - that way i'd have more control over the adhesive used....

Ok, it's been a while but I got this one finished out... sorta

originally I sprayed some waterbase lacquer, but when it came to do the final sand I just wasn't happy with it, so I stripped it all back and, since I'd now moved from my house to an apartment, opted to try a tru-oil finish.

So as part of that I removed the old graphic (printed on glossy paper) and got a new one printed up on vinyl.

Once again I used spray glue, but after several weeks the stuff still hasn't set and I can still move the vinyl around on the top (with a fair bit of pressure). My initial thought is to lift the edge and go around with some CA to seal down the edge in place.

There's also something funny going on with the pickup switching which I need to figure out before I ship it off to the recipient.

Overall, this was a very ambitious project and I'm happy that it's turned out as well as it has. It actually plays much nicer than my first build (yay! improvement) but the EMG-HZ pickup sounds like utter ass. As on the first build, the piezo under the bridge works pretty well for an acoustic-esque tone.

wow, interesting discussion.

the Justin Timberlake looks more appealing than the Zed-Poxy at this stage....

At least I can throw out the colortone crap with a clear conscience.

Have you tried other outlets or another building to see if you get the same thing?

SR

No, that's my next line of inquiry. Our loft used to be a photography studio, so there are outlets everywhere you turn.

are you near any electronics or fluorescent lights

No fluorescents, but my computer is not too far away - but not really much closer than it was in the old place.

My amp never used to buzz and hum this much. Then I moved and now it's awful. It's a Marshall microstack - 15w, solid state.

Symptoms are (all on overdrive selected and gain half way):

no guitar lead plugged in - no hum

guitar lead plugged, me not touching anything - lots of hum

guitar lead plugged, me holding other end (not touching tip) near to amp - no hum

guitar lead plugged, me holding other end (not touching tip) far from amp - lots of hum

epi lp standard plugged in - lots of hum on all 3 pickup positions

my first build plugged in on either bridge hb or neck hb only - lots of hum. in the middle (both pups) - no hum.

And it's the last bit that really confuses me.

Anyway, I know nothing about this stuff, so any thoughts? would something like this: http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product...ator?sku=150452 help?