CD1221

I have had some equipment troubles that have slowed the building down, went to buy a set of replacement tyres for the bandsaw, the shop said they would be in after a few weeks, turns out they only got 1 and I need 2, so I will probably just find some online now, should have done that first up.... Also bought an oscillating spindle sander, which looks pretty damn fine. I also got in contact with the nice man (Tim) from Australian Tonewoods in WA that supplied the timber for my other build and after some to-and-fro via email, these turned up today: 2 sets of Tasmanian Blackwood body blanks, 1 streaky, 1 flamey. 2 Tas Blackwood necks 2 myrtle necks showing some nice flame. tasty. 4 Gidgee fretboards I am still going to do a build using the salvaged timber, to try my hand at multiscale and also new techniques such as body binding in a now-mundane, fairweather blackmachine build, then use the stuff bought here to re-build it permanently, using the sassafras top in the earlier post. I also have a strandberg clone planned, but disappointingly they are currently out of stock of their hardware until perhaps December. I have been looking at other brand hardware, but pretty sure I want the Strandberg stuff. That's all for now.

Setback today, not the best. My brother came over to get things going, figured we would cut the pieces a bit more to size before planing. We set up the bandsaw I scored a few years back, tried a couple of cuts but the blade started wandering. Opened her up to have a look and found the rubber over the drive pulley had perished. Need to look into a replacement. Decided instead to dress a piece of hardwood benchtop and glue into a body blank for my brother 's build. So, not a total loss, but a lot of wasted time. Now i need to get the bandsaw up and running before any solid progress can be made.

Actually, this one is a 7. I just used an 8 body because I found a clear, straight picture. 26.22 to 27.80 fan Bolt on neck Wilkinson vs100 style saddles on a custom bridge plate, string through body. Single volume with push/push coil tap 3 way switch Blackwater guitar co. slanted pickups (neo modern model), custom to match these scale lengths.

So, plans! This one is for me. Process, for those that are interested. 1. Find a picture of a guitar you want to base the design off. 2. Scale up to full size in drawing package (I use visio, because it is what I have). 3. Print out full size, stick halves together, hang on backlit window with tape. 4. Print out grid paper and stick together, hang on window over top of picture from step 3. 5. Trace the outline. 6. Draw out the fretboard, strings, nut and bridge. 7. Profit! Tomorrow is clean up some more timber day, finalise some specs and order parts.

Depending on what it looks like once the top is on, the back and sides might get a coat of paint, maybe a dark stain.

Shrapnel! I'll do a bit more of an inspection first, thanks for the heads up. Nails are probably more likely, though

So, i was wondering what to do about the bodies of the up and coming build, given that it is likely to be 4 piece not exactly matching slabs..... ....and then I spotted these. Seeing as how I bloody love blackhearted sassafras (see first build.... And avatar), I couldn't resist. 4 lengths 200mm wide and long enough to make 6 tops out of. Score! That is all.

Yeah, I was never good with the profile stuff.... I am in Newcastle, an hour North of Sydney. The slightly redder piece has some softer grain and has gone a little splintery on the edge.

Hey Demonx, Mate I am in oz, so this is most definitely oz timber. There is a variety of colours here, I have no idea how to identify any of it. Probably several flavours of vic ash and assorted eucalypt species, I expect. The smaller 50mm pieces are very red, so that is something else again. Good point on maybe not planing it all now, guitar2005. I wanted to see what was under the crappy exterior. Some of the pieces have cracks that may or may not be superficial. I expect not all of what we have will be usable, fingers crossed most will be. At rough count we have enough for 6-8 bodies and over 20 necks. More to come.

My brother and I were chatting the other day about getting back into guitar building and he mentioned he had a bunch of hardwood dunnage.....So we have decided to build some guitars out of it, just because. Here is the stash.... I spent a bit of time yesterday running some of it through the thickness planer to see what was underneath all the junk on the outside. I was pleasantly surprised. The sizes are a bit randomish, several very long 50mm square pieces, quite a few 65mm square pieces and several 95mm square ones. The plan is to plane everything back to clean wood, cut the 90mm bits in half lengthwise and join for body blanks. A few of the 50 and 70mm bits are very nicely quartersawn and should make pretty good neck laminates. No idea what any of it is, but it is hard and most certainly woody. My brother has an ibanez neck he wants to use, so his first one will be an RG based thing. Mine is going to be a mulitscale 7, just to see what the fuss is about. We have a fair bit of work ahead of us planing these down, so this thread might take a while to gain momentum. Much, much more to come.

Those inlays are looking great! How hard is the acrylic?

Thanks guys. I am really happy with the jack recess, especially as it only came about because of some tear-out when routing. I needed a work-around to fix the hole. Turned a fault into a feature!

6 months in the making, it is finally done! Pics: before: after: I need to thank my dad for providing many, many tools, advice and assistance during the build. I also must thank one of my mates, who helped out with the important and terrifying stuff - fretboard and fretwork. The authors of the many, many awesome and inspirational build threads on here also get a mention for both their education and entertainment. This site is bloody amazing. I wouldn't have this beast without having access to the info here. There were plenty of minor mistakes and some downright horrible stuff ups, but nothing that couldn't be saved. Thanks to those that followed the build thread and gave your encouragement. I am blown away by this thing. It is light, balances perfectly, is damn comfortable to play and is as clear as a bell, even on the low Bb. I haven't played anything this low and had it so clear. The MM is bloody brilliant. The seymour in the neck is also fantastic, highly recommended. Now I have to go and learn how to play again

Here are the photos. They don't do it full justice, you don't get to see how holographic and mobile the grain movement is. Firstly, here is the dust free drying/curing space I created, Dexter-style. Who said you never learn anything from TV. And here are the guitar parts: . The neck in particular blows my mind every time I look at it.

Sun shining today.... I now have 10 coats of lacquer on. But.....both cameras have flat batteries, so I used my phone.... but the cable is at work....so I can't get the photos off. I will upload shortly.

looks great. I like the carving, very original.

Absolutely beautiful build there. Bravo. The control cavity cover is pure genius.

Well, it is disassembled and I did the pore filling and sealing today. please excuse the crapola photos. awesome ghost in the grain there. bloody brilliant. Now I just need a dry weekend to spray the clear coat.

I have to re-do the nut because I stuffed it. I was trying to get the height of the plain strings down I took too much off. Graphtec blanks sand VERY quickly. then I went to my second blank (good to have spares) and did a crap job. then I went to my third bloank (really good to have spares) and cut 8 string slots ! then I realised I had no more nut blanks....... Also thinking about the finishing now. I obviously am going to clear coat this one (spray can). The pore filling has got me confused though. I am trying 3 alternatives to see what works best for me - Timbermate grain filler Shellac egg white + sanding dust

Update time! Recovered from yesterday's mishap involving drop-testing the body onto concrete. Tip for the day: don't do that. It sucks. Today I made the nut and did a dry-fit hardware test. Everything fits like it was meant to be there and the thing feels awesome. Really stoked. Happy with the tuner placement and string pull lines. next up - finishing!

Hey Prostheta, it is around 23mm at 1st fret, 25mm at the 12th. slightly assymetrical - shallower shoulders on the higher pitch strings, slightly meatier on the bass side. I can still get my thumb over the top though, so it doesn't feel as thick as it is. really happy with the profile.

minor update. I have fabricated the control cavity cover and volume knob - cavity cover is blackwood, volume knob is made from the fretboard offcuts. I have also done most of the basic body and neck sanding and started work on the nut.

Side Dots !

I did the neck carving today. Roughed it out with the end of the belt sander to get the right thickness and approximate contour, then moved to hand sanding. lots of hand sanding. after an hour, there were still easily felt edges where the different angles had been sanded in and I was starting to get a bit disheartened. I pushed through and after about 2 hours (!) I ended up with exactly what I was after, a nice meaty C shape with shallow shoulders. Really bloody excited now. 23mm at the 1st fret, 25mm at the 12th. After hitting it with some 180 grit, there was some subtle flame showing. Here is a wet shot that sort of captures it. tasty. Now I just need to do the control cover routing and the hole for the bridge earthing wire. progress, progress.

body contours complete. next step: neck carve.