thegarehanman

the only easy way you're going to get professional looking cavity recesses is with that router and a pattern bit.

Those tools and a drill and you're good to go. You might want to invest in a good rasp, and you'll need some specialized tools if you plan to build your own neck from scratch. Practice with that router though, it will save you many hours of work as opposed to working without it.

peace,

russ

Talking to oneself is really unhealthy.

what if this process was applied to guitar hardware & pickups ?

You'd find a grand new way of wasting money on improvements you'll never need or hear. Of course, some joe is going to say he hears a difference, and then he's going to convince everyone else of it, and charge them tons of money to have it done to their guitars.

sloppy? perhaps. but at least he's not building some pointy, completely uncomfortable looking guitar

They'd save more money on the labor that would be required to miter, fit, and glue the piece of binding in than on the material itself. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't do it solely because they didn't think their employees could do a good job of getting tight miter joints.

i think it looks ok on some through neck guitars because it keeps all the stipes going the same way - like mike does on his guitars

http://www.rocksmithguitars.com/ph-1.htm

Yeah, but this is coming from the guy that hates binding. ehem, ehem.

Jon, do you know how many psi your vac bags are putting down? How do the glue lines look? Just curious.

I use a strip of plywood that's been run through a jointer. Should I need one, I could have a 8' straightedge router guide with that method.

Yeah, bottom line is given enough time, the chrome finish is (most likely) going to look bad regardless of what's under it, as long as the guitar is made of wood. Now, start with a body blank that's been stabilized (or acrylacized, or plasticized or whatever you want to call it) and this might be another story entirely. I think starting with a stabilized blank might actually be the way to go here. For one, check out gallery hardwoods.

peace,

russ

a les paul? Stewmac carries full size plans for the'59. Also, check out guitarbuildingtemplates.com. However, be warned that I've heard of more than one person complaining that some of their templates were not exactly the same as the guitar they mimicked, so check the dimensions before building.

peace,

russ

You can't run from what you are, godin. mwahahahaha

I've used a stetsbar before. They're really easy to install and setup. They've got a decent range, too.

What are the guages of strings you're using?

I would recommend carbide endmills. You'll find they cut more easily than typical carbide typed router bits, and they also cut much cleaner. Plus, there's a much smaller chance that these will ever bite into the wood and run away from you than a typical router bit. I would also recommend stepping up to a stronger router with a 1/2" collet; I wouldn't be surprised if you quickly found the current selection to be underpowered for this application.

Hey guys. Both guitars are done, but the acoustic has not been strung up yet. That's because it as due at an art gallery yesterday and I didn't have the time. Oh well, we'll just consider this next month to be the extended glue drying period, I guess .

The electric is posted in GOTM, if you want to see some pics, check out the link below:

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...st&p=344331

And here are some pics of the acoustic. The finish is a flat polyester that was applied ever so thinly to the soundbox. The neck was finished in Teak Oil.

I originally didn't plan on putting this guitar in the GOTM competition, but there's a really great batch of guitars in GOTM this month, so I though joining in would be fun. I call this one the "Rising Sun" themed Tank Top.

Anyhow, this guitar was completed two days ago; I'm really happy with the way it turned out in all respects. I got a chance the other day to plug it in and play it a bit. With the volume rolled back, it's got a thick, clear sound. The strings feel a little looser than what I'm used to with 24.75" scales, even though I use earnie ball heavy bottoms on all of my electrics. My best guess is that it's due to the added string length from the string-through design and the lower friction at the nut because of the zero fret and small string retainers. The pickups respond to gain pretty well, and you can get some pretty good blues and hard rock sounds as well. The whole time I was building this guitar I was a little worried that it would end up neck heavy. It ended up not being an issue after all. Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to fully intonate it or tweak the pickup heights and bridge height etc. I had to bring it to an art gallery for a show that's starting next week. I'm going through a mild state of new-guitar withdrawal at the moment, to be honest.

Here are the specs:

Back wood: Swamp ash w/ (dyed)maple veneer accent lines

Top wood: orange maple veneer/natural maple veneer/ .1" cocobolo/ japanese flag theme in maple marquetry

Neck: Cocobolo, set neck

Fretboard: Madagascar Ebony w/ cocobolo and copper inlays. Cocobolo binding.

Headstock Overlay and Backstrapping: Ebony

Nut: None, zero fret with banjo 5th string nuts as string guides

Tuners: Sperzel Locking

Bridge: Stewmac roller Tune-O-Matic

Pickups: Kent Armstrong overwound p90's with maple/cocobolo covers

Controls: 1 vol, 1 tone, 3-way pickup selector

Scale: 24.75"

Finish: Hi-Gloss clear polyester on body, Teak Oil on neck

Here are some linked pictures:

Back of Body

BackStrapping Detail

Fretboard

Body 1

Body 2

Body 3

Pickup Covers

Headstock

If you prefer bigger pictures that show a bit more detail, check out the my site via the link below:

https://garehanguitars.com/The__Rising_Sun__Tank_Top.html

peace,

russ

Whenever I need a specific bit and need it quickly, I normally go to lowes as around me my only choices are that or home depot (that's right, they've deprived me of an authentic wood working store here in baton rouge!). Anyhow, I think I probably have 1 template bit from them, one spiral downcut bit, and one other that I can't remember. No problems so far and each has gotten a fair bit of use.

peace,

russ

Why would stewmac do that though since they make a point to sell the bearing bits?

I believe the p90 template that stewmac sells is based on an older gibson p90. I could be wrong about that. Anyhow, it's pretty silly that their template doesn't match their covers. If you get a 3/8" router bit and a slightly oversized bearing (don't remember the size but it comes in the binding channel router bit set), that template will work just fine for the smaller p90's that everyone seems to carry.

My bad. I just prefer to call them "p90's in the shape of a humbucker." It really makes things much simpler.

Next time you're doing your final sanding, pick up some degreaser from an auto paint supply store. It's a cleaner that leaves no residue and is not caustic at all. It will take cocobolo dust out of maple pores with ease, which is worlds worse than anything getting into sanding scratches in plastic binding.

Looking good, btw. Very clean work.

peace,

russ

Again, see my first response...

...and on another note, you should really order all of your hardware before starting any builds.

So why not explain the situation, because from what I can tell on your first post, you routed for humbuckers when you should have routed for p90's, but you didn't route anything yet . If you just, in fact, made a template incorrectly, make a new template. That's a no brainer...I think. Not that you'd know this, having never seen a p90 before, but you should be aware that many companies (seymour duncan, kent armstrong,etc) make p90's that fit into a humbucker route. Sometimes they're called p100's. What you really should be doing, if you routed your body incorrectly, is ordering a new body blank. Your customer ordered a new guitar, not a patched up one. Again, I'm not trying to be overtly cold, just realistic.

The top hasn't been routed yet? So what's the problem?

Do you really think you're ready to have "customers" if you didn't realize there was a difference between the shape of a humbucker and p90? I know that sounds cold, but the truth is that that's not a mistake a seasoned builder would make.

P90's are screwed directly to the body. There are 6 polepieces; there are 2 screws that are found between the polepieces that go through the pickup and into the body.

peace,

russ

Thanks guys. There isn't much to the doubleneck; it's just a peavy double cut body style with a 6 string floyd rose and a 12 string hardtail bridge. The finish will just be a flat clear coat. These are all the customer's choices, not mine, of course. That guitar should be done in a matter of weeks. I'm trying to get it out by labor day, so bob can bring it to a show he's playing at. That will probably end up being contingent on whether I get the custom wound pickups from Seymour Duncan on time and whether the custom ATA case gets here on time as well.

peace,

russ