Andyjr1515

The more you bring back to life, the better I like it, @Mr Natural.

Well, @Norris 's build took him two years....so I would say you're racing along I do like that shape, though. Nice design

I also would round the edges - even if a very tight radius as you and @Liquorice suggest. Makes a big difference to the feel, it makes finishing easier (finish hates sharp edges), and it will be much less susceptible to damage. I like the figuring on the neck

Thanks Got the thru-holes done so I could line up things with a couple of strings threaded through. I think ( ) the slightly skewed look of the rings are camera lens bending (they measure correctly to the 22nd fret at least) but the black surround with gold screws have the edge, I think :

By the way - I think you can see the family resemblance!

I'm probably at my final pre-coat. I'll let this harden enough to be able to de-nib / flatten and then wipe on the final coats. This is a decent time, therefore, to do the final build bits that might ding the finish. Today is fitting the bridge. I've still got to drill for the thru-body ferrules before I can string it up to fix the positions of the pickups, but couldn't resist a quick mock-up: When I do the pickup positioning, I will check the look of black pickup rings and gold screws rather than the above (which would be gold rings with black screws) and see what looks best. I suspect the black rings with gold screws might look the classier. Next jobs are bridge ferrules and fret levelling. I will drill the holes for the 3-way and toggles after the final gloss coats to reduce the possibility of dragging the Osmo unevenly across the holes.

With the Switchcraft angled toggle and barrel jack arriving, I now am happy it's going to fit fine. The toggle switch is 21mm (and actually you could grind it down to shallower still) as compared with the short version of the standard toggle being more like 23mm. I'm not a massive fan of barrel jacks but the Switchcraft ones are pretty reliable - and this will be super-accessible if ever it needs replacing In the meantime, I've started the finishing using the Osmo Polyz 3011 Gloss for the body. Whereas I have had great success with the satins and half-matts (and also the whitened RAW), in my first trial a while back I had some issues with the gloss, having a reaction and wrinkling with the second coat. I suspected that it was me rather than the varnish so (probably adding the second coat a little too soon), as this one is for me, thought I'd try it again. I have a low personal tolerance with any 'reactive' finishes, but the potential of the Osmo (especially as Ronseal have changed the formulation of their standard polyurethane varnishing that has made wiping-on problematic) is so great that is is worth persevering. And so far so good. This was the first coat last night: ...and this is the second coat today: Both times just wiped on with a cheapo household micro-fibre cloth. The neck will be finished with the satin version, slurry and buffed I have high hopes

So far so good. Here's the cut, plated and inlayed headstock: Then to the control chamber: Before I start routing out the bottom of a control chamber, I like to drill at least a couple of the pot holes just to give myself a second check of thickness in addition to the rather splendid Crimson caliper measure. The only concessions so far on electrics ref the very thin body is going to a barrel jack and a switchcraft angled toggle three-way. The chamber will be plenty deep enough for the pots and the mini toggles. Both the 3-way and the barrel are on order so I won't drill all the holes until I have them here, but at its most basic, this is what I'll have (conventional 3-way in the photo): Almost certainly, I will add a second volume pot to go: vol; vol; master tone; split neck; split bridge. Looking at this and the specs of the parts on order, it should all fit fine I was happy to drill the holes for the first two pots to give me that extra reference point for thickness before getting out a bearing-bitted router out to deepen the chamber: This leaves me with 3mm at its thinnest and 5mm at its thickest. I could go a touch thinner for most of the area, but I shouldn't need to - so won't until and unless I do need to. And that brings the finished body weight - including the hatch - to just a touch over 4lbs

Love the stickers I use a back-to-front flexi pull saw for easing off double-sided tape...same principle Good to see this is still progressing - more pics; more pics; more pics; more pic !!!!!

Nice progression of skills and results on show and warm welcome to the growing band of builders on this excellent forum I like the look of your latest body very much!

So to the headstock. I will be replicating the headstock from Tim's Alembic-esque build - it is a sister build, after all. First I've added a couple of wings from some neck wood offcut: Then I managed to coax my little bandsaw into cutting some thin slivers off some camphor-laurel offcut - one for the headstock plate and one for the control chamber cover: This is broadly how the finished shape will look: I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder but, to my squiffy eyes, I think it looks quite pretty

That's some very nice timber. Looks like pretty neat jointing too I look forward to seeing this develop.

OK - fully exploiting the thin body profile. Well - one of the niggles I've always had about the two icon models of the Gibson Les Paul and the Fender Stratocaster (and don't get me wrong - I love both of them and believe them to have been utterly inspired and inspiring) is what happens to your fretting thumb when you reach the upper frets. So - heck - at worst I can still use the wood on the BBQ.... This is where I'd got to: The thickness at the heel is still only the same as a Strat neck....without the body attached! But it could and should be better. With 'normal' playing style, your fretting thumb still reaches full body depth before you reach the highest fret. So out came the rasp file: Which, after some careful 'creeping up on it', became this: And - with some lumps and bumps still to sand out becomes this: Functionally, it could go deeper, but from a playing point of view, you now don't feel at all on your thumb that you have reached the heel up to and including the top fret. And, to the traditionalists - well, not too whacky?:

OK - a recap of the objectives of this build (which, because this build is for me, I can try all sorts of things on and not worry too much if they don't work): To try to prove or disprove the appeal, through a concept build, of a guitar design that would appeal particularly to: older players (ie, old arthritic sods like me); younger players; women players Make it lightweight and well balancing. Heavy guitars can be problematic to the above categories of players Keep the overall look and materials traditional enough to nevertheless appeal to at least some of the notoriously conservative 6-string fraternity and to introduce improvements of playability without it being seen as 'whacky'. Make it play and sound like a 'proper' electric Fully exploit the thin body profile - used as a key mechanism to reduce weight - both aesthetically and functionally Well - ref meeting those objectives: Weight. Currently sitting at 4lbs 4oz. Weight to add - headstock wings; pickups; tuners; bridge. Target weight 5 1/4lbs Balance. With the strap button destined to sit between the 12th and 13th fret, unlikely to pose difficulties Overall look. OK - its not a Les Paul or a Strat so will alienate a decent proportion of players. But, personally, I think it does nevertheless look like a guitar Materials. Again, the use of figured woods will alienate a few more. But it is, at least, made out of tree wood. No plastics or composites in the main construction Make it play and sound like a 'proper' guitar. Here, I will lose a few more experienced players. It certainly will SOUND like a proper guitar. But it will be light. And some players - who are used to the weight - like the 'gravitas' provided by that weight. However, I also know personally at least two regular gigging guitarists on the edge of having to give up due to the weight of standard ranges.... Fully exploit the thin body profile aesthetically and functionally - this comes next

Great - that's successfully derailed @Norris's opus magnus. Took 23 pages but there you go. Move along now folks. Nothing to see.

That made me laugh out loud. MrsAndjr1515 probably suspects that I've found a long forgotten Life Insurance policy...

Actually, I've had an electric cello on the go for....hmmmm....5 years? Does that mean I can join the club?

When I build guitars and basses for other people, I get them to send me the profile measurements and shapes for their favourite neck. While every guitar has its own feel, the objective is to at least create a familiarity in the playing of the new one. With my creeping hand arthritis, this is particularly important for this guitar, which is being built for my own use, because I have guitars now that I can no longer play. So out comes my most comfortable neck and my £2 Wilko carpenters profile gauge and a bit of old notepad cover and I have my profile templates : Each to his own, but for neck carving, my preferred tools are spokeshave for rough bulk removal and the humble cabinet scraper for the main carve: You can see the size of the shavings from the spokeshave - brutal stuff. So that really is, for me, just about taking the corners off. Many/most of the experienced builders here already use cabinet scrapers, but if you never have trust me - they are the cheapest and most wonderful discovery to any guitar building enthusiast! But don't take my word for it - just : Buy a set (often just a few £'s /$'s in retail park DIY stores for starters) Learn how to re-burnish them (they will come already burnished for initial use) Try it! They act like a mini plane. These are the type of shavings from this morning: They can remove wood remarkably quickly - but very, very controllably. This avoids every neck-carver's nightmare - taking too much off! You can literally creep up to your target shape and size. Final tool I use, just for the awkward bits round the volute and neck/body join is a fine curved micro-plane blade (mine in UK comes from Axminster). Wearing gloves, I use the microplane two-handed handle-less, a bit like a scraper. This gives me maximum control: I will spend the rest of the day finishing this off, but between washing up the breakfast pots and coffee time - and including re-burnishing the cabinet scrapers - the neck went from a 3-4mm oversize rectangular block to this:

Yes - I'm sure you're right, @Prostheta. I'm comparing it with the maple neck wood on this build which was more into 'rock maple' hardness. And yes - I think maple tends towards the yellow and amber a touch more than the sycamore I was using, although this shot - treated with a couple of trial coats of Tru-oil - sort of belies that (sycamore wings and maple thru-fretboard):

Many, many congratulations, @Norris on your fully deserved win of GOTM ! Winning first go! And only 23 pages of thread and a mere fifteen years to complete it! Outstanding on every level!

I used English Sycamore for the body of my Psilos bass below. The timber I was using was not overly heavy (no heavier than sapele, I would estimate) and nice to work. Very stable and similar to maple but softer. Probably not hard enough for a fretboard but great, in my case, for body and probably would have been OK for neck.

Yup - it should easily meet the sub 5 1/2 lbs finished target I'm looking forward to the finish too. I'm going to have another do with Osmo gloss (had some issues the first time I tried it) However, it should look pretty close to the Alembic-esque recently finished...cut from the same billet:

Frets are in and basic body carve pretty much there. Present weight is 4lbs 10oz Next job is neck carve

Thanks, folks . Means a lot, especially as it's coming from fellow builders I hugely admire

Beautiful - all of it