lunchie

Yeah not really sure why it looks so big, I basically traced a Strat neck to get the rough cut and then reshaped the headstock to be somewhere between a strat and a tele in shape. Not sure if there is some sort of an illusion going on there or what . It looks fine IRL.

Thank You! Now for another update w/ some small pictures I had some time today so I thought I would get the rough cut on the neck done. I will tell yea, it was a real pita to cut 2" Black Walnut with a jigsaw . But its done, it looks quite rough but I didnt go inside the lines at all! I am thinking I need to get the neck done, or at least shaped right, before I start routing the body. My Router came Saturday! Used but works good, has all the goodies, and came with a bag to boot! It seems like Porter Cable 690 and the Bosch 1618 are the go-to routers but this was a fraction of the price and I have always heard good things about Rigid. My first impressions is that its built like a brick poo house and is heavy, so I don't think its going to be a cheap piece of junk . Also, while Pawn Shoppin' I stumbled upon a really good deal on a Makita Random Orbital Sander with the case so I had to pick it up as well. Even if I already had one, it still would of followed me home. Build On!...

I got the body sanded flat this morning. The grain match is not all that great but I dont think it will matter by the time I have all the stuff on it. For the pickup, I have this Seymour Duncan Duckbuster laying around. I am thinking just the single pickup roughly in the middle position, slanted. Sort of like the Dano U-1's. How complicated I get on the wiring will depended upon how good or bad my routes look lol. If I can get some good clean routes then I plan on no pickguard and a simple volume and tone with maybe a push/pull for coil split. If the routes look horrible and I need to go with a pickguard, then I will probably get creative with slider switches. My goal at this point, (and I have been changing my mind on this build more then my undies) is to not need a pickguard. I am starting to think the weight of this body is not going to be an issue. I also ordered the bridge off of fleabay as well, but a known seller that I have bought a bunch of stuff for in the past. Their stuff is usually surprisingly good for the cash. Once I get it I will give my thoughts on it. I have a used router coming but I am not going to announce an official NRD until I have it in my hands, can look it over and make sure it works. I bought it off of fleabay, it looks real clean, has all the goodies, and the price was right so I thought it was a safe buy. If not it will be a massive headache, but at least I will be able to get my money back... Finally, dad gave me this :mrgreen:. He is an electrician and is always bringing home goodies that were going to end up in the trash. I mentioned that I wanted to build a pup winder and he brought me this. So hopefully in the near future there will be a pickup winder thread. I am certain that it will not be finished in time for this build, but my goal is to be able to wind my pups for the next. I wonder if my wife will realize her sowing machine has disappeared? muhuhaha Until Next Time...

Something interesting, the chunks of Walnut are the same exact thickness as a Squier Affinity neck. I however prefer a chunky neck so I went ahead and glued up two of the boards. I am going to put the trussrod in through the back and use maple for a skunk stripe. Also, in the picture a bottle of glue without a Gorilla on it . I am thinking my first router jig will be for a neck. As of right now, I am not all that concerned with making cookie cutter bodies, but I would prefer to have my necks the same so I know what to expect. I have to do some looking around to find a how-to on building a jig for a neck. If anyone knows of any tutorials, I would be grateful. One last thing, earlier I wrote that the maple on the body was not an even thickness.... Well... It is lol. The picture must be an optical illusion because I measured it tonight and its identical throughout. Thanks for looking!

UPDATE: Where to start... Where to start... How about New Power Tool Day! I got a Makita 1/4 sheet sander, it came with the snazzy case. I realize an RO Sander is probably the better tool for job, I am on the hunt for a good used one or I will probably pick one up before the next build. (yeah, I havent finished my first build yet and and I am already thinking about the next build ). I passed up a Hitatchi RO Sander at a pawn shop yesterday for $22. I went back for it today and it was gone already... The Makita case sitting next to it, I bought to hold my Jigsaw. I have already tried loosing the blades multiple times so I just went ahead and bought a case for it so everything can be kept together. Of course the case cost 2x what the jigsaw cost me . I got the body finished Jigsawed out, it is very rough. By the end of it I was saying all sorts of bad words because I couldn't find a way to properly secure it so it wouldnt vibrate the clamps loose and of course one of the times I got hit right on the top of the foot with one of the clamps . I did finally get it finished and I will be really considering investing in a bandsaw for the next build. Front: Back: Side: I made a bit of a rookie mistake, I didnt think to see if the thickness of the wood was even. I may actually leave it like that to get some extra meat for the neck to bolt to. The body is thicker then the original Tulip guitars but thinner then your typical Tele. The other day I was thinking "what the hell, I'm gonna build a neck". Whats the worst that can happen? I screw it up and I end up buying something anyway. So today I ended up at the lumberyard and bought up a bunch of long, narrow black Walnut. Not sure if black walnut is a typical neck wood but I figure its dense and heavy so why not!? I figure I got enough for 2-3 necks in case I make a mistake. It costs much more to drive the 25 miles to the yard then it does to buy up extra wood. The board on the far right is the one I am hoping will be the end fretboard. It has a stunning grain. This is what I am hoping to make the headstock out of, it is quite stunning as well. I figure I should be able to get a Stratish or Teleish neck out of, maybe even two. Next step, I am going to try and get the top good and flat and try to figure out where to route things per dads advice. That will be the goal for next Saturday along with hitting up the pawn shops and trying to find a good quality, good condition, hopefully inexpensive router. If I have to wait a few weeks and save up for a new one I will. I got enough to keep me busy for a while. I also bought a Muscle Rack which can be made into either a workbench or a shelf. After the trouble I had clamping, I am going to opt for Bench. I will probably do that sometime this week since it will be a relatively quiet job. Until next time...

This is another project that I have going on besides the Tulipcaster, the TeleGWAR. The actual building my father did for me. He and this build is what got the build bug going. I am currently doing the finishing now. I did two coats of Casey Birchwood Sealer and up to 8 or 9 coats of Tru-oil. Not sure how many coats I will end up with, I will just keep going until it looks good.

Good idea, thank you. Probably a couple tarps will do the whole room and the important stuff.

UPDATE: I had a few minutes before work so I started Jigsawing out the body. Of course I started with the hardest part first . But so far the Jigsaw seems to be doing an alright job, I did get inside the lines on one of the tulips but I resketched it so it wont be a big deal. I also took some time after work tonight and got a good start on cleaning up and organizing the mudroom, known from here on out my workshop. Even though all I have is that one back corner because of the Freezer, Washer, Dryer, and a million rubbermaid containers full of babystuff, its my workshop . A couple things that I have decided: I am going to keep it a budget build and use a set of Duncan Design tele pups I have laying around and a strat style neck. That way it will help free up some money on a Spindle Sander, I think I will have a real rough time, no pun intended, without one. Also, since its going to be a heavy body, I am going to go with a swimming pool route as a weight reduction And, I am going to use two on/off slider switches for the pup selection like Teisco use to do. I have not decided on volume and tone though. I am trying to decide what my next step will be. I am thinking routing, that way if I screw it up beyond use, I didnt spend a lot of time doing something else. Does that make sense or am I overlooking something? I get to be superdad during the week, so I wont be able to finish cutting out the body until Saturday. I wouldnt trade it for all the bodies in the world . I will check in and maybe post a few other things I have been working on. I try and do the quiet projects during the week, since I work nights and my wife works days and the baby does her own thing. Like many of you, I always have 1 or 2 or 10 other projects going on at one time.

@ Yetzer - That is a real good idea, I just bought a guitar hand have a nice big box sitting in the mudroom. I will attempt a full mock-up tonight hopefully. @ crazygtr - Thank you for the Welcome @ Robinst - That would of been my first choice, except I never have seen the stuff around here. Now to todays update: Got to the lumber yard and I found some nice 1/4" Walnut that was 39" L x 6" W. I figured that was close enough, my original drawing was 12.5", I can take a bit off of it and it will be fine. As for the idea of the Poplar, well.... I stumbled across a guitar sized slab of soft Maple that was screaming guitar body. My thoughts of a light body went out the window then. Total spent on wood $4.26 . The next step, getting to my work bench . Pretty much ever since the baby was born the mudroom has become a catch-all. I played around with the Walnut and found a combination that looked alright so I glued 'em together. After letting it sit for an hour I very carefully picked it up and put it on the maple slab and glued again. I wish now that I had picked up a couple more clamps, that will be on the list for the next build.

I'm new here and new to guitar building and really new to wood working in general. I have not done a whole lot of woodworking since I was a freshman in High School, and thats been a while now. So, that is why I am here. I am about to start to build my first ever body and starting some build threads around the web hoping to get as many tips and tricks as I can during the build. So yeah, some of you may recognize me and this build from other sites as well. My inspiration to my build is of the old Teisco Del Ray Tulip guitars of the 60s and 70s. I sat down tonight and drew up a rough design. I basically took my Jedson/Teisco guitar and drew an outline of it. I then doodled around with some tulip points and then stuck a strat on top of it and worked on making it so the neck curves are user friendly. When I get up in the morning I am going to take a trip to the lumber yard to see what kind of wood I can find. I am thinking a poplar body with black walnut caps, but you never know what they will have laying around. I may find something different, I may not find anything at all. I am in no hurry so I can wait for the perfect wood to come along. I will post updates as I go, but they will be few and far in between. I have a bunch of other projects going on as well and I am kind of lacking most of the power tools lol. I am going to accumulate them as I need them. My goals for my first build are real basic: 1. End with the same amount of eyes, fingers and limbs 2. End with a body that I can work with. 3. Do the wood working myself, in my own house. My father has a small workshop in his basement but I know if I end up over there, I will end up handing the body over to him from time to time. If I do it here, I am on my own . I am going to focus on the body on this build and everything else will be aftermarket. I want to see how this build will go and maybe the next one I will tackle a neck or pickups or something. I am taking babysteps to try and not get in over my head. Comments/Suggestions/Tips/Tricks/Other are welcome and encouraged. Especially if you see me doing something that is going to screw up my build. I want to do it right the first time.