Stu.

On 08/02/2018 at 1:48 AM, beltjones said:

So the Gotoh has an adjustment range of .3" to .5". 

I still haven't decided on whether to build an angle into the neck / body. I don't think it's necessary for this bridge and this build, but if I were using a different bridge it certainly would be. 

Is that the Gotoh GTC102? I've used that bridge twice. I went with zero neck angle and had the fingerboard on a ~3mm shelf above the body top. I'm not sure if that information is helpful, but it's free

On 19/01/2018 at 8:49 AM, Norris said:

Carry on. I'm seriously considering getting one

Amazon (UK) have the RT0700CX4 for £109 at the moment - that includes the bearing guide. Seriously tempting if I had any money!

If you're seriously in the market, check out the Katsu trimmer on Amazon: Katsu!

I think router digs are just part of the build process! It wouldn't be guitar work without one

A wide bevel will look ace across the forearm area! I know I'm super late to the party here. Will the body be laminated vertically? The way that's done on Kiesel and other builds is stunning.

PS. Have you considered getting it laser cut into acrylic? I had it done for one of my builds ages ago; it wasn't actually as expensive as I expected and the templates saved me a lot of pain; I think the massive set was £55 ish, and I recently had a quote for ~£30 for another.

I have to admit that I don't quite understand the process behind this build, but I'm fascinated all the same. It's always cool to see something unconventional emerging.

It looks like you'e done a great job of saving the chip! I can't wait to see this oiled and polished up to your usual standard.

On 26/01/2018 at 2:49 PM, ScottR said:

That's an impressive assembly of parts.

SR

I'm trying my best not to ruin them!

PS. I wanted to roll with "that's what SHE said", but I shouldn't embarrass myself.

On 26/01/2018 at 3:52 PM, Pariahrob said:

This is going to be a pretty V! What finish are you going for?

Fingers crossed! I'm going to test a piece of scrap with grain filler and clear coat only. If it doesn't have enough warmth to it, I'll consider a light amber stain. It's too pretty to cover though!

Here's progress from the weekend:

  Untitled by S K, on Flickr :   Untitled by S K, on   Untitled by S K, on Flickr   Untitled by S K, on Flickr   Untitled by S K, on Flickr   Untitled by S K, on Flickr   Untitled by S K, on Flickr   Untitled by S K, on Flickr   

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

 

I'm looking to improve repeatability of my methods with a few more jigs this time around. Winging it has been pretty stressful in the past, and I can do better. I've also been scouring eBay for secondhand no.5 planes!

The clamps came off last weekend and I assembled the blanks, after a little sanding:

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr Back:

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr All of the wood stock ready for cutting:

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

The join is much tighter and cleaner than I was expecting.

Last weekend was also made interesting by my bench planer. It was starting to smell funny, kept cutting out, and the knives were slightly high at one end. I spent the weekend stripping it apart, so I could drill the knife retention bolts out and adjust everything - the hex heads were shafted. It turns out the motor brushes were also in a pretty bad state; one was just worn, but the other had snapped off and melted somewhere. Hence the lovely smell!

I bought one of these a couple of weeks back too:

The plan is to use it for lighter routing tasks, because my 2kW Trend can be overkill.

Super neat work as usual! I'm enjoying the step-by-step presentation too. It's always nice to see the method!

That wenge neck is lovely! Did you enjoy all of the splinters whilst you worked with it? I swear that wenge twists and moves whilst you shape it too!!

On 09/01/2018 at 7:13 PM, pan_kara said:

ah a wedge, never though of that. Would work for the outer bits indeed. Aren't the chamfers simply 45 degrees? So a normal chamfer cutter would work (though might not be long enough). The back side is going to be tricky. Looking forward to seeing how you tackle that!

I'm honestly not sure My Rhoads and Alexi models look like they're 45°, but the Ran looks a looks a low shallower. Hopefully I figure that bit out well before I come to it!

I did a lot of planing and glued a few things this weekend. The neck lamination has turned out really well, but I'm worried about how the body will be once I take the clamps off. Also, my bench planer has stopped working! It may have just got clogged with wood dust and overheated, so fingers crossed...

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr And the glue goes on:

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

On 08/01/2018 at 8:49 AM, Andyjr1515 said:

That's some very nice timber.  Looks like pretty neat jointing too

I look forward to seeing this develop.

22 hours ago, ScottR said:

This is going to be wicked!

SR

4 hours ago, pan_kara said:

I'm liking this idea and wood combinations. Do you have a plan for dealing with the tapering body chamfers?

Thank you, guys! I think I'll just take it very slow with a Shinto, other rasps, and sanding. Securing a wedge to the wing edge and running a guided chamfer cutter along would work, but I can't imagine I'd find a cutter with the right angle and proportions for that. Cross everything!

1 hour ago, killemall8 said:

That is a great looking V Design. where did you get the black limba?

I wish I could take full credit for it! I wanted something in the Ran InVader (the Jeff Waters signature model), King V or Mustaine V territory, but with a body size and bridge position that are better suited to someone short, like me. The limba was actually a chance eBay purchase; I think it was cheaper than usual, because it's a mess of black and white.

I like how you flipped attention/contrast from the wenge to the maple with the stain. Very classy indeed!

Whilst I'm waiting for the purple oddity to cure, I figured I might as well get started on this one. I bought the wood for my birthday, back in July, so it's about time I did something. It'll make good use of a lot of hardware I've had hanging around too.

The drawings look a little like this:

Plan by S K, on Flickr

The shape is slightly too wide for my body slabs, which forced me to bulk out the centre with black limba, walnut and maple veneer. The neck is composed of black limba, wenge and maple veneer - the maple veneer wasn't long enough to make a complete neck blanks, so I've made a separate section for the scarf/headstock.

The neck laminates are glued and clamped at the moment, and I did lots of prep this weekend. Hopefully next weekend will see more glue action

Oh, and I treated myself to a tiny bandsaw on Christmas Eve (I think it's the cheapest one in the UK at the moment). It's a Titan thing from ScrewFix, which has been amazing so far. I gave it a decent set-up and it's exceeding my modest expectations.

Wood stock:

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Centre block:

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Body wood:

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Neck wood:

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Bookmatched headstock faceplate:

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

I haven't felt like there's been much to report on this one for a while. The clear was going on fine, but it just wasn't curing in the cold weather. Even with keeping the guitar at room temperature prior to spraying, and waiting before using a heat lamp, the solvents weren't evaporating well before skinning over. I had to leave the most recent coat inside for a couple of weeks - it left a slightly soft finish and solvent pops galore, but it was firm enough for wet sanding. I cut it back and now it's hardening very nicely. I won't attempt any more spraying until the weather improves; I'm even considering getting a local spray shop to do it.

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

I just wanted to break the top clear, because it would never have cured.

I swear that watching these builds develop is making the decisions even harder! All of the builds offer something very unique:

@Andyjr1515 has some classy wood choices, especially with the slice of wenge under the burl, and the purpleheart works perfectly with maple.

@Norris managed to pull-off a pretty ambitious aesthetic for a first build. The subtle top carve and scoops make for an intrestesting twist on the Tele formula. It's awesome when a Tele is built to be more than just a workhorse, and there's a hell of a lot going on to be proud of for a first build.

@pan_kara 's Strat is great to see finished, after a few bumps in the road. The fanned fret set-up was brave enough (I'm so glad you angled the headstock to match the nut), before you consider the major surgery to bring the whole thing back to life! The swirl looks fantastic too, and using a limited colour palette keeps it from looking busy or confused.

@Technology4Musicians has some serious innovation on show. The design and hardware are incredibly elegant; it's great to see how the guitar evolved from your previous headless model. I'm also a fan of the bright, clean wood choices.

I had to roll with my gut on this one. Not very scientific at all...

Jeez, those wood selections are awesome!

On 08/12/2017 at 3:31 PM, ScottR said:

I feel so dirty...

SR

Just don't go mentioning CNC next!

1 hour ago, ScottR said:

I actually wasn't dropping hints...but I really like the new version. Much more pop!

SR

Maybe it was just my paranoia, because I didn't like the initial result I actually did some Googling and ended up reading a PG article about it! I don't have the facilities to make tinted clear, so I followed the article.

What a stellar result! The shimmer on the zebrano really steals the show.

So, is it too early to ask what's next?!

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

I started on the clear coat too; I managed to get four coats on at the weekend. My technique isn't great, so I'm going to have a lot of runs to sand out when it eventually cures. I don't mind though!

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Thank you for checking in, chaps! Hopefully the finished guitar won't look out of place on PG!

This is an absolute beauty!

Work has been crazy and I've been focusing on race training recently, so I didn't have chance for guitar things until last weekend. I did a few things, mainly inolving making the neck profile playable; I had to trim a lot of meat off and level it out. Of course I didn't take any photos of the finished neck, because I'm an idiot.

Untitled by S K, on Flickr Black base stain:

Untitled by S K, on Flickr Sanded back:

Untitled by S K, on Flickr And PURPLE added:

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Untitled by S K, on Flickr

Hopefully I can finish staining the back and get some grain filling/sanding sealer work done next weekend. I need to figure out clear options too - I have a few cans of 2K spray, but I'm scared of that... even with a decent respirator, goggles and a Tyvek suit.

PS. I might actually get this finished soon! The 2016 thread can retire.

Do you chaps have any experience mixing the glow in the dark pigments with casting resins?

Nice work on the SG! I was curious to see how you'd approach the neck tenon; the standard Gibson setup seems like a colossal faff!