KnightroExpress

Thank you! Back to the neck: I start by cutting the back taper to proper thickness in a little router jig, which gives me a good reference plane to work from. Then, I move on to blending the heel and volute transitions. Finally, I do the traditional faceting/rounding process.

I know the site is in German, but you can just do a text search for 'Jackson' or 'Kelly' and come up with it within a few seconds. I have the site open now, I see three different Kelly drawings.

Check this site, it's probably on there.

A lot of routing done today, this guitar is 4.6lb as it sits right now.

Any time! You could also use smaller T-nuts than I do, that would get you a bit of extra clearance around your truss rod channel. I'm sure you could go as small as 10-32 and still have more than enough force for this application.

Little update for today: got the fretboard trimmed and binding scraped on the ash/walnut guitar.

You're totally right, threaded inserts do have the advantage of being smaller (depending on the size you choose, of course), and therefore easier to find room for and use. Plus, you can retrofit them into the heel of nearly any bolt-on, which is a nice option to have. That said, I prefer T-nuts because I feel that they distribute the clamping load in a better way: over a wide flange rather than relatively narrower threads. When the bolts are tightened in one of these necks, they are pulling on the T-nut and exerting force from the sub-fretboard face of the neck vs pulling on threads that may have a half-inch or less of purchase in the neck heel. I also use 1/4"-20 bolts and matching T-nuts, which are likely entirely overkill for this application. I'd rather have something overly burly and understressed, that way it's never something to worry about. I think of it in the same way as a clamping caul... clamping force is exerted in a roughly 45 degree cone from the point of pressure, so if I can spread that out a bit, I'll have more even pressure throughout the joint. It probably doesn't actually make an appreciable difference in this specific case, but the amateur engineer in my brain likes this method. Hopefully all that makes sense!

Very true! Probably the closest to a legitimate reason I'm likely to think of, haha Today's update: picked out the body, top, and neck for the multiscale 8. It'll be a mahogany core, wenge top, and quartered wenge neck. Back to the chambered ash/walnut guitar, I got to work on the neck. The blank- a nice bit of flame maple with rosewood laminates. Routing the truss rod channel: Marking positions for the T-nuts: Trimming the neck outline. First on the bandsaw, then a bit and guide bushing, and final pass with my trusty mortising bit. Tuner holes drilled ( @Prostheta, please note the decidedly un-exploded headstock ) T-nut recesses drilled, along with little relief holes for the prongs. Then, simply pressed in with a closed chuck. Fretboard glue-up: Finally, added the last bits of binding to the body: This one is currently 3.4lb, I'm pretty confident that it'll be under 3lb once I rout the pickup and control cavities.

Ah, one of my favorite little details! I started the chambers with a mortising bit to get the bulk of removal done, then switched to a bowl and tray bit with a bearing to do the final cleanup passes and leave the radiused walls. I don't think it'll really have any sort of positive effect on the instrument itself, but it makes me feel good to have a nice looking cavity....even if it'll never be seen beyond these pictures.

You're too kind! It's certainly far from perfect, but I appreciate it all the same! It's an experiment in weight reduction, mainly. That swamp ash blank was extremely light when I started, so I wanted to see how far I could take it without doing anything too dramatic. Plus, I think the chambers make for a nice photo!

Thanks guys! OK. So today, I got started on the ash/walnut guitar that I prepped last week. Not a bad day's work, if I do say so myself! I'm hoping to have the body completely routed and the neck ready to carve by the end of Friday, but we'll see what happens. And, to top it all off, I got some boxes! We have here: the world's only (as far as I know anyway) nickel-plated Hipshot multiscale 8 bridge, and a set of Bare Knuckle Nailbombs with ceramic bridge mag and angled baseplates. Take a look at these magnificent bastards:

Cool shape! Reminds me of the Jane model from Relish Guitars.

Building guitars is totally relaxing, despite the tendency to have machines blasting all sorts of noise about.

Haha yeah, I've definitely exploded a few....wenge is an effective (and splintery!) teacher. Learning is what it's all about, man. As long as you're willing to honestly assess things that go wrong for whatever reason, you can figure out a way to improve for the next time you try that task. Like Carl said, there is quite simply a lot of experiential muscle memory that needs to develop when working with routers. You can read all sorts of explanations, tips, and tricks, but at the end of the day, it's something you just have to do to build your skills with it. I tend to think of a router in sort of the same way as a dog with a destructive personality: if you leave opportunity for him to chew something up, he probably will. By minimizing the amount to be routed, you can minimize the potential for problems.

Gotcha! No tearout, the 4-flute bit did a lovely job in both grain orientations I subjected it to. Today I scraped some binding, digging the result. Also, I got a box! I'm going full retro-fantastic on this build. Finally, I prepped a few blanks and tops. Here's the ash from last night, plus its future walnut top.

Ah! Well, none of either, as far as I can tell.

I've noticed this very issue, it drives me crazy.

Thanks guys! Carl, I'm not sure what you mean by 'readout'... Today's update: Started the arm contour on the maple Voyager 7. Since it's such a plain piece of maple, I think I'm going to paint it... what color would you guys like to see? I've got a vision of a nice dark candy purple (think 70's Challenger). I also jointed up a ridiculously light 2pc swamp ash set. It'll be a chambered 6 string with a walnut top.

I added the last bits of binding earlier today, so while the adhesive worked its chemical magic, I decided to test some things out on the maple body I started. Hogging out the control cavity before routing. I didn't take pics of the routing process, as my phone was running through the stereo..... you know, priorities. So this is a new method for me, I wanted to have a really nice counterbored hole for my flush-mount output jacks. I've moved away from the Electrosockets on the Voyager line, as they're just too bulky for the style and feel I want. So, on to the tools! I used a 1/4" bit to make a pilot hole. From there, my counterbores follow that pilot in two stages: 11/16" for the flanged area, followed by 1/2" for the barrel. Everything worked out really nicely, so I think this is what I'll stick with for the time being. And finally, counterboring for the neck screw washers with the same piloting setup and 11/16" bore. I even made a fun little slow motion video. Check it out! So that was a long way to say "I drilled some holes today, guys", but there it is. Thanks for taking a look!

Really nicely done already! I can't wait to see more.

Haha I knew you'd like that pic. I cut the V body in the same fashion as an experiment, i just forgot to take pictures. The bushings are definitely great little things to keep around, I can easily see a few different ways to incorporate them into my workflow.

I wouldn't have checked a brand new bit immediately either...glad you got it figured out though!

I don't have any wenge large enough to do a neck blank, but I'll definitely give that a try for my next bolt-on. Fun stuff today: a bit of binding for this guitar. The top is going to be painted, sides left natural. Also, I started a maple-bodied 7 string.

I'm considering wenge, I really liked the resonant feel it gave to the last guitar. I've still got time to decide, that one's not going to be started for a couple weeks, at the least.

Looks like it'll be really interesting when it's all done!