Ethereal Guitars

Great advice Bizman and Mister and great tips about the pilot hole method as the starting point for the long drill journey. I've come up with a strategy of routing a channel in each edge of the body (join edges) before joining (set neck, 2 piece body build). I will then drill the required holes from the channel BEFORE glueing the body up. Control Cavity covers for the main CC and toggle switch. This will take some accurate measurements and will still require some long drilling but I think I'll have a better chance of getting it spot on with this approach. It's also an insurance policy - if I screw up the long drill I won't have too much invested! I'll certainly read up on a few PG threads for some more tips. Again, thanks!!!

Really appreciate the reply, thank you! Yes I am using the Electric Herald plan but it doesn't show how the wiring channels are to be established. I have used the "long" drill bit method before on an SG but it drifted and nearly came through the top! I was hoping there was some other trick to how this is done but again, thank you!

I am looking to build a Firebird Studio design and I'm a little stumped as to how to do the wiring channels. I would assume the toggle switch cavity falls under the pickguard which makes sense but how would you run a channel for the ground wire or to get the pup wires and toggle switch wires into the control cavity? This query applies to a range of guitar designs with no top - I would really appreciate any insights or ideas.

Wow! Really appreciate you taking the time to post this. The thinner the beam the better so it looks like you have a great piece of equipment there. What make/brand etc is the thin one? Mine is definitely the thicker one. Having said that - the result I achieved by eyeballing the centre of the 3mm beam has given me as close to a perfect neck alignment as I could hope for. This technology is absolutely the way to go for me.

Hey thanks heaps! I've been through 5 workshops in the past 7 years or so due to moving house too many times. My last setup was in an open carport with tarps set up as windbreaks! The things we do to build guitars. Actually, the carport setup literally stopped me building due to 3 warped necks - all with incurable upbow. I vowed and declared after that disappointment that I wouldn't build again until I had a proper humidity controlled environment. Wood is hard enough to tame without adding wild humidity fluctuations into the mix - so far so good in the new workshop. First neck is dead flat at zero truss rod tension . Glad to be in a "forever" home now so the workshop is set up and it's not going anywhere!

Thanks for the extra info. My laser projects a line that is around 3mm thick so I just eyeballed to centre my centreline within the 3mm if that makes sense. It would be amazing to get a 1mm sharp laser line. Having said that, I don't know much about lasers and from what Prostheta suggested - a thin line might burn a hole straight through the guitar! Or me

Do you mind me asking what brand, model your laser is? The choice of lasers on the market is off the charts but finding the ones that just cast a simple line seems to be pretty hard in Australia. Thin line would be a dream!

I found it pretty hard to find a decent laser level that could do this job but I have been able to make do. It casts a fairly thick line - maybe 3mm thick so I just centred it/eyeball and did some double check alternate measurements to make sure I was on target before routing. Bridge for this guitar will be a Gotoh TOM with string through ferrules.

I've never gotten around to making a neck pocket routing jig before but I've managed to put this one together. It worked out really well and the alignment is bang on perfect with a lot less mucking around than with rulers and string lines as I've done in the past. The laser is a pretty cool way to get things lined up, not foolprooof by any stretch but a useful tool for sure.

No bad bones here - long live every guitar builder . I've made some progress with the neck over the past week. I have used some ultra thin plumbers tape for the LMI truss rod as I had a bad rattling experience with one several years ago. Fretboard is on and I have used a 2mm Blackwood headstock veneer to match with the body. I'm running with an 11 degree headstock angle. Next job will be to install the abalone diamond fret inlays.

So sorry to hear of your loss. This is an amazing guitar you are building here and thanks for sharing the journey.

Hi Perry. I registered my business name Ethereal Guitars in Victoria on the 1st May 2007. The etherIal business name to my understanding came along well and truly after mine hence their need to misspell the name. I have no intention or desire to change my business name.

Thanks mate. Yep not too over the top which I find appeals to more people - not quite so individualised. Oz Tradie is alive, well and smiling :-).

Some progress this weekend on The Oracle. Blackwood top has been glued to the body and flush routed. I've started using a Scheppach Table Router for a lot of my routing work and it's working out great. Dust extraction fence makes for clean work and the setup overall is pretty impressive. These routers are cheap too - might not last for years depending on workload of course but right now it's a winner! I've also routed the toggle switch cavity and the cavity plate recesses - plates are done too with just a fraction still to remove so not such a tight fit.

That fretboard looks amazing! Great work