SIMpleONe89

More progress. Managed to route the body to shape and cut out the maple top. I left a lot of meat for the top because I want to make sure it doesn't slide off centre like last time. I'll be using alignment screws, one in the neck pocket and one in the tremolo cavity. I'm still thinking if I should route the channels for the pickup wires. I'm still thinking if I should do a 22 or 24 fret neck and I haven't received my truss rod yet so the neck has to wait. Meanwhile, I've let the top rest after cutting it. And I'll get more clamps so I won't get an ugly glue line.

Thanks Pros! I'm limited by the tools I have. I don't have a bandsaw and I won't be able to invest in one due so cutting out the profiles with a jigsaw and sanding/routing to shape sounds like the most feasible option.

Wow that's a huge price for the Liogier! I only paid $26 for my shinto... Haha. Then again I dont use my tools very often... And Andy don't quote me on that!

Lookin good! Are the tapes on the fretboard the design for the inlays? Haha.

That top is stunning! I also don't have the desire to do fret works ever.. Haha

Haha your friends are clearly celebrating your guitar build! What saw is that for the fret slots? Looks like a Japanese saw.

You have to get it. It's a must not a maybe! I use it very often and it's probably the best hand tool I have. That being said I don't have many tools but this rasp takes away material very quickly.

Thanks Scott that helps. I'm pretty nervous about it and still think if I should do it...

Also with regards to the forearm contour, can anyone care to share their way of doing it or is my idea pretty much what most people do with a 7mm top? And should I route the final body shape before gluing the top or glue the rough shape and route later on? The reasons for the latter, which I can think of, would be to make sure any glue is removed from the routing process and to have more surface area for the glue, but I guess it's easier to route the body first and use a flush trim bit to route the top after glue up.

This is the Fijian Mahogany blank after rough cutting with the jigsaw. Apparently Fijian Mahogany comes from the line of Honduras mahogany. They took those trees and planted them in Fiji. It smells like barbecue sauce when I cut it...yumm... Once again it took quite a while because I'm using a jigsaw. I also made an effort to stay clear of the line because the blade might bend at the bottom. Then I used my Shinto rasp to get closer to the line. And since I don't have a thickness sander, I used a large sanding block to flatten the faces. I normally would prefer to build the neck first, but I'm still waiting to order my truss rod. I guess it doesn't matter which one you build first but you need to have the neck on hand before you route the body cavities and neck pocket.

It's been a while since I finished my first scratch build. It was a success for a first timer like me. I didn't have any major issues with it, thankfully, but only had some areas where I could improve. And of course I learned from some mistakes and hopefully not repeat them again. Since I spent a lot of time making my templates, I decided to build another super strat, this time with a killer 4A flamed maple top. I have hardware left over from the first build because I initially wanted to use chrome hardware but switched to black hardware to match the zebrano. I intend to do a hand-rubbed burst and I'm still contemplating if I should do something like Suhr's Bengal Burst or a lighter honey burst or maybe a cherry burst. Even with the Bengal Bursts there are variations. Lighter bengal burst. Once again, I have limited tools (jigsaw, router, drill and random orbital sander) but slightly more time and patience, so hopefully the end result will still be awesome. The materials are: -AAAA flamed maple top (from StewMac, Beautiful piece!) -Fijian Mahogany body -flamed maple neck (flat saw unfortunately) -pre-slotted 12" ebony board - might as well pay a few more bucks for them to do it perfectly for me. I drew the outline and that's for a 22 fret. The neck humbucker definitely has to change if I decide to do a 24 fret. I'll discuss the hardware later on as I haven't decided what pickups to get. So currently the plan is to do either a 22 or 24 fret, with 2 humbuckers and a 5 way super switch which allows for selecting the inner and outer coils in the 2 and 4 positions. I may do a 24 fret because the neck will sound different and I don't have many 24 fret guitars . I also want to attempt to do a forearm contour, so that means I'll have to bend the 7mm drop top. I've been doing some research and the best way would be to route parallel relief holes in the top and went the top and gradually clamp a bend into it. Hopefully this method will work and I'll get an invisible glue line, something I didn't get for my first build.

Great idea for the belly contour. Hope to see more soon!

Your work is amazing!

Haha I'm the other way round. A guitar player who's sourcing bass parts for my next project. I didn't know bass hardware is so much more expensive!

Nice! Looking forward to it!

Mmm chocolate croissants... Ah ok hopefully when my wenge top arrives it won't be hard to work with. I do like quarter sawn for the necks. They have a nice, straight appearance. Thanks for the input guys! Also I've not seen anyone do this but what do you think of grain filling wenge with a light grain filler? Imagine the contrast!

Looks good! Are those Wilkinson pickups? I have a set of them in one of my project strats and they sound good!

Hey knightro how's wenge in terms of workability? I heard it's hard to work with and you often get splinters which can easily become septic. Besides the unfortunate incidents with your necks how do you find wenge?

Looking really good! I love the back. A pity about the ash top but you definitely managed to hide it real well! Start on the next one while waiting for it to cure! Haha I hate waiting for lacquer to cure. Patience...

Ah that would make more sense for binding! Thanks! Not having the right tools was harder but the end product was worth it!

I also managed to record a bit of a demo of this guitar and I'm very pleased with how she sounds. The Tonerider AC2 pickups are fantastic for the price. The Kent Armstrong is less impressive but maybe because I put it in the middle position. Clean: Overdrive: Distortion:

Ah ok! Thanks for that I might try that on my fretboard and hopefully get good equal clamping pressure.

Wow that looks great! You must be super excited (guitar and child)!

Wow such a great discussion for an amateur builder like me. I also struggled with wanting to use cheap parts but I ended up wasting more money in the end after upgrading them. You get what you pay for and I'd pay for the better quality items that will last.

Oh wow this is very cool how you resurrected that guitar!