New member uncloaking. After making some modifications to guitars I own, I'm dipping a first tentative toe into the world of guitar building. I have no experience with or access to big scary tools like bandsaws and routers as yet, so the body and neck are a kit I bought off the internet.
The body is allegedly mahogany, but it's paler and yellower than any mahogany I've ever seen and soft enough to drive screws into without drilling pilot holes. The top veneer is pretty, but about an atom thick. The neck is a glue-in one, and is a nice piece of maple with a scarf joint. The hardware and electronics are cheap rubbish so I've ordered better parts from various sources, including this piezo bridge I'll try and figure out how to wire.
Headstock shaped with a coping saw, a rasp, and plenty of sandpaper.
Neck glued, hardware and electronics added to see how everything lines up. The tailpiece is a Duesenberg Les Trem II - I have one in my Les Paul and I really like it. The neck pickup is a Gibson 61 humbucker. The bridge pickup is a custom-made humbucker-sized P90. Despite the tapered headstock, string pull is not straight, so I've added a String Butler, which has rollers to redirect the strings to the tuners after running straight across the not.
Since that photo I have replaced the cheap black plastic nut with a Graphtexh TUSQ XL one, and discovered that the piezo bridge is way too high. Most tune-o-matic style bridges are recessed on the bottom for the thumb wheels - this one is flat on the bottom, so the whole bridge sits above the thumb wheels, who when I put strings on the strings are horribly high above the fretboard. The bridge that came with the kit is a sensible height. But having gone to the trouble of working out the wiring, drilling some extra holes for the controls, and buying some small knobs so there's room for the extra pot, I'm not ready to give up on my piezo plans. I've found and bought another piezo bridge on eBay that does have the thumb hole recesses and looks like it fits the same posts and is compatible with the preamp I have. All is not lost, just delayed a little.
Planning on finishing with oil, to bring out the grain on the top veneer. Have ordered a bottle from Crimson Guitars but it hasn't arrived yet.