HSlash

Yes I was planning to have the pickup sit on the tenon! What do you mean offer up? I was going to use a pickup ring on the final thing

Thank you! Nice to know I'm getting the hang of it haha, I am very excited for build 2 where I can just go wild and not quadruple check each step.

I'll be hammering the frets in 

Onto the next problem to think about - the tenon joint. I have attached an image of my current dimensions, would appreciate if anyone can just skim over it to see if they are sensible (I made them myself, no template). 

Thanks a lot, that is an excellent explanation

What about fretting the fretboard? Do people do that before gluing on or afterwards?

I'm going to do it after, though I see many do it before... Wonder why

What would I do without you guys! Now thats sorted

Next, I was thinking about gluing the fretboard ontop of the neck blank, then shaping the neck and headstock. However as with all things guitar-related, I have seen mixed opinions about this. Others say finish (fret & inlay etc) the fretboard separately, then glue it on at the end. I can't see whether this would make any difference... Am I missing something?

Another thing people seem passionate about, is covering the truss rod cavity (e.g. with tape or a thin veneer etc). I don't intend on doing either haha

I've made some DIY wood filler with sawdust and wood glue, and it seems to get rid of the rattle when I put the flat side up... So maybe I'll use flat-up after all! 

Thanks everyone! I've dug a little deeper and seems like it shouldn't make any noticable difference. I'll sleep on it but for now, I am quite tempted to just leave it flat side down. I will also go out and grab some silicon tomorrow

Useful, thank you! But would it matter if I had the truss rod with the flat facing down? It seems to be a more snug fit that way, without any rattle. I'll think about access later

Me again! I've started actual work on my materials, and I have a question about the truss rod (its probably stupid)...

I'm using https://www.stewmac.com/Materials_and_Supplies/Truss_Rods/StewMac_Red_Low_Profile_Truss_Rod.html

And I was wondering which way to insert the truss rod? Should the circular bit at the top be facing up towards the fretboard, or facing down away from it? I'm not sure whether it would matter at all, as its dual action.

Also, how long do people usually make the access slot ?

I've attached a picture with it in the upward position

I hear you, I've bought some spare wood and I spent yesterday practising routing the cavities and headstock angles etc

I've also marked up (most of) my real wood now

New Q: pick-up placement
So the neck goes right up against the fretboard, but what about the bridge? Searching online just confused me with harmonic overtones and nodes 

I guess I'm just a little worried about messing it up and the neck being stuck in there... Plus PRS's are usually bolt-on anyways. But you're right, a set neck would be stronger.

How comes you route a pocket, and then fit the neck - rather than the opposite? (make a neck then route the pocket)
Do you have standard neck pocket dimensions you like to use?

Thank you AD, you've been really helpful (your guitar is gorgeous) & thanks SR

I think I've run into a new problem whilst modelling the neck pocket (see image).

I'm not sure I have enough 'bite' in the body to keep it stable with my measurements...
Also, I wanted this to be a bolt-on but I'm not sure theres enough wood either.

The fretboard is 5mm, neck is 18mm and 'stack' of the heel is 12mm. The guitar body is only 44.5mm thick
I haven't yet added the neck angle, but that will be taken out of the pocket, so make it even deeper

Any advice?

Neck angle and tenon tick, headstock angle tick... Thanks a lot for helping me clear these up!

A few more Qs if you don't mind:

Where does a heel usually start on a PRS? and how thick should it be?
- I know it varies and thicker = more stable, but I just want to get a feel for the 'norm'. My current thinking is to start it around the 19th fret (as it joins at start of 23rd) and make it ~20mm (so full thickness, 20 neck, +5 fretboard, + another 20 for stacked heel). This also means my tenon will be 20.

Pickup cavities... I'm still not 100% clear (I've overthought it).
How much do pickups normally 'stick out' the body? I know the bridge is usually much higher, but is this due to cavity depth of just adjustment? Also, do the cavities need to follow the angle of the top for it not to look weird?

Thanks again

14 minutes ago, ADFinlayson said:

I think this pic demonstrates the concept better

Oh that makes perfect sense, the picture really helps! I'll go with the first method to angle the top. Do you prefer to angle your neck pocket/heel/use a shim to get the same neck angle (to make it flush)? I'm just trying to get a feel for the best method

Thanks everyone for the informative replies!

ADFinlayson:
I thought PRS only used a 10 degree angle because they use a tremolo bridge? If anything I'm now thinking to increase the angle to say 12 or so (I have a hardtail bridge) and do a 'cut and flip' technique. But I guess it doesn't matter that much

I'm a little lost when you said bridge + 2mm for fretboard & frets: my bridge is 11mm at its highest point, the fretboard is ~5mm thick, and my frets are ~1mm hammered in (so = 6mm if level with the top). How does that work out? Also its worth mentioning that I have no templates to stick down and I don't have the neck pocket dimensions. This is all going off what I find online! After looking into it, you're right - I need an extra tenon to make the joint stable. Do you recommend any particular measurements on that? From a quick CAD drawing I did, and assuming it joints the body at the start of the 23rd fret, it will overlap by 27mm, 4mm for the pickup ring (black rectangle), 38 for the pickup, another 4... = tenon that is ~73mm into the body? Hopefully thats the right way of thinking about it. Gosh then theres the heel to consider haha

SR & ADFinlayson
Ah I see, thats super interesting... I guess I'll be going with an angle then, would much prefer it to sit flush if I can!

I've also read that:
The depth of the neck pocket depends on the bridge used: when the saddles on the bridge are set to their lowest position the strings should touch the fingerboard. The pocket depth is therefore "thickness of neck plus fingerboard (25mm or 1") minus lowest possible saddle height".
http://buildyourguitar.com/resources/pocket/index.htm

So I guess I'll need to measure the saddle of my gotoh hardtail bridge when it arrives (unless anyone has that handy haha). This method makes sense to me, but I want to be sure of it before progressing with the build - so can somebody also verify?

Sorry for double posting, I'm new here (as you can tell) and still working out how to use these forums

Thanks SR for helping clear a lot of that up!

I think I am good with headstock angle now

I will do more research on neck angle... My bridge is 11mm at its highest point and you mentioned it depends on the fretboard height. If I have a fretboard that is flush with the body, I imagine that will be 5mm (due to the width of the fretboard) - so isn't that quite a large discrepancy?

I understand that that the heel will determine the neck pocket, but as I plan to make the neck from scratch I haven't got any set measurements for either. For simplicity sake, I may go for a fender-style neck and use these dimensions:

Is there any particular reason that there is a 3mm gap between the fretboard and body though? Perhaps its for the truss rod... But mine will be adjustable from the headstock

I already have my pick-ups, but I'm still curious as to what depth to use, aka how much of the pickup should stick up out of the guitar. Also, shouldn't that differ in the neck and bridge positions?

Thanks for your help!!!

Hi everyone, I am planning on building my 1st PRS-style guitar. Aside from its standard shape, its going to be a bit of a Frankenstein:

Body: swamp ash, flat top with bevelled edges and belly/arm grooves (like a Strat)
Template: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d8/eb/11/d8eb11db7cf99a4d81ee42af260219c1.jpg
Neck: TBC (preferably maple, but mahogany is more available where I live), one-piece bolt-on, ~20mm
Fretboard: indian rosewood, 24 frets, 635mm (25") scale length, 43 -> 56 taper, 12 radius, ~5mm (hence entire neck 25mm before sanding down)

Headstock angle: ??? 11 degrees? debating whether to do Gibson-style or Strat-style (parallel to top)
Neck angle: when I insert my specs into https://www.tundraman.com/Guitars/NeckAngle/index.php it gives me an angle of 1.9... But for some reason I thought flat tops and low bridges (see below) did not need a neck angle?
Neck pocket: assuming only 2 frets will overlay the body, it will join at the 22rd fret so I will trace the tapered fretboard from frets 22-24 on the body. However, how deep shall I go? I may go for a Strat-like heel for simplicity
Pick up cavities:  70 x 38mm for both bridge & neck, not sure what depth... Any opinions? 

Truss rod: low-profile 2-way 18-1/8" (Stewmac)
Nut: slotted unbleached bone for Gibson, standard string spread (Stewmac)
Bridge: Gotoh hardtail (GTC-102? Stewmac), ferrules
Electronics: Gibson Classic 57s (with legs), Stewmac standard Les Paul wiring kit

I would appreciate any insight you guys have, especially with regards to the things in bold. I appreciate this is a lot to ask, and so if you've made it this far down - thanks for reading!