willliam_q

Yep, that’s definitely purple.  I’ve the crimson stains purple but haven’t tried it yet, looking at the angelus stuff, I might have been better getting some angelus dye as the colour BigD gets is pretty much what I’m after.

relly like the purple and rose, looks like it would be a great colour on that guitar.

Thanks @Bizman62 for the stain advice.  I wonder if I went a bit heavier with steel wool on that particular spot after staining it might lighten it up enough to hide the darker line?

otherwise I might attempt as you mentioned the crayon trick, didn’t know about that one.

Sorted the pickup cavity although I’m not overly enamoured with the results.  it’s not terribly obvious, I have matched the flame, unless looking for it but I’m hoping a dark stain will hide it a bit more.

belly carve done as well.  I can’t see anything but if I concentrate hard I can feel the tiniest of divots in one or two places so will need a tiny bit of refining.  It seems to follow the growth rings/grain so not sure if there’s anything to worry about. 
 

I agree with @Bizman62.  Making a neck isn’t terribly difficult if you keep the first one basic enough and buy a pre slotted fretboard.  Carving the neck is also the most fun part of any build and a very satisfying experience.  It’s also easier than you might first imagine.

theres lots of good resource on youtube to take you step by step and this forum is invaluable for advice.

I agree I’ve used RADs pin method before with good results.  @Lumberjack I don’t know whether your photo just doesn’t show the imperfect alignment but I, personally, would be ecstatic if I got ferrules as good as you have!

Rear round over done and neck heel cut away to make it shallower. 

limba seems to be very prone to splinters.  The router has taken a small chip off the corner, it’s not completely off so I’m able to glue it back in.

I have a lot of hobbies.  I like working on my car, motorbike, fitness, gaming (when I have the time) but out of all I love playing my guitar.  I don’t have time to do everything though so I have to visit my hobbies in periodic stages.  Winter time is guitar building time at the moment.

as a Myers Briggs ISTP personality type, I’m naturally inquisitive and also a ‘fixer’.  It makes me good at my day job in IT, and I seem to need to know how everything works.

I first started looking at project guitar when I was at university probably about 18 years ago,  I built my first guitar a year later over the summer break on a shoestring budget. it was horrible.

so then I built a 4x12 speaker cabinet and then rebuilt an old motorbike.

one winter it was snowing and I was bored so I built another guitar which I still play to this day.

ive only built a few guitars in total but I have built quite a few guitar pedals and used a schematic to build a JCM800 amp with some mods.

now that Ive done the wife and house thing I’ve managed to get back around to building again, partly because several promotions means I’m more desk bound than before so need to get out for fresh air and exercise.  It also helps for stress relief.
 

so that’s how I got into it and why, every now and again, I revisit this hobby.

Hey Mike,  I really like your adjustable planer sled.  It’s seems really great for putting the angles in.  I’m sure the mild steel box means the sled slides a bit easier than if it was all wood/mdf?

the binding jig is cool too, a simpler (and cheaper) version of the Elmers binding jig

Today I set out and drilled for the controls.  There’s going to be 2x volume knobs, a tone control and a 3 way pickup selector.  
 

control cavity routed and recessed for a cover, which I haven’t made yet.  I also routed out for a 9v battery box and squared off the corners with a chisel. Limba isn’t easy worked down across the grain, the fibres seem to be quite long in one  direction so the chisel pulls out strands of the wood when going in a direction it doesn’t like.
 

I wanted to recess the battery box but wasn’t sure how to get the curves just right.  I found that one of the bobbin on my bobbin sander was exactly the same radius as the battery box.  
 

I just pressed a piece of mdf up against it until it created the radius that I wanted.    You can see below how I made up the template.

and the battery box test fitted with a hole drilled to the control cavity for the wire.

I’m actually really happy with the recessed battery box, it seemed to come together really easily with results that I’m very happy with.

Agreed everything looks class on this guitar!! Congrats on sick a lovely build

Getting square flat joints is very tough.  I did my body blank with a Cheap no4 hand plane but I have had a reasonable amount of experience with it and had developed my technique.  I also spent most of a day setting it up so it’s only removing see through thin slices.
 

the method involves constantly using a straight edge along the length ( on the outside edges and middle as well) and Then using a square to ensure you are planing square.  Every couple of passes check everything again and make small adjustments in your technique to correct any imperfections.  

i do think that if you have the experience a hand plane is the best way to do it.  
 

The next best is the other option of a long flat beam with a long strip of sanding belt but you need to ensure you don’t rock your piece while sanding otherwise you’ll be back to square 1.

if power tools aren’t setup correctly (As I’ve so frequently experienced) you can remove way too much way too quickly so I think this is best done by hand. 
 

hope that helps. 

Thanks Scott.

ive already added a wedge to the neck pocket as it was slightly too wide and it’s seamless so if I can do something similar to that I’ll be happy.

Ahhhh sh

see a problem?  I didn’t have the template locked down enough and it moved!!!  I was planning on originally having direct mounted pickups but this might just have scuppered my plans.  
 

I’ll try to fix it but if it can be seen I’ll have to hide it as best as possible with a pickup ring or, whilst I wasn’t planning on a sunburst finish, I could potentially do something with colours to try to hide any repair also.  Really annoyed with myself.

I’ve chiselled it out to relatively straight lines and will have to make a repair patch out of off cuts.  Here’s hoping it turns out ok.

That’s a possibility and some of the Gotoh trems are similar,  but I’m not really looking to make an srv replica. As far as I can remember  He used a left hand fender vintage trem.  I don’t think any of the Strat style trems would alter the tone that much away from what could be dialled in/out with amplifier eq.  I’m more interested in getting something at decent quality for ok price.  
 

the Wilkinson wvs50 as @ADFinlayson suggested is a definite option and one I had in mind before posting this, just wanted to get other perspectives.

Hey Seth, welcome to the forum.  
 

the checks in the wood can be dealt with but As a first build I personally would look for a piece of wood that had no checks.  However I’m not very experienced myself at guitar making so don’t take my word for it.

Ben at crimson guitars is fond of using similar woods with cracks in them, have a look at crimson guitars on YouTube.  He has been known to hold two pieces together with threaded rods!  Also, there are plenty of videos out there where guitars have been made with say skateboard laminates and crayons etc.  These guitars have been flooded with epoxy to make a solid body and perhaps you could do something similar here.

The Gotoh trems do look good and axesrus sell them.  I also like that the Gotoh stuff is available at different price brackets so it relatively accessible to all.  
 

 I’ve used axesrus quite a few times in the past and find them to be competitively priced and have quick delivery.  I got a Gotoh locking nut for my Floyd Rose from them to get me the 16” radius and am happy with the quality of it. 

I just found this Hipshot modern on axesrus, I think it looks real classy, anyone have any experience with these?

https://www.axesrus.co.uk/Hipshot-Contoured-Modern-Tremolo-p/42100vc.htm

also the cheaper Wilkinson trem
https://www.axesrus.co.uk/Wilkinson-VS50MkI-Tremolo-p/vs50mki.htm

Thanks Bizman,  which of those do you tend to use?  Do you have a particular model that you go for?

I remember some time ago seeing a video, I think from one of the guys on That Pedal Show.  He swapped out his fender trem with a Callaham and didn’t really notice any difference.

I’m already planning my next project and not even finished the current one.  It’s going to be a straightforward build, I need a Strat for trying to play SRV so will be making a very straight-down-the-line solid colour Strat with either a one piece maple neck or a maple/rosewood neck.

I haven’t yet decided on a vintage 6 screw trem or a 2 post style Trem.  i notice, like other bridges, there are a lot of expensive options such as the Fender own brand and the Callaham bridges.

Are these worth the outlay or is the Wilkinson wvs 50 equally as good?  Any particular recommendations?  What do you guys tend to go for when building Strats?

thanks

Looking great so far, I’m looking forward to seeing the staining stages as I’m close to this step myself.  Will definitely be following your method of lacquering the edges first.

Ive no idea what an RD artist replica is...but welcome to the forum!

Thanks Curtisa, the templates did work very well, although the user could do with a bit more experience!

I think I’ll leave it more or less as is but might tidy up the leading edge to make it seem like a bit less of a lean, only issue is I’m not too happy with the gap between the Floyd and the recess edge...I’d have liked a tighter fit but will chalk this one down to experience.

im still very happy with how things are turning out overall 

Thanks yep Floyd sits good as is, i think I’ll just even out the leading edge of the recess and leave it at that.  It’s definitely  a learning experience and I just hope I can build more guitars to get better at it, although the wife is now preggers with our first so might only get one more guitar built before time is no longer my own!

Routed out the Floyd cavities but I’m not particularly happy with my work.  I should have checked my templates better.  
 

the main Floyd recess leading edge is off by 1mm.  Not so bad on its own but one of my posts is 1mm or so out so both together compound the issue.  I think the post was drilled wrong as the drill press table was mucking about.  I’ve tightened it up now but should have done it before working on it!

so I think ill have to tidy up the leading edge but I wonder if I should dowel the post and re drill?

Neck fitted, but will need the rear of the body heel cut down a bit, I don’t like thick heels. 
 

also about 4-5 hours worth of template making to make up the Floyd Rose template system which will allow me to do all the Floyd Rose routs. 
 

thanks to this forum for the plans for these in the articles section... can’t remember who published them but they should come in very handy.