JGTay

A few more updates from yesterday and today. Decided to sort out the gap around the back plate for the three way switch access, may do the other when I get a minute, but that one isn't as bad. Put a couple of wraps of cling film around the panel to stop the filler sticking to it and then set about filling the gap. Left it for a few hours to dry out fully, then sanded it back, cleaned up the area and then went over it with a thin layer of super glue to give it more strength. Once the glue had dried tested the plate back in place Then painted the filler black, sanded smooth and another coat of super glue Back in with the plate. Not overly convinced yet with the result, but it definitely looks a lot better than it did. Back to the neck. Buffed up the frets and did some tidy up of the fret board. Three coats of oil on the headstock completed, also made a truss rod cover with a magnet holding it in place and put the tuners back on. Ready to go back on the body...

Whenever I look through your build projects I just keep thinking 'when I grow up I want to be as talented as Scott...' but I am only 14 years your junior and the skills you have are a lifetime away from me. Absolutely amazing work.

Just measured now, it is just under 1mm added where the tuners go. I left it a bit thicker closer to the nut so that it would hold the nut it place without the need for glue. The nut slides in nicely with a small amount of pressure.

Will need to make a truss rod cover next. Just need to check string clearance once the oiling has been done.

Thanks Bizman, it came out exactly as I had imagined it. Didn't want the maple totally hidden as I think it has a nice contrast to the oak.

Thanks Scott. I had that thought myself and checked before oiling, plenty of room thankfully.

Pics from yesterday and today. Selected an offcut of the oak and set about cutting a thin slice off the top with a block to help guide the saw. near enough level cut all the way down Then cut through from the top And set about levelling it off... Once it was level and smoothed off it was to the gluing and clamping stage. Yesterdays progress complete. This morning it was off with the clamps and started shaping and sanding. Put an old nut in to protect the fret board. Sanded to 2500 grit, will see how it is after the first coat of oil has dried. First coat of oil and nut back in place to make sure it fits, nice and tight. Will need at least another couple of coats, but very happy with how it looks.

Thanks for the comments, very much appreciated. Having thought I was close to being finished, someone mentioned on another forum that an oak veneer on the headstock would really finish it off well. It had been in my thoughts previously, but having never done a veneer before I dismissed it. So I have set about giving it a go... Will see how it goes

First thing off the list today, saddle earthed and bridge on posts. Bit of tidying to be done around the saddle where the glue squeezed out. Wired up the 3 way switch and screwed down the tailpiece. Then strap locks screwed in place. In the house for some daylight pics. Tested in an amp, it's alive!! Still need to sort out the action, put a truss rod cover on it, snip the strings, general tidy up and polish. Just glad it works, the saddle is a success. The intonation seems to be correct, at least to me...

Yeah, tell me about it, had to sharpen my tools constantly

Should be fine, I left a bit more meat in that area when doing the carving as I knew it would need the extra strength, but it will still have some blocks underneath as well

Is that why you were worried about the bridge supports? The tailpiece will be screwed in place to some blocks underneath, should be enough strength and then if I decide to change things I can drill for posts and use some standard hardware.

Yesterdays updates, didn't leave my shed/workshop until 23:30 so didn't get a chance to upload anything last night. Cleaned up the edges of the jack plate cut out and a coat of oil. Then started sorting out the shielding, only had enough copper tape for the area around the pots, but had a good roll of aluminium tape to do the rest. Afterthoughts were that I should have done this bit before gluing the top and bottom together... Also put the jack back in place. Next came the wiring, probably not the neatest job, but good enough. Did some creative work on keeping the wiring from moving, don't want them showing through the f-holes Put some knobs in place and tested out the look with everything lined up (must glue in those ferrules and the saddle...)

Had a busy day yesterday, not much time to do any work. The only thing I managed to get done was the sinking of the jack plate. Still needs tidying up a bit around the edges and I also want to oil the cut outs

Thanks @Bizman62 I will have a go at flattening the base of the saddle and groove in a bit before I glue it in place. The oak top is very strong, tested yesterday by accidentally sitting on it, had put it on my chair in the workshop while clearing off my bench... Thankfully no damage anywhere, so hopefully installing wooden posts below will give it enough support.

This had been in my thoughts already and I was thinking of putting in some wooden posts underneath with a nut embed in the tops for the thread of the posts to screw into.

It is only a shallow groove, but yes, hopefully it should be enough to hold it in position with a bit of superglue, if needed I could make the groove a bit deeper as I have shaped the bridge to give extra clearance for the strings. All suggestions and help are greatly appreciated, I only have minimal knowledge on setups and different methods. It is all a learning process for me.

Thanks Bizman, the bridge will end up on posts so that it can be adjusted to suit the action, so the gluing side will be done away from the body. Haven't got any titebond, have been using gorilla glue for all the joints so far, but not sure that will work out for the saddle. Will definitely scrape out the oil from the groove beforehand to give it the best adhesion possible.

Thanks Andy, much appreciated. I have been following your build threads with extreme interest, some very nice work there. The Yew guitar is looking amazing.

Sorry, just noticed I managed to somehow do a double post of one of the sections, no idea how...

Thanks Bizman. There was a slight bubbling in the bottom section, but it didn't go all the way through, so a bit of filler over it sorted it out.

As I say, sorry for posting so much in one go, but wanted to get up to date with it and hopefully help you see how insane I am doing this build

Oiled the bridge and tailpiece Wednesday afternoon and another coat later that night. Still need to glue the saddle in place, but haven't decided which glue to use yet. Need to make sure it is strong enough. Yesterday I decided to strip down my first full build from scratch guitar so that I can use some of the parts. I had been quite proud of this guitar at first, but it has been hung up on display for a long time and all the mistakes I had made on it kept jumping out at me, plus I had made the body out of Paulownia wood, which is too light and easy to mark, the neck is maple and was too heavy for the body, causing really bad neck dive. I may revisit it at some point and try to rectify all the problems. But that is for another day... Donor guitar - Needs must and so it has been stripped down, first thing in is the Wilkinson Zebra pickups. Cut the pickup slots to suit and tested in place. Next on the list is cleaning up the awful soldering and wiring I did on the green machine ready for transplant into this. Have also ordered some bits from Northwest Guitars, which should hopefully land on the doormat in the next couple of days. Last job yesterday was cutting the hole for the jack, tested with the plate but need to cut around it yet and sink it into the body which will be first job today when I get some time.

Time to test it all in place Still need to glue the string ferrules and saddle in place, but wanted to oil the bridge first and the tailpiece needed another coat as well.

Cut the saddle down to size Testing the cut saddle, will earth it via the bass side, looks about right