CC1

Bonjour, I'm back. Meet HEPHAESTUS Type: Telecaster Body Materials: Solid Ash (Live Edge), Steel, Bismuth, Epoxy Resin Neck: Maple + Rosewood (pre-fab) SL: 25" Weight: A lot (haven't checked, but it's heavier than a Gretsch Parts: Rejected Korean Factory Bigsby, Wilkinson Roller TuneOMatic Bridge, Wilkinson Locking Machine Heads, CTS 500k Pots, 3-way Switch, Irongear 'Blues Engine' Twin-Humbuckers (series), Treble Bleed Mod (Bridge only) Hephaestus, the Greek God of fire and blacksmithing, was the inspiration and namesake for an idea I had about 6 months ago. I actually started a thread here for the build, but got distracted as I have entered this guitar into the 'Kit Build' of the "Great Guitar Build Off 2021"! (and updating both journals was really hard! The full progress was documented on my new YouTube channel here:

My final allowed resubmission, since December and January's were both outstanding worthy winners Name: Yeti Type: Custom Precision-Bass Body: Live edge English Ash, Epoxy Neck: Canadian Maple (scorched, engraved), Rosewood Fretboard Scale: 32" Components Pickups: Fender Vintage P-Bass Pickups (Passive) Bridge: Hipshot 'Kickass' 4-String Machine Heads: Gotoh GB707's Pots: CTS 250k Log and Linear Other Snaplock Strap locks Custom CnC Pickup Ring Custom Black Anodised Aluminium Truss Cover Custom Black Anodised Aluminium Neck Plate Build#: First ever build Experience: Floating shelves, basic DIY joinery Cost: Don't-Tell-The-Wife territory. Made at home in the garden and the spare room (thanks Covid...), as a 'thank you for being you' gift for a close friend and bandmate (nickname 'The Yeti') who has had a challenging year. Story/Process I began with a lot of research (how I found this site!) and watching things like Crimson Guitars on YouTube. I had been playing around with the idea of doing a River Table, but thought a similar effect on a guitar would be cool. Most other 'River Guitars' I saw were true 'River' style - with the Epoxy through the middle. Doing an epoxy edge instead of river-core had the bonus effect of looking cool and unique, whilst maintaining the structure and sound quality of the tonewood Ash. I found a waney-edge lumber yard about an hour's drive away. I walked out with 5m of rare English Ash (his words, not mine, something about a disease wiping the species out?) and some sequoia I'll use at a later date. Sourced the Epoxy (deep pour variety) from a company in Stoke-on-Trent. Components were a mixture of Guitar shops around Europe/UK + eBay. Custom Aluminium parts were made by a guy in his workshop in Pennsylvania (he was really hard to find). I didn't want to make him a Bass that looked great but had bog-standard cheap parts in it, so wherever possible or relevant, I forked out the extra cash and got something middle to top-of-the-range. This all began in September, juggling WFH with a toddler and typical British weather. The 'Indian-Summer' helped with all the hand-planing and sanding I had to do, as I obviously couldn't do all that indoors. Being my first build, I wasn't brave enough to tackle the neck (lot of specialist tools required for that as well), so I sourced a quality one and customised it by burning it with a torch and making a logo I then engraved into the head (as well as into the Truss Rod Cover and Neck Plate) The rough timber was hand planed, then a piece selected and a rough shape cut out. I did a 1st epoxy pour (blood red), and drilled in some secret long holes for the epoxy to go into the body of the guitar to give it a strong mechanical hold rather than just gripping the edge/bark. After this I cut it to rough shape, leaving space for the 2nd (Clear) pour for the top horn (again, secret 'foundation columns' drilled in). Then the final outline was cut out, and a 3rd Pour done to fill some natural splits and knot holes in the wood. I could then begin planing the edges into a gentle sloped profile (I don't like guitar that are too 'blocky', whilst keeping a 1-3/4" thickness through the middle. One thing I learned, is that before doing this, you should definitely cut out your cavities and pot holes first. It was fine, but made a simple job later on much more difficult. Once this was all done and the pickup and jack holes routed as well as the neck pocket, the whole thing was sanded to 5000 grit to keep consistency between the epoxy and the wood. I then followed Andy's guide on wipe-on-poly process for those who don't have a workshop, here: https://www.projectguitar.com/tutorials/finishingrefinishing/bedroom-builders-wipe-on-varnishing-r67/ . I finished with some Automotive fine polish applied by hand (as per the guide). The fully shielded cavity's cover was cut by hand from a piece of perspex I got off Amazon. The action and everything about it came out perfectly, to the 10th of a degree - so absolutely stoked about that. Two minor problems persisted: One of the knobs doesn't sit perfectly centrally in its pocket (pot alignment issue) by about 1mm. This will wear itself a smooth hole with very little use so I'm not worried. The other slight issue is that one of the pickup guard screws' heads snapped off when screwing in (from hand torque, which I find odd for a screw). He's a purist for finger-style bass playing, so no pickguard to get in the way of the beautiful wood grain. I am absolutely thrilled with how it all came out. It plays and sounds brilliant, and I cannot wait to give it to my friend. I also can't wait to start my next one - which will be a burnt-husk + epoxy + led + Raspberry Pi build for myself from the same Ash wood. Lastly, a huge thanks to the owners and workers of this site, for making a great place for people to come together and share this stuff - but most importantly to users @Bizman62, @Andyjr1515, and @mistermikev for their help and guidance when a few things got a little tough for a total newbie. You guys helped make this.

I will do a Subodu char at some stage, but these I'm going for the "log pulled out of a fire" style dessication

Yep - Clear epoxy, and re-cut to shape.

Time for an update. The weather hasn't been too kind recently, but I did soldier through a 1-C-degree afternoon to plane down the 2.5" thick slabs of sequoia, and cut out the basic shapes with the Jigsaw. There was a LOT of pink snow from this. A lot It's funny, the slabs were so heavy, but once cut down to shape and thickness (standard 1-3/4"/45mm), they are so light! I suppose they are a softwood pine, after all. Having offcuts allowed me to test how sequoia would hold up to the charring ...pretty well. And it was easier than I thought to deliberately gradient the burn at the edges. So I now have 4 bodies ready to go. (Clockwise from Topleft: Sequoia Jaguar, English Ash Yeti (Guitar version of the Bass model I did first), Ash Tele, Sequoia Tele) So next clear day and I'll tidy up the edges and the neck scoops to get it ready for cutting, burning and epoxy casting. I also played around in Powerpoint and came up with a Signature for the headstocks. I decided the only thing 'original' (original to me, others have/may have done it) about my Yeti series, is the double-scoop cut horns. Thus, I incorporated it into my own headstock design. I see and appreciate the craftsmanship in some of the wackier headstocks and bodies out there - but I do believe that 90 years of guitar making - people have tried a lot of different shapes and styles - and the ones that look best, stuck. So, I wasn't going to try "reinventing the wheel" (and when I tried, they came out looking like garbage 80's synth keytars...). It occurred to me that 80% of my guitars bought have been Ibanez - so the left side takes some inspiration from there. I then set about playing with scoops and sharp edges/reticulating splines in different areas - and this just 'clicked' in front of me while fiddling, and I love it. As per @Bizman62, I had started to investigate cheaper options of pickups. My sound/my band's sound is somewhere on the spectrum from bitey mild distortion (Muse's Absolution style) through to the myriad of heavy rock blues bands that have come out in the last 20 years. So, tonally, I just need something with good mids that doesn't lose too much clarity. Exhaustive research led me to [Irongear pickups](https://www.axetec.co.uk/guitar_parts_uk_074.htm) . I haven't had a chance to play with them yet, but picked these up for £30 each (neck and bridge position). A marked improvement on cost from the £90 spent on the Fender Original P-Bass and a lot less than the DiMarzios et al of this world wanting £120-£200 per pickup. I had started entertaining buying a machine and spinning my own, as I was reading that hand wound ones have an interesting characterful tone that's one of a kind, and are dirt cheap to make. The issue is, a winding machine is £500-£1000. So yeah-nah. I also picked up some generic machine heads that looks reasonable. I appreciate the Gotoh GB707s I got for the Yeti, but they're expensive for what they do. These will do fine. I had also sourced some metal rebar from Amazon, just 2 rods ~40cm in length. .. the idea being that I would cut them in half, to make the 'exposed wire frames' for two of the guitars. However, what was in my head, was something more like this: ...which stylistically I feel like I've been influenced by the Vex in Destiny 2, mixed with a little Sci-Fi Starship Antennae feel to it. Randomly in a chat wall, one of my best mates reminded us that his brother had taken up metallurgy/welding for art as a sellable hobby, and had started to get quite good. Now, my rebar was £8 for the pair + £7 delivery, and would make two. But out of interest, I enquired. He very quickly (like, 30 minutes) knocked up a demo version, based on some refined measurements I sent I love the rough weld style. Now, it's not rebar, but, I can scuff it up, and leave it out in the rain, and it should go a lovely dark grey+rusty look, which should be outstanding. He also said he'd do those for £13 a pop + postage. Win! Much better than a couple stick of rebar. Not only that, but he has a plasma cutter and can do really clean cuts - so he's checking how much brushed nickel sheets are for me, and would be able to start making me brushed nickel scratch plates! Score. I am starting now to nail down suppliers I'll use should people want to commission one of these from me. (The chinese built Canadian Maple necks are fine for now - I'm building a workshop in the Spring when I can start making my own necks/doing neck-throughs. Boltons for now it is though! Also, regarding the first image I styled out in my head, I've gone off the idea of Red/Yellow sunburst. I am now thinking a purple dye on the Sequoia bodies, really make them pop (and the purple should go nicely with the black and the steel. Add to this, that I'm going to get some large bismuth crystals and incorporate them into the 'exposed' wire frame parts. Really make it look like Nessus. What do you guys think for the body colours? As for the Ash bodies, I think I'll leave them because the grain is beautiful and I like how the Yeti turned out. Thoughts?

Grazi - Somewhat. I take inspiration through google search, and then sketch out the style in Powerpoint. So... not really

So this was the logo on the neck plate of the Yeti: So keeping with the same style, this will be the neck plate for Hephaestus (which from now on, I'm just going to call "Hefty") It will be on Normal Steel/Aluminium rather than black anodized this time (better suits the aesthetic I'm going for this time - silver/chrome coloured parts)

Yeah, P90's were a strong consideration. Quite expensive but probably worth it

To follow on from 'The Yeti' Series, I have begun work on the second line : 'Hephaestus' (Greek Blacksmith God/God of Fire) I will begin with 1 Telecaster and 1 Jazzmaster in this mode. Obviously, it looks better than this in my head, but as a general idea: I'm still exploring which pickups to use. In my playing I am almost always on the humbucker (I play with a moderate amount of distortion - the lighter end of 'Heavy Rock'), so part of me wants to put in two humbuckers. The other part of me says "you have a strat and a gretsch for that, give yourself some variance - build it like an actual tele with two single coils and wire multiple tone and mix knobs". That being said, I actually have 4 on the go now. The first, is a second 'Yeti' Guitar (first was a 4string P-bass), that's in the same Ash (with some lovely spalting on it). I am then making 3 Haephestus : 1 Tele in Ash, 1 Tele in Sequoia, and 1 Jazzmaster in Sequoia. The Ash Tele may yet be something else. Will see how we go.

I'll kick it off with a resubmission, being narrowly beaten by December's worthy winner Name: Yeti Type: Custom Precision-Bass Body: Live edge English Ash, Epoxy Neck: Canadian Maple (scorched, engraved), Rosewood Fretboard Scale: 32" Components Pickups: Fender Vintage P-Bass Pickups (Passive) Bridge: Hipshot 'Kickass' 4-String Machine Heads: Gotoh GB707's Pots: CTS 250k Log and Linear Other Snaplock Strap locks Custom CnC Pickup Ring Custom Black Anodised Aluminium Truss Cover Custom Black Anodised Aluminium Neck Plate Build#: First ever build Experience: Floating shelves, basic DIY joinery Cost: Don't-Tell-The-Wife territory. Made at home in the garden and the spare room (thanks Covid...), as a 'thank you for being you' gift for a close friend and bandmate (nickname 'The Yeti') who has had a challenging year. Story/Process I began with a lot of research (how I found this site!) and watching things like Crimson Guitars on YouTube. I had been playing around with the idea of doing a River Table, but thought a similar effect on a guitar would be cool. Most other 'River Guitars' I saw were true 'River' style - with the Epoxy through the middle. Doing an epoxy edge instead of river-core had the bonus effect of looking cool and unique, whilst maintaining the structure and sound quality of the tonewood Ash. I found a waney-edge lumber yard about an hour's drive away. I walked out with 5m of rare English Ash (his words, not mine, something about a disease wiping the species out?) and some sequoia I'll use at a later date. Sourced the Epoxy (deep pour variety) from a company in Stoke-on-Trent. Components were a mixture of Guitar shops around Europe/UK + eBay. Custom Aluminium parts were made by a guy in his workshop in Pennsylvania (he was really hard to find). I didn't want to make him a Bass that looked great but had bog-standard cheap parts in it, so wherever possible or relevant, I forked out the extra cash and got something middle to top-of-the-range. This all began in September, juggling WFH with a toddler and typical British weather. The 'Indian-Summer' helped with all the hand-planing and sanding I had to do, as I obviously couldn't do all that indoors. Being my first build, I wasn't brave enough to tackle the neck (lot of specialist tools required for that as well), so I sourced a quality one and customised it by burning it with a torch and making a logo I then engraved into the head (as well as into the Truss Rod Cover and Neck Plate) The rough timber was hand planed, then a piece selected and a rough shape cut out. I did a 1st epoxy pour (blood red), and drilled in some secret long holes for the epoxy to go into the body of the guitar to give it a strong mechanical hold rather than just gripping the edge/bark. After this I cut it to rough shape, leaving space for the 2nd (Clear) pour for the top horn (again, secret 'foundation columns' drilled in). Then the final outline was cut out, and a 3rd Pour done to fill some natural splits and knot holes in the wood. I could then begin planing the edges into a gentle sloped profile (I don't like guitar that are too 'blocky', whilst keeping a 1-3/4" thickness through the middle. One thing I learned, is that before doing this, you should definitely cut out your cavities and pot holes first. It was fine, but made a simple job later on much more difficult. Once this was all done and the pickup and jack holes routed as well as the neck pocket, the whole thing was sanded to 5000 grit to keep consistency between the epoxy and the wood. I then followed Andy's guide on wipe-on-poly process for those who don't have a workshop, here: https://www.projectguitar.com/tutorials/finishingrefinishing/bedroom-builders-wipe-on-varnishing-r67/ . I finished with some Automotive fine polish applied by hand (as per the guide). The fully shielded cavity's cover was cut by hand from a piece of perspex I got off Amazon. The action and everything about it came out perfectly, to the 10th of a degree - so absolutely stoked about that. Two minor problems persisted: One of the knobs doesn't sit perfectly centrally in its pocket (pot alignment issue) by about 1mm. This will wear itself a smooth hole with very little use so I'm not worried. The other slight issue is that one of the pickup guard screws' heads snapped off when screwing in (from hand torque, which I find odd for a screw). He's a purist for finger-style bass playing, so no pickguard to get in the way of the beautiful wood grain. I am absolutely thrilled with how it all came out. It plays and sounds brilliant, and I cannot wait to give it to my friend. I also can't wait to start my next one - which will be a burnt-husk + epoxy + led + Raspberry Pi build for myself from the same Ash wood. Lastly, a huge thanks to the owners and workers of this site, for making a great place for people to come together and share this stuff - but most importantly to users @Bizman62, @Andyjr1515, and @mistermikev for their help and guidance when a few things got a little tough for a total newbie. You guys helped make this.

I voted for myself (naturally...), But they're all great for different reasons. Carbon14 to me looks like it came off a factory (I mean that as a compliment) : it's so clean and precise!

@curtisa @mistermikev @Bizman62 well. it was both it was the wrong lug, even though it worked fine? but wired up correctly, it still wiggles, and the cut out is arguably worse than before. with the jack fully out, the hot lug actually giggles a mm itself, likely the cause (or contributing) . so new jack on the way. Thanks peoples cc

But are you saying, that's a possible cause for my symptoms? Remember - it plays perfectly fine - until it's nudged, and then the ground continuity disappears between the cable and the rest of the internal system

If [this](https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Long-Barrel-OUTPUT-JACK-COSMO-BLACK-Fits-Ibanez-guitar-bass-stereo-mono-NEW-/392264583162) is anything to go by, the Hot tip (shortest) is left of the Ground (longest), and the middle one (Ring) is to the right of the ground. So If that's the same, then I've wired mine correctly (and the sketchy soldering is making it look longer)