Unrealize

Did some more sanding on the template, and cut out the pupholes.

I guess you can see on the picture which one I did first and which I did last.

I have no prior training in using a router, so I think it turned out quite well.

the second hole I routed partly by hand, so I'm happy with that.

A question on the side here. I don't plan to do too much of an inlay on this guitar, only one at the 12th fret.

But I can't seem to find any information about this, isn't it best to inlay before cutting and radiusing the fingerboard? I mean, since it is hard enough in the first place to cut the inlay, to cut and make it fit frets that are already cut must make it harder than necessary..? Or am I way out here..?

Hey here.

I've just started the journey into guitarmaking. I figured an Explorer would be relatively easy to start with, and I simply love the shape.

I'll probabably have thousands of questions as I move along, but at least I have come to a start.

Not too good quality on these pictures, just used my phone in the basement, better quality pictures will come soon.

Here are the specs as I have them:

* Bolt-on neck "ESP EXP" Explorer body shape.

* Mahogany body.

* Mahogany neck.

* 24 3/4 inch scale. 22 medium frets. 44 mm nut width.

* 14 inch fingerboard radius. Graph-tech nut. Ebony truss rod cover

* Ebony fingerboard, as dark black as possible.

* No fretboard markers (except 11-12-13 inlay, as noted below). Side dots.

* "Chaos star" MOP inlay on the 12th fret.

* “KL-style” headstock, at 13 degrees angle.

* Sperzel 3+3 machines, Gotoh T-O-M set.

* All hardware black.

* EMG 85 (neck) + EMG 81 (bridge) . 100% cavity shielding.

* 2 knobs, individual volume controls for each pickup.

* Switchcraft (USA) Toggle switch in the ESP Explorer position.

* Output jack mounted on the side of the guitar.

* Battery for the EMG's mounted in separate box on the rear of the guitar.

Another thing, I probably shoud angle the neck before I cut the shape, right?

Here is the drawing I made attached to the plywood template.

Finished tracing the drawing onto the template.

http://www.dimensionf3h.com/images/gitarby...late-layout.jpg

Cut the template, and started to sand and finetune it. Pup-holes next up.

http://www.dimensionf3h.com/images/gitarby...te-cutout-1.jpg

It is true that not much wood goes into the making of instruments, probably not even one percentage, but that is really not the point.

The whole usage sums it up and when the wood is gone, it doesn't matter if you only use it for instruments. That's why I thought that recycling would be a good idea.

prs_man, I'm using alder for my first project, I was just thinking about this in a general matter.

I've spent so much money buying tools for my workshop that I'm not gonna stop with this first guitar, so I thought recycling would be a good idea, and also like Prostheta mentioned, the wood should already have become stable.

I'm also going to use some Alder for my backyard, I have access to plenty of wood there, but of course this needs to dry up for a long time, so I need to get hold of other woods until I can use my own alder...

I have access to Birch too, but I read somewhere that Birch don't produce a good sustain, and the sound of it was not so good, perhaps I'm wrong on that one?

Hello everyone.

This is my first post, and firstly I'd like to thank everyone here who contributes with vast amounts of information that I try to dig into as much as possible. I have learnt a lot already just by reading this forum, and I really hope that I can someday contribute with something too.

I'm in the process of building my first guitar, and I will be making a thread here soon with some pictures and so on. BUT that was kinda on the side of what I wanted to ask first.

From what I can understand, Mahogany is a wood that is getting endangered, and both me and my gf don't like the idea of using wood that is, well, endangered, so I came up with an idea. In my country (Norway) we have quite a few web auctions similar to ebay, and they sell furniture from time to time. I was thinking of recycling some tables that I found there, what do you guys think of that?

I'm unsure if the wood on such a table is Mahogany all the way through, maybe just some kind of laminate, and if so, then the idea is out the window, but if it is of the right thickness, and solid Mahogany, well, as far as I can see it should be no worse than to sand it down and re-use it.

I found a table that to me looks like I can get 2 solid bodies from it, and it would cost me like 50$. I don't even have to worry about shipping cause the seller is so close to me I can drive over and get it.

So, a lot of rambling here, the thing I'd like to know/discuss is the issue of recycling wood. Good idea, or bad??

Thank you!!