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Here is where the guitar stands as of today. Over the past week I have been sanding nonstop using 60, 100, 150, 220, and 320 grit paper. After that

I used black grain filler to bring out the pours in the mahogany when the stain goes on. It went on easy, but took hours to sand off with 220 grit and 320 grit to keep the sanding even. Hopefully it will pay off in the end. Right now I stained the guitar using Stew Mac water based cherry red stain mixed 9 parts water to 1 part stain. The finish I am going for is more of a deep wine red, however this looks more like a neon orange right now, and my camera and the combined terrible lighting don't really show the actual color too well. The stain looks somewhat uneven in the pictures, but thats not the case. Later today I am going to be spraying on a mixture of laquer and stain, which will give me that look after several coats over the next week or two (hopefully). I didn't bother staining or cleaning up the pickup and bridge cavities since those will be covered by parts.

Thanks everyone

I ended up applying the grain filler and sanding it (sanding took sooooo long). It looks great. Tomorrow night I will stain it and then Friday I start spraying the laquer/stain

I have black grain filler from Stew Mac that I am going to be putting on my mahogany and maple SG that I am finishing. Stew Mac says to stain the guitar first, then apply the grain filler, and then sand with 320 grit sand paper. I did a sample piece following the directions, and was very dissatisfied with the results as the stain was all but removed from the lightest of sanding. I did the same thing again on another piece, however first I used the grain filler, and then sanded, and then stained it and was more pleased with the results. Is there anything wrong with doing this? I will be spraying laquer/stain over it later this week too, so it should work out, correct? Please let me know if I am mistaken. Thanks

thanks, i guess i didnt see that on the stew mac site.

My friend and I are building a bass and guitar respectively, and now its time for both of us to stain and laquer. We bought the Stew Mac Production Spray Gun, now we need a compressor because we originally thought we could borrow one, but that fell through. Stew Mac does not list what capacity compressor it requires (i.e. hp, tank size, etc). From what I gather the only thing I need to worry about is CFM and tank capacity? What specs in a compressor should I be looking for to work with the spray gun?

Everybody and their brother told it, but this looks great! Very nice wood as well.

I'm still in the planning phase of my first project (an SG as well, but with a glued and angled neck). And a question comes to mind.. Where did you get the template? I drew mine on paper and am not so sure about how well I'll be able to transfer it on mahogany.

And one last time : That's one beautifull instrument!

i drew the shape i wanted in solidworks, converted the file to a .DWG, and then used the laser cutter at my school to cut it out. if you dont have any cad programs you may want to look for some plans online.

thanks for the compliments!

MMMMMMMM, i love metal knobs with some abalone center. Try to get the "eye" that's on the abalone, that part it's amazing!

BTW any update?

basically all i have to do is sand sand sand and then spray the stain on. this week im on spring break so i left the guitar at school, and the week before i had infinity work due and exams, so the week after this one, and the following week should bring some updates.

thanks for the compliments

i plan on redoing the knobs because the hole for the pot shaft is just a bit off center for each knob, and it is also a little to big (oops). when i get around to making the new ones i will drill the hole all the way through on a lathe to make sure it is perfectly centered and then cap the top off with some abilone dot inlays from stew mac. the reason the holes were off center is because i drilled them on a drill press. no worries, they didnt take long to make

I decided to make my own knobs instead of using the ones I bought from Stew Mac. The knobs are made out of aluminum stock that I had left over from another project. I turned them on a lathe to the proper diameter, knurled the sides, cut a 45 degree angle into the top/sides, sandblasted the top, and then faced off the top to removed the sandblasted top surface and leave just the angle sandblasted.

nah, it doesnt bother me. i am going to leave it

Control cavity countersunk for cover

Bridge route and control holes

Headstock design with tuners for a mock up

Frets are finished

Whole guitar with strings!

Umm. Hate to say this, but don't you need someway to lay a cover over your control cavity? usually they curve in and out, so that the cover rests on top, flush with the surface, then screwed in, from your picture it looks like that may have been overlooked. you could glue in some pieces, and that might work. but otherwise, it looks good! definitely much cleaner routs than mine! mine are too horrible to post. (First time)

yup, im actually going to be doing that today. when i posted those pictures i did not have time to do the overhang for the cover. i just need to route that, and then route the tailpiece area a little bit and im done with that stuff.

thats so ill

nicely done

yes, i bought the first one, a bad ass style wrap around.

i mean tailpiece, not bridge, my bad

pickup cavities

control cavity

I am almost finished with my first guitar and this week I will be drilling the holes for my bridge. Here is the one I bought from Stew Mac:

Most guitars that use a bridge and a tailpiece use a bridge that is angled, however should I be angling my tailpiece since it is a TOM? You can see what I mean here:

Body thickness sanded, glue lines removed

Neck before spokeshave

Neck profile, still needs sanding

This week I should have some routing finished

here it is

got the wood today at a local wood supply store, its soooooo nice

and yeah im gonna do a semi hollow body with it

Thats what I meant without trying to get too technical haha. Maybe I should check out some stress-strain curves in my textbooks

thanks so much!

I did a search and it turned up nothing.

I am winding down on my first build and now its time to pick out woods for a second. I'd like to do a padauk/purpleheart/padauk body, as well as a purpleheart/padauk/purpleheart/padauk/purpleheart laminated neck. Would this be strong enough? I did my first build using maple in the neck laminate because of its strength, so any input would be great before I take the plunge. Thanks!

That neck looks very nice. Glad to see some more progress.

As far as the screw up goes, if you're cool with that, then gravy. If I were building the guitar, I'd probably just redo it, but that is just how I am. No moral dilemma here.

Besides, if anyone asks about it, just say it was a "custom job" .

CMA

haha, i can always say it was custom. but then ill just tell them one thing led to another and that is how the guitar came out, and im more than happy with it. i guess it does make the guitar somewhat unique, but im not fooling anyone by saying i meant for it to be like that. i still think its going to be cool with the shorter nut to body distance.

i should have the taper cut by tuesday and the body will be glued by the end of the week! im excited.