strawtarget

Update: I strung it up and played it! Woo! It's a guitar! I built a guitar! Woo!

Okay, so now that that's out of the way... I had to raise the bridge even more to get the action right. The bridge is just so high; it looks silly to me. And I do worry about the leverage on the studs. (I'll take another pic when I get a chance, but there's at least 1 more thread visible now.)

@Andyjr1515 Interesting idea about swapping to a ToM. Unfortunately, I can't find a bridge with the proper spacing. My wrap bridge is 82mm post spacing, and every ToM I can find is more like 74mm. I sooo don't want to dowel and re-drill.

I can think of two options...

It seems like there's enough space to make a Gretsch-like "bridge base". Basically just a piece that screws down to the body of the guitar, and the ToM posts screw into it. Maybe kinda out of place on a solid body electric, but it's an option.

Or, I could get some locking studs to secure the existing wraparound bridge in place, and then just pretend it was a ToM. I could notch the "saddles" and add a tailpiece. Seems weird, but maybe could work?

Well, I guess I did some math wrong somewhere along the way. I thought I tested the neck angle / bridge height ratio when I dry-fit the neck, but I guess maybe I didn't?

I was shooting for a 3° neck angle but it looks like it ended up closer to 3.75°. That, combined with a maybe not-quite-deep-enough neck pocket, means my bridge studs are like only half way screwed into the bushings with the bridge at the proper height. Like, I can't even engage the concentric stud height-locking set screw because it's not long enough; it just falls out of the bottom of the stud into the bushing cavity.

Doesn't seem like there's much I can do about it though, so I'm just going to hope the studs are nice and strong since there will be some serious leverage on 'em.

Yup, the finish mistake fixed right up. Whew!

Update: pickups and electronics installed! I went with a 4 position rotary switch for pickup selection: Neck Only / Both Parallel / Both Series / Bridge Only

Building the Fauxeana has been so much fun that I decided "Why build one when you can have two at twice the price?"

So, I present the beginnings of my Fendrish Limited Edition American Nonstandard Offset Telebastard

• 3-piece swamp ash body blank
• Roasted maple Warmoth Tele neck
• Single pickup: humbucker in the bridge
• Led Zeppelin IV album pickguard
• Olympic Girl (white) wudtone finish

Welp, the piece of MDF did in fact leave a mark. Oopsie! My first "big" mistake the whole build. I honestly expected far more mistakes, so I'm not sweating it too much.

Andy at Wudtone advised me to rub the surface with fine steel wool and apply one more coat of xgloss. Hopefully that will do the trick!

Glued in the neck! It's getting closer and closer to being a guitar!

This step didn't go quite as I expected. The joint was very tight; removing the neck after dry-fitting it was difficult. I figured the glue would initially behave kind of like a lubricant, and getting the thing in would be easier with glue than without. WRONG. Even working very quickly, I had to clamp it down HARD (like, blood-blister-on-palm-of-hand hard) to get it fully seated. It was a stressful moment, but I think it ultimately went okay. I'll go back tonight, take the clamps off, and see how it looks.

I'm hoping that the finish doesn't bond with the paper I wrapped around the piece of MDF protecting the back of the guitar from the clamps...  

That's looking really cool. I love the concept, too... take a broomstick and make it into something totally different.

Added 3 coats of gloss top coat, and left it 3 weeks to cure. I'm really happy with the finish!

Freakin' awesome! A unique instrument to be sure. Nice job!

It is starting to get some nice depth and sheen after 3 coats of Wudtone!

Thanks! I just masked off the insides of the holes with painters tape to avoid additional finish penetration and build-up as I apply more coats, and I won't install the studs until the finish process is complete. I don't think this stuff cracks like lacquer does, so I don't expect any drama when I redrill and press in the studs.

The color lightened up a bit when the dye dried. It's still darker than I originally expected, but I'm really happy with it. I think it's going to look deep and luxurious!

Whoa! The Wudtone "deep color" coat ended up a lot darker than I expected. Looks cool, though! I just hope it doesn't get too much darker after a couple of "base color" coats.

I didn't end up installing the bridge studs before beginning to apply finish. I wonder if I'll regret this because some finish is definitely getting in the holes. I think I'll try to mask off the walls of the holes before the next coat.

Today I rounded over the edges of the body (by hand with sandpaper). Just eased them, really. If you look, you can tell it's done by hand and isn't a super precise radius, but it works for me.  I put a little extra oomph into the areas where belly and forearm contours would go, so hopefully it'll be comfortable.

I also finished the hatch for the control cavity. I could have done a better job making the screw holes perfectly symmetrical and the countersinks perfectly concentric, but I got impatient. Oh well!

Tomorrow: final sanding, install bridge studs, and then the first coat of Wudtone!!!

Wow, this is a cool one! Love it!

I ended up doing just that; turned the drill press table vertical and clamped the body to it. Worked like a charm!

I started with a 1" bit and went just deep enough to countersink the flange of the electrosocket jack plate. Then I went the rest of the way with a 7/8" bit. I really like the look of the electrosocket, but there's some tear-out in the end grain from the forstner bit. It didn't tear all the way out, but I'm afraid it will when I sand the body. Is there a stain-compatible (Wudtone) trick to stabilize this grain so it stays put when I sand? If not, I can just buy a normal rectangular or "football" jack plate and it will cover up the problem.

Today I removed material from the neck tenon to make way for the pickup. This was a little bit harrowing because the neck has taper, so I had to devise a shim matching the taper angle and tape it to the side of the neck to ensure square cuts on the band saw. I also made the remaining little strip of neck wood flush with the top of the body using the curtisa method.

I also drilled and routed out the control cavity and started working on a cavity cover from a cut-off piece of the body.

Next up: drill the 7/8" hole for the input jack. I tried this with a hand drill on a piece of scrap, and it was no fun at all. I'd really like to use the drill press, but that means I'm going to have to rig up some bizarre jig that holds the body upright so I can drill into the edge. How is this ordinarily done? Thanks!

Curtisa: thx for the advice; I'll try that.

Zoltar: thanks! I like the shape too. I can't take credit; I copied the shape from the Rhoney Oceana. I believe it's a modernization of the Supro Tremo-Lectric of the mid-60's. Both of those guitars feature a cool perimeter carve / chamfer on the top, but I'm going simple flat-top for this one.

I test-fit the neck this morning and it fit nice and snug! Woo!

Then I made a template and routed the pickup cavities. I also drilled the bridge posts after spending a solid 45 minutes measuring, re-measuring, googling, and generally stressing out about their correct location given my chosen scale length, bridge type, neck angle, etc. Here's hoping I got it right!

Question: In the last pic, you'll see that the tenon sticks up above the surface of the guitar. Most of this material will be removed to make way for the neck pickup. But the material between the fingerboard and the pencil line will need to go. I'd like to make this flush with the body so that the pickup ring can sit flat on it. How is this best done? Mask off the end of the fingerboard and very carefully file it? Or carefully make a guide and route it away in a single pass? Thx!!

I decided to mill the neck angle into the tenon and route the neck pocket flat. I think it worked out okay! 

Today's progress: I cut out the body shape with a band saw and sanded to the line, nice and smooth.

Next up: the neck pocket. Scary! I'm trying to figure out if it will be easier to route the neck pocket at the desired 3 degree angle, or just mill the bottom of the tenon to 3 degrees and make the neck pocket flat. 

The crosses were just so I could line up the pieces of paper I used to make the template.

Sawdust starts to fly tomorrow!

I got the idea to build a guitar some time in the mid 90's. My stepdad bought me a big slab of Honduran mahogany as a first step. I never actually started the project, though. I almost started it a decade later; I ordered a sweet wenge & ebony neck from Soulmate guitars in the mid-2000's. But life happened, and the project didn't.

So, another decade later, I still have the original slab of mahogany and the custom neck. Let's just say I've been waiting to make sure the wood is good and stable before beginning.  This winter, it's finally time to make some sawdust!

Concept: I really like the Supro Tremo-Lectric / Rhoney Oceana cutaway design. I like the more modern offset shape of the Oceana, so I'm adopting that silhouette. Both of those guitars feature a bevel or "carve" around the perimeter of the body, but I'm planning to go for a more straightforward flat-top LPS kind of look.

Progress: Aside from some Inkscape work, all I've done so far is buy parts and lay them out on the dining room table. I'll report back when something gets sawdust on it!

Good point. Thx!

Ok awesome. I was wondering if I was going to hear input like "sanding inch-and-a-half thick hardwood to the line takes forever even if you get close with the bandsaw, and you'll have to go through like 6 sanding drum sleeves before you're even close".