Kim94595

Hmmmm, sorry there .... messing up on my own reply it seems. But .... thanks for the comments. And to answer a few questions. Yes ... sycamore is about the same hardness as quilted maple. Not the hard rock maple used in necks, but the quilted maple found on tops. It works fairly easy, doesn't have too much tendency to tear out when routing, but like any highly figured wood, it has grain running in several directions, so you need to take off only small amounts with each pass when planing or routing. Sycamore used to be used for drawer sides in older cabinets. Those sides were commonly 1/2", so old office cabinets may be a good source for that wood. It's not a highly stable wood, but that doesn't matter for a glued on top. Quilted maple isn't highly stable either for that matter. If it's flat sawn, it looks very bland and uninteresting. Only when quarter sawn do you see the rays that make it appealing. Commercially, you don't see it very much these days. It makes poor firewood, by the way. I made the neck myself because I wanted a birdseye maple fretboard to go with the sycamore and I'm too cheap to buy one pre made. It took me at least as long to do the neck as everything else, including the finishing. Don't know if I would do that again. I could have bought a very nice guitar if I were paid my usual hourly fee for the time I spent on the neck, and it doesn't play any better (or worse, thankfully) than my friends Axis that I borrowed to get all the dimensions from. So I think we're talking ego more than rational economics here. Pics of the sides and back didn't really come out so well maybe because it's just gloss black. Or because I have so little patience with my camera? But it's a simple affair anyway, and from the side it's simply 1/2" cap on the black body. Edge detail is just a 3/8" rout almost all around, so the top dies into the sides just at the joint. I did experiment with a wine colored dye on some scraps, but rather than highlighting the rays, it seemed to make it look less dramatic. I had planned to leave it natural though, because after a year or so, it will become a deep honey color that I think looks warm and rich. Thanks again, Kim

Just wanted to say thank you to Brian (bought a few pieces and parts from Universal Jems) and the rest of you here who post such helpful information. Although I'm a woodworker I hadn't thought to make a guitar until I came across this forum. It's very different from building cabinets! But I've just finished my second one and felt that I should give some feedback to you all as a form of thanks. This guitar has a book matched top of quarter sawn sycamore from a tree that I cut down years ago. Hadn't ever seen a guitar made from this wood, so I thought it would be a little bit unique. The body is a chambered basswood painted black. The neck is maple with a birdseye maple cap. Nitro lacquer finish and rubbed out. It's small and light (about 6.5 pounds). The hardware and pups are nothing special (Korean made), but I set it up with 9-42 strings with 1/16th string to fret distance at the 17th fret (I use drill bits to measure this ... works great), and it plays without any string buzz at all. You don't need to blow all your money on the hardware for your learning projects. Save that for later and you'll appreciate it more, I think. Oh ... I did use black strings (DR) to have them stand out against the wood a bit. Kinda cool looking. As far as electric guitars go, this is not too difficult a project. I chose this body (a copy of a Music Man Axis) because the top is completely flat. That made fitting hardware, finishing, rubbing it out, a lot less work than other styles. Since it was only my second attemp, I wanted to keep it simple. I only mention this because I think that sometimes people may try to do too much when they are starting out and they can become defeated with the frustration of it all. I'm a 55 year old cabinet maker, and I have to admit that this was not a no brainer project for me. I learned a lot, but fortunately, I came to it with a lot of helpful information from all of you here. So I really thank this generous little community here for that. I have always felt that it's a pity when people don't freely share their knowledge out of some sense of insecurity. We're only building on what we learned from others, so we have a responsibility to give back, I think. But hey ... just my two cents worth there. Your mileage may vary. Thanks again to you all ..... Kim

Uh ..... I'm SURE that he ment beach! Sandy color ....right???

Hi Seth .... the one I used is called Old English and it"s a "moisturizing wood treatment" (furniture polish). This stuff has been around for years and is really common. Ace hardware probably carries it. It comes in a few colors because some of it can be used to hide minor scratches. But the basic one is yellow (hence lemon). It has petroleum distillates (paint thinner) and some very thin oil in it. I doubt it has any lemon anything other than the color and smell. But for sanding it worked damn good! Don't need very much at all, easy on the hands (I didn't even wear gloves) and got my guitar to a mirror finish by hand. I love this place for those kind of helpful suggestions!

Thank you Little Bit! I used the Lemon Oil for wet sanding on the body and it worked fantastic. Paper doesn't load up, not messy, easy to see where you need to sand more and smells good too. A really good tip!

Just finishing up my guitar and getting ready to install the electronics. I have a couple of Gibson Humbuckers that I had in an old guitar. I bought them new in 1966 (OK .. I'm older than dirt! .... now back off!). They are in very good shape because I quit playing guitar for many years. Now I'm into it again and having a lot of fun with it. Are these pups worth much because of their age? New, they're about 100 bucks now, I guess. Use them or sell them, I guess that's my question. Thanks a lot!

Sorry, this isn't really a make your guitar question, but maybe one of you guys know the answer. I'm using Duncan Strap Locks on my guitars. The kind where you have half of the lock on your strap permanently and the receptacle part on your guitar. All I need for any additional guitars is the receptacle part that goes on the guitar, not the whole deal. I already have too many extra sets of the part that goes on your strap. Somewhere I did see a place where you could buy just the guitar portion ..... but now I haven't a clue! Any help? Thanks!

Thanks very much for those helpful hints. I'll move on to the body now and be more cautious. Another question? On the parts I've done so far, I buffed them out by hand with a white polishing compound for autos followed up by a wax. It worked pretty well, but of course, it's a lot of work. Any better polishing compounds to use that are readily available items? And would it be easier to use a few different grades of polishing compound after the 2000 grit? I did read the tutorial here, but don't want to buff by machine ..... I don't have one and it seems really messy, and I'm only doing this one guitar. Again, thanks for your help, guys!

I'm just at the stage of rubbing out the lacquer clear coat on my guitar and having a little problem. I shot about 20 coats of nitro cellulose on everything and waited a few weeks for it to cure. Sanded with 800 through 2000 with wet'dry paper and then buffed out by hand. I started with the headstock, control covers and PUP rigs (all made of wood, of course.) My problem is that while wet sanding, water got under the finish in a few places where I have holes through the wood. Like where the tuning pegs are in the headstock. This caused a few fine cracks in the lacquer, radiating out from those holes. Very depressing. Now I'm afraid to sand the body. I didn't think I was using that much water .... but maybe? Any suggestions? Thanks a lot.

Wow .... thanks for all the positive feedback! You guys will have me trying to make another guitar with that kind of talk! To answer a few questions .... yes, the holes were just to make it a bit lighter. I read somewhere about chambered guitars, so I thought what the heck, might as well shave a little off the weight. And the body is pretty light. I'll weigh it after I put the hardware on. As for the neck ... it's from an OLP MM4 (copy of an Ernie Ball Silloette.. sp?). Since this was my first attempt at guitar making, I wanted to give myself a break. I bought a factory refurbished MM4 from MF for $110.00 and used the neck, tuners, and bridge. The neck is identical to the Musicman Axis (except the fretboard material). The factory refurbed guitars usually always have some cosmetic flaws in the body, so it's a good way to get a neck and some hardware for cheap I think. The body I made is a rounded version of the Musicman Axis (I used one to make my template). My PUPS will be a pair of old (1966) Gibson humbuckers. I'm spraying clear lacquer now and will post some better pics with details when it's all assembled. But thanks again to all of you here .... most all of my questions were answered by reading various posts and the helpful answers to them from all of you. This is a great little community!

With all the tips and inspiration I've found here, I'm ready to start shooting lacquer on my guitar. It's a walnut and koa body. I veneered the headstock with the same walnut as the body. Since it has a tight curve in it, the 1/16th" veneer was a bit much, but I soaked it in fabric softener and steamed it prior to glueing and that worked quite well. PUP rings were made of wenge. Control cavity covers of walnut. And for neck ferruls, I used Japanese 50 yen coins. They have a hole in the middle and a pretty flower motif on one side. Just a little fun touch. You can see it on the second (Photo page) HERE

Be patient, MKGBass .... good things take time .... 40 years is but a blink of an eye in this cosmos we are in ...... on the other hand, it's a pretty long time if you're waiting to get paid, so I understand your anxiety. Actually, it doesn't matter how big (length x width) your wood is ..... just the thickness. So as long as you don't leave it as a big log, you can knock quite a few years off of that 40 you were bummed out about. Course .... I think you were kiddding anyway. But if you're like me, it might take that long to get to your next project anyway, so it's not really an issue. The walnut that I made my guitar from actually was from a tree I cut down and milled with a chainsaw in 1976! I've made a lot of furniture and things from it since then, but this is the first guitar. It was a BIG tree. Claro walnut is what we have here in California. Different than walnut from back east. More color variation. I'm still debating as to what type of a finish to do. Either natural and oiled .... or filled and lacquered. Any ideas?My guitar so far.

If you have ash drying out for a future project, make sure to give it at least a year for each inch of thickness before working it. Sounds like a lot, but it's not like you're drying firewood. Actually, air dried wood has more color and stability than kiln dried wood, if it's done properly. I have some vertical grain ash in a 4" thick slab myself that I may use for a future guitar project. When it's thick like that, you have the possibility to resaw it and bookmatch your grain, which I think always looks rather impressive. Oh ..... I had an opportunity to put in some time in the shop today, and my guitar is all cut out and the edges are routed. Starting to actually look like a guitar now! Kinda hairy routing the end grain on the horns though. I was using a 2 1/2" soft radius bit and it's like trying to rout with an upside down helicopter, if you know what I mean. Pics of todays work are up on my little web site for your analysis. It's here on the Photo page (second page).

MKGBass ...... the neck is a bolt on, but I made the pocket before cutting out the body because it leaves more for the router to sit on then. Right now the pocket is much longer than it will be of course.

Thanks for the tips. I put up a few pics for your consideration.My Webpage Maybe this works??? So .... you were saying that the Carvin pots are stiff? Not so great I think, if that's the case. The volume pot on the MM4 goes from nothing to almost full out right away ... that's why I'm not going to try to reuse them. I want a more gradual taper.

OK ... thanks to you guys, I've decided to make my own guitar just for the heck of it. Been following this site and reading up on things here. Much great info and some very useful tips from all of you guys. Thanks very much for the inspiration. For my first project, I'm just making a new body for an existing guitar. I took the neck from an OLP MM4 (nice neck, lame body) and I'm making a body much like a Musicman Axis but with softer edges. The front of the body is book matched walnut from a tree I cut down years ago. It's 1" thick. The back is 3/4" koa. I sort of chambered the body to make it lighter. I've already done all the routes and glued it up. The neck pocket was challenging, but thanks to info here, I made my own template and used a collar on my plunge router to get a nice tight fit. I'm about to cut out the body shape now. But I could use some advice on pots and such. I'm going to use a couple of Gibson humbuckers (about 1966) from an old guitar I had that I parted out. 500k, long shaft pots, because they will go in from the back and I will have no pick guard? I'm keeping it simple with one tone and volume and a 3-way toggle. Are the pots and switches from Carvin of decent quality? I have pics of it so far, but don't know how to put them in this post. I'm sure I'll have more questions as I proceed, but any advice is appreciated! And thanks for all the help and inspiration thus far!

Most suppliers of hardwood are selling surfaced (planed) lumber, rather than rough. When it's rough cut, it's all fuzzy and you really can't see the grain or even the true color. The thickness is a nominal dimension. Just like a 2x4 is actually only 1 1/2 x 3 1/2 once it's surfaced, it started out life thicker in the rough. So .... 4/4 hardwood is usually always 13/16ths when surfaced, and 8/4 is most commonly 1 3/4". Unlike construction lumber, hardwoods come in random widths and lengths. You pay by the board foot (which is a nominal square foot). So one square foot of 8/4 lumber is 2 board feet. Hope that helps.

NYJBKIM......... yes ...... double ...... Hmmmm!

Hey Wes .... I just happened to bump into your local cabinemaker the other day and he said that his daughter does indeed remember you from high school! Said she's really been trying to find you ..... said "junior" is the spittin' image of you! Hope this info is helpful?

I had seen that guitar on Musicyo myself and read some reviews on Harmony Central about it. Well, how can it not be a good guitar "for the money" at 60 bucks? But all I was thinking was that maybe it's a good neck and a few usable parts to make a guitar with. The neck did get favorable reviews. Anyone actually played one of these $59.00 Kramers? I'm a skilled woodworker (professional cabinetmaker), but I'm not a luthier, so the neck really isn't something I would want to spend my time on. With CNC routers and such, it seems that an excellant neck can be made very inexpensively these days. That leaves me with more time to make a unique looking body out of some special wood(s) and have a guitar that is uniquely mine without a lot of cost or time in the project. So I'm always on the lookout for a cheap way to get a good neck, and this seemed like a possibility. As far as the body is concerned .... it seems to me that body blanks and premade unfinished bodies are a rip off. Carvin has pretty good prices on a lot of their stuff, and yet, an alder body blank is $50.00. Alder is a very cheap cabinet wood. Pretty much always used for paint grade work. Nothing special at all. I pay about $2.00 a board foot (12"x12"x 13/16"), so that's about $8.00 for a 14"x20"x 1 3/4" blank. For cabinet work, we always buy 8' or longer material. Short boards (under 6') are sold at a discount. I have all sorts of walnut, mahogany, exotics, laying around my shop that can be glued up into body blanks. Sometimes, I take all this "scrap" and make cutting boards for my clients at Xmas time. Come to think of it, most of those cutting boards were about 14"x20"x 1 3/4"! So if you want to make your own guitar body, I would suggest going to some local cabinet shop and seeing what they have. Probably a win/win deal for both of you. But , I digress ...... anyone familiar with those Kramer $59.00 specials, please let me know what you think about the neck. Wasn't that what I started out with???