Muzz

Kicking back watching The Voice

Here is the body routed down as far as I can go from the top

Routed from the bottom

This routing style takes a few hours but it works for me

I like the router should when glides around the blank like a Ouija board on Oct 31

I caught the photo that Not You posted in misc, hot, hot, hot

Rough cut and template clamped down with anti-wobble bars

Scraping off the top layer

Digging deeper

Was it demonx who said Queensland Maple smells great? he was right, I am getting addicted to it

That is a fantastic save, I think it actually adds to the guitar

I have never worked or used ash for any of my builds before. My god that stuff is heavy and super hard!

It is super hard, you will appreciate that when it bashes into the bass, the bass player won't though

Time to start shaping the body. Here are the bits I will be using.

The little one is called a Dado clean out bit, and will be used to scratch the surface on the first pass then route down about 2 mm. This should stop any splinters shearing off the top of the body. Then use the middle size bit and just drop down 2 mm at a time and switch over to the longer bit when needed. I will be doing a section at a time with a block of wood on the other side of the router to stop it wobbling.

Can't wait to see the jagged edge come off this

Everything looks fantastic, also like the Geordie Brown Ale

Ok, note to self, just use titebond 1

Well I ordered 6 ft of jescar med/jumbo wire, and bought this top off ebay

Score

The shape looks a lot like this '56 Ric: http://guitarz.blogspot.com/2012/04/1956-rickenbacker-combo-800-coolest.html

Personally, I don't care for one horn being sharp and the other rounded. It feels like contradictory themes; unbalanced visually. For all my opinion is worth.

Yes that is very close in shape

The link you gave calls the Ricky Combo 800 the coolest guitar in the world, I wouldn't go that far but it does look cool.

I was thinking amalgam of a tele and a Washburn Idol when I drew my shape, now I am wondering if Washburn took elements of the Combo 800 design

Click here scroll to the bottom of the page and listen to me tapping on "Plastic Woman"

Old compilation CD still available from Red Eye Records, so many years on the E list, and still loving it

Really rough cut, the leftover will be turned into a frame to balance the router when trimming up the body.

I then shaved off more from the body.

One patch the blade bent inwards to reach 3 mm off 90 degrees on the back, I said a few bad words until I realised it was 9 mm inside the tummy tuck zone, so who gives a #^%&

Beer O' clock

Here's how I chose, I put the new shape next to my blue guitar, the template's horns started to curl up with embarrassment.

If I could't improve on a an existing twin horn pointy stick shape why try?

I screwed the template to the blank

and traced around it. Then drilled holes for the jig saw to turn in. That faithful old bench drill cost $40.

Straight lines so the jig doesn't bend inwards, that was the theory anyway

I liked the original shape. Maybe the top point of left horn could be moved little towards center line (~20 mm) but not sharpened. You should decide whitch one you like the best. Looking great though!

Cheers, I drew out the original upper bout a bit smaller, it is amazing that shaving off 10 mm from that part makes so much difference to the overall look of the guitar, now both designs look good to me. Choosing between them is now a nice problem to have

What makes you think I hate the Corvus John?

but if I ever develop an ism it will be Corvusism

Yes looking upward describes it, I have sharpened it up on a paper cutout,

I watched The Human Centipede First Sequence last night with the lights out, scared the crap out of me, if ever I go driving in the woods I am taking a motor bike in the trailer.

Adding the pick up pozzies to the plan

My philosophy on guitars is that they should look beautiful, and have lovely flowing lines, in other words, not a Corvus. And the top horn on my design is not horny enough. I am reaching for my pencil

Yep, you should be stoked with this guitar, it has lots of really gorgeous elements. I love the neck, the body shape and the sandwich of woods in the body, it evokes pleasant memories of the beach and eating maxi bon style ice-creams. You should work on this design as something you can sell, here I imagine the trick would be to get as much feedback as you can, my advice would be I agree with Nate, if you designed your own scratchplate that followed the contours of the body it would look killer. I love the wide neck join, but be aware that not every one will like that feature. I do, however, like this guitar a lot, looking forward to seeing more

Looking fantastic, I like the long stable neck join and the altered lower horn

I made the valley at the top of the body a bit deeper, I want the upper point more like a shark's fin

Drew some more of the plan

The neck will be going in about another 6 mm

And worked out where the machine heads are going

Slot the inlay?

What supplebanana is getting at is, the inlay will have to be slotted wider and the frets glued and clamped overnight as if you try to hammer frets into that the shell will humpty dumpty on you.

Something stronger than woodglue as it won't attach to the fretwire.

I knew that

As in I didn't

Slot the inlay?

Jigsawed out the template

And then the part that I really like, shaping the template with a rasp, I think this is an artistic part of the process, designing a new shape with a pencil and bendy curve and then hand shaping the router guide by hand.

Pointy bits on MDF can fray, I soaked the point with superglue, covered it with baking paper and clamped it for 10 mins, problem solved.

Then sanded the template to finish it off, this shot reminds me of killemall,

Truss rod channel practice run. Guide hole for the router to gauge distance.

Finally gave up my Arlec cordless drill, it cost me $30 about 8 years ago, it was still going strong but the NiCd batteries were cactus and you can't buy replacements any more, I got a lithium battery model from Bunnings.

Channel routed, what did I learn today, add 0.5 mmm on either end of the channel, don't make the router guide too tight, it set the channel about 0.5 mm off centre, although that wouldn't be a big deal, I could just redraw the centre line before shaping the net. The last 20 mm towards the headstock needs an extra 0.5 mm either side to hold the rod allen key nut.

I gave a bit more to the lower horn on the body plan, happy with that, I cut it out and got some masking tape, stuck the tape to my T shirt a few times too turn it into low stick tape and fastened the paper to some 6 mm MDF. Traced around it, re-positioned the tape and finished the tracing.

Love the strat headstock on a tele, I wonder why that combo doesn't get built more often, mix that @#%& up

Funny how we associate telies with country music, James Black sure pulls some different sounds in lots of different genres out of his Fernandes telecaster copy.

Warren Di MArtini is one of my fave players, his expressive solos really get me, he certainly knew how to build the excitement on Invasion of Your Privacy.

There's a certain satisfaction n doing things "the hard way". It really makes you feel like YOU did it, not just guided the tool.

That being said, there are a lot of things I'd never want to do without a power tool. EG: thickness a board, resaw, hog out a cavity (pickup, control, body chamber, etc)... None of that would give me anything but a sore back. I'd much rather put the time & effort into paying more attention to the small details or doing some ridiculous inlay work.

John, Using a chisel to cut out a pup cavity is easier than you think. I did it on my latest project, just to do it. Not as hard as I thought. There is something relaxing about chiseling the cavity out. To be in a hurry would make it torture, while taking the time to place the chisel just right and cut 'curlies' out of the wood is somehow calming.

@ Muzz- the Sm slotting jig is kinda pricey for a home-builder. If you made necks all the time, I could see it , but consider the cost before you buy it.

I'd roll with 22 frets ( if it were mine ) and dull the bottom point just a tad to match the top horn.

Looking neat so far.

Yep, you have to be careful with this hobby, man it would be so easy to spend a motza, I am going to have to do a bit of remodelling on the lower horn, it's a bit stubby at the moment.

while taking the time to place the chisel just right and cut 'curlies' out of the wood is somehow calming.

+1

SR

I can totally see the point here, I just don't presently have the chisel skills, something I can work on. It would be great to make an electric guitar using only hand tools.

Real neck, easily enough room for 23 frets, bit short for 24, the overhang would be severe.

I flattened out the top of the practice neck today, I am using a welded rod.

Planning things out on the practice neck, the rod slot will finish 8 mm from the neck edge of the nut

6.2 mm wide, 10 mm deep.

That is shaping up to be a weapon , I like the way you left some wood between the neck pocket and the pickup cavity to position the neck.

And, you have my workbench