The TDPRI 2010 $210 Tele Build Challenge - The Plastercaster

Hi all,
Never joined in with one of these challanges before so here goes!

My entry will be made from a length of mahogany which had been used as a large scaffolding plank. The result is its covered in plaster (thus the name :lol:)
It was on my neighbours drive and then I acquired it last summer as it was in his way. Comepletely free! I have about enough left for 4 bodies and 3 necks.
Some of it has cracked and one neck and body ended up as scrap because of cracks and warping in a previous build, buit what is left is good to use.

As this is a nice golden piece of mahogany under all that plaster, my entry will be a black guard esquire with a figured osage orange top. Set neck with the same wood as the body.

So far the cost is £10.50 for the top. Bought from ebay here http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280436373350

The body, one piece blank, some cracks on it but not in the body area
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00373-20100226-1342.jpg

The neck
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00374-20100226-1342.jpg

Good luck every one!! :wink:


please don't crack please don't crack please don't crack please don't crack please don't crack

Good luck every one!! :wink:


please don't crack please don't crack please don't crack please don't crack please don't crack

And good luck to you too! You sound like you think you'll gonna need it! :wink: :lol:

I think you're right :lol: Some nice guitars have come out of that same slab so I'm hopeful.

I'll retake a picture of the wood with the TDPRI 2010 sign on them tomorrow. Sorry, slipped my mind

Here it is, sorry I missed it earlier. Hopefully its clear enough it was quite dark when I took the picture.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00376-20100227-0117.jpg

I can't believe the speed some of you guys going so thought I should make a start.
First cut and here we go

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00397-20100302-1029.jpg

This is rough sawn but a belt sander soon takes the worst of. Its good to see the colour of the wood coming through

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00400-20100302-1036.jpg

If your wood is to heavy, hog it out!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00403-20100302-1512.jpg

This is the first of the osage. another piece will go on the bottom.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00401-20100302-1429.jpg

Back to the sawdust.....

Here are the pieces of veneer that I'll be using between the mahogany and osage. Its 2mm thick dyed sycamore

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00405-20100302-1633.jpg

More free hog!? How come I cant find any of this... :lol:
Osage is a very cool wood as well, eager to see this one coming along.
Good luck!

Ed

Thanks Ed and good luck with yours too.
The osage and veneer wasn't free. The osage was from ebay, the second piece which will be on the back was £14.71 and the two pieces of veneer came to £9

£34.21 for the wood so far and just the fingerboard to buy. Looks like I'll stay in budget.

Look around I'm sure you'll find some, its amazing what some of the builds the members here build from.
The mahogany I'm using was In a real mess when I got my hands on it. Plaster all over one side and even car oil on part of it where the next door neighbours car would drive over it every day :lol:

I'm now looking at my old fence and thinking.......

Last job of the day while my wife is in the bath, perhaps she wont notice if I stick it behind the washing :lol:

Anyway, veneers on and clamped front and back

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00406-20100302-2227.jpg

More template abuse. Sandwich anyone?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00407-20100302-2228.jpg

This morning's little job.......create more sawdust! :lol:

Out of the clamps, who would guess this is going to be a guitar
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00408-20100304-1015.jpg

So with a little trimming of that veneer with the router
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00411-20100304-1048.jpg

One side done
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00412-20100304-1050.jpg

And the other
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00413-20100304-1101.jpg

I need to get a new flush trim bit, the bearing has ceased and made some lovely scoring marks along the edge. Final shaping will be after the top and bottom are on anyeway so not a problem

This morning part 2

This piece will be the back, lots of sanding to level.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00414-20100304-1131.jpg

I wont repeat pictures of clamping but the back is now clamped to the body/frame and the top is joined and clamped ready for tomorrow.

This picture shows how close these two woods are in colour. The mahogany just above the bottom accent line and the osage (offcuts) under it are almost identicle. Not sure how close they will be when finished.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00416-20100304-1230.jpg

Thats it for today.

Very interesting. Cool sandwich.

Very interesting. Cool sandwich.

Judging by the dust in my throat it tastes like crap :mrgreen:

Arrived in the post:
3 saddle bridge with Kent Armstrong TCHR-1 pickup, might be a Sky pickup but not sure, a push/pull pot, a couple of caps and a resistor. (Its going to be a 'cocky' plastercaster :lol:) All for the cost of postage £3.00 Thanks Wezv

A few more goodies on the way. Including a backup neck. Just in case........

Top and back on, this is the idea with the veneer

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00418-20100306-1659.jpg

The osage chips real easy, I had this huge tear out

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00419-20100306-1659.jpg

Luckily it came off in one piece so its straight forward to glue back on. The round over should remove all traces of it anyway.

For those that did not buy the wood, how are you working out the value of it? I can't figure out what this mahogany would be worth if I was to buy it

The sandwiched body looks great.

Didn't get much done today but here is a little update.

Neck pocket and pickup taken down with a forstner bit

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00421-20100313-1314.jpg

And both routed out. Control cacity and round over on top and bottom done.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00424-20100313-1412.jpg

This is the neck wood, started by drawing round the template but then ran out of time. Tomorrow I'll cut as close to the line with a jig saw and then use the template to route

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00426-20100313-1446.jpg

Thats it for now

looking good

Thanks guys.

A little progress today:

Neck rough cut, starting to dig the colours in this piece

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00428-20100321-1329.jpg

One side routed and ready to flip over and flush trim.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00429-20100321-1437.jpg

And done
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00436-20100321-1655.jpg

I think I'll borrow the truss rod from this neck

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00434-20100321-1605.jpg

Back in the jig for the truss rod channel but will have to finish that part next weekend

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00431-20100321-1601.jpg

Also did some sanding on the body today. There were some burn marks on the inside curves from the round over but they were easy to remove. Heres the front and back with one coat of sanding sealer.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00438-20100321-2055.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00445-20100321-2057.jpg

The picture of the back picked up the colour well but the picture of the front is not so good. It is the same colouring as you see on the back picture

That osage is beautiful , what size round over did you do? It looks great.

I'm liking your build very much, but Cynthia Plastercaster wants a word with you!

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/4333/cynthiac.jpg

:wink:

That osage is beautiful , what size round over did you do? It looks great.

Thanks :wink:

I think its a 1/2" roundover bit. I'll have to measure it when I'm back at home.

I'm liking your build very much, but Cynthia Plastercaster wants a word with you!

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/4333/cynthiac.jpg

:wink:

Had never heard of her before. Just looked her up; thats quite a website she has :shock:

Looking good man, keep it up!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00445-20100321-2057.jpg
That body looks fantastic.

The body looks great. Nice work.

That body is well cool. Proper good looking!

Might I be bold enough to suggest an f hole? although they're hard to do and mine's going to need a good bit of sanding to make it look nice.

Thanks everyone. Its encouraging to hear good remarks.

Kenny, not bold at all. I thought of an f-hole too but wanted to base this on a black guard esquire. Saying that I hardly ever stick to a plan!

That body looks great! I'm loving the black contrast stripes. Good work. I like the idea of a f hole as well, but it will look great with or without.

That's a beautiful body!

/ Tony

Thanks, hopefully it will come into its own once the pickguard, bridge and controls are on it. Then I really need to concentrate on the neck :roll:

Not much of an update but thought I'd show this. The grain on the osage is about as open as its found on oak so will definitly need some grain filler.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00447-20100323-1341.jpg

Have never used this stuff before so with an old AA breakdown card I slapped this gloop on and spread it around making sure I ended by going across the grain.
This stuff is transparent so hopfully will finish that way

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00449-20100323-1354.jpg

Thats the back and sides done, I'll do the front when this is dry.

Once I have sanded this back I'll pop some more sealer on top

And here's the front of that lovely body :shock:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00454-20100323-2342.jpg

Doesn't look very transparent to me :confused:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00452-20100323-2329.jpg

Having never used this before I'm hoping all will be well after sanding. I'll try to remember to take pics step by step through this stage. Hopefully it wont be too boring to read through

After sanding back that filler it just made the grain all white flecked so now have to sand it away completely, put more sealer on and then I should be back to where I was last week.

This was a big **** up :oops:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00435-20100321-1655.jpg

Not really sure what to do about that apart from start again

Good to see the uk being represented, keep up the cracking work mate, im routing for you! (pardon the pun)

Thanks Jay.

Well I got to the bottom of the grain filler nightmare. I took a look on the tonetech website and read this:

This product is based on a silicone filler that dries a cream colour in the grain of the timber and is not transparent, when over-coated though the filler shows a slight semi transparency.

That will teach me to read the description next time and not take transparent to mean transparent! :oops:

I have pretty much caught up with where I had got before putting the grain filler on. I sanded it off completely and put extra coats of sanding sealer on to fill the grain. So back to here (slightly better pics.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1498.jpg

And

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1501.jpg

Tomorrow I plan to fill in the truss rod channel and re-route it. Hopefully in the centre this time!
I have been trying to decide on what fingerboard to use and came to a choice of ebony to bring it in with the pin stripe and scratchplate or maple. I'm now thinking the maple would be better with the pinstripe under the fingerboard.
I'm also starting to question whether to use a scratchplate or not. I have some material ordered so will try it with and without once its made

lookin' sweet!

I'm not sure about a pickguard on this one, I think it would be a shame to hide the grain. :-)

Thanks DrTom, watching yours with great interest too :wink:

I think you're right Moggl. Its just that it would lose the blackguard look completely though.

Superbe, its awesome!!

Thank you Oigun, by the quality of your builds thats praise indeed!

Have to agree with oigun on that one, awesome!

As far as the pickguard goes, I'm betting it would look great either way. Maybe you should just flip a coin... :wink:

Thanks :wink:
Yeah we'll let fate decide :lol:

Leigh, I think that since you're going with the ebony and the stripes in the body, the Blackguard look is halfway on its way out the door already, anyway. Why not chuck it out all the way and show off the loveliness?
Easily dwarfs anything on page three, if you get my drift. :wink:

I'm not sure about a pickguard on this one, I think it would be a shame to hide the grain. :-)

+1 :grin:

Thanks everyone for the kind words.
I started repairing the nasty truss rod route today. Popped in a filler strip from the same slab

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00469-20100331-1523.jpg

And sanded flat

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1505.jpg

I think I managed to save that. Just hope theres no more mistakes.

A nice piece of ebony arrived today which is a likely candidate for the fingerboard. I'm swaying more to using this with no front fret markers and no pickguard

A nice piece of ebony arrived today which is a likely candidate for the fingerboard. I'm swaying more to using this with no front fret markers and no pickguard.

Sounds like a plan. :-)

Awesome build you have going on, lovin the two-tone look of the neck and the pin strips in the body. I think you you should keep with the blackguard look, with the side pin stripes and the ebony fretboard the black pickguard will just tie it all together.

Btw, what was that silicone filler you used so i know to stay from it. Great recovery though.

That black binding looks mint mate, i think it looks cracking without the scratch plate.

That is an impressive looking body.

Thanks again everyone. Its feedback like that that encourages us learners to keep at it :wink:

A day in the shed would not be the same without a disaster :oops:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00478-20100401-1640.jpg

Truss rod was a tight fit and what I thought was gentle taps was enough to split it. My own stupid fault, should have just taken it out and routed more of the side.

So back to making a new neck. I had just enough from the same slab to do this but it doesn't have the two tone grain. Its a bit messy but will still work.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00493-20100402-1525.jpg

If this build proves anything then its how to make a guitar with just the basics. Fret slots marked and cutting with a fret saw and mitre block.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00486-20100402-1453.jpg

And there we have it

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00497-20100402-1533.jpg

All clamped up. No more I can do on the neck now.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1508.jpg

One little job I forgot :lol:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1510.jpg

Btw, what was that silicone filler you used so i know to stay from it. Great recovery though.

I bought it from Tonetech Luthier Supplies, theres no make on the tin. Never had a problem with there stuff before. But it was my fault for not reading the full description first. I just read transparent and went straight for it :oops:

Out of the clamps and trimmed with the flush bit

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1514.jpg

That messy hole doesn't look so bad at this stage

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1518.jpg

Started the 12" radius with this router jig

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1520.jpg

There are only slight tooling marks using the router for this but with the radius block I start through the grades. This is where I got to before it started getting dark. I will need to re-cut the frets before I go any further.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1521.jpg

As I am still not 100% sure about the pickguard and for the price of a bit of plastic I decided to make one just in case. A standard size will not fit. The lower hown is slightly smaller than standard to avoid a crack in the mahogany slab this body (middle bit) was cut from. So I made a start on the template. The pencil line on the lower horn of the paper template is how much smaller this scratchplate will need to be. It will be single ply and hopefully matt black under the cellophane.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1511.jpg

I'll wait until the guitar is finished before deciding

Not much of an update as I have been shaping the neck which I will take some photos of tomorrow.
Just remembered about this photo

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1530.jpg

4.5 lb, not bad :wink:

This neck has been pretty slow going but just a little more to do before putting in the frets which I have never done before.
I still need to work on the transition curve of the back of the head of the neck, re-drill the tuner holes, put in the side dots (2mm brass rod) and sand smooth/polish the fingerboard.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1535.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1536.jpg

Leigh: nice idea w/ the stinger on the back of the headstock!

Thanks Moggl.

I finished the back of the neck and put the side dots in today. Didn't get to finish the fingerboard though.

I used 2mm brass rod with a dab of super glue on the end. They cleaned up nice, especially with the golden colour of the wood.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1539.jpg

All in

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1540.jpg

All levelled

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1543.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1544.jpg

Now back to sanding

I like the brass rod side markers. I keep seeing all these neat ideas in these challenge builds that I want to try at some point. I'm going to have dozens of guitars to build to try everything out.

I like the brass rod side markers. I keep seeing all these neat ideas in these challenge builds that I want to try at some point. I'm going to have dozens of guitars to build to try everything out.

+1 ! There's some fascinating stuff going on this year - amazing to think how many different ways people can build the "same" guitar!

I like the brass side dots too. I wish I had done something more creative for fret markers on my build but I ran out of ideas and went ahead with the fretwork.

This is a really cool build.

Thanks everyone.
The brass dots were real easy to work with and very cheap.

Quite a bit of progress today, I'm starting to feel like I'm on the home run now.
I was quite nervous about this next stage as I have never done frets before. I had read somewhere that super glue was good to use but they were that tight I could have left it out.
So in they go

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1545.jpg

And all in without any problems.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1546.jpg

I grinded down some nail pincers to snip the ends off which went well, forgot to take pictures of this step. I also filed the ends flush.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1550.jpg

Taking the handle off the file I made this, not very elegant but it did the job

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1553.jpg

With some sanding and polishing it worked quite well.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1565.jpg

Tomorrow I'll check for levelling.
First coat of danish oil on

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1560.jpg

And then I made a start on the pickguard (if I decide to use one). It needs more work but its almost there. Has the cover on so looks pretty ugly here.
Here are some dry fits with and without the guard before the oil went on

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1557.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1556.jpg

I'm really liking the danish oil this. Does nice things to the grain

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1561.jpg

Same effect on the back :smile:

Beautiful! Good job on the new neck too.

Thanks Tuur, I really wasn't looking forward to that part

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1556.jpg

Page 3, I'm tellin' ya. Props!

This could have gone better. I'm going to have to mod my pillar drill so it will reach, this was done with the hand drill.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1571.jpg

Couldn't resist this cheaky little number :lol:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1569.jpg

This little collection will allow me to have cocked wah with the push/pull pot

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1574.jpg

All fitted together

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1579.jpg

Interesting that you used brass rod side dots. I did the same thing with some solid copper wire on my build, because that's what I had. It was an easy way to make side dots... I did superglue one to my fingertip though....

Ouch, hope you didn't lose too much skin removing it?

I have been watching your build with great interest. I really like the copper look.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1561.jpg

Wow!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1569.jpg

Couldn't resist this cheaky little number :lol:


Where'd she come from? Likin it.

Where'd she come from? Likin it.

That was an ebay find. From the USA to the UK in less than a week. Better than the Royal Mail!

Depending on how it catches the light it can be very subtle

Better than the Royal Mail!

A one-eyed carrier pigeon with a broken wing is better than the Royal Mail....:sad:

Lovin the figuring, you oughta call it the "ZeusCaster" cause they remind me of lightning bolts.

What kinda dog you got?

Yeah I suppose there's no sign of all that plaster anymore.
They look a bit like flames to me.

My dog is an English Springer Spaniel, he's still young and as mad as a march hare. His name is Woody. Here he is with my daughter

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1327.jpg

Great work Leigh, it looks awesome looking forward to seeing it all together.

Hopefully I'll have mine just needing set up by the weekend so I hope to catch up with the other threads after that.

Adam advised me about the danish oil at the weekend, if only I had been watching everyone else I'd might have worked this out for myself. I'm the last to catch on as usual!

Cool dog, I'm guessing it's watching food in that shot? I think every build thread should feature animals of some sort.

Thanks Kenny
The danish oil is real easy to apply and you can get a nice sheen from it either by wiping it on or sanding it in and clear beeswax works welll over it too. Just try it on scrap first :wink:

Good luck getting yours finished by the weekend. I think theres quite a few of us on track to finish in time.

Yeah I think he was waiting for his bowl to be put down, its rare he sits still long enough for a photo :lol:
These threads do seem to have either an animal or a plate of food in them :lol::lol:

I've got the animals (dogs) in mine so I'm hoping I'll get a plate of food in there next week. Hell if the weathers good I'll maybe get some ribs smoking on the barbi' with the shavings of maple from the neck ;-)

I tried working on the headstock decal yesterday and found it hard coming up with something I was happy with. I eventually got there but still not entirely sure.
First attempt I put some lacquer over it thinking it would seal it to prevent the ink from running but the lacquer made the ink run :lol: So it has blurry edges

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00498-20100421-0056.jpg

Without the lacquer it worked much better.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/IMG00505-20100421-0100.jpg

This waterslide paper dries white (looks like the top image) and needs some type of oil based sealer to go over it. Lucky for me I'm using danish oil, this made the background of the paper transparent. Just like magic! :lol:

I think I still need to come up with a better design for future builds.

Hi Leigh
nice build, how does the black veneer look with finish over it, I'm thinking of using it for a Les Paul style headstock front on a telecaster shaped Variax transplant I'm planning?
I like your decal, I know the paper is readily available but how did you design yours?
regards
Harry

Thanks Harry,
The veneer just looks like some very well painted pinstriping, no grain is visible and takes the finish really well. On the back of the headstock there is some grain visible but in some light it looks like it has been painted. Not really the affect I was looking for.
David Dyke sells some fibre board which he advertises as 'used by Gibson for head veneers', but it works out more expensive. This would work though. I'm sure I read somewhere about holly being used, not too sure about that though. Preeb's '59 Les Paul build may be worth a read to see what he used on the headstock.

The decal was just written in word using coventry garden font then copied into photoshop to lay them all out on the page. My inkjet printer made them appear washed out so I converted it into a pdf and used a laser printer at work. Seems to have fone the trick. I'm sure there's better paper out there, this one is quite thick and needs a finish to make the backing transparent. This stuff was from Colemans, I would avoid it in the future but as they will open packs a sell individual sheets, it was ideal for this challenge.

Good luck with your new project, how did the last one come along?

Final finishing coats went on this morning using none other than:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1600.jpg

I though I took some pictures of of this but must have missed this part. So will skip this for now until I start putting it all together. Tomorrow I hope, alone with the wiring.

Tuners installed using a trusty ruler to make sure they are straight, well fairly straight I screwed em down

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1603.jpg

And the other side

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1607.jpg

This is the pickup I'll be using

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1610.jpg

Should be pretty hot at 8.7k :mrgreen:

or do the upper frets look a bit wonky.

I wondered when someone would mention that, yes 20th fret isn't straight. I think the neck slipped in the jig when I recut them after radiusing the board. I'm hoping I'll have time to sort that fret out before the deadline. Should be easy enough to do.

Job list for today was to do the wiring, add a string tree put the strings on and set her up. I decided to leave off the strap pins as I always play sitting down anyway.
Here's the underside of the control plate, its a little busy

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1618.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1619.jpg

So its all done apart from the intonation which I'll sort ouit tonight and then I'll be declaring its completion later. I also need to sort through the final photos.

I was going to fill in the 20th fret with a little piece of ebony offcut and redo it but I think it may have been thrown away when I cleaned up.
Here is the guilty fret

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1638.jpg
More to come............... :wink:

It wasn't until the last minute I decided whether to use a scratchplate or not. Here it is without

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1642.jpg

And daddy's little helpers :grin:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1640.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1641.jpg

It sort of looks undressed and with a test fit of the scratchplate I thought there was no contest so on it went.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1655.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1622.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1658.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1656.jpg

A few patchy areas here
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1672.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1665.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1673.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1674.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1675.jpg

Sorry some of those aren't in order. Just to be clear, the ones with the strings on are the last pictures taken:lol:
There were more pics taken without the scratchplate but seems as I didn't go that route they're a bit unecessary.

I had changed one of the caps on the push pull pot to match the other orange drops but it took the cocked wah affect away and filtered out all the highs so I put the other back on which you can see in the photo of the push/pull pot. It has an amazing range of tone with this and the pickup in this setup works really well. First time I've used Kent Armstrong and very pleased with it.

Ok, so here's my price list. A few items were given to me for the price of the postage but as we are not including the postage in the calculation I'll just include it as the cost of the part. The mahogany which was covered in plaster when I got it was free so I have tried to put a fair value on the amount I have used. Some items have also been found in old tins full of parts or given to me so I have put a value on them too. Reason I explain this is because actual money spent will be less than my calculation but will still try to place values on it all.

Mahogany for body and neck was free but will value at £10
Osage £10.50 and £14.71
Sycamore vaneer£9
Truss rod taken out of an old knackered neck, will value at £8
Ebony £9
Brass rod £1.40
Neck plate £13.00
Pickguard blank £7
Strings £5.50
Nut off an old MIM strat but local shop sells them for 30p
String tree £1.99
Fret wire £8.00
Alpha pot £2.20
Knobs £2
Control plate £6
Electro socket wich jack socket £8.00
Cloth wire 50p?
Switch £8.00
Ferrules £4.50
Caps £2
Tuners free with a second hand neck, value at £17.50
Screws £3?
Bridge, pup, push/pull and 2 caps and a resistor £3 from TDPRI and UKGB member
Finish (sanding sealer, Danish oil and wax) £5?

Total
£159.90 inc VAT

According to my calculations $210 converted to GBP works out at £136.57 (£136.568) + 17.5% vat allows a budget of £160.47 so just in!

Finished :mrgreen:

Great job, Congratulations!

That's a Beautiful guitar.... The pickguard finishes it off perfectly, great choice.

How are so many fantastic looking guitars coming up for $210? When I entered i thought it would be a competition of people fishing through dumpsters and cramming a few old odds and ends together etc, the standard has been fantastic.

Congratulations Leigh, once again BEAUTIFUL!

Thanks guys,
You should see what I started with :lol:

Now thats finished its time to pour a double :mrgreen:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1681.jpg

Very nice. http://i847.photobucket.com/albums/ab34/Jack393/Animations/cid_0ThumbsUp.gif It definitely looks better with the pickgua...... uh ....... scratchplate.

Very nice.

According to my calculations $210 converted to GBP works out at £136.57 (£136.568) + 17.5% vat allows a budget of £160.47 so just in!

I wish I'd known about the VAT thing. I've scrimped and compromised to come in at £140.

That looks just really beautiful Leigh! I hope the two young ladies know what a cool dad they have!!! :grin:

Very nice. http://i847.photobucket.com/albums/ab34/Jack393/Animations/cid_0ThumbsUp.gif It definitely looks better with the pickgua...... uh ....... scratchplate.

Thanks Jack, I always get confused between pickguard and scratchplate, and fingerboard and fretboard :roll:


I wish I'd known about the VAT thing. I've scrimped and compromised to come in at £140.

I didn't know about it either until I read the post on page 2 of the challenge rules. Your build doesn't look like you have had to compromise at all :wink:

That looks just really beautiful Leigh! I hope the two young ladies know what a cool dad they have!!! :grin:

Thanks CJ, I'm the lucky one there. :grin:

Hi Leigh
cracking job, looks fantastic in those last pictures..............excellent taste in whiskey too.........my libation of choice is Laphroaig.....the water of life!
How did you find the fret job, I think I remember you commenting somewhere that you hadn't attempted it before. I am going to have to do it on my mahogany/redwood headache and I was wondering how you pre-bent the frets......did you use the "drag the wire between two bits of wood" technique which was shown on here a while back?
On the subject of mahogany and redwood.....glad to see yours back up and running again........what kind of finnish are you planning?.........this one looks great but I imagine osage is a lot tougher than redwood!
I'm still pottering with mine......just made a brass ferrule block today.....I will do a thread on it once I have done the "double dye" stage on the top, by then I will know if the cracks are going to show or be hidden by the black dye.....fingers crossed! If not I have a cunning plan B to fall back on! I think it's worth doing a thread just to show the catalogue of disasters that you can never anticipate but have to work around!
What are your next builds going to be? ( I know you've got the bug!)
best wishes again
Harry

Nice one Leigh, that's stunning!

I never realised about the VAT thing either, I must earn to read things. Great news though, I can lose that awful 3mm pickplate ;-)

Great work, man.

Thanks Harry,
Its a lovely whiskey. I haven't had a bottle of Laphroaig for a few years. I remember sending off a card to own a square foot of land on Islay and the distillary pays dram of whiskey every year for ground rent. I must travel there soon and ask for my rent :lol: Just a bit of silliness really.

The wire came from Axesrus and is pre bent, it was perfect for the 12" radius.
They took a few taps to seat them, may have been too thick for my fret saw. It was one of those jobs that I delay thinking I wont be able to do it but then taking the plunge and realising it was much easier than I thought. There's a lot of room for improvement but real happy with my first attempt.

The mahogany/sapele and redwood went on hold while I was working on this one but I can get that finished now. Need to buy more fret wire and replace one of the pots which I took for this one. Shouldn't take much to finish it. Still not happy with the colour, I think its too dark so I might sand it back more. Finish will be a lacquer, it needs a lot more protection than this osage.

Good luck with yours, will look forward to reading your thread.

May the bug continue! :lol:

Thanks Kenny,
I hope I read it correct. You had better read through it, if I read it wrong I would hate others to disqualify by reading this.

I bought my scratchplate blank for £7 from this company www.auroraproject.co.uk. My first dealing with them, and received it in a couple of days. They mainly do guards with lights but will sell the blanks if you contact them. Unless you know someone that does them cheaper :wink:

It looks fantastic with the black pickguard leigh. Truly well done, great work.

Simply gorgeous!

Very nice! The black stripes on the edge give it a really classy look

As the others have said Great Job! Glad you went with the pickguard.

Just read the rules on the tax thing.

I agree, it states that you don't add tax to your prices, so I'd say it's fair to add the vat to the budget and go from there. that might allow me to buy some real bakelite from here

http://www.wdmusic.co.uk/category/Pickguards/Blank_Pickguard_Sheets,b.html

for my pickguard and trem cover. hmmm........

It looks fantastic with the black pickguard leigh. Truly well done, great work.

Thank you

Simply gorgeous!

Thank you

Very nice! The black stripes on the edge give it a really classy look

Thank you

As the others have said Great Job! Glad you went with the pickguard.

And thank you!
Must be doing something right then:lol:

Kenny, that bakelite will be a nice touch. Go for it :wink:

I see that others are weighing their finished guitars so thought I would see what mine is. And it weighs in at 8.7lbs
I'm happy with that.

I decided to set this up for slide and man does the esquire tones and cocked wah sound good.
I'm still trying to figure out a way to record and upload sound samples. I realised I can record in Guitar rig if I plug the guitar straight into the pc but you could make a broom handle and a piece of string sound good with that. Not even sure what to upload them to.

The pinstripe 'binding' is so cool.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1658.jpg

The pinstripe 'binding' is so cool.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/leighgreen/DSCN1658.jpg

Thanks :wink:
Its my take on modern vs vintage looks. Hopefully I got there