devo_stevo's 2012 Challenge Build Thread -- COMPLETED

Well........here goes nothing. I've got some wood in the garage and some parts in the mail so let's see what happens.

Good luck with your build.

Thanks a bunch. I'm pretty excited about this.

I love it when people say stuff like that because they usually end up building something completely awesome!

Good luck!

Thanks Roger. I've got something good in mind. Hope I can finish it on time. Good luck to you too.

Welcome and good luck! :grin:

Dave

Thanks and good luck to you too Dave.

It's getting crowded in here already. Just printed out the entry paper and will hopefuly have some time tomorrow to get things rolling. So excited to do this and to see what everyone else comes up with.

Best of luck to all.

I'll be watching - Good luck & have fun

Thanks nosmo. I am a bass player like you, but I'm builidng a guitar this time. I've built two basses and have decided to expand my musical horizons a bit and try to learn the guitar, so naturally here we are. I can't buy one now that I know I can build it. ;)

Alrighty then. I got some time in the shop tonight to work on this. Was able to get the neck blank pieces all milled and glued up.

First things first. Here's the proof photo showing that this has started as rough lumber.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1439.JPG

We've got a strip of maple for the center laminate in the neck along with some purpleheart that goes next to that and the outer laminations of the neck will be from the ash. There is enough ash to do the neck, and body. I'll use the quartersawn white oak as the top for the body and maybe the back as well...don't know about that yet. There is also some bloodwood for the fingerboard and I am going to try my hand at making a pickup cover from the blodwood also. Never done that before, so it should be interesting.

Here are the templates that I made about a month ago in preperation for this challenge.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1440.JPG

It's going to be a neck through design with the above mentioned woods and a hartail bridge with a single P90 pickup. I'm a fan of simple electronics in my instruments, so this suits me well.

With that wood combo, it sounds like it's going to rival my cement caster for weight :lol:. Yours is going to be a whole lot prettier though, that's for sure!

First things first, I needed to use some boards to make a different board to make a neck out of. So I took some of the ash from the previous pic and cut it into strips and jointed the sides so that they were nice and straight.

I then placed the 3/8" maple strip in the center and the two 1/4" purpleheart strips beside it (these were leftover pieces from the last bass I built last year, that's why they were already milled and ready to use). Once I had them in place, I took the ash and clamped (dry, no glue yet) it to the side of the others.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1441.JPG

I then checked to see if my joints were good by holding the whole thing up to the light. If there is light coming through the joint, it needs more work. Fortunately, it all looked good, so I spread som glue and clamped the whole thing up nice and tight.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1444.JPG

Tomorrow, I'll remove the clamps and square it all up. Then it will be time for the scarf joint for the headstock.

See you then.:grin:

With that wood combo, it sounds like it's going to rival my cement caster for weight :lol:. Yours is going to be a whole lot prettier though, that's for sure!

LOL. I hope it isn't THAT heavy. I guess we'll find out.

I'm not a bass player. I'm barely a guitar player. I just have too many guitars so I figured I needed a bass. (Did I just say I had too many guitars? Somebody slap me.) Its pretty cool that I'm building a bass and you're building a guitar. Who'd a thunk it.

I'm not a bass player. I'm barely a guitar player. I just have too many guitars so I figured I needed a bass. (Did I just say I had too many guitars? Somebody slap me.) Its pretty cool that I'm building a bass and you're building a guitar. Who'd a thunk it.

That is odd.:wink: And you're right. Everyone needs a bass.

Took the clamps off of the neck blank this morning and it looks pretty good. Nice and straight and should mill down to just about the right dimensions in the end.

I'll get pictures tonight along with making the piece for the headstock. Things are moving right along.

Got some more time in the garage tonight and got a bit done. I took the neck blank that was in the clamps...out.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1447.JPG
And I ended up with this.

After a few passes through the planer...I had this.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1449.JPG

It turned out just right. Not too thin, but not too thick at just under 7/8".

After this, it was time to cut a piece of ash to use as a headstock.

This will do.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1450.JPG
Resawed it...
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1451.JPG
And ran it through the planer to get it to about 1/2" thick.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1452.JPG

After all that was done, I put some masking tape on the neck blank and the headstock piece and use some double stick tape to attach the headstock piece to the neck. Like this.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1454.JPG
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1455.JPG
Then I took the whole thing to the bandsaw and cut them both at roughly 13 degrees.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1456.JPG
After that, it goes to the trusty scarf joint making router jig.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1457.JPG
I ran out of time tonight, so this will have to wait for tomorrow night when I can get this routed and gued up. Hopefully I can get the truss rod routed this weekend and the neck tapered and headstock cut out too.

Then it will be on to the body next week...stay tuned.

Nice. I like your neck better than mine.

You're too kind. Thanks.

I'm curious to see how the ash turns out in the neck. I really like the way it looks and I'm hoping that it feels good as a finished neck.

Yours is looking good too by the way.

Scarf joint genius methods here.. Will imitate in the future for sure.

Scarf joint genius methods here.. Will imitate in the future for sure.

+1

Thanks for the kind words guys. I am glad that i can help somewhere.

I'm probably not going to get to work on this tonight due to other things that I have to do, but Saturday, I'm for sure getting some work done. I'll get the scarf joint cleaned up with the router jig and glued and work on the fingerboard.

That's the goal anyway.

Looking good. woods will make a gorgeous guitar!
I, too, like your method for getting a good angle on the neck and headstock. I've been toying with the idea of using some wood I have here for a neck, and using some different wood for the headstock. Your method is simple, and quite effective. I'll be stealing it, LOL.

Thanks gitlvr. The jig is not my invention. I got the idea from talkbass. I've used it with good results on the two necks that I've built previously. So you are free to "steal" what is already a "stolen" idea. :D

Alright, time for an update.

Got the scarf joint all done. First I mounted the super custom router base plate that I made.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1458.JPG
From there we go to the neck in the jig. It has a line that goes down the length of the jig to help mount the blank straight. It's very important to get the blank mounted straight in the jig or you will end up with a crooked headstock and that just looks silly. Not ot mention it just wouldn't work very well.

Anyway, here it is all lined up and clamped to the jig and the workbench so that nothing moves.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1459.JPG
Then fix the bit height in the router to make sure that you are going to get it all.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1460.JPG
Then make some wood chips and sawdust...
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1461.JPG
At this point, it's pretty good, but you can feel that there are a few little imperfections in the surfaces. A little bit of sandin with some 120 grit on a flat sanding block takes care of this in short order.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1462.JPG
Next we'll glue it up.

First, it is important to dry fit your joint and make sure that it is going to work properly.

Looks pretty good so far.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1464.JPG
With it clamped like this, I mark the approximate location of the headstock so that I know where the waste is going to be. I then drill two small holes outside of the headstock area so that a toothpick can be wedged in the holes to aid in aligning the headstock with the neck and prevent it from slipping when the glue is applied.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1466.JPG
Then smear some glue on the surfaces that are to be glued up.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1467.JPG
Insert the toothpicks and put as many clamps on this as you can.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1468.JPG
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1469.JPG
Density is your friend when it comes to clamping these.

I took the clamps off of it last night and it looks good. Next up for the neck is routing the truss rod channel and access. This one will have the access at the headstock. I'll hopefully be able to get tho that on Monday.

I also got a bit done with the fingerboard.

I took a piece of bloodwood.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1470.JPG
I planed it down to just about 5/16" thick.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1472.JPG
The dust from bloodwood is some really messy stuff and it gets everywhere. It also has a VERY disteinct smell to it.

Then I marked a center line on the board (you can sort of see it in these photos). With that, I taped my fret slot template (just a full size printout of the fret locations) down to the board using the center lines as a guide to make sure that everything was straight.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1473.JPG
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1474.JPG

From there, I will cut the slots on the board. That will have to wait though because I was out of time yesterday at this point.

The only problem with this fingerboard is that within about 5 minutes of paning it, it developed a big twist. I'm think thinning it down released a lot of inner stress and it moved...I've got it clamped to the top of the router table to see if this helps calm that down. I may have to do something else though. We'll see in a few days if anything changes. I hope that I can use it. I really like bloodwood, as it works pretty well and finishes beautifully and feels good under the hand when playing on it.

That's a nice jig for the headstock.

With your neck being laminated like that, do you think a little twist in what will turn out to be a bit over 1/4" thick fingerboard will have a big effect? No, really, I want to know 'cause I don't have a clue. How much does a fingerboard really effect a neck? Of course, it would be best if all our wood was straight & level.

Oops, sorry, big twist. I guess I read closer before I post.

That's a nice jig for the headstock.

With your neck being laminated like that, do you think a little twist in what will turn out to be a bit over 1/4" thick fingerboard will have a big effect? No, really, I want to know 'cause I don't have a clue. How much does a fingerboard really effect a neck? Of course, it would be best if all our wood was straight & level.

A small twist in a fingerboard is not that big a deal. I used bloodwood on a bass last year that was twisted almost as much as this one did (from the same board). It has been on there since then adn has remained straight and not shown any sign of movement for a year now. So I'm not too worried about it.

Toothpick method = simple and so smart!

Really nice work on the scarf joint. I was concerned about doing that and now that you've lead the way, I feel confident that I can find a new way to mess it up! :roll:

That neck is looking great!

Toothpick method = simple and so smart!

Thanks. Simple is best. Usually. This just happens to work well and is easy.

Really nice work on the scarf joint. I was concerned about doing that and now that you've lead the way, I feel confident that I can find a new way to mess it up! :roll:

That neck is looking great!

You never know how you will mess something up until you try it. :)

The only thing is to go slow and be patient. You'll be surprised what happens and what you do without screwing it up. Go for it.

Looks fantastic so far...I've gotta do a scarf joint neck here at some point

Thanks Dilbone for the kind words.

I'm going to try to get some more work done on this tonight. Let's see if that happens.

You never know how you will mess something up until you try it. :)

The only thing is to go slow and be patient. You'll be surprised what happens and what you do without screwing it up. Go for it.

That first sentance reminds me of my entire build - you must be watching.

The second sentance is absolutely true, most of the things I've messed up have been from trying to go too fast. I hope I have enough time when I get home so I wont feel rushed to finish.

I am watching your build and you're doing a great job. I'm really impressed especially for a first build. Really nice.

I got a chance to get out in the garage again tonight and got some more work done. Watching some of the other builds, I feel like Im hardly moving on this...

Tonight, I slotted the fingerboard. It has flattened out a bit and I think that I'm going to be able to use it. That makes me pretty happy.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1475.JPG

I also did some more work on the neck. I cleaned up the top of the neck by giving it a pass over the jointer to clean up the scarf joint.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1478.JPG

As you can see, I also marked the outline of teh neck taper and the headstock. After I did that, it was off to the bandsaw and I cut off all of the wood that did look like a neck.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1480.JPG

It's looking pretty good so far and I am pretty happy with it. I really love the look of the ash in the neck. You don't see it used very often in necks and that's a shame because it looks great.

I love the nice straight grain on the side of the neck.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1481.JPG

And at the headstock.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1482.JPG

Here's the back of the headstock for now. It'll get cleaned up of course.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1483.JPG

That scarf joint looks great. I may have to make one of those jigs one day. The neck is coming along well. You're right, the ash looks sweet.

Don't worry about your pace - you'll be miles ahead of me by the time I get back to my shop!

Hey, it's been 3 days now and I'm starting to worry about your pace:lol:

Hey, it's been 3 days now and I'm starting to worry about your pace:lol:

Don't worry. I'm still here.

There has been some progress but I haven't had the rime to post an update yet. I'll try to get to it tonight. I got the neck tapered and the truss rod routed. Also got the fingerboard glue on tonight. It's in the clamps now actually. I still need to get pictures then I'll post them too.

Thanks for keeping me on track. :p

Oops

Dang. Sorry for the triple post.

Got some work done on this over the last couple of days.

First, I rough cut the body "wings" from some ash. Gives a good idea of what the finished guitar will look like. It actually looks like a tele!
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1484.JPG
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1485.JPG

Then I stuch the neck template to the neck blank and routed along the edges.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1486.JPG
Then I took the template off and finished routing the rest of the thickness of the neck.

After that, it was time for a truss rod slot. I mounted a 1/4" straight spiral upcut bit in the router with a brass guide collar.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1488.JPG

Set up a straight edge and clamped it all down. Then routed the channel in three passes getting progressively deeper with each pass until I reached the correct depth to get the truss rod the fit perfectly in the slot.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1490.JPG
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1491.JPG
I'm using a two way truss rod from Grizzly. I've used these in all of my other necks and they are quite nice and easy to install and work great.

Tonight, I got the fingerboard glued to the neck. I had the cut it to length first then line it all up on the center line of the neck. I dry clamp it to the neck and mark the outline of the neck on the back side of the fingerboard. This way I have a line to line it up with when I glue it to the neck and I clamp it down. Sorry, I was in a hurry and didn't get pictures of this part of the process.

With my marks on the back of the fingerboard, I place that on the top of the router table upaide down and spread glue on the neck after placing masking tape over the truss rod. I then remove the tape and place the neck on the fingerboard and while carefully lining it up with the lines on the side of the neck, I tighten the clamps. And that is where it sits for tonight. It will stay there for tonight and sometime tomorrow, I'll take the clamps off and trim the fingerboard to the sides of the neck.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1492.JPG
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1493.JPG

Nice work on the neck. That ash is looking really good. What finish are you planning to use?

Man, that neck looks great with the wings on it. Nice clean truss rod job too.

OK, you can slow down now - you're getting ahead of me again:lol:

Nice work on the neck. That ash is looking really good. What finish are you planning to use?

Thanks this is going to get Formby's tung oil on it. I like the feel of an oil finished neck better than lacquer or poly.

Man, that neck looks great with the wings on it. Nice clean truss rod job too.

OK, you can slow down now - you're getting ahead of me again:lol:

Thanks nosmo. I'm sure that I'll slow down soon enough. Summer is coming and it only gets busier from here.

Tonight was fingerboard radiusing night. I know it's really exciting.

First, I trimmed the fingerboard close to the edge of the neck with the bandsaw, then used a flush trim bit in the router to trim it right to the neck.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1494.JPG

Then, after I taped off the headstock and a little bit of the neck at the body end, I started with 60 grit paper on a 12" radius sanding block from Stew Mac.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1495.JPG

I used the 60 grit until the whole board was radiused, then moved on to the progressively finer grits until I git it up to 600 grit. And there I stopped.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1497.JPG
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1498.JPG

Next up will be cutting the fret slots deeper and drilling for side markers and then fretting. I'm not a big fan of dots or other inlays on the face of a fingerboard, so this one will stay nice and simple just like it is.

Thanks for looking.

That board is so pretty it doesn't need dots or markers distracting from it. Nice work!

That board is so pretty it doesn't need dots or markers distracting from it. Nice work!

Thanks a lot. I like the look of bloodwood and it makes a great fingerboard. I'm going to try to get out in the garage today to make a bit more progress on this.

Man the color combination is awesome. It all looks so good together. Can't wait to see it finished.

Man the color combination is awesome. It all looks so good together. Can't wait to see it finished.

Thanks nosmo. I got a bit more done on it today but I don't have the time just yet to post the pictures. It's starting to look like a guitar neck.

Got some more work done on the neck in the last couple of days.

Once I got the fingerboard radiused, I had to recut the fret slots to the correct depth.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1500.JPG

With that done, it was time to sand the volute and transition at the body end of the neck. This was done by measuring the depth of the truss rod slot at the headstock and adding about .25" to get the thickness of the neck.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1503.JPG

Then draw a line on the side of the neck so that I don't sand too much off.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1504.JPG

Then head to the GOSS(?) and sand the back of the neck to the line. Like this.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1506.JPG

Then do the same at the other end for the neck to body transition.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1501.JPG

Then it was time for the side dots to go in.

Put some tape on the side of the neck so that I could see the lines I drew and marked the locations of the dots.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1509.JPG

Then marked the locations of the holes with a center punch and drilled the holes.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1523.JPG

A dab of CA glue in each hole and the dots are in.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1524.JPG

I also got a atart on carving the neck. Started with the volute and transition area at the headstock.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1526.JPG
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1525.JPG

Got that far then realized that I should probably put the frets in before I got too carried away.

So I did the frets tonight. They turned out much better than my first fret job which was a relief.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1529.JPG

I've still got to finish up dressing the ends, but they have been filed flush with the fingerboard and I put a bevel on them. I'll get to that this weekend, then I can start on the body for real.

Almost forgot. I also sanded the edges of the fingerboard so that they are nice and round and comfy.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1502.JPG

This was of course done before I put the frets in.

Saweeeet!:grin:

Wow, Steve, you weren't messing around were you? Lots of progress, and really well done too.

Thanks nosmo and Roger.

I'm trying to get the neck done to the point where I need to get working on the body. Should be next week. I feel like I'm getting further behind all the time. This neck is taking a lot of time. It is turning out pretty good though, so I'm happy with that.

Got the neck carved tonight. Looks and feels great and now it's time to work on the body. I'll post a pic later. It's not too exciting.

I would also just like to give props to everyone that is participating in this years challenge. There are some seriously nice guitars (and basses) being buil by everyone here. I've really been enjoying watching it all happen. It truely makes me want to bring my own work to a new level just being a part of it.

Also the amount of knowledge and experience being shared so freely is amazing what a great place this is and what a great opportunity.

Thanks for letting this hack play with you guys.

You got that right! I agree 100%

Where's the hack? I don't see a hack. Nice neck btw :wink:

Love the bloodwood fretboard. Considered that before going with Padauk on mine.
Nice, clean work. Gonna look great!

You got that right! I agree 100%

You are included in that statement. I've got a few ideas already for the future from your build...

Where's the hack? I don't see a hack. Nice neck btw :wink:

lol. I wouldn't dare put myself in the same category as the guys on here. this is only my third instrument and I'm still figuring a lot of this stuff out.

Glad you like the neck. Thanks a lot, it means a lot coming from you.

Love the bloodwood fretboard. Considered that before going with Padauk on mine.
Nice, clean work. Gonna look great!

Thanks a lot. I'm loving the padauk on yours too. It has that lovely stripey grain that always looks great on a neck. Very different from the bloodwood. They are both nice in their own right.

So what kind of finish do you plan to use? Your wood is so pretty I'd hate to hide it. I'm a big fan of natural finishes myself, but to be honest, I haven't seen a bad finish on any of the challenge builds. Paint, bursts, stain, Tru Oil, alligator....I'm still kind of waiting to see how someone finishes concrete, but I'm sure that will be nice too.

It'll get the Formby's Tung Oil on it. I prefer the look and feel of an oil finish over glossy lacquers or poly finishes. I'll wetsand the body and neck with it to use as a grain filler (I've read where others do this and it works) then lay it on in thin coats until it looks and feels good.

Honestly, the finishing part of building scares me more than anything and I'm not very good at it yet. Still trying to figure out a way I like to do it. Hopefully, this is it.

I'm having a hard time finding the time to work on this lately, but I'm hoping to spend some quality time in the garage soon enough to get a good start on the body and keep the momentum up. I'm thinking that I'll chamber the body to reduce the weight a bit. I'll figure that out when I get the top glued onto the core piece. Still up in the air about whether I should do a F-hole of some type. I'll mess around with some things and then ask for opinions on that...watch for that soon enough.

Here's a great idea that Muzikp posted in my build. Since you already have the 'wings' it looks like it would be pretty easy.

http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg535/nosmospics/Bass%20Build/file-1337.jpg

Of course I'm using this picture without James' permission, but he did say he stole the idea from someone else :wink:

Oh yeah, I forgot to add - I like the oil finish idea. I hate finishing too, never had the patience for it.

thanks nosmo. I've got some ideas about the chambering thing that I'm going to try out.

Got some more done on this last night. Resawed the oak and glued the top peices to the ash body wings that I've already cut out. Also did a bit of work on the frets. Leveled and crowned them. They are just waiting to be polished and have the ends smoothed up a bit.

Pictures tonight when I'm not at work.

Finally, I'm back with an update. It's been a while, and I have done a lot over the last few days.

First, I finished up shaping the neck.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1530.JPG

There is still some fine tuning to be done and the heel transition at the body will be done when the body is glued to the neck, but it feels and looks pretty good so far.

I also worked on the frets a bit. I masked off the fretboard, then used a sharpie to draw on the frets.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1548.JPG

Then I used the radiused sanding block that I used to radius the board and sanded untill all of the marker was gone on all of the frets.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1549.JPG

After that, I used the marker again to mark the tops of the frets. Then took the crowning file to the tops of the frets to round the tops over again making sure to leave just a bit of the marker on the top of the frets.

After that, I hit the ends of the frets with a small file to smooth things out a bit. I havn't polished them yet, but that will come soon enough.

I was also able to get some work done on the body. I resawed the oak for the top of the body.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1542.JPG

Ran it through the planer to get the saw marks out and glued the tops to the body pieces.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1545.JPG
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1546.JPG

Let that dry overnight and yesterday, I cut the oak to match the body shape. After that, I attached my templates and routed the body to match. This is what it looks like now.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1550.JPG

This morning, I woke up early and wanted to get atarted on the chambering o fhte body.

Started by figuring out where the pickup will be and the control cavity. Also drew a bit of a pattern to follow for the chambers.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1553.JPG

After that, it was off to the drill press and the forstner bit to hog some of that out.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1554.JPG

This will all get cleaned up and fixed up nice before I glue the back of the body on.

Anyway, that's where it sits for now. I'll be trying to get more done in the coming week to keep the momentum up. Here's a shot at the back.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1555.JPG

Thanks for looking and for all of the encouraging comments. Keep them coming guys.

Um yep, I get $.07 cents royalty per view of that photo :lol:. This is looking really good, I like this build. What do you have planned for that part that is still sticking out the bottom?

$.07?!?! How do I get in on that?

Thanks for the kind words. I'm glad you like it.

The end of the neck will get cut off when I glue the body on.

If I had known you were putting a back on it, I could have saved 7 cents!

The check is in the mail:wink:

LOL

I finished hollowing out the body and glued backs on them tonight. I'll update with picks in the next day or two.

It's a lot lighter than it was before I removed all that wood. Makes me happy.

Ok folks. I'm finally getting to updating this. It's been a very busy week, so I haven't had tons of time to work on this, but I did get out in the garage some tonight.

First of all, I trimmed the wood that I glued to the back of the body to fit the shape.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1639.JPG

As you can see, it's quite a bit thicker than the neck at this point.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1640.JPG
Ok, so that picyure sucks and maybe you can't see, but trust me, it's thicker.

So to remedy that, I took some purpleheart and did this.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1641.JPG
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1644.JPG

Then I took some ash and did the same thing, but left it a bit thicker.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1645.JPG

Made it so that the total thickness of all that matched the thickness of the body and I now present to you the gratuitous picture of wood in clamps.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1646.JPG
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1647.JPG

So.....How's it going? Haven't heard from you in awhile. I keep thinking one day I'll go to your thread and BAM, there it is finished.

So.....How's it going? Haven't heard from you in awhile. I keep thinking one day I'll go to your thread and BAM, there it is finished.

Well, it's not exactly finished yet. I did order the last of the parts that i needed though and they should be here this week. I have a few pictures to post, but haven't had time to do it yet.

As of now, the body is glued to the neck and it looks like a guitar. Right now, I need to get the heel transition carved at the back of the neck and body, then do the control cavity, pickup route and drill holes to mount the bridge and the thru-body holes for the strings. Then sand the heck out of it and finish then wire it up. Hope I can get it all done. I'm starting to stress a bit about it.

Drilled the tuner holes...
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1654.JPG

Then glued the body sides to the neck....
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1653.JPG
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1652.JPG

Also, forgot to mention that the body pieces did get a 1/4" roundover on them. When I trim the end of the neck off, I will do the rest of the roundover at that time. Hopefully, this week will be a productive on in some part of my life. I haven't been getting much done anywhere it feels like even though I've been running around like crazy.

Hey thanks for the pictures, I was starting to worry about you. The guitar looks great. Everything from the headstock shape, the fretboard wood to the colors of wood you used in the neck & body seem to be a perfect match. You've still got plenty of time.

I got a bit done today. I sanded the front and back so that the neck and body are flush with each others and then worked on the neck to body transition. I've still got to sand the sides of the body to get the burn marks off of it from the router. I'll get to that this week too hopefully.

Here she is from the front.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1659.JPG
And the back...
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1660.JPG
Here is the heel up close. It looks and feels pretty good right now. Just needs a bit more tuning and it will be perfect.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1661.JPG

Hey thanks for the pictures, I was starting to worry about you. The guitar looks great. Everything from the headstock shape, the fretboard wood to the colors of wood you used in the neck & body seem to be a perfect match. You've still got plenty of time.

Thanks a lot man. You don't need to worry about me. I'll get it done. It might be the last day, but it will get done. Thanks for the kind words about the design too. I'm pretty happy with the way this one is turning out so far. Gives me hope that I might be good at this one day. :wink::mrgreen:

Got a bit more done over the last two nights.

First I drilled the holes for the bridge including the string thru holes. This was the first time I had done this particular thing and was a bit nervous about making it work and turning out ok. They aren't perfect, but they came out pretty good and they are going to be good enough for me.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1665.JPG

Then I worked on the pickup route. It's getting a single p90 in the bridge position.

Taped on the template.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1662.JPG
Hogged it out with a forstner bit, then routed to about 5/8" deep.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1663.JPG

So far, so good. Now I just need to work out the control cavity in the back, chop off the end of the neck and give it a roundover to match the body then get to sanding. The rest of my parts came today as well as a set of nut files to make the nut. I'm hoping to be finishing by the middle of next week. I need to if I'm going to finish.

Wow! Stellar!!!

thanks rcole! You're too kind.

Great job so far. The string holes look good from here.

Thanks Roger. They're close, but not perfect. They look good in a low resolution picture taken without a flash at an angle in a poorly lit garage after dark though. ;)

Thanks Roger. They're close, but not perfect. They look good in a low resolution picture taken without a flash at an angle in a poorly lit garage after dark though. ;)

Isn't this exactly the way we're supposed to take pictures? At the very least,
it should apply to new builders such as myself.

Your build, on the other hand, deserves high quality & resolution pics as it's
looking great!

Emoney, those are some kind words there. Thanks a lot. I'm just as new at this as anyone, trust me when I say that I learn as much with each one as anyone does.

Yours is looking great by the way. Love the green.

Some really nice work going on here, well done!!

Thats looking great! Nice job on the heel too , I bet that's really comfortable! Keep up the nice work!

Thanks so much for the kind words guys. I really apreciate it.

Time is quickly running out. Only 2 more weeks. I can't believe it's gone that fast. I have been slowly whittling away at the to do list on this.

I got the control cavity routed and holes drilled from the pickup and bridge to the cavity. I'm now working on the nut.

Still to do is a cover for the cavity, then sand the crap out of it and finish. Then it's on to wiring and assembly. Feels like it's such a long way from done. I'm hoping I have enough time.

I'll post pics later tonight when I get a free moment at home.

What are you doing for finish? It's getting a little late for nitro. Guitar looks fantastic. Everything from the curves in the neck heel to the wood you used. I love this guitar!

It's going to get an oil finish. I'll use Formby's Tung Oil on it. It dries fast and I can get multiple coats on in a day, so I still have time, but it's going to be tight.

Thanks for the kind words nosmo. You're way too kind.

I sure do like what you have done. It looks great and I really like the neck/body transition. Nicely done!

I'm feeling your pain as it seems like it went from "Oh...I've got plenty of time" to
"What the Hel%.....Who moved the calender up???"

Thanks BR06623. It's pretty comfy and you can get all the up the neck withough having to grip a big old neck joint. I like it so far.

emoney, I had the same thought just the other day. Seems a little unfair if you ask me.

I finally have a moment to update this thread. I've been slowly getting closer to finishing this. I've still got a few things to get done, but it's coming along pretty well. I routed a cavity in the back for the elctronics.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1673.JPG
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1675.JPG

This one is getting a single volume control that will be hidden in that recessed are at the back of the guitar. It's also getting a strat jack plate in the back of the guitar. I've seen this on a few guitars and basses before and thought it was a cool idea so why not. This way, you look at the front of the guitar and all you see is the guitart and no controls on it. Should be a nice clean look.

From there I mounted the bridge and tuners and strung it up to see if everything lined up and is going to work.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1676.JPG
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1677.JPG

Everything is lined up just how it should be. I also made a nut from the purpleheart. Don't have a picture of that yet, but I will sometime.

Next thing was to route the cavity for the strat style jack in the back. It's not the cleanest looking route as I had very limited time yesterday to make a cavity, but it works and it will all be covered up by the plate.:rolleyes:

Then I put the first coat of oil on the back of it all. It really is going to eventually look really nice. I've got to figure out a way to hurry this along though or I'm not going to have time to get all of it done.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1705.JPG
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1706.JPG
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1707.JPG

I still have a cavity cover to make and finish, so it's getting close.

...This way, you look at the front of the guitar and all you see is the guitart and no controls on it. Should be a nice clean look.

You do that on purpose? I was thinking that may have been a typo, or it may have been a Freudian slip. Either way it's appropriate! It IS guitar art :grin:

D'oh. Sometimes my brain works faster than my fingers. Thanks for pointing that out though. :)

I'm still trying. I got a cover made for the rear cavity last night and put two coats of oil on it. I made it out of ash and I think it looks pretty good on there. I also sanded the finish on the guitar level and applied another coat of oil on it. I'm think that it will take another coat or two then sand and buff. Then get it wired and cross my fingers that it doesn't completely suck. ;)

Oh, and I gotta level and polish the frets too. It's gonna be close, but there is a chance that this is gonna happen.

It's gonna happen! You can make it. Its really looking great and i bet its going to sound even better.

You can do it stevo! Looks great already!

There is no way this guitar is going to suck. It is beautiful, you put quite a bit of effort into making it perfect. There is always something a builder would have done differently, and they are the only ones that know all the little flaws. Flaws, by the way which usually don't affect playability or tone.

If, on the other hand, you decide to scrap it - send it to me and I'll dispose of it for you! I'll even pay for the shipping.

Thanks all for the encouragement. I'm going to keep plugging away at it. I have realized how much more effort it is to make a neck through instrument having seen many of you chew through these things so fast while I spread some more glue on the wood. It's close though.

It's not perfect nosmo, that's for sure, but it's not bad either. I've learned a lot from it just like the other two. Stay tuned...

Then get it wired and cross my fingers that it doesn't completely suck. ;)


The only thing that completely sucks about it, I'll probably never get a chance to play it. That neck body transition is awesome and it's so well thought out with the way the wood looks at the transition. I could stare at it for a long time, it's really nice.

After James' , Steve's, Mikkantyu's and now this build, it may be a neck through next year. I always' loved Jerry Garcia's last instrument. Finish strong. We would all love to hear it.

Rob

You're too kind Musikp. I got it all done and it doesn't suck!

Final pictures and a video are forthcoming. I've got them done but it's mothers day and I don't have time to post them just yet.

Happy mothers day all.

Thanks Rob. I think it sounds pretty good. Would sound better if I knew how to play it and I had a proper guitar amp. It still works through my bass amp and it sounds really good through my Tascam bass trainer and hedphones. I'm pretty happy with it.

It's done. I got it all done, wired up and it makes noise. Here are the pics to prove it, warts and all.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1725_600x800_.jpg
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1726_800x600_.jpg
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1727_800x600_.jpg
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1728_800x600_.jpg
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1730_800x600_.jpg
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1729_800x600_.jpg
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1731_800x600_.jpg
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1732_800x600_.jpg
:smile:

That is so cool, I see no warts. I really like the jack and knob at the back. The headstock shape is very nice as well.

ryZE6hlb6S4

I took a bit of a risk with the video. I'm a bass player and not a terribly good one at that, so I enlisted the help of my 13 year old neighbor on this one. I let him play whatever he wanted and I got Iron Man.:twisted::smile:

Here's the photo...
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/medium/IMG_1725_600x800_.jpg
Don't mind the kid's crap in the backyard. :roll:

It's been a blast and I've enjoyed watching the other builds as well. I admit, I haven't paid too much attention to the others though as I haven't had the time, but I will spend some quality time with my web browser before the voting begins now that things are down to the end.

Thanks for the comments and the views in the thread and I appreciate the community that this place is. It's really quite nice here. I think I'll stay a while.:smile:

That is so cool, I see no warts. I really like the jack and knob at the back. The headstock shape is very nice as well.

Thanks. I tried not to take too many pictures of the warts...:wink:

Hey Stevo,

Tony Iommi meets John Lee Hooker. :shock: Would have never guessed that one. It looks great. Congrats on finishing!

Rob

Thanks Rob. Yeah, you get what you get with kids these days. :) He was so excited to do that.

Love the single pickup builds, and yours is truly beautiful. Great work, man!

Thanks Phil. That's a huge compliment coming from you.

By the way, I am a steel detailer by trade so I spend my days looking at cad drawings and I absolutely love your guitar. Fabulous work on that.