flatfive's 2012 Challenge Build Thread -- COMPLETED

Did anyone doubt that "the pest from the Midwest" would participate? :lol:

My planned theme: "do the most you have with what you've got",
not just in terms of materials, but also skills, energy, etc.

I had a plan, and then made just yesterday made the mistake
of finding Jol Dantzig's Jazzadega:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-GNbaZLtMBug/T2CcS7C4KII/AAAAAAAAE3o/HlL5BsKoqhg/s800/jazzadega.jpg

Now I feel all weird and unsettled.

Glad to see you in this one. Good luck!

Glenn you're in! Fantastic! You've made some awesome guitars in the last couple of years to it's going to be great to see it come together.

BTW - thanks again for the WWW page on the neck-jig pucks - I'm going to be using that a lot in the next week or so.

Nice, I am looking forward to what you come up.

Alright, Glenn's in!

Good luck, man!

this is going to be good...glad you joined the fray

Another build. When will we learn my friend? Gluttons for punishment I guess. :razz:

Watching closely...

Mark

I'm having fun already. Seriously.

I'm having fun already. Seriously.
Glad to hear it!

Can't wait to see what you come up with.

Did anyone doubt that "the pest from the Midwest" would participate? :lol:

I never had a doubt :lol:


I had a plan, and then just yesterday made the mistake
of finding Jol Dantzig's Jazzadega................Now I feel all weird and unsettled

Easy boy! :lol:

Welcome Glenn, and best of luck to you! :grin:

Dave

Did anyone doubt that "the pest from the Midwest" would participate? :lol:

My planned theme: "do the most you have with what you've got",
not just in terms of materials, but also skills, energy, etc.

I had a plan, and then made just yesterday made the mistake
of finding Jol Dantzig's Jazzadega:

Now I feel all weird and unsettled.

Had me worried for about 2 seconds . :D

Hey everyone, if someone cuts a limb off it'll wreck the
party, so please take care with your router, bandsaw,
table saw, etc.!

Take care of your lungs, too.

Okay, you can put the music back on, now. :lol:

Couldn't find any good maple yesterday, so will be sticking
with plan A instead of making a Jazzadega-type thing.

Here's the stuff, which has been lying around for a while:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-DPz5Av6HfSg/T2KFwuxPRfI/AAAAAAAAE38/GP_fy__NIik/s800/IMG_9226.JPG

Basswood for the body, African mahogany for the neck, with
either a Indian rosewood or macassar ebony fretboard, and
quilted maple veneer or bubinga veneer for the front and back.

The African mahogany is very light so I don't have to worry
about the guitar being neck-heavy.

Nice ! Sweet looking lumber there Glenn , that macassar ebony is beautiful. Good building !

Nice! Good to see my altered fifth brother!

Oh, and why did you have to show us that Jazzadega-type thing! I've only been through about 5 different ideas.

I've got an actual paper-and-pencil plan! :shock:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-IUnMOQwoJZs/T2KF6A9hRKI/AAAAAAAAE4k/tfGeRSLVZkQ/s800/IMG_9231.JPG

Drawing this was a good learning experience and forced me
to think through lots of the details.

In the pic you can also see the start of my headstock template
and neck template.

This is my not-too-crazy-or-ambitious idea:


basswood body with veneer front and back
burst trans black finish
set neck of laminated mahogany
24.75" scale, 22 frets
angled asymmetrical headstock, 3x3 tuners
ebony faceplate on the headstock with inlay
wraparound bridge
two humbuckers
5-way switch


A bunch of things still need sorting out. Style of inlaid
position markers? binding on neck? binding on body?
contour on front of body? Bookmatch the veneer?

By the way, have you seen this neat book on electric guitar design (http://www.amazon.com/Electric-Guitar-Bass-Design-complete/dp/3000296425)
by Leonardo Lospennato? Besides lots of discussion on guitar design,
it gives a step-by-step guide on drawing a guitar plan.

Nice ! Sweet looking lumber there Glenn , that macassar ebony is beautiful. Good building !

Thanks, Herb. I've been very happy with the fingerboards I've
bought from LMII.

Nice! Good to see my altered fifth brother!

Oh, and why did you have to show us that Jazzadega-type thing! I've only been through about 5 different ideas.

Alright Sharp5! I didn't know 'til now that you'd joined in.
I'm afraid my entry will look a bit flat in comparison to yours. :lol:
Bad pun, but I mean it.

Hey Glenn, I didn't know you were in this year.

Go with the Bubinga, it's just so much fun to say it.

Steve

The basswood body blank I brought up from the basement:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-R1ZEUU1Sijc/T2KGAG38UKI/AAAAAAAAE4U/_W7RSD_Dg0A/s800/IMG_9233.JPG

It's been sitting there since Dec. 2010 and as you can see
it wasn't touched after being glued.

The one side was just about perfectly flat. The other side
needed a little work, so I tried the orbital sander.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-dEEJelATTn0/T2KGAxjx9cI/AAAAAAAAE4c/kLrq2dQMzYA/s800/IMG_9235.JPG

I don't use this tool much, but you'll see one every 5 seconds
in any YouTube factory tour, so they must be good.
Half of the employees at PRS seem to be chained to 220 grit sanding
stations.

Maybe it's because the basswood is soft, but it was nice and easy
to get the surface flat with 80 grit. Then both sides with a little 120.

Hey Glenn, I didn't know you were in this year.
Go with the Bubinga, it's just so much fun to say it.
Steve

Please don't make ridiculous suggestions -- I'll be tempted
to follow them. :lol: I see you've joined the craziness, too.

BTW, I just realized that veneer is actually "beeswing eucalyptus".

(What about today? 80 F here when the normal high is 46? :cool:)

Have fun Glenn , I'm liking the set neck. Good on ya for that. Your woods look tasty also. I'm watchin .......... Mac

Have fun Glenn , I'm liking the set neck. Good on ya for that. Your woods look tasty also. I'm watchin .......... Mac

Thanks, Mac. It's all about preparing myself for the PowerJet :lol:

By the way, this is a cheapie. The basswood plank was about
$18, the mahogany was less than $10, the veneer was only a
few bucks, and the Macassar ebony fingerboard was about $13.

Almost all the parts are from seller bezdez on eBay. The pickups
are $30/pair, the bridge is $8, and the tuners were $18, I think.

We may be talking as low as $150 total.

Thanks, Mac. It'll all about preparing myself for the PowerJet :lol:

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeees I wasn't going to mention that. I've got plenty to keep me busy with work at the moment so I'm just watching the challenge and letting you catch up.. 80 degrees you say wow !

Cheap does not mean bad I think you will agree.

"What about today? 80 F here when the normal high is 46?"

So warm I could get spraying on my partscaster, and subsequently realize that I am far from a prodigy at spraying.

I wish I had wood like that just laying around. I like your drawing too - not too many numbers.

I would kill for the veneer and finish skills you have! This is going to be spectacular!!

This is gonna be awesome! Basswood makes a great body wood for tele. Nice start man , this will defiantly be one to watch. Happy building!

Your plans look great!

I also wanted to let everyone know that it's Glenn's fault that I got back into this mess.
After noticing that I hadn't posted in a while, Glenn sent me an email to see if I was doing alright and if I was doing any guitar work.
Well, that got the gears turning and here I am along for the crazy ride in another challenge build.

Thanks Glenn.

-Josh

Cheap does not mean bad I think you will agree.

Yes. Part of the bigger goal of doing a lot with a little.

I would kill for the veneer and finish skills you have!

Thanks, Mojo. I have no skill in veneering beyond the ability
to put a body in a bag! Why isn't veneering more popular here?
Maybe it's viewed as faux wood?

This is gonna be awesome! Basswood makes a great body wood for tele. Nice start man , this will defiantly be one to watch. Happy building!

Thanks, guy -- I just finished a basswood tele recently and like the
sound and weight.


I also wanted to let everyone know that it's Glenn's fault that I got back into this mess.
-Josh

Really appreciate you saying that!

Perhaps veneering is much easier than it looks - I can just never get the edges to meet and stay together on small attempts without a bag. Got a tutorial you can point me at?

Perhaps veneering is much easier than it looks - I can just never get the edges to meet and stay together on small attempts without a bag. Got a tutorial you can point me at?

Hi Mojo. I use a bag. Easy to use and great, consistent results.

Here's the method I use for doing the seams:

http://www.joewoodworker.com/veneering/veneertaping.htm

After looking at hundreds of pics I've decided against
quilted maple and will be using the beeswing eucalyptus
instead.

The veneer will be bookmatched, but the edges weren't
quite straight. Yesterday I found a level with straight
milled edges on sale, so turned in into a sanding block:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-vSxZipgoghw/T2Vfa-uOQFI/AAAAAAAAE6E/R5chlE-d1uc/s800/IMG_9239.JPG

Sanding two pieces of veneer, with a fret level block holding
the edges together:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-DHFQNRBhaak/T2VfdXoqzgI/AAAAAAAAE6I/frWZb0HSwBo/s800/IMG_9240.JPG

Tight seam:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-z-UzBZyAop8/T2VfgSIETKI/AAAAAAAAE6M/RKtbflZDfuY/s800/IMG_9243.JPG

Pieces for the front and back, cut to fit the body blank:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-DNkNi_i0kRU/T2Vfj_9ecpI/AAAAAAAAE6Q/awWZyxysl4U/s800/IMG_9246.JPG

That's some really nice veneer Glenn.

Sweet!


https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-DNkNi_i0kRU/T2Vfj_9ecpI/AAAAAAAAE6Q/awWZyxysl4U/s800/IMG_9246.JPG

Basswood is a nice wood to work with. It's nice and stable... the veneer is good idea.

Good stuff there Glenn. Thats a lovely veneer you have there , and a nice step away from the ubiquitous quilt maple. You should be able to get a great 3D shimmer going once you are done.

Have fun M

Beautiful veneer Glenn , another beauty in the making.

Looks like you're off to a great start Glenn

Love your work.

Look Great Glenn...that veneer looks awesome!

Very nice!!

Thanks, guys. A funny thing about this veneer is that
much of the figuring on one of the bookmatched sides
is like a photo negative of the other side.

The neck will be 3 laminated pieces of mahogany.
Like using a scarf joint, it lets you use cheap 4/4
mahogany instead of expensive 3" thick mahogany.

I thought it might also be an easy was to get a
precise neck angle and headstock angle.

Here's the 1/4" MDF template and a piece of 1x4
aspen.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-fnwVkQc7oaQ/T2VfpvdrDXI/AAAAAAAAE6U/o55szT04WOM/s800/IMG_9248.JPG

I worried about the stability of a skinny template,
so routed the top and bottom profile of the
neck on different sides of the aspen plank.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Z07VZKgsndY/T2Vfrp38CxI/AAAAAAAAE68/7tNVfvkrNvo/s800/IMG_9250.JPG

Maybe a strange way of doing things but I was worried about
the template tipping a little during routing.

I cut the three pieces of mahogany with a jig saw (and dreamed
about bandsaws).

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-jYz3M5msQSo/T2VfvcyiC_I/AAAAAAAAE5g/1h-hYUNIq6I/s800/IMG_9252.JPG

Routed one side of each mahogany piece using the aspen
template, then screwed alignment strips and clamps to the
template. This is to make sure each mahog. piece is exactly
the same size.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-nkc92R95nnA/T2Vfyp26S3I/AAAAAAAAE7A/Zox7va05s-g/s800/IMG_9255.JPG

It only took a second to get each piece aligned and clamped.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Ayn5mno1mGg/T2Vf2Q-VqRI/AAAAAAAAE7E/AIp7IvXUUuc/s800/IMG_9257.JPG

The routed pieces; you can see there's a volute.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-0G1WIfaLfvE/T2Vf4g4iwFI/AAAAAAAAE7I/CFZBei2W8uc/s800/IMG_9259.JPG

Mission accomplished, but maybe someone can share a
simpler way to do it.

Mission accomplished, but maybe someone can share a
simpler way to do it.

Looking great Glenn! That's an ambitious neck there. It's going to be awesome! Glad to see you stretching your skills. I always enjoy watching your processes and the thought you put into them.

Simpler is relative I guess. The band saw would be the ticket. That way everything is cut flush and needs less cleanup. It concerns me a little that you're going so close to spec before glue up. Be extra careful when you get them in the clamps. Maybe work out a plan to pin them so they don't slip around on you.

I'm really excited to see this one done.

Great way to build a neck! You don't need no stinking bandsaw, but if you decide to buy one and want to go the "cheap" route, I've been really. Pleased with the table top 10" that Harbor Freight sells for around $100. It'll never be known as a "resaw" tool. Great build!

Looking great Glenn! That's an ambitious neck there. It's going to be awesome! Glad to see you stretching your skills. I always enjoy watching your processes and the thought you put into them.


Thanks a lot, Mark. I've learned so much from your build threads.


...It concerns me a little that you're going so close to spec before glue up. Be extra careful when you get them in the clamps. Maybe work out a plan to pin them so they don't slip around on you.


You hit the nail on the head. I'm counting on being able to
getting the pieces perfectly aligned when gluing -- especially
the top of the fingerboard area and the headstock. Still
thinking about this.

Great way to build a neck! You don't need no stinking bandsaw, but if you decide to buy one and want to go the "cheap" route, I've been really. Pleased with the table top 10" that Harbor Freight sells for around $100. It'll never be known as a "resaw" tool. Great build!

Thanks emoney, that's good to know.

You hit the nail on the head. I'm counting on being able to
getting the pieces perfectly aligned when gluing -- especially
the top of the fingerboard area and the headstock. Still
thinking about this.

If you don't mind a suggestion, maybe splines would be a good approach. Put them in the areas that will retain most of their width. You could set a fence on the router table to cut the mortises. That way they would all be the same distance from your reference surface against the fence. Sort of like a biscuit jointer. Use stop and start marks to make them the same length in each area.

Just a thought...

If you don't mind a suggestion, maybe splines would be a good approach. Put them in the areas that will retain most of their width. You could set a fence on the router table to cut the mortises. That way they would all be the same distance from your reference surface against the fence. Sort of like a biscuit jointer. Use stop and start marks to make them the same length in each area.

Just a thought...

Thanks, Mark. After your last hint I've been thinking
along these lines, although I was thinking of a pin through
all three pieces at the heel, and maybe something like
you described but with pins at the headstock. I'm a
little concerned about my ability to rout mortises with the
tolerances I want.

BTW - any and all suggestions are welcome!

Nice methodology on the neck construction. I like how you did the angled headstock. Do you find the laminated boards are stronger than a flat board with a scarf jointed headstock? I'm afraid of how much I would mess up a scarf joint.

Keep up the great work.

Cheers

Murray

I'm not entirely sure, but I think that putting a bunch of straight edges across all 3 pieces wherever there's enough room for one and clamping them on while gluing could work. Even PVC could work if you laid 3"-4" pieces across all three pieces and clamped.

Something like this:

http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee497/patpat1231000/2012-03-18141812-1.jpg

Thanks, Murray. I'm still a rookie -- I've done one scarf joint
and this is my first laminated neck. We'll see how this goes, but
routing the pieces as I did took a long time.

Don't worry about messing up a scarf joint! You can try and
try again until you get the two pieces just right. The only risky
step is the gluing.

Nice methodology on the neck construction. I like how you did the angled headstock. Do you find the laminated boards are stronger than a flat board with a scarf jointed headstock? I'm afraid of how much I would mess up a scarf joint...

I'm not entirely sure, but I think that putting a bunch of straight edges across all 3 pieces wherever there's enough room for one and clamping them on while gluing could work. Even PVC could work if you laid 3"-4" pieces across all three pieces and clamped...

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll probably do something along
these lines, but there's one more dimension to worry about:
the pieces can slide relative to each other along the length
of the neck.

More pics after the glue-up, which is probably tonight.

This neck construction is so cool I'm willing to try it!

I'd say if you wanted to go quicker, you'd be better laminating the solid, square pieces and
THEN cutting out the neck. Basically just turning thin stock in thicker stock. I wouldn't
think a spline would even be necessary that way, as they say that the glue is stronger
than the wood anyway.

And I've heard that a laminated neck is stronger than a scarf joint. Now I'm
wondering why I didn't go lamination:confused:

When you glue the 3 pieces the most important thing to do is to resist forcing them to align during the glue up. Must resist this! Especially in the headstock.

If, say, the left piece wants to sit 1mm lower than the two to the side of it - let it sit there. If you force it up you will transfer that into an eventual twist.

It's easy to sand/plane any inconsistencies out - you're essentially making a detailed blank here, not a neck yet. Just align the fretboard face on something dead flat that won't adhere to the glue squeezeout and use lots of clamps on the sides. Use pencil marks for alignment reference. The fretboard face is the only essential worry - all the other faces will be either shaped, or flattened.

I do these necks all the time and have only ever had an issue when I tried to force one of the laminates into position causing a twist.

Yeah, that makes sense, but the problem is that I don't
have a bandsaw, and don't see a good way to shape
a large neck blank with just a router and a jig saw.

I'd say if you wanted to go quicker, you'd be better laminating the solid, square pieces and
THEN cutting out the neck. Basically just turning thin stock in thicker stock. I wouldn't
think a spline would even be necessary that way, as they say that the glue is stronger
than the wood anyway...

Veneering a body with a vacuum press is really easy. You tape the
veneer pieces together:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-hNBN7CkoKRc/T2alIZwbwHI/AAAAAAAAE7Q/QVJfmyRlfD0/s800/IMG_9260.JPG

apply glue to the body, slap the veneer on, and pop
it all in the vacuum press:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-pJSZP5ONQDY/T2alMCHJ2ZI/AAAAAAAAE7Y/g86emozJLsA/s800/IMG_9276.JPG

which is just a vinyl bag connected to a vacuum pump:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-eWDZZSYpsiU/TJLb9jVuk9I/AAAAAAAAAlc/xZsCPD2nCHg/s800/pump%2520with%2520press%2520kit.jpg

After 45 minutes or so you pop it out of the bag.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-hrgj_HiWx-I/T2alP9nmgyI/AAAAAAAAE7g/Hy9xDqdyUcw/s800/IMG_9277.JPG

More details on the process here (http://www.joewoodworker.com/veneering/veneertaping.htm).

I did the back of the body, too. So this year and last I've
got eucalyptus veneer on the front and back? :roll: True,
but different kinds of figuring, and this year no binding, but
a burst finish.

If you don't mind a suggestion from a simple mind, get a 5/16 maple dowel rod from Woodcraft. Clamp your pieces in to alignment then drill from the side, two pins in the heel, one at the volute. I actually saw a guy do this once with 1/4" dowels drilled at all the fretmarkers. When the neck was shaped it had all these oval fretmarkers built right in :lol:. It looked a little odd to be honest, but then so was the guy who built it :lol:
Great looking job Glenn, and that veneer is to die for :wink:

Dave

Great now I need to buy a vacuum pump and some crazy vinyl bag :sad:. That veneer looks great, thanks for all the detail in the link.

When you glue the 3 pieces the most important thing to do is to resist forcing them to align during the glue up. Must resist this! Especially in the headstock...

Nick, thanks very much; that's interesting and very helpful.
Sadly I didn't see it 'til after clamping up the neck.

Here's what I did: aligned the pieces with clamps and drilled
a 1/8" hole.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-izuLFnbfqlA/T2alTtUlVUI/AAAAAAAAE7o/CUVKxACVYhM/s800/IMG_9262.JPG

At this location the hole won't be seen when the neck's glued into the body.

Then, applied glue (bottled hide glue), pushed an 1/8" bit through
the hole, clamped a few pairs of small maple blocks to align the
top and bottom of the neck (as in PHawley's picture), then applied
the main clamps.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-eboteBAaDgU/T2alXtBwQAI/AAAAAAAAE8A/MEXWFFcvlys/s800/IMG_9278.JPG

Not a good pic -- you can only see the alignment blocks at
the top of the headstock.

There's the little 1/8" bit:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-U1P5tdte8os/T2algra9WPI/AAAAAAAAE74/ElNa94g6r_s/s800/IMG_9280.JPG

So I hope I don't get some ugly twist here.

I applied way too much glue. It's the first time
I've used hide glue and didn't want to apply too little.

Lots of people don't like hide glue from the bottle but I looked
into this (woodworkers care a lot about glue) and there's almost
no difference in strength between bottled and hot hide glue (under
a wide range of gluing conditions).

I reckon you'll be fine. In this pic they look aligned within fractions of a degree here.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-0G1WIfaLfvE/T2Vf4g4iwFI/AAAAAAAAE7I/CFZBei2W8uc/s800/IMG_9259.JPG

Sometimes, after routing the pieces, one of them will have a bit of a "relax" and the headstock angle of two will be 15 degrees, but one wants to be 12 all of a sudden :mad:. Best place for that one is in the middle. :grin:

A maple veneer in between those pieces would look HOT!

I like that laminated neck Glenn , that's some nice work.

Muzikp and Herb -- thanks, guys.

Nick -- I'd planned to use maple for the middle
third of my laminate, but decided it would look too 70's.
But I like your idea of strips of maple veneer. It's
a detail would show up only when you get close to the
guitar.

Anyway, the neck seems to have turned out fine.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-fojsOXG5_zw/T2f4Qh2jw8I/AAAAAAAAE8E/fVCQUY4B_A8/s800/IMG_9283.JPG

I got most of the excess glue off with a scraper and sanding
block. Learned my lesson and won't be such a slob next time.

You can see the pieces are aligned pretty well:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-irNQtYqXln4/T2f4RS89Q-I/AAAAAAAAE8M/vvIiSqcMS8I/s800/IMG_9284.JPG

Also started on the fingerboard. Just used the world's simplest
jig to get the edges parallel and to the width that works with
my fingerboard radiusing and fret slotting jigs.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-u_0g6ozvLDU/T2f4UA5ZZDI/AAAAAAAAE8U/WuXnvmdpc04/s800/IMG_9285.JPG

Glenn-great looking build. I have done 1 veneer before and just glued and clamped. I would like to try the vac bag method. How much vacuum do you pull? I was thinking about "liberating" one of my wife's vac storage bags and hooking it up to the shop vac.

Glenn-great looking build. I have done 1 veneer before and just glued and clamped. I would like to try the vac bag method. How much vacuum do you pull? I was thinking about "liberating" one of my wife's vac storage bags and hooking it up to the shop vac.

Thanks. I pull 18 inches of Hg, for 45 minutes or so. Have
you seen Mac's thread where he uses a storage bag to make
a laminated top?

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/291403-copycat-gretsch-chet-jet-build.html#post3584411

if i had to do this i think i might have glued two sections first and then glued the third onto it, but whatever... you did a great job with the pins, impressive, really. looking at what you did makes me realize how much i take my bandsaw for granted.

if i had to do this i think i might have glued two sections first and then glued the third onto it, but whatever... you did a great job with the pins, impressive, really. looking at what you did makes me realize how much i take my bandsaw for granted.

Yeah, that gluing method you suggest might have been a
little more controlled. Did you have to rub it in about the
bandsaw? :lol:

Got the neck cleaned up on the ROSS.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-LJGZMSIKSpE/T2lQIP1PjNI/AAAAAAAAE9U/dnQv3KeMxek/s800/IMG_9294.JPG

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-EAiccx9TfbA/T2lQKeQZaLI/AAAAAAAAE9c/67qmlIw4HnM/s800/IMG_9295.JPG

The dimensions after sanding are right where I want them,
amazingly. :confused:

I'll clean up carefully around the heel by hand --
want to make sure the neck angle is right.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-xV1sBIl5QOA/T2lQPgGEl7I/AAAAAAAAE9k/g2V93Iuduzo/s800/IMG_9296.JPG

Met my first humbling moment of this build.

Things were clicking along with the fingerboard -- nice
to have the jigs I need.

Here's the radiusing jig -- the sled's for a 10" radius.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-VC_OM5yzyFA/T2lPm35TmvI/AAAAAAAAE8c/jVYu619NrGo/s800/IMG_9287.JPG

The fingerboard is held by double-sided tape, but
after I started routing I noticed this:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Ozg1iqVv3mk/T2lPpedSPDI/AAAAAAAAE8k/C4Uf-mBt3lY/s800/IMG_9288.JPG

The end of the board is up -- the board has a slight bow,
maybe from being in the sun for a few minutes.

Glad I was paying attention. Removed the tape
and added mounting screws.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-DXETeZVSxRM/T2lPsnn8wJI/AAAAAAAAE8s/k-RxyQOehjQ/s800/IMG_9290.JPG

Right after radiusing, very little in the way of routing marks:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-YqElnpbgar0/T2lPzDMobeI/AAAAAAAAE80/Rwb70g6gPds/s800/IMG_9292.JPG

On to the slotting jig:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gMMcjfArBnA/T2lP3wTa12I/AAAAAAAAE88/yr9_klDlSC0/s800/IMG_9300.JPG

Progress is faster than last year's challenge because the
jigs are at the ready. :grin:

The macassar ebony didn't seem much harder than rosewood
to saw.

After sawing all the slot, the 3rd fret slot looked like it might
need more, so I started sawing there again -- but the saw
started chewing up the wood right next to the slot. :cry:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xPlgZV4cZZs/T2lQAPhNnuI/AAAAAAAAE9M/ckb6KzMRp9c/s800/IMG_9304.JPG

Thought I'd carefully checked that the pin on my jig
had clicked into each fret position.

So I measured the slot positions, and got this for the
first six frets (in mm):

actual (correct)

35.0 (35.3)
68.3 (68.6)
101.0 (100.0) <-- 3rd fret
129.8 (129.7)
157.8 (157.7)
183.9 (184.1)

The good news is that most slots are real close
to where they should be. Bad news is that the 3rd
fret's off by a full mm (about .04").

Fix it or throw it away? I guess my plan for fixing
would be to fill the misplaced slot with epoxy,
then saw the slot in the right place.

I could even try slicing a piece of ebony to fill the
bad slot. But I'd only try this if the fret would cover
the bad slot.

Ahh, bummer about that fret slot Glenn , that's a pretty piece of wood , maybe try some ebony dust and epoxy for a repair and see what it looks like ? If anybody could make it good I'd put my money on you. :)

I love mac ebony. that's what I have as the fb on my acoustic. How do you get such a clean surface after radiusing? What type of bit are you using?

As for the fix, I'd just fill with tinted epoxy. It's so close that you'll likely not notice it once the fret goes in.

I would mix Ebony dust into the epoxy or CA and then fill the slot. Once you're done,
you'll be the only person that notices it. Fill the slot proud, of course, and sand it down
to the radius. Nice looking board, btw.

(ok, totally ignore me as I noticed I just repeated advice already given. hey,
it's early still)

Met my first humbling moment of this build.

Fix it or throw it away? I guess my plan for fixing
would be to fill the misplaced slot with epoxy,
then saw the slot in the right place.

I could even try slicing a piece of ebony to fill the
bad slot. But I'd only try this if the fret would cover
the bad slot.

I reckon that would be fixable. My first suggestion would be to take a little strip left over from one of the ends and glue it in as a shim. That way the grain of the added piece will run in the same direction as the rest of the board. If you are a millimetre out and are using 2mm+ fretwire then one side of the added piece will be covered - I don't think anyone will ever notice it is there. I think it will look better than if you filled with epoxy.

I would certainly be trying to do that before throwing away all of the work you have already done.

I could even try slicing a piece of ebony to fill the
bad slot. But I'd only try this if the fret would cover
the bad slot.

Being as it's only 1 mm, if your using medium fretwire it should cover it :smile:

On another note however. When I saw what you had planned here the thought struck me, "man that Melody Maker must have turned out real well, he's building a matching Tele! :lol:

Great looking build Glenn, and I love that neck :wink:

(oh yeh, what the heck was wrong with the 70's?) :lol:



Dave

Thanks for the help, people. Sticking a piece of ebony
in the slot would be tricky because the bottom of the
slot is curved. I mixed some ebony dust and epoxy
and filled the slot. It's 12 hour epoxy so more later.

...How do you get such a clean surface after radiusing? What type of bit are you using?

It's the same Whiteside pattern bit I use for most things.
I think I'm getting a clean surface because the Whiteside bits are
excellent and because the jig is nice and solid.

...When I saw what you had planned here the thought struck me, "man that Melody Maker must have turned out real well, he's building a matching Tele!


You're saying I'm building a Gibson with a tele body outline? :wink:
Excuse me while I go cut the trapezoidal inlays...


(oh yeh, what the heck was wrong with the 70's?) :lol:


The mid-70s is considered a bad time for music, but I think
of all the creative, original bands of the time, like 10CC,
Roxy Music, and Sparks, that had a pretty big audience.
I don't know if weird is as widely appreciated now.

beautiful fretboard. i'm sure the epoxy is going to work fine. worse case scenerio, just cut the bad section off and use the rest later for a shorter scale instrument. don't throw it out! send it to me.:lol:

have to agree btw, there was so much great music in the mid-70s.

You're saying I'm building a Gibson with a tele body outline? :wink:
Excuse me while I go cut the trapezoidal inlays...
If the Gibby shoe fits? :wink:
:lol:

The mid-70s is considered a bad time for music, but I think
of all the creative, original bands of the time, like 10CC,
Roxy Music, and Sparks, that had a pretty big audience.
I don't know if weird is as widely appreciated now
Hmmm, what about The Moody Blues, Grand Funk, The Guess Who, 10 yrs After, Mountain, The Allman Brothers,Brownsville Station, Free, The Doobie Brothers,Steely Dan? Just_to_name_a_few. HMMMMM! :shock:

:lol::lol::lol:

...
Hmmm, what about The Moody Blues, Grand Funk, The Guess Who, 10 yrs After, Mountain, The Allman Brothers,Brownsville Station, Free, The Doobie Brothers,Steely Dan? Just_to_name_a_few. HMMMMM! :shock:

:lol::lol::lol:
Hey - Tony Williams, Jean Luc Ponty, Larry Carlton, Al Dimeola, Chick Corea, Alan Holdsworth... All had pretty decent band things going on back then too not to mention bands like Yes... - that was a very cool time in the emergence of Jazz/Rock fusion :wink: Some of those guy's more creative work was back when THC levels in certain herbal remedies were much much lower than they are today. :lol:

Zappa was pretty busy in the 70's 8<))

Thanks, volowv.

Dave, Mojo, Mac -- yeah, lots of good music in the 70s.
Let's not forget the Bay City Rollers.

Another record day of Chicago heat so I took a day of
vacation. After filling that bad fret slot with epoxy I started
on the body.

Figured out how I wanted the body shape to lay out over
the veneer.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jZUpN9OvoL0/T2pXfYkzuvI/AAAAAAAAE-k/FFYEgeSv8RA/s800/IMG_9307.JPG

The blue tape's there to remind myself not to route the
flat spot. The flat spot is dead to me now.

Jig-sawed the excess material.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-JznpvYgBWYU/T2pXjND0KFI/AAAAAAAAE98/DWgschsI1bc/s800/IMG_9308.JPG

The saw starting making strange
noises -- fortunately. Now I've got an excuse to replace
it with something decent.

Then routed with a TDPRI-approved 1/2" diameter pattern bit.
No tearout whatsoever. (The dark spot on the left is just
the wood.)

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-hISDDq5Iffk/T2pXvm3FNnI/AAAAAAAAE-w/38h3pGW6NcY/s800/IMG_9311.JPG

We're practically in spiral bit territory here. Whiteside rocks.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-imtIUezQ9XI/T2pX1qbL-QI/AAAAAAAAE-M/TOhbJUc9MMA/s800/IMG_9314.JPG

So then I ROSS'ed the flat spot that wasn't routed, lightly
ROSS'ed everything, and finally hand sanded for a few minutes.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-qndA2fdQ-Ms/T2pX9HtZRsI/AAAAAAAAE-U/VDgDfAIn8mM/s800/IMG_9320.JPG

As my friend Charlie in Texas used to say, "smooth as snot on a
glass doorknob".

Excellent! I'm approaching this stage, somewhat nervous. I have a quality pattern bit, but really can't expect such a clean result.

Excellent! I'm approaching this stage, somewhat nervous. I have a quality pattern bit, but really can't expect such a clean result.

tklaavo, If you haven't routed much, here's some things that work for me:


move the bit to the wood very smoothly -- imagine a plane gently landing on the ground
only press the wood lightly towards the bit, and try to move at an even speed
remember that when bad things happen it's because the bit grabs the wood
hold the wood firmly


Of course, the main thing is to not to try to route the whole
side of the body at once. If you route only about a fourth of
the body width at each pass, your odds of avoiding tearout
go way up.

Thanks for tips - I have routed some bodies, but they were pine and basswood, which are much softer and easier than the birch I'm using now. It's more like maple. And when I have practiced neck-making, I have had some huge tearouts on maple, once the whole headstock splintered. Now I know a little better, and don't even try the router on the headstock curves unless it's "downhill"

Yeah, when I started, I made the mistake of routing too much at a time believing that the router is a magical machine with a blessed ability to remove wood however I want...

If the bearing makes a groove in the wood, I'm definitely using too much force - that's one lesson I learned.

Hope I wasn't condescending with the tips. You're right, the
basswood is easy to rout. Good luck with the birch!

Thanks for tips - I have routed some bodies, but they were pine and basswood, which are much softer and easier than the birch I'm using now. It's more like maple. And when I have practiced neck-making, I have had some huge tearouts on maple, once the whole headstock splintered. Now I know a little better, and don't even try the router on the headstock curves unless it's "downhill"

Yeah, when I started, I made the mistake of routing too much at a time believing that the router is a magical machine with a blessed ability to remove wood however I want...

If the bearing makes a groove in the wood, I'm definitely using too much force - that's one lesson I learned.

Nice routing Glenn , yes , Whiteside bits rock !

Nice routing Glenn , yes , Whiteside bits rock !
Yes indeed!

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-JznpvYgBWYU/T2pXjND0KFI/AAAAAAAAE98/DWgschsI1bc/s800/IMG_9308.JPG

That would look awesome with a Caribbean burst!

:wink:

That's looking great, Glenn. The end grain by itself is a masterpiece

Yes indeed!

That would look awesome with a Caribbean burst!

:wink:

Oh man , now my sides hurt , good one mojo ! :D

Hope I wasn't condescending with the tips. You're right, the
basswood is easy to rout. Good luck with the birch!

Oh, no.. I need advice! But I only learn by making mistakes :lol:

XLNT thats very swish

120079

XLNT thats very swish

The man is an arteest! :grin:

Dave, Mojo, Mac -- yeah, lots of good music in the 70s.
Let's not forget the Bay City Rollers.

I just had the horrible thought that this could be taken
as an insult. I wasn't trying to say "sure, the bands you
guys mentioned are great, like the Bay City Rollers".

:oops::oops:

Sincere apologies if I unintentionally pissed anyone off.

BTW, the first album I bought was Focus III, a fairly obscure
album by the Dutch group Focus that is part prog. rock
and part jazz rock. Great guitar playing courtesy of
Jan Akkerman.

Oh man , now my sides hurt , good one mojo ! :D

+1. I knew I was going to regret that comment.
Sorry, Herb. After making it I was thinking: so is every guitar
going to have to be between yellow and red? :lol:

XLNT thats very swish

120079

Thanks, Mac. I was determined not to repeat the tear out
incident I had with the Melody Maker, so took it real slow.
I mean, sloth slow. People who drove by thought I was
simply mesmerized by the whining of the router.

the Dutch group Focus

Isn't their best of album called "Mother Focus"?

Anyway, Hocus Pocus is an epic track, great for rocking out to!

Isn't their best of album called "Mother Focus"?

Anyway, Hocus Pocus is an epic track, great for rocking out to!

This tune's on Focus III; Akkerman has a solo at 3:50 in the
second part.

TIX1FsSMDIs

RUhrzGnGoFA

One fret slot was slightly off. Here's the slot filled after
filling with epoxy and ebony dust.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-UKzr9S9FnjA/T2si-4dLkFI/AAAAAAAAE-8/pGthoZQgd8g/s800/IMG_9323.JPG

After sanding it looks okay:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-sAvOD_PS6nk/T2sjAKUIaWI/AAAAAAAAE_E/Gai5oS-wEJs/s800/IMG_9324.JPG

Along the top of the slot you can see where the slot's
supposed to be.

After sawing the new slot:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-w3Hmgckl-lU/T2sjHvUgqqI/AAAAAAAAE_M/IS3uHomq6zc/s800/IMG_9327.JPG

Looks a little rougher than I'd hoped. But here's with some fret
wire in the new slot:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-UzBGpY1_gJI/T2sjNrhIGLI/AAAAAAAAE_U/oAChWOBvudM/s800/IMG_9330.JPG

I don't think the repair will be visible. I'll put fret wire in the
slot as soon as possible to make sure there's not issue with
the fret holding properly.

Good job on the repair. Looks like you've got wood on both sides of the new fret wire and a good solid fill, so I don't foresee any problems with the wire holding in the new slot.

Good fix Glenn

Looks great...nice save there and the body is killer.

Looks great...nice save there and the body is killer.

Ditto! :wink:

I saw Focus on their first Hocus Pocus tour...they were great.... this guitar is looking great too.

Nice save Flatty! Well done!

Barncaster

Jammy sod sneaking past that oops on the fret slot. If you have any hints of it showing you can use felt marker pens to faux in the grain a little , that would mask it .

Nice save on the fretboard Glenn, that ebony is way too nice to chuck.
Unless you want to chuck it to me, that is. ;-)

The blue tape's there to remind myself not to route the
flat spot. The flat spot is dead to me now.


Must be a southern DuPage County thing. I protest loundly if the flat spot and the standard Tele jack cup are requested.

Good save on the fret board.

Steve

People, thanks a lot for the nice feedback. Mac, I may use that
felt marker idea. guitarbuilder, was Akkerman good live?
His solo from the track in an earlier post is on continuous
replay in my brain.

Got a little done today. I sanded the front and back with 180
grit glued to a piece of corian, then finished with a random
orbital sander with 220. Wow, it left the veneer so smooth.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-ZjK9TTZhXIo/T20y40uYy3I/AAAAAAAAFAE/IJjrIwenxSE/s800/IMG_9333.JPG

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-XP310NIVg5k/T20y7mFZggI/AAAAAAAAFAM/V-M6yCkzDdo/s800/IMG_9334.JPG

Then wiped some shellac on to keep muck out of the wood
(and because I couldn't resist seeing the color).

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-84XNCnhS7m4/T20zCk8MbiI/AAAAAAAAFAg/w7KBEOlLP1g/s800/IMG_9342.JPG

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-omItUY2JYHg/T202LDhRtgI/AAAAAAAAFAk/yDpKEpVYpsc/s800/IMG_9343.JPG

I'm going to take this in a slightly different direction than
planned. After looking at hundreds of pics, I think that if
I'm doing a burst I should do cream binding on the front
and back and neck.

Is .040" binding the usual thickness for neck binding?

Another question: I'm going to use CA as filler on the veneer.
Better to do that before or after routing? My usual way would
be after, but maybe it's easier before, and might help reduce
any possible chipping of the veneer.

That's gonna be a real stunner. I think I'd tend to agree with you about doing the filler
before you cut the neck. Worse case scenario is you'll have a little touch-up to do
whe you're done, but at the least it should help protect it from damage like you're thinking.

Super looking wood, nice work too. :) :)

Is .040" binding the usual thickness for neck binding?

Another question: I'm going to use CA as filler on the veneer.
Better to do that before or after routing? My usual way would
be after, but maybe it's easier before, and might help reduce
any possible chipping of the veneer.

I'd grain fill before binding as it'll seal the wood from the binding glue and strengthen the veneer for routing. 2c. It'd work either way.

With neck binding, the thickness depends a lot on how rolled you like the fretboard edge. A really thin binding and a heavy roll can be an issue - especially if you have gone with a multi-laminate binding.

A 1mm binding will allow almost zero rolling without hitting wood.

guitarbuilder, was Akkerman good live?
DeRail:

The band was tight, energetic, and loud....Akkerman was in fine form.
The yodeling was just like you hear on the recording, and if I remember, it went even a little longer.

Folks in my age bracket lived through an awesome time for rock music between 1962-1980.

I just picked those years because Disco kind of ruined things for a while :-).

Back to your regular program:

That is looking great Glenn , very classy . :smile:

[B] Folks in my age bracket lived through an awesome time for rock music between 1962-1980.

I was born in 1962, but have an older brother and sister so grew up hearing stuff "before my time" as it were. I'd agree with you. But e point of the post is..


A friend of mine's daughter got a job somewhere that plays "classic" rock. After working there a while she made a comment along the lines of "You know Dad, today's bands really suck in comparison". He was a proud man that day. :mrgreen:

Glenn you might want to give scraping the veneer a try . In most cases it will give smoother and cleaner surface than any sanding, It tends to give more shimmer to the figure , makes it pop. Test on scrap first of course.
That particular veneer may be tricky as it has reversing grain but it is worth a go

A new stanley knife blade is perfect for this task.

Good call on the shellac, that makes that veneer glow. It's looking really good, Glen. Nice work!

Cheers!

Following Mac's suggestion I scraped the body.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-p1dz39K4sWA/T230EjK3pVI/AAAAAAAAFAo/VdoQEE5BZ9k/s800/IMG_9345.JPG

Got the fan out before filling with CA:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-ui7XZd4mpZ8/T230JecmNqI/AAAAAAAAFAw/pls_dG8OfiE/s800/IMG_9347.JPG

Then applied medium CA with a credit card.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ZoeJqrrVago/T230NHYtkNI/AAAAAAAAFBE/qNJf_LUmzVg/s800/IMG_9348.JPG

Thats the ticket. Its very obvious the smoothing effect that the scraping has given. I guess the next step will be to scrape the CA also.

I didn't accomplish a lot this weekend. The me of a month from
now is going to be pissed off at the lazy me of today. :lol:

This morning I got the neck flat and square.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-nq-2E4HkiaM/T2_eYDuv1wI/AAAAAAAAFCo/H_lkc51SxXU/s800/IMG_9354.JPG

The empire level with the milled edge and 120 paper is handy.

Next was the pocket for the neck, which will be glued-in. The
pocket is 1.5" wide.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-RCynSqkOo_0/T2_eYJIeyNI/AAAAAAAAFCw/zwOksq7xyus/s800/IMG_9355.JPG

Couldn't decide whether to make the neck tenon or the body
mortise first. I decided to do the mortise first because it will
be easier to make little tweaks to the tenon.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-ZPk7OyNM5h0/T2_eYxdi8MI/AAAAAAAAFC4/ml1oQzDrMBE/s800/IMG_9357.JPG

Then I got side-tracked. For a long time I've wanted to be
able to create 1:1 scale plans on the computer, but the various
free CAD programs I've tried have serious learning curves.
Today I downloaded TigerCad (also free) and was able to
create and print a humbucker template.

http://peterhoward42.blogspot.com/2008/07/tigercad.html

Yeah, there are humbucker templates floating around on the web,
but I wanted a plan with a long center line so I could be sure
the cavity was square with the body.

Here's my 3/4" template.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4FtGOaZhl5Q/T2_eZOQTAXI/AAAAAAAAFEI/2f-Wl7o6fIs/s800/IMG_9358.JPG

Aligned and taped to the body.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-SHQmdpIbspk/T2_eZptTbfI/AAAAAAAAFEM/K4H-Rr6noko/s800/IMG_9359.JPG

And aligned at the end of the body, too, using the
small viewing hole on the template. Now I'm sure
the cavity's straight.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-IODgMdZfs8Y/T2_eZ1CgiwI/AAAAAAAAFEQ/gopPxW2vCoY/s800/IMG_9360.JPG

With a little clamping you don't have to worry that
the tape won't hold.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-rQ2SejhZKGQ/T2_eaAbaAKI/AAAAAAAAFDg/kHQ749VAtC8/s800/IMG_9361.JPG

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-E-O_UJLbaPA/T2_ea5JHksI/AAAAAAAAFDw/pZuCSuCGeds/s800/IMG_9364.JPG

The ends of the humbucker cavities still need to be
deepened for the pickup adjustment screws.

Really? Didn't get much done? You're being hard on yourself of today. :razz:

It's looking fantastic Glenn. Clean and precise work this weekend. Tell yourself of next month to be more supportive. :razz:

Looks to me like you did more than I did this weekend. I'm with you in cutting the mortise
first, tenon later. It just seems to be more logical that way. Now, if I could just figure
out a way to be as smooth as you are on this building stuff, I'd have it made.

Beautiful precise work there, Glenn.

Looks brilliant, Can't wait to see more.

Great stuff - very informative as I'd like to try a build like this one!

Beautiful precise work there, Glenn.

Looks brilliant, Can't wait to see more.

What Dave said .
Oops , I mean what kwerk said ! :D
Good work Glenn .

With a long tenon, is it necessary to have so much wood on the treble side of the heel? I'm curious because I'll be building a set neck at some point, but I wanted the treble side to be more like the standard tele...

With a long tenon, is it necessary to have so much wood on the treble side of the heel? I'm curious because I'll be building a set neck at some point, but I wanted the treble side to be more like the standard tele...

Since the tenon is narrow, it looks to me like the fretboard will cover the area you're talking about. Should look and feel like a Tele style joint.

Glenn?

Hi all. I really appreciate the support. Feel like I'm not spending
enough time reciprocating by following other challenge builds. :oops:

With a long tenon, is it necessary to have so much wood on the treble side of the heel? I'm curious because I'll be building a set neck at some point, but I wanted the treble side to be more like the standard tele...

Roger, I'm not completely clear on the issue you're raising,
and I'm no expert on set necks. Here I'm trying to do something
similar to a Les Paul-style neck If you want something more
like a tele-style neck then the mortise could be close in
dimension to a standard tele neck pocket -- maybe a little
deeper and a little longer.

Do you know about the Fender Custom Shop set neck teles?

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/telecaster-discussion-forum/104285-fender-custom-shop-set-neck-telecaster-2.html

Guitarnut has done some set neck teles with a similar shape.

Thanks for the reply. I hadn't seen the custom shop set-necks before. That's what I was looking for. I'm assuming they're doing as you suggest and just making the standard pocket a little deeper and probably a lot longer to get enough meat in there.

I mentioned I was using Titebond bottled hide glue on this
build.

I just re-discovered a web page with data on different types
of Titebond glues.

http://www.newwoodworker.com/reviews/titebond.html

Original Titebond and Titebond hide glue are similar in terms
of bond strength, recommended clamping pressure, etc.

The main differences are in bond strength in a hot environment,
and recommended application temperature.

Here's a summary:

Titebond original:
clamping pressure (medium woods): 125-175 psi
bond strength (room temp): 3600 psi -- 77% wood failure
bond strength (150 F): 1600 psi -- 10% wood failure
application temperature: 50 F minimum

Titebond liquid hide glue:
clamping pressure (medium woods): 125-175 psi
bond strength (room temp): 3591 psi -- 72% wood failure
bond strength (150 F): 3207 psi -- 59% wood failure
application temperature: 70 F minimum

Also, the Titebond original has an open time of 5 minutes,
while the liquid hide glue has an open time of 10 minutes.

Hey Flatty,

I'm using Titebond hide myself. I like the fact that if I do a large scale mistake I can heat the joint apart. Preeb says that hide glue has zero creep and supposedly cures very hard which would have some sonic benefits. The build looks great! Go man.

Barncaster

Great build! I love the setneck approach.

Glenn,

It looks fantastic! I need to grain fill my mahogany. How well did the CA work out for you? Is it a one shot deal or is there building involved?

Barncaster

Thanks oigun and Barncaster. Barncaster, glad to hear your
surgery was successful.

I applied medium CA in very thin layers with a credit card. So
far I've applied two layers, and could see that much less was
needed in the second layer. It may take up to 4 layers to
completely fill the grain, but the CA dries so quickly this isn't
a big deal.

I'm using CA because TDPRI member Drak uses it, and his finish
work is some of the best I've ever seen. Check the photos
in this post of his:

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/244915-new-roundup-tele-started.html#post2861353

Also, last year I used epoxy and had a problem with it not curing.
Removing partly-cured epoxy is really painful!

Thanks oigun and Barncaster. Barncaster, glad to hear your
surgery was successful.

I applied medium CA in very thin layers with a credit card. So
far I've applied two layers, and could see that much less was
needed in the second layer. It may take up to 4 layers to
completely fill the grain, but the CA dries so quickly this isn't
a big deal.

I'm using CA because TDPRI member Drak uses it, and his finish
work is some of the best I've ever seen. Check the photos
in this post of his:
http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/244915-new-roundup-tele-started.html#post2861353

Also, last year I used epoxy and had a problem with it not curing.
Removing partly-cured epoxy is really painful!

That is indeed a standard to aim for. I hope you get there. M

i forgot about drak grain filling with CA. i've been using it fill the sides of fretboards but i hadn't thought about using it for a whole guitar.

the pocket looks great. clean.

With a long tenon, is it necessary to have so much wood on the treble side of the heel? I'm curious because I'll be building a set neck at some point, but I wanted the treble side to be more like the standard tele...

Not to highjack this thread, but I think I see what Roger's talking about. As
for the heel, you can trim/cut that however you like for asthetics. The biggest
structural integrity is in the mortise/tenon area, and yes, that's why they're
longer. But, the heel is different. You could go so far as to shape that just
like a bolt-on all the way up to the point where it meets the body. I've seen
folks build a "dovetail" type mortise/tenon and then there is no "heel", just a
straight neck all the way into the body, under the fretboard.

It's funny, flatfive, because I think there are a few of us building in a very similar
manner. For me, it's the LP influence, and a "stick with what you know" thing.
In your case, much more natural talent on display!

Not to highjack this thread, but I think I see what Roger's talking about. As
for the heel, you can trim/cut that however you like for asthetics. The biggest
structural integrity is in the mortise/tenon area, and yes, that's why they're
longer. But, the heel is different. You could go so far as to shape that just
like a bolt-on all the way up to the point where it meets the body. I've seen
folks build a "dovetail" type mortise/tenon and then there is no "heel", just a
straight neck all the way into the body, under the fretboard.

It's funny, flatfive, because I think there are a few of us building in a very similar
manner. For me, it's the LP influence, and a "stick with what you know" thing.
In your case, much more natural talent on display!
IMO - I think we can assume that the neck is what physicists would call a rigid body (some would call it a "member" in reference to a system, but I don't want to go there :wink:) as it does not really change it's shape that much under pressure. So with a rigid body, the forces that act on that body would also act on whatever/where ever it was attached to another object. So, I think it really comes down to how weak the body is that you are attaching to the neck is; within reason, I believe most guitars at the neck joint are going to be about as rigid as the neck is - so it would not matter if more of the force is on the treble or bass side of the neck. If the glue or screws/plate... does not move then the force will be more or less the same no matter which side of the tenon is longer - the combination of surface area that the forces are applied to just needs to be enough. Of course, we all know that anything that is wood will change shape under pressure... but the woods that are generally used in guitars are very stiff - otherwise things like truss rods would never work.

It's funny, flatfive, because I think there are a few of us building in a very similar
manner. For me, it's the LP influence, and a "stick with what you know" thing.
In your case, much more natural talent on display!

Get outta here! :lol:

But you're right, it's funny that there's a lot of laminated and
set necks this year. Last year there were a few set necks but
I don't remember any laminated necks.

Get outta here! :lol:

But you're right, it's funny that there's a lot of laminated and
set necks this year. Last year there were a few set necks but
I don't remember any laminated necks.

Your build is looking great! True about the set necks, but my build last year was a 3 piece walnut laminate.

If I understand what you and emoney are saying: emoney's saying
that the heel doesn't matter structurally; it's just aesthetics.
You're saying that if the neck is stiff then it's serving just to
transfer forces to the body.

Is that the gist of it?

IMO - I think we can assume that the neck is what physicists would call a rigid body (some would call it a "member" in reference to a system, but I don't want to go there :wink:) as it does not really change it's shape that much under pressure. So with a rigid body, the forces that act on that body would also act on whatever/where ever it was attached to another object. So, I think it really comes down to how weak the body is that you are attaching to the neck is; within reason, I believe most guitars at the neck joint are going to be about as rigid as the neck is - so it would not matter if more of the force is on the treble or bass side of the neck. If the glue or screws/plate... does not move then the force will be more or less the same no matter which side of the tenon is longer - the combination of surface area that the forces are applied to just needs to be enough. Of course, we all know that anything that is wood will change shape under pressure... but the woods that are generally used in guitars are very stiff - otherwise things like truss rods would never work.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-ZPk7OyNM5h0/T2_eYxdi8MI/AAAAAAAAFC4/ml1oQzDrMBE/s800/IMG_9357.JPG

Wowee, Flatfive. That's quite a canyon you've hogged out there! Looks great. I'm lovin' the set neck, and the CA filler. And pretty much the whole build, come to think of it.

I'm happy. I figured out a way to cut the width of
the neck tenon that is simple and uses nothing more
than a router (I don't have a table or band saw).

I cut a piece of 1/2" MDF about the same width as the
neck and then got the sides straight and parallel using a
fence on the router table.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Z_hxsoulFEg/T3JvQFBGQXI/AAAAAAAAFFY/Ecx_GBOI7IM/s800/IMG_9365.JPG

Then I marked the length of the tenon on the MDF, and moved
the fence closer to the bit.

Then I took a little material off one side, flipped the board over,
and repeated.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-eneQxQjWEYI/T3Jutl9lP8I/AAAAAAAAFEw/BOG9U8du2JM/s800/IMG_9366.JPG

Once I got close to the target width of 1.5", I checked the piece
against the neck pocket (mortise) and made tiny adjustments
until I had I tight fit. Here's the finished template.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-ktoREfWrkc4/T3Jusg4JK1I/AAAAAAAAFEY/-3w9g07_chU/s800/IMG_9367.JPG

The tenon part of the template is right down the middle and perfectly
parallel to the sides. Since the template is long it's easy to align with the
neck.

Nailed the template to the neck with a brad. (A shim's needed
because the neck profile drops off slightly here.)

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-oLVSs9eWQgo/T3Jutbx7l7I/AAAAAAAAFEo/eMQXGtgsIbw/s800/IMG_9368.JPG

At the other end of the neck the template was attached with
shipping tape.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-VFww_e0v_-k/T3Jut1zTu7I/AAAAAAAAFE4/wQZeQxCWV1k/s800/IMG_9369.JPG

After routing:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-1VVR0sfSEfo/T3JuudfEGrI/AAAAAAAAFFA/nDIY8MUabvc/s800/IMG_9370.JPG

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-K9GD6O1jX_w/T3JuuShrl3I/AAAAAAAAFFE/GbFW33eBqv0/s800/IMG_9372.JPG

The tenon just needs a tad of sanding for a tight fit.

The main part of the neck is not to final width yet. The area where
the tenon begins needs 90 degree corners -- I'll try to fake that with
a chisel or razor saw or something.

This build is beautiful. I dig the set neck and Gibson scale. I did something similar for the 2011 Challenge, but carved the top and used a 3-way toggle switch. I think you're gonna love this guitar when you get it finished!

Thanks gitlvr. I remember your build in the 2011 challenge.
A great no-nonsense build with skilled use of hand tools.

I sanded the mortise just a few times with a 120 sanding
block and the tenon just fit. You can easily hold the guitar
by the neck. Probably the tenon needs a little more sanding.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Ytb7IBb7ENs/T3KMrX8s6YI/AAAAAAAAFGs/CNtTxFCDsDg/s800/IMG_9377.JPG

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KFX0Ln5aAP4/T3KMrHxwi_I/AAAAAAAAFHE/5Y3STSrXEcI/s800/IMG_9375.JPG

You can see that squaring up is needed where the tenon meets
the main part of the neck.

Looks like the centerlines of the body and neck line up.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-wkCA31jNQGk/T3KMrdzareI/AAAAAAAAFG4/fba8slfSUGI/s800/IMG_9381.JPG

A big relief! :cool:

Great job! A sharp chisel will square up those inside corners on that tenon real quick.

Great work man!

beautiful work. I'll be embarking on something similar after this is over. Since I just sold my LP copy, I want to replace it with a gibson scale set-neck tele. I like what I'm seeing here...

Not to swell your head to much :lol:, but that is one professional looking job :wink:. Truly sweet build Glenn :smile:


Dave

If I understand what you and emoney are saying: emoney's saying
that the heel doesn't matter structurally; it's just aesthetics.
You're saying that if the neck is stiff then it's serving just to
transfer forces to the body.

Is that the gist of it?

That's exactly what I'm saying. It's the center of the neck that's most important
to the transfer of vibration (of course, the true source of "sound"), so how
you shape around it is all about what it looks like. By attaching the neck,
we are continuing the center of the guitar as a whole. Part of why there's
so much "debate" about which joint is stronger/better tone/longer sustain,
when actually, identically built by the same hands with the same material
but with different "looks", I'd venture to say that most of us, at least,
would not be able to detect the nuance of difference.

Have you given thought to what you're going to do at the end of your neck,
where there's that "gap" between the p'up route and the neck itself?
Just curious mainly.

The area where the tenon begins needs 90 degree corners -- I'll try to fake that with a chisel or razor saw or something.

i've thought about this... never done it, cut a board perfectly square and clamp it and your neck(on its side) to your bench. line up the end of the board with the line you want to cut, and then zip it with a router. use a piece of MDF and you can imagine it's a template.:lol:


looking good.

If I understand what you and emoney are saying: emoney's saying
that the heel doesn't matter structurally; it's just aesthetics.
You're saying that if the neck is stiff then it's serving just to
transfer forces to the body.

Is that the gist of it?

Yep - BUT, that's just how to look at it as far as all of the static (non-moving) forces. The dynamic forces (what happens when vibrating) that may likely effect the tone of the guitar are likely the things that make the big difference between the tone of a set neck and a bolt on. I still think it likely comes down to the average length of the tenon - rather than the shape - in the analysis the dynamic forces - but I think that would get pretty subjective anyways.

In a nutshell, IMO the size of the tenon likely makes a big difference on how the guitar plays/sounds, but it does not take that much to hold the neck in place with the force of the strings - to make it a functional joint.

Not to swell your head to much :lol:, but that is one professional looking job :wink:. Truly sweet build Glenn :smile:


Dave
+1 Glenn's work is impressive!

People: thanks a lot for the good feedback -- helps keep
me motivated.

...
Have you given thought to what you're going to do at the end of your neck,
where there's that "gap" between the p'up route and the neck itself?
Just curious mainly.

Well spotted! I was a little freaked out myself when I saw that
gap in this pic:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KFX0Ln5aAP4/T3KMrHxwi_I/AAAAAAAAFHE/5Y3STSrXEcI/s288/IMG_9375.JPG

I checked my plan and the neck this morning. Once the
end of the tenon is squared up, and the pickup ring is mounted,
the gap shouldn't be more than about 1/16".

You're on it now fellah, thats looking grade A+

As an aside, and for future neck building exercises, I've found it's best to cut the p'up
route after you have the neck glued in. That way there's a "0" gap, lol. If, for any reason,
there's still missing material under the fretboard there, you can always glue a piece of
cut off back in there. Between the glue on the bottom and end, and then the glue on the
walls of the mortise, it will secure the piece pretty well. You can see why I never throw
any "waste" wood away. Never know when you're going to need it. You're doing a great
job, by the way.

Fantastic job on the neck joint Mr Flatfive sir. :lol:
Well done, its looking great.!!

Thanks Mac, and thanks junk mutt.

emoney, good point, although I drew the design in
detail and should have set a smaller gap.

BUT -- I looked again at the gap in the pic above
and found there's an error in my design. :eek:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-2CWXw1IRS8w/T3Oyn63WoLI/AAAAAAAAFHU/uamp__9EY3c/s800/IMG_9383.JPG

That line coming down from the horn should have
come down from the end of the neck pocket.

So I need to make the tenon a bit longer.

Thanks again for pointing out the issue. :smile:

Sawed a line around the neck where the tenon was
supposed to end, then tried some chiseling:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-H1apklU7sKk/T3PQ3-G7FQI/AAAAAAAAFHc/5hONnSWzK28/s800/IMG_9384.JPG

After putting the chisel down.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-LgmKpkYBO6Q/T3PQ5l4K-NI/AAAAAAAAFHk/qHcA-c7H-Xo/s800/IMG_9386.JPG

That was fun; I'll have to find more stuff to chisel. Now the
tenon just needs to be cleaned up a tad.

Great save Glenn!

Wow you are on your "A" game. I'm not just lightly throwing this out there, you really do some of the cleanest work on this forum. Spectacular.

Come on over - I have plenty of stuff you can chisel.

Your build is looking great by the way!

Wow you are on your "A" game. I'm not just lightly throwing this out there, you really do some of the cleanest work on this forum. Spectacular.

Yup. A new confidence is in the house. No more um and ah !!!

Glen, Muzikp, nosmo, and Mac -- appreciated.

Mac, I think you're reading me better than I can read myself.
I guess I do feel a little more confident.

Anyway, on to the fingerboard. There's only going to
be a 12th fret marker. I wanted something simple
and purely decorative.

Here's the design (TigerCad again) and a couple of pieces
of MOP. One of those pieces would be enough MOP, but
slightly contrasting MOP should look better.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-3A3Nnoegreg/T3Uumc-P9YI/AAAAAAAAFHw/P4uNLKettWg/s800/IMG_9388.JPG

Scissored the plan, and super glued the bits to the MOP. But then
one of the pieces tore -- and my printer died yesterday. :neutral:

So here's the first piece after sawing.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-aaeh5vU5owI/T3UusKAapwI/AAAAAAAAFH4/-08eIIicnx0/s800/IMG_9390.JPG

Took it slow and remembered the dust mask. After a little
sanding.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-N83wQpHutss/T3UuvN_AEgI/AAAAAAAAFIM/BzqxRrRgPi0/s800/IMG_9391.JPG

Not a lot to show for one night -- I'd better get a move on.

The MOP is beautiful! Where do you get all these ideas??????????????

Beautiful work Glenn, just beautiful

Great job on the tenon, and an even better job on the inlays. Love that design.

WOW , Glenn , looks like you are raising the bar again!

Geat job. I'm with you in that I really like the look of unadorned fretboards. Simple and classy. Nicely done!

The MOP is beautiful! Where do you get all these ideas??????????????

Here! :lol:

Google images is also handy.

Dilbone, emoney, Herb, and RogerC - thanks, guys.
This build challenge lark is pretty fun. :lol:

Back to the inlay -- got the second piece sawed out. Here's
the saw and jig.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-26xBy0MEN6c/T3aA2bEx_AI/AAAAAAAAFIY/TLxJVZAvWAQ/s800/IMG_9393.JPG

I can't say I like using that saw very much, but I'd rather
saw with it then have to count the teeth. :shock:

The sawed piece is a little rough.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-nQaC1X7cC38/T3aA2pmqIWI/AAAAAAAAFIk/lahOWuBYHko/s800/IMG_9395.JPG

After sanding, next to its brother.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-yDFa7mHClRw/T3aA2v69ptI/AAAAAAAAFIg/vIIat8R4MQI/s800/IMG_9396.JPG

Also stuck an ear on the headstock. After cutting a couple
of small pieces of mahogany with the jigsaw, used a little plane
to get close to the headstock thickness.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-T9GWM3JWC58/T3aArltLbXI/AAAAAAAAFI8/EDhrodbEH9M/s800/IMG_9392.JPG

(Not a great pic, unless you dig Workmates.)

Glued on one ear only -- saw this done in another thread, where
the stress-reduction aspects were touted. :lol:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-fv_9WiKyKeA/T3aA29myVnI/AAAAAAAAFJA/jOAKCztXiis/s800/IMG_9397.JPG

Wow Glen you have mad skillz my friend! Keep up the amazing work!

Hey Allthesound, good to see you around. I remember that
great build you had a few months ago, with the inlayed
fretboard. I'd been thinking of doing something in that spirit
for the challenge but never found the right idea.

Today I got started on the control cavity. Started by adding
it to the plan:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-NVGT7Cn6ovA/T3fWGiy5m7I/AAAAAAAAFJM/rK-oSrrQyNY/s800/IMG_9398.JPG

Copied that section of the plan and glued it to 1/2" MDF.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-8OSnb4Ctj8M/T3fWGiiooUI/AAAAAAAAFJI/HmSRJJLq0II/s800/IMG_9399.JPG

Jigsawed near the line, then got ready to try some freehand
routing.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-iUV_ROG2cTE/T3fWGrdEdpI/AAAAAAAAFKQ/lgTE3My3zJA/s800/IMG_9400.JPG

Turned out okay.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-655rORfb4uc/T3fWMh_ZfWI/AAAAAAAAFJc/Rs7SvEum1d0/s800/IMG_9401.JPG

Attached with double-sided tape to the body. The other piece
of 1/2" MDF is protecting the body and providing more area for
the router, to help keep it from tipping.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-AE7W6lIZkHk/T3fWNGw2f-I/AAAAAAAAFJo/p1l_Xm8VlLo/s800/IMG_9402.JPG

To get the full depth I had to remove the template and let
the router ride on the cavity wall. But -- I couldn't remove the
template from the body! :eek:

Had a hard time figuring out how to remove the template without
marring the body. Finally came up with this:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bVHYM-g2Y3U/T3fWNeDaH6I/AAAAAAAAFKU/wsyqNfP2xgk/s800/IMG_9404.JPG

After a lot of slow wiggling the tape finally let go.

Finished product -- well, still needs the lip that the cover will
fit into.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-atOfYYpguGA/T3fWOKBIDTI/AAAAAAAAFKY/hBcTer_kE6M/s800/IMG_9405.JPG

And a fineeee looking hole it is :wink:. Seriously, if you get as good on the inlay as you are with finishes, I'm gonna develop a major inferiority complex :lol:
You know it's funny, you can do "Gibsonish" features on a Tele, and they always look good. But you have to be veryyyy careful doing "tele-ish" features on a Gibson design. Just the versatility of the Tele design I suppose. Thanks Leo! :smile:

Awesome build Glenn :wink:

You know it's funny, you can do "Gibsonish" features on a Tele, and they always look good. But you have to be veryyyy careful doing "tele-ish" features on a Gibson design. Just the versatility of the Tele design I suppose. Thanks Leo! :smile:


Dave, that's an interesting and perceptive thought! Never heard
the idea before but I think it's very true. And interesting also
to wonder exactly why.

Seriously, if you get as good as good on the inlay as you are with finishes

Hey Dave , can you imagine if Glenn did a Caribbean burst how good would it look , seriously , no really :razz::lol:

Sorry Glenn , just funning with ya , but I agree with Dave on your work , at this point I would call it masterful .

flatfive - your build looks great

And interesting also
to wonder exactly why
Good lord what did I start? :lol:

Hey Dave , can you imagine if Glenn did a Caribbean burst how good would it look , seriously , no really :razz::lol:


You're going into the realm of the radically hypothetical, Herb! :lol:


Sorry Glenn , just funning with ya , but I agree with Dave on your work , at this point I would call it masterful .

Nice of you to say, but I still have a long way to go, and
if I've improved it's thanks to you and others here.

flatfive - your build looks great

Thanks, pulaifaz -- glad you're participating again this year!

Good lord what did I start? :lol:

Hard to believe that starting something is not familiar territory for
you, Dave. :lol: Seriously, it's an intriguing question.

My usual guitar-building goal is to get a little done every
day. But in this challenge, you also have to have some big days.
Today wasn't one of them. :neutral:

I used the common method for routing the truss rod channel,
where the neck goes upside down on a router table with a
fence.

To know where to end the rout, mark the end of the bit.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Fs-wxQ82hGM/T3kdYLTDrQI/AAAAAAAAFKc/WEtg2YmZFO0/s800/IMG_9407.JPG

A note so I remember what the line means:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-bBXOfyKmkC0/T3kdYucEB0I/AAAAAAAAFKk/IjkQYhv7Hho/s800/IMG_9408.JPG

Figure out where the truss rod goes:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-ccbOgYlDRTQ/T3kdZOTudkI/AAAAAAAAFKs/Bc5cxM_UCZk/s800/IMG_9409.JPG

and mark the other end of the rod, where the truss rod channel
should end:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-521F25mA090/T3kdaMTi2HI/AAAAAAAAFK0/eXtp7rfei08/s800/IMG_9410.JPG

Then you make multiple routing passes, each time stopping
when the line on the neck meets the line on the table.

For this bezdez truss rod, you use a 1/4" diameter straight bit,
and a 3/8" round nose bit for the adjustment nut.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-IkbxiBjfvyg/T3kdcfDuQOI/AAAAAAAAFK8/_BJ0lhGRBzY/s800/IMG_9413.JPG

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-oV5AX7Mjk24/T3kdc1ouzKI/AAAAAAAAFLE/H1urbSZL7wY/s800/IMG_9414.JPG

Also glued the other ear on the headstock, and got ready to
rout the inlay area on a practice neck. After scribing around
the inlay with an X-Acto knife, and rubbing in white chalk:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-JiECL7HNGDo/T3kddr6qquI/AAAAAAAAFLM/QyaEKSnQolk/s800/IMG_9416.JPG

Hard to believe that starting something is not familiar territory for
you, Dave. :lol: Seriously, it's an intriguing question.

What, me an instigator? :lol:, me? My little brother syndrome kicking in I suppose (I'd still yank my sister's chain if she was close enough :lol:)
As to the other matter? My drafting 101 tells me it's probably french curves, the tele has them in abundance, gibbies not so much (being mostly circles, or parts of a circle). Almost any construct will be at home with french curves as the lines are so gentle and constantly changing. Pretty much the only thing compatible with circles, are more circles and an occasional straight line. Yes, there are slight french curves in a les paul, which may explain why it is the only gibson profile that seems to look ok with a tele bridge plate (at least to me, the SG looking tele combo just doesn't look right). Now who says an art minor is useless :lol::lol:

If you drove past my place at 8:30 tonight, you'd have
seen someone cursing under the front porch light.

I needed to make a recess around the edge of the back
cavity cover, and make the cover itself.

I made a template for the recess by drawing a line
around the inside of the cavity template, and drawing
another line about 3/16" around that.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-1SgSSCfBeuU/T3pYqN7p9UI/AAAAAAAAFLg/SNRq50gB0jI/s800/IMG_9419.JPG

Here's the new template stacked on the cavity template.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-xNpE_kd3TGw/T3pYqR9YoBI/AAAAAAAAFMM/1lL_sjSP98M/s800/IMG_9420.JPG

For the cover, yet another template. Sanding it to fit
just right left me cursing, and thinking about doing
this with router bushings next time.

In the end it was all okay.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-U919bxLXjx8/T3pYsHhxJPI/AAAAAAAAFL8/R8FidAVbFVc/s800/IMG_9422.JPG

I still have to rout the recess and make the cover, though!

Rassa, frassin' fricker, snuckin' templates! :razz:

Looking good, Glenn. Hang in there!

Rassa, frassin' fricker, snuckin' templates! :razz:


Yeah, it was something like that. Not the most fun step
of the build, but it's progress.

Looking good, Glenn. Hang in there!

Thanks, Mark.

Today was supposed to be the day for finishing the inlay work.
I saw a really neat and simple dremel pin router I'm tempted
to make, even if it means a delay of a few days.

Yea , I hate making templates , especially with mdf , but its a necessary evil . Hang on buddy , only a little more than a month of this madness left :D

Yea , I hate making templates , especially with mdf , but its a necessary evil . Hang on buddy , only a little more than a month of this madness left :D

I really don't mind making templates and I wish PVC sheet was more affordable. It's so easy to work, it's stable, gets a smooth edge, patches set up almost instantly and it isn't a health risk like MDF. It's just too dang expensive compared to MDF.

I wasted some time tonight trying to find a part for the
dremel pin router I want to make -- unsuccessfully.

In the meantime I reaped the rewards of the templates
made yesterday.

Taped template to body (blue tapes just there to help
the alignment):

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-oQVyS852Aqk/T3u89RpdefI/AAAAAAAAFMU/togiKAQ0sF4/s800/IMG_9424.JPG

Checked the depth with some of the cover material:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-4kTEtCdm6nk/T3u9Ca2dSQI/AAAAAAAAFMc/DYhaV7a60mc/s800/IMG_9429.JPG

And that's it.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CXfXK7m9TZQ/T3u9Dr0tB2I/AAAAAAAAFMk/rytsas12I6Y/s800/IMG_9430.JPG

All's well that ends well ! Looks great. If you hadn't shared your agony with us through the process, it would have looked very easy!:shock:

BTW, the dual trapezoid MOP inlay is absolutely stunning.

I was determined to finish the inlay tonight, but that didn't
happen.

After practicing on a trashed neck blank, I scribed around the
inlay, then rubbed white chalk into the scribed line.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-fgXTdtSoq7Q/T30RDKYSWjI/AAAAAAAAFMw/CBIIsC9_PC8/s800/IMG_9432.JPG

After starting to rout with the Dremel tool:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-CzwXc2TTy64/T30RDe19zlI/AAAAAAAAFM0/MYJ8EDolkKk/s800/IMG_9434.JPG

The fingerboard already has a radius on it, so the dremel
base riding on two pieces of 1/4" MDF laid along the sides
of the board.

Since I'm a rookie with this stuff, a lot of work remains:
getting into the corners with a small chisel, and then lots
of adjustments with the dremel until the inlay just fits.

That's some precision work for a rookie flatfive. heck that's precision work for a pro. Well done!

You are like a surgeon with the inlay work Glenn , nice .

That's going to be a great, understated, classy inlay, Glenn. I've got a friend who's a fantastic inlay artist, and he's gotten some bits from his dentist to do really small stuff. If you plan on doing more of this, you might check and see what you can get hold of.

Allthesound and Herb -- thanks, guys.

I've got a friend who's a fantastic inlay artist, and he's gotten some bits from his dentist to do really small stuff. If you plan on doing more of this, you might check and see what you can get hold of.

Thanks for mentioning this. Actually I heard that dentists
pass out free inlay bits a while ago and got about 20 on my
last trip to the dentist. My dentist likes me because I send
her a reminder postcard a couple of weeks before my
appointment. :lol:

Okay, after lots of little adjustments the inlay pieces fit.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Ks3kB1589pI/T35i6Ddnv-I/AAAAAAAAFNY/fpTcUA0zsX0/s800/IMG_9436.JPG

Brushed off the chalk so it wouldn't get glued into the neck.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-VSuc5zXwDEU/T35i6mArFyI/AAAAAAAAFNo/RKjyEORN04U/s800/IMG_9438.JPG

Sanded a scrap piece of the ebony for some nice fine dust.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-_Qs0L3vgjPE/T35i6C4mtYI/AAAAAAAAFNg/D2pfrkpDWeQ/s800/IMG_9437.JPG

Mixed some titebond and the dust. Had no idea how much
titebond to use.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-TFBR0DIxl2o/T35i7jpgiFI/AAAAAAAAFN4/mH42PqdvpMg/s800/IMG_9440.JPG

Inlay all glued up.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ItVfcI--_Ss/T35i7yDxBMI/AAAAAAAAFOA/Bra_mvLam1M/s800/IMG_9441.JPG

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-c79O9Oyky4s/T37mK1VhwXI/AAAAAAAAFOo/ZfKeeZ9tdbM/s800/IMG_9447.JPG

I'm pretty happy with it, and managed to get on the 12th fret. :lol:

Having just seen oigun's inlay, though, I'm humbled.

I've come to the conclusion that when you think you've accomplished something unique and cool,
it's better NOT to check other threads. That way, you can be happily oblivious.

For instance, when I go to do my FB inlay, I chose NOT to check your thread. oh...wait....I just did.
DANG IT!

Very nice!

That inlay came out very well. A nice touch.

Very nice Glenn! Great idea and beautiful execution.

I'm pretty happy with it, and managed to get on the 12th fret

It would have looked great on the 11th or 13th fret, too. :razz:

Very nice Glenn! Great idea and beautiful execution.



It would have looked great on the 11th or 13th frets, too. :razz:
+1 - Looks awesome!

very cool. did you make your router base? or is it a stock model from home depot/stewmac? did you use the piece of MDF as a straight edge or just to hold the base level? i've been trying to think of an easier way to do this with the tools i have, and the best i can come up with is using my drill press as a pin router.

very cool. did you make your router base? or is it a stock model from home depot/stewmac? did you use the piece of MDF as a straight edge or just to hold the base level? i've been trying to think of an easier way to do this with the tools i have, and the best i can come up with is using my drill press as a pin router.

I'm using the StewMac router base, and the MDF is just to
keep the base level.

I wanted to make a dremel-based pin router for this step, but
almost all other progress depends on finishing the fingerboard,
so that'll have to wait.

Sometime soon, maybe later in this build, I'm going to make
a dremel pin router using this ingeniously simple design (http://richardniceguitars.blogspot.com/2011/12/hinged-pin-router-for-dremel-and-43mm.html).

I looked at a lot of jigs for inlaying, and this is the
simplest I found. It is really ingenious to use a hinge instead
of a drill-press-like mechanism to adjust the dremel height.

That is the coolest update on a traditional inlay shape I've ever seen. Man, this year's build challenge has so much amazing stuff to learn! I hope I can finally participate next year.

The inlay looks great Glenn :wink:

I must agree, that inlay is a winner!

Hi people. Thanks for the encouragement. Got a bunch of
little things done today.

Routed the neck to the final width using a straight piece
of MDF.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-rK90ok9hhYo/T4EDKDF8VsI/AAAAAAAAFQA/7bcUFhoGpcs/s800/IMG_9470.JPG

Had to do this twice, after realizing I'd subtracted only the
width of the binding, not the width of the binding times two. :eek:
Finally got the right dimensions:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Z1skyzEaA3U/T4EDMZ_d0OI/AAAAAAAAFQI/16bs7L2R_0g/s800/IMG_9481.JPG

Routed the control cavity cover.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-NLzxgGeOBpQ/T4EDK0k8iwI/AAAAAAAAFQM/SuqwCH6TdHc/s800/IMG_9471.JPG

Bad pic, but it's a good fit:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-yUlRQ-FmP-U/T4EDKVLhecI/AAAAAAAAFQU/22hfnQtsYzk/s800/IMG_9473.JPG

Routed a 3/16" radius on the back:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-AlvknUnSWRY/T4EDLI3sbqI/AAAAAAAAFPE/mrM6svrWbNQ/s800/IMG_9477.JPG

and routed a binding channel on the front:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-yiyb7XNZ6ps/T4EDLrT_7FI/AAAAAAAAFPQ/kGKPmNIuR6Q/s800/IMG_9479.JPG

Finally, cleaned up the ears on the headstock, and painted the
truss rod access cavity with black dye.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-hlvHlCfSy98/T4EDMrINNRI/AAAAAAAAFPw/2uw9WVgS4Y0/s800/IMG_9482.JPG

One good source of info has been this beautifully documented Les Paul build:

http://www.philsville.co.uk/burst1.htm

There's no way I'd ever get that "macro" with my work. It's bad enough from a distance!

Glenn , I think I said it before , your work is clean , meticulous , and beautiful , I am always impressed with your craftsmanship.

Glenn , I think I said it before , your work is clean , meticulous , and beautiful , I am always impressed with your craftsmanship.

What he said, that looks really nice.

That Inlay is really Awesome.

Glenn , I think I said it before , your work is clean , meticulous , and beautiful , I am always impressed with your craftsmanship.
Durn tootin' :smile:

Thanks kwerk, Herb, Desmo, nblades, and Dave!

On to fretting. Here's the stuff:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-69Uk6bXa1fY/T4IlInMg5wI/AAAAAAAAFQg/xnuSl7-zcNg/s800/IMG_9486.JPG


StewMac #149 wide fret wire
triangular file used to file the fret slots lightly before fretting
a paper towel used with naptha to clean the fret wire
classic T. Downs-based homebrew fret bender
fret holder

and on the back of the fret holder the handy fret bending
reference chart: :lol:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-fWuXSoP1MG4/T4IlIVgT-xI/AAAAAAAAFQY/dl1KQtAmkM4/s800/IMG_9487.JPG

I'm stingy, so made 2 pieces of fret wire cover 22 frets.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-xUkvSHsaxWc/T4IlIy165BI/AAAAAAAAFQs/WpBudPhviVU/s800/IMG_9489.JPG

All ready to bang it in. You see lots of discussion about
fretting technique, but it seems one of the easiest parts
of guitar building.

Way back when I had to redo a fret slot:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Ovqt-hqXn2E/T4IlJq_dX0I/AAAAAAAAFQ8/uTlKo3q6obw/s800/IMG_9491.JPG

Let's see if the fret covers the problem:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-vCOPQqZ1nSw/T4IlJ4beq6I/AAAAAAAAFRI/mipq1sj0YSQ/s800/IMG_9492.JPG

Good. This ebony seems to hold the frets better than
rosewood. They hammer in tight.

Clipped the ends.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-IvM3CSCdcgU/T4IlKhsTDzI/AAAAAAAAFRs/t8GueIHzkrE/s800/IMG_9500.JPG

What's really nice is that putting the frets in corrected
a slight up bow on the fretboard. :cool:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-lrkSqe7h3dU/T4IlKA6bqjI/AAAAAAAAFRM/a4uTiSKFre4/s800/IMG_9498.JPG

At this point I put drops of super glue in each slot end,
and then wiped with acetone. If you wipe right away,
all traces of the CA are gone.

After filing the ends flush with a bastard file:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-He3DW-y446M/T4IlYz6mwwI/AAAAAAAAFRg/shI4oVJhW3k/s800/IMG_9506.JPG

No beveling :grin: Instead, binding's going on the neck. :shock:
I may be jinxing myself, but how hard can that be?

Outstanding craftsmanship Glenn! Cant even tell you repaired the slot. That inlay is a really nice touch and well executed.

'How hard can that be' you say ............ balls of steel Glenn , you're on a roll M

Nice work and I'm a big fan of fretboard binding. Are you going with "nibs"?

Outstanding craftsmanship Glenn! Cant even tell you repaired the slot. That inlay is a really nice touch and well executed.

Yeah, I'm lucky -- the fret just barely covered the bad slot.

By the way, that inlay design isn't original -- it's used by Collings Guitars
and others.

'How hard can that be' you say ............ balls of steel Glenn , you're on a roll M

Thanks, Mac. Wish I did have balls of steel. I've bound a few bodies;
surely a long flat surface is easy...? (but see below).

Nice work and I'm a big fan of fretboard binding. Are you going with "nibs"?

Yeah, I'm going with nibs (like you've done, I see). My mantra for
this build is "do the most with what you've got", and I don't have
those special nippers to cut off the end of the fret wire's tang.

But -- just sat down to glue the binding to the fretboard and saw this:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-_TCV7XvaGvg/T4JEEAXlMaI/AAAAAAAAFRw/acuIMERz5hQ/s800/IMG_9507.JPG

You're going to need a bigger binding!

Nice work, Glenn. I'm actually looking forward to fretting mine. I've only done one other, and it really wasn't that bad when I finally got my slots cut correctly.

Maybe put a filler 1mm binding ( or whatever height you meed ) in black below the cream one

I had a picture like that until I reduced the thickness of the fretboard, lol. If you have the
room, that's an option anyway. I did find out, that the shorter binding was actually
easier to use and there was a lot less waste. As you know, the "nib" is only about half the
height of the fret. Hey....how come your build is so much neater than mine??

Nice work, Glenn. I'm actually looking forward to fretting mine. I've only done one other, and it really wasn't that bad when I finally got my slots cut correctly.

Thanks, and you're right, getting the fret slots right is 90% of it, at
least in my experience.

Maybe put a filler 1mm binding ( or whatever height you meed ) in black below the cream one

Brilliant idea! Unfortunately I don't have any black and ordered
the thicker cream stuff last night. But I'd like to try this sometime;
sort of a sideways multi-ply binding.

I had a picture like that until I reduced the thickness of the fretboard, lol. If you have the room, that's an
option anyway.


My balls aren't steely enough to try reducing the thickness of the
fretboard at this point.

Hey....how come your build is so much neater than mine??

Because I only have one job? :lol:

I'm trying to get something done even on days
when I'm not getting anything done. :confused:

Drilling the output jack hole is not my favorite step:
small possible upside, large possible downside.

At least I have a plan:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Zt5AXah7-s4/T4Olo5Li4oI/AAAAAAAAFR8/ehWA95bUs9c/s800/IMG_9510.JPG

Ready to go:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-V7Lk69vgaFM/T4OlpQ4mhII/AAAAAAAAFSI/NKSuD4N1ymM/s800/IMG_9509.JPG

The ruler's going to help me aim.

There's daylight:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-_Ky2s2klJCc/T4OlpGMMQuI/AAAAAAAAFSE/Qh62pKRnDDQ/s800/IMG_9511.JPG

The other side, after a touch of sanding:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-eaRibkxvmv8/T4Olpgrd9LI/AAAAAAAAFSU/rs6R5TQ6tF0/s800/IMG_9514.JPG

Then I drilled access holes from the pickup routs to the
control cavity.

I bet a lot of you have pieces of paper like this:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-6-WTZxXRMCY/T4OlqO-W7NI/AAAAAAAAFSk/DZ2a51tykWo/s800/IMG_9516.JPG

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-6-WTZxXRMCY/T4OlqO-W7NI/AAAAAAAAFSk/DZ2a51tykWo/s800/IMG_9516.JPG

I probably should but it's all in my head at this point.
Hmmm...

We were supposed to make a list? Well carp......

No wonder your build looks so much nicer than mine!

I'm trying to get something done even on days
when I'm not getting anything done. :confused:

Drilling the output jack hole is not my favorite step:
small possible upside, large possible downside.

At least I have a plan:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Zt5AXah7-s4/T4Olo5Li4oI/AAAAAAAAFR8/ehWA95bUs9c/s800/IMG_9510.JPG

Ready to go:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-V7Lk69vgaFM/T4OlpQ4mhII/AAAAAAAAFSI/NKSuD4N1ymM/s800/IMG_9509.JPG

The ruler's going to help me aim.

There's daylight:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-_Ky2s2klJCc/T4OlpGMMQuI/AAAAAAAAFSE/Qh62pKRnDDQ/s800/IMG_9511.JPG

The other side, after a touch of sanding:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-eaRibkxvmv8/T4Olpgrd9LI/AAAAAAAAFSU/rs6R5TQ6tF0/s800/IMG_9514.JPG

Then I drilled access holes from the pickup routs to the
control cavity.

I bet a lot of you have pieces of paper like this:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-6-WTZxXRMCY/T4OlqO-W7NI/AAAAAAAAFSk/DZ2a51tykWo/s800/IMG_9516.JPG

Um, nope.... :neutral:

I bet a lot of you have pieces of paper like this:


Nope , but I really should :idea:

Well, the list is handy. For example, to see which
of the next steps can be done in half an hour. But I don't
always use a list.

The thing I do plan to do in all future builds is create a
full-scale plan before starting.

Tonight was a comedy of errors. My pickup cavities were
a little too small, so I enlarged my template and then redid
the body routs...

... only to find that the pickups still didn't fit because the
corners weren't tight enough. Fixed that with a 1/4"
straight bit (the trick where you use the shaft instead
of a bearing). And finally drilled holes with a 3/8"
forstner bit for the height-adjustment bolts.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-jrbU3giyzZc/T4T0SYIfvbI/AAAAAAAAFS4/RKjolGsLrVE/s800/IMG_9520.JPG

After all that, the pickups now fit.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-EYqxiRXOq1A/T4T0RHKzxjI/AAAAAAAAFTE/XEw6GnMicZc/s800/IMG_9519.JPG

Wow, very nice. :shock:

Yep that looks great. Does the pickup cavity that's part of the neck need to be bigger also or did you have the neck in when you resized, or maybe I'm just dumb and there is no cavity in the neck...let's go with that last one :lol:

Thanks, Phil and Muzikp. Muzikp -- not sure if you had a
question...? :lol:

Did the body binding tonight. I use super glue for binding,
much as Bill Scheltema explains here (http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/301515-how-install-bindings.html).

Last year I ran out of the thick super glue I've used before,
and the medium stuff I had was just soaking into the basswood.
So I ran out and got some gel, like Bill S. uses.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-pkZEz5u_Jew/T4ZLSeUAYtI/AAAAAAAAFT0/9aW7LtaQvt4/s800/IMG_9521.JPG

That's the "super glue" brand you see everywhere, but it's
made by Pacer Technologies, who make Zap-A-Gap, Z-Poxy,
and other good stuff.

The tape is hardly needed. Just a little insurance when
moving past a just-glued section. The important thing is
holding the binding tight while the CA dries.

In the end the tricky spots were nice and tight:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-sKGhaOvmGo8/T4ZLSpA-RKI/AAAAAAAAFTY/sD2TRPlQVpI/s800/IMG_9522.JPG

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-pORVONkEA1Q/T4ZLSsdjjyI/AAAAAAAAFT4/poqSeH1JiKQ/s800/IMG_9523.JPG

That's it for the gluing.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-D2Cow0Hu1lw/T4ZLTZi7xSI/AAAAAAAAFTg/3tzsFshS9h0/s800/IMG_9525.JPG

Very nice - I like it!

That cream binding looks great with the top color. Looks like you did a great job installing, too.

Looking good Glenn,

Cool pickup covers, haven't seen those before.

Try using the gel superglue for your pour filling, I can fill mahogany in one application with that as opposed to two or three apps with medium ca.

Steve

Looks fantastic Glenn. Maybe creme pickup rings to go with the binding? I've never seen bucker covers like that before, where'd ya get those?

Thanks guys.

The black pickup covers might seem strange combined with
cream binding, but I think it'll work. Remember that there's
going to be a burst finish on this guitar. Check this ES-339:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-JC6wODPR8Ls/T4bwYgTuoXI/AAAAAAAAFUU/LktU48R7NZA/s800/es-339.jpg

Those pickups are from ebay seller bezdez. They're made in
South Korea, by Artec I think. $30 for the pair!

Steve, thanks for suggesting the gel CA for grain filling!

wow. can't wait to see that body with a burst on it. :)

Thanks guys.

The black pickup covers might seem strange combined with
cream binding, but I think it'll work. Remember that there's
going to be a burst finish on this guitar. Check this ES-339:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-JC6wODPR8Ls/T4bwYgTuoXI/AAAAAAAAFUU/LktU48R7NZA/s800/es-339.jpg

Those pickups are from ebay seller bezdez. They're made in
South Korea, by Artec I think. $30 for the pair!

Steve, thanks for suggesting the gel CA for grain filling!

Ah, now I get it! I can hardly wait to see what happens next. I must've missed your finishing plans, or maybe I read it and got it mixed up with somebody else's? Hard to keep all the challenge builds straight. Lots going on right now. There's some amazing entries this year. Yours is definitely in that category!

Nice work, Glen. Gel is the way to go for me too, but I use the redundant tape method as well, lol.

Thanks Craig and emoney. The gel seems to hold well, but I
think I slightly prefer the thick, liquid CA I used to use. I found the
thick CA easier to apply in the right amount.

That's going to be absolutely stunning.
Actually it already is but the burst will set it over the top.

She's looking really nice.

Wow.

jpturbo and jkingma -- thanks for looking, guys.

I'm now going to completely belabor the gluing of the
veneer to the headstock! :neutral:

The 1/16" ebony veneer with taped-on plan:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-lfuLERN9Btk/T4eX_IUaJ7I/AAAAAAAAFVg/QZz-eHZ_T_Y/s800/IMG_9526.JPG

Sawed some of material away with an X-Acto saw,
then routed with a fence, then rounded the end with
a round file.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-7niZJhyguf0/T4eYFutXbZI/AAAAAAAAFVo/Kqy2CDLvJmU/s800/IMG_9530.JPG

Drilled the veneer for screws, to keep it in place during
gluing. Saw guitarbuilder (or jkingma?) do this for a
scarf joint.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-h-OpAkIcUdQ/T4eYKg4JcgI/AAAAAAAAFVw/z-iX4ylcnho/s800/IMG_9532.JPG

Took a couple of seconds to chamfer the holes.
Bruce Bennett suggests this for bolt-on neck holes.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-mLDFEaNXb4o/T4eYOvNio2I/AAAAAAAAFV4/wxOuRMqBQF0/s800/IMG_9533.JPG

Ready to glue, after wiping the ebony with acetone.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-fsJcBSZr4Pg/T4eYT0wD1qI/AAAAAAAAFWA/76B_wFFbLSU/s800/IMG_9534.JPG

You know what clamps look like, so I'll make the last one small. :lol:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-OQpD7UzEWpA/T4eYYJp5L1I/AAAAAAAAFWI/wW_u7UhvKRM/s144/IMG_9535.JPG

Nice work. Again, it's the details that make the difference. Where's that "thumbs-up" icon?

Funny thoug, we LIKE looking at clamp pics, lol.

Thanks guys.

Remember that there's
going to be a burst finish on this guitar. Check this ES-339:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-JC6wODPR8Ls/T4bwYgTuoXI/AAAAAAAAFUU/LktU48R7NZA/s800/es-339.jpg


:?::?: Glenn , I can understand the yellow in this example of a burst but where is the blue and green :?::?: :razz::lol:

All kidding aside , its' coming along beautifully Glenn , once again your attention to detail and extremely clean work are coming through . :wink:

:?::?: Glenn , I can understand the yellow in this example of a burst but where is the blue and green :?::?: :razz::lol:


:lol: Honestly, the yellow in that pic is over the top.


All kidding aside , its' coming along beautifully Glenn , once again your attention to detail and extremely clean work are coming through . :wink:

Thanks, Herb. You are one of my role models here.

few things,

1, awesome looking build with very clean workmanship

2, everything about it looks awesome

3, what are those awesome looking pickups?

Got the neck binding from StewMac, so first thing was to
reduce the height of the binding so not too much scraping
is needed after its glued to the neck.

Figured I could do it with a fence on the router, but this
turned out to be a bit of a fiasco. After a quick experiment
I decided to push the binding "downhill", and soon enough
the binding shot out of my hand.

Eventually my set up was like this:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-H8klYGoFFnw/T4jnS74MOaI/AAAAAAAAFWg/K9FA-vXvxuk/s800/IMG_9540.JPG

You can hardly see the binding. The idea is that there's a
fence, another piece of laminate clamped to keep the binding
straight, and the end of the tooth brush keeps it flat.

This setup was dodgy; next time I'll make some kind of jig.

Glued the binding to the side of the neck with super glue:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-oWCdF5gJoIg/T4jnaFCfjfI/AAAAAAAAFWo/UOT0zbrQETA/s800/IMG_9542.JPG

The neck's clamped to keep it right down on the MDF base.
The piece of straight MDF (which happens to have sandpaper
on it) is used to push the binding squarely against the neck
while the super glue dries.

It's a lot easier than binding a body.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-2b02WXKEiiA/T4jneinf8hI/AAAAAAAAFWw/zTObPLsxLWI/s800/IMG_9545.JPG

The binding is still wide enough so that if you turn the neck
over it rests flat on the binding and doesn't wobble. This
will be important when routing the neck to shape.
(Thanks Mark/Guitarnut!)

Created a variant of my logo design for the headstock.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-DUHkl_QV0-0/T4jnMSTqqdI/AAAAAAAAFWY/l2B8hdYWKes/s800/IMG_9539.JPG

The paper on the left has some drawings in pencil;
the paper on the right is the top pencil design after
cleanup in Inkscape.

Glued the patterns to some MOP.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-rx05jXBIcaA/T4jnh5Gm0MI/AAAAAAAAFW4/veRtOxRrv1Q/s800/IMG_9547.JPG

Pieces all sawed out:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8ppzaljdaRc/T4jnrq48kYI/AAAAAAAAFXA/ndVtSZ5ualE/s800/IMG_9553.JPG

It took me forever to do the sawing, even with this simple
design. How long does it take the inlay experts, with their
intricate designs?

few things,

1, awesome looking build with very clean workmanship

2, everything about it looks awesome

3, what are those awesome looking pickups?

Thanks, Brian, but I gotta say that your work is beyond
mine. I was looking at your thread yesterday and was
blown away -- you've advanced so much in a short time.

Those pickups are from eBay seller 'bezdez'. Some of the
stuff he sells is cool and unusual. I also bought a pair
of humbuckers from him with funky ovaloid patterns on
them.

The pickups I'm using were only $30/pair, and are made
in S. Korea. I hope the design (I mean appearance)
works with this guitar.

By the way, you might like this Les Paul build:

http://www.philsville.co.uk/burst1.htm

I really dig your logo, Glenn. Can't wait to check back in after my weekend away!

Love the logo and inlay! Simple but creative.

I'll echo everyone else when I say that I love your work!

There must be a serious acoustic issue in this thread, because I'm echoing what everyone
else is saying too...too...to....t

Love it...love it.....love i......love.....lov....lo....l