An unlikely first build ...and a Thinline

Hello all, and apologies in advance for the long intro – this is my first build thread and there’s a few things to explain. First thing I need to do is thank everyone on this forum from whom I’ve learnt most of what I currently know about guitar building. I was particularly inspired by the 2011 challenge and of course really enjoyed the 2012. Anyhow, on with the guitars …

I decided in 2011 that it was time to finally make a commitment to this, but as I don’t come from any woodworking background aside from gluing-up and refinishing some furniture …and fumbling my way through a refinish of a cheap acoustic, I didn’t have much in the way of tools. So last year I spent a fair bit at StewMac and also bought myself a drill press and a router – sadly no orange ROSS' available in Australia.

I decided that my first build would be a Telecaster Thinline style guitar – partly because I generally prefer them to solid body Teles but also because I knew there’d be a few more challenges in building a thinline and I wanted to push myself a bit. I also wanted to make it bound (top only - my Gibson background) and I ended up going with some pearloid binding that I decided would go nicely with a pearloid scratchplate.

So how did I get sidetracked?
There’s a great timber yard about a 15minute drive away from me here in the inner west of Sydney – Anagote at Marrickville. A guitar-building friend of mine had bought some New Guinea Rosewood (or Nara) from there and had spoken highly about it so I checked it out and managed to pick the lightest board (almost quartersawn) and I also bought some nice African Mahogany for a Epiphone Crestwood Custom “replica” (two pickups and ovoid markers) that I plan to make once I get my skills up to speed. I bought some rock maple for a couple of Tele necks too – remember Maple is an exotic species here and it is relatively expensive and rarely the flamed stuff unless you buy via a “luthiers' supply” store.

The timber yard was pretty busy at the time so they were going to cut the NG Rosewood (enough for two two-piece Tele bodies) to length and then I went back a few days later to pick it up. One of the less experienced guys had cut it – too long. Aaarrrghh. I didn’t want to create waves over it so I just paid up and took it home, but I didn’t really fancy having to waste that much timber – the “waste” wasn’t enough for a regular guitar.

So … I decided that well as making a Thinline I’d make myself a travel electric guitar – something that I could take with me on beach holidays and plug in to Amplitube on the iPad or on my phone. The car is invariably too full of stuff for me to ever fit an acoustic guitar so I usually end up taking an SG (the lightest and thinnest guitar I have) with me.

I’d always liked those Fernandes Nomad (Zo) guitars – not to everyone’s taste but I find them kind of cute and funky, so I decided that with this otherwise scrap NG rosewood I’d make a Nomad/Tele/Esquire hybrid – a Nomad shaped thing with Tele appointments. I found the best photos I could find and using known dimensions I drew something up in Illustrator at work (why is it soooo expensive?) and Inkscape (it is so frustrating after having used Illustrator for years) at home. For some things like pickup routes I’ve just used regular Tele dimensions and made a bunch of templates etc.

The scale length is 24 inches – I ended up making a stew mac like template with fret spacing dimensions I got from the StewMac site that I drew up in Illustrator before discovering Fretfind2D (http://www.ekips.org/tools/guitar/fretfind2d/) or that I could have just used my StewMac 25.5 scale and pretended the first fret was the nut. Doh!

Although at one stage the Thinline looked like it would be finished first I decided that I really wasn’t happy with the neck/fretboard/fretting or my original templates and so it went on the backburner for a while and the travel guitar was brought to the boil.

Here are a bunch of photos of the latter part of the build and the finished guitar. I did take more photos during the build but they’re probably pretty much like everyone else’s. If there are requests for any particular process I may have taken a photo of it and can post it. Hopefully as I develop as a builder I’ll feel more comfortable about sharing during the builds. Bring on the pics ... more details of the build in the next post...

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7095/7308208364_c14b26c199_c.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8015/7308207500_409b1a8f4d_c.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7219/7308196652_14932686f8_c.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7076/7308206880_0f640085b3_c.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7080/7308197574_b39fbd94a8_c.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7105/7308198772_895fb1639e_c.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7213/7308202520_1291863166_c.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7220/7308203356_be2428d128_c.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8158/7308205256_ea30599b9a_c.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7236/7308200334_7279a2be30_c.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8006/7308199528_a4a3cdb19c_c.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7091/7308205976_a14814224b_c.jpg

The neck on this one is made from a common native timber known either as Tasmanian Oak, or Victorian Ash (Australian timber naming conventions are all over the shop) that was bought at Bunnings – the local big box hardware store. It is only 19mm dressed which is slightly on the thin side…but thick enough – it has StewMac amber tint (and Maple or Pine Timbermate grain filler) on it to stop it from going too pink under the Tru-Oil finish. I’m surprisingly pleased with it and will use it again as it is very easy to work with...and cheap:razz:

At some point I thinned (Safe-T-Planed) the headstock down too much and so I had to glue veneer of the same timber on it. With the black finish on it now you can barely spot it though you can see it side on. I’m thinking I’ll go back and shape the neck a bit more at some point too. I deliberately left it quite fat but I’m not happy with how it transitions from the very thick “U” at the nut to more of a “C” in the middle of the neck. I’ll go for more of “C” all over down the track but it is perfectly playable for now. I might even cut the nut slot again – it is at a slight angle, amazingly it intonates satisfactorily – though the bridge saddles are visibly straighter than you’d normally see, but it irritates me regardless. I know it is a first build but …personal standards need to be kept!

The top on this guitar (and the Thinline) is some mahogany panelling from an Edwardian wardrobe that was being used for storage in my small garden shed. I’ve got enough left over for a few more. BTW most of the work was done in my elderly father’s garage in the neighbouring suburb to me – he’s been very generous to me in all this as has my mother who regularly brings me cups of tea and biscuits …Italian mothers love to feed you know.

The finish is StewMac Orange tint with Tru-Oil. No separate grain filler – next time I will though. I could have got it smoother and shinier but I just wanted to “finish” it and frankly I’m fine with it not being mirror shiny. Does give me the impression that a very good finish can be obtained if you put the effort in. I don’t have any spraying experience or equipment so I’ve left myself a few things to learn more about in future builds.

Ok, so how did it turn out? Good overall. I managed to make the neck a little bit narrower than it should be at the heal end - and very slightly misaligned, which means that the high E is a bit (I think DaveCam would use the term “a poofteenth”) closer to the edge than ideal. Despite the shorter scale it still sounds like a Tele with plenty of bite and snap and it has loud and bright acoustic tone with good sustain.

Neck dive is inherent in this design, which I believe is why Fernandes put the strap button on the back of the headstock. The heavy Gotoh two-way truss rod in this probably exacerbates this but it really isn’t a major issue. The guitar overall is super light – so glad I didn’t chamber it. Oh yeah, the pickup is an inexpensive Alnico 5 magnet item that bought from EY Guitars - like a few of the other parts including the Wilkinson bridge and the similarly inexpensive pearloid-buttoned tuners which work just fine. I “pimped” the pickup by wrapping some dyed orange cotton thread around it which matches rather nicely with the top …:cool:

Ok, if you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask and I’ll see if I can remember how I did it, and I’ll soon post some pics of the Thinline’s progress and I might even add a video of this once I can work it all out.

Cheers, and hopefully future posts will be shorter

Very cool all around, MG! Looks like a blast to play.
Not too shabby for a first build (or any build)!
Cheers!

Thanks Anyone - I always like saying that! It has been fun to play and nice to just pick something up that's so light and "chuckable". Cheers.

Original and nice!

I appreciate your comments Glen - but original is probably stretching it though ...:wink:

I've added a couple of extra photos just to give a sense of how small the body is on this compared to a regular Tele body and why I had to be a bit creative with the leftover timber.

I'd also like to add that it does feel a bit like cheating just adding the pics at the end - I can guarantee that I made newbie mistakes at every stage on this but pleasingly you really do learn a bunch from your mistakes - unfortunately not quite enough to avoid them altogether at this stage. I encourage everyone who's thought about building a guitar to give it a go - I think it has been the most satisfying thing I've done for years, it is also probably the most I've learnt years too. Although it is very daunting at first, once you break down all the individual steps it's no longer impossible. Get in! Thanks again to everyone I've cribbed ideas from.


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7226/7311070122_a60feda21f_c.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7226/7311071148_dd7aa508d6_c.jpg

Haven’t been able to spend much time on the Tele build of late but got a couple hours in yesterday and today and routed some neck blanks. The first one is maple and seeing as I need all the practice I can get and “one can never have too many Teles” according to various people on the is forum, I built another out of Tasmanian Oak/Victorian Ash. I’ve included a side-by-side photo so you can see that the oak/ash is about a mm thinner. I’ll probably end up putting a thicker fingerboard on it.

The necks will both get two-way truss rods – I bought a bunch that I think others have described as the ones they’ve bought from Bezdez, though I think I got mine from EY Guitars. On my last attempt at a Tele neck I stuffed up various things through impatience and general noobiness – I’m going to take more care this time.

They’ll both get a 12 inch radius using a the long aluminium StewMac radiusing block, though I might do some of the initial work with either a plane – an old Stanley of my fathers, or my spoke shave which was quite inexpensive but one of my favourite tools already. Hadn’t thought to do that until reading about it in this year’s build challenge – apologies but I can’t remember whose. Anyway shavings are much nicer than dust - apologies for the (older)artsy photo below.

Although I’ve seen plenty of people’s router-based jigs I have a love/hate relationship with my router. Love/fear would be closer to the mark actually. I know how useful it is but I love my fingers and other body bits too much, so at this stage so I’m only using it for the obvious stuff. Speaking of love/hate – that’s the kind of relationship I have with my jigsaw too – gotta sell some stuff (guitars?) and get me a decent bandsaw. Ok, later.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7087/7318827380_484a749681_z.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7229/7318825254_dd4f48e062_z.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7194/6840809972_0a8f26ec1a_z.jpg

Great work! Way to go. I'm really looking forward to seeing the Thinline's progress. I love them. I like the perloid binding on the Travel Guitar, where did you get that from? I see you bound the 'F' hole on the Thinline; isn't that a fun job haha!!

Wow. Very nice. I think I want one now. Too bad I don't trust myself with anything sharper than a butter-knife

Thanks Crafty, I think I got the pearloid binding here (http://luthierssupplies.com.au/product_info.php?cPath=133_186_187_191&products_id=531), from Australian Luthier Supplies – the postage was a bit pricey so I justified it by buying other stuff …though I don’t remember what. You will have noticed than it is a shade darker than the pearloid scratchplate on the travel guitar that was cut from a blank.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7104/7320101926_e98066f68d_z.jpg

It was closer in colour before it had true oil on it though …close enough. It was a bit fiddly on the f-hole as it not as flexible as “plain” binding but at least I only had to do one f unlike your Harlequaster. I’ll get a photo of the bound guitar and f tomorrow. Not perfect but it’s ok …that’s becoming a bit of theme.



B.G. thanks ...pretty hard to cut yourself with a spokeshave. Cheers

hi from melbourne
bonzer looking build there mate

love that aussie ash - i have built a couple from it myself - great tone
jim dyson used a lot of ash in his builds - think he is out of it these days

love the whole concept of your guitar - its a real pearler

Thats cool!

Absolutely sweet build on the travel guitar, I love it! :smile:. If you have PDFs of the body and neck, could you post them? There is a post called "Printable Guitar Templates" where people have been posting things so everyone knows where they are. You may just be starting out, but you've already contributed a ton. Looking forward to this and other build threads in the future :wink:



Dave

Thanks Old Picker, Elams and Dave, really glad you guys like it.

Old Picker - thanks for the info on Jim Dyson and the Victorian Ash. TBH I initially went with it because the travel guitar was just supposed to be "on the side" build and I didn't want to throw too much money at it, but I'm enjoy working with it. It's a bit fibrous though so working with the grain as much as possible seems important and I've notice it burns easier than the maple when using the router. ps I don't go in for the Sydney/Melbourne rivalry thing - I really love Melbourne but shame we've got your weather today:razz:

Dave - I feel humbled, I've always enjoyed your builds and appreciate the support you've shown to so many on these threads. Re a PDF - I don't really have anything at the moment but it can done - probably at work some evening. I promise to post once completed - feel free to remind me as I'd like to contribute something to the forum. TBH as I didn't think I'd be making more than one I just did the bare minimum with the drawings and just stuck things on from existing tele templates etc for my templates.

cheers, I'll post some pics from today's efforts later.

Interesting shape, a tad droopy phallic looking tho'!

JeremyB ...

Oz8RjPAD2Jk

I just went with the original Fernandes design for the headstock - just worth repeating it isn't my design, I just made a low-fi/old school/tele-fied version. I did think about changing the headstock design but "I'm comfortable with it" and frankly didn't think a Tele-style one would work... YMMV. Worth noting too that in Japan the guitar is known as a "Zo" which I believe (I looked it up) is Japanese for Elephant - I guess the neck is supposed to be the trunk:roll:. Without a neck it looks more like a wombat though ...

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7075/7326174798_ca1c5afedc_z.jpg

cheers

Firstly, for Crafty Fox (and anyone else who cares to look) here's a photo of the binding, including the f-hole on the Thinline. I considered widening the f before installing the binding but thought I'd like the look of it within the existing perimeter. Might have had a better final job if I'd been a bit more aggressive with the hairdryer to bend it - but for a first-up attempt I'm happy. It's four sections.

BTW the idea for the finish on this is a trans-black top and natural back - probably all finished with Tru-oil again. I liked the idea of a "formal" looking build for this one. The black should make the pearloid stand out nice - and do a good job disguising any dodgy bits around the binding too:wink:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7072/7326188320_66d8755b5a_z.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7075/7326179924_6c5698ed72_z.jpg

Excellent builds, and great designs. I also love the pearloid bindings, especially on the f-hole. For you first builds that's exceptional workmanship. The woods really resemble mahogany on the travel guitar.

Had a really disjointed working day today but overall pleased with the progress. First I did a bit of work to improve my truss rod channel routing jig - worth the effort, and I routed the truss rod channels on both the necks. I also prepared some fillets (no idea what kind of timber it is) to go in the slots but there were a few hiccups.

I've included a photo of the truss rods I'm using. In the first neck I built (aka compounded failure neck) I routed them quite shallow so that the top of the rod was flush with the neck and sitting directly under the fingerboard. I also routed so the channel was open all the way to the heel end.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8157/7327226666_158c79ed4c_z.jpg

I thought I'd go a little deeper on these and not have the channel open all the way this time. It all went well until I tried to put the rod in from the heel end and ...physics slapped me down. I ended up having to open up (widen) the end section of the route. Does everyone have to do this? Doesn't look as neat, and I'll have to do a bit of filling/cutting a separate section of strip but it'll all be the hidden under the fretboard ....did I just write that out loud:oops:? I'm confident it will all work fine.

Guess I'll be keeping these necks pretty thick too if I want to other avoid the truss rod poking through the back of the neck :eek:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8020/7326195166_777d842405_z.jpg

cheers

Thanks MG - very generous. TBH I have this internal struggle between my perfectionist ideal and my short-cutting reality. I'm rooting for the perfectionist though*

I believe the top is mahogany (off an old wardrobe), and the back is New Guinea Rosewood - which in my limited experience does seem very Mahogany-esque.

* Sigh, yes, "rooting" can have other connotations in the Australian vernacular. Cheers'

Not a lot of action since last weekend - work, social stuff, weather, family sporting commitments and now the European Championships have started ...off to watch Italy V Spain up the road in cafe with my son (14 the following day) in a few hours ...2am kick-off local time. Do I bother going to bed?:shock:

Anyway, a few photos of progress on the couple of necks I'm building. Firstly, glued in truss rods and the timber strips above them (I have no idea what it is) - pretty straightforward. Used my spokeshave to trim them flush to the rest of the neck - nice. Such a satisfying tool to use.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7228/7357211546_6c84a6d3f8_z.jpghttp://farm9.staticflickr.com/8008/7171999421_0529c34994_z.jpg

As mentioned earlier the Tasmanian Oak neck is just over a millimetre thinner than ideal but I'm using a thicker fretboard on it so it will all even up. Used a hand plane to the get the board down to the correct thickness...and then fret slotting begins
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8150/7171999855_df4e06c9cf_z.jpghttp://farm9.staticflickr.com/8028/7357216842_ae68be8fe4_z.jpg

and ready to glue up ...tomorrow? Note - the necks are about the same height now. Hopefully with consistent radiusing they'll stay that way.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7243/7357219126_32bd5dd059_z.jpg

Also inspired by Oigun's Ric 450-type build I thought I'd have a go myself. Spent a couple of hours after work in photoshop and illustrator and ...came up with this. That was the easy part ...:roll:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7236/7357211846_4dd977f5ac_z.jpghttp://farm9.staticflickr.com/8010/7357208300_2d98bce207_z.jpg

* Sigh, yes, "rooting" can have other connotations in the Australian vernacular. Cheers'

:lol::lol::lol:


BTW, that little Nomad body resembles our hedgehog as well :smile:



Such a satisfying tool to use
Sublime isn't it?

Love the necks! :smile:


Also inspired by Oigun's Ric 450-type build I thought I'd have a go myself. Spent a couple of hours after work in photoshop and illustrator and ...came up with this. That was the easy part ...:roll:


Sweet! :wink:

Firstly the weather's been really miserable in Sydney this past week - too much rain and kind of cold. Unfortunately as my "shop" isn't at my place it's hard to get motivated to go around when staying in and having another glass of wine is one of the other options ...

Ok, drilled some tuner holes, thinned the headstocks and did some transitions using the drill press ...the tasmanian oak neck ...and the maple. Both need some extra sanding but they turned out ok - am always a bit apprehensive about this stage.
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5330/7379219862_78614b35ba.jpghttp://farm6.staticflickr.com/5456/7379224546_1ff905cb4c.jpg

On my first - and subsequently rejected, neck build I went with three dots at the 12th fret (yes, there was a mistake and recovery involved) and I liked the look of it so I'm doing it again. I kept the tape on the neck because it makes it easier to see everything and frankly the lighting in the garage is something I need to address. I mark the holes with the point of the forstner bit that I'll use later in the press. Just seems to make it more accurate if I have a physical mark on the board when I start drilling. Note to self (and others) use fresh masking tape not crappy stuff that you've had for years.:oops: That was a pain to clean up....oh great I did it on two necks:oops:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7101/7379225192_02d369fe81.jpghttp://farm8.staticflickr.com/7096/7379225768_a7fe377038.jpg

Radiused the board on the maple neck - and am pleased as it's my most consistent to date, redrilled the marker holes slightly, glued 'em in and sanded level. Nice:razz: I've only got enough markers at the moment for one neck - I have some other pearl ones on order, FIMO clay dots might be an option. Another option is something I came across on the bay while looking for pearl dot markers. It's a necklace/bracelet and it cost me like about $3 with free shipping from someone in Hong Kong. I think I need to get one of those Stewmac Dremel bases before I could consider something like that though - guess I'll be spending more money again soon:shock: They're a bit big and require a bit of reshaping past the 12th fret, but could look really cool. Might go looking for something similar again. All for now ...and for a few more days I suspect. Cheers.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7239/7379230968_2dd44cc7b6.jpghttp://farm8.staticflickr.com/7096/7379232520_1b0278e8bf.jpghttp://farm8.staticflickr.com/7095/7379231718_5ef689b986.jpg

...ok, no need to recap - it's all above. I decided I should try some Fimo clays dots for the other neck build, so following Bill's (Canadian Breed) excellent idea and tutorial, I had a go myself. First thing was to build some moulds using a scrap piece of aluminium. Drilled some holes for side markers too and then off home and to the kitchen for some kneading and baking ...
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8165/7425256562_daee5e47d0.jpghttp://farm8.staticflickr.com/7114/7425264402_5d60874dbe.jpg

Guess I should have trimmed them better ...and done a few other things better. The colour is "sahara" and is probably just a bit too dark and... slightly pink - I think I'll change the recipe slightly next time. This photo is a bit misleading though.

Next time I was in the shop I radiused the fretboard on the Tasmanian Oak neck ...I've bled for this one - though the cooler temperatures have kept sweating to a minimum and there've been no tears yet!:shock: Nothing a makeshift bandage - masking tape, couldn't stop. Moved on to the dots and ... colour balance isn't perfect in these photos either but it's a bit too pink. And cut, chiselled and filed some nut slots.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5200/7425263630_2fc5ac3680.jpghttp://farm9.staticflickr.com/8141/7425269634_c741c15d2f.jpghttp://farm6.staticflickr.com/5080/7425270344_62a2a8f24b.jpghttp://farm6.staticflickr.com/5348/7425276808_b85ffbe91f.jpg

and finally for this post here's a pic of the neck outside (cloudy day) which is probably the most accurate ...and you can also see where I didn't knead the Fimo enough - there are a few voids in the dots that should fill nicely with fingerboard grime:roll:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7268/7425278286_c2222a4415.jpg

Didn't get much done today other aligning/placing the bridge and drilling some holes. With the bridge I started by using Guitarnut's method - which I'd use again with different bridges, but since I'm using a Wilkinson bridge which is designed for both string through and top loader I just end up taping some thread at the nut end (over a pre slotted nut I had) at the two E positions and threading it through the top loader holes in the bridge and ...taping it down at the other end. Seemed to work really well. Note, I've not yet trimmed the end of the fretboard...

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8014/7425283614_d2c0c5682b.jpghttp://farm8.staticflickr.com/7263/7425594172_0899b8f9bb.jpg

Anyway I proceeded to drill the string through holes...maybe I got lucky with my first go at it but this one I ain't so happy with. Maybe it's a candidate for a tone bar? I drilled though on the outer holes and then lined up the bridge/outer holes on the back of the guitar, and used the holes in it for guides. Something went (a bit) awry when I drilled the holes for the ferrules ...I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Time to try the pin method I think.:shock:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7113/7425593382_403d8845ce.jpghttp://farm9.staticflickr.com/8156/7431713716_92e37c1891.jpg

looks like a tight fit and I'll have trouble even fitting/finding room for the ferrules between the A and D strings. Ok enough for now. Later.

A relatively quiet few weeks - a combination of bad weather, lack of inspiration and being away for a week in Canberra for a football tournament my son was involved in... but I thought I'd better catch-up to keep this build log up to date.

In keeping with my signature line, I decided I wasn't happy with the placement of the original holes for the tuners - they were too high which resulted in the tuners looking kind of spindly and ...stupid. So I bought myself a plug-cutter bit and made myself some plugs for the front of the headstock. For the holes in the back I just went with some dowel that I found in the garage, it's darker in colour but I figured it would be covered by the backs of the tuners so I didn't sweat it. Turned out ok, though the tuners will forever have little raised eyebrows:roll: I've got to buy some split-shaft tuners but these will do for testing purposes.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7250/7573861548_9e19d7d295.jpghttp://farm9.staticflickr.com/8291/7573869216_e5c76ed640.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7277/7573869994_4a6259a50f.jpg

more in a moment ...

Of course I had to put the frets in and that gave me more trouble than it did the first time around:sad:. The main issue was with fret ends refusing to stay in their slots. After pulling a few out and trying again, and glueing down some ends I think I can work with it but I suspect I'll tweaking a few of them once the guitar all comes together. In hindsight I think part of the problem may be in not "over-radiusing" the frets at all ...or enough. I'm doing a twelve inch radius by the way. Over radiusing "should" ensure that the ends sit properly and I'm fairly confident the middle of the frets will seat properly - I'm using my drill press and a Stew Mac thing like in the photo below. The frets really don't look to be a tight enough radius now that I look at that photo - time to revisit/adjust my fret bender!!!

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8142/7574287696_fe9123e7b0.jpg

Anyway, they're in (for now) and I moved on to shaping the neck. As much as I enjoy using my spoke shave (which was really great for trimming the plugs in that tuner repair above) I mainly used a microplane and a rasp for this neck. Mainly because they seemed to work better on the maple ...

any way happy with the shape - kinda round and fat I guess. Pics are from very early on in the carve, and with a couple of coats of Tru-Oil - note the dark dowel that will be covered by the tuner backs.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7278/7573870714_b7bac70565.jpghttp://farm8.staticflickr.com/7118/7573880864_4470917c2b.jpg

Just WOW.... some eye candy shots indeed..

nice work on the inlays... that must take some patience...

and good idea to build up a smaller travel guitar.. looks great...

Good to see some local timbers used... thumbs up... ;)

Seems like I spent about three hours on sanding today - oh yeah I did. Anyway eventually I wiped on some shellac as a base coat before I do some grain filling and staining. My vision for this guitar has always been to have a trans-black top with a "natural back", seeing the top with just a coat of shellac (photo does not do it justice) has turned my head a bit, as have some of the red guitars I seen on this forum recently ...but I think I will stick with black. Nice piece of mahogany though...
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7134/7573891688_bc93af1131.jpghttp://farm9.staticflickr.com/8422/7574378732_f2141bfc80.jpg

I was thinking of staining the back (New Guinea Rosewood) a bit darker too - but it looks pretty nice too! I guess the upcoming week has grain filling, much contemplation and some staining in it. I'll let you know how I go. Cheers.

ps I screwed the neck on to this earlier today and was really pleased with the weight and the balance of this one. Haven't weighed it but it'll probably be lighter than my SG - without neck dive!

Edit: just noticed that Tru-oil - without the hyphen, was autocorrected to turmoil in the heading ...I like it!

Thanks Trev - I'm just starting out but am looking forward to exploring some local timbers. Appreciate your comments. Cheers.

Awesome build, really makes me want to give it a try.

Cheers thorton ...give it a go. I sure wish I started all this at your age - might have got good at it by now. Thanks.

Also inspired by Oigun's Ric 450-type build I thought I'd have a go myself. Spent a couple of hours after work in photoshop and illustrator and ...came up with this. That was the easy part ...:roll:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7236/7357211846_4dd977f5ac_z.jpghttp://farm9.staticflickr.com/8010/7357208300_2d98bce207_z.jpg

Great!! I love the travel guitar too!!

Thanks Oigun, for the comment and inspiration! I have no idea what kind of construction I'll be using but frankly I suspect I'll be pushing my skill levels all the way. The plan is to make it for my daughter - who's put in some special requests (including a sparkly finish :shock:), but I can't see it getting done for her birthday at this rate. Have you progessed your's? Cheers

Those are some of the nicest build photos I've seen. Great work, and very nice documenting of what you're doing there!

Thanks Craig. Really? They're all just taken with an iPhone using the Camera + app. I particularly like it's stabiliser feature and the option of having multiple focal points. The lighting in the shop is kind of ...appalling, so I have to be a bit creative with the available lighting in there for photos - I'll often point my desk lamp up at the ceiling.

Cheers, and btw I've always been a fan of your Addams Family avatar :razz:

Nice work mate, I've used tassie oak on quite a few necks, I think its a really under-rated local timber. Cheap as chips too !

I'm fascinated with this Fimo stuff, got to try it out myself. Where do you find this stuff locally ?

Cheers

Dave

Cheers Fletch, I ended up buying it at an arts supply store in the city (Eckersley's), but I've seen it in toy stores, places like Home Yardage and Spotlight that have crafts sections and of course on ebay and other online stores. Didn't cost much - so little I don't recall.

MG looking good mate. Where do you get your tru oil in Sydney? Do you like it as a finish?

As you know I've been using tassie oak for all my necks. I think it's great to work with. It can be heavy so you need to choose wisely but it seems to be very stable, carves nicely, looks nice, and takes to the finish well. I haven't grain filled any of my necks. Oh and it's plentiful and cheap here! I do wish we could get those lovely flamed maple tops here though!

Have you checked out Trend timber at Windsor yet?

Hi Dasher, I'll see if I can find the receipt as I just did a google search and didn't have much luck finding the store. It was a hunting and sports fishing type place ... in the Southern Suburbs of Sydney I think - I had it delivered as I couldn't find the time to get out there.

I think it is a great finish for guitar necks - I apply minimal coats and then knock it back with some 0000 steel wool for a really nice satin finish. I'm a novice to all this but having seen other's results and my own experiments I can see that you can get a great finish if you put in the effort. It seems to mainly be about building up enough coats - grain filler will speed this up I guess, and then following through on the usual wet sanding and polishing procedures.

I've heard of Trend, but no I've not ventured out there yet - have looked at the website though. Certainly wont forget to take my wallet.

Flamed maple tops ... yeah. Have you checked out Fiji Mahogany blanks (http://www.fijimahoganyblanks.com/Welcome.html) and its sister site Eastern Maple Australia (http://www.easternmapleaustralia.com/Home.html)? Trev333 mentioned it in one of Bill's (Canadian Breed) threads. Cheers

The past few weeks have mainly been taken up with finishing. As stated earlier in this thread the intention had been to go trans-black with the top on the thinline but it just didn't seem to be working for me (technically) so I decided I'd just do another orange one. In the end its a kind big brother/little brother thing going on with this and the travel guitar - which seems fitting.

Anyway, it's kinda finished though I need to open it up again and have another go at the electronics - not my favourite thing as I don't understand it, as for some reason the tone control is not working - a trait it shares with the travel guitar:oops:

Impatience got the better of me regarding the finish, and while it looks fine and even great in some situations, close up it is not perfect. It is all tru-oil by the way with a egg white grain fill (which I could have done better). Ok here are some photos ... including the cool packaging for the wire stripper I was using during the electronics phase ...

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8305/7763855954_7f3a8de4b3_z.jpghttp://farm9.staticflickr.com/8430/7763873452_a4a6856e0f_z.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7256/7763882060_dfecbf04d6_z.jpghttp://farm8.staticflickr.com/7270/7764945588_52295be680_z.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7253/7763882690_187c657a9c_z.jpghttp://farm8.staticflickr.com/7138/7763884314_f494d48ed4_z.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8445/7764944542_1c86cc22c9_z.jpghttp://farm8.staticflickr.com/7115/7763883652_69a93b4ee4_z.jpg

TBH I've had to fight this guitar all the way - and learnt a lot in the process. I rejected the first neck I made for it, and then had a helluva time getting the frets to seat properly on the second attempt (now satisfactory but far from perfect). I had to pull some of the frets and then level it again ...and again. I then wasn't happy with the placement of the tuner holes so I had to plug those and start again, and the body's string through ferule holes are far from inline ...:oops: But, it plays and sounds great:cool: Has a lovely bright and ringing acoustic tone and in the short time I got to play it amplified this afternoon I was impressed. I'll attempt some videos later in the week. I am now hungry for more projects - there's about 10 in my head:twisted:

Specs - New Guinea Rosewood body (a really lovely and lightweight piece) with a mahogany (probably African) cap. Neck is hard maple with a Indian Rosewood board. Nut width is 43mm (wider than standard Tele) and the radius is 12 inch. Two way truss rod. Pickups are Stew Mac Golden Age, Pots are 250K CTS, 3 way switch (not CLR), ceramic .47 cap, bridge is compensated Wilkinson, tuners are Gotoh (one of them has a bit slackness in it though which is annoying me!).

ok, thanks for taking an interest. Cheers.

As stated earlier in this thread the intention had been to go trans-black with the top on the thinline but it just didn't seem to be working for me (technically) so I decided I'd just do another orange one. In the end its a kind big brother/little brother thing going on with this and the travel guitar - which seems fitting
And it looks outstanding :smile:. I thought the mahogany might give you trouble with the black, I've always had better luck on maple where black is concerned. What you did do was perfect for the piece of wood you used :wink:

Anyway, it's kinda finished though I need to open it up again and have another go at the electronics - not my favourite thing as I don't understand it, as for some reason the tone control is not working - a trait it shares with the travel guitar:oops:
I have this problem every now and then using CTS pots, but I don't want to prejudge. Can you post a really close set of photos of the control cavity of your choice. If you can draw a schematic of the wiring that will suffice :smile:


TBH I've had to fight this guitar all the way
In my experience, all of my best builds have done this :wink:. You'll find any time your putting out your best effort, it will always seem this way to you while others see it as the beauty that it is :grin:

Specs - New Guinea Rosewood body (a really lovely and lightweight piece) with a mahogany (probably African) cap. Neck is hard maple with a Indian Rosewood board. Nut width is 43mm (wider than standard Tele) and the radius is 12 inch. Two way truss rod. Pickups are Stew Mac Golden Age, Pots are 250K CTS, 3 way switch (not CLR), ceramic .47 cap, bridge is compensated Wilkinson, tuners are Gotoh (one of them has a bit slackness in it though which is annoying me!)
Really love the rosewood fretboard :smile:. BTW, on that slack tuner, if the knobs have retaining screws, try tightening it slightly. If it does not, gently pop the cover off and see if the gear screw is slightly loose. I have had to gently squeeze the mounting ears of the pinion gear closer to remove unwanted slack. It may take effort to find the issue, but your blood pressure will thank you when you do :lol:

Thanks for the nice comments and offer of help with the wiring Dave ...and your suggestion re the slack tuner. I bought two sets of these Gotoh kluson style tuners so I'll just replace one for now and open up the slacker and squeeze its ears:shock:.

I probably won't open up the guitar again until later in the week - unless I go and grab a bunch of tools and my soldering iron from my folk's garage. For now I'll bide my time playing it and tweaking the action and intonation etc.

I really love the shape of the thinline scratchplate but my god I'm appreciating the simplicity of the standard tele control plate - even if I've never built with one yet:razz:. Hopefully once it is all sorted I'll never have to open it up again. Cheers.


ps apologies if this displays a bit annoyingly. It's fine on all my Mac devices but the formatting is kind of dodgy on my work Windows box.

ps apologies if this displays a bit annoyingly. It's fine on all my Mac devices but the formatting is kind of dodgy on my work Windows box.

It's probably browser restrictions on your work pc, they look fine here. And hey, no worries, if and when you need something just yell :lol:




Dave

That came out really nice mate ! I love teh travel guitar too.

If you need any help with leveling the frets, I'm not that far away from you and I have all the gear.

Cheers

Dave

.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8305/7763855954_7f3a8de4b3_z.jpghttp://farm9.staticflickr.com/8430/7763873452_a4a6856e0f_z.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7256/7763882060_dfecbf04d6_z.jpghttp://farm8.staticflickr.com/7270/7764945588_52295be680_z.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7253/7763882690_187c657a9c_z.jpghttp://farm8.staticflickr.com/7138/7763884314_f494d48ed4_z.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8445/7764944542_1c86cc22c9_z.jpghttp://farm8.staticflickr.com/7115/7763883652_69a93b4ee4_z.jpg


The better the fight, the better the fiddle I suppose.
That thing looks seriously fantastic!

You have inspired me with the travel guitar! Oh wait.. I'm already building one with a violin body.. Crap.. I really love that guitar! Maybe because orange is my favourite colour.. If you think you have had problems, top this. My push/pull tone pots are too tall to fit in my guitar! GUHH! Anyway, I feel your pain with the "10 builds in your head" thing. I just want to build a tele.. sg.. les paul.. strat... some of my own designs.. etc.. it's terrible!

that came out great. nice job!

Wow, thanks everyone and anyone (& nice to see you getting back into the building - I have mahogany envy)!

Fletch, that's a really generous offer. I think I've got the levelling sorted now - and will hopefully get better with future builds. I've got a decent straight edge and long radius block, stew mac crowning file etc etc. I think the main issue has been the fret seating - I'm determined that future neck builds will involve even more care and precision! I may need to call on your offer in future though. Cheers.

Bentley and Thornton, so cool to see you guys (only a year older than my own son) getting into this - I'm sure you two will be building great guitars for years to come.

& Dave, if I could offer you an IT job in Sydney I would! All the best with your job hunting!

So.. When's the next build? I want some more guitars to drool over! :mrgreen:

mmm good question, probably pretty soon. I'll try not to disappoint.

I need to starting working on the Rick 450 style for my daughter which will involve a few more first time (for me) techniques - set neck and a metal flake top:shock: ...though I might practice that on a Danelectro style build that I'll likely do next.

Inspired by Dave's snakehead twelve I thought I'd experiment with burying flake in a "pour on" style poly finish - doing that on a masonite top is probably a good way to go. If it doesn't work out I guess I'll have to pull the trigger on a spray gun. Any thoughts Dave?

Then again I do have another tele neck half way built so many it's time for Tele Custom or a Telemaster? Too many choices ... Cheers

Inspired by Dave's snakehead twelve I thought I'd experiment with burying flake in a "pour on" style poly finish - doing that on a masonite top is probably a good way to go. If it doesn't work out I guess I'll have to pull the trigger on a spray gun. Any thoughts Dave?
Just on first blush, the masonite would need an "undercoat" if you will. Maybe a little primer then some base coat of white, black, red etc. Not really bright colors mind you, something to use as a reflector of sorts. Then sift your glitter and let it harden a few days before you do your poly pour. You need to have exactly what you want beforehand as when you pour that poly there is no going back.
It's kinda funny, but the first thing that sprang to my mind when you mentioned this (and would be easy to build Dano style), is one of my all time favorite guitars, this one :smile:


https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-rYIzm0axd0U/UCsplR9M8FI/AAAAAAAAB2Q/3m0c0jZpDzE/s640/4527924768_2784188dec_o.jpg



I didn't plan it I promise :lol:, but I've always wanted to knock out one of these, pearl white with black hardware. And of course something besides that unsitely tailpiece :lol:

Thanks for the advice Dave, I bought some Roth Bong Water Green and Deep Purple flake on ebay today so (almost) no going back. I've been planning out the pour in my head for a while we'll see how it goes.

I'm thinking I'll experiment with the purple on the Dano style and if that goes well it's Bong Water for the Rick:razz: The plan at this stage for the Rick (shape) is for two Filtertron/TV Jones pickups without surrounds, a wraparound bridge and Les Paul wiring (rear mounted so no scratch plate) ...and maybe checkerboard binding:lol: Kinda overkill for a 11 year old girl - but I'm hoping she'll let her dad (me) borrow it!

When I read that back it sounds very ambitious but I guess it'll be a good way to learn ...which is half the reason I'm doing this. Cheers.

ps you should definitely build that guitar!

Thanks for the advice Dave, I bought some Roth Bong Water Green and Deep Purple flake on ebay today so (almost) no going back
Bong Water Green? My sides are hurting! :lol:

I've been planning out the pour in my head for a while we'll see how it goes
By all means, learn from my mistakes, I did :wink:

I'm thinking I'll experiment with the purple on the Dano style and if that goes well it's Bong Water for the Rick:razz: The plan at this stage for the Rick (shape) is for two Filtertron/TV Jones pickups without surrounds, a wraparound bridge and Les Paul wiring (rear mounted so no scratch plate) ...and maybe checkerboard binding:lol: Kinda overkill for a 11 year old girl - but I'm hoping she'll let her dad (me) borrow it!
Ambitious? Yeh kinda, but nothing wrong with that :smile:. And your not fooling me, that snot green Ric is secretly for you :lol:. I can hear it now--"Oh honey, you sure you don't like that? Let me build you another" :lol:
I like the Filtertron idea, plus Firebird mini-humbuckers may not be bad either. GFS has a fine selection of filtertron type pups, mini and full size LINK (http://www.guitarfetish.com/GFS-Retrotron-Series_c_99.html)


ps you should definitely build that guitar!
Had I any masonite lying around this one might already be on the slow burn :smile:. I keep wanting to build this guitar with these ever since I built a jazz type with one of these in the neck:smile:. A little feedback prone like a P90, but oh so sweet :grin:


https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-fDhk1RiRY4Y/UCu1SSJIdjI/AAAAAAAAB4o/vQfBuqLvuNw/s800/gfsnyodestsu.jpg