First Build!! Sapele Maple and Rosewood

Before I start I should probably say this is my first post!

Anyway I've been following this forum for a while now with the intention of one day building my own guitar, and now with summer holidays I could think of no better time! I decided to build a tele style guitar and have been gathering parts for the past few months and now have everything i need to begin.

My dad works in the wood tech department in a school so im lucky because he has access to some of the bigger tools I don't own! (Bandsaw, thickness planer etc).

Well on to the build, its going to be a sapele body, maple neck and rosewood fingerboard. I was lucky my dad got me the wood from a friend of a friend, he got the maple and sapele and i only paid £15 for the two. Even better there's enough for two guitars!

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7108/7791211862_6e045da120_m.jpg

Ive also bought alll the hardware, mainly from ebay.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8293/7791210686_8ff0db49ea_m.jpg



http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8441/7791210004_2ac7ff940d_m.jpg[/IMG]

Ill continue on a new post!!

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8431/7791210468_aa07b246bb_m.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8431/7791209252_0fcb9bf766_m.jpg

So it's all going to be wilkinson Hardware, partly for the very low price and partly because ive had good experience with it all before. I picked up the pickups and bridge for 30 quid from ebay, and i got everything else for about £70 more.

So far all i have done is draw out the body and two necks on the wood.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7274/7791211126_45abdca1e5_m.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7273/7791210922_5c41e3f390_m.jpg

Tomorrow my Dad will cut everything out on the bandsaw, and I shall go from there. Ill post back tomorrow on my progress!

Looking forward to watching the progress.

Welcome to TDPRI, and good start! Sapele can be quite
heavy -- are you thinking of chambering the body?

Hi flatfive i have thought of chambering the body, as i know the body blank is very very heavy! However i was thinking of putting strat style body contours will this complicate things?

Thanks glen smith Ill try to update everyday!


Anyway todays progress, my dad came home from work and had these for me, rough cut on the bandsaw.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8294/7796802002_e8873ecfda_m.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8444/7796801172_cd292ed5c7_m.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7129/7796800248_da85959ba8_m.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8300/7796799546_ed6548c9a2_m.jpg

And I started to sand down the body with an electric sander

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8426/7796798742_b7fbf2a66e_m.jpg

I highly suggest making a template. Once you get into guitar building, you never get out. And the templates make everything SOOO much easier.

ok i will bare that in mind! for this one i just used a cardboard template that i made and drew it out. Ive started making the templates for routing the pickup cavities now.

Has anyone got any advice on finishing sapele?

So todays progress was slow, i continued to sand down the sides of the body, i wont post more pictures today though more tomorow.

I did notice one huge mistake today however! When thicknessing the neck blank i didnt take into account the fingerboard, so ill have to plane that down! tomorow i hope to have the body sanded down completely and to finish the routing templates.

One question, what router bit do you use when routing pickup cavities?

Firstly, I always prefer not to go RIGHT to the thickness, in your case 1.75 inches. I always leave a tiny bit extra, just so I have some room for sanding, because routing and just regular handling can put scratches in the wood. For routing pickup cavities with a template you will need a 1/2inch top bearing flush trim bit. The bit will probably cost around 30 bucks, but when this one gets dull, you can buy a cheap one off ebay and just use the bearing from the previous one. http://www.amazon.com/Freud-50-102-2-Inch-Bearing-Flush/dp/B0000225XQ
a 1 inch cutting height is probably good.

Oh well then! not such a huge mistake, its better to have too much than too little anyways.

The bit i have is this bit

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8446/7803842820_9e6c9a76be_m.jpg

will that be ok?

So the past two days ive still been cracking on, i just didnt expect sanding down the body by to take sooo long! Ive found that the horns are the most difficult and time consuming to get right. Any tips on sanding? I hope to finish sanding by tomorow evening and ill get more pictures up then!

are you going with an upside down headstock?

The backs of these 3 are Sapele. I really like this wood, although it's a bit heavy. It smells nice when you cut it also.

http://i.imgur.com/pJqcT.jpg (http://imgur.com/pJqcT)

Regarding finishing Sapele. In my experience you have to grain fill Sapele, it is very porous and lacquer won't fill the pores...at least not easily. For these ones I simply added some color trans-tint to water and brushed the color on. I used super glue as grain filler, just dumped it on and spread it with a rubber spreader thingy and sanded it flat.

Good luck.

are you going with an upside down headstock?

Yeah i am! I thought i should do something slightly different for my first build :mrgreen:

The backs of these 3 are Sapele. I really like this wood, although it's a bit heavy. It smells nice when you cut it also.

http://i.imgur.com/pJqcT.jpg (http://imgur.com/pJqcT)

Regarding finishing Sapele. In my experience you have to grain fill Sapele, it is very porous and lacquer won't fill the pores...at least not easily. For these ones I simply added some color trans-tint to water and brushed the color on. I used super glue as grain filler, just dumped it on and spread it with a rubber spreader thingy and sanded it flat.

Good luck.

Wow that looks awesome! hopefully mine will look something like that :lol:

Are they 1 piece bodies?

Also i see some very slight cracks in the wood, how should i fill them? they are about 1/2mm wide and a cm long. ill post some pictures of them tomorow but if anyone has any ideas they would be welcome :razz:

Those are all 2 piece bodies.

Lets see some pics of the cracks, that would help us know the best way to fill them.

Those are all 2 piece bodies.

Lets see some pics of the cracks, that would help us know the best way to fill them.

Right so heres the cracks

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8424/7825912966_aafc2da1dd_m.jpg

and im not really sure what this is. Will it go away with sanding? or will i have to do something

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8423/7825912138_63be96f752_m.jpg


So anyway on to todays progress, again ive been sanding, and again ive not finished! I got a new phone today so ive been trying to sort that out so i only got about an hour of work today. Oh well id say im 3/4 of the way through so tomorow i shall finish this stage!

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8288/7825910800_9a0fa896dd_m.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7261/7825908812_b909ff41a7_m.jpg

I'd recommend thin super glue to flood the crack. YMMV. Watch carefully to see if it runs out somewhere else on the body.

I'd recommend thin super glue to flood the crack. YMMV. Watch carefully to see if it runs out somewhere else on the body.

thanks mlp-mx6 what is ymmv? :mrgreen:

Your Mileage May Vary - it is a standard disclaimer.

Your Mileage May Vary - it is a standard disclaimer.

Thanks ill try that then. Should i mix any sawdust in with the superglue?

No sawdust, just superglue.

No sawdust, just superglue.

Thanks ill do that tomorow then.

Anyone have any idea with this?

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8423/7825912138_63be96f752_m.jpg

or should i just keep sanding and see what happens. Im worried about going too far into the neck pocket.

It is hard to see just what is going on in that pic.

It is hard to see just what is going on in that pic.

+1

Do you know how to upload in a larger size?

Another one here for hard to tell from the picture, but it looks like you have a little tear-out between the neck pocket & the horn.

If it's not already saturated with super glue, try getting it wet with a damp rag (a little heat might help too) and see if the wood will swell a bit. Once it's dry you can sand some more.

If you are referring to the powdery looking vertical areas, that won't go away until you get the surface evened out. I often make home brew scrapers for these areas. The combination of grain and tight pocket make this a difficult area to sand. The temptation is to work by hand, but your fingers are a soft backing surface. Behind sand paper, they may follow the grain rather than level it out. You can make a well radiused sanding stick from a piece of dowel. Or, if you plan on doing a lot of this, you can radius a piece of scrap metal to fit your pocket. Then raise a bur on it like you would a cabinet scraper. It takes a bit of time to get down, but scrapers save a lot of work. Done properly, they cut a fine surface that requires very little sanding.

It is hard to see just what is going on in that pic.

Sorry Ill re upload it!

+1

Do you know how to upload in a larger size?

I think ive worked it out now!

Another one here for hard to tell from the picture, but it looks like you have a little tear-out between the neck pocket & the horn.

If it's not already saturated with super glue, try getting it wet with a damp rag (a little heat might help too) and see if the wood will swell a bit. Once it's dry you can sand some more.

Well heres the photo again, much bigger now!

http://i.imgur.com/yxMtm.jpg

And ill try getting it wet today thanks :razz:

I use wood shavings and Titebond glue to fill any mistakes. Always works for me. Welcome to the site-you'll get great advice here. Cheers from Downunder where it's cold and wintery!!

I use wood shavings and Titebond glue to fill any mistakes. Always works for me. Welcome to the site-you'll get great advice here. Cheers from Downunder where it's cold and wintery!!

Thanks! Ive definately got a lot of advice already, and its definately helping!

Right so id best start my hard days work. Ill post back here when ive done.:razz:

So today as promised i finished the rough sanding! Using 60 grit i finally managed to get rid of all the marks left by the bandsaw. Next time im definately investing more time in making a proper template so i can rout it!.

http://i.imgur.com/GIrPp.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/QKdD9.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/XBkBM.jpg

A lot better than before!

http://i.imgur.com/4u8W5.jpg


Next im going to make a start on the neck.

Its going to be maple, have 22 frets and a rosewood fingerboard, and a hot rod style truss rod.

So the shape has been cut out on a bandsaw, ive now got to sand this down to the template. Ive then got to plane the neck down to the right thickness.

http://i.imgur.com/IyObn.jpg

I plan to have the truss rod adjustment at the headstock end. Can anyone give me any tips?

Should the truss rod adjustment be in line with the nut like this? (im saying this because on all of my guitars it looks like this is the case tell me if im being stupid :grin:) The two lines on the left are where the nut will go
http://i.imgur.com/r58Nx.jpg

Should the top of the truss rod be flush with the bottom of the fingerboard?

And how should i do the access hole for the adjustment?

Im sure ill have plenty ill have plenty more questions to come but that will do for now

Sorry for all the questions but im sure someone can answer them! Thanks in advance :razz:

So today as promised i started on the neck.

I used double sided tape to stick the template to the neck

http://i.imgur.com/viexW.jpg

There was a long way to go before i got the neck to the right thickness!

http://i.imgur.com/1jSO3.jpg

I used rasps and sandpaper to get close

http://i.imgur.com/NQbxe.jpg

And i ended up with this, as you can see ive not done the headstock yet but im pretty happy with the rest of it.

http://i.imgur.com/CscKh.jpg

I also lived to regret using double sided tape :mad:

http://i.imgur.com/59255.jpg

So im off to a wedding tomorow so i wont get any progress for the next few days. But when i come back i will plane the neck down to the right thickness, route the truss rod channel and glue down the fingerboard blank.

I still need some advice on routing the truss rod so any tips would be welcome :mrgreen:

So i got back yesterday and today the work starts again!

The next step for me was to plane down the face on the neck, so my dad used the electric plane ( a horrible tool) to do so. I didnt trust myself!

http://i.imgur.com/8FYiv.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/4oTXf.jpg

We had nearly finished and then the power cable got caught in the blade :mad: but we will try and finish it tomorow when its fixed!

I got this far (Im going to the bottom of the green line)

http://i.imgur.com/sVjup.jpg

So tomorow i plan to finish on the planing and then hopefully do some routing!! Again id love some advice for routing for the hot rod truss rod im going for headstock adjustment too so any tips would still be welcomed!

Today we finished planing the neck, i took no photos because its just the same as yesterday!

I then went on to mark out the fretboard.

http://i.imgur.com/2bwwV.jpg?1
The most important book for a first guitar build! and very helpful for marking out the fretboard.

http://i.imgur.com/26oZR.jpg

You can just about see the markings, i now have to make a mitre box and get a fret saw, will this be ok? http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=61618&cat=1,42884,63338&ap=1

Tomorow i will rout the truss rod channel so if anyone has any advice i would really appreciate it tonight! :mrgreen:

I shall report back tomorow with more progress!

Ive just seen this online, would this be suitable as a fret saw?

http://www.woodworkscraftsupplies.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=118_119&products_id=506

I cant see any reason that it shouldnt be?

Ive just seen this online, would this be suitable as a fret saw?

http://www.woodworkscraftsupplies.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=118_119&products_id=506

I cant see any reason that it shouldnt be?

Yes, that would be fine for a fret saw.

Yes, that would be fine for a fret saw.

Great news! its much cheaper than having to import anything from stew mac! :mrgreen:

Do you think this mitre box would also be suitable?

http://www.woodworkscraftsupplies.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=118_161&products_id=786

Ive just seen this online, would this be suitable as a fret saw?

http://www.woodworkscraftsupplies.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=118_119&products_id=506

I cant see any reason that it shouldnt be?



Can I just say nice find . I've been looking at a few places recently and thats the best price yet.

Can I just say nice find . I've been looking at a few places recently
and thats the best price yet.

Thanks! yeah ive been looking too and this was about a 1/3 of the price of the others Ive found. Now i just need to find a mitre box suitable! Any ideas?

They show the part numbers of the saws that will work with that mitre box and the saw you selected is not mentionned.

I found this http://www.shipwrightshop.com/shop/contents/en-uk/d137_Zona-Saws-and-Precision-Mitre-Boxes_01.html

Which lists their mitre box with a 0.025" kerf . It's only 2" wide. Not sure if thats good enough for a tele. I think it's too narrow but definitely not wide enough for my bass plans :(

I found this http://www.shipwrightshop.com/shop/c...-Boxes_01.html

Which lists their mitre box with a 0.025" kerf . It's only 2" wide. Not sure if thats good enough for a tele. I think it's too narrow but definitely not wide enough for my bass plans :(

Yeah thats too thin for a tele too :mad::mad:

They show the part numbers of the saws that will work with that mitre box and the saw you selected is not mentionned.


And i actually just found this one. This one is slightly thicker, but does not specify the kerf that it will handle.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-Expert-10266-Precision-Mitre/dp/B0001K9O74/ref=sr_1_3?s=diy&ie=UTF8&qid=1346143032&sr=1-3

So this morning i decided to do a practice rout for the truss rod channel. Before i started making the guitar a made a practice neck out of an old fence post so i just used that.

http://i.imgur.com/5QEtU.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/CaZKc.jpg

So other than the fact that its nowhere near centred, can anyone see any problems with this rout? Im planning on doing it later on today so im looking for any mistakes now!

Depends on whether or not you like the adjustment nut sitting that far out from the neck. They're usually recessed.

Depends on whether or not you like the adjustment nut sitting that far out from the neck. They're usually recessed.


Thats actually not a great photo, it fits in better than that more like this.

http://i.imgur.com/QLV9H.jpg

The idea is to do it like in flatfive's thread here

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/291542-2-piece-neck-hot-rod-truss-headstock-adjust-question.html

So I finally got round to routing the truss rod channel. Id been pretty nervous about doing it, but once i got going, i decided that I actually really enjoy using the router!

I had a pretty simple jig, I put the neck into the workmate.

http://i.imgur.com/E5qNl.jpg

And clamped wood either side to act as a guide. I know its probably not ideal but as long as it works im happy.

http://i.imgur.com/5ulgj.jpg

I was very lucky, this router bit came with my router, and it is the exact same size as the width of the truss rod

http://i.imgur.com/WKqNG.jpg

After the first pass (Routing is very messy!)

http://i.imgur.com/BxbPo.jpg

And a perfect fit (close enough for me anyway:mrgreen:)

http://i.imgur.com/4u3eS.jpg

Tomorow ive got to go shopping for supplies for university! So i wont get much progress done, but ive ordered a saw and mitre box for fretting, so hopefully on thursday or friday ill get a delivery and progress can continue! I will also rout the body on thursday and then i can do the body contours.

Routing the truss rod is pretty scary at first, but once you get a couple passes it's all fun.

Routing the truss rod is pretty scary at first, but once you get a couple passes it's all fun.

Yeah i thought so! Im really looking forward to routing the body now, i did a practice today with an old fence post, and it worked perfectly. Guitar building really is addictive!

I got bored not being able to do anything, as its night time, so i made some rough logos! Please tell me if theyre dreadful, they are just mock ups though:razz:

http://i.imgur.com/1rqAo.png

http://i.imgur.com/8FH9m.jpg

I definately prefer the first one.

I also prefer the first one.

First one

Keenecaster

First one!

Bentley! I like the keencaster idea, ill have to redo the logo sometime:mrgreen:

So yesterday on my trip to Ikea i bought everything for uni! and then something more interesting

http://i.imgur.com/7DTg0.jpg

For my next build. I know ive not even finished this one, and its still only my first, but it was £3. How could i resist??:razz:

This is just a pre warning, there will be a lot of photos in the next few posts!

Right here goes.

I started the day with a nice package from the postman, my new fretting saw.

http://i.imgur.com/UKdWf.jpg

Unfortunately my mitre box didnt come so fretting will have to wait for another day

Well i started off by doing a practice rout for the neck

http://i.imgur.com/rCROD.jpg

Not too bad i dont think?


I then moved on to doing it for real, scary stuff!

http://i.imgur.com/81H15.jpg

Taped up the drill bit

http://i.imgur.com/86AhM.jpg

And drilled away, i could really do with a bigger drill bit

http://i.imgur.com/r31qn.jpg

And routed it

http://i.imgur.com/FfWxx.jpg

Its not perfect, but with this little shim its a great fit!!

http://i.imgur.com/itFzR.jpg

I also routed the neck pickup cavity, same technique.

http://i.imgur.com/U3ZkW.jpg

Ill continue on a new post

So now onto the pickguard, i drew out the shape on greaseproof paper

http://i.imgur.com/lkh0n.jpg

I got these two records from a charity shop, 25p each, now to make a guard out of them

http://i.imgur.com/ObGfx.jpg

I chose the white one (new order) because i think itll go better with my finish at the end.

http://i.imgur.com/QkpUy.jpg

Stuck the template to the record!

http://i.imgur.com/jiYPY.jpg

Heated up my knife

http://i.imgur.com/BzBbJ.jpg

And began to cut

http://i.imgur.com/axZs9.jpg

And 2 hours later i ended up with a very saw hand and this

http://i.imgur.com/tVIzK.jpg

Fits like a glove!

http://i.imgur.com/R1FVL.jpg

Im going to go ahead and say not too bad for a days work, tomorow ill rout for the bridge pickup and bridge!

Lookin good!!! I do have to critisize a bit though, I wish you would have got a 3 dollar 2x6 and practiced some more routing, I did about... 8 practice cuts before the real deal (mind you it was an angled route) and it came out better each practice!

Lookin good!!! I do have to critisize a bit though, I wish you would have got a 3 dollar 2x6 and practiced some more routing, I did about... 8 practice cuts before the real deal (mind you it was an angled route) and it came out better each practice!

I definitely agree it would have come out better, I was just so eager to get it done, but I guess these are all things that you learn on your first build!

today I will finish routing the bridge pickup and the pick guard wish me luck

Sent from my GT-S5830i using TDPRI

So im thinking of changing the shape of the pickguard slightly, so its more of my own design. What do you think?

http://i.imgur.com/D19UD.jpg

Or

http://i.imgur.com/5G2X2.jpg

Obviously it will be much neater than this but its just a rough shape

And also just a quick question on bridge placement, i have measured 25.5 inches from the end of the nut, do i measure to the middle of the saddle? if so where should i position the saddles? Also other sources said about putting the bridge slightly further away than 25.5"? So many questions i know but id appreciate if anyone could answer them :razz:

Well after some more searching i managed to find a better explanation of the bridge placement, and went on to do some more routing!

http://i.imgur.com/0AmYr.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/qVM5K.jpg

I then went on to carving the body contours.

http://i.imgur.com/1Onr2.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/7BWd9.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/c8hNJ.jpg

Its looking pretty rough, but thats just after a little use of the surform. Tomorow I will finish that contour, and rout for the rest of the control cavities.

So last night after packing up all my tools, I came inside to watch a bit of telly, when i started to feel tingling in my lips. It continued for a while and started swelling up. My cheeks also started swelling up. As the evening went on my arms started to itch and my hands also began to swell up! I assumed i was having an allergic reaction to something. After thinking what i could be, i thought it couldve been the sapele that i was carving yesterday, my arms wernt covered and neither was my face. Well i found this site http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/hardwoods/sapele/ Im sure many of you have seen it before, but it says that sapele is an irritant so there you go. Lesson learnt, always cover up as much as possible! (hence the white gloves in the pictures)

Well today i finished routing the body

http://i.imgur.com/VzVSP.jpg

I also sanded down the pickguard and it all fits nicely

http://i.imgur.com/VjXod.jpg

I also got this in the post!

http://i.imgur.com/idww1.jpg

Tomorow ill finish the body contours and sand the body down, ill also have a go at drill the body! And advice on drilling the body with a handheld drill?

So today i didnt get loads done, bit i did manage to carry on with the body contours.

http://i.imgur.com/2ellG.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/SUWyF.jpg

Still needs work but i think im happy with it so far.

Tomorow i will hopefully slot the fingerboard as long as my mitre box comes! Any advice would be apreciated

Right so the past few days have been a bit slow, but today i picked up the mitre box so that i can cut the fretboard tomorow. Today I didnt do any work on the current guitar, but i did manage to glue up another body blank.

http://i.imgur.com/QgKOg.jpg

and heres a full body shot, im looking forward to having this hang on my wall!

http://i.imgur.com/8YcDo.jpg

As i said tomorow ill get the fingerboard slotted and hopefully glued on, then work can continue!

Today i managed to slot the fretboard, ive got a picture of me doing it but no finished photo, but hey im sure youve all seen one before

http://i.imgur.com/I4qK5.jpg

Well tomorow ill try to glue on the fretboard. Any advice? I know ive got to have lots of clamps, spread the pressure. But is there anything else??

So today ive been thinking about finishes, im going to grain fill and stain like Muzikp said to. But im not sure what colour to stain. I found this website here

http://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/products/wood-finishes/wood-stains/concentrated-wood-dye.htm#0

Im leaning towards the red because of the colouration of the wood but if anyone thinks another colour would work just as well id love to hear?

And for the grain filler i will probably use this as long as its suitable?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rustins-Grain-Filler-Mahogany-RUSGFM230G/dp/B002HMRXKO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1346961157&sr=8-2

And just one more question ill be buying this lacquer

http://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/products/wood-finishes/lacquers/nitrocellulose-lacquer-sprays.htm

It says one can will cover 4m squared. Will this be enough for one guitar (baring in mind this is my first time finishing a guitar)? Id appreciate some advice!!

I love the pick guard If you have more LPs you should try a traditional guard where it forms around the bridge plate as well like this.
http://www.squier-talk.com/forum/attachments/squier-telecasters/4239d1300994169-need-trem-my-tele-elm_68tele2-jpg
just a thought.
inspiring build with minimal tools, well done

I love the pick guard If you have more LPs you should try a traditional guard where it forms around the bridge plate as well like this.
http://www.squier-talk.com/forum/attachments/squier-telecasters/4239d1300994169-need-trem-my-tele-elm_68tele2-jpg
just a thought.
inspiring build with minimal tools, well done

Thanks man! Yeah the original idea was to do one like that, but i think my body is slightly shorter than a standard tele, so the bridge has to be further away from the pickguard. Bad planning by me i guess!! I have got another LP, so my next build might get a more traditional one.

Thanks for the feedback!

JKeene, You're asking a lot of questions on your build and not getting a huge number of answers and I think I know why. You need to size your pics down, dude. We don't need to print 'em, just see 'em.

I gotta admit, as soon as I see a page that takes several minutes to load, I just move on to the next thread.

JKeene, You're asking a lot of questions on your build and not getting a huge number of answers and I think I know why. You need to size your pics down, dude. We don't need to print 'em, just see 'em.

I gotta admit, as soon as I see a page that takes several minutes to load, I just move on to the next thread.

Oh man! i didnt realise they were so big! ill try scaling them down thanks for the advice :smile:

Ooops! I thought it was my internet service going south. Your thread is cool, but impossible to follow with a slow connection.
I like your fresh approach towards building, It`s also encouraging, as I always feel I need more reading before i start my own, so I keep delaying my build.
Keep up with your nice build! Enjoy your holidays!

Ooops! I thought it was my internet service going south. Your thread is cool, but impossible to follow with a slow connection.
I like your fresh approach towards building, It`s also encouraging, as I always feel I need more reading before i start my own, so I keep delaying my build.
Keep up with your nice build! Enjoy your holidays!

I can see now that it does take a long time to load!! I will make sure to upload smaller photos now, thanks for the encouragement!! Mines going to have to take a break too soon because im moving away to university, dont give up though!

today ive been helping my girlfriend move into her new house, but i did manage to glue to headstock veneer on this evening!

http://i.imgur.com/x4k4Z.jpg?1

Tomorow ill trim to size and hopefully get this fretboard glued, any advice on that?

Now uploading photos much smaller than before! :mrgreen:

Today finally i managed to glue to fingerboard!

Firstly i glued in the truss rod with some silicone

http://i.imgur.com/UAlNm.jpg?1

Used pins to alline the fretboard

http://i.imgur.com/OSdhV.jpg?1

Clamped it all up

http://i.imgur.com/sHMU1.jpg?1

I took it out of the clamps and it looks pretty good

http://i.imgur.com/CeIuo.jpg?1

Now ive got to choose a pattern for the inlays, ive got these two so far

http://i.imgur.com/dnoO7.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/AcW4O.jpg?1

I prefer the second one i think, any other ideas?

After letting the fretboard dry i planed it down to fit the neck

http://i.imgur.com/zIHgS.jpg

I taped up the fretboard to mark out the fretboard markers, i decided to go with the off center style.

http://i.imgur.com/fPfX4.jpg?1

I drilled slightly deeper than i would have done if the markers were in the centre so i didnt sand through them

http://i.imgur.com/vaiHx.jpg?1

And radiused the fretboard

http://i.imgur.com/5Heiu.jpg?1

And radiused the section between the nut and the headstock, its still very rough but you can see the shape.

http://i.imgur.com/Tu9Hx.jpg?1

I also had a go at fretting as well, i used a rubber deadblow hammer, i think it worked quite well!

http://i.imgur.com/E6Kwz.jpg?1

The dots look good like that.

The dots look good like that.

Thank you!

So tomorow i plan to do the side dots, but i only have an acrylic rod which is 3mm thick, will that be too thick? or should it be ok?

If 3mm is all you have then I would go ahead and use it. It seems a bit large for side dots but it is surely too small for fretboard dots.

If 3mm is all you have then I would go ahead and use it. It seems a bit large for side dots but it is surely too small for fretboard dots.

Ok thanks, I've got some scrap that I'll try it on first and I'll report back later

Sent from my GT-S5830i using TDPRI

So today is my final day before university so this will be the last update for a while!!

I did my side markers as I said before


143771

And I've done one last mockup so here's some photos

143772



143773

So I'll try to come back and do some more work in a few Weeks but until then goodbye!

Sent from my GT-S5830i using TDPRI

Looking good. Take care and study hard.:lol: