My Latest Build - Deep Body Semi Hollow

[FrenchFry]

Hi Guys,
It's about time I posted something on this forum. I've learned so much here that I feel a little obliged. ok, and I think this one turned out pretty great.

So here's my latest build.

Wenge top on Padouk. Mostly hollow, a block remains from neck pocket to the back of the bridge. It's deeper than usual, at a little over 2 inches.

Sound hole is bound with maple, pickguard is ash. I'm not real happy with the pickguard, but rushed it a little bit so the guitar would be ready for a gig this past weekend. I think I'll redo it to match closer to the soundhole shape.

Body is finished with Shellac.

Chunky C shaped mahogany neck with ebony board. Finished with oil / wax.

This was a fun one to build.
Working with Wenge was not too bad. Sanding padouk sucks. Red dust everywhere and tough to keep from bleeding to the other woods.

Soundhole was a lot harder than I thought. I was going for a little different shape, but the oops factor came into play, and I actually like how it turned out.


Any feedback/suggestions would be great. Don't hold back!

[Quintin]

Personally... I'd lose the flowers

That's an awesome looking thinline. Excellent! Good job. Love that heel design and the "f" hole (not quite sure what to call it anymore )

[fabiomayo]

Beautiful, classy guitar! Congratulations!

Don't like the pickguard much either...

[jay1970]

Very nice indeed. Love the pick guard, matches the guitar beautifully.

[craigoslo]

looks like my dream guitar. Only one thing I would of done different if it was my build. The transition to the cutaway beside the neckplate. So the wood curves back into full thickness in a smooth line. Does that make sense? Any ways, that's just my 2 cents. Looks very professional.
We would love some build pics if you took any.

[jkingma]

Looks great. The "holes" are perfect. The pickguard suits the guitar. Overall, 2 thumbs up from me.

How heavy is it?

[FrenchFry]

Originally Posted by Quintin

Personally... I'd lose the flowers

Well, my wife handles all the photography, so I defer to her on that.

and the guitar strap... well, it may not come across in the pictures, but that strap is magical ... women go nuts for it. They don't comment on the guitar much, but the power of this strap is truly special...

[FrenchFry]

Originally Posted by craigoslo

looks like my dream guitar. Only one thing I would of done different if it was my build. The transition to the cutaway beside the neckplate. So the wood curves back into full thickness in a smooth line. Does that make sense? Any ways, that's just my 2 cents. Looks very professional.
We would love some build pics if you took any.

I'm not sure I see what you mean... body shape or pickguard?

For the pickguard, I'm definitely re-doing it. The shape will be a larger version of the 2 combined soundholes.

And I think I'll try a different material ... the ash pickguard and maple binding on the holes doesn't seem like the right fit. Not sure that plastic is right either though. Any suggestions?

[FrenchFry]

Originally Posted by jkingma

Looks great. The "holes" are perfect. The pickguard suits the guitar. Overall, 2 thumbs up from me.

How heavy is it?

Thanks!

I don't have a scale, but it feels quite a bit lighter than an average strat.

Padouk and wenge are both really heavy woods.

I built a solid body padouk tele, which is my heaviest guitar, hands down. Sounds great though and I like the look. No fun to sand it though. Scratches can be tough to get out.

[treadwm]

Awesome build! Love the binding on the soundhole. My deepest sympathies on sanding paduak. :-) At least, it wasn't next to a light wood like maple. When I turn paduak on the lathe, it takes a month to get rid of all the red dust, curls, etc.

What was the oil/wax combo you used on the neck? That neck must feel great.

[FrenchFry]

Originally Posted by jay1970

Very nice indeed. Love the pick guard, matches the guitar beautifully.

Thanks! I'm still leaning toward redoing a new pickguard for this project, but keeping this one around for a future guitar.

[FrenchFry]

Originally Posted by treadwm

Awesome build! Love the binding on the soundhole. My deepest sympathies on sanding paduak. :-) At least, it wasn't next to a light wood like maple. When I turn paduak on the lathe, it takes a month to get rid of all the red dust, curls, etc.

What was the oil/wax combo you used on the neck? That neck must feel great.

Thanks! Yeah, the sanding was tough. I was surprised at how much of that red dust got into the end grain of the wenge. Ended up having to mask off the top, sand the body, seal it with a single coat of shellac, then mask off the body and sand the top. The wenge bled a little bit onto the maple but that was pretty easy to get out.

Both wenge and padouk (sp. paduak?) are so hard that it takes a lot of elbow grease to sand them clean, especially in the curves.

Neck feels great. The finish I used on the neck is really cool.
Tried and True wood finish. http://www.triedandtruewoodfinish.com/

I've used all their products. Beyond easy to apply, and completely chemical free, which is a concern these days with 2 toddlers running around the house.

You won't get a gloss like you would with other finishes, but I love the smooth feel. It takes quite a few super thin coats to get to where I like it and then I buff it out until it's super smooth.

[iansmitchell]

I love it! Great work, excellent, really.

[steve gibson]

It is a beautiful guitar. The care and workmanship is obvious. You should be extremely happy! Everything "just fits". Keep this one forever.

[shoretyus]

Diggin' the soundholes.. not diggin' the guard. I'd be trying to match the soundholes on guard .. somehow...

[fishtownmike]

That guitar sucks. You should be ashamed to show that on here. I hope you know i'm just joking. Beautiful guitar and great work.

P.S I love the recessed area around the neck plate. I might have to steal that idea.

[Nick JD]

I like the ebony fretboard with no dots and the neck plate recess. Nicely done.

Do you think a mini pickguard like on the La Cabronita would suit it? I do - it would balance the f-hole. JMHO.

[Colt W. Knight]

Very cool and original, KUDOS my friend.

[MikeMurray]

The more I look at this, the prettier it gets.

[telechaser]

That's just classy. I like it very much. I like the no dots, the back and the neckplate. So cool.