Darkskybandit52's Former Challenge Build

[Darkskybandit52]

Wasn't able to take part in last year's challenge, so I made sure I was able to take part in this one! Good luck to all who enter. Hopefully I wont hit too many snags in my first build. It should be a good time this year!

[dilbone]

Good luck...should be a wild ride!! The snags just make the final result all that more impressive!!

[RogerC]

Originally Posted by dilbone

The snags just make the final result all that more impressive!!

Good luck man! ^and he's right. Seeing the brilliant way that people get out of jams is one of the things that I love about this.

[crazydave911]

Welcome and good luck!

Dave

[Darkskybandit52]

Thanks guys. I have been anticipating this since last year. Hopefully I won't hit too many snags; but they do make you feel more accomplished at the end!

I am not planning on doing anything fancy for my first time... Just a simple design I have been working on making for about 6 months or so.

[Darkskybandit52]

Finally got the wood for my neck. Here is the needed proof of age picture:


These are the only parts I have at the moment. I am still waiting on some to come in.

Many people have a secret weapon for their build. I decided that the tube (now know as the Tube of Goodness) is my secret weapon. I should start making some sawdust sometime this weekend or early next week due to a hectic schedule I have at the moment. Luckily it is clearing up this Tuesday so I can devote almost all of my time to my build

I am definitely looking forward to my first scratch build!

I got a reasonable price on the maple. $10 for 38"
The body is alder. I found it on fleabay when I was randomly looking at wood. $20 shipped wasn't too bad of a deal if I say so myself, especially for already being glued up.
I haven't decided on the pickups yet. Otherwise everything else is all your standard Tele items.

NOTE: Sorry about the bad pictures... My camera has been acting funky lately and I am not sure why.

[Darkskybandit52]

Well I am finally feeling better after being stuck with a stomach virus since sunday night... I should have a update on the body tomorrow.

[Ryden]

And you made your weekly post by 17 minutes!
Glad you're feeling better!

[jkingma]

Originally Posted by Darkskybandit52

Many people have a secret weapon for their build. I decided that the tube (now know as the Tube of Goodness) is my secret weapon.

You're going to cause a lot of tube envy around here.

[Darkskybandit52]

Originally Posted by Ryden

And you made your weekly post by 17 minutes!
Glad you're feeling better!

I just noticed that! I guess I could have screwed my entire build up with that... Guess that is the definition of cutting it close! And thanks. It feels good to be able to talk and move without hurting or feeling like I am going to fall over or pass out from pain in my stomach...

Originally Posted by jkingma

You're going to cause a lot of tube envy around here.

I might aiming to do that It could also be part of my secret finish...

[Darkskybandit52]

Well I have an update on my build. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of the routing process itself. Probably better to keep my camera out of the sawdust anyway. Pretty impressed with my first guitar routing, if I say so myself. (NOTE: Please excuse the messy work area... Its still a bit dirty from moving...) I drilled the string through holes, neck mount holes, and the bridge mount holes before I got to take a picture after routing the body. Looks pretty good from this side.


Not so good from this side for the string through holes...


After some pondering, I thought of an easy fix for this. So after a trip out to the storage shed, I started on my fix. I knew I kept those wood rods for a reason! (Once again, excuse the mess that is associated with moving.)
One down, five to go!


That's better. Now to put the rod pieces in the neck mount holes. (My bit started to twist on them for some reason... not sure why it did!)


There we go. Now to let those set and I will drill the holes again. Luckily I will be acquiring a new drill press tomorrow or Saturday (if all goes as planned) so I can reach the string through holes and have them drilled nice and straight.


One last photo for this update:


That is all for today. I should have another update this weekend. needless to say I am enjoying this contest so far!

(I still havent figured out why my camera doesn't focus right in some pictures... Oh well, the pictures don't have to be as good as the guitar.)

[Ryden]

Originally Posted by Darkskybandit52

Not so good from this side for the string through holes...

That looks vintage correct to me

[Joe Sailor]

Please don't worry about any messiness, if I have to follow suit and excuse my mess, my thread would consist of nothing but.
Your build is looking great. A new drill press will be fun. That's really why I entered, an excuse to buy tools!

[OpenG Capo4]

Even with a drill press your holes can be off because the bit will flex and take the path of least resistance through the wood.

I use the "pin method" pioneered by TDPRI's own Jack Wells. You start by drilling a the string thru holes with a 1/8 bit in the body from the top, but you only drill it like 3/4 of the way through.

Then you drill a 1/8" hole in your drill press table and install a 1/8" steel pin in it. The bit will line up with the top of the pin. Then set your drill press to drill only halfway through the body, and line the top holes on the pin, and drill the holes into the back of the body. The holes you drilled from the front and the back will meet in the middle, and any amount of wandering will happen in the middle of the body where it won't be seen.



Once you get the initial holes done you can also use the pin to line up the forstner bits for counterboring the ferrules into the body.

You can also use this method with a hand drill. Just drill your high and low E's all the way through and the rest only halfway, and use the E holes holes to line the bridge plate up on the back of the guitar. Use the bridge plate as a drilling guide for the rest of the holes.

Close enough for Gov't work.

[Darkskybandit52]

Well, I finally got to a computer so I can post an update!

Got my new toy up and running. I have to say, it is a HUGE improvement over my bench-top drill press!


I got all of the dowels cut and got the string-through holes re-drilled. MUCH better this time. I went ahead and set the string ferrule height and began drilling the holes.


Turned out fairly good. Had a tiny bit of tear out from the where I accidentally hit the body while I was drilling them.


I got the neck-mount holes re-drilled after the string ferrule holes. I went ahead and routed the neck pocket area after drilling the holes. I left a bit of wood on the sides so that I can sand them flat (I'm not the best at routing straight edges on the router when I do things freehand. Plus I can get those couple of burn spots out). Looks good, despite the fact that the router was causing itself to vibrate the locking nut for the depth loose. Nothing a tiny bit of filler can't fix (I am not too worried about the fraction of an inch that it did slide though...).


Hopefully I can make some headway this weekend. I feel like I am a bit behind seeing as a fair amount of people are already painting their bodies.

[adirondak5]

Nice drill press , the string through /ferrule holes look fine.

[Darkskybandit52]

Originally Posted by adirondak5

Nice drill press , the string through /ferrule holes look fine.

Thanks Herb! The more I look at them the more i realize that I did a pretty good job for my first body built from scratch! I also feel like the drill press was worth the $200.

As of now I am playing the waiting game... My pickups should be in by Wed. and I am not sure when my truss rod and other neck hardware will be in... I guess I should check in on that. I should be make some progress late tomorrow or on Monday. So until then, I bid you all adieu!

[Darkskybandit52]

I finally got around to updating my build. I have been busy catching up on everyone else's builds lately that I forgot to update mine! Because of that, I am rolling all of the updates from past week into one update!

Last Week's Update:
A couple of boxes arrived for me last week. I kept forgetting to post an update to this thread, so all of the current updates are from late last week/this weekend.

This box contains my truss rod, some tuners, fret wire, pickups, dots, a bone, and a pair of top hat knobs. Mostly neck stuff since I already have the body stuff.


I was able to drill the pickup and jack holes. You can also see where I fixed a little tear-out that I found on the body. I really only had tear-out in the two spots that are shown.




This Week's Updates:
It seems like I should really try to take more pictures when I am building. But you know, when you're in the zone you just can't stop!

After the wood filler dried, I sanded the body to 220 grit and applied some sand sealer. I let the the first coat dry and then sanded that to 220 grit. While sanding it down, I accidentally sanded through some spots on the side of the body.


After sanding the first coat of sand sealer to 220 grit, I applied the second coat. While that was drying I got to jointing and planing the wood for my neck. I had planned to work on the neck later this week, but luckily I got my jointer knives back from being sharpened early. I would have sharpened them myself, but I couldn't find any replacement 4" jointer blades in case I messed the ones I had up. (Sorry for the out-of-focus picture)


After jointing and planing the wood, I sat down with my square, my circle template, and my neck drawings and got to work drawing out my neck. I forgot to put my fretboard with my neck in this picture.


I am hoping to start applying a finish sometime soon. The temperature lately has been just right for it. If it doesn't rain the rest of the week, I may be laying down some paint late this week/weekend. The Tube Of Goodness should be coming into play pretty soon...

[Darkskybandit52]

Made some progress last night. I got my first part of my finish put on, but my camera died before I was able to take any pictures. Once I got the first part of the finish on I went ahead and routed my neck's truss rod rout. I should be making some more progress on the night tonight, so I will have pictures to post. I do have one question for the audience... Should I reveal my finish now or wait until the end to show the finish?

[Allthesound]

Originally Posted by Darkskybandit52

Made some progress last night. I got my first part of my finish put on, but my camera died before I was able to take any pictures. Once I got the first part of the finish on I went ahead and routed my neck's truss rod rout. I should be making some more progress on the night tonight, so I will have pictures to post. I do have one question for the audience... Should I reveal my finish now or wait until the end to show the finish?

Glad your making progress, looking forward to seeing some more pics.

Just because it's called finish doesn't mean you have to wait till your finished to show it .