Mother of toilet seat guitar body, where to start?

[djangomango]

I'd like to do something like this with a Tele guitar body.
image removed

I've got a Squier Strat in terrible shape now and which I suppose is a bit more difficult since it's more "3d" than a Tele but I'd like to see that guitar as a test.

But I've got absolutely no idea where to start, where to get the materials and if it's possible to do such a thing with beginner/moderate skills.

 

[DrASATele]

Looks like it might be a thin hammered metal or maybe pickguard material covering the entire top. could be as thin as 1/8 as thick as 3/16 or more. Not sure you's want to do it on a strat body due to the round overs and the forearm contour, not impossible just a real PITA because you'd probably have to inlay it. Tele works great because of the small round over which was completely removed for the binding channel in the pictures above... looking closer it could very well be pearloid of some sort.

Looks like the whole guitar might have some sort of inlay on it.

For the Strat w/out inlaying it....Buy a black pearliod pickguard sheet (GFS/Allparts maybe) measure the thickness then find away to remove that amount of material from the top of the guitar. Epoxy the sheet to the guitar and then slowly cut out the shape of the body. You'll have to probably scrape the last 1/8th of an inch to make it even with the body. The forearm contours going to suck so whatever doesn't get taken off when you thickness the body will need to be scuffed up pretty good if it has any paint on it, you'll need a cull of some sort to keep pressure on the area to make sure it stays put while it cures.

 

[metecem]

Get some drum wraps and you should be good to go, with or without binding...

If you have access to a vacuum bag for laminating, it'll be a piece of cake to do it.

Check your friends, school or makers' spaces, somebody will have it

Drum wraps is your answer...

 

[dogwatermike]

Hey django! Check out the guitarfetish.com website.... they have a black, red, and ocean blue mots tele bodies for $70 on sale. You can buy necks and other stuff there also. I bought a strat ocean blue mots.. the color is beautiful, but the body size is slightly larger than a real strat (which doesnt matter to me) ... so maybe the tele is bigger too... as a comment, G&L guitars are slightly larger than strats, and the strat was similar in size to that...

I like your design choice!! That's a stunning guitar! I suggest you dive in! I have built maybe 15 guitars from parts, and had fun and learned a lot on each one! Im getting pretty good by now! Guitarfetish parts are inexpensive so it's good to learn with. Warmoth is another source for parts, but they are more expensive, but very high quality with high quality woods. There are youtube videos that show you how to assemble the parts..

I advise you jump in and give it a shot!

Cowabunga (as us old surfer dudes say)!

Mike

 

[24 track]

Dont start here:

 

[djangomango]

Looks like it might be a thin hammered metal or maybe pickguard material covering the entire top. could be as thin as 1/8 as thick as 3/16 or more. Not sure you's want to do it on a strat body due to the round overs and the forearm contour, not impossible just a real PITA because you'd probably have to inlay it. Tele works great because of the small round over which was completely removed for the binding channel in the pictures above... looking closer it could very well be pearloid of some sort.

Looks like the whole guitar might have some sort of inlay on it.

For the Strat w/out inlaying it....Buy a black pearliod pickguard sheet (GFS/Allparts maybe) measure the thickness then find away to remove that amount of material from the top of the guitar. Epoxy the sheet to the guitar and then slowly cut out the shape of the body. You'll have to probably scrape the last 1/8th of an inch to make it even with the body. The forearm contours going to suck so whatever doesn't get taken off when you thickness the body will need to be scuffed up pretty good if it has any paint on it, you'll need a cull of some sort to keep pressure on the area to make sure it stays put while it cures.

Just thinking, I think I've got an old telecaster body in the attic somewhere. Maybe I'll dig it up and try that one. Makes sense to try it on an easier shape body first.

 

[DrASATele]

Yeah, that was my feeling too but I was trying my best to answer your question.
If you can find a raw body that doesn't have any round overs (eBay) that might be the best place to start.
You'll still need to take the thickness off the top so the bridge and neck line up correctly.
The other option is to cut out the bridge and control cavity spots on whatever material you plan to top the guitar with, both will look sunken into the body with the additional thickness added to the top. Doing it this way would allow you to leave the top as is, not sure if you'd be able to still put another pickguard on after that because of the height.

 

[djangomango]

Only problem I've got so far is that most shops seem to deliver sheets that are smaller than a guitar body ... .

 

[screamin eagle]

Jr. Watson has a Stratotone guitar that he has done this with. It is just a pickguard over the whole guitar.

 

[djangomango]

Great, I've found someone who's got larger sheets than 240x140mm (I want it in one piece)!!.

Hold on, Minimum order quantity, 150kg

 

[screamin eagle]

This is 23" x 25". But kind of expensive. Though it was 30 seconds of google-fu. You should be able to find it.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/157845635/mother-of-pearl-celluloid-sheet

 

[017_017]

Get some drum wraps and you should be good to go, with or without binding...

If you have access to a vacuum bag for laminating, it'll be a piece of cake to do it.

Check your friends, school or makers' spaces, somebody will have it

Drum wraps is your answer...

As this guy says.

Black diamond pearl is the closest I can name off the top of my head that's similar to your example.

Another option is seeing if a commercial laminate company (i.e. Formica) has anything similar.