Third build in the MDF series, SSS and Trem

I guess I've caught the bug now, so it's head first into build #3. This one will have a plywood frame with MDF top and back, like the semi-hollow. This time I'll try to keep up the pictorial as I go along.

This is the first design I drew up for this series, but will probably be the most challenging to get right, so I saved it for last. The first two were also posted here if you want to see what aesthetic I'm going for. Links at the bottom.

2d layout:


Body frame pieces rough cut.


Body glued and marked for hollowing out.


Pickguard and mahogany accent rough cut.


The pickguard is from a sheet of tortoise I had but didn't like. Turns out the base layer is mint, which is what i want. I'll buff it to a nice shine when the final shaping is done.

All for now.

http://www.tdpri.com/threads/acoustic-electric-build-pictorial.645256/

http://www.tdpri.com/threads/semi-hollow-on-the-cheap-part-of-a-matching-set.667365/

 

Today's work:

Cut out the fat


Starting the cut for the inset piece


Freehand route to the line


Close matching the mahogany to the recess cut


Top and back cut out of a sheet of 3/16 plywood a friend gave me. So I lied, no MDF on this build (cause I was too lazy to go to Lowes)


Matching the two top pieces. Lots of finicky sanding


Glueing the main top piece on. I think that's it for today.

 

A little more progress...

Pickguard recess and top route. Provides enough access to install the body mounted pots and bridge pickup without rear access. I hope...


Rough fit the guard


Fill and final fit



Layout. I may angle all three pickups as the bridge pickup is. Good idea, or leave it alone?


Now the neck. I am using the neck off of the semi-hollow and ordering the same neck with block inlays for that guitar. I put two layers of shrink wrap on some cut off brads and transferred the hole locations to the body.


Problem is the fitment is different from body to body, partly because my neck pocket template is crap and my skills and patience not much better. It would work, but the neck plate would look crooked. So I dowelled the neck holes and will re drill for this body.

Hopefully more work later today.

 

Lots of work done today, some of that fixing my boneheaded mistakes. The biggest one being that this was originally going to be a solidbody with a wilkinson trem. But I changed my mind and decided to keep the construction the same as the others and make it semi-hollow.

Some of you may have noticed this from earlier pics, but I just caught it today when I started thinking about routing for the trem. You can see the problem in this pic:


Nowhere to mount the trem claw. So I had to fit a block between the bridge and neck glued to the back. Then route that from the top to get the pickup depth I need and finally, route the trem. Oh, I also made a 1/2" plywood template for the back trem route to replace the 1/4"plexi one that was unworkable for me.

I got the neck drilled and fitted and the pickguard routed and polished. Hoping for better weather tomorrow so I can get the paint on and glue in the mahogany piece.

 

More progress. Had a decent day Sunday so I sprayed the ivory paint.


Orange peel city. Hopefully I put enough on to sand it flat.


I managed to sand it pretty flat and get a good gloss, even though some imperfections remain in the finish. I'll polish it out the rest of the way after the sides are done.

Glued up the mahogany piece and added a slight bevel toward the edge and a nice comfy radius along the edge.


It's hard to see but I radiused the top and back edges just a bit to expose the wood underneath for a faux binding look.
Dark walnut Danish oil on the sides and "armrest". I'll put poly over that and probably do the danelectro tape thing on the sides like the others, but the plywood looks pretty cool all exposed.



I promise better pics tomorrow. Photobucket is giving me major headaches right now. Pickups and parts should arrive in the next day or two. Yay!

 

Thanks all. Getting there. The pickups and other parts arrived and I couldn't resist throwing it together with some test strings to make sure it was all going to work. I still have finishing work to do so it will have to come apart again. But, much success! I didn't do the full setup yet, but it plays great. No major fixes needed.

Aaaaaand, Lipstick!


Definitely getting different knobs and I might have a change of heart on the pickguard color.




Still needs side tape and more stain and poly on the armrest.
Back shot. You don't see it much here but I had to bust a 3/4" hole into the trem cavity in order to get the bridge pickup in. I'll patch that up when it is apart again.

 

Just updating after all this time with a few newer pics and a demo video. I love hearing how the builds on here sound even if its just a few quick chords.