Guitar WIP - And so it begins

[MickCheese]

Looking good, very good.

Your body does look a little too large and if heavy will make playing tiring so you may want to consider shape before it's too late.

Mick

 

[Kalimna]

Right then folks, time for an update on progress...
So far, the body/neck has been glued up, the frets installed, remaining pockets routed and body carved.
More issues though, and primarily concerned with the neck. It is definitely a little on the thin side, but of perhaps more concern is the rather poor fret insertion technique I seem to have. Apart from using a lot of cyano to try and keep the ends from lifting, I removed and replaced of them. On the flip side, my rough home-made fret bending jig does seem to work....
The carving of the body was a lot of fun, and quite 'free' in that I kept rasping until I was happy with the curves. It has become a rather tactile body (sanded to 600) and the weight/size issue seems to have mostly disappeared. It is by no means a small guitar, but smaller than a 335. The carving was also an excellent opportunity to give my Liogiers' a workout. They performed beautifully, but I now realise that planes are not the only tools to have a slope
There is no finish yet, which will be Tru-Oil, and I intend to keep a relatively satin finish. I think the padouk, in particular, looks fabulous in an oiled, pore unfilled finish.
As for electrics - I am still working (well, my father-in-law is) on the schematic, but it will be a 5-way rotary switch over the two humbuckers with various split-coil options. Vol/tone per pickup also.

Right then, the photos :

A quick unglued mock up with neck

Close up of the uncarved heel join. The fit was good enough that I could lift the guitar by the neck with little movement. I did take a couple of swipes with a rigid sanding block to allow 'glue space' for when it was glued up.

Fret-bending jig

Roughly marking out the curved facets

Helping daddy

One of many cyano/activator applications. I was quite happy that the final carving would remove the chipped area, but I didnt want the chips to extend further.

Forearm contour first steps

Close up of rear 'belly' curve. Note the duck taped coarse Liogier. This was used for most of the hogging, then I moved to a grain 8 and then a half-round grain 15 before working with 80-grit sandpaper and up through the grits. It truly is a pleasure working with these rasps.

The curves beginning to take shape and flow

The body near-as-damnit finish sanded

(please see next post for remaining images)

 

[Kalimna]

And the remainder of this update :


A further shot of the (nearly finished) body :

Frets bent, cut and lined up. Neck radiused.

Triangular file to bevel the edges of the fret slot. I think, with hindsight, I over-filed the slots. I'll know for next time....

The frets inserted. You may be able to notice the lifted fret-ends and copious superglue 'fixer'. Again, more experience for the next one.

Glueing up the neck join. A very definite 'eeeeeeek' moment.

And completely out of linear order, here's an alternative use for a pram whilst i glued the headstock veneer on

Right then, as usual, any comments/suggestions/criticisms welcome

Thanks for looking,
Adam

 

[MickCheese]

Looking really good and well documented. The shape looks nice, a sort of rounded strat!

The forearm chamfer looks a bit bulbous, I tend to find a flatter chamfer to be a bit more comfortable but it may just be the angle of the photo.

I like the inlay. Are the raised fret ends going to cause buzz?

Mick

 

[marcros]

i didn't like this guitar when i first saw it, but it is growing on me. great wip

 

[L2wis]

Great stuff! Looks really nice with all the additional carving done!!

 

[Kalimna]

Mick - I think it might be just the photo. The contour is a little bulbous, but I find it quite comfortable when sitting. The shape, if you can imagine it, is more like a cross between a PRS custom and a Satriani Ibanez (one of the earlier models) than a strat. But I see what you mean. As to the fret ends? Well, the replaced ones looked much better and there is a fair amount of cyano there holding them down (not very tidy or of a high craftsmanlike fix, but it should work), so with a fret levelling/dressing they should be OK. As for future buzz? Ummmm.

Mark - Thanks, not all things are to everyones' taste, so that's OK

Lewis - Cheers, as I say, the carving was fun (too much fun on the neck tho....)

Right then, time to go to work. Grrrr.

Adam

 

[stevenw1963]

Adam,

Cracking WIP & a rather tasty looking guitar coming out of the woodwork.
Can't wait to see the finished article.
Great stuff

 

[Kalimna]

Rightyo then, time for another update, and a conversion from a WIP to a WNC (work nearly complete)

Since the last post, I have been busy putting the finish, and the finishing touches, onto the guitar.
First off was the construction of a holding jig to assist the fret finishing. 1" ply with some support strips and hardware from BnQ/Screwfix. Cutting out the 'divots' around the edge took a surprisingly long time, but it makes for an easy to set up jig. Guitar body held down with stretchy cord from BnQ.

A close up of the height-adjustable neck support block (not very pretty, but it works well).

And the jig in use. Pay particular attention to the amount of filing needed to level the frets. I am not happy about that, but I'll maybe do a better job of seating the frets next time...

Marking out the bridge position, and drilling the holes for the bridge studs. Definitely an 'eeeeeek' moment. Again, pay particular attention to the location of the pillar drill. Somewhat less than ideal. And you will also notice the clutter-free and tidy workbench

A close up of the neck pickup cavity - with help from my 2 1/2 year old. Unfortunately, I did not rout the 'wing' bits deep enough for the pickup hardware, so had to go at it with a 10mm drill later on to allow them to fit. Not visible when pickups installed though, so not really a problem.

Jumping forward a bit, the guitar has now had about 14 coats of Tru-Oil and I am setting up for the wiring of the guitar. Note the essential wiring-up items - freshly brewed coffee, chocolate and iPad for easy access to wiring diagrams.

Some wiring photos, note the neatness of the finished job (!?!)

continued on next post......

 

[Kalimna]

Continuing.....

Selector switch cavity - blue masking tape is my marking system for identifying wires

Main control cavity. Bask in the neatness of the job!

And now, the finished article. Ladies and gentlefolk, let me introduce you to the "Pinta LG" guitar, one of a kind

So, things I am happy with :
The body is very tactile and sits extremely comfortably, and the weight is no worse than a Les Paul
The finish is just about the right amount of satin for what I was after. I think full gloss would have looked wrong, especially as I was after a pore-not-filled look.
The sound from the Bareknuckle pickups (Abraxas) is superb - creamy overdrive and very clear clean sounds just dying to be played in a pentatonic scale
It works and plays like a guitar.
Almost no fret buzz on first stringing-up

Things not so happy with :
Tru-oil build up around the neck join.
Neck angle too shallow leading to a 12th fret action of 2.5mm. Playable, but a llittle high for my liking.
Many, many mistakes made along the way - neck depth, neck angle, mis-drilled holes, thin neck, bad fret insertion, poor soldering on the pots, off-centre routs, wiring everything up and plugging in to hear only a buzzing hum (Damn You, missed-out ground wire!), messy side fret-markers, less-than-ideal bridge placement (chalk it up to experience, but a couple of strings wont intonate correctly as the bridge studs are too far forward for adjustment, etc

I dont have any sound clips yet, but when I do, I shall post them up.

So, thats guitar no.1 finished. The second has already been started, so I shall post another WIP for that one. I dont think it will move along nearly as quickly though, as I have had a lot of spare time this past month or two.
As usual, I welcome any comments/criticisms/queries/suggestions and thank you for all your comments so far in these posts.

Cheers,
Adam

 

[L2wis]

Fantastic work!! Guitar looks great! If you make a thread for the second guitar build please put a link in here as I'd love to follow it.

 

[stevenw1963]

Adam,

Top marks for the WIP & the guitar - absolutely fantastic both of them.

Something to be justly proud of - well done

 

[gasman]

Great work Adam - a real labour of love from start to finish.
Cheers
Mark

 

[MickCheese]

adam

I like that a lot.

Could you redo the neck at some later date? Seems a shame to do all that work and have it spoiled by something that could just be shimed to the correct angle.

Well done for taking on the challenge.

Mick

 

[Kalimna]

Thanks for the comments folks
I really must learn how to upload a sound clip/Youtube, as the sound coming out of those Bareknuckles is what it's all about, whatever it looks like.

Mick - I really dont know whether that would be feasible. I know that titebond 1 (almost universaly used in the construction, excepting a couple of areas that cyano reigned supreme) responds fairly well to heat as a means of un-glueing, but it would be a helluva lot of work with quite a risk to damaging the finish/body/neck. Unless the neck warps a little now that it has been strung up, I dont think the effort (even if I had the experience to attempt such a thing) of trying to remove the neck would be worth the results. I mean to say that it is perfectly playable (not perhaps up with a PRS or Tyler or Anderson or suchlike), and it is, after all, my first attempt, so I suspect I will keep it as it is. If you are ever up in Scotland, you are more than welcome to look it over in the flesh (and that goes for anyone!)

Cheers,
Adam


P.s. As for the next one, I shall sort out some photos and start up a new WIP shortly

 

[barkwindjammer]

Incredible build Adam that thing looks baaaaaad!
I do believe you can now add 'Luthier' to your CV -tenacious man, tenacious