My New Guitar

[shiftbmw]

The next trick is to unstick the templates from each other. Since I wanted these to stick together damn well, it's going to be tough to get them apart. Have to be careful not to damage the MDF, since in 1/4" form it's not overly strong.

I found that my pocketknife was the best way to separate the templates and remove the tape.




Once they are separated and clean, template is ready to go.

[bejbis]

I dont play anything, but i love to see craftsmanship and things built instead of bought. good luck, its looking great.

[Farbin Kaiber]

Something unexpected on r3v, but awesome. I like the learning going on from lookin at them pikturz.

[devonjordan]

This is pretty SWEET, cant wait to see the finished product.

[BobombETA]

It's looking really nice man. Have you decided on what kind of stain, if any, you're applying to the wood?

My main guitar is a semi transparent dark red on a mahogany called "see-thru black cherry". It is beautiful.

[shiftbmw]

It's looking really nice man. Have you decided on what kind of stain, if any, you're applying to the wood?

My main guitar is a semi transparent dark red on a mahogany called "see-thru black cherry". It is beautiful.

Not sure how I'll accomplish it yet, but the body will likely be semi-transparent black...shooting for a burst maybe..."ebony burst" with gray in the middle and black at the outer edge.

[BobombETA]

Not sure how I'll accomplish it yet, but the body will likely be semi-transparent black...shooting for a burst maybe..."ebony burst" with gray in the middle and black at the outer edge.

Wow that will look great then. Maybe practice that effect on a couple pieces of scrap first?

[shiftbmw]

Yes, I definately plan on experimenting with scraps first. The hardest part will be keeping the finish even.

[BobombETA]

Any sort of inlays in the neck or around the body? I think a creme pickguard would compliment the black finish. Kind of like a Gibson blueshawk.

What kind of hardware are you going to run?

[Holland]

I just showed my friend this, he has been bitching about how expensive guitars are.

[shiftbmw]

Any sort of inlays in the neck or around the body? I think a creme pickguard would compliment the black finish. Kind of like a Gibson blueshawk.

What kind of hardware are you going to run?

No plans for inlays at all. The body won't have anything and the neck would have black phenolic dots if my fretboard is maple and no dots if it's ebony.

As for the pickguard, likely black. I don't really want any white on this guitar. Hardware will be silver. Some minor cosmetic things like knobs, etc are TBD.

Funny you should mention a blueshawk. I play a nighthawk(the solid body version of the blueshawk) as my primary guitar. I absolutely love it...it feels like gibson's version of a strat.

[movementality]

subbing looks awesome

[bejbis]

any updates?

[lennon]

this is a great thread! i work with wood by trade and play guitar. one day ill build one. its not the body im worried about being difficult though...

ill be glad to see more updates to this sir

[shiftbmw]

Well, after a long lull I've gotten back on it. Just as I finished my templates I decided that the direction I originally was going was not the direction I wanted. I decided that if I fulfilled my vision, my guitar would look a little too "murdered out," and upon realizing this, I needed to redirect course.

When you can have anything at all that you want, it's really hard to decide, hence my delay.

In any case, the guitar will be transparent orange(think Porsche GT3 RS), maple neck, ebony fretboard, black hardware, black pickguard.

Without further adieu, an update:

Today I went ahead and cut the outline of the actual body. I still have all 10 fingers, so I suppose I have to consider it a success. I went into this project knowing I was going to make some mistakes, and really it's dealing with the mistakes you make during the build that really make the guitar yours. I wasn't concentrating hard enough I guess and took too large a rip a couple of times when routing. As a result I experienced some tearout.

One place where it tore out was on the lower horn, right on the front of the body. This will be the hardest to mask. I also got a little on the side, although I lucked out since it's right where my jack goes.


I started by mounting the template i had made to the body, again using my sticky tape things. I then took a standard saw and started cutting blocks out of the body. I chose the standard saw because a coping saw blade is a bit flimsy and unpredictable sometimes. Since I'm cutting through almost two inches thick of ash, I didn't want the blade to wander. There were a couple places I did carefully cleanup with the coping saw however. I tried to leave roughly .125" around the border.

Be careful when sawing, as the bottom of these chunks likes to sliver off and take chunks out of your body(ask me how I know). Take pains to avoid this.




One important thing to note is to SAVE YOUR SCRAPS. The larger the better. Remember, all wood is different(different grain, moisture content etc). You will have to finish this wood at some point, so nothing better to practice on than scraps from the same board. Should you F something up, you can also use it for various purposes to help mask errors.

Next, lay her down on your routing table and take your time.




If you move too quickly or lose focus for even a second, this can happen. This pic makes it look a little worse than it is, but it's definately not going to buff out. If I radius the corner, I'm hoping that plus some sanding will solve most of it, but I may need to find a way to fill it.





After I'm done, I test fit the pickguard and a spare control plate I had laying around.