My New Guitar

[shiftbmw]

The edges of the particle board template became rounded, so I decided to use 1/4" MDF, which would be easier to make the edges as close to vertical as possible. Also, MDF tends to work a bit easier than particle board, and is cheaper.

A note about MDF...the adhesive they use to bind the material is toxic. Wear respiratory protection when working with this stuff...even if you're just sanding.






I rough cut the template with a coping saw, and then carefully sanded down the edges to match my drawing. I glued the drawing directly to the MDF.

If you plan on doing this, be creative with sanding tools. I found that a little block of wood with sand paper wrapped around it made it easiest to keep the edges square and to "fine tune". For the tight curve near the neck pocket, a deep socket worked well. A foam sanding pad was easy on the hand for the less precise stuff. Long smooth motions work well.






As for the template, it doesn't need to be perfect. If you are trying to copy a fender or whatever, you aren't going to notice .020" variance. Also, remember that you will sand your body after it's cut so there's going to be some variation anyways.

[z31maniac]

Awesome, looking forward to your progress.

[delfin]

please post all the steps

[shiftbmw]

Next step in the process is making a router template out of particle board.

[Midnight Sun]

My friend built a guitar with Dave Bunker that looked liked an AK47 a couple of years ago for his high school senior project...

Was pretty dope... sounded like shit.

[shiftbmw]

What style music will this guitar be playing?

Blues, Jazz, Rock, Funk

I'll definately check out the Anderson Pickups. They seem to be well liked by everyone.

I'm building a tele with a thick nocaster style neck and ebony fretboard. The neck will either be Wenge or Maple...haven't decided yet.

Pickups I haven't decided upon. There are so many options nowadays that it's hard to choose. I'm currently thinking some really nice, glassy single coils or a pair of P90's. Whatever I do though, I can assure you this guitar will sound amazing.

That wood is perfect for a tele. Look up the Andersons. I have used just about every brand of pickup known to man, including very hard to find Bareknuckles (UK), and the Andersons always win in everyway.

What style music will this guitar be playing?

[tg318is]

ooo going to keep my eyes on this!

[shiftbmw]

I dislike ash. To light/wussy sounding -- unless you are building something with single coils. Mahogany is by far the best I feel, or Korina. Make sure you get some good Tom Anderson pickups for that badboy, whatever it will be, they will make a trash can sound good.

I'm building a tele with a thick nocaster style neck and ebony fretboard. The neck will either be Wenge or Maple...haven't decided yet.

Pickups I haven't decided upon. There are so many options nowadays that it's hard to choose. I'm currently thinking some really nice, glassy single coils or a pair of P90's. Whatever I do though, I can assure you this guitar will sound amazing.

I dislike ash. To light/wussy sounding -- unless you are building something with single coils. Mahogany is by far the best I feel, or Korina. Make sure you get some good Tom Anderson pickups for that badboy, whatever it will be, they will make a trash can sound good.

[shiftbmw]

I figured I'd throw a thread up, since many others seem to post pictures of their random projects.

Anyways, one piece of lightweight swamp ash. Nice looking grain, going to get a semitransparent finish. It's going to be sweet. Taking my time with this one...been planning for 3 months and finally got my blank today.