Posted: 8/10/2021 3:30:17 PM EDT
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I tried finding my original thread on my guitar build and had no luck. It's been slow going the last few weeks. I'm still having trouble using my right hand so all the progress in the pictures has been done with mostly my left hand. But I'm determined to get this finished. I'll start with the original pictures I left off with This is the body blank I started with Attached File this is the start of the neck blank Attached File This is the inlay I made for the headstock Attached File More to come. |
I've already put the 12 in radius on the fret board, and installed the dots on the top and side of the fret board. My fret slots are done.The dots on the top are 6mm and the side dots are 2mm. Lots of fun for my old eyes  . The neck is glued to the body, and I've got the pup cavities routed as well as connecting hole for wire to pass through the body. I found a toggle switch escutcheon made of abalone so I recessed that into the top. now for current pics Attached File this is the color sample I made for the top Attached File Attached File Attached File |
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Some other goodies going into this guitar Pickups are from a company called Darkmoon out of NYC Attached File Attached File These are the push/pull pots I'm using. They are made by Toneshaper. I'm using 4 push/pulls. Along with the normal two volumes and two tones, I'll be able to split the coils of each pickup. Choose between in phase and out of phase (only works with both pickups being active), and series / parallel. The nice feature about these pots is I don't need separate caps. Using the dip switches in different combinations I can adjust the bleed through without having to re-wire everything Attached File |
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Sofa king cool! I could look at guitar build pics all day long. If one were to want to try his hand at building a 4 string bass. Where would be a good place to start for info? I've got most of the tools and have really been wanting to make my own bass guitar. Figure I should give it a go before I get too old to use my hands or before the world goes to total shit. I've done partscastors, but ready to take the next step and make, not just assemble. |
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Quoted: Sofa king cool! I could look at guitar build pics all day long. If one were to want to try his hand at building a 4 string bass. Where would be a good place to start for info? I've got most of the tools and have really been wanting to make my own bass guitar. Figure I should give it a go before I get too old to use my hands or before the world goes to total shit. I've done partscastors, but ready to take the next step and make, not just assemble. I don't know anything regarding building a bass but I would guess there are a lot of similarities to guitar building. YouTube will answer most questions you may have. Good luck if you decide to build your own. I'm enjoying learning new skills as I go. |
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Not much progress but today I was able to make my templates for the control cavity as well as the cover template. There were actually 3 templates all together. One for the cover itself, one for the recess for the cover to sit in and one for the cavity itself. While I was at it I marked out the centers for the pots so I can drill those through from the front. I'll try to remember to take some pictures tomorrow. I've been slowly working out the wiring diagram too. I'm using a Seymour Duncan schematic but I have to re draw the color of the wires because my pickups use a different color coding and to make it more fun the SD layout uses Bournes pots which have to be changed to the toneshapers I'm using. More color coding changes in mapping those out. My brain struggles with the electrical portion of the build but I keep telling myself how much I like a challenge  |
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Once again sorry I don't have pics, but I've made some more progress. I was able to get my cavity for the 3 way switch complete. I've got my control cavity routed out as well as the recess for the cover plate. I still need to make the cover itself. A cool and cheap way to get material for the cover plates I found on a YouTube channel I can't remember now. But he orders black plastic clip boards which are very inexpensive and uses those to make his control cavity covers. And I've got my hole drilled out for the output jack. My next major step I suppose is to get the headstock finished and get the neck finished off. I probably glued in the neck too soon, but I wanted to be able to check my progress by holding the guitar in the playing position to get it to feel right to me. I'm not really sure what to call the style of neck I'm looking for. There are so many different neck shapes out there and all the names just confuse me. I'll know it when I get it right. I've sold some fairly expensive guitars just because of how the neck didn't quite feel right. |
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I made a little more progress this morning. I made the control cavity cover. I still need to drill and countersink the screw holes, but that's easy compared to everything else that I need to do.It's kind of hard to see in the picture but I stopped short and left the top of the guitar 3/8 of an inch thick. Once I get the top shaped into an arch I'll get the cavity depth finalized so the pots end up at the right height. Ideally I'll end up with about 4 to 5mm thickness where the pots will sit. Attached File Attached File |
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Don't put yourself down guys. Probably the only edge I have on people is the amount of tools I have and the space to work. As you all know this project has dragged on for a while now. Partly due to my business booming, but mostly me taking my time researching. This is all new to me. Anyhow I started the top shaping it's mostly where I want it. You can somewhat see it in the pictures. Attached File Attached File Attached File Attached File you might see a pencil line along the top back edge. I'm thinking of doing a belly carve but not sure yet. I also put the ebony cap on the headstock but forgot to take a picture of that. The only holes I have left to do are for the tuners and I'm making PRS style recesses for the control knobs. I was able to find a router bit in the right shape and diameter to make the recess cuts. I'll be using a plunge router so lining up the holes I already drilled for the pots is critical. Looking back I should have waited to drill those holes, but the best lessons are learned the hard way.
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That belly contour seems overly long in comparison to other models.... For me I'm not a fan of the belly curves as much as I am arm relief. The belly curves leave the guitar on an angle. But what I do like is when the edge has generous arch or roundedness to not dig in. I put a radius on my Tele there. I can try and get pics in here but I'm on the wrong computer for that right now... Obviously it's not for me. But just something to think about. For me a guitar that's flatter on the back lays better and more vertical, which makes it easier to strum and play for me. Especially when standing. It's not as big of a deal when sitting but still a thing... |
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Today's update, control knob recesses Slight relief cut where the neck and body meet to help with playing higher frets. It feels good to me right now but I may make it more pronounced. Headstock cap with inlay ( round two ) did a little wiring too. I soldered the leads for the 3 way toggle switch I'm learning all too well the value of a well thought out sequence of steps. Had I made the control recesses first it would have been much easier to center the pot shaft on the recess as opposed to trying to center the recess with the holes for the pot shafts. Spoiler alert, the recesses are not perfectly centered. They'll look good enough for me and that's what counts. Because the alternative of remaking the body is not happening. I had to use my drill press instead of the router as I originally planned. It's sort of hard holding a router perpendicular to the face of the body when the body isn't flat anymore .I ruined the 1st ebony cap for the headstock when I had a spasm in my hand while holding the router. I have neuropathy in both my hands from years of woodworking. And sometimes I can't control the associated twitching when trying to hold my hand steady. So back to the cap that I ruined. It was already glued to the neck when I tried to do the inlay. So out came the chisels to remove that one. I made a second one and decided to route the inlay before glueing it in place. The second time came out better. I'm still debating the belly cut idea. None of my other guitars have one so I'm leaning towards why make more work for myself. Talking to my luthier friend today and he suggested getting the whole guitar assembled and playable before doing any staining or finishing. My only issue with that line of thought is having to leave the mounting bosses in place for the bridge and tailpiece. Because I'll need to level sand the finish between coats. I'd welcome any input on that issue, and as always any thoughts, comments, suggestions or criticisms as well. Like I already mentioned planning is so critical. If I'm crazy enough to build another guitar I'll be doing things much more efficiently. I've added so much time because of poor planning on my part. now some pictures Attached File Attached File Attached File Attached File |
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A little more progress this week. My neck is profiled, headstock cap is all finished with truss rod access and tuner holes were drilled through and tuners in place just to see what it would look like. I believe my final step before the finish will be the fret installations. I've got just a little more sanding to do as well. I also had some chip out on the backside of the headstock I need to fix. All totaled up I've probably got a few days just in sanding. After the finish the real fun begins with the wiring. On with more pics Attached File Attached File |
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Quoted: Talking to my luthier friend today and he suggested getting the whole guitar assembled and playable before doing any staining or finishing. Quoted: Talking to my luthier friend today and he suggested getting the whole guitar assembled and playable before doing any staining or finishing. Why? I never considered installing all hardware and making it playable before finishing. Verifying fitment of major components - and especially necks for bolt-ons - yes, but not actually putting everything in and stringing it up. Quoted: My only issue with that line of thought is having to leave the mounting bosses in place for the bridge and tailpiece. You could pull them if you go that route, but it all seems like more trouble than it is worth to me. |
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Just a small update. No pictures yet because it honestly doesn't look much different. But I did fix the holes for the pots by using a file to slightly elongate the holes so I can now center the control knobs where they should be. I learned a valuable lesson for the future. Definitely finish the neck and fret work as near to 100% as possible. Pressing in the frets especially where the neck joins the body was a nightmare trying to support the neck to take the force of the fret press. Dressing the ends of the frets and rounding over the fret ends where they overlapped the body was tedious work. I created a lot of unnecessary aggravation for myself because I set the neck too soon. Thankfully that behind me now. I finished getting all the holes pre-drilled for the pickup rings, control cavity cover, toggle switch access cover, strap locks, and output jack mounting plate. Now I'm at the point of final sanding everything. I've gone from 180 up to 400 grit. I'm going to give it a little bit of water to raise the grain and work my way up to 600 grit. So I should be staining the guitar and getting it ready for the clear coats. Then it's on to final assembly. I've learned quite a bit along this project. I had no idea of just how critical building a guitar from scratch can be. So many decisions to make, how important it is to do things in the right order, and just how all the parts of the guitar have an impact on the final finished guitar. Even though I'm looking forward to calling this one done, I'm already thinking of what I want to build next. I'm considering either a neck through electric guitar, or a real arch top hollow body guitar. |
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Quoted: Just a small update. No pictures yet because it honestly doesn't look much different. But I did fix the holes for the pots by using a file to slightly elongate the holes so I can now center the control knobs where they should be. I learned a valuable lesson for the future. Definitely finish the neck and fret work as near to 100% as possible. Pressing in the frets especially where the neck joins the body was a nightmare trying to support the neck to take the force of the fret press. Dressing the ends of the frets and rounding over the fret ends where they overlapped the body was tedious work. I created a lot of unnecessary aggravation for myself because I set the neck too soon. Thankfully that behind me now. I finished getting all the holes pre-drilled for the pickup rings, control cavity cover, toggle switch access cover, strap locks, and output jack mounting plate. Now I'm at the point of final sanding everything. I've gone from 180 up to 400 grit. I'm going to give it a little bit of water to raise the grain and work my way up to 600 grit. So I should be staining the guitar and getting it ready for the clear coats. Then it's on to final assembly. I've learned quite a bit along this project. I had no idea of just how critical building a guitar from scratch can be. So many decisions to make, how important it is to do things in the right order, and just how all the parts of the guitar have an impact on the final finished guitar. Even though I'm looking forward to calling this one done, I'm already thinking of what I want to build next. I'm considering either a neck through electric guitar, or a real arch top hollow body guitar. Nice work. Did you drill the potentiometer holes first, then drill the recess holes? I have never built a guitar with recessed knobs, but my guess would be use a forstner bit for the outer recess first, then use the center of that for the hole for the pot shaft. |
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Quoted: Nice work. Did you drill the potentiometer holes first, then drill the recess holes? I have never built a guitar with recessed knobs, but my guess would be use a forstner bit for the outer recess first, then use the center of that for the hole for the pot shaft. Attached File |
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Finally have the color on her. Front Attached File Back Attached File |
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Worked on it a bit today. Toggle switch, pickups, ground to bridge post and all wires in the control cavity. Output jack installed. Tuning machine heads installed. Tomorrow I'll hopefully be playing it. The worst part (at least for me) awaits. I'll be wiring all the push/pull pots. I'm using a Seymour Duncan wiring diagram that uses bournes pots. So I first had to convert the color coding of the SD diagram to the wires of my pickups. Then convert the bournes connections to the connections on my tone shaper pots. And the pots I'm using have the #1 lug and #3 lug reversed. I'm about 90% sure I've got it all mapped out properly, but as I've said I hate wiring schematics. Hoping she sounds as good as she looks. Attached File |
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I was able to play the guitar last night and it sounded great. However my biggest fear has surfaced. The pots are not doing what they are supposed to do. I doubt that Seymour Duncan messed up their wiring schematic which means I made mistakes when trying to convert it to the pots I have. The way I have it wired, the only way to turn on the bridge pickup is by pulling up on the neck tone pot. And that's the least strange thing going on. The phase switching doesn't work, coil splitting doesn't work. The tone pot of the neck pickup acts like a volume control. Thankfully the only soldering that I did doesn't have to be changed. The only solder joints are the ground wire connecting the pot casings, the 3 way switch, and the output jack. Everything else is connected via screw terminal blocks. I'll be able to give an honest review of the pickups once the electrical problems are solved. As they are now they sound good. Just not overwhelming like other brands I've used. I put in a set of Pearly Gates in another guitar and was blown away at the performance of those. Admittedly I chose those pickups because of the abalone covers. Going for the wow factor and not performance was probably not a smart move but we'll see once the wiring is straightened out. Another issue I found was on the high E string. I played every note on the fret board checking for buzzing and when playing the 11th and 12th fret on the E string I get the same note. That's an indication of a low fret. So I need to get that straightened out. One other side project I need to take care of is building a case for it. All in all I'm happy with how it turned out considering it's my first build. As a carpenter I've build some cool stuff in my life but nothing has given me the sense of accomplishment as this has. I'll get the issues sorted out and start planning the next build . |
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Quoted: I was able to play the guitar last night and it sounded great. However my biggest fear has surfaced. The pots are not doing what they are supposed to do. I doubt that Seymour Duncan messed up their wiring schematic which means I made mistakes when trying to convert it to the pots I have. The way I have it wired, the only way to turn on the bridge pickup is by pulling up on the neck tone pot. And that's the least strange thing going on. The phase switching doesn't work, coil splitting doesn't work. The tone pot of the neck pickup acts like a volume control. Thankfully the only soldering that I did doesn't have to be changed. The only solder joints are the ground wire connecting the pot casings, the 3 way switch, and the output jack. Everything else is connected via screw terminal blocks. I'll be able to give an honest review of the pickups once the electrical problems are solved. As they are now they sound good. Just not overwhelming like other brands I've used. I put in a set of Pearly Gates in another guitar and was blown away at the performance of those. Admittedly I chose those pickups because of the abalone covers. Going for the wow factor and not performance was probably not a smart move but we'll see once the wiring is straightened out. Another issue I found was on the high E string. I played every note on the fret board checking for buzzing and when playing the 11th and 12th fret on the E string I get the same note. That's an indication of a low fret. So I need to get that straightened out. One other side project I need to take care of is building a case for it. All in all I'm happy with how it turned out considering it's my first build. As a carpenter I've build some cool stuff in my life but nothing has given me the sense of accomplishment as this has. I'll get the issues sorted out and start planning the next build . I just went ahead and bought a schematic when I was doing something similar - wasn't expensive. This was the schematic I received - just to show the quality. All worked as indicated. Just told them what I had and what I wanted. This was for a guitar that had active electronics originally so it had the three switch locations to work with.  |
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Quoted: Been following along here and meaning to say what an awesome job you did. I just went ahead and bought a schematic when I was doing something similar - wasn't expensive. This was the schematic I received - just to show the quality. All worked as indicated. Just told them what I had and what I wanted. This was for a guitar that had active electronics originally so it had the three switch locations to work with. https://i.imgur.com/aTk3quM.jpg |
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Quoted: Wow, that is far easier to understand than what I had to work with. Thanks for posting that. I'm going to contact them and see what they can do for me.  Mine's a little different with the p90, but if you haven't done one before I think you'll be really happy with how versatile this type of set up is. 
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Wow. That is incredible!!!!!!!!! Great job man. I'm truly amazed. Set neck and everything. I soldered in a new pot on my Pbass about 3 weeks ago and it was so messy compared to the factory job. But it worked so..... LOL. I don't know how they got there solder to look so smooth and clean. |