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Thread: Guitar building

  1. #31
    Trial by Wombat Bubba's Avatar
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    • Former Cid's Knight

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    This is going to be EPIC.

  2. #32
    Slothstronaut Recognized Member Slothy's Avatar
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    Thanks Bubba. Just found out the other day (thanks Facebook!) that my friends birthday was a few days ago and he's having a party Saturday night. I'm going to buckle down tomorrow and Saturday and get his guitar finished for him. Shouldn't be too hard from where it's at. I probably won't get many progress pics because I'll just be going full tilt with that and some other things, but I'll definitely share pics once it's done.

  3. #33
    Slothstronaut Recognized Member Slothy's Avatar
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    • Former Cid's Knight

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    Literally just have to wire my buddies guitar, slap the pickguard back on it, and make him a volume knob and i can't find the solder or soldering iron. Can't buy more until i get paid on Friday either.

    smurf.

  4. #34
    Slothstronaut Recognized Member Slothy's Avatar
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    • Former Cid's Knight

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    Found it.


    Knob i made for the guitar. Normally I'd shape and bevel the edge more, but i was rushing and drilled the hole too big so i wouldn't be able to fit it on my drill. Did a quick hand sand to soften the top edge and it still looks good.

  5. #35

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    That guitar turned out so sick! I like the colours, and the big pickguard gives it a vintage look which is a really cool subtle contrast with the more modern type paintjob. The split-coloured knob is awesome too! It's the small details that make the difference and it really brings the look of the guitar together. I'm very impressed! Keep up the awesome work

  6. #36
    Slothstronaut Recognized Member Slothy's Avatar
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    Yeah, i want actually sure about the pickguard myself at first. It needed to be big to cover the cavities routed into the body completely but it did turn out well. I probably wouldn't have gone with it myself in the planning stage but it was what he wanted and i think it works.

  7. #37
    card mod ur face Rocket Edge's Avatar
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    Novi Glitzko (Sargatanas)

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    The guitar turned out great. It looks very smooth and polished. Well done. How does it play?

    Str8 Pimpin'

  8. #38
    Slothstronaut Recognized Member Slothy's Avatar
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    He seemed to like it. Plays better than it used to go be sure. Only issue is I'll need to make a new nut for it. The spacing is off enough that the low e string sits very slightly closer to the fret board edge than it should. Enough to notice while playing but literally only off by a millimetre so i didn't notice until it was strung. Easy enough fix though. It'll only take me about half an hour to make a new one.

  9. #39
    Slothstronaut Recognized Member Slothy's Avatar
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    My own lack of progress is driving me nuts. I'm putting my neck on hold for a little bit because having the materials to start a guitar just sitting there was driving me nuts. I've got the plans for it 99% drawn up. Just going to double check that I'm happy with them and start making mdf templates for the body, neck, and headstock tomorrow. Might take a bit of time but I'll get as much as i can done this weekend. I want to get the whole thing done as soon as humanly possible.

    There's a theme to the guitar i think most everyone here will appreciate, but I'm not saying what it is until it's done or someone guesses it along the way.

  10. #40
    Slothstronaut Recognized Member Slothy's Avatar
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    Templates are roughed out. After my guitar lesson this afternoon I'll sit down and shape them a bit more closely to the paper guides and make sure everything is smooth. I'll be using them to route the edges of the body and neck when the time comes so they need to be perfect.

  11. #41

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    Looks fairly hardrock/metal-ish! But maybe the template makes it look more pointy? Either way keep up the good work!

  12. #42
    Slothstronaut Recognized Member Slothy's Avatar
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    Yeah, sharp on paper but I'll round it out a little bit in the final shaping. Don't want anyone losing eyes. I was trying to do the final shaping with a file but mdf is surprisingly hard to file apparently. Going to get a router bit tomorrow to route it most of the way and then just sand it smooth. To hell with doing it the hard way.

  13. #43
    Slothstronaut Recognized Member Slothy's Avatar
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    Total lack of updates for almost a month! What could be going on?

    Actually rethought my plans a little bit. My wrist issues were making playing the guitars I had almost impossible without pain. After trying all of my dads guitars (he has a few) I found that I was pain free on things with a chunkier neck. Chunkier than I probably could have gotten the neck I was making for myself. So I went for the obvious solution: I sold my telecaster and my epiphone les paul and bought the wood and hardware to get started on building myself a replica 1959 Les Paul. The neck, including the fretboard, on this thing will be nearly an inch thick when I'm done.

    I've just been waiting until I recovered enough from surgery to start doing some light work but it's been a week, I'm feeling pretty good, and all of the wood and most of the hardware have arrived. So I've got the plans, the supplies, the tools, and some routing templates. Time to get to work tomorrow.

  14. #44
    Slothstronaut Recognized Member Slothy's Avatar
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    Got started this afternoon. The wood I'm using for the neck and body of this guitar is black walnut. I know most les Paul's use mahogany, but this looks nice, has a similar density and was easier and cheaper to come by. Plus it has a wonderful smell which is nice when you're sawing it.



    It's pretty much impossible to see because the wood is so dark but i drew a rough outline for the side of the neck here and am cutting the excess behind the neck. The blank was just slightly too short to make the neck and headstock in one piece so I'll cut am angled scarf joint at the top of the neck and use the cutoff from the back to make a matching headstock. It'll actually be stronger in the end that way so win win.



    Here I'm cutting the angle for the joint on the neck. I clamped the cutoff to the side to use as a rough guide for my saw.



    Not that it matters because my cut drifted anyway. It started fine at the top of the picture, but i didn't cut enough off towards the bottom. Not a problem really though since I'll have to take my plane to this and the headstock joint to make sure they're perfectly smooth and level before they ever get glued together. Cutting off less than intended is the kind of mistake you want to make of you have to make one.

    Anyway, after two hours of dating by hand my innards were telling me to take a break. I don't know if I'll get much more done on the neck this weekend. I think if i do anything tomorrow I'll get the fret board slotted. It's a bit easier on the body. I'm going to try and get the body blank and the top glued up later tonight though. The top in particular is a gorgeous piece of flame maple. I don't usually go for flame personally, but seriously, it is gorgeous.

  15. #45
    Slothstronaut Recognized Member Slothy's Avatar
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    But more progress.



    I'm making a jig to clean up the headstock joint in the neck. The angled pieces are at the appropriate angle i need, and the router base will sit flat against those and with the appropriate bit cut the joint perfectly. Waiting on said bit to arrive.



    Also realized I'd need a jig to help me plane things level since using a hand plane is a skill I've yet to perfect. Same idea, once i level the sides and ensure the surface is also level I'll be able to use a router bit through the slot to level anything i need to like the neck face, fretboard, etc. Might need to make a bigger one if i need to do any leveling of the body for example but I didn't have any pieces of mdf left over that are that large.

    Now that I'm feeling better from my surgery I'm hoping to get more done soon.

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