kent04 Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 I've alluded to starting this project on here a few times in the past. I can officially say the project has begun i'm making an ES 225 Semi Hollow. Luckily my wife is an art teacher, so i have all sorts of cool tools and work space to make detailed drawings This is my First Build, so i had to create a wood working space for myself. I built a workbench to accompany my other work bench which holds a drill press. i also created a detachable "peninsula" which can hold one of my routers and a skill saw. im in the process of building a router sled for the body cavity etc... i cut out templates this weekend. Hopefully i can start on the neck this week. I plan on building this first one out of inexpensive stock cedar from a local lumber yard, the fret board will be made out of left over mesquite hardwood flooring. once i get a build under my belt i'll transition to better tonewoods. Theres a local "moulding" company near me that has mahogany and maple slats that are already planed and jointed for pretty cheap. These templates are on 3/4 pine, the curves on the body need to be more uniform, ill be hand sanding tonight, but priority now is the neck and fret board Stay Tuned Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 Nice one.. Looks like a cool project... I was just looking it up as I wasn't sure.. But do you plan to use cedar for the neck? I ask because theres different types of cedar and some of it I don't think will be strong enough for a neck, specifically White Cedar which ranks at 350.. You want it to rank at least 700 on the Janka scale (and that's probably pushing it).. However some Cedar ranks well.. So it really depends on the exact type. Check this it gives you an idea of the hardness of a fair amount of wood species. https://sizes.com/units/janka.htm Also, you may want to get a photobucket account if you want to post loads of pics... You upload to there http://www.photobucket.com (its free), and then once uploaded copy the IMG link it gives you in to your post (up to 10 per post)... Good luck with it, I will keep an eye on this thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent04 Posted April 11, 2016 Author Share Posted April 11, 2016 Nice one.. Looks like a cool project... I was just looking it up as I wasn't sure.. But do you plan to use cedar for the neck? I ask because theres different types of cedar and some of it I don't think will be strong enough for a neck, specifically White Cedar which ranks at 350.. You want it to rank at least 700 on the Janka scale (and that's probably pushing it).. However some Cedar ranks well.. So it really depends on the exact type. Check this it gives you an idea of the hardness of a fair amount of wood species. https://sizes.com/units/janka.htm Also, you may want to get a photobucket account if you want to post loads of pics... You upload to there http://www.photobucket.com (its free), and then once uploaded copy the IMG link it gives you in to your post (up to 10 per post)... Good luck with it, I will keep an eye on this thread you are my hero, creating photobucket account now i've gone through the Janka scale, its how i considered mesquite for the finger board. the cedar im using is around 700, but for rigidity (and aesthetics) i plan on putting a strip of mesquite down the center of the neck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 but for rigidity (and aesthetics) i plan on putting a strip of mesquite down the center of the neck. Nice, sounds like a good plan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliasphobias Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 I'll be watching with interest as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golden Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 im in the process of building a router sled for the body cavity etc... So the router isn't touching the body wood? Sounds like a cool project. I have to watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent04 Posted April 25, 2016 Author Share Posted April 25, 2016 Started the Neck this weekend. Bought some Cedar slats from Home Depot and layered them with Mesquite floor boards left over from a flooring project. the mesquite boards had to be planed to remove grooves and notches, they were really warped which threw a wrench in my plans. this neck will be a "first try" test process. Ill be going to a local moulding supply store that has maple and mahogany pieces that have already been squared up. didnt think these joints would hold, but they did i really thought rough cutting this thing would be a nightmare, turns out my jig saw and table saw were large enough to rough cut on the first pass. Hopefully this weekend ill get to start the process again with higher quality wood. I was supposed to start a fretboard this weekend but the mesquite floor slats i was going to use are too warped. Think ill use maple instead. Stay Tuned Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted April 25, 2016 Share Posted April 25, 2016 Hopefully this weekend ill get to start the process again with higher quality wood. I was supposed to start a fretboard this weekend but the mesquite floor slats i was going to use are too warped. Think ill use maple instead. Stay Tuned Good stuff I look forward to more... One thing.. Remember that if you use a maple fretboard that there is the extra job of sealing/lacquering it, which of course you don't have to do with either rosewood or ebony.. I often get my boards off ebay for about £20 and they come pre-slotted which makes things much easier for me... Measuring the slots and getting them dead straight is really hard without some of the right tools. Just make sure you order the right scale length for what you want. (all obvious really :)) Like this http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rosewood-Fingerboard-Gibson-24-750-by-Allen-Guitars-Luthier-Supplies-/120876055950?hash=item1c24c63d8e:g:JGoAAOSwEK9TxWd1 theres also some nice blanks on Ebay if you want to cut it yourself http://www.ebay.com/itm/Padauk-Fretboard-Fingerboard-Blank-Acoustic-Electric-Guitar-/141942995119?hash=item210c7638af:g:Fc8AAOSwI3RW-XzM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent04 Posted April 26, 2016 Author Share Posted April 26, 2016 So the router isn't touching the body wood? Sounds like a cool project. I have to watch. Like this with a sled you can set angles and freely carve according to a specific height etc... i'm very excited to start this portion of the build Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent04 Posted April 26, 2016 Author Share Posted April 26, 2016 Good stuff I look forward to more... One thing.. Remember that if you use a maple fret-board that there is the extra job of sealing/lacquering it, which of course you don't have to do with either rosewood or ebony.. I often get my boards off ebay for about £20 and they come pre-slotted which makes things much easier for me... Measuring the slots and getting them dead straight is really hard without some of the right tools. Just make sure you order the right scale length for what you want. (all obvious really :)) Like this http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rosewood-Fingerboard-Gibson-24-750-by-Allen-Guitars-Luthier-Supplies-/120876055950?hash=item1c24c63d8e:g:JGoAAOSwEK9TxWd1 theres also some nice blanks on Ebay if you want to cut it yourself http://www.ebay.com/itm/Padauk-Fretboard-Fingerboard-Blank-Acoustic-Electric-Guitar-/141942995119?hash=item210c7638af:g:Fc8AAOSwI3RW-XzM personally, i love the look of clear-coat gloss. when i refinish furniture i give special attention to the final gloss. i recently refinished the gloss on my L4. When i bought it the clearcoat was peeling really badly after i "Carefully" stripped the clear coat i reapplied an aerosol lacquer, turned out really nice still think i want a rosewood or ebony fret board, but that is completely up to what is available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 with a sled you can set angles and freely carve according to a specific height etc... i'm very excited to start this portion of the build That's cool... I should make myself one of those... And good job on that headstock, looks like you have some good skills there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent04 Posted April 26, 2016 Author Share Posted April 26, 2016 That's cool... I should make myself one of those... And good job on that headstock, looks like you have some good skills there... thanks! really appreciate the feedback Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pesh Posted April 27, 2016 Share Posted April 27, 2016 Awesome project to be undertaking; shall be watching with interest! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tone+Volume Posted April 27, 2016 Share Posted April 27, 2016 Can't wait to continue seeing this unfold. Oh man I sooooooo wish this was one of those older topics where I could see the start to finish all right now. Ok sitting patiently....is he back on now??? seriously though WAY in love with this idea of yours of creating your guitar. Hats look horrible on me, but I'd tip it you sir Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent04 Posted May 23, 2016 Author Share Posted May 23, 2016 SOOOO Sorry for the delay encountered a million problems using power tools, it was impossible to achieve a jointing edge, so i transitioned to hand tools and things couldn't be more satisfying (Didn't Document most of this process) Neck Try #2 - Poplar Construction used a Stanley #3 hand plane to joint the faces of three poplar boards and glued them up. After they were glued i used a hand plane and a block plane to smooth out the surface and square up the sides. Bought a Japanese pull saw and cut the neck angle and smoothed out the head stock blank with a block plane and glued on wings for the headstock (bad picture, sorry) then i set up a fence for my hand router and cut the awful truss rod channel you see in the pictures, on the next neck ill definitely be using a TABLE ROUTER and FENCE on low speed used the pull saw to cut the back of the head stock, neck back profile and neck taper. then took the block plane to it and squared everything up. used an electric jigsaw to shape the head-stock (not perfect...) and a stanley surform cutter to shape out the neck (bought a shinto rasp yesterday, the surform works well, but its exhausting) then roughly sanded it by hand (mouse electric sander died a month ago....) to reiterate, this neck is only a practice, im more satisfied with the quality of it than its predecessor, # 3 will definitely be much much better. Here is a video of me in my shop Hope to start messing with the body this week Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent04 Posted May 27, 2016 Author Share Posted May 27, 2016 Started piecing together my first practice body. to reduce cost i bought two Cedar 8"x1"x8's. this body will be laminated using 6 pieces of cedar. I dont believe ill be trying to incorporate the semi hollow design this time around. I'm really excited to see how the body turns out. the three board sections are glued up as of this morning. I now need to plane the sides of each section so they can be glued into a single block for the body. once all boards are glued together ill plane the face and back flat, trace the template to the block, rough cut the shape and use a router & template to finish the process. Body Construction Video Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent04 Posted May 27, 2016 Author Share Posted May 27, 2016 Can't wait to continue seeing this unfold. Oh man I sooooooo wish this was one of those older topics where I could see the start to finish all right now. Ok sitting patiently....is he back on now??? seriously though WAY in love with this idea of yours of creating your guitar. Hats look horrible on me, but I'd tip it you sir posted 2 updates! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted May 27, 2016 Share Posted May 27, 2016 Cool.. good progress... And good job doing these test pieces first.. I found that really that's the key.. Most of what you have to do to build a guitar is not rocket science, you just need to do it a few times to get the idea of the exact techniques and realise what can go wrong and watch out for it and do your best to avoid it by being prepared with templates, jigs and using the right tools or whatever... Good stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent04 Posted June 8, 2016 Author Share Posted June 8, 2016 Ran into trouble jointing up the body so i bought a Stanley jackplane from ebay for 15 bucks. 6 pieces of cedar, 3 tall and 3 wide planed the faces and jointed the sides to fit. I used my bench top to squeeze them together and left them overnight. after the glue dried i planed both faces of the block and retraced the body. i used a skill saw to cut out the shape i use a sanding spindle in my drill press to smooth out the sides and square them to the face. also drew out a rough outline for the curve used my drill press with a forstener bit to cut out notches for the curve, there is a much cleaner way to do this using a drill press and a safety planer, i have both and will use both next time used a chisel, shinto wrasp and mouse electric hand sander to start smoothing out the curve. i might get to finishing it up tonight despite the setbacks the body was much easier and more rewarding to create. i plan on finishing the curve tonight and routing out the electronics cavity this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 Nice.. I like it... The end product of the carving looks really good.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent04 Posted June 9, 2016 Author Share Posted June 9, 2016 Finished rough sanding the face last night. i still cant believe how much easier the body was to create than the neck. re established my center line, used my long aluminum ruler to sight out the neck. scale length is 24.5 with an 18 inch fretboard. i plan on outfitting this design with 2 P90s and a traditional 4 knob single 3 way controller and a floating bridge im using the control layout of my es330, i like the look and it will only require one control cavity. the carved top is more pronounced than the pictures. i have an old L50 from the 30s which has a much more noticeable carve than any of my other gibsons, i ultimately wanted this to look like what would happen if PRS made an es175/es225/L4, and im very satisfied with how this turned out. This weekend im buying some lumber to build the neck and fret board. im torn between head stock ideas, traditional Gibson or something classic/modern i think following the "if PRS married Gibson what would they're child look like" is working out so far. this seems to follow naturally, only without the hollow, id just be using the outline with traditional tuners. PLEASE SEND ME ANY SUGGESTIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 The one thing you have to take in to account when doing a headstock design is the string path... The Gibson way as we all know, the tuners are parallel in line... This as we also know causes binding issues when the nut is not made correctly because of the fairly major string angle from the nut to the tuners.. The PRS type or snakehead designs eliminate this problem by having the tuners at an angle from each other and a straight string path.. So makes for better tuning and less finniky nuts. Heres one of my guitars.. You will see I went with the snake head style :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent04 Posted June 9, 2016 Author Share Posted June 9, 2016 The one thing you have to take in to account when doing a headstock design is the string path... The Gibson way as we all know, the tuners are parallel in line... This as we also know causes binding issues when the nut is not made correctly because of the fairly major string angle from the nut to the tuners.. The PRS type or snakehead designs eliminate this problem by having the tuners at an angle from each other and a straight string path.. So makes for better tuning and less finniky nuts. Heres one of my guitars.. You will see I went with the snake head style :) Love the look of your guitar! its elegant cool what sort of neck tenon did you use? Hadn't even considered tuner spacing issues, im really fortunate to have the wisdom from this forum, everybody's input is greatly appreciated. ill definitely be using a design that pulls away from Gibsons in line placement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 Love the look of your guitar! its elegant cool what sort of neck tenon did you use? Hadn't even considered tuner spacing issues, im really fortunate to have the wisdom from this forum, everybody's input is greatly appreciated. ill definitely be using a design that pulls away from Gibsons in line placement. Thank you sir :) Set neck.... Also its the same as the headstock angle... Gibson use a really big angle (14 or 17 degrees, cant remember off hand at the moment)... I guess some will say that the extra string tension gives better sustain or something along those lines (but lets face it, it works for them :)).. But as long as there is an angle on the nut so the strings have tension at that point to create the scale length it will still work, it doesn't have to be such a big angle.. And again from a design point of view, having a huge angle also increases the risk of a headstock break if the guitar is dropped.. (which Gibsons are famous for). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent04 Posted June 13, 2016 Author Share Posted June 13, 2016 I am no longer in the diaper practice phase Hardwoods do not exist in Corpus Christi at local hardware stores or lumberyards. fortunately im an analytical thinker, and found a moulding supply warehouse that not only carries a number of hardwood species, but its dirt cheap compared to luthier supplies online i spent 25 bucks on 15+ feet of maple 3/4" x 3" and a 6' maple base board that i milled into a perfect fretboard baseboard safety planer to mill out the decorative grooves perfectly flat on both sides (i thought about using the side with burn artifacts from the planer, wife thought the clean side would best, my wife is always right Building 2 necks previously has made this neck build go sooooooo much smoother drew out my fretboard and neck dimensions. Im using 24.75 fret lengh with 22 frets, basically a les paul cut the headstock angle routed out the truss rod cavity Next steps, glue the fretboard to the neck, cut neck width, seat frets, cut neck back, use scraps to glue up wings for the headstock, start body #2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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