Rabs Posted October 18, 2020 Share Posted October 18, 2020 (edited) Yeah their prices are just silly.. And you can use what you want really as long as it does the job., I remember once I couldnt find my fret end file so I used one of these instead which I nicked from my mum 🙂 Works surprisingly well.. Edited October 18, 2020 by Rabs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted October 18, 2020 Share Posted October 18, 2020 Looking great so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted October 18, 2020 Share Posted October 18, 2020 (edited) 24 minutes ago, Dub-T-123 said: No issue with it being easier, but my preference would be to do it myself Well radiusing isnt that hard, you just have to make sure you keep an even pressure from end to end, keep measuring each corner.. Just kind of a boring job really. I have seen people make a router radiusing jig but I cant be bothered so I just do it by hand, it doesnt take that long. Rosewood is much easier than Ebony (obviously 🙂 ) Fret slotting, again you need a good jig or a mitre box and very very accurate measuring. So while I can and even at my busiest I was only making like six a year, I will just keep buying them pre-slotted (I wish I could get them pre-radiused too). If I had ever done a production line type building im sure I would have bought all that stuff by now (and someone did ask me to do that once, I refused). Edited October 18, 2020 by Rabs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub-T-123 Posted October 24, 2020 Author Share Posted October 24, 2020 Day 2 of the build. I did the roundover, pickup and electronics cavities, and neck pocket. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub-T-123 Posted October 24, 2020 Author Share Posted October 24, 2020 Next I cut the angle on the neck blank which will be the face of the headstock. First I cut it to the pencil line on the bandsaw, then hand sanded it flat. I made sure to keep checking how square it was coming out and it’s very perfect. Then I cut out the whole side profile of the neck on the bandsaw, leveled up the back of the heel and headstock with sanding block, and cut out the front profile on the bandsaw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub-T-123 Posted October 25, 2020 Author Share Posted October 25, 2020 Around this point I was in the zone and things were going great and fast so I wasn’t really stopping for a lot of pictures. I put the template on the front of the neck and went to route the neck to shape. The first side goes great and I’m really getting excited at what I’m seeing. I flip everything around to route the other side and disaster strikes.. The template slips while I’m cutting and I accidentally cut a crappy wavy line about 1/4” into the side of the neck at the worst part. I almost chucked the neck blank across the room at this point but decided it was worth fixing. Removing as little material as possible, I make another cut to straighten up the side of the neck with the mistake. Then, using wood cut from the neck blank in the same part of the neck, I glue a “wing” on giving me enough material to make the proper neck shape again. Since I used the wood from the same part of the same piece to make the repair and made a really tight joint, I don’t think the repair will be visible at all when all is said and done. When I look at it in person I can see that the grain blends together perfectly. but that was a learning experience.. Next Saturday is gonna be all work on the neck. We’ll see if I get to the point where I’m ready to glue it in. I definitely want to drill the hole for the pickup wire before gluing the neck in just in case I need to go through the pocket 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted October 25, 2020 Share Posted October 25, 2020 Yeah.. Been there and done that several times.. All part of the fun 🙂 Do you know about the masking tape/superglue trick? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted October 25, 2020 Share Posted October 25, 2020 8 hours ago, Rabs said: Do you know about the masking tape/superglue trick? Great idea! Oddly enough I bought a levelling beam and some sticky-back abrasive paper from Crimson. Now I don't need to buy any more. 🙂 Thanks for the share Rabs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub-T-123 Posted October 25, 2020 Author Share Posted October 25, 2020 Yeah Rabs. Matter of fact look at the roll of tape sitting unused in the pics 😛 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub-T-123 Posted October 26, 2020 Author Share Posted October 26, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tman Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 Very impressive Dub! Please let me supply the strap when it's done, it would be my pleasure.😃 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 Looking pretty good so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub-T-123 Posted October 27, 2020 Author Share Posted October 27, 2020 Thanks guys. I’m taking my time with each step but can’t wait to get it done. If I could work on it at my apartment it would progress a lot faster. Having lots of fun so far. Just got a new set of rasps in the mail today so after I get that truss rod in I can start shaping the neck (which I’m really excited about). Gonna use a stewmac “hot rod” double action trussrod so I’ll be installing the fretboard right on top of that. The neck is dead flat right now on the fretboard surface so that’s great. It was good to let the blank settle a week and plane it up again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub-T-123 Posted October 27, 2020 Author Share Posted October 27, 2020 2 hours ago, Tman said: Very impressive Dub! Please let me supply the strap when it's done, it would be my pleasure.😃 haha thankyou my friend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle fester Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 11 hours ago, Dub-T-123 said: Dub - looks awesome. How did you do the cut right at the top center of the headstock? Have you already picked the electronics to go with this bad boy - what p'ups? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub-T-123 Posted October 27, 2020 Author Share Posted October 27, 2020 Haven’t cut the deep v part of the “open book” and I may not. The final cutting of the “silhouette” is all done with template follower bits Just going with standard electronics (single dog ear p90) and hardware on this for the most part but I’ll be using Grover Rotomatics instead of the 3 on a plate type Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub-T-123 Posted October 27, 2020 Author Share Posted October 27, 2020 Got a nice order from stewmac. Really happy with the quality of the stuff I got from them today Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 Where do they find a drill bit long enough to drill the truss rod hole? I always wondered that. Would have to be done on some kind of jig too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 5 minutes ago, Retired said: Where do they find a drill bit long enough to drill the truss rod hole? I always wondered that. Would have to be done on some kind of jig too. You drill a channel for the truss rod.. Depending one which type you use its covered with a wood spline but the ones I use for instance have a flat top so you make the channel the exact size of the truss rod (9mm deep, 6mm wide) and put the fretboard directly on top of it. Fender (sometimes) do that from the back (thus the skunk strip on some of their necks). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 6 minutes ago, Rabs said: You drill a channel for the truss rod.. Depending one which type you use its covered with a wood spline but the ones I use for instance have a flat top so you make the channel the exact size of the truss rod (9mm deep, 6mm wide) and put the fretboard directly on top of it. Fender (sometimes) do that from the back (thus the skunk strip on some of their necks). Ahhh. A trick to every trade. Thanks Rab, Now I know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub-T-123 Posted October 28, 2020 Author Share Posted October 28, 2020 Retired you don’t drill the entire truss rod channel if that’s what you mean. The channel is cut with a router or dado blade on the table saw (before the fretboard is installed) then usually you will need to drill an access hole at the heel or headstock depending on the type of neck. in the case of a modern factory made guitar, the channel would presumably be cut by CNC (essentially a router guided by a computer) Rabs is probably thinking it would have been easier for me to cut the truss rod channel when the neck was a big rectangular blank and he’d be right. But I didn’t have the trussrod at that point so instead I’m going to make a template out of 1/2” acrylic the shape of the neck also featuring the truss rod channel template Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 2 hours ago, Dub-T-123 said: Rabs is probably thinking it would have been easier for me to cut the truss rod channel when the neck was a big rectangular blank and he’d be right. But I didn’t have the trussrod at that point so instead I’m going to make a template out of 1/2” acrylic the shape of the neck also featuring the truss rod channel template The luthier I use, Simon said when he built his 1st guitar, he kept making mental notes about how he would do it 'next time'. Just to make things a little easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub-T-123 Posted November 8, 2020 Author Share Posted November 8, 2020 I was back at it today (just got married last weekend so wasn’t able to work on the guitar). I had ordered the wrong truss rods and was too distracted with wedding stuff to order the right parts in time for today. So that was a major hold up on today’s progress but I got a little bit done. Today I made a jig to taper the thickness of the neck with my router and that worked beautifully. I also drilled the holes for the electronics in the body and cut the pick guard and cavity cover. Other than that I just worked on the fit of the neck/pocket a bit and got the back of the neck ready to be shaped. Next Saturday at the shop I will definitely be installing the trussrod. In my limited spare time during the week I think I can install the inlays and frets at home so that I’m ready to glue the fretboard Saturday. At that point I will be ready to shape the neck and then we’ll really be moving forward I really wish I was further ahead at this point but I’m really happy with what I’ve got so far. I also apologize that I’m not doing a good job documenting this build but I am spending hours scratching my head thinking how to best tackle certain jobs with the tools that I have. So I’m really sorta stumbling my way through this first build as I figure this out. For example I’ve been experimenting with installing the frets with a deadblow hammer and I have to scrap that idea because it just isn’t working out for me. I am going to press the frets in using a radiused caul and glue them in. it wouldn’t be fun for you guys to watch me scratch my head on this stuff but I promise at the end we will have a shiny red Les Paul lookin thing. I think from what I’ve learned so far, my next build will be way easier Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted November 8, 2020 Share Posted November 8, 2020 (edited) On 10/26/2020 at 6:40 PM, Dub-T-123 said: I smell a law suit. Also it's Eye-con-nick Edited November 8, 2020 by Sgt. Pepper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted November 8, 2020 Share Posted November 8, 2020 Congratulations on your wedding Dub-T-123 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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