Rabs Posted January 25, 2013 Author Share Posted January 25, 2013 Then today I had a right result.. I decided to go out since I havent been out all week after being sick.. And ended up at the local guitar shop.. They really are nice guys in there and I asked if they have any bits and bobs I could buy as they dont really sell that stuff as stock but will re-fit guitars and stuff.. So I spoke to their luthier dude.. and what a nice guy.. had a nice long chat with him and came away with a good deal.. I got 4x500k CTS pots, standard toggle switch, a plastic nut (to practice on) and a blank bone nut, plus a stoptail and bridge.. all for £20 :o :D awesome.. I am happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flight959 Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 I'm watching this thread with great interest! ..... Unfortunately my DIY skill's don't extend past hanging a picture frame so I'll keep my ideas to myself! Looking forward to seeing and hearing the end result! Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Rabs I was once told by a very respected guitar maker that on a guitar neck (hope I explain this right) every 5 frets should be equal to the next 7....so 0 to 5 equals 5 to 12, 1 to 6 equals 6 to 13 etc...try measuring this on all your guitars. Seems to be true. Regards, and hey - where's Searcy these days? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Farnsbarns Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Rabs I was once told by a very respected guitar maker that on a guitar neck (hope I explain this right) every 5 frets should be equal to the next 7....so 0 to 5 equals 5 to 12, 1 to 6 equals 6 to 13 etc...try measuring this on all your guitars. Seems to be true. Regards, and hey - where's Searcy these days? That is correct, kind of, for a completely tempered scale. Many manufactures, including Gibson I think, have a different equation above the 12th fret, that gets complex. I would suggest using this... http://www.tundraman.com/Guitars/FretCalc/index.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted January 25, 2013 Author Share Posted January 25, 2013 Rabs I was once told by a very respected guitar maker that on a guitar neck (hope I explain this right) every 5 frets should be equal to the next 7....so 0 to 5 equals 5 to 12, 1 to 6 equals 6 to 13 etc...try measuring this on all your guitars. Seems to be true. Regards, and hey - where's Searcy these days? Cheers I was coming to that point soon and was just going to use one of my Gibbys to measure the frets etc.. Its all going to be slightly ad hoc and I will work it out as I go :) And Mr Searcy is still about... Indeed he is going to make my pick-ups for me :D so that should be great.. He says hes still cleaning up and re- modeling after the floods.. So is spening most of his time on that and not so much on the forum recently.. Im sure he will be back soon though ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted January 25, 2013 Author Share Posted January 25, 2013 That is correct, kind of, for a completely tempered scale. Many manufactures, including Gibson I think, have a different equation above the 12th fret, that gets complex. I would suggest using this... http://www.tundraman.com/Guitars/FretCalc/index.php Cheers for the link man.. very useful.. Maybe I should actually read up on it before hand lol (I was itending too, honest ;)) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted February 3, 2013 Author Share Posted February 3, 2013 Ok so heres the latest on my guitar build.. Ive started on the neck now as really I need it to do the final measurements on the body so I make sure the bridge and pups are in the right place and the neck is the right height etc.. So I started this with a hacksaw.. BAD idea (you will see the headstock is quite rough). no control at all.. Then I went and had to go and buy a longer blade for my jigsaw so it would cut through properly... Today I basically finished cutting the headstock angle (14 degrees) and cut the neck thickness down to a workable size. So it now looks like this (almost resembles a neck ;)) This wood really is quite hard.. It stressed the blade out and got a bit hot :) So now I need to get the sides of the neck down to the correct measurements.. Ive decided to get a cheap router since it will make some of this work like 80% easier and will enable me to cut the trussrod cavaity, pup cavaties and neck hole much more accurately (than if I tried with a jigsaw and drill lol).. So this week I will get on to that and need to buy a truss rod.. I have pups ordered from Searcy which will get here (hopefully) in a few weeks.. and im hoping at that point I will be mostly done.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanvillRob Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 I'm watching this thread with great interest! ..... Unfortunately my DIY skill's don't extend past hanging a picture frame so I'll keep my ideas to myself! Looking forward to seeing and hearing the end result! Regards I'm with you, Flight.... I couldn't make a door a guitar.... I could make it ajar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 ....I need it to do the final measurements on the body so I make sure the bridge and pups are in the right place and the neck is the right height etc... It's great now that everything is getting to the stage when it will all start to get together and become a 'guitar' rather than just assorted lumps of wood. FWIW the best bit of advice I received from a skilled woodworker was "Measure Twice; Cut Once..." Very obvious, of course, but still worth bearing in mind when it comes to the fret-work! Keep up the good work! P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted February 4, 2013 Author Share Posted February 4, 2013 It's great now that everything is getting to the stage when it will all start to get together and become a 'guitar' rather than just assorted lumps of wood. FWIW the best bit of advice I received from a skilled woodworker was "Measure Twice; Cut Once..." Very obvious, of course, but still worth bearing in mind when it comes to the fret-work! Keep up the good work! P. LOL thanks man.. I think in my case though its more like measure 5 times :) And yeah I have a feeling the fretwork is going to be one of the most tricky bits... Slow but sure.. thats the way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted February 5, 2013 Author Share Posted February 5, 2013 Ok so it had to happen... I made a boo boo.. I was straightening the area of the body where the neck is and took the block of wood off that I needed too and whoops I went to far and cut into the top cutaway... DOH!!! so I had to reshape it best I could.. And actually even though its not exactly what I wanted it goes to making the shape of my guitar even more unique.. Looks almost rickenbackerish/longhorn type thing.. so as a reminder.. this is what it looked like before And this is what it looks like now And heres you can kind of get a sense of what it may look like.. Im going to make that neck tennon as long as I can (it will be covered by the cap). And this is the wood I have for the cap.. Like the body I have to use three pieces to make it fit.. So i plan to have the middle bit natural coloured (and maybe the neck too) and the outer bits will be a dark brown I think.. (or maybe im thinking amber for the top, and dark brown on the back, decisisons,decisions). All part of the fun. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Farnsbarns Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 Coming along well I see. IS the cap going to be the same material as the body? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted February 6, 2013 Author Share Posted February 6, 2013 Coming along well I see. IS the cap going to be the same material as the body? I think so.. the wood I show above is pine too.. BUT I have a sheet of other wood that will enable me to make the top one piece.. So I will just try it and see what each looks like... It may look a bit weird having a different type of wood for the top, but it may look cool.. Pics to come hopefully this week. Tomorrow I go and see if I can get a cheap router that will help me finish the neck and route the cavaties for the neck and the pups.. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted February 13, 2013 Author Share Posted February 13, 2013 Not an update as such... BUT I have now (I think) decided on my final specs for the guitar.. I went on that guitar maker thingy site and did an SG and re-sculpted it(very roughly) in paintshop pro :) So what do you reckon.. Obviously its a very rough outline of what I want.. But I really like the idea of the stripes down the middle with mainly black trim and chrome hardware... So this is the body shape as it is now (in case you forgot :) and this is my mock up.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted February 23, 2013 Author Share Posted February 23, 2013 Sooooo.. Heres the latest.. Been waiting for a trussrod... The first one arrived and I ordered it in a bit of haste... I ordered it cos it said it was a Gibson type truss rod so I just thought ok lets try it (cos the picture was not that good on their site).. And well basically even though I think they are right to describe it as such it wasnt what I wanted... This is what it looks like.. Very basic.. Its litterally just a steel rod with a fixed piece at one end and a screwnut on the other.. and im sure it would work but wasnt what I wanted.. I had seen ones on Youtube that have a flat top which makes it easier to cover. The one above apparently you need to grove a curved channel for it... So this is the new one that arrived today.. Much more what I was after. The neck itself is getting there.. I have the basic shape now.. I just need to spend hours sanding it down to spec... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted February 23, 2013 Author Share Posted February 23, 2013 I also bought a cheap router.. was only £30.. Luckily I was smart enough to use a test piece of wood to try it out.. and im glad I did :) So I will give that another go on the test piece before I try the actual neck... Also got the dot markers for the neck today So its getting there slowly but surely (assuming I can ever work the router with enough accuracy ;)) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjsinla Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 You need to set up something that you can use as a guide. You will never be able to use that router to make a straight line by hand. Clamp another piece of wood next to your neck that you can use to guide the router. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaysEpiphone Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 A table saw and a guide using a dado blade would be the best way to cut that trench my friend. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36MCN7xm1uc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted February 23, 2013 Author Share Posted February 23, 2013 A table saw and a guide using a dado blade would be the best way to cut that trench my friend. Have neither the money or the room for something like that.. I wish :) I will work out a way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted February 23, 2013 Author Share Posted February 23, 2013 You need to set up something that you can use as a guide. You will never be able to use that router to make a straight line by hand. Clamp another piece of wood next to your neck that you can use to guide the router. Cheers... and yeah I will work something out .. I think actually that first time I hadnt secured the guide plate properly... It was my first time ever using one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjsinla Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 1361594802[/url]' post='1333307']Cheers... and yeah I will work something out .. I think actually that first time I hadnt secured the guide plate properly... It was my first time ever using one. That would explain it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted February 23, 2013 Author Share Posted February 23, 2013 That would explain it. Yes it wood :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan H Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 Yes it wood :) You so punny :P -Ryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigtim Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 Have neither the money or the room for something like that.. I wish :) I will work out a way Ask around and see if there is a guy in your neighborhood that owns a cabinet shop and see if they will cut a channel in your neck for the tuss rod. Cabinet makers always have a dado blade somewhere. And it should not cost you much either. Good luck, Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted February 24, 2013 Author Share Posted February 24, 2013 Ask around and see if there is a guy in your neighborhood that owns a cabinet shop and see if they will cut a channel in your neck for the tuss rod. Cabinet makers always have a dado blade somewhere. And it should not cost you much either. Good luck, Tim Not a bad idea actually.. But really this is all part of the learning curve for me.. The idea is not just to make a guitar but learn all the things I need too while doing it.. And hopefully if I finish this one I will do more.. So I kinda need to learn to use what I have.. We all gotta start somewhere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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