DIY Guitar Messing About (4 Viewers)

[JohnnyRaz]

am tempted to only trim off the bottom of each fret, i reckon the aesthetics of the frets sticking out the top is worth keeping.

View attachment 17657

it would give it a vaguely klingon look

 

[magicbastarder]

or the spines on the fin on a fish.

 

[JohnnyRaz]

or the spines on the fin on a fish.

you did use fish glue

 

[magicbastarder]

i borrowed JohnnyRaz's box of fret tricks and have started on the frets; and another lesson learned - don't buy stainless steel frets. i've just made the job harder for myself.
though i have them fairly alright now in terms of levelling - better than the squier i am using as a template, and that's good enough for me. currently filing the fret ends level with the side of the fretboard; had to remove some of the masking tape as that was preventing me from getting them completely flush with the wood. so now the trick is to not hit the wood with the files, but also dealing with the metal dust since the wood is not protected by the tape. thankfully the tung oil finish i put on the neck a few weeks ago makes that easier, i just wipe it down with a rag with some white spirits occasionally.

 

[JohnnyRaz]

i borrowed JohnnyRaz's box of fret tricks and have started on the frets; and another lesson learned - don't buy stainless steel frets. i've just made the job harder for myself.
though i have them fairly alright now in terms of levelling - better than the squier i am using as a template, and that's good enough for me. currently filing the fret ends level with the side of the fretboard; had to remove some of the masking tape as that was preventing me from getting them completely flush with the wood. so now the trick is to not hit the wood with the files, but also dealing with the metal dust since the wood is not protected by the tape. thankfully the tung oil finish i put on the neck a few weeks ago makes that easier, i just wipe it down with a rag with some white spirits occasionally.

View attachment 17667

looking good!

If you've a strong magnet to hand it can be useful for picking up filings.

 

[magicbastarder]

Getting along.
The neck is glued, no going back now.
Tomorrow I’ll take a router to that nice piece of spruce to complement the damage I did with a jigsaw today
View attachment 17661

any progress?

 

[JohnnyRaz]

any progress?

Routed the sound holes yesterday evening, but then went out and got destroyed at a friends birthday, so spent today clinging to the couch battling the forces of internal darkness

 

[ann post]

Routed the sound holes yesterday evening, but then went out and got destroyed at a friends birthday, so spent today clinging to the couch battling the forces of internal darkness

sounds like progress

 

[JohnnyRaz]

Progress - have to get the bracing sorted now

 

[magicbastarder]

made a couple more volume knobs, this time a more traditional tele size, but out of an offcut of london plane from the body. superglue then wax finish - and you can see it lacks the richer tones of the body, obviously due to the superglue not penetrating as much as the danish oil. i may remake them, but that's a much longer process, the benefit of superglue is it's cured within a minute but with danish oil it'll be days of coating.

 

[JohnnyRaz]

Almost through to the last single point of failure, and despite making monumental fuckups at almost every stage, we’re on track, and an eagle eye will see body-neck alignment is in the ball park

The fuckup for making the top was forgetting to drill the holes for the controls before gluing the top on. As the body’s small there’s not a heap of space between the sound holes and the braces. I’ll get it to work, but it will take some guess work

 

[magicbastarder]

some non-guitar stuff tonight, i have to get an entry in for next month's comeptition in the woodturning. some turning and burning fun tonight. there was a very audible crack as i was burning it - and it's the crack you can see here; that was the risk of burning it while it was still a solid lump and not a bowl.

 

[JohnnyRaz]

some non-guitar stuff tonight, i have to get an entry in for next month's comeptition in the woodturning. some turning and burning fun tonight. there was a very audible crack as i was burning it - and it's the crack you can see here; that was the risk of burning it while it was still a solid lump and not a bowl.

View attachment 17682

How do you seal/finish the burnt bits?

 

[magicbastarder]

easy and quick; i rub briwax on fairly liberally and then use a heat gun on it to melt it into the surface. it gives it a nice matt sheen too.
i'm seriously considering that approach with a guitar body if i can find a suitable piece of ash but as you can see - cracking is a serious risk. *much* more likely on endgrain; it's not far off the effect of drying wood far too quickly.

if i did it with a guitar, i might need to find a different finish, it's not exactly going to be the toughest finish possible.

 

[JohnnyRaz]

easy and quick; i rub briwax on fairly liberally and then use a heat gun on it to melt it into the surface. it gives it a nice matt sheen too.
i'm seriously considering that approach with a guitar body if i can find a suitable piece of ash but as you can see - cracking is a serious risk. *much* more likely on endgrain; it's not far off the effect of drying wood far too quickly.

if i did it with a guitar, i might need to find a different finish, it's not exactly going to be the toughest finish possible.

A spray Matt lacquer might work with a guitar

 

[sparse]

An enjoyable read about making an aluminum and work laminated neck from TYM guitars.

TMI LL neck

 

[JohnnyRaz]

Edges trimmed, and all the main holes drilled. Some filling and pinch gluing in one or two places and a serious sand and then I’ll be onto the fret board

 

[magicbastarder]

are you going to stain it or leave it au naturel?

 

[JohnnyRaz]

are you going to stain it or leave it au naturel?

Keep flip flopping on it. I might just use the ruby shellac again, which is golden/reddish but largely clear, or go for a blue or green stain

 

[magicbastarder]

with thanks to @JohnnyRaz for some bits and bobs, i think the wiring is all done; certainly sounds like it when i tap a screwdriver off the pickups. one non-issue is that i can't use my giant knobs on it - the volume knob is positioned too close to the pickup selector switch. strangely close.