My first guitar build - WIP

[Shedhand]

G'day all.
I've been threatening myself for a few years that I'd build a guitar so I decided to do it.
The plan (out of my head, ie no drawings or templates).
To build a solid body electric with twin humbuckers, tunomatic bridge and tail. Double cut-away copying no particular style. Rock Maple ready made Gibson LP style neck - 24 5/8 tone length. 22 frets (Jumbo) 12" radius. Head stock design out of my head with a snake wood inlay.

I handcut the groove for the snake wood using Pfeil 15/16 and 9/7 carving chisels as the snakewood infill is tapered 12mm down to 9mm. The neck came with a paddle head so I could design my own shape.

For the body I used a crosscut lump of Huon Pine stump that's been daring me to make something of it for a few years. Ripped it down to 30mm on the Resaw king blade. I then ripped an American Birdseye Rock Maple board I had in stock to 2 book matched 15mm veneers to use as the top.

As can be seen, the back of the Huon Pine body has hollows and bark showing. I'm going fill all these with clear casting resin so they can remain a visible feature. The top cutaway point is snake wood and the bottom curve of the front is Tiger Myrtle. I rough cut the neck socket with a Forstner bit and squared it up with chisel and sandpaper.

Because this is my first, build I've gone cheap with the hardware. The WSC humbuckers only cost $50 each. I bought Gotoh machine heads the keys of which I'll replace with my handmade Snakewood keys.

(The masking tape is for marking out so I don't have to draw on the face)
Any that's progress to date. More as I go along.
cheers
sheddie (apprentice Luthier )

[Shedhand]

G'day all.
I've been threatening myself for a few years that I'd build a guitar so I decided to do it.
The plan (out of my head, ie no drawings or templates).
To build a solid body electric with twin humbuckers, tunomatic bridge and tail. Double cut-away copying no particular style. Rock Maple ready made Gibson LP style neck - 24 5/8 tone length. 22 frets (Jumbo) 12" radius. Head stock design out of my head with a snake wood inlay.

I handcut the groove for the snake wood using Pfeil 15/16 and 9/7 carving chisels as the snakewood infill is tapered 12mm down to 9mm. The neck came with a paddle head so I could design my own shape.

For the body I used a crosscut lump of Huon Pine stump that's been daring me to make something of it for a few years. Ripped it down to 30mm on the Resaw king blade. I then ripped an American Birdseye Rock Maple board I had in stock to 2 book matched 15mm veneers to use as the top.

As can be seen, the back of the Huon Pine body has hollows and bark showing. I'm going fill all these with clear casting resin so they can remain a visible feature. The top cutaway point is snake wood and the bottom curve of the front is Tiger Myrtle. I rough cut the neck socket with a Forstner bit and squared it up with chisel and sandpaper.

Because this is my first, build I've gone cheap with the hardware. The WSC humbuckers only cost $50 each. I bought Gotoh machine heads the keys of which I'll replace with my handmade Snakewood keys.

(The masking tape is for marking out so I don't have to draw on the face)
Any that's progress to date. More as I go along.
cheers
sheddie (apprentice Luthier )

machine heads installed nice n snug.

cheers
shedhand

[Cliff Rogers]

Looking good.

Good to see you doing some woodwork again.

[Shedhand]

Yeah, thanks Cliff. Been making my Adirondack chairs again and getting a pretty penny for them. Makes a difference living among the millionaires . On powerful pain killers now so i can spend a few hours in the shed every couple of days.
Cheers
Mike.

[Blackstar1099]

Very unique. I like it. I love the slightly offset tuners.

[orraloon]

Great looking guitar build. Going to be a takling point any place you take it.
Regards
John

[Glenn.Visca]

Looks great !

Forgive my ignorance here ... But does timber type have an impact on sound with electric instruments ?

[Shedhand]

Looks great !

Forgive my ignorance here ... But does timber type have an impact on sound with electric instruments ?

thanks Glen. Some say type of wood matters others say no. I guess I'm about to find out as my wiring kit arrived today so will be soldering tomorrow.
Cheers
Mike

[Packdaddy]

Nice work! How much did the neck set you back? I built a guitar many years ago and built the neck from scratch as well, but setting the frets was difficult and they still sit up a little. I assembled it initially and then pulled it apart to prime and paint... Never got round to painting it and it's been sitting in primer for... 17 years haha!

[Shedhand]

Nice work! How much did the neck set you back? I built a guitar many years ago and built the neck from scratch as well, but setting the frets was difficult and they still sit up a little. I assembled it initially and then pulled it apart to prime and paint... Never got round to painting it and it's been sitting in primer for... 17 years haha!

hey Packdaddy. Neck cost $90 bucks (my local music shop is looking after me price wise ;-)
Trouble is I buggered it up. I didn't take into account the angle of the strings from the nut to the tuner pegs. The B D A G strings all rest on the E top and E bottom pegs. It still plays but it looks dreadful. Will try a fix by putting contrasting plugs in the machine holes, adding 12mm laminate tiger myrtle the sides of the head and reset the tuners. A few other problems to sort which are easily fixed I think. These are the lessons you learn when not using plans and templates. more fun though even if it ends up as a pretty wall hanging. I'll start another soon now I have a better idea of the processes.
cheers
mike

[Shedhand]

Couple of pics.

[Shedhand]

Guitar wiring.pdfHi all. Can someone with knowledge of guitar wiring look at the attached wiring diagram and tell me if its ok please. Its for an ALLPARTS wiring kit I bought for the WIP. The drawing which came with it is a poor reproduction in black and white and i can't make out all the soldering points. Don't know if I've missed any. I can't get any sound out of the guitar. The amp and lead is fine.
Also, is it possible to "cook" the pots while soldering. And, does it matter if the cable braiding (metal) is touching other cables?
gibwiring.jpg
Thanks for any advice.
Cheers
Shedhand

[Sebastiaan56]

I cant see the schematic Sheddie so I can't comment except in the most general way. It's poor practise to allow wires to touch each other unless the schematic says so. This goes for the braided stuff as well. I'd get a multimeter and check all of your connections first. If needs be pull it apart and shield everything. Allparts schematics are OK as far as I know.

As for timbers and the sound of instruments you will find plenty of threads here where a vendor claims his specific products produce remarkable instruments. My personal take is that heavier timbers lead to longer sustain, prettier timbers lead to higher prices but ultimately the manufacture and placement of the pups is critical. I believe there are luthiers who can wring the last percents out of a piece of timber but in electric land it is hard to separate from the electronics. Acoustic land is a different matter entirely.


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[Shedhand]

I cant see the schematic Sheddie so I can't comment except in the most general way. It's poor practise to allow wires to touch each other unless the schematic says so. This goes for the braided stuff as well. I'd get a multimeter and check all of your connections first. If needs be pull it apart and shield everything. Allparts schematics are OK as far as I know.

As for timbers and the sound of instruments you will find plenty of threads here where a vendor claims his specific products produce remarkable instruments. My personal take is that heavier timbers lead to longer sustain, prettier timbers lead to higher prices but ultimately the manufacture and placement of the pups is critical. I believe there are luthiers who can wring the last percents out of a piece of timber but in electric land it is hard to separate from the electronics. Acoustic land is a different matter entirely.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Thanks Seb.
I've included a photo of my schematic drawing in the previous post. Hopefully you can read the text.
Thanks for the help.
cheers
sheddie

[scuzyboy]

Have look at the Stewmac.com humbucker wiring diagram in there free info pages it has a diagram of alternative wiring allowing for individual volume control which is nice to have and description. As far as cooking the pots or switches yes you can, best to use an alligator clip or small magnet to work as a heat sink were possible. Especially with the pots with small rubber O-rings. Good luck