Ash & Maple Carved Top Superstrat Builds

[Hywel]

A while ago I posted a thread (http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/showthread.php?t=307792) asking the forum what I should build next and the winner was an RGA style carved top and since I had enough wood I thought I might as well build 2 almost identical guitars at the same time. Unfortunately I've now got an actual job so this might be a slow thread!

The specs are...

Swamp ash body
Plain maple top
2 piece maple neck
Ebony fretboard
24 frets, 660mm scale (~26"). Drop B/C tuning
HH layout
Hipshot style hardtail bridges

Not the most exciting specs ever I'm afraid. No fancy woods or anything really eye catching but I love the look of the RGA121-NTF and I wanted something restrained and workhorse like so I thought I'd build something that fit the bill. I'm also trying to focus on refining and improving techniques and skills since I'm not doing much new in these builds.

First off (after making the drawings) was preparing the wood. I bought some long planks of ash and maple and cut them into chunks. They didn't even come close to fitting in my tiny workroom before processing. (Ignore the carpet and decor, the house is rented!)

Eventually I managed to get a pair of 2 piece bodies

And a pair of 2 piece maple tops

I jointed the bodies first with a #6 hand plane

But the tops weren't flat enough so I planed them to 10mm thick using a jig for my router. Once they were all flat they got jointed and glued.

And then those bits got glued together

While those were drying I prepared the neck blanks. I'm going for a 2 piece neck as found on some Martins as it'll allow me to turn the rift sawn wood into something closer to quatersawn.

(The photo above is before jointing)

And now I've got to the point of cutting the scarf joints and cleaning them up on another router jig. 12° headstock angle as usual. The headstocks will get an ebony veneer I'm going to cut from a B grade fretboard blank tomorrow.

And that's as far as I've got. The plan for the weekend is to get the headstocks veneered, scarfs glued and bodies rough cut but we'll see what happens. Thanks for stopping by!

 

[pondman]

Excellent work as always, super clean and tidy skills. All this is done in tour bedroom ?

 

[jwade]

Man I dig this.

 

[feraledge]

So much awesome! Excited to see these builds!

 

[Hywel]

Thanks guys!

Excellent work as always, super clean and tidy skills. All this is done in tour bedroom ?

It's a tiny spare bedroom that was just being used as storage so I borrowed it for a makeshift workshop. It's better than nothing but there's no room for any decent size machinery or an actual workbench sadly. Can't wait to get somewhere with a good sized garage or something.

I didn't think a maple headstock would suit these builds so I bookmatched and planed an ebony fretboard blank into a pair of 3mm veneers.

I also had to plane down the headstock pieces to account for the thickness of the veneers but once that was done I lined them up and used some tiny 1mm drill bits at the corners to hold them steady for gluing.

Tomorrow I'll hopefully get the scarf joints glued.

 

[feraledge]

Definitely a slow thread! Haha! Awesome progress, killer builds. Depending on the finish the headstocks might have looked cool if you could have worked the color shift spots in on the veneers.

 

[electriceye]

Nice job! I like that router thickness jig you have. I started building a thickness sander last year, but it's been on the back burner for a long time (along with everything else).

 

[Hywel]

Definitely a slow thread! Haha! Awesome progress, killer builds. Depending on the finish the headstocks might have looked cool if you could have worked the color shift spots in on the veneers.

Thanks! I was toying with the idea of doing a split headstock like Rusti's builds but I never got around to it in the end. Definitely something I want to try in the future though.

Nice job! I like that router thickness jig you have. I started building a thickness sander last year, but it's been on the back burner for a long time (along with everything else).

The router jig is a lifesaver. Now my router can be a planer, thicknesser and router all in one. Sadly there's barely enough room for the tools I have so no matter how much I want a good size planer/thicknesser and big belt sander, this'll have to do for now. I've sort of tempted to upgrade it with aluminium extrusions and proper hardware rather than softwood and double sided tape but I'll probably never get around to it.

Scarfs are glued. I used 2 waxed 2.5mm drill bits on each joint to stop anything from slipping while they glued up.

Once they were dry I ran the router over them in the jig to flatten the veneer down and hopefully make the fretboard surface flat and ready for attaching the fretboard.

I made a start on making the templates up for using on the router table but my bandsaw blade snapped so I ended up using the jigsaw to rough them out and I'll use the router table to bring the thick MDF templates down to the size of the 3mm thick laser cut ones.

 

[J_Mac]

Nice work! Two at a time is a good plan.

 

[pettymusic]

Wow Hywel, impressive as usual!

Do you make your templates yourself or send your drawings off to get cut?

 

[Hywel]

Thanks guys.

I draw the templates in Adobe Illustrator and them send them to Razorlab.co.uk (ponoko.com is the US equivalent) to get them laser cut in 3mm plywood. Once I've got the plywood masters I bulk them up with MDF on my router table with a bearing bit. I used them for every build except the home depot one and they've worked pretty well so far.

 

[electriceye]

Thanks guys.

I draw the templates in Adobe Illustrator and them send them to Razorlab.co.uk (ponoko.com is the US equivalent) to get them laser cut in 3mm plywood. Once I've got the plywood masters I bulk them up with MDF on my router table with a bearing bit. I used them for every build except the home depot one and they've worked pretty well so far.

OOH! This is great to know!!! Thanks!

 

[Hywel]

Finally managed to find some free time.

Truss rod slots got routed

I put 3 dabs of silicone sealant under each rod to stop any rattle or vibration but this time I put some plastic film between the rod and silicone while it dries so it doesn't stick to the rod. Once it's dried I can pull out the film and the truss rod is still held firmly but can still rotate freely.

Since I've cut through the area where the nut sits I replace the lost wood with a small maple filler block. Once the glues dry I'll plane it all flush.

I also managed to cut out the bodies on the bandsaw.

And route them flush to the templates. I used a few wraps of masking tape around the bearing of the router bit on the first pass giving me a ~0.5mm overhang from the template edge. Once the first pass was done I went around with a larger bit and cut everything flush to the template. The super shallow second pass takes out any small tearout or burn marks from the first pass and really cuts down on the amount of sanding needed later.

Both bodies weight 2.4Kg/5.4lbs at the moment but that'll come down once I route the cavities and carve the tops.

Tomorrow hopefully I'll get the necks cut to size, install the mounting hardware and get the main body cavities routed.

 

[Hywel]

Mini update!

Necks are cut and trimmed and the headstocks have been rough thinned to ~15mm.

T-nuts are in as well.

Didn't get a chance to route the body today but that's next on the list.

 

[BlackMastodon]

*mashes ghost of the Like button*

 

[Hywel]

*mashes ghost of the Like button*

Pickup cavities are routed

And I cut the neck joints. Aligned everything with a laser and then used some straight bits of wood clamped to the body as a template.

I used to cut the neck pocket straight through into the pickup cavity but now I've started making them ~1-2mm deeper just to give the neck a definite stop point and I think it makes a better joint.

Passed the neck joint without screws test.

 

[Hywel]

And now they've got the neck screw holes drilled in the heel. I made a tool a while ago to drill centred 10mm holes for the brass ferrules around the 4.5mm screw hole and it seems to have worked well.

And we've got the control and battery cavities routed out

 

[electriceye]

*mashes ghost of the Like button*

THIS.

 

[timbryant99]

I love it. Your router thicknessing jigs are quite clever. Sweet looking guitars.

 

[Hywel]

THIS.

I love it. Your router thicknessing jigs are quite clever. Sweet looking guitars.

Thanks guys!

I've seen those thicknessing jigs around for a long time and mine is definitely on the crappier end of the scale but it seems to work ok. I wish I had the space for a proper planer/thicknesser though.