Avenger 7 Multi-Scale Build

[JStraitiff]

I have been toying with the idea of building a guitar for a while now. Oddly enough the thing that got me going the most was a 7 string telecaster.

This morning i was going to draw up a scale mockup and in the quest looking for cardboard to draw on i came across the perfect wood to use for it. I have an old waterbed frame that is just thick enough if i put a 1/4" top on it. It may not be the best wood to use but this is my first build so i wont be wasting expensive wood. I dont have any money for parts right now so im going to build the body and neck first then hopefully by then ill have enough for a truss rod and fretboard wood. Ill have to work as i can afford it so i apologize if it moves at a slow pace after these first few stages.

EDIT: i actually didnt realize how cheap truss rods are. Guess that wont be an issue

Now to the details:

7 String
Schecter Avenger body style (Unknown wood)
Regius headstock
3 piece set neck (unknown wood/maple)
Rosewood fretboard
Quilted Maple Top (Natural finish)
25.5" - 27.5" scale
EMG 707's
Probably Grover tuners
Graphtech nut

To start you off here are some pictures of my plan:

 

[ROAR]

I have an Avenger!
Rad shittt

 

[OrsusMetal]

Very cool! I probably wouldn't waste money adding a figured maple top to something that you don't know what the woods are in the body. I'd save that for a 2nd build when you have more experience and pick up some other woods to go with it.

 

[ILuvPillows]

You've done it! You've found a headstock that actually fits the avenger shape. Schecter! SCHECTER COME AND SEE!

 

[JaeSwift]

Nice design! If I can give you a tip, maple is rather in-expensive so you could easily build a neck and end up messing it up without losing more $30. You'll want the guitar to sound good at one point so you could prototype it with the wood you have, make adjustments if needed and transfer those adjustments to some real body wood later on.

 

[JStraitiff]

As an update on the crappy wood situation, it turns out its pine and it has apparently been claimed, Which im having trouble understanding as it is a part of my bed

Anyway it looks like ill be picking up some better woods to use. I guess now that i have to buy it ill try and find some mahogany to make the body out of. Any thoughts on woods for the neck? Would it make sense to do a stip of mahogany in a maple neck? or should just go maple neck all together? What other woods sound good with maple?

 

[Shredderboy1658]

Pete's Guitar Build

Check out the Schecter Guitar Forum! One of our guys is making a 6 string Avenger... Lots of random bullshit throughout the thread, but he is to the point of setting the neck.

 

[JStraitiff]

Considering neck through now. Ill see what i can find on the woods front. If i can find something reasonable thats long enough ill do that. Im thinking it would be badass to have the neck-through showing on the top with two quilted top pieces on the sides of it.

Does anyone have any good resources for buying woods?

 

[brynotherhino]

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/lu...91975-pictures-woods-their-info-new-post.html

 

[JStraitiff]

^ Buying resources, Wood dealers

 

[ASoC]

^ There's a thread that's stickied dedicated to this

 

[JStraitiff]

^ aw geez. I better use my eyes haha. ive been up for about 24 hours so im half out of it

 

[ElRay]

Great start.

I added the member built tag. When it's complete, be sure to post here: http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/lu...1-guitars-built-members-ss-org-pic-heavy.html

Ray

 

[JStraitiff]

I did some practicing on the pine i had. I didnt bother to sand off the finish except in the sections i was gluing. I did the scarf joint for the headstock. The piece i had was a little thick so once the joint was cut i took about 3/4" off the headstock piece so it was a little more workable. I glued that up. I also glued two larger pieces together for a body blank.

Tomorrow when those are both set ill do some sanding and then probably route the truss rod channel. In this practice build im just going to set the neck but i have decided upon going with neck through on the final build. Should be interesting cause im doing quilted maple tops on the two wings rather than doing it over the neck as well.

Dont fret, this is not the final build

Oh and i accidentally did this hehe

On another note im making final decisions on woods and other parts.

5 piece maple neck thru with walnut strips, Mahogany wings, Quilted Maple tops, Rosewood fretboard.. Im going to carve a bridge baseplate and use standard saddles. I havent decided on what wood to use for the bridge though.

 

[JStraitiff]

Today i planed and sanded all the surfaces to remove any finish and level the joints i glued yesterday. Everything is turning out great on this practice build.

I am going to try to purchase most of the woods for the final build tonight or this weekend. Im going to order the mahogany wings and quilted maple top from exotic woods, the rosewood fretboard from stewmac, and im going to try to find the maple and walnut for the neck from local stores tomorrow.

If anyone knows of a cheaper place to get the top from rather than exotic woods please let me know. I wont be buying that until im ready to put it on.

Oh and i was looking into bridges and i think i have decided upon doing a custom carved bridge plate for some standard saddles. I contacted kurt from agile because i heard they will sell you individual bridges for a fraction of the cost of ABM's but he has been less than helpful. I have heard more about stock and the pendulum guitars than i have about the bridges.

Here are some pics of the practice build from today:

Neck after scarf joint, planing and finish removal.

Body blank after joining and leveling. Body shape drawn on.

Low angle shot to show how tight that joint is. Look how pretty!

Body after rough cut.

Tomorrow is routing day! I am going to route for the truss rod and route the body for the neck joint, pickups and control cavity.

 

[pondman]

Good work so far.

 

[eddiewarlock]

dude, you might want to use another neck wood....

It has a huge ass knot on the treble side...

On the body wood, it might be, let´s say, forgivable, but not on the neck...

 

[JStraitiff]

So i went to a couple stores today looking for maple as thats the most common wood in my project. I got SUPER lucky. Lowes had maple and check out what i found:

Awesome! So i got an 8 ft section of that. I will have to go back to get another piece for the center of the neck laminate but i only had enough for this today. There are going to be some really nice flames in my neck

 

[aaron_rose]

dude, where did your thumb go?

 

[JStraitiff]

^ its magic

I have a question for anyone with staining experience. I want to stain the mahogany wings and the top but i dont want any stain to bleed off onto the neck thru at all. So would i be able to just tape over the neck and stain that way? Would that stop any stain from bleeding over? I want it to look like the back of a mayones with the dark mahogany next to the maple neck going through the body. Im curious if tape will be enough.