Looks pretty sharp dude.
My first build
- Thread starter Themadcow
- Start date
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Damn, that's really coming together.
Devotion
Brojangles
Nice curves man! Looking forward to the final result!
scherzo1928
has wood for you
Wow!!! The carves came out great. Great job man!
Themadcow
Well-Known Member
Thanks guys, it's almost there, gotta come up with money for tuners, bridge and pickups now......I'm working on it
dclayton1388
Well-Known Member
That is insanely impressive, I feel inspired to try this on my own!
Haha, depending on how yours turns out I may have to pay you to make me one!
Haha, depending on how yours turns out I may have to pay you to make me one!
Themadcow
Well-Known Member
Nice job dude, digging the walnutalso surprised at your speed, you started about 1 month and a half ago, and already this far! May i ask a rough estimate of the amount of hours spent so far?
I can't give an exact amount cause I haven't kept track that well. I think I've averaged about 6 hours a week for a month and a half, so 36 hours. That includes planning, changing my mind, planning more and then changing my mind again. That is for both builds.......
One thing that most of you that haven't done this yet won't realize is that no part of this process really takes very long at all. If I had access to a garage at my house with all the tools, I would be done by now. Every time I want to work on these things I have to drive to my buddy's house 15 minutes away and work for a bit and then come home. I have a 3 year old son so it doesn't leave a lot of time to do it.
If you are thinking about it, do it. Don't him and haw about it for 5 months like I did. Just do it. If you suck working with wood, you'll figure that out fairly quickly. If your like me, have a little bit of skill (I mean little
) and you know how to read a tape measure then there is no reason not to try. Just carve a neck one time and I promise it will give you the biggest hard on you ever had. Nothing feels better than carving away at that bad boy and feeling the final product all smooth and......never mind. Just do it scherzo1928
has wood for you
Haha, I agree that carving a neck is great. Now I need to see what carving a body is all about.
Devotion
Brojangles
Thanks for the info
thats indeed really quick, but got to neglect your advice, as i think building a guitar with a rusty saw, a drill and sandpaper only wouldnt look that nice, i'm going to wait till i have more tools, which won't be soon.Great job on the neck and those curves dude! Really smooth look. LOng live super uper fret acces
Themadcow
Well-Known Member
Well I had an hour to kill after work today, so I decided to route the neck pocket on my dad's PRS. Now, the neck is nowhere near done but the dimensions on the last 6" or so are right so I went ahead.
Now, I haven't built a single template for either of these builds so far, so I figured it was time I started. Pickup routes and other things are coming up and I'll have no choice.
1/2" piece of mdf did the trick. I traced the neck onto it, cut it with the bandsaw, then cleaned it up with some 60 grit sandpaper.
So now some of you will say, "Hey, where are the sides on your neck pocket?" and I will answer that I don't think they are needed. The neck is going to be bolted on with 4 machine screws same as the RGA8 , and I guarantee as long as I line everything up right the neck will never move out of alignment.
This also means that I am kind of limited in the shape I can make the pocket cause I need to keep a lot of material underneath the neck for support. No one has ever told me the reason the neck pocket has to be 3", but I'm not going to reinvent the wheel on that. I am gonna try a neck through next, so I won't have to think about this again for a while
Now, I haven't built a single template for either of these builds so far, so I figured it was time I started. Pickup routes and other things are coming up and I'll have no choice.
1/2" piece of mdf did the trick. I traced the neck onto it, cut it with the bandsaw, then cleaned it up with some 60 grit sandpaper.
So now some of you will say, "Hey, where are the sides on your neck pocket?" and I will answer that I don't think they are needed. The neck is going to be bolted on with 4 machine screws same as the RGA8 , and I guarantee as long as I line everything up right the neck will never move out of alignment.
This also means that I am kind of limited in the shape I can make the pocket cause I need to keep a lot of material underneath the neck for support. No one has ever told me the reason the neck pocket has to be 3", but I'm not going to reinvent the wheel on that. I am gonna try a neck through next, so I won't have to think about this again for a while
Empryrean
angery gear acquirer
I likes sir, you have made me extremely teeming with envy 
Themadcow
Well-Known Member
Update time again. The guitar for my dad has been feeling neglected so I decided to move forward with it
Here is the neck and fretboard prepped for gluing. Notice the fretfind template still stuck to it. That kids glue is frigging sticky!
My work area could use a cleanup....I need a maid.
This pic shows the routing for the arch almost done . It's all freehand so you have to be careful it doesn't get away on you. It doesn't have to be perfect but you don't want to go overboard.
Notice the 5" grinder with the flap wheel. It's my favorite tool now
Decided to do the top with it instead of the belt sander this time. What you see in the pics is as far as I'm gonna go with it. It's a dangerous way of doing it cause if you slip you can destroy your work piece. The advantage is that it took me less than 5 minutes to get the guitar to that point
Today I'll get the neck out of the clamps and bolt it on, then I am stuck waiting for parts. Fretwire and electronics should be here any day now, so you guys should start seeing what these guitars are gonna look like soon.
Here is the neck and fretboard prepped for gluing. Notice the fretfind template still stuck to it. That kids glue is frigging sticky!
My work area could use a cleanup....I need a maid.
This pic shows the routing for the arch almost done . It's all freehand so you have to be careful it doesn't get away on you. It doesn't have to be perfect but you don't want to go overboard.
Notice the 5" grinder with the flap wheel. It's my favorite tool now
Decided to do the top with it instead of the belt sander this time. What you see in the pics is as far as I'm gonna go with it. It's a dangerous way of doing it cause if you slip you can destroy your work piece. The advantage is that it took me less than 5 minutes to get the guitar to that point
Today I'll get the neck out of the clamps and bolt it on, then I am stuck waiting for parts. Fretwire and electronics should be here any day now, so you guys should start seeing what these guitars are gonna look like soon.
That top's looking great
looking mighty impressive man! good work
Themadcow
Well-Known Member
Micro update, I went to the garage to pull the clamps off the neck. Hit it with the sander and the radius sanding block, I also managed to get the neck bolted on, but only 2 bolts, before my wife phoned and said she had plans, so I'll finish the bolt up tomorrow.
Sorry for the crappy pics. I should have a bigger update tomorrow. I will finish bolt up, carve the neck and finish radiusing the fretboard and I will get you guys some better pics.
I'd also like to say I really appreciate all the positive feedback. I don't need much extra motivation to do this, but the night's that I am tired and in a pissy mood, I look forward to your comments, puts me in a better mood.
Sorry for the crappy pics. I should have a bigger update tomorrow. I will finish bolt up, carve the neck and finish radiusing the fretboard and I will get you guys some better pics.
I'd also like to say I really appreciate all the positive feedback. I don't need much extra motivation to do this, but the night's that I am tired and in a pissy mood, I look forward to your comments, puts me in a better mood.
scherzo1928
has wood for you
I need to get myself one of them grinders.
Themadcow
Well-Known Member
Beats the hell out of carving by hand. I have 4 of them from my welding days. I never thought I'd be using them on wood though.
Those are looking damn good, keep it up
