scott from _actual time_ Posted April 17, 2005 Report Share Posted April 17, 2005 (edited) after two months of making templates and jigs, i'm finally ready to start this project. and i'm ready to post my work for everybody to see -- i'm an unpublished novelist, so i'm used to folks savaging my work. i've built paneled rail and stile furniture from pine and oak. i'm a pretty good amateur woodworker, but i'm not at the semi-pro level that lots of our forum regulars are at. i've been working on a maple neck-thru 7-string V since last summer, inspired by Wes's neck-thru V. it's ready for finishing, which is definately my weakest area. i'm going to try a blue sand-back stain on that nice figured maple. the S7 clone body i designed to fit an old 540S7 neck. the outline and profile will be the same as a 540S7, except thicker -- standard Strat 1 3/4" thickness instead of 1 1/2". the thicker Saber idea i got from an LA Custom neck-thru Ibanez S7 that i have. wood: alder -- this one is a prototype so i can iron out all the bugs. later i want to build one each out of mahogany and cherry. pickups: a tom anderson 7-string single coil in the neck that i scored used for $10, and a dimarzio humbucker at the bridge -- probably a Tone Zone 7, depending on what i have lying around. bridge: Lo Pro Edge 7 trem. electronics: one of my rediculous 24-pole superswitch coil cut schemes that has a push/pull pot to switch the guitar into a single coil mode. i'll have to simplify things with only two pickups. finish -- blue stain, maybe a blueburst if the finish on my V goes well, with rattlecan nitro laquer over top. here's my body template laid out on the blank -- time to start making sawdust. Edited March 6, 2006 by scott from _actual time_ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtis P Posted April 17, 2005 Report Share Posted April 17, 2005 is that an acrylic template? that looks cool!! Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott from _actual time_ Posted April 17, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2005 thanks dudes. the V looks good from a distance, but up close there are some niggles. i had a massive trainwreck when gluing the wings and i had to soak one of them off in the laundry sink! so there's a crack where some of that water got into the joint for the other wing. i'm going to learn how to use stainable putty. and yes, that's an acrylic template based on the body of my 540S7. i made a set of templates out of 3/4" MDF, then copied them onto acrylic. yeah, i'm big on planning. this whole alder body is one big prototype, and i've already made some small mistakes. by the time i'm paying out the ass for cherry, i want to have those worked out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGGR Posted April 17, 2005 Report Share Posted April 17, 2005 The S body shape is same as JS. They only differ in body contour. Interested in seeing this project develop. AANJ would have been cool too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott from _actual time_ Posted April 17, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2005 (edited) here's a pic from the body cutting. i just bought an Amana Supertrim bit and it's bad-ass -- 2" cutting length and a helix twist to the flutes for smoother carving. it's just alder, but i had no tearout and the edges came out silky smooth. here's the body after carving the outline. The S body shape is same as JS. They only differ in body contour. i always thought the outline looked similar, but i've never owned a JS so i've never been able to compare. i thought about making a Radius 7 first, but the S style is what i'm really interested in. maybe i'll try a Radius 7 at some point. AANJ would have been cool too. eh -- i think the AANJ is overrated, but i rarely play on the high frets. in this case, i couldn't do an AANJ or the body would not fit the 540S7 neck i have. they only made the 540S7 in 1991, before the AANJ existed. Edited March 6, 2006 by scott from _actual time_ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slabbefusk Posted April 18, 2005 Report Share Posted April 18, 2005 Shouldn't you be able to do an AANJ even though they didn't do it back then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted April 18, 2005 Report Share Posted April 18, 2005 He already has a neck made for non-AANJ. Looking good so far! I'm interested in the router bit you used, so I'm off to research it. As for the alder body, it sounds like you're almost apologizing for it. I wouldn't. Alder is an awesome wood, and if it's the right wood for the job then so be it! Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott from _actual time_ Posted April 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2005 (edited) here's the body during the pickup/trem routing. He already has a neck made for non-AANJ. I'm interested in the router bit you used, so I'm off to research it. yep. no sense in carving up an already-finished neck, which would make the heel to neck pocket overlap area even smaller. the Supertrim bit ran ~$35. there's also an Ultratrim that is full spiral and solid carbide, but it's $85. As for the alder body, it sounds like you're almost apologizing for it. I wouldn't. Alder is an awesome wood, and if it's the right wood for the job then so be it! not apoligizing, i was just qualifying the performance of the bit -- it made a fantastic cut, but it wasn't cutting maple or anything really hard. the alder is definately the right wood for this prototype. Edited March 6, 2006 by scott from _actual time_ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGGR Posted April 18, 2005 Report Share Posted April 18, 2005 (edited) What p-up, trem set-up are you using? Looks like non-recessed tremolo set-up. Nice clean work. Good job. Edited April 18, 2005 by RGGR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slabbefusk Posted April 18, 2005 Report Share Posted April 18, 2005 I'll follow this one, Ibanez is one of my favourite brands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowser Posted April 18, 2005 Report Share Posted April 18, 2005 pickups: a tom anderson 7-string single coil in the neck that i scored used for $10, and a dimarzio humbucker at the bridge -- probably a Tone Zone 7, depending on what i have lying around. bridge: Lo Pro Edge 7 trem. electronics: one of my rediculous 24-pole superswitch coil cut schemes that has a push/pull pot to switch the guitar into a single coil mode. i'll have to simplify things with only two pickups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott from _actual time_ Posted April 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2005 (edited) What p-up, trem set-up are you using? Looks like non-recessed tremolo set-up. Nice clean work. Good job. thanks. it looks good from a distance, but up close i can see the niggles. i think it's at the quality level of say a $400 import guitar, and i'd like to get up toward $1000 high-end production quality. $2500 hand-made quality i'll leave to the pros. the trem will be recessed -- that pic was just taken halfway through the cavity routing. here's another pic after all the cavities were done. except for the switch slot -- i'll finalize that by hand after i contour the body. the trem recess is much shallower than stock Ibanez -- 3/8" instead of 3/4". i never pull back on the trem bar and i hate cutting out huge amounts of wood around the bridge. Edited March 6, 2006 by scott from _actual time_ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted April 18, 2005 Report Share Posted April 18, 2005 Nice Job so far Scott, I have to go with the other guys on the AANJ, I like you don't play on the higher frets since I cant play but power chords and rythm. But I like the fasct that it feels good, way better than a square heel. On yours though, and AANJ wouldn't look right, I would have done a rounded heel like petrucci's guitar, ... but the big question is, is the neck you got now already drilled for the neck screws? Because I have done conversions, and the upper left hole always peak out of the joint and it looks horrible. On my 7, I ordered a nec kwith the regular heel from Warmoth, but told them not to drill the neck holes, and I reshaped it to fit the contour. Keep us posted on the progress on this one, it looks like you are going in the right track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGGR Posted April 18, 2005 Report Share Posted April 18, 2005 I have to go with the other guys on the AANJ, I like you don't play on the higher frets since I cant play but power chords and rythm. But I like the fasct that it feels good, way better than a square heel. It's all personal preference......and huge part of it probably has to do with what you grew up with......Hence Satch still using older trems and square heels. Personally I'm a huge AANJ fan. I think it feels okay, and looks even better. Specially if you're building a custom, I think AANJ is the way to go. (depending on guitar shape of course.) Interested to see how this pends out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott from _actual time_ Posted April 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2005 but the big question is, is the neck you got now already drilled for the neck screws? On my 7, I ordered a neck with the regular heel from Warmoth, but told them not to drill the neck holes, and I reshaped it to fit the contour. yep, my neck is off an old guitar, so it's drilled and finished. that's the main reason i went non-AANJ, to match what i've got. i saw your excellent blue-burst 7 with the Warmoth neck. with an undrilled and unfinished neck like that one, i certainly would have considered going AANJ. the AANJ does look very sleek -- i have several RG7s with it. i've never seen the Petrucci neck heel, but i do remember the recessed neck-plate heels that the early JEMs and UVs had before they came up with the AANJ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted April 18, 2005 Report Share Posted April 18, 2005 http://www.downinfrontht.com/pages/guitar_body_pocket.html check this link, it is for Cudbucket's inprogress guitar, that heel it as close to the petrucci as you can get. http://www.downinfrontht.com/ this is the home page, so you can check the whole thing, prety nice and clean work for a first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott from _actual time_ Posted April 24, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2005 (edited) i contoured the body today, and rough sanded the top and bottom. i still need to do the side edges, and maybe carve a little lower on the edges above the cutaways. the contour isn't as steep as the one on my 540S7 -- the end of the slope on this one goes much closer to the centerline. i'll see how this shape plays before i decide whether to go steeper on the next one i build. here's another pic from a higher angle. Edited March 6, 2006 by scott from _actual time_ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted April 24, 2005 Report Share Posted April 24, 2005 Scoot, I might have missed somenthing. What are those holes were the selector switch goes? Are you using a pickguard? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammy Posted April 24, 2005 Report Share Posted April 24, 2005 For the S style bodies ibanez use a strange plastic thing to support the switch, Im guessing thats what he is using too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott from _actual time_ Posted April 24, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2005 For the S style bodies ibanez use a strange plastic thing to support the switch, Im guessing thats what he is using too... yep. the two outer holes are the mounting holes for that strange plastic thing. the four 1/2" holes that run together are the roughed-in slot for the switch itself. i had trouble trying to cut a template slot for that in my acrylic, so i decided to cut the slot by hand. i start with those holes, then cut the slot with a coping saw. old-school! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott from _actual time_ Posted April 24, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2005 (edited) this morning i cut the switch slot, sanded the body contour some more, and drilled the jack hole. Edited March 6, 2006 by scott from _actual time_ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowser Posted April 25, 2005 Report Share Posted April 25, 2005 (edited) That's looking real nice! I have a GSA20 - cheap guitar but the same contour on the top, thick sides like yours but no back contour. I love the feel of that guitar. Edited April 25, 2005 by bowser Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott from _actual time_ Posted April 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2005 How did you do the contouring on the face of the guitar ? It looks very neat and smooth. Have you got some kind of mega CNC machine or something? thanks. no, no fancy machinery or anything -- the contour was roughed in with a router and shaped with a random-orbital sander. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Rosenberger Posted April 25, 2005 Report Share Posted April 25, 2005 jack hole. ← Jack Hole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott from _actual time_ Posted March 13, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2006 wow--it's been almost a year since i worked on this. staining and spraying my neck-thru V took longer than i thought. but i finally got back tot his body. i cleaned out the control cavity, and glued in a little wedge-shaped block for the nut and washer on the jack to press against. next--figuring out exactly what color(s) of stain to buy for a nice reddish orange that'll compliment the natural color of the alder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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