My As Of Yet Unnamed Guitar

[Korrow]

Right now I'm a junior in high school (16, soon to be 17 years) and for us to graduate, the Almighty School District has decided that we have to do a culminating project. So, rather than add a new project onto the countless others I've been meaning to do, I decided to kill to birds with one stone, and do something that I've wanted to do since my dad built a Telecaster last summer, and do the project at the same time.

Ok so stats/information/all that good stuff.

Body wood: Ash

Neck Wood: Rock Maple

Fretboard Wood: Gaboon Ebony

25.5" scale

Fender 2 point tremolo

Humbucker in bridge

Single coils in neck and middle

12 inch fretboard radius

Graph Tech Trem Nut

Schaller mini locking tuners

The specs regarding the hardware (especially the nut and tuners) are subject to change, and feedback regarding those would be excellent.

This is my first build by the way.

So, for the last few weeks, I've been learning as much about as many different guitars as I can, as well as designing my own on the side.

I designed the guitar in cad, here's a render of it:

Since then, I got a print out of the file over at Kinko's and made it into a template:

On the same day, I planed a piece of ash that my dad has had for ages for the body (No pictures of the wood before planing or anything though)

So today, I began the actual body, first tracing the template onto the wood:

(Yeah, there is a section with bark on it, however, it just happens to be where the contour will go, so it will come off soon enough.)

So then I cut it out roughly on the bandsaw:

And then routed it:

And that brings us up to where I am now.

[EDIT]

Alright, pictures should be working now.

Here's a link to the gallery regardless.

http://picasaweb.google.com/Korrow/GuitarProject

Edited May 14, 2008 by Korrow

[stereordinary]

I noticed this thread when it first appeared, but I couldn't see the pictures. Now that I can see it it reminds me a lot of a certain Supro guitar.

Very cool, I'll be subscribing to this one.

[Joel Rainville]

I like the basic shape. Keep taking pictures

[Korrow]

Hello guys, it's been a little while since I've updated, but I'm still working on it. =P

Here's a shot of the neck template, as well as the neck after I cut it out on the bandsaw:

Here's another shot, this time after I routed the neck out:

Just for fun, I clamped the neck on to the recently routed out body:

(Just realized that the neck is on backwards . Ignore that bit. =P

Tomorrow I'm planning on routing the cavity for the truss rod, and time permitting, finish up the tremolo cavity routing.

(I also got a new, easier to use image host) =P

The new gallery can be found here: http://s30.photobucket.com/albums/c338/Kor.../GuitarProject/

Edited May 20, 2008 by Korrow

[Muzz]

(Just realized that the neck is on backwards . Ignore that bit. =P

Looks great with the neck that way, gives it a bit of a Jimi vibe, I like the mods you have done to the Fender shape.

[Bryan316]

I also dig the inverted neck! I also find it a bit easier, for me, to tune my bottom tuners than my top tuners. Just wrist position comfiness, as I'm watching my tuner or hitting my 5th-7th harmonics.

[anderekel]

Yeah, I dig the inverted neck as well, but don't listen to us, it's all about what you want in your guitar.

[Xanthus]

Yep, I'm a fan of the reversed headstock. I'd be a bigger fan if the horns were a bit more pointy to compliment it, but hey. It's yours.

Looks like you've done quite a bit of research as well, and you've got the tools to help you too.

[Korrow]

If I can dig up some lefty tuners, I'll think about doing a lefty headstock. XD

So today I put the bridge on, so that I can get the neck all positioned (Yeah, that is a little bit backwards, in hindsight...) But, everything is positioned fine, and seems to be positioned damn near perfectly when...

DISASTER STRIKES

Ok, so this is a problem that can be resolved (Otherwise I'd be crying right about now) But it's still a bit of a hassle.

So, I'm using a stratocaster tremolo, right?

And you guys know that the depth of the tremolo block is 1" 3/4?

Right, now here's where it gets good.

Ok, so being a thinking man, I made absolutely sure that I'd have enough room for the tremolo system in there.

Alright, go ahead and guess what my body thickness is!

Yeah, it's 1" 3/4.

Well, at least it's not thinner than the block, I suppose.

So yeah, the end of my tremolo block is perfectly flush with the body.

This is rather worrying, because I'm thinking that once I get the springs and all that stuff in there, that I might not be able to fit the cover on very well.

So, in order to make room, I'm thinking that either I have to get a veneer and put it on (If I do this, I'll probably get an ash veneer and hope that it blends well), or I can make the cover thicker than usual, and cut some of it out, to ensure that there is enough room.

Any other suggestions would be awesome if you had them.

I'll try to get some pictures up in a bit, if I can find the USB cord for my camera.

[Xanthus]

I've known of people filing their blocks down. Perhaps this is an option? Provided that the spring attachment holes are still there when you're done filing, but I suppose they can be redrilled.

It seems odd, though, that Fender would make a block that is exactly the thickness of the guitar, seeing as they've been around for a good half century and all. I'm sure you've measured and remeasured, but I still feel that you're missing part of the picture. What type of trem is this, and is it going to be sitting flush against the body? Keep in mind that you're going to be sanding down the guitar as you go along, as well as covering it with paint, so the thickness will fluctuate a bit.

But something seems off...

Don't get a veneer and hope that it'll match, because it invariably won't. Just work with what you have right now.

[Jack3643]

If you absolutely have to put a veneer on the guitar, try putting the veneer on the back rather than the front. Probably won't be so noticable there, especially if you're going to paint the sides and back.

Rock on

[Geo]

Invert that headstock, brotha! You got a great "off-kilter" Fender vibe going, and the flipped headstock matches perfectly.

[Korrow]

Hah!

I bet you thought you'd heard the last of me!

I've been busy with school lately, but I managed to squeeze in a little time to get some work done.

So what exactly did I do?

Well, I started off by getting the truss rod cavity in.

The truss rod fits nicely inside

I also got the holes drilled in the headstock for the tuners (which just arrived today, along with some cheap GFS pickups!)

The tuners went in pretty well, once I realized that I was after 9/16" and not 5/8"

And another of the tuners because they're beautiful.

That brings us up to now.

Time permitting, I'm planning on drilling some holes so that the pickup wires have someplace to go, as well as fix a minor screw up on the humbucker pickup cavity. After that, I'm going to start shaping the neck.

[EDIT]

Oh, and I've got a new host, yet again.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8146013@N05/

Hopefully this one will be a bit more permanent.

[EDIT 2]

Oh yeah, and sorry guys, but no reverse headstock on this one, I would have, but I couldn't find the tuners I wanted for a lefty guitar.

Edited June 4, 2008 by Korrow