Homebuilt guitar take two, critiques welcome!

metalhead28 said:
Yep, Tru Oil is exactly what I used.
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OK, good stuff.

Just as a point of interest. Tru oil makes a good base for other finishes should you want to go on top of it at a later date. You can also sand and re-coat in a few years time no problem if you want to liven it up. It also looks good under a few coats of shellac as a fake french polish.

A lot of very good makers use tru oil on occasion. I do and I like it a lot for what it is.
 
Levelled and crowned the frets this weekend.
I bought a decent straight edge, and the "fret rocker" from Stew Mac along with a fret levelling file, crowning file, and a few other items.
Had to do a very slight truss rod tweak to strighten the neck...seemed to be as straight as possible. After that I had some high spots, but I was suprised at how quickly I was able to level the frets. After crowning, I can find no high or low spots with the fret rocker, the frets look great and I really feel pretty confident with my work...I wasn't sure if I would or not.

I also did some more routing to adjust for the pickup heights (damn that SD '59 pickup is deep!), shaped the nut and a few other little things.
My nut files should be here any day and I'll be down to the finishing touches!
 
Got my nut files, just did some starter slots so that I could string it up.

It's not set up yet, but well enough to play it a little. I was impressed by the sound, it really sings. I expect this to have some great tone once it's wired!

Here's another pathetically amateur picture. :D
 

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metalhead28 said:
Got my nut files, just did some starter slots so that I could string it up.

It's not set up yet, but well enough to play it a little. I was impressed by the sound, it really sings. I expect this to have some great tone once it's wired!

Here's another pathetically amateur picture. :D
Click to expand...

That white strap reflected all the light back into the camera.

Set it up against a neutral wall or with a sheet behind it.With the effort you've put into that guitar it deserves better.
 
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Great work for your first build.

Just some observations.........if you look at the first pic in post #20 you'll see where the light highlight/reflection is just above the p/ups, there are two points where there's a bit of a bump, using your thumb, run it along that area and see if you can feel the variation in the contour line, if you can, then on your next build use that technique to check your shaping.

Creating continuity in the contouring is critical, the ultimate aim is to have a sense of flow across the whole surface, actually, that sense of flow or connectivity should extend throughout the whole instrument. Not wanting to impose but the surface contouring in this pic may give you some ideas.........

:cool:
 

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hey metalhead, i was just wondering how long it took to make your guitar? i'm 15 and i want to see if i can like use a kit for now to see the basics of building a guitar (minus the hours of making the body, neck, etc) for now...and i liked the way your guitar came out...this would be my first attempt, i was aiming to build around late july-early september...and was wondering if there's like any tips, general guidelines, or umm just suggestions of what type of materieals to buy or where to buy them...thanks.
 
AntScars said:
hey metalhead, i was just wondering how long it took to make your guitar? i'm 15 and i want to see if i can like use a kit for now to see the basics of building a guitar (minus the hours of making the body, neck, etc) for now...and i liked the way your guitar came out...this would be my first attempt, i was aiming to build around late july-early september...and was wondering if there's like any tips, general guidelines, or umm just suggestions of what type of materieals to buy or where to buy them...thanks.
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I probably have 150+ hours in it. But being a first timer, it took me a while.

You should just order some books on the subject and really familiarize yourself with the task before you decide to jump into it. That's what I did.
My materials were all from online sources like Stewart MacDonald, or from a local Woodcraft store.
 
metalhead28 said:
I probably have 150+ hours in it. But being a first timer, it took me a while.

You should just order some books on the subject and really familiarize yourself with the task before you decide to jump into it. That's what I did.
My materials were all from online sources like Stewart MacDonald, or from a local Woodcraft store.
Click to expand...

wow, that didnt look like a first timer's guitar...or at least thats not what i envision a first timer's to look like...cause it looks really good, at least from my persepctive. i'm still deciding on like what books to buy, and or read from the library(if they have them)...and then what products to buy for the guitar itself. just a quick question, did you make the body, or order it online? thats the main thing i've been debating about...like how much time the whole carving part will take, and how much skill is involved in that. hopefully when i make mine it'll look half as good as yours. :)
 
AntScars said:
wow, that didnt look like a first timer's guitar...or at least thats not what i envision a first timer's to look like...cause it looks really good, at least from my persepctive. i'm still deciding on like what books to buy, and or read from the library(if they have them)...and then what products to buy for the guitar itself. just a quick question, did you make the body, or order it online? thats the main thing i've been debating about...like how much time the whole carving part will take, and how much skill is involved in that. hopefully when i make mine it'll look half as good as yours. :)
Click to expand...

Oh no, everything is made from scratch.
 
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