I'm building a new guitar

muttley600 said:
Video? Sound clips?

I'm trying to put some together for the HR Build. Thats nearly there right now as well.
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I just strung it up late last night, and did a quick setup. I still need to finish filing the nut, and dial in the intonation, but I can't put it down long enough. :o I'll get some clips soon.

What did you use for pick-guard plastic? I like the flat look on that.
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The black single ply material from stewmac is polished on one side, and matte on the other. I used the flat side for some contrast. Everything else on the guitar was gloss.

My parts drawer is starting to look pretty empty. For this one I had to buy a tone pot, and three mini switches.
 
The parts showed up for the bass today. It's going together nicely. As I was hoping, oiling the fingerboard darkened it.:thumbs up:
 
I haven't had much time to mess with this thing lately as I've been busy working for a nice change.

This is a router jig inspired by muttley. I want to take my building to the next step, and this will help. I'll have time this weekend, I hope to make some major progress. It's going to be a Telemaster. Tele hardware, in a J'mstr form.


 
Followed through most of the thread. Very inspiring. I'm currently working on a refinish as my first project; from fire engine red to burled walnut. I'm learning a lot.

Next project I'm piecing together a body and neck kit from GuitarFetish. Then for the project after that, I intend to buy a body blank and cut my own shape. Baby steps for me, I ain't ready to fashion a neck on my own. I'll keep buying necks. :o

Thanks for sharing your work.
 
Chili said:
Followed through most of the thread. Very inspiring. I'm currently working on a refinish as my first project; from fire engine red to burled walnut. I'm learning a lot.

Next project I'm piecing together a body and neck kit from GuitarFetish. Then for the project after that, I intend to buy a body blank and cut my own shape. Baby steps for me, I ain't ready to fashion a neck on my own. I'll keep buying necks. :o

Thanks for sharing your work.
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Thanks Man!
Kit's are a great way to get your feet wet without spending a load of money on tools. You can hone your skills on things like fretwork, electronics, assembly, and finishing. In the end you'll usually have a nice guitar to add to your collection.

I take baby steps too, but I'm aiming to take it to a new level. The Telmaster that I'm making now is my first chambered guitar. I'll soon have my bandsaw adapted to re-saw material wide enough to make a guitar top. I'm practicing inlays and binding, and dedicating tools to them. I really want to kick it up a notch.

Meanwhile back at the Ranch. I got a bunch done on the new one. The red tele thing in the beginning of this thread I ended up giving to my Son. He really liked it, and I'd just built his Sis a bass so I let him have it. This is going to replace it.

I glued the neck in right after I snapped these pictures. I was undecided on how to do the sound hole, and had several ideas, but when it came down to it I really didn't know what I wanted, and just started drawing. When I hit on this I knew I had what I was looking for.



The neck is still pretty rough. I like to finish shaping them after they're in the body, but you can see how I did the neck taper, and tenon.
 
JCH said:
........................... I'll soon have my bandsaw adapted to re-saw material wide enough to make a guitar top.........................
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Do tell. I may have some ideas or input depending on what machine you.... Always looking for new ways to re-saw accurately and quickly. After 30 years I still come back to eyeballing and setting the cut but hand....

That f hole looks familiar....:confused::guitar:
 
muttley600 said:
Do tell. I may have some ideas or input depending on what machine you.... Always looking for new ways to re-saw accurately and quickly. After 30 years I still come back to eyeballing and setting the cut by hand....
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Cool, I'd appreciate the input. What's a good blade for re-saw? I'm think 1/2" X 4tpi.

That f hole looks familiar....:confused::guitar:
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I'm sorry if I nicked one of your designs. It wasn't intentional.
 
JCH said:
Cool, I'd appreciate the input. What's a good blade for re-saw? I'm think 1/2" X 4tpi.
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I depends largely on what the depth of cut and how clean you want it as well as the timber and the power of the motor. I use a finer cut and go slowly. The biggest problem with rigid set ups for a bandsaw is stopping the kerf from bowing. Thats why I still cut by hand and feel freehand.

I'm sorry if I nicked one of your designs. It wasn't intentional.
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Wasn't suggesting that was one of mine. There really is no truly original f hole design left. You'd be welcome to crib anything I've done anyway..:)

That one looks like some of the schecter stuff.

DV016_Jpg_Large_H70192.002_metallic_red_reverse_burst.jpg
 
DUDE!!

That Bass Looks Awesome.

I started one before I got sick. I hope to get back to it soon
 
muttley600 said:
I depends largely on what the depth of cut and how clean you want it as well as the timber and the power of the motor. I use a finer cut and go slowly. The biggest problem with rigid set ups for a bandsaw is stopping the kerf from bowing. Thats why I still cut by hand and feel freehand.
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I've learned that from just habitually cutting from the same direction all of the time that you will lose the set from the teeth more from one side of the blade than the other. This will cause it to want to wander to the side that has the better set, and make it difficult to cut straight. If you're trying to re-saw a wide piece in a fixed guide and getting "bow", this might have something to do with it.

I've got a 14" cast iron frame band saw. It's a Rigid brand. It's identical to the saw they sell at Grizzly. It will cut to slightly more than a 6" depth now. I plan to make five shims from some 1/2" plate steel to raise it to a total cut of 8 1/2". There is a riser block kit available for the saw, but it raises it a full six inches. I don't need that much, and logic tells me that the saw will be more stable with less of a rise, so 2 1/2 it'll be for now. The kit isn't cheap either, so I'll be saving some money.

Making a deep cut that's greater than 6" or so in my thinking would require a blade with the teeth far apart, and a big gullet to clear away the sawdust. I go to a guy that buys bulk, and custom welds all of his blades so getting the longer blades won't be a problem. I'll see what he recommends.

Milnoque said:
DUDE!!

That Bass Looks Awesome.
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Thanks Man!
Thanks for your help on that one. She really likes it, and has been gigging with it.

I started one before I got sick. I hope to get back to it soon
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Wow, I didn't know you were ill. Big bummer there. I hope you're feeling better. Take care of yourself, it's the only one you've got.

How far did you get with your guitar?

I'm going to build another bass soon. It'll be a figured walnut top, on a chambered maple body, maple neck, maple board. I'm leaning towards a body shaped similar to this.
simon_gallup_bass_2247.jpg
 
JCH said:
I've learned that from just habitually cutting from the same direction all of the time that you will lose the set from the teeth more from one side of the blade than the other. This will cause it to want to wander to the side that has the better set, and make it difficult to cut straight. If you're trying to re-saw a wide piece in a fixed guide and getting "bow", this might have something to do with it.

I've got a 14" cast iron frame band saw. It's a Rigid brand. It's identical to the saw they sell at Grizzly. It will cut to slightly more than a 6" depth now. I plan to make five shims from some 1/2" plate steel to raise it to a total cut of 8 1/2". There is a riser block kit available for the saw, but it raises it a full six inches. I don't need that much, and logic tells me that the saw will be more stable with less of a rise, so 2 1/2 it'll be for now. The kit isn't cheap either, so I'll be saving some money.

Making a deep cut that's greater than 6" or so in my thinking would require a blade with the teeth far apart, and a big gullet to clear away the sawdust. I go to a guy that buys bulk, and custom welds all of his blades so getting the longer blades won't be a problem. I'll see what he recommends.
Click to expand...

Personally I think it has more to do with what you are cutting. I cut a lot of figured boards and they will direct the cut if you don't go slow and allow the kerf to find its way. I have an old butchers bandsaw that will take a 3/4" blade and a 12" throat. On that I use a 6tpi blade. I also have a Startrite Bandit that will take a 1/2" and I will use a finer blade on that for finer cuts. All my blades are made to order and I change them frequently as they not only snag and drift when dull but will burn deeper cuts. The other thing that is essential is to get the tension right for the job in hand. It's the set on the teeth that allow the teeth to cut a kerf that will clear and not clog. A wider cut with fewer teeth generates more waste and bigger dust.

I've tried rigid setups but they never seem to be quicker even when I want to do a load of boards. I've been re-saywing boards for so long now I can cut a line pretty true and straight.
 
muttley600 said:
Personally I think it has more to do with what you are cutting. I cut a lot of figured boards and they will direct the cut if you don't go slow and allow the kerf to find its way. I have an old butchers bandsaw that will take a 3/4" blade and a 12" throat. On that I use a 6tpi blade. I also have a Startrite Bandit that will take a 1/2" and I will use a finer blade on that for finer cuts. All my blades are made to order and I change them frequently as they not only snag and drift when dull but will burn deeper cuts. The other thing that is essential is to get the tension right for the job in hand. It's the set on the teeth that allow the teeth to cut a kerf that will clear and not clog. A wider cut with fewer teeth generates more waste and bigger dust.

I've tried rigid setups but they never seem to be quicker even when I want to do a load of boards. I've been re-saywing boards for so long now I can cut a line pretty true and straight.
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Once I get it set up, I plan to experiment some before I cut into anything I wouldn't want to ruin. I want to do it soon because this guitar is almost to the finishing stage, and I'm anxious to begin something else that involves a re-sawn top.

I made some progress, and routed for pickups, control cavity, finished the neck taper, and started to prep for the finish.

 
muttley600 said:
Personally I think it has more to do with what you are cutting. I cut a lot of figured boards and they will direct the cut if you don't go slow and allow the kerf to find its way. I have an old butchers bandsaw that will take a 3/4" blade and a 12" throat. On that I use a 6tpi blade. I also have a Startrite Bandit that will take a 1/2" and I will use a finer blade on that for finer cuts. All my blades are made to order and I change them frequently as they not only snag and drift when dull but will burn deeper cuts. The other thing that is essential is to get the tension right for the job in hand. It's the set on the teeth that allow the teeth to cut a kerf that will clear and not clog. A wider cut with fewer teeth generates more waste and bigger dust.

I've tried rigid setups but they never seem to be quicker even when I want to do a load of boards. I've been re-saywing boards for so long now I can cut a line pretty true and straight.
Click to expand...



Another cool thing about wide spacing of teeth, is that they are so much easier to (reset the set), and easier to sharpen the teeth.
I usually use these for deepening the gullet, and putting a razor edge on all my blades.:


carbide burrs

And these:


carbide burrs


Since I have an OXY/ACET torch, I buy bulk blade stock, (Usually 1-1.3 TPI for re-sawing big logs), and build my own blades.:


Woodmaster B Bandsaw Blade Coil Stock - EXCEPTIONAL RESAW BLADE STOCK
 
Slowrider said:
Use the lowest TPI, and the widest your saw can handle.
1-1.3 TPI.
Such as these BiMetal blades:


Woodmaster B Bandsaw Blade Coil Stock - EXCEPTIONAL RESAW BLADE STOCK


There is cheaper stock than this, though.
I use an 18" vertical for heavy re-sawing.
Also have a 14" and 11" for finer work.
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I've been checking back at the metal supplier I go to, and am waiting for some scrap to happen that I can make riser blocks from. I hope I find some soon. My saw will take a blade width up to 3/4" so unfortunately the blade stock that you linked I can't use. I've yet to talk to my blade guy, so I haven't found out anything there. I've been away from town for a few days, but will be back on the tel this weekend.

While I was in the San Diego area I visited Tropical Exotic Hardwoods in Carlsbad CA. They have an amazing selection, but their prices are a little hard to swallow (call me Johnny Cheapskate), but I imagine I'll be back there when I have a project in mind.


Meanwhile, Here's the material for the next one in queue. It'll be another bass for my daughter. Walnut top, Chambered maple body, and I'm planning a one piece maple neck.
 
jimistone said:
Very nice work!
I learn a lot from threads like this. Thanks for sharing.
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Y/W, It's a learning process for me too. Every one I build teaches me more. I'm excited to be doing attached tops on chambered bodies. This opens new doors for me, and allows me to expand on the complexity of my guitars. My tastes are still that of a minimalist, but I'm learning more of the skills required.

I made some progress on the walnut/maple bass. The body is basically done, and today I'll be experimenting with one piece neck construction. The weather has also stabilized enough out here that I'll proceed with the finish on the telmaster. It's been really humid lately, and that's caused me problems before so I figured I'd wait it out.


 
I've started on the finish on the telmaster. My girlfriend wanted me to do it natural. I had planned to stain it, and to do a tobacco burst, but it's going to look pretty cool all on it's own.

No pictures yet, but I've begun making the one piece neck for the bass. I've never done one before, so I had to make the jig. It looks like it will work out well.







 
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