# First Foray Into Guitar Building



## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

A couple of months ago I dove into making a Stratocaster-type guitar. And I've learned a lot since then. Here's a few pics of the progress:
​ 







I took a 1/4" body template that I bought, made a 3/4" template and cut a body our from 8/4 figured sapele.









I then took a to-scale drawing of a '62 style neck and made a 1/4" template out of that. I also made templates for the back of neck shape at the 1st and 12th frets.









I made sure the neck template fit the pocket in the template.









After taking a piece of pine construction lumber and shaping a trial neck, I decided to use figured cherry to make the real neck. I had already made up a template with a piece of 4/4 QS maple.









I made a jig to take a fret template for cutting the fret slots. I used a blade specifically designed for cutting the slots.









After attempting to sand the radius into the fretboard, I decided to make a jig/sled to route the 12" radius. As long as you take small bites and take your time, it works great.









Next was to drill for the fret dots. I found I had purchased 5/16" diameter dots when I thought I had bought 1/4" dia. They won't work.









Rather than spend $125 on a fret bender, I made one. It does the job. The bottom rollers are from a screen door.









You get absolutely nothing when buying most guitar parts. So you have to wait until they arrive and figure it out yourself. These are Schaller tuners and require a stepped bit. Problem is they also require reaming the large hole to fully seat. (see above) You can't get the reamer all the way into the large hole because the smaller hole stops it. I had to scrape the inside of the hole to get the tuner to fully seat.









Right now I'm working on finishing the body. I made a "rotisserie" from some 2x6 lumber and a conduit bender handle. That way I can get all around the guitar without having to set it down.​ 
Today I'll be again working on the finish and getting the body ready for lacquer. I have to finish assembling a neck (I decided on a curly maple neck instead) and then shape it. The head and foot of the neck will be gloss lacquer. The back of the neck will be satin lacquer. And the fretboard (either ebony or cocobolo) will have a coating of fretboard finishing oil on it.

Still lots to do! :smile:


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## folkrock75 (Jan 13, 2014)

Dude that fret bender is genius - your homemade tools are really smart - as a guitar player and super newb to woodworking, I'm subscribing to this thread for inspiration


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## gomez11811 (Jul 29, 2012)

Looks like fun... Thanks for the pics!


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## knotscott (Nov 8, 2007)

Looks great so far. I really admire your willingness to do the neck yourself...I was too skeered! I also like the fret bender....very ingenious. :thumbsup: 

After all this effort, I hope you're looking into some good aftermarket pickups, and not the run of the mill pup kits from a $100 knock off guitar. It really makes a big difference in how the guitar sounds.


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## CNYWOODS (Apr 22, 2012)

Nice work. I've done way to many, both acoustic and electric. Even got a few into celebrity tour buses. Don't do them anymore but If you have any questions I'd be glad to share any tips or tricks.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

knotscott said:


> After all this effort, I hope you're looking into some good aftermarket pickups, and not the run of the mill pup kits from a $100 knock off guitar. It really makes a big difference in how the guitar sounds.


I've got two sets of pups right now. One is a set of Seymour Duncan Everything Axe and the other is taken from a Gilmour Black Strat build and has a Seymour Duncan SSL-5 Custom Staggered Bridge Pickup, Fender Custom Shop Custom '69 Middle Pickup and a Fender Custom Shop Fat '50s Neck Pickup. This guitar will get the latter.

As a woodworker, I'm finding I can't my love for a particular wood grain override tried and true woods used for particular parts of the guitar. The cherry neck is an example of that. It may have been beautiful, but it was an impractical choice for something that needs to be thin, sturdy and hold up under a lot of handling. I also made up some jatoba and cherry fretboards that most likely never be part of any guitar I build.

But it's all a learning experience and more fun than I have ever had woodworking.


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## Ted Tolstad (Feb 20, 2011)

Looks very good...will enjoy watching this one come together the rest of the way....


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

I started playing around with applying the shellac sealer. As I had applied alcohol-based dye, I wasn't surprised to see some of the dye come up with the shellac. I was prepared for that and had already tinted the shellac with dye. 

















​The pictures show yellow that I don't see under normal room lighting. Maybe it will be different in a sunlit room. 

In order to get some idea which fretboard I'll be using, I put on the pickguard assembly, jack plate and trem and took pictures of each of the three fretboard woods I felt were good candidates - ebony, cocobolo and maple.








None of the fretboards have any finish on them. All will be darker and richer in color. Here at home, ebony has been voted off the island. 
​I'm still in a quandary about how I'm going to spray the lacquer. Mother Nature isn't cooperating but it is January in Chicago, so I'm not expecting much help for a while. In the meantime, I got back to the neck...

The lack of any kind of reliable drawings really challenges anyone going into this. The vintage tuners are pretty straightforward, so long as you get them properly aligned. The German made tuners (Schaller and Fender American) are a bit trickier. They have alignment posts on the back instead of screws mounted on the back. 

I mentioned in an earlier post you can't buy a tapered reamer for stepped pegholes. Yesterday, I found I was wrong. I found them in the StewMac catalog. I have already made a sanding-type reamer that works OK. I had to turn a dowel on the lathe and then wrap it with PSA sandpaper. I had to guess on the taper when turning the dowel.

But the real challenge was making sure the holes for the tuner pins were in proper alignment. It's very easy to spin it off being perpendicular to the edge of the headstock and parallel to each other. I still haven't done that to my satisfaction. And yes, Stewie has a jig for that too. _(Twist my arm!)_

I did, however, get the drilling of the pegholes down pat.








I found the location for the top of the headstock to be butted against for drilling the first hole.









So I turned a dowel on the lathe to the exact size of the smaller diameter hole in the stepped hole and used that to set the spacing between successive holes. The hole to the left in the MDF is spaced the exact distance between the pegholes on the headstock. The arrow is where the drill bit sets. 









Perfect! By moving the pin to the newly drilled hole, it's easy to drill the rest of the holes.
​From there I took the neck to the bandsaw and cut just shy of the eventual 14mm thickness the headstock needs to be...








​Then on to the spindle sander to take it to 14mm. _(These two pics are from sample necks. These step would not normally be done until after the fretboard was glued on.)_








​
I used turner's tape to attach the block to the neck to keep the lines of the nut parallel to the sanding drum. I also found out you need to keep all the pressure against the fence, applied at the head. I placed my hand on the tail of the neck and, without realizing it, I had pulled the head into the drum and created a gouge.  You can't even touch any other part of the neck than the headstock if you don't want that to happen.

I rough-installed the tuners and they all fit snugly. I also checked string alignment (tangent off the tuner posts) and they all lined up very well with the anticipated location for each string. I'm feeling pretty confident about this part of the build.

Once we decide which fretboard to use, I'll glue it onto the neck and start shaping the back of the neck. I'm actually looking forward to this part. :smile:


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## MasterSplinter (Jan 12, 2013)

Damn That is awesome. Where did you get the templates?


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

MasterSplinter said:


> Damn That is awesome. Where did you get the templates?


I got the templates for the body from Ron Kirn. You can find his templates on eBay. But the neck pocket needs to be adjusted if you plan on buying pickguards for a Strat.

I had to make the neck template. I got plans for that and a lot of other stuff at GitarreBassBau.de 

You can make all the templates for a lot of different guitars from that website. Just make sure the plans are scaled 1:1 (full scale). I took the PDF files to Staples and had them make up full size plans. Then I made sure they matched the Kirn templates. That's when I found the discrepancy in the neck pocket. The plans matched the Strat-style pickguard I'm using.

The deeper I get into this project, the more I want to customize it, rather than make a clone. I'm already thinking of modifying the headstock. I guess that's what happens once you dive into something like this. ​


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

The point of no return!

This was hard for me. I've been so afraid I'd forget something that it's taken me several days to do this. But now it's done. I first applied silicone sealant in the truss rod slot (just a dab top, middle & bottom), inserted the truss rod, cleaned up the excess and let it cure overnight. This morning I checked to make sure the parts that are supposed to move actually do.

To make sure I got everything aligned correctly, I drove in two small brad nails, on at either end and on different sides of the truss rod, and cut them off. Then I filed a point on them and aligned the fretboard and pressed it down on the neck, leaving two small impressions in the fretboard.







​ 
Then it was time for the glue-up.








I placed a piece of tape over the truss rod so I wouldn't get any glue in there.









I used the radius beam for a gluing caul. And now it's done. No going back... 
​I'm going to shape and sand the neck before spraying lacquer on the body so I can do both at the same time. It's 1 degree today and it's going to stay in single digits for almost a week, so there will be no spraying outside. Still trying to decide how that work will get done.


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## rbk123 (Jan 10, 2013)

Although you used tape to prevent getting glue on the rod, when you clamped it did you risk squeezing glue onto the rod (I assume you removed the tape prior to the clamping)?

Fascinating build thread; very very cool.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

While I did my best not to overload the joint with glue, I also didn't want it glue-starved. So there's a chance the glue worked its way into the truss channel. But I checked the operation of the truss rod and it works fine. And yes, I did remove the tape before gluing. :thumbsup:

I started the shaping just after the last post. First step was to get an approximate shape where the headstock and neck meet. I used a rasp to rough it down.







​
Once I had that roughed in, I took out the spokeshave. It's much faster and doesn't leave marks.







​
When I had the neck pretty much shaped and sanded, I looked at it and something that's been nagging me for a while came to the surface. *All I've been doing is making a clone.* Outside of the woods used, nothing was from my imagination. It was going to be just another copy. And that bothered me.

So I went to the bandsaw with a neck that is 95% complete and began cutting.  I didn't take out one of the many practice pieces I had. I took the almost finished neck. It was late. I was tired. I should have walked away but I knew this was inevitable.

The newly cut headstock compared to how it started:







​
I liked the shape but knew I had to do something to beef up the headstock so it could take the string tension. I had been thinking how I could incorporate sapele into the headstock to tie it into the body. Now I had the opportunity. Or should I say the need? :laughing: But I first had to make templates and match the joints perfectly for profiling and glue-up.







​Getting those two pieces to match perfectly was a lot of work! :sweatdrop:

I then took a piece of sapele from the same stock as the body and rough cut it on the bandsaw. Then I profiled it on the router and did a test fit.







​The lines are different shapes I was experimenting with to finish off the headstock. The red pencil mark is the original shape. Nothing was working for me.

After sleeping on it, I think I just need to stick with the original shape. It fits the body and provides the necessary support for string tension. The different woods will hopefully fool the eye away from being just another clone and the sapele will tie in the maple head with the body.


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## Al B Thayer (Dec 10, 2011)

folkrock75 said:


> Dude that fret bender is genius - your homemade tools are really smart - as a guitar player and super newb to woodworking, I'm subscribing to this thread for inspiration


That's dudet.

Al

Nails only hold themselves.


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## Al B Thayer (Dec 10, 2011)

Julie you have got a set! What a great build. Love the fixture work too. Wish we were neighbors.

Al

Nails only hold themselves.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

Yesterday I glued up the piece of sapele to the trimmed headstock. Once it was set, I again began the headstock shaping process. It still needs some final sanding but here is how it looks with a little mineral spirits to bring out the grain:









Even my SO, who usually only provides constructive criticism :glare:, loved it. The sapele was the right choice and I like how the contrasting colors break up the light maple color. Though I still kept the traditional '62 headstock shape, it works with the traditional body.

I did all the soldering yesterday, except the jack. I routed a small slot in the pickguard to take a switch (circled in red) I added that will activate the neck pickup, regardless of where the 5-way switch is.









I had to make a bracket to recess the switch because I couldn't justify paying $30 for a pre-made one. That was a little tricky and by the time I was done I was wondering if it would have been worth the $30. :blink: 

I'm getting close to spraying the finish but Ma Nature isn't getting close to providing the weather that would enable me to spray outside. *We're heading for a* *record -18* in the next 24 hours. Where's global warming when you need it?​


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

I kinda threw it together to see if I'm on the right track...


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

Time to do the fretwire...

I wanted to clip the tang back a bit so it won't show once installed. I'm going to lay some cocobolo dust in the slots on the sides and dab a drop of superglue on it to finish the edges.






​
I cleaned the fretwire with acetone then ran it through my homemade bender to put a radius bend on it. 

In all the videos I've seen, the luthier cuts all the fret wires and lays them out or puts them in a holder that has numbers on it to correspond to which fret it is. I decided to tap the ends in on each one then take them to the press. 








The black "pliers" are tang nippers.
​I found a sand-filled bag in the garage my older son left from working on his '72 Mustang and used that for supporting the neck during the press-in. I started with a 7.5" radius insert, then finished with a 12" radius. The bag was iffy. You have to set the neck firmly in place but the sand still moves under pressure.








​After all the fretwires were pressed in place, I took a file and went over the edges until the file just kissed the wood. Then I finished each fret with a small fret end file.







I'm thinkin' I might actually have myself a gee-tar one day. 
​The neck bowed back a bit but not enough to cause concern. I'm guessing the string tension will pull it back pretty easily. There's a nice .005" fall off just after the 15th fret. It's all looking pretty good so far.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

The progress on the guitar is on hold until supplies come in. But I did get the pearl side dots installed and the fret cuts filled in.






​ ​The pearl side dots required more precision than the front dots. The drill bit depth needed is so minute you have to stop drilling almost as soon as the bit hits the wood. I had to use tweezers to hold them over the hole then use another tool to push them into the hole.

I've been preparing to make a pearl inlay for the logo on the headstock but I'm just too inexperienced at the moment to tackle that for this guitar. What I wanted to do was lay the logo half way along the line of the two woods and have the top half be dark and the bottom pearl. I just don't know what material I could use for the top. I haven't found any black pearl for inlay use. So for now, I'll probably just go with a waterslide decal so I can get it together and see how it sounds.


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## Wema826 (Jul 22, 2012)

Awesome build! for the logo you said you are looking for something dark to use in the maple head stock? have you considered using metal? something like a bronze, I would think that you could get a small sheet of an oil rubbed variety. I think it would be a good contrast between the woods and pearl as well as the light and dark.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

Wema826 said:


> Awesome build! for the logo you said you are looking for something dark to use in the maple head stock? have you considered using metal? something like a bronze, I would think that you could get a small sheet of an oil rubbed variety. I think it would be a good contrast between the woods and pearl as well as the light and dark.


John, I thought about metal but, based on how I planned to cut the logo, I'd have to use metal for both the top (maple) and bottom (sapele) half of the logo because I'm thinking stacking pearl on top of metal and trying to find a blade that will cut both materials cleanly would be difficult, at best. The inlay blades I have are very thin. The blade would probably break.







​ Inlay blade on left (kerf and blade width are the same), standard coping saw blade on right​
My plans are to stack both materials, one on top of the other, and cut them together. That way I'd have a perfect match. I've never attempted this before, I've only seen it done. So I'm only guessing at this point.


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## Mystic93 (Feb 7, 2014)

*Yes, please*



CNYWOODS said:


> Nice work. I've done way to many, both acoustic and electric. Even got a few into celebrity tour buses. Don't do them anymore but If you have any questions I'd be glad to share any tips or tricks.


I would like to take you up on your offer, concerning electric bodies.
Is there a jog to make certain that the distance from the bridge is correct? I believe that it is the same distance from the nut to the 12th fret, and from the bridge to the 12th fret. On my SG knockoff, it is 12 1/2 inches. Thank you in advance!
Tim


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

Two days spraying, six coats on...







​ 
Three more tomorrow. Then one final coat 50/50 lacquer & thinner. And then comes the wait... 3-4 weeks for the finish to cure before buffing.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

Mystic93 said:


> I would like to take you up on your offer, concerning electric bodies.
> Is there a jog to make certain that the distance from the bridge is correct? I believe that it is the same distance from the nut to the 12th fret, and from the bridge to the 12th fret. On my SG knockoff, it is 12 1/2 inches. Thank you in advance!
> Tim


The distance from the nut to the bridge is your scale. Then the 5th, 12th and 24th frets mark 1/4 points along the scale. So the 12th fret is the halfway point.


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## Al B Thayer (Dec 10, 2011)

Julie
Maybe this was covered but what kind of lacquer are you using, and what are you spraying with?

Al

Nails only hold themselves.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

Al B Thayer said:


> Julie
> Maybe this was covered but what kind of lacquer are you using, and what are you spraying with?
> 
> Al


Hi Al. I'm using Behlen Stringed Instrument Lacquer with a Fuji Super 3 HVLP system an an XPC gun. Prior to this, everything I've done in lacquer has been with Min Wax spray cans. :huh:

Actually, I really like this product. Prior to this, I was apprehensive about spraying lacquer with my gun. But this has been going so smoothly I'm feeling pretty good about it.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

This morning I was greeted by a dry-to-the-touch guitar body and neck. I still have a bit of work to do on the neck finish, like flatten the decal and some more coats, but I couldn't resist giving her a photo shoot. :thumbsup:






















Everything is just laying in place. I didn't try to put the tuner bushings in - lacquer in the holes.









I didn't try to fully seat the tuners. Don't want any tragedies at this stage.
​I have to make the nut, level the frets and then, in a month or so, buff it out. Then I'll be ready for the tour. :laughing:


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## Al B Thayer (Dec 10, 2011)

Bumping the thread. What's going on? Ripping on a blues lic or did Eddie Van stop buy to put in an order? 

Al

Nails only hold themselves.


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## Bluesssman (Jan 31, 2014)

*Gorgeous work!*

I am glad you bumped this thread. The work is fantastic! I am a blues player and am most impressed with your work. PLEASE, lots more pictures and information!!!!

Gary


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

Al B Thayer said:


> Bumping the thread. What's going on? Ripping on a blues lic or did Eddie Van stop buy to put in an order?
> 
> Al


We've been in session. The new cuts should be out soon. :laughing:

Back to reality... :huh:

I have to wait for the lacquer to cure. A couple of days ago I did the copper shielding in the body cavity. I used a Fender brand foam cushion to set the body on and while I was working the shielding into all the nooks and crannies, As I was going along, I'd spin the body around on the foam. For some reason I stopped to see if I was scratching the bottom of the body. I flipped it over and, sure enough, there were all these scratches from spinning it on the foam. It's not a problem because they will all be sanded and buffed out, but it told me the lacquer still needs to cure some more. And it also told me that foam is *NOT* good for the finish. 

So I put it back in the holder and it's sitting on a table in the family room. The basement is too cold.








It looks like some sort of a shrine. 

But you can't keep a good woman down.









In my continuing effort to ward off cabin fever...









Rad Axe #2 has begun. :yes:​ 









Curly maple body​ 









Ebony fretboard with abalone dots. Headstock glue-in is walnut (dyed red).​ 
I've also made up templates for both a jazz and P-bass. It's for my SO who has been taking forever to decide on the specifics, despite my nagging.

















I'm going to modify the headstock. I'm getting close to having a design I like and that will be on any other guitars or basses I make from here on out. This is too much fun to stop now. :smile:

If anyone is interested, I can post the pics of the new build.​


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## BassBlaster (Nov 21, 2010)

Yes please post the build!! I dont know a darn thing about playing or making guitars but I love your build. You have some amazing talent!:thumbsup:


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

BassBlaster said:


> Yes please post the build!! I dont know a darn thing about playing or making guitars but I love your build. You have some amazing talent!:thumbsup:


Thank you!

I used to think there was a magical, mysterious talent one needed to have to build a guitar that could only be learned from a luthier. That may be partially true for acoustic guitars but for solid body, electric guitars, I don't believe it is. But there are some guitar-specific tools that really help. And patience can be your friend too.

For the 2nd build, I decided to plan it around a pre-loaded pickguard I bought for the first one that just didn't work with the sapele.








​ I bought the trem for my son's guitar but the two-post interfered with his pickguard. I knew I would build another guitar so I kept the parts.

I figured I needed to start with a curly maple body and I liked the black-dye-sand-back effect. I'll experiment with bursting it with a red dye.

Here's the plan:


Curly maple two-piece body
Curly maple neck
Ebony fretboard
Black dye, sanded back in the center but left untouched on the perimeter - kind of a burst effect
Bright red dye over the sanded back part
Headstock will be like the first (two piece) with a walnut insert.
Shellac sealer & Behlen instrument lacquer finish in gloss everywhere but the back of the neck, which will be satin finished.
No finish on the fretboard but it will be polished to Micro Mesh 12000
Chrome hardware
Hot Rod spoke nut truss rod
Copper tape shielding
Seymour Duncan Everything Axe pups with a neck-activate switch and tone bleed circuit
Red pearloid pickguard
Q-parts chrome/black pearloid knobs
Schaller locking tuners
Fender American trem with 4-1/4" trem arm and black handle
Medium/higher (0.92 wide, 0.48 crown) nickel-silver fretwire
White pearl fretboard dots & side dots
Black Tusq nut
Strings will probably be 10-46 GHS Boomers
Now for the pics:​







Glued up and waiting for planing









Through the drum sander









Rough cut on the bandsaw









Shaped on the router table



















Marking the centers. Can't forget that!









Double-sided tape applied to the body. New neck template made.









Routing template taped to body. Newly routed maple neck fitted.









My preferred tool for clearing out the body cavities. I know most hog out the middle with forstner bits but my drill press can't reach into the middle of the body.









Except for the neck pocket rout, this setup does a great job picking up the waste.









I take small passes. It's only a 1/4" shank but it goes pretty quick.









5/8" for the neck pocket









The upper line is for the pickups, the lower line for the switches and jack. I have to reach 1-3/8" to just clear the 5-way switch. I'll probably go 1-1/2" but I'll need a longer bit. It's on order.
​


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

The slot cutting jig with a maple fretboard.









Jig for routing a 12" radius on the ebony fretboard.









After a few passes with a sanding beam.









It will still need some fine tuning but that will be done after it's glued to the neck.









Fitting the dual rod spoke wheel truss rod.









Squaring up the end.​ 








I routed out for the spoke wheel, cut the opening in the fretboard and grooved the center to accommodate the barrel of the spoke wheel.









As I learned from Fletch, drive a couple of nails and clip off the ends, file them down and use them to locate the fretboard exactly for the glue-up.









Everything is fitted properly. I sanded the spoke wheel opening in the fretboard smooth before glue-up.

















Ready for glue-up.









I use a radius beam for the clamping caul.​


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

I cut the headstock. I'm going to do the same thing I did on the last one.









I dyed a piece of walnut to see if I could get that look for the headstock. I'm thinking it will work. 









I glued on the piece of walnut and sketched some possible shapes for the headstock. I was stuck with the top part on the maple. There was no room for cutting it down because of the tuner locations.









I took the line that gave me the most to work with and then used a rasp to cut a bevel on the bottom edge.









I tried to taper the bevel so it was cut deepest at the point and shallowest as you moved away. The bevel got full approval here







so when I cut the headstock down to .60", I'll do the bevel again.









The new headstock with the ebony fretboard.









I used abalone dots on both the top and sides. I also leveled the fretboard, allowing a .005" fall-away after the 15th fret. Then I used Micro Mesh to polish the wood to 12000 grit. It works great on shell but every wood reacts differently. 









This is about as buffed as I can get it. I'm finding after you buff bare wood, it tends to fade pretty quickly with handling.









Here I'm just beginning the process of shaping the back of the neck. On the first one I used a large rasp to do the roughing out. This one I found I prefer a spokeshave. I have one with a flat bottom and one with a radiused bottom. The flat one I set to cut aggressively and the other one to thin shavings.









A closeup of the headstock. After I sanded to thickness (.60") I realized _*I FORGOT TO DRILL OUT THE PEGHOLES!!!!!*_:wallbash:_That should have been done even before the fretboard was glued on! _The jig I made will have to be modified now.

​


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

The finished neck.









A closeup of the abalone side dots.

Next is finishing the routing on the body. I need a break so today I'm doing some CAD work. I want to finalize a headstock shape and I have to make some templates for some of the parts, particularly the two-post trem. I haven't found anything online that gives you routing or drilling drawings for that tremolo and nothing comes with it when you buy it. :huh:​


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## Al B Thayer (Dec 10, 2011)

Thanks for the response. Waiting for paint to dry. Ugh. I would have to put it far and away to keep me from messing with it. Patient with certain things but not so much in the wood shop. Guess I proved it with my post. 

Al

Nails only hold themselves.


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## Bluesssman (Jan 31, 2014)

*Wow!!!*

I am so enjoying this tread and your build of a beautiful guitar!!!

Gary


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

This morning I finished routing out the front cavities. 









Because of this








I had to rout the switch/pots cavity deeper, but just under the switch.









The trem pocket routed out









That little space between the pencil marks is all you have separating the pup cavity and the trem cavity.









Trem cavity is done

And the direction the build is going...








I'm using a short trem arm for this build. It's a David Gilmour thing :notworthy:​


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## Al B Thayer (Dec 10, 2011)

Julie
Are you using a fixture for all the router work or do you free hand some of them? 

Al

Nails only hold themselves.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

Al B Thayer said:


> Julie
> Are you using a fixture for all the router work or do you free hand some of them?
> 
> Al


I make templates of everything Al. I start with 1/4" MDF then make 3/4" MDF templates from that. The 1/4" are the queen bees.  Once made, their only purpose is to make new 3/4" templates.


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## Al B Thayer (Dec 10, 2011)

Julie Mor said:


> I make templates of everything Al. I start with 1/4" MDF then make 3/4" MDF templates from that. The 1/4" are the queen bees.  Once made, their only purpose is to make new 3/4" templates.


I figured. I love building fixtures but haven't put a lot of time in making router templates. Mostly because I don't completely understand the math. 

Also, please except my apology for not expressing how impressed I am with the ax. Got caught up in the picks, build and questions. Too darn bad we aren't neighbors.

Al

Nails only hold themselves.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

Please Al, no need for any apologies! :no: I'm just happy to see you here.

As for the templates, there's no math involved. There are a number of sources from which you can download full-sized drawings. I take those to to Staples and have them plot out 1:1 drawings. Then I cut them put and paste them to 1/4" MDF. The original cut and paste. :laughing: From there it's just a matter of removing everything outside the lines. Kinda reminds me of grade school. :icon_biggrin:


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## jigs-n-fixtures (Apr 28, 2012)

Al B Thayer said:


> I figured. I love building fixtures but haven't put a lot of time in making router templates. Mostly because I don't completely understand the math. Also, please except my apology for not expressing how impressed I am with the ax. Got caught up in the picks, build and questions. Too darn bad we aren't neighbors. Al Nails only hold themselves.


Al, the math isn't really that hard. Just remember to work using the radius of the bit and bushing when calculating the offsets.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Julie, you have found your niche*

Hang up the side cutters and electrical tape and just build those awesome guitars. I think your approach is great also, so methodical and precise! Thanks for joining here and posting your build. :yes:


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

Julie, I'm very impressed with your work. When you first joined the forum here I got the impression that you were just getting into woodworking (at least that's what I think I remember thinking). But you're either much more experienced than I led myself to believe or you're an incredible learner, because the work you're doing and the methods you're using are both quite impressive. You're obviously very talented and highly skilled.

Whether or not you're just getting into guitar building, it's more than obvious that you have the right skill set for it. I bow to your awesome work! Keep at it. As someone mentioned earlier, you have definitely found your niche :thumbsup:

Amazing work, Miss Mor. You've got some nice tools too!


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## Trav (May 30, 2011)

Julie Mor said:


> Please Al, no need for any apologies! :no: I'm just happy to see you here. As for the templates, there's no math involved. There are a number of sources from which you can download full-sized drawings. I take those to to Staples and have them plot out 1:1 drawings. Then I cut them put and paste them to 1/4" MDF. The original cut and paste. :laughing: From there it's just a matter of removing everything outside the lines. Kinda reminds me of grade school. :icon_biggrin:


Would you mind sharing your sources for the templates?


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## jigs-n-fixtures (Apr 28, 2012)

Ttharp said:


> Would you mind sharing your sources for the templates?


There is a telecaster forum. There are a few guys over there who have them as PDFs that they have posted. 

A google search will turn up a bunch of them.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

Chaincarver Steve said:


> Julie, I'm very impressed with your work. When you first joined the forum here I got the impression that you were just getting into woodworking (at least that's what I think I remember thinking). But you're either much more experienced than I led myself to believe or you're an incredible learner, because the work you're doing and the methods you're using are both quite impressive. You're obviously very talented and highly skilled.
> 
> Whether or not you're just getting into guitar building, it's more than obvious that you have the right skill set for it. I bow to your awesome work! Keep at it. As someone mentioned earlier, you have definitely found your niche :thumbsup:
> 
> Amazing work, Miss Mor. You've got some nice tools too!


Thank you for the kind words Steve. As for woodworking, I'd say I've been dabbling for a long time. I've made tables, cabinets and a few other things but nothing I did grabbed me until this. I don't know why. I'm just happy I found it because I'm not getting any younger. :smile:


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

I did the roundover on the body late yesterday and sanded it to 150 grit. It's a cloudless day today so this morning I put the body and neck in the sun to speed up the grain darkening process. Curious how the two looked side-by-side, I removed the still-curing body from its stand and took some pics.









Next is the arm and belly cuts. After I'm done sanding it, I may do the black dye today. I'm going NGR dye for this. I tried that on the first guitar and really liked the results.​
--------------------------------------------------------------​Sometimes you get tired of making dust and wearing a haz-mat suit (it seems like it) to protect yourself from the dust. And sometimes your basement is so cold you can't feel your fingers or toes. Today both applied. So I decided to put the edge tools, and me, to work. There's something peaceful and satisfying about working with hand tools.









I started with a jack plane on the arm cut.







​ The top pic was just after planing, the bottom pic after using a RO sander on it. It always amazes me how such a small area of wood grows to such a large shavings pile.

I then turned it over and used a spokeshave to make the belly cut.​






​ Edge tools really make the grain pop. 








​ I tried to get the grain to pop in this picture but I couldn't get it right. At least there's no dust flying around, yet.

The rest I'll have to take with a sander/grinder (ugh!). I can't get into the deep, curved areas with the spokeshave I have. At least now I can feel my fingers and toes...


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

After I finished the arm and belly cuts I _ASSUMED_ the Trans Fast dye I had was alcohol soluble. *WRONG!!! :furious:* I usually use Trans Tint dye but Woodcraft was out of black so I bought the Trans Fast powder. After I put it in the alcohol and mixed it, it looked pretty black and like it was mixed well. When I started to apply it to the body, there was almost no color. 

I cleaned it off the best I could, with alcohol, and waited for it to dry. Thankfully, when I applied the dye, now in H2O solution, the water broke down whatever dye powder was left behind.










The dark areas haven't yet dried.​ 






​ 
I've never tried this before, but I'm going to sand down the area that is typically "burst" and leave the black dye as is around the perimeter. I'm NOT going to make the perimeter black by spraying black tinted lacquer. I want all of the grain character to show, if possible.


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## Bastien (Apr 3, 2013)

Julie Mor said:


> Thank you for the kind words Steve. As for woodworking, I'd say I've been dabbling for a long time. I've made tables, cabinets and a few other things but nothing I did grabbed me until this. I don't know why. I'm just happy I found it because I'm not getting any younger. :smile:


It does say you're a senior member


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## Al B Thayer (Dec 10, 2011)

Julie
Finish schedule sounds like a good idea for the black. Did the dye raise the grain? I have used very little stain or dyes but I do play with different chemicals to change wood sometimes. Hate stain. I have to be beat me before I use it. Or get paid a lot. 

Al

Nails only hold themselves.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

I've read many times to wet the wood, knock down the fuzzies to prevent further grain raising. *MY* wood doesn't follow those rules. So I skip the grain raising part and just slather on the dye and deal with it. Maple gets some high marks for raised grain with waterborne products.

While doing the sand-back part of the process, I ended up sanding the entire body instead of leaving the perimeter untouched. I couldn't get it to feather properly. I applied the red dye yesterday, this time diluted in alcohol. Now I have to decide if I buy black Trans Tint or just use the Trans Fast to spray the perimeter black again. Using NGR dye eliminates additional work. With WB dye, there's always the possibility you need to sand again and that could ruin the dye job.

Like you Al, I dislike this stage of the process. Someone once said the most beautiful woodworking can be ruined in a second by a bad dye or stain job. I've had some real nail biters. I equate the dye part as going to hell and back. You hope you can return unscathed, but you never know until you start laying down the clear.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

At the bottom of my list of fun things to do in the process of building a guitar is dyeing or staining the wood. And it's WAY at the bottom.

The black dye was easy. But sanding back I found the curly figure in the arm cut disappeared. And it wasn't because I over-sanded, it just wasn't absorbing the dye deeply.

In a stupid attempt to get the dye back in the figure, I ragged it on the arm cut. It was immediately obvious I would have to do the whole body. Once that dried, I sanded it back again but this time left a black border that I was able to feather. But the wood in the arm cut washed out again. So I went to a last resort, paint it in!










I then sanded that back and immediately saw it was losing the black in the curly figure. So before I lost it all, I rolled the dice and ragged on some red dye.




















While I do like the look, I don't think that's going to work with the red pickguard. And that's what's been driving the colors for this build.

I'm going to make another attempt at reddening it up some more. Fingers crossed!​


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## Al B Thayer (Dec 10, 2011)

Julie
That's a very challenging task. I just don't have any experience with this kind of thing. Good luck with it. You know more times than not fancy finishes are only skin deep. I would be in the same boat as you by going the extra mile instead of just laying it on top. 

Al

Nails only hold themselves.


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## Benjamin Lavoie (Feb 25, 2014)

I enjoy your work *Julie Mor. I'm a Bass Player and I would like to start finding old cheap guitars ans restoring them to their former gorly.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

Ben, I think you'll enjoy that, especially being a player. :thumbsup:

Yesterday I picked up some black Trans Tint and mixed it with alcohol. I did a few tests to set the spray gun to a fine, narrow mist and shot the perimeter of the guitar.









This is dry so the colors look washed out. Lacquer will bring that all out.

I'm going to move forward and not mess with the colors anymore. But it looks like I'll end up losing the red pearloid pickguard. That thing has a very narrow tone matching band. I'll know for sure once the lacquer goes on.

I also started leveling and buffing the first guitar. I used only Micro Mesh to do all the work. The kit I got came with all 9 grits and a foam block. Once wet, the MM stuck to the foam block very well. It's fabric backed and I was able to get into all the curved areas without tearing up the paper. I'll never go back to wet/dry paper. I love this stuff!

I took this right after the 12000 MM.​ 






​ 
After the MM, I sat on the couch with the body in my lap and took out some piano polish, hoping I'm done with the wet sanding/polishing. It was dark and the lights were low so I put the camera on a tripod to see if I could catch a good reflection off the polish.









I think I'm done with the body. :smile: ​


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

I got back to working on the second guitar today. Got three coats of lacquer on it.








​ 
Tomorrow I'll flatten it a bit and add the decal. It felt good working on it again. :smile:


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## Al B Thayer (Dec 10, 2011)

Looks great Julie. Are you ripping on the first one yet?

Al

Nails only hold themselves.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

Al B Thayer said:


> Looks great Julie. Are you ripping on the first one yet?
> 
> Al


Um... no. When I was reaming the pegholes to clean out the lacquer, I did a boo-boo. When I flipped the neck over to put the bushings in, two of the holes had cracks emanating out from them. :blink: I must have pushed too hard on the reamer. I had to remove the finish and start all over again.  So it will be another month before that is cured.


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## Al B Thayer (Dec 10, 2011)

Julie Mor said:


> Um... no. When I was reaming the pegholes to clean out the lacquer, I did a boo-boo. When I flipped the neck over to put the bushings in, two of the holes had cracks emanating out from them. :blink: I must have pushed too hard on the reamer. I had to remove the finish and start all over again.  So it will be another month before that is cured.


Oh that can't suck enough. So sorry.

Al

Nails only hold themselves.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

Al B Thayer said:


> Oh that can't suck enough. So sorry.


And it gets worse. A split in the top of the head of #2, that I thought I had removed, wasn't done splitting. I spent most of the day working on a new head design. The first two necks may end up being replaced.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*vacuum bag gluing?*

Can you use the cyanoacrolate glues in a vac bag to permeate any small cracks or splits? The pen and bowl turners use it successfully.:blink:


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

woodnthings said:


> Can you use the cyanoacrolate glues in a vac bag to permeate any small cracks or splits? The pen and bowl turners use it successfully.:blink:


I thought the splits were cracks in the lacquer, that it had just lifted. So I laid some thinner on it thinking it would melt the raised part back in with the rest. :no: In the process, something dark worked its way into the cracks and they became too obvious. 

Looking back, I should have first seen if the bushing washers would have covered it or at least pulled it back down. While I have no plans on selling the first one (Fender headstock), I did want it to be right. But I'm thinking I'll be settling on a new headstock design soon and when I do I'll make up some new necks for both guitars. Neck carving has become therapeutic to me.


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## Al B Thayer (Dec 10, 2011)

Julie Mor said:


> I thought the splits were cracks in the lacquer, that it had just lifted. So I laid some thinner on it thinking it would melt the raised part back in with the rest. :no: In the process, something dark worked its way into the cracks and they became too obvious.
> 
> Looking back, I should have first seen if the bushing washers would have covered it or at least pulled it back down. While I have no plans on selling the first one (Fender headstock), I did want it to be right. But I'm thinking I'll be settling on a new headstock design soon and when I do I'll make up some new necks for both guitars. Neck carving has become therapeutic to me.


The price of perfection. 

Al

Nails only hold themselves.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

I finished spraying today. Here's how she looks...
​ 







The fretboard is ebony but I'm thinking I should have gone cocobolo


















This is what you'd see looking down while playing. The other side shows the flame too.









The neck will be replaced once I settle on a new headstock design. Then I'll use cocobolo for the fretboard.​ 
Now we wait for it all to cure before level sanding and final polishing. What will I do?


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## Al B Thayer (Dec 10, 2011)

Oh Julie it looks great in the pics. Must be fantastic in your hands. 

Quit second guessing yourself. Your wood selection is perfect. 

I'm inspired! If I ever get out of the current monster project I'm imprisoned by. I'd like to do a small piece requiring a fine finish like these. 

Al

Nails only hold themselves.


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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

Wow!, that finish looks awesome. Is that freshly shot? Is that how it looks _before_ rubbing out and polishing? What is the finish?


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

Quickstep said:


> Wow!, that finish looks awesome. Is that freshly shot? Is that how it looks _before_ rubbing out and polishing? What is the finish?


The picture was taken about an hour after I sprayed it. Nothing more has been done to it. I won't begin the final wet sanding and buffing for weeks. 

The finish is Behlen Stringed Instrument gloss lacquer. I used it on the first guitar too but my spraying skills weren't very well honed. 

I had read that if you spray the final coat with 50/50 lacquer and thinner, it flows out very well. But they also said the thinned lacquer was tricky to work with. I guess because it can run much easier. So I set the gun so I could get a nice coat that would minimize runs. I didn't have any flow problems with the 50/50 mix but by that time, I had pretty much leveled the surfaces smooth. So I really don't know how much a difference that 50/50 mix made.


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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

Your finish looks terrific. Because of the health and explosion risk, I'm always on the lookout for alternatives to nitro and like to trade experiences with others. (Come to think of it, I guess explosion *IS* a health risk 

FWIW,

Here's a picture of an experiment I currently have underway based on some valuable input from a guitar maker. It's two coats of low viscosity epoxy thinned slightly with DNA then rolled on and tipped off with a foam brush. I would never have thought of this on my own in a million years, but the epoxy does three things. It seals the wood like sanding sealer would do, it fills the grain like grain filler would do and it pops the grain like oil would do. On top of the epoxy is three coats of General Finishes' Enduro-Var which is then polished to gloss using micro-mesh and car polish. I am a lousy sprayer and my shop is a dust bowl, but I was still able to sand and polish to a finish that looks like nitro.


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## Al B Thayer (Dec 10, 2011)

Julie

50/50 may be a bit much for the final coats. Manufactures and dealers always say their finishes don't need thinned but when I tried it it didn't work out too well. I ran into a guy that used to finish the units I built some 20 years ago. He's still at it and he said he thins all the time. 

When I start spraying, after I set up my gun. I'm still adjusting it for a few panels before I get it right. Kind of tough to do on a small project I'll bet. But lucky for me I don't need such a fine finish.

Its going to look great.

Al

Nails only hold themselves.


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## kelsochris (Aug 15, 2013)

That is beautiful, I am going to have to try and build one myself one of these days.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

Quickstep said:


> Your finish looks terrific. Because of the health and explosion risk, I'm always on the lookout for alternatives to nitro and like to trade experiences with others. (Come to think of it, I guess explosion *IS* a health risk
> 
> FWIW,
> 
> Here's a picture of an experiment I currently have underway based on some valuable input from a guitar maker. It's two coats of low viscosity epoxy thinned slightly with DNA then rolled on and tipped off with a foam brush. I would never have thought of this on my own in a million years, but the epoxy does three things. It seals the wood like sanding sealer would do, it fills the grain like grain filler would do and it pops the grain like oil would do. On top of the epoxy is three coats of General Finishes' Enduro-Var which is then polished to gloss using micro-mesh and car polish. I am a lousy sprayer and my shop is a dust bowl, but I was still able to sand and polish to a finish that looks like nitro.


Stewart-MacDonald sells practically anything you need for guitar making and repair. Their choice in WB finishes is Target Coatings 7000. They used to sell the 6000 but recently switched to 7000. I inquired on some guitar forums about the 7000, thinking, it was a good candidate for my first guitar. Overwhelmingly, luthiers criticized the 7000 saying it was difficult to work with and impossible to repair. Guitars take a beating and repairing their finishes is commonplace. TC 7000 acts a lot like epoxy. 

Again and again, I saw luthiers sing the praises of nitrocellulose lacquer. And after doing two guitars with it, I can see why. 

I sprayed over 3 gallons of EnduroVar on our kitchen cabinets. That was my introduction into using HVLP spray equipment and the first time I had sprayed any furniture-type project. I thought I had come out of the dark and into the light. But after only two quarts of nitro, I'd finish everything with it, if it was practical. 



Al B Thayer said:


> Julie
> 
> 50/50 may be a bit much for the final coats. Manufactures and dealers always say their finishes don't need thinned but when I tried it it didn't work out too well. I ran into a guy that used to finish the units I built some 20 years ago. He's still at it and he said he thins all the time.


Actually, Behlen gives you a very specific program to follow that ends with spraying 50/50 on the final coat. That's with their Stringed Instrument lacquer, I don't know they recommend that for all their lacquers.

Before I started spraying, I asked a guy who has decades working in the musical instrument department of a museum. I showed him Behlen's recommendations and he pretty much agreed, only tweaking it here and there.

The program I followed was a compilation of what I learned from several luthiers and Behlen's recommendations, simplified down to something I felt I could do: 



Apply dye to the bare wood
Seal it with shellac
Spray the border with black dye
Spray 3 coats/day for 3 days with an hour wait between coats. At the start of day 2, I flat sanded with 220. At the start of day 3, I flat sanded with 320. The 3rd coat on day 3 was 50/50.
Until something happens that points me in another direction, I'll stick with that. I'm pretty happy with the results. 

But I will spend more time making sure the bare wood is as perfect as I can get it. I had some tiny imperfections that appeared after the first day of spraying. 

Along the way I also found out why many professionals have different guns for WB products, alcohol-based products and lacquer. I understood this when tiny globs formed in the cup when cleaning with lacquer thinner after the first day of spraying lacquer. I've since taken to *thoroughly* cleaning the gun at the end of each day. 

FWIW, I don't clean the gun between coats during the day.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

Picture of the kids







​I made just the body on the Tele on the left. The neck is original. I also cut the pickguard for the original components. Because of the lighting, it's hard to see the body is a deep blue.

The new guitar plays great and, through the amp it's leaning against, sounds awesome. The workshop is starting to collect dust.


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## Chaincarver Steve (Jul 30, 2011)

Nice axes! Excellent work. And good for you for sticking with it through the heartaches and problems. As frustrating as they must have been, issues like that end up making us better and more efficient at what we do. You do beautiful work :thumbsup:


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## gomez11811 (Jul 29, 2012)

They look great! It`s been fun to watch, thanks for sharing...


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*have multiple cups*

If you can, get some extra cups and keep different solvents in them for a quick flush and clean between coats.
I really enjoy spraying, it's the cleaning I don't care for. I don't know if it helps much, but I close off the tip with a rag and back pressure into the cup a few bursts. Then spray straight solvent again. My only experience spraying a guitar was on my old 1956 Martin D-18, and it turned out pretty well. Nitro lacquer works the best as you said.


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## burkhome (Sep 5, 2010)

How about a vid of you making them sing?


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

Chaincarver Steve said:


> Nice axes! Excellent work. And good for you for sticking with it through the heartaches and problems. As frustrating as they must have been, issues like that end up making us better and more efficient at what we do.


Steve, I've been frustrated out of completing a project more times than I care to admit. But throughout these builds, I never felt that. I have been getting nothing but enjoyment out of this, well, _almost_ nothing but enjoyment. :smile: I don't know why but I do like the fact I have found something that keeps me busy and gives me enjoyment.



woodnthings said:


> If you can, get some extra cups and keep different solvents in them for a quick flush and clean between coats.
> I really enjoy spraying, it's the cleaning I don't care for. I don't know if it helps much, but I close off the tip with a rag and back pressure into the cup a few bursts. Then spray straight solvent again. My only experience spraying a guitar was on my old 1956 Martin D-18, and it turned out pretty well. Nitro lacquer works the best as you said.


I never thought about getting extra cups. That's a good idea.

I, too, have come to enjoy spraying. I hated the cleaning because I would spray solvent through the gun. But up until the guitar projects, that solvent was water. No big deal. When I started spraying lacquer, I knew I had to find an alternative to spray cleaning.

What I ended up doing is just running solvent through the gun. After I removed the tip, I would pour strained thinner into the cup and let it run into catch cup. While it runs through, I scrub the inside of the cup with various brushes. That got it just as clean as what I was getting by spraying it, maybe even a little better.

The alternative method also made me get a better feel for how the gun works. While spraying WB finishes, I would find a setting that worked well and then didn't want to touch it. That meant not breaking it down for cleaning. I'm glad I learned the workings of the gun better. That's one of the reasons I enjoy spraying more.

I'm going to see if my son will play a few licks for a demonstration. I'm so rusty I'll embarrass myself and make the guitar sound like a 4-year old was playing it. :yes:


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## Al B Thayer (Dec 10, 2011)

So do you play as good as they look?

Al

Nails only hold themselves.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

Al B Thayer said:


> So do you play as good as they look?


I've almost perfected "My Dog Has Fleas" :blink: Just a few more decades and I'll be there.


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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

The headstock on the Strat is way cool!


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

The patient is in the operating room now. Doctors will be performing fret adjustments today.









After much deliberation, we've decided on the pickguard. Hopefully, it will look something like this:​


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*a second opinion?*

I don't like the pick gaurd, it's too busy, cracks and all and etracts from the simple beauty of the body, ....a lot like a woman with too much frizzy hair, I can't get past the hair to appreciate the rest..... :no:

That's just me, however. :blink:


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

I realize there's a school of thought that believe figured wood needs a plain colored pickguard but I don't go to subscribe to that. I put a pearloid pickguard on the first guitar and it got raves. I'm thinking once the knobs are on and the pups in place, it will be just fine. It should be pretty close to this when fully assembled:










I've got the frets leveled and buffed. Once the PG gets here and is installed, all that will be left is to string it up and see how it sounds. Fingers crossed!​


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## Al B Thayer (Dec 10, 2011)

Have you had any pros look at your work? Bet it's some of the best they have seen. What have you done to them that makes them better or desirable as opposed to off the shelf if anything?

Al

Nails only hold themselves.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

Al B Thayer said:


> Have you had any pros look at your work? Bet it's some of the best they have seen. What have you done to them that makes them better or desirable as opposed to off the shelf if anything?


Most everything you buy off the shelf has not been setup. A proper setup includes straightening the neck, leveling the frets, creating a "fall away" around the 15th fret where the frets drop down from level to about .005" at the lowest fret. All of the frets are then rounded off so there's no flat spots and gradually brought to a polished shine. It's a lot of tedious work but it has to be done if the guitar is going to play properly.

Once all that's done, you string it up and begin the process of making sure the strings are at the right height. You start at the nut (the piece at the top of the neck that holds the strings in place.) All the strings are set at a specific height from .030" at the bass E (the fat string) to .010" at the treble E. You have to file down the grooves to get the right height and they have to be filed in a cone shape to allow the strings to bend over the nut properly. The nut then has to be filed down so only half the string sits in the nut. Then the nut top is shaped and polished.

From there you move to setting the height at the 12th fret. This is done at the bridge. The bass E should be around .076" above the 12th fret. After all that's done you begin tuning and intonation. After a string is tuned, you have to make sure the string is the same note unfretted as it is fretted at the 12th fret. You can do it by ear but it's better to have a good tuner. 

On a new guitar, this process could take 2-4 hours and a skilled luthier might charge $200 or so for the work. That's why they don't do this on your off the shelf guitar.

And no, no pro has seen the guitars.


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## Al B Thayer (Dec 10, 2011)

Thanks for the explanation. I'm amazed to hear you have gone to great lengths in the build to really do such a great job. 

Al

Nails only hold themselves.


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## MatthewEOD (Dec 6, 2013)

I always just set my string height by what feels good. Didnt know there was any other way..good to know.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

MatthewEOD said:


> I always just set my string height by what feels good. Didnt know there was any other way..good to know.


If you want a good guide to setting up your guitar, Ron Kirn wrote *this*. It's laid out for booklet printing, so you have to pay attention to the page numbers. 

For setting string height, I follow this *guide*. If you want to setup your guitar to match a particular guitar or artist, there's over 30 ways to do that in *Part 2: A Guide to the Great Setups*. Just scroll down on the page.

When we followed Ron's guide and set the strings to the string height guide on my son's guitar, he said it was the best his guitar has ever played. FWIW...


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

The pickguard for #2 finally arrived, a couple of days ago. For some strange reason, I wasn't jumping on finishing the guitar. Oh, I know, it must have been the fact that I didn't quite route the neck pocket to 5/8" and I was scared out of my wits I might screw up the finish. Yeah... that must have been the problem. :blush:

A bit of the meditating erased those worries.









Once the neck pocket was properly dressed, I started the process of making "my second child" sing. But this is one of those things where you have the devil on one shoulder and the angel on the other, each telling you something different. 

In this case, one ear is hearing, *"You got lucky! You know nothing about making guitars!"*

In the other ear it's, _*"Can you imagine how good you'll feel when sweet sounds come from your creation?"*_

Personally, I just wish they would both shut up. :2guns:

It's been a while and I had to retrain myself a bit. But once I got things going, I got back in the groove pretty quickly. 







​ Yes, I still need my guitar bible.








​ The string action is all set. I still have to finish the nut but I wanted to see how she plays.
​I really love those Hosco nut files. They are so much better than what StewMac sells. They make this part of the process so easy...

Once I had the guitar tuned (I did it by our piano), I played it for a bit, stretched the strings with the whammy bar, and kept retuning it until the tension settled in. Then I connected it to the SCX2 amp. 

I realize there are a lot of David Gilmour fans out there who want a replica of his Black Strat (I used those components in #1) but the Seymour Duncan Everything Axe pups blow the DGBS out of the water! This guitar rocks! ... IMHO... We played both guitars for a while, then one guitar in conjunction with the piano. Phil Specter didn't come down from the heavens, but we had fun.

Afterward (we had a session til our fingers tired) the kids settled in on the couch.







​
And there's more kids on the way... Oh boy...

Pickin' and a grinnin' :icon_cool:







​


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## burkhome (Sep 5, 2010)

One beautiful guitar and an awsome learning experience for me. Thanks...Can't wait to here it.


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## Al B Thayer (Dec 10, 2011)

Thanks Julie. We can always count on you for excellence and have confidence we're not getting led astray.

Al, your wanta be neighbor

Nails only hold themselves.


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## MatthewEOD (Dec 6, 2013)

Julie Mor said:


> If you want a good guide to setting up your guitar, Ron Kirn wrote *this*. It's laid out for booklet printing, so you have to pay attention to the page numbers.
> 
> For setting string height, I follow this *guide*. If you want to setup your guitar to match a particular guitar or artist, there's over 30 ways to do that in *Part 2: A Guide to the Great Setups*. Just scroll down on the page.
> 
> When we followed Ron's guide and set the strings to the string height guide on my son's guitar, he said it was the best his guitar has ever played. FWIW...


Yes, I'm very familar with Rons work. He is an amazing luthier. Your guitar looks absolutly stunning by the way. Should try a tele next time they sound better. Just my opinion.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

MatthewEOD said:


> Yes, I'm very familar with Rons work. He is an amazing luthier. Your guitar looks absolutly stunning by the way. Should try a tele next time they sound better. Just my opinion.


Funny you should say that. A friend of ours is coming in from out of town to visit. He performs often in his community and loves Teles. When he saw pics of the first guitar, he asked if I could do a Tele for him. 

For the past week I been working on drawings for templates ans we've been communicating back and forth doing the fine tuning. We'll be some busy beavers in the workshop during his visit. :smile:


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## MatthewEOD (Dec 6, 2013)

On the tele forums there are tons of templates floating around for teles. I dont have any dowloaded at the moment or I would upload some for you. Www.tpdri.com


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

MatthewEOD said:


> On the tele forums there are tons of templates floating around for teles. I dont have any dowloaded at the moment or I would upload some for you. Www.tpdri.com


TPDRI was the first site I tapped into when I started thinking I could actually build a guitar back in December. I've scoured that site and hit all the links I could find and probably have pretty much all of what you have. 

What there seems to be a lack of is neck drawings for the Tele. So I took the Strat drawings I had and from them drew up some necks to fit the Tele body. They are all 25.5" scales so all I really had to do was change the tail (Strat is curved, Tele is flat) and add the Tele headstock.

There is one PDF I downloaded that has about 7 or 8 different Tele head configurations. I have a program that will make CAD files out of PDFs and I used that to match the head our friend wanted.

He seems pretty excited about the project and, considering it will cost him only the materials, I'm sure he feels he's getting a good deal. I'm even going to put a logo I made from his name on the headstock. I just hope it meets his expectations.


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## MatthewEOD (Dec 6, 2013)

If the quality of your first guitar is going to be the same, there is absolutly no way he wouldnt like it.


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## Al B Thayer (Dec 10, 2011)

Come on Julie! Rip on that ax and post it on YouTube! 

Al

Nails only hold themselves.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

Al B Thayer said:


> Come on Julie! Rip on that ax and post it on YouTube!
> 
> Al


Yeah, I gotta do that. At least make a recording. Instead I'm taking pictures of the guitars. :blush:

My son was ripping on the red one yesterday. I wish I could play like that! He'll be doing the recording... :yes:


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## Al B Thayer (Dec 10, 2011)

Great looking forward to it.

Al

Nails only hold themselves.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

Al, I've tried to play something that would do the guitars justice but my playing skills are kindergarten level. I've been trying to get my son to do a recording but you know how busy 21-year-olds can be. 

I'm almost finished with the Tele I've been building for a friend in Houston. I picked out the wood, he picked out the hardware and he paid for both. Along the way I learned it's a lot more difficult to custom build to someone else's specs than it is to build to your own.

The lacquer is still only a few days old so I had to be careful putting things together for the "photo shoot". The orange peel will be buffed out in a few weeks.


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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

*Julie - Can I ask a neck question?*

Julie,

I'm about to embark on a similar project - 

When making a bolt on strat neck, is the back surface of the headstock in the same plane as the back of the heel?

Sorry for the lousy drawing, but maybe it helps illustrate what I'm trying to ask.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

Quickstep said:


> Julie,
> 
> I'm about to embark on a similar project -
> 
> When making a bolt on strat neck, is the back surface of the headstock in the same plane as the back of the heel?


Yes, the heel and the back of the headstock are on the same plane when apart from the body. There's a 5/8" deep pocket in the 1-3/4" thick body that should result in 1/8" of the neck stock standing proud of the body plus another 1/4" for the fretboard. 

I drew up some plans for a Tele _(Strat's the same except for heel profile)_ but with a modified headstock. I have links there to full scale drawings too. Print them up at 1:1 scale and you can use them to make templates.

If you want Strat plans, PM me and I'll get them to you.


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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

Julie Mor said:


> Yes, the heel and the back of the headstock are on the same plane when apart from the body. There's a 5/8" deep pocket in the 1-3/4" thick body that should result in 1/8" of the neck stock standing proud of the body plus another 1/4" for the fretboard.
> 
> I drew up some plans for a Tele _(Strat's the same except for heel profile)_ but with a modified headstock. I have links there to full scale drawings too. Print them up at 1:1 scale and you can use them to make templates.
> 
> If you want Strat plans, PM me and I'll get them to you.



The Tele plan is just what I needed, thank you so VERY much; it's very generous of you. Your guitars are awesome. My project is an electric banjo with a bolt on neck; that why I wanted to see how it worked. The plans make it completely clear, so thanks again. If my banjo turns out half as nice as your guitars, I'll be thrilled! Thanks again.


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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

Julie, it looks like the CAD drawings are gone from your website. Check PMs. I've sent my email address if you're still willing to send them via email.


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## RogerC (Oct 15, 2012)

Here are some great tele plans. 

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/74504-d-size-tele-body-blueprint-files-here.html


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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

Thanks. That is an awesome drawing of a Tele body. I'd love to find a similar drawing for a neck.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

Quickstep said:


> Thanks. That is an awesome drawing of a Tele body. I'd love to find a similar drawing for a neck.


Check your PMs


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

The new owner of the Tele seems pretty happy. He even had a custom leather strap made for it.








And then he realized the strap was too dark. So he ordered a new one. That's true love!


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