I was inspired by MakeICT’s own Guitar builders support group to try to build guitars. Passing through their room last week, i was pleased to see others making progress!
Now i’m making my second guitar from scratch. It will be another solid body electric, another Jackson dinky clone except lol. It will be similar to my first in being a through body neck but with different woods, and i plan to make my own fretboard, either out of hickory, or spalted maple. And put in a truss rod.
Today’s tiny progress, getting confidence to install a truss rod. Decided to practice on a spare piece of wood first. And boy was i glad i did that. The first router bit was not a pattern bit, and sure enough, it chewed into my aluminum guide. Should have used the 1/4 inch diameter pattern bit. A few more stutters and a few more mistakes later (that i promise to never ever repeat, lol), and the truss rod slipped in perfectly. This is a big step towards making a long-lived guitar that can be set up and playability adjusted for whatever circumstances the guitar might endure.
Now onto the real guitar neck
Where is the guitar builder’s room? I would love to join this group!
Guitar building group meets Tuesdays at 7pm in classroom 2.
More progress on my second scratchbuilt guitar. Body body sides roughed out and temporarily pinned to the through body neck. Slot for the truss rod cut (not shown) and fret board rough sized, fret slots and position dots created.
At this time there are several parallel work paths ahead. Neck and headstock needs to be roughed out, black limba body top needs to be roughed out. Fret board needs to be radiused, cut to width and then frets installed. Then glue body wings to neck, top to body, route controls and route wiring. Other steps of course. Finishing before installing hardware, lol. Plenty of scrap to try out finish ideas.
Battery powered jigsaw did not work well with mahogany. But the very old craftsman corded jigsaw made short work of the job. The old craftsman could have used the laser guide off of the newer but punier battery powered jigsaw. Without the laser guide
, i needed to be a little more careful on boundaries. Not that i will worry if the outline doesn’t match any existing guitar.
Further progress? I plan to cap the top of the body with black limba. Cut to rough shaped, need to rough out the neck and then i can glue up the various pieces. In the meantime, i experimented with a finish idea i found on youtube.
I’m sealing the wood with a uv cured clear epoxy. Thin coats wiped on by hand. Then stick it in the sun for fifteen-thirty minutes. Then sand. Then repeat. I’m quite pleased with the lustre after three coats, but i still see a little grain. Also think sanding will go better if i let it cool a little bit first. i’ve also learned that this doesn’t work so well with stained wood. Lol.
Practicing on a piece of scrap top.
