Going back in time here.
I'm on an adventure to de-shitify one of my old highschool project guitars. It was my first proper (sort of) strat. Unfortunately, there was a whole myriad of things I did horribly wrong when making it. Which is a shame, because it's made out of a stunning piece of black walnut. And walnut makes awesome guitars.
[IMG]http://img706.imageshack.us/i/1000253g.jpg/[/IMG][IMG]http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/9074/1000253g.jpg[/IMG]
Now, at first sight it may not looks so bad. But there's numerous things that are very wrong with it
A few weeks ago, the neck was basically being ripped out of the body. At that point, I just took it apart for the hardware. I had made the neck out of spalted maple, which is very soft due to the spalting process; which in turn, caused the bolts to rip out. Because of a few reasons, the guitar sounded dead. and I mean that. Very plunky sounding. This was due to the soft neck, and because of this horrendous swimming pool I made in the body:
[IMG]http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/9910/1000254u.jpg[/IMG]
:barf:
That gaping hole caused the guitar to have that plunky tone because all there was on top of it was the thin plastic pickgaurd and nothing below it. Seems air had more influence over the tone than the body did because the pickups and pickgaurd had nothing under them. Aside from the inherent tonal issues, the finish is also quite spectacularly lame. I only did like 3 coats of lacquer, and at the time I never realized I had to wet sand and polish it. The neck was terrible, too, fretwork was bad, and the finish wore out. So yesterday, I took another look at that nice grain, and figured I needed to go back and do it justice being part of a nice sounding, great looking guitar.
So, today I cut up some cedar, and fitted it into the gaping areas. I routed the guitar out again the way it was [I]supposed[/I] to be done. Cedar is very resonant, so it could actually go towards brightening up the tone as well as adding that much needed backing for the pickgaurd.
[URL="http://img682.imageshack.us/i/1000404i.jpg/"][IMG]http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/7608/1000404i.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
It doesn't look like much, but once I respray it, and it has the pickgaurd on it, it should look great, and sound a lot better. that cedar certainly does not look good, but it won't be seen anyways.
The output jack cavity caused me a lot of trouble, it wasn't deep enough, so sometimes the jack would jam. I re-routed it to be nearly twice as deep now. I also re-did the neck joint, and I'm going to cut off a big curved chunk on the right hand side of the heel, so it's more comfortable to play when hitting high frets. Neck will be re-mounted with recessed lag bolts to strengthen the connection between the body and neck. I will be making a new neck out of padauk, with a rosewood fretboard. I'm thinking of doing a reverse, strat-style headstock this time.
More to come, probably by tomorrow.
Awesome, I look forward to your updates
Fixed the neck heel, and after a quick sanding coat of deft tung oil, I started laying on the lacquer. I've got about 5 coats on the top now. I want to get 3-5 more tomorrow, then I'll start spraying the sides and back.
[URL="http://img718.imageshack.us/i/1000413k.jpg/"][IMG]http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/417/1000413k.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
That center area looks awful, just look at the walnuty parts :v:
Best of luck with the project.
I'll give you $50 to make me a custom Jaguar-like guitar.
I'll give you $50 to ahbtgoaisnhgksnLHKNQLWNHGAH
anyway hypno it's looking good
Where do you get all this money/tools for this guitar stuff anyway, and where'd you learn about all of it too
[QUOTE=Just2Rusty;20756351]I'll give you $50 to make me a custom Jaguar-like guitar.[/QUOTE]
An insult, sir.
I'll give you $100 to make me a P-bass :buddy:
[QUOTE=En-Guage V2;20756419]Where do you get all this money/tools for this guitar stuff anyway, and where'd you learn about all of it too[/QUOTE]
I got a job in renovations quickly out of high school. It paid very well, and I bought all the tools with the money from that. A lot of the parts I'm using right now are ones I'm buying carefully since I'm currently unemployed, I also have a large volume of spare pickups and various guitar parts such as tuners, head nuts, and bridges.
I learned the basics of guitar making in my last year of high school by making my first few guitars (each one was better than the last) and following through a book on electric guitar making. Through the summer after graduation I taught myself a lot more about it and honed my skills. I didn't play guitar or know anything about them at the start, so it took me a few tries to make anything good. Most of my knowledge comes from either practice, or browsing guitar forums reading about other people's experiences.
[editline]07:32AM[/editline]
[QUOTE=dcalde78;20757131]I'll give you $100 to make me a P-bass :buddy:[/QUOTE]
An insult, sir.
FYI, if I was to sell one of these or do a custom build, I'd be charging at least $16/hour + materials cost (20-30 hours for each guitar) since it's a skilled trade.
$150 then :buddy:
[QUOTE=dcalde78;20757164]$150 then :buddy:[/QUOTE]
$700 :smug:
(that's materials and labor)
:regd09:
I can't afford that.
[QUOTE=dcalde78;20757168]:regd09:
I can't afford that.[/QUOTE]
:buddy:
Let me rephrase.
I have a job and can't afford that.
A handmade guitar for under $1000 is a great deal, even if it does have a few nicks or blemishes common with my current work.
If you go to any established luthier, your starting price will be at least $1400
well fuck your shit I'm outta here
It would be cool if you made a bass though cause I find the process interesting.
Well... It's just a different type of guitar...
How more different is it really...
:colbert:
I'm a bassist and I'd like to build my own at some point in time, so I'd like to know the process in a detailed way. The only thing I'd have trouble with (besides making the thing) is the tools.
Hypno,
Do you think for your next guitar project you could actually do a Jaguar-shaped guitar?
I'd love to see a handmade version.
[QUOTE=Just2Rusty;20757957]Hypno,
Do you think for your next guitar project you could actually do a Jaguar-shaped guitar?
I'd love to see a handmade version.[/QUOTE]
I'm a fan of the jag. I'd probably have to make any metal cove plates myself, though.
I'd actually like to find some diamond texture metal and cut a pickgaurd out of that. If I were to make a jag, rather than have a metal/plastic/metal sort of thing going, it'd just be a full metal pickgaurd.
Another thing I'd like to try is a copper pickgaurd. it'd shield the guitar really well and look pretty cool..
J-bass :colbert:
I've still got 3 bass hard tails that I haven't used :p
If I did a bass, it'd probably be a blend of a few things, or my own design.
I'm so happy this guitar gets justice!
It's probably the best-looking strat I've ever seen.
What are you going to make the new neck out of?
I've got 4 padauk neck blanks that I cut up. Will be used on my next 4 guitars/basses.
I've also got one last rosewood fretboard that I'll use for this one.
I also think I'll go for a black, or maybe even mint pickgaurd for this one. I think the mint would be pretty interesting. Not sure though, because the white contrasts nicely.
[QUOTE=hypno-toad;20758258]I've got 4 padauk neck blanks that I cut up. Will be used on my next 4 guitars/basses.
I've also got one last rosewood fretboard that I'll use for this one.
I also think I'll go for a black, or maybe even mint pickgaurd for this one. I think the mint would be pretty interesting. Not sure though, because the white contrasts nicely.[/QUOTE]
Mint, as in slightly metallic turquose?
Because that would look awful
No, like the vintage mint pickgaurds. I think it's suppose to replicate the vibe of an old celluloid pickgaurd.
[IMG]http://www.specialtyguitars.com/mm5/graphics/lg/04-06003-lg.jpg[/IMG]
Unless we're talking about the same thing.
The clean white pickgaurd is nice, but I wouldn't mind making it an -off-white color so it looks old. Mint would sort of accomplish the same thing.
Oh, yeah that would look even better than a clean white pickguard.
[QUOTE=hypno-toad;20732359]Because of a few reasons, the guitar sounded dead. and I mean that. Very plunky sounding. This was due to the soft neck, and because of this horrendous swimming pool I made in the body:
[IMG]http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/9910/1000254u.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE]
:suicide:
[QUOTE=Kyle v2;20765767]:suicide:[/QUOTE]
Learn from my mistakes, boyo :cop:
----
I got a bunch of really nice pictures today of the continued work, so here's four, since I can't pick which ones I want to use.
[URL=http://img294.imageshack.us/i/1000418t.jpg/][IMG]http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/2816/1000418t.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
[URL=http://img198.imageshack.us/i/1000419o.jpg/][IMG]http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/2263/1000419o.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
[URL=http://img121.imageshack.us/i/1000420b.jpg/][IMG]http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/1827/1000420b.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
[URL=http://img42.imageshack.us/i/1000423f.jpg/][IMG]http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/1981/1000423f.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
[QUOTE=En-Guage V2;20757372]Well... It's just a different type of guitar...
How more different is it really...[/QUOTE]
It's not just about it being different, it's about it being the product of personalization, care, passion, and creativity; as apposed to the product of 10 underpaid assembly line workers that make another 50 guitars like it in the same day.
Broke my own fucking automerge.
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