A new prospect.

[rgand]

Looking really good. I like the 'morse code' hole.

 

[PhilHill]

Made a cavity cover out of a khaya cutoff piece that I had. Not really in love with this one. I'll wait until the mahogany I ordered gets here and see what it looks like.
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Ordered inserts for the neck screws, and the tooling for the job. Tried to find black button head allen screws for the neck but couldn't find any long enough. Have to go with plated phillips head. maybe paint them, who knows.

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And The Beat Goes On. :turtle:

 

[rgand]

There's nothing wrong with that cover. I do understand about wanting a perfect match, though. I had to force myself to learn "good enough". :icon_biggrin:

 

[PhilHill]

There's nothing wrong with that cover. I do understand about wanting a perfect match, though. I had to force myself to learn "good enough". :icon_biggrin:

LOL, I hear you. I'm mainly dissatisfied with the shaping job I did. But I may just go ahead and use it. It's going to be my personal guitar anyway, so it's not like having to meet a price level's quality. I just have to meet my own obsessive levels. :sad: :turtle:

 

[Cagey]

Yes, but as has been said... "There comes a time on every project when you just have to shoot the engineer and start production."

 

[PhilHill]

Yes, but as has been said... "There comes a time on every project when you just have to shoot the engineer and start production."

Having spent my working life as a machinist, believe me, I know about wanting to shoot engineers. (G) Hey, you weren't kidding about the tap for the neck inserts being expensive. The only one I could find was from a place in Fl., it was $16 bucks for the tap, and $18 bucks to ship it. But the inserts and tooling are all ordered and it gave me an excuse to buy that vise you recommended. When it all gets here I'll get to see if my drill press/end mill skills have survived.

 

[Cagey]

On the plus side, tapping hardwood is child's play for most taps, so it should last forever. I've used mine so many times I can't count, and it's still like new.

 

[PhilHill]

On the plus side, tapping hardwood is child's play for most taps, so it should last forever. I've used mine so many times I can't count, and it's still like new.

I figure so. I've been going over your posts about the inserts and I like the way you do them. You would have made an excellent machinist, but, I suspect you already know that.  :icon_thumright:

 

[Hendrix]

find this https://veritascustomguitars.com/ remind me your  build " F hole " .

 

[PhilHill]

find this https://veritascustomguitars.com/ remind me your  build " F hole " .

I like that one. Interesting take on the traditional one. :headbang:

 

[PhilHill]

Well, I pulled the plug on a neck for this thing. Got one out of showcase, a QuarterSawn Bloodwood Tele with Ebony board. 1 11/16 nut width, 10-16 compound, cream face dots and white side dots. Modern construction. Tuner holes sized for the Hipshots I have. I went with n/s frets as I have a lite touch and don't wear down the frets very much. My Alvarez acoustic is 6yrs old and you can barely tell the frets have been played on. If needed I can always change them to stainless if it ever needs a re-fret.
The pickin's in showcase are gettin' slim, so if you want something in the way of a neck, better get it now.
I still have enough to do on the body to keep busy, and it'll need finish curing time too. So if it takes a little while to get here that's OK.

.

 

[Cagey]

You're going to love that neck. I have one similar - black Ebony over Bloodwood - but it's a Warhead and I fretted it with EVO wire. If I were to rename it commercially, I'd call it "Red Ebony", as it's very similar to black Bbony other than the color. Very dense, heavy, etc. Put it on a candy apple red Strat body, and it's pretty as can be.

 

[PhilHill]

You're going to love that neck. I have one similar - black Ebony over Bloodwood - but it's a Warhead and I fretted it with EVO wire. If I were to rename it commercially, I'd call it "Red Ebony", as it's very similar to black Bbony other than the color. Very dense, heavy, etc. Put it on a candy apple red Strat body, and it's pretty as can be.

I think so, gives me the advantages of roasted. I'm hoping the color will set nice with the mahogany. There wasn't a lot of choices in Tele necks left in the showcase, I almost considered a strat neck just for the features. But I think this one will do fine. :headbang:

 

[Cagey]

Be sure to burnish it - that wood responds well to that treatment and it'll feel sublime - and be aware that its mass/density means the pickups will be more critical than usual. In order to make it "resonate" or color your sound at all you'd have to run it through a rock crusher. So, it means your pickups will return more "honest" results. That's not meant to sound like a negative comment at all - it just means what what the pickup mfr says a unit sounds like is more likely to be real.

 

[PhilHill]

Be sure to burnish it - that wood responds well to that treatment and it'll feel sublime - and be aware that its mass/density means the pickups will be more critical than usual. In order to make it "resonate" or color your sound at all you'd have to run it through a rock crusher. So, it means your pickups will return more "honest" results. That's not meant to sound like a negative comment at all - it just means what what the pickup mfr says a unit sounds like is more likely to be real.

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I still have to decide on what pups I'll go with. Want it to be kinda all purpose, but a smooth jazzy sound will be the primary requirement. Much searching to be done... :icon_scratch: :turtle: :turtle:

 

[PhilHill]

  Relax, there's nothing to worry about. Just a simple procedure, it'll be over before you know it.

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Nurse, prepare the Drill of DOOM!  Muahahahahaha!!!
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Alright, it's a little overkill for this. I only have to drill about an inch maybe. Pup wires have to go somewhere, and the cavity seems a likely place. But it'll keep the drill chuck away from the top................I hope... :sad: 

 

[rgand]

Alright, it's a little overkill for this. I only have to drill about an inch maybe. Pup wires have to go somewhere, and the cavity seems a likely place. But it'll keep the drill chuck away from the top................I hope... :sad: 

I like to tape a plastic putty knife on where the drill might hit. It'll go through painters tape in a flash but a putty knife just gets a nick.

 

[PhilHill]

Alright, it's a little overkill for this. I only have to drill about an inch maybe. Pup wires have to go somewhere, and the cavity seems a likely place. But it'll keep the drill chuck away from the top................I hope... :sad: 

I like to tape a plastic putty knife on where the drill might hit. It'll go through painters tape in a flash but a putty knife just gets a nick.

Excellent idea. I did put something more after the photo was taken. I have a piece of what was intended to be cavity cover material, but turned out unsuitable, so now I use it as protection for situations like this.

 

[stratamania]

Somewhat like this...

The 6" steel rule is taped on with masking tape for protection.

Assembly_0002 by stratamania, on Flickr

 

[PhilHill]

That's the idea, drill bits are not nice to anything. I now have a slight nick in one of the bridge mounting holes, from drilling for a ground wire. Due to the angle that it had to go at, there was no choice. But it'll be hidden in the long run.