whitebison66
Hero Member
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- 777
I didn't photo-document this one very well, and it's been finished for a while, but I'm just getting round to posting about it now.
Always wondered what it would be like to build a violin-shaped guitar, so I modified a strat outline with the waist, done by cropping a photo of a violin and blowing it up life size. I remember being surprised at how easily it fit with only magnification; no need to mess with the dimensions.
It's made of Luaun, which is plentiful and inexpensive here.
I carved the top by routing ledges and rounding them with 60-grit discs on a random orbital sander.
Black and white plastic binding since I had it left over. I did it first because it was easier to rout the binding channel from a flat top. I then just set the router bit to leave a bit of clearance when ledging the top. It was easy to sand down to the binding, and allowed me to 'recurve' the carve below the level of the binding.
I didn't plan the end of the binding very well, so the neck area looks bad.
Those little nibs are fragile, and I wrongly used super glue to fix the mistakes, so the finish looks bad at those places.
Did my first angled peghead neck with a miter box and a jig. The headstock isn't very stylish, but I was experimenting with a 3x3 design that I improved when I made the semi-hollow.
I also wanted a fretless, so it seemed like a pretty obvious pairing. I found that maple veneer fit the fret slots perfectly, is plenty visible and looks nice. Glue it in, let it dry, sand it off.
I left the finish rather 'open-pored' to aid in the antique look and to save time.
I used a SxS pickup configuration because these Duncan Designed Scorchers are 22k output (!) and I figured I'd need all the sustain I could get.
Non-angled rear pickup because... I could.
I didn't even put in a volume pot. Just a 3-way toggle, since I use a volume pedal and/or an Ebow with it.
It's rough, but it works, and I still am just happy I could get the idea from my skull to my hands, so to speak.
Always wondered what it would be like to build a violin-shaped guitar, so I modified a strat outline with the waist, done by cropping a photo of a violin and blowing it up life size. I remember being surprised at how easily it fit with only magnification; no need to mess with the dimensions.
It's made of Luaun, which is plentiful and inexpensive here.
I carved the top by routing ledges and rounding them with 60-grit discs on a random orbital sander.
Black and white plastic binding since I had it left over. I did it first because it was easier to rout the binding channel from a flat top. I then just set the router bit to leave a bit of clearance when ledging the top. It was easy to sand down to the binding, and allowed me to 'recurve' the carve below the level of the binding.
I didn't plan the end of the binding very well, so the neck area looks bad.
Those little nibs are fragile, and I wrongly used super glue to fix the mistakes, so the finish looks bad at those places.
Did my first angled peghead neck with a miter box and a jig. The headstock isn't very stylish, but I was experimenting with a 3x3 design that I improved when I made the semi-hollow.
I also wanted a fretless, so it seemed like a pretty obvious pairing. I found that maple veneer fit the fret slots perfectly, is plenty visible and looks nice. Glue it in, let it dry, sand it off.
I left the finish rather 'open-pored' to aid in the antique look and to save time.
I used a SxS pickup configuration because these Duncan Designed Scorchers are 22k output (!) and I figured I'd need all the sustain I could get.
Non-angled rear pickup because... I could.
I didn't even put in a volume pot. Just a 3-way toggle, since I use a volume pedal and/or an Ebow with it.
It's rough, but it works, and I still am just happy I could get the idea from my skull to my hands, so to speak.
