Another Scratch Project

[whitebison66]

I didn't get any photos of this one in process, since it was a mighty struggle.

I glued up an 8/4 blank from 2" Philippine mahogany planks. Then I used a router jig to 'plane' it flat. Cut out the shape, then hogged out most of the middle with a forstner bit for weight reduction and sound reasons. I used hobby shop cherry planks that were a little over /16 thin, glued together (that was fun) for the top. As part of an intended-but-abandoned theme (and to be different) I made the F-holes into sabers. Why not?

I made the neck myself from PM, and used a mitre box/chop saw with a jig for the angled headstock.

I really need to invest in/make a bending iron, because that maple binding deserves better than what I did with it.

I cut out the truss rod cover from the headstock veneer.

I did the finish, which has an incredibly subtle burst, by hand with stain and a rag. Rattle can nitro finish.

I see all the mistakes, but it appears to be holding together, and I made it to play, not look at.

And yes, I hope I can update this thread with finished pictures in less than 4 months too!

Bound the headstock and the fretboard with maple.

I used side markers for face dots; very discreet but still very visible.

I didn't like the height of the bridge off the face of the guitar (4 degree pitch for the neck), so I fabricated a walnut bridge plate. I think it looks okay.

I used a Bigsby copy I bought in Japan last time I was there and the Stew Mac roller bridge.

I used maple veneer on the pickup covers. Looks great from 4 feet away.

I realize the headstock is small, but I wanted to get straighter string pull.

 

[Updown]

Please tell me this one is NOT going to be painted over.
Some nice looking wood on this one  :icon_thumright:

I always take a truck load of pic's, just for my on reference ... good habit I reckon !!

 

[Nando Vallart]

Very cool!!! Congrats!

 

[thebutcher85]

:hello2: dude that is freakin' sweet!

 

[erogenousjones17]

Well, I'm impressed.

 

[whitebison66]

More photos of the now-assembled guitar.

The break angle on the bridge is a little shallow, so I am ruminating on solutions. The easiest would be to replace the Bigsby with one of the models that has a built in tension bar, but they're expensive and I'd still have this one left over. With the roller bridge and no friction from the tension bar, it stays in tune remarkably well. And that's with standard tuners.

It sounds exactly like I wanted to; kind of cheap. That sounds terrible, but I wanted that boxy, almost cardboard-like tone that lower-end hollowbodies get. It sounds great. Surprisingly, it has yet to feed back problematically even at dangerously high volume. It's not a light guitar, but so what? I'm just kind of amused that it came out at all.

 

[whitebison66]

The black tape on the strings by the Bigsby is to keep them from feeding back. If I play too hard, the shallow break angle means that the low E string sometimes falls off its saddle. So I am thinking that if I make a rubber 'spacer' with slots for all 6 strings to sit just behind the bridge, it might damp the strings as well as hold the low E in position. We'll see.

The headstock came out pretty much as I'd hoped. You can see that the D and G tuners can't get any closer without being staggered.

And the half volute is testament to the thickness of the neck. I don't think movement will be a problem.

 

[whitebison66]

Oh, and the little 'schwoop' where the neck joins the body was intentional. I can't stand trying to sand inside corners on guitars. So that little design feature saved me a lot of headaches.