Black Alder Strat w/Wenge & Ebony Neck

[thewrathchilde]

continuation of my "Just Out of the Box" thread with working/build pictures. First to re-cap what was posted in the other thread:

Boxes have arrived after waiting feverishly:



And inside the big box:





and the other box contained:





Put together they will look something like:



and the obligatory shot from the headstock:



Specs:
Body- Alder, Solid, Top Route- HSS, Narrow Strat Bridge, Black Gloss
Neck- Ebony over Wenge, Reverse Warhead, Graph Tech Black TUSQ XL, SS 6100, fully scalloped.

 

[thewrathchilde]

New update for tonight:

Got ready to do some work and realized I need to order some more shielded wire before starting on the wiring. Guess I need to order some and just work on other parts for now.

THough the effectiveness is debatable, since I am using passive pickups on this build, might as well start with some "shielding" in the body cavity.... yeah, even if it may not do anything it isn't that hard to do and makes me feel better about it:



With that out of the way and no shielded wiring materializing on the table, might as well turn to some work on the neck:



getting ready to line up the tuning machines and mark the neck to drill the set screw holes I couldn't help but notice the grain:



figure that is worth another/better shot + a view that shows the scalloping a little better:



I just love that Wenge; second neck in a row I have ordered with this combination of woods. It just doesn't get better than Ebony over Wenge.... but back to the work at hand- the secret to my success:



slices, dices, has 32+ speeds, and a 15" throat. A quality drill press was one of the best investments I made for my garage. Holes drilled:



my helper showed up to assist with installing the tuning machines:



She is a recent addition to the team but jumped right in and with her assistance we ended up with:



That wraps up the work for today and likely the next few days until I get some shielded wire and can move forward with installing the pickups and wiring everything up.

Steve

 

[Cagey]

Nice job. It does my heart good to see somebody using the proper tools. You're right in that a good drill press is probably one of the first and best investments you can make in any shop, regardless of size.

Don't know if you need to press anything in, but you can also use that machine as an arbor press for smaller things like tuner and string ferrules, or bridge/tailpiece mounting bushings. I wrote a short "how-to" on it here if you're interested.

 

[thewrathchilde]

Yeah, it (drill press) is indispensable for working in the garage. I use it for everything imaginable and a lot of things I wouldn't have thought a few years ago before I bought it.... boring, sanding, cutting, pressing.

On my first Warmoth I used it to turn in the inserts in the neck also. A lot easier to ensure they were square to the hole and thread them in using my drill press and just hand turning it than trying to use something else. Most of my other builds I haven't bothered putting inserts in the neck and using machine screws as I rarely take the necks back off but maybe one of these days I will go back and convert all of them.

the one caution about using it as an arbor press, though you aren't likely to have the problem just working on guitars, is you have to be careful not to use in on something that will require too much pressure and damage the quill feed.

Steve

 

[Cagey]

You're the second person I've heard of using the drill press to turn in inserts. That's working way too hard. Get a tap and thread the holes. The inserts will still be tight, but you can run them in by hand.

 

[DangerousR6]

Nicely done, cute puppy and I concur with Cagey's analysis of a drill press being a viable investment. Also another very crucial part of the machine puzzle is this.. :icon_thumright:

 

[thewrathchilde]

I concur; a band saw is also indispensable. In fact I got mine before I got the drill press..... though sometimes I think I should have got a bench top band saw and gotten a table saw as well. Instead since I already had a full size band saw I never got the table saw and told myself I could get by with my circular saw. :-/

Though there is something to be said for the multi speed and tilting head (instead of angling table) which does come in handy sometimes...



back on the guitar; I order some shielded wire from Stewmac last night so this week I should be able to go ahead and start prepping all the components and wiring up the pickups and switch while I wait for the wire to finish wiring and then assemble.

 

[Cagey]

I concur; a band saw is also indispensable. In fact I got mine before I got the drill press..... though sometimes I think I should have got a bench top band saw and gotten a table saw as well. Instead since I already had a full size band saw I never got the table saw and told myself I could get by with my circular saw. :-/

When I set up my first shop, I talked myself into buying a radial arm saw rather than a table saw. Figured it could do the same things, albeit differently. Then mean ol' Mr. Reality came to call and I had to cough up for the right tool. Not that I resented it... I mean, how can you be pissed at a good tool? But, I was pissed at myself for the bad decision. I almost never used the RAS once I had the table saw, so it just ate up shop space.

 

[BlueTalon]

I love the contrast of that black/dark + white look.  The side view of the wenge is spectacular!  And your helper is adorable!

What color hardware will you use?

 

[Cagey]

It is quite attractive, isn't it?

This is going to be a spectacular instrument.

 

[thewrathchilde]

Plan right now is chrome- Gotoh SG38 tuning machines, chrome narrow spaced strat flat mount w/Graph Tech string saver saddles, chrome strat jack plate.

For electronics looking at DiMarzios- X2N, Fast Track 2 (middle), Air Norton S (neck), with 5 way switch and master volume.

Steve