New WGD project

[greywolf]

My brother passed a few months ago and left me a nice 24 fret neck through  (carvin)  along with a few other bits.   He was working on a chambered body guitar before the cancer got to him .  As we are both were very DEADicated  , it was only fitting that I finish the project .  We talked about it before he died.

The body is a Swamp Ash WGD  with Humbucker / P9 / P90  routes and strat controls.   It will get a Curly Koa top and back  ( thanks to Volcano guitar works)    It will be  split to insert the neck , thickness sandeded , and routed for the chambers before I install the body caps
Pickups are  Neck : PRS Dragon II     Mid : Di Marzio Virtual P90   Bridge : DiMarzio Tone Zone P90   All Coil Tapped

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Bridge - Gold Jason Schroeder stop bar / with locking studs    Tuners Gold Grover 18:1 locking   Pots :250K  Bourns Pro Audio - Audio taper    Cap : Orange drop .022uF   EMG SPC mid Boost  

 

[greywolf]

mockup up of final look ,  I got a maple pickup cover /ring  for the neck pickup .  Looking at making the P90 covers  they are creme now

 

[greywolf]

I have a few other sets of wood I'm considering for the top/back  the other Curly Koa sets came from the same tree .. so that would be a very cool front/back match

The Burl redwood is Wild .. may save it for the Fretless  G4 I'm building next.....

 

[Nando Vallart]

Very cool! But why don't you have the neck pickup routed for P90 and get a humbucker in P90 size to it look cool???

 

[line6man]

I have a few other sets of wood I'm considering for the top/back   the other Curly Koa sets came from the same tree .. so that would be a very cool front/back match

The Burl redwood is Wild .. may save it for the Fretless  G4 I'm building next.....

Nice wood! But is the Redwood extremely soft?

 

[stubhead]

Have you made sure that the Carvin neck will fit correctly? I mean, when you put it into the cavity, the bridge is where it needs to be, the high E string just a hair further than 25.5" from the nut*. And the right height, and the right angle. It's a little thing, but with large consequences.

*(if it's supposed to be...)

 

[rapfohl09]

Not at all trying to be a jerk, but why would you buy a body, just to have a luthier split it and put caps on it? Seems like the could have just built up a WGD from scratch.

 

[greywolf]

I built a similar guitar from scratch  in 99  , ( in pic )   as you can see it's a slimmer profile. I love the combo of  neck humbucker with 2 p90's .        that one is Purpleheart/Zebrano and a Lacewood back., it is chambered  and has the same neck.

As far as the neck fitting , no problem .. the body is going to be completely split  then the "wings" glued to the neck .   Not to hard to do ,  the neck will actually run about halfway between the bridge and tail . The original tail section will be re fitted. (The Danny Irwin guotars are like this)
the neck is 24 fret ebony fingerboard, an eleven degree headstock angle, graphite nut,  2-way adjustable truss rod is standard. 25" scale length, 12" radius  YEs I have to measure for bridge placement , and slot the Schroeder for that radius.

To some it may seem like a lot of extra work .   I thoroughly enjoy the extra effort , it's stimulating to take a concept into reality.  

The reason I chose a WGD body  " only to cut it up "    is to have the correct proportions this time , the other is it is a convienient "frame"  . I'll be making a template of the body profile and doing the next ones from scratch.  

The redwood isn't terribly soft , there are quite a few acoustic makers who use  redwood for tops .  

 

[rapfohl09]

I built a similar guitar from scratch  in 99  , ( in pic )   as you can see it's a slimmer profile. I love the combo of  neck humbucker with 2 p90's .        that one is Purpleheart/Zebrano and a Lacewood back., it is chambered  and has the same neck.

As far as the neck fitting , no problem .. the body is going to be completely split  then the "wings" glued to the neck .   Not to hard to do ,  the neck will actually run about halfway between the bridge and tail . The original tail section will be re fitted. (The Danny Irwin guotars are like this)
the neck is 24 fret ebony fingerboard, an eleven degree headstock angle, graphite nut,  2-way adjustable truss rod is standard. 25" scale length, 12" radius   YEs I have to measure for bridge placement , and slot the Schroeder for that radius.

To some it may seem like a lot of extra work .   I thoroughly enjoy the extra effort , it's stimulating to take a concept into reality.  

The reason I chose a WGD body  " only to cut it up "    is to have the correct proportions this time , the other is it is a convienient "frame"  . I'll be making a template of the body profile and doing the next ones from scratch.  

The redwood isn't terribly soft , there are quite a few acoustic makers who use  redwood for tops .  

Oh that makes sense to me. I can't wait to see it. I like WGDs a lot, someday ill buy one.

 

[reluctant-builder]

My condolences about your brother.

 

[greywolf]

thanks .. he was a great guy , amazing  audio engineer . 

 

[Nando Vallart]

I really haven't read the first post... Sorry to hear about your brother!

 

[rapfohl09]

I really haven't read the first post... Sorry to hear about your brother!

+1, Man I feel like a jerk, it probably made quite a wrong impression when I asked the question like that. I'm sorry to hear that, I look forward to a stellar guitar!

 

[Eric Banjitar]

Hey Now!

Deadhead Warmoth guys always take photos of their guitars on an oriental rug (see my profile).  The bus came by in '88 and I got on. The band I am in now plays some Grateful Dead. do Warmoth deadheads have their own thread?  We should.  Love. Peace and custom guitars.

 

[Tipperman]

Very sorry to hear about your brother, man. Can't wait to see this build finished though. It's gonna look beautiful.