# I'm goin' to Home Depot!



## Customisbetter (Sep 1, 2009)

***FINISHED PRODUCT***






















SPECS
======
26" scale, 22 frets
Oak fretboard
Oak Nut
Dunlop 6130 Fretwire
Washburn 1-way trussrod
Poplar body wings
4 piece Pine neckthrough
1 Washburn 7 string humbucker
1 volume control
Single saddle, slightly adjustable Galvanized Steel bridge


PARTS
=====
1x6x8 Poplar board - $14.16
http://images.lowes.com/product/converted/999999/999999999995sm.jpg

two 1x4?x4' pine boards - $20?

Roof truss Tie used for bridge material plus misc hardware - $5

fretwire - $12
http://elderly.com/accessories/items/SP6130.htm

Truss rod, tuners, pickup, electronics, pickguard material, hardware screws - FREE


***THE BUILD***
I think this will be a great way to spend my free time. 
-Ok, a 7 string is a must.
-I will probably make my own Saddle out of scrap metal. Dunno if i will make it a one piece, non adjustable, or just bolt down individual saddles to the body.
-I will likely have a maple neck-through with more maple wings (or poplar if i can find some).
-Body shape will look like this.. minus the german carve...






-Integrated Fuzz circuit and whatever pickups i can find.

Can i get my Truss rod from stewmac? If not thats cool. i can make one...


----------



## Arminius (Sep 1, 2009)

I think i'm gonna end up using an old esp bridge, so a premade trussrod shouldn't be a problem


----------



## Customisbetter (Sep 1, 2009)

EDIT

how does this look? I think im going to do a string through for cleanlines...


----------



## TravTrav (Sep 3, 2009)

that looks like it will turn out nice man!

i like the retro guitars...


----------



## Customisbetter (Sep 4, 2009)

I bought a Router today! Im going to practice on some scrap and then maybe buy the wood.


----------



## hufschmid (Sep 4, 2009)

A router 

The router is my best friend 

But I want to be endorsed by Bosh, I promiss to advertise their products everywhere


----------



## Customisbetter (Sep 4, 2009)

If i make a three-piece neck out of super soft, non dried Home depot maple, and install a truss rod, do you guys think it will last?

got some routing practice in today. No guides or anything, just tried to go slow...


----------



## damigu (Sep 5, 2009)

pretty nice free-hand routing.

don't go too slow when routing otherwise you'll end up with burn marks on the wood. don't go too fast either because then you'll end up with ragged cuts.

let the router itself set the pace as it cuts through the wood--your job is just to guide it, don't push or pull it to change its speed.


----------



## Customisbetter (Sep 5, 2009)

^THAnks!
I think i manged to to avoid burning in my practice from yesturday...

Also.. Im buying the maple pieces adn some polar today at lowes. ill post the price when i get it.

im also getting a hand plane and a Titebond too...


----------



## canuck brian (Sep 5, 2009)

Grab some mdf and make templates - you'll love how clean the work turns out.


----------



## Customisbetter (Sep 5, 2009)

I went to Lowes today and purt the hurt on my bank account...

this is what i ended up with...
=========================================
a 20" saw (7 bucks cheaper than the 15"... awesome
block plane
two 1"x6"x8' boards made of Pine for the neck. Ill be sawing then in half and gluing them together... 
one 1"x a lot x4' poplar board. Ill be sawing this one in half and gluing it together for a depth of 2 inches.

got almighty Titebond as well.










weird grain pattern on this one...





all together now...





UPDATE
here is my progress today. just did some sawing...

body wood. Im going to glue those pieces together before i cut them again...





here is a better pic of the grain on th epine. The neck is going to have that grain on either die, with the normal looking piece in the center... I think the neck is going to look sweet.





The stack, with an extra piece...





here is the "Back" of the neck...















More update...

i couldn't find any clamps and i didnt feel like going to the store to get more...

My neck is under there, and i pray that my Garage floor is level. 






i also tested out my Block Plane just now. its kind of a pain, but it works....


----------



## Customisbetter (Sep 6, 2009)

failed at some planing today... but lets continue...






how does that look?


----------



## Customisbetter (Sep 7, 2009)

redrew the template and cut out some of hte middle.


----------



## Arminius (Sep 7, 2009)

Wow, looking great! 

 @ toes


----------



## Customisbetter (Sep 7, 2009)

^THAnks!

is anybody else still working on their projects?


----------



## Arminius (Sep 7, 2009)

I'm having a bit of haitus on mine, i kinda screwed the headstock up so I'm having second thoughts.


----------



## Customisbetter (Sep 7, 2009)

I have no idea how i am going to cut the shape of my neck. There is so much wood/glue...


----------



## Arminius (Sep 7, 2009)

That's what i'm working on now, I've been chiseling away at the neck trying to get it to the right shape. It is an absolute pain


----------



## Customisbetter (Sep 8, 2009)

I found a saber saw (jig saw) but the blades are far to short so im going to buy some more blades tomorrow. Im also getting a Caliper (i have no idea why don't have one, I was a freaking Drafting major)...

Also, I might buy a sheet of Walnut for the fretboard.

Why?

WHY NOT!?


----------



## damigu (Sep 9, 2009)

be careful with walnut as a fingerboard.
if you buy walnut that came from the americas then you should be fine.
but if you buy walnut that comes from overseas, it might be too soft to last long as a fretboard.

otherwise, i think a walnut grain would look awesome.


----------



## Customisbetter (Sep 12, 2009)

haven't gotten a chance top get any more work done. iv had a lot of things going on lately. i should pick it up again next weekend.


----------



## Angrychair (Sep 14, 2009)

nice work so far lovin the neck thru


----------



## Andrew_B (Sep 15, 2009)

buy a bearing bit for your router, and a bit of wood with a perfectly straight edge and use them to do your neck taper....

you just stick the bit of wood on the neck along the taper line and the bearing bit will follow it,

thats how i get my taper unless in doing a scarf joint headstock...


----------



## Customisbetter (Sep 16, 2009)

how do i get a bit that is 4 inches long?

or should i cut a rough shape and then do the side routing?


----------



## daveycrockett (Sep 16, 2009)

who painted your toenails? brutal


----------



## Customisbetter (Sep 21, 2009)

well i actually didn't get anything done this weekend.  

i did however buy some tools for another project that i can use for this too. 

hopefully i will get something done this week.


----------



## Andrew_B (Sep 21, 2009)

Customisbetter said:


> how do i get a bit that is 4 inches long?
> 
> or should i cut a rough shape and then do the side routing?


 

umm...
why the hell do you need a 4inch long bit? lol

yea you rough cut the sides of the neck then rout...
you shouldnt rout more than like 2mm off per pass


----------



## Customisbetter (Sep 21, 2009)

ah ok then! thanks


----------



## Customisbetter (Sep 24, 2009)

Well i have decided that this build cannot continue if i use a jigsaw to cut the body. its totally worthless.







so.. i may get one of these next week.






im starting to wonder if i can get this done by next month... :/


----------



## damigu (Sep 24, 2009)

that jigsaw cut you made looks good to me. what's wrong with it that you can't do the rest with the jigsaw?


----------



## Arminius (Sep 24, 2009)

jigsaw + sanding = awesome


----------



## Customisbetter (Sep 24, 2009)

the jigsaw didn't cut square. At all.

i did some more cutting after that and it turned out TERRIBLE. ill post some pics in the morning.


----------



## Arminius (Sep 24, 2009)

Did it kind of fishtail out?


----------



## Customisbetter (Sep 24, 2009)

the end of the blade did, yes.


----------



## Arminius (Sep 24, 2009)

Yeah, there's not much you can do about that i'm afraid. Do you have a friend/neighbor/relative with a table saw?


----------



## Customisbetter (Sep 25, 2009)

not that i know of. i might have to find a business around that has the equipment.


----------



## Andrew_B (Sep 25, 2009)

Customisbetter said:


> the jigsaw didn't cut square. At all.
> 
> i did some more cutting after that and it turned out TERRIBLE. ill post some pics in the morning.


 

cause you were pushing it as opposed to letting the blade do its job 
..

iv posted this pic on here before....
i use a pretty powerful jigsaw to cut out my bodies rough shapes, then follow that with a router and template, then sand....
(it was either sell the table saw and get a bandsaw.... or keep the table saw and cut them out with my jigsaw.... i ended up keeping the table saw)


----------



## Customisbetter (Sep 25, 2009)

alrighty, i guess ill try again on another piece of wood. 

also, is 3/4 horsepower enough power?


----------



## Customisbetter (Oct 16, 2009)

haven't updated in forever. still have yet to finish the body wings. ill try to finish that today. its getting REALLY FRIGGIN COLD out here in michigan so progress is slowing...

pics tonight hopefully. 

alrighty. i took the great advice here and went A LOT slower with my cuts. i also used a finer blade. here is the result on the top wing. the bottom wing will be done tomorrow.










as promised, here is pics of both body wings rough cut.


























I have started making a template for the neck shape...











template is done-ish.

now i need a bearing bit for my router and i can get started on shaping the neck. I think i am done for today though.


----------



## Arminius (Oct 17, 2009)

This is going to be cool! Can't wait!


----------



## Customisbetter (Oct 22, 2009)

just worked on the guitar for a bit. the neck is planed (at least i think it is...) and i took some pictures.















this is NOT the fretboard im using. this is from my 7 string washburn... RIP


----------



## damigu (Oct 22, 2009)

looking good. you're really capturing the character of those old airlines.


----------



## Customisbetter (Oct 22, 2009)

^Thanks bro! 

working on the headstock...


----------



## Customisbetter (Oct 24, 2009)

well, everyone in this city is going to the MSU v Iowa game tonight so im here alone in the rain...

so i thought id route the truss channel...

BTW, im using the WORST truss rod in existence that i pulled from my old washburn. i could make an exact copy with stuff from HomeDepot, but im too lazy. 


















HOLY SHIT THAT IS UGLY!!! ill clean it up later though...






Oops.. its a bit too short. lol









Thats better.


----------



## Andrew_B (Oct 24, 2009)

make sure that the string will go from the nut to each machine head cleanly (the top treble side machine head look like it will make the string hit the next one down...)

and make suer there enough room to stick, and rotate an allen key in your truss rod rout 

its actually comming up well for a home depot build.. nice one


----------



## Customisbetter (Oct 24, 2009)

thanks!

and i messed with the headstock a bit.. moved the nut closer to the tuners.


----------



## troyguitar (Oct 24, 2009)

Rock on. I was working on mine in the garage this afternoon too while watching it rain over here in Farmington.


----------



## Customisbetter (Oct 24, 2009)

Bought a new router bit today...

practicing on scrap...










the real thing... this is going to need a lot of sanding still...














quick hardware size comparison...


----------



## Mundas (Oct 25, 2009)

Badasser 4...
Nice build


----------



## Customisbetter (Oct 25, 2009)

HOLY SHIT

i just realized it routed all of the Rounds
ASS.
FUKKEN.
BACKWARDS.

ill go over them again tomorrow the correct direction and hopefully that will get rid of the burn marks.


----------



## Spratcho (Oct 26, 2009)

I rly like it so for but..... the headstock is rly Fugly IMO


----------



## Andrew_B (Oct 26, 2009)

Spratcho said:


> I rly like it so for but..... the headstock is rly Fugly IMO


 

gumby style!!!


----------



## Customisbetter (Oct 26, 2009)

thats the way it was originally designed. 

...well, kinda.











half inch more...






ALL DONE






lol gaps. Note to self: trace outline of cover FIRST, then route cavity. 






size comparison. im only using one potentiometer and a jack so i don't need much room.























I redid the control cover.. .looks a bit better now...


----------



## nosgulstic (Oct 26, 2009)

i think it looks pretty good so far and it definitely different, there's a lot of rg shaped sevens out there


----------



## Shooter (Oct 27, 2009)

Looks really great, especially for a one of these Home Depot builds that are supposed to be low-budget... good work, I really like those quirky Airline guitars .


----------



## Customisbetter (Oct 29, 2009)

alrighty.. while i wait for a bandsaw to show up on craigslist, im going to think about the fretjob.

Im unsure on the material still as i haven't checked out the store for any material, but i do know that i want to use Steel frets.

prolly from here...
Fretwire

Im going to get the fret cutter, fret slotting saw and dressing file from Stewmac...

Actually, im going to Lowes now.. maybe ill find a fretboard material. 

EDIT

Im getting a bandsaw and beltsander on monday. Should be ordering teh freting materials then as well.

Stay tuned.


----------



## Customisbetter (Nov 9, 2009)

UPDATE

i got my bandsaw and beltsander today. First off, operating a bandsaw is MUCH harder than i expected.

here are the results...






My glue seams are almost nonexistant. So there is one victory at least...


















here is a picture of my trashcan with a beltsander beside it.






All together again!


----------



## Customisbetter (Nov 12, 2009)

Did a tad bit of work today... I have come to the conclusion that this is my practice neck. There are too many mistakes so far to sontinue using it. Luckily the post i used is big enough for two necks, so ill start on that this weekend. Anyways, i practice routing the outside shape of the neck using my new template bit. it went well.






Here is the board i used at a straight line template...






looks pretty straight...






Mr. Mophead playing on doomed lumber....


----------



## Customisbetter (Nov 15, 2009)

ok i got a 6 1/2" block plane....
its really all i could find at HD...

also picked up a needle file set for slotting the nut
and this rasp thingy...

i sanded the test neck a ton and i think i can fix all the mistakes, so im keeping it.

ALSO the fretboard is Oak. Deal with it.









as you can prolly see, im recessing the heel a lot. the neck nees a lot more shaping too.










New jig day!















I think this is as much as i can do today. i have a few guitars to pack and deliver plus a lawn to rake and mow.


----------



## Customisbetter (Nov 17, 2009)

the glue joints are horrible, i rushed. but at least im learning.


----------



## troyguitar (Nov 17, 2009)

Customisbetter said:


> ... i rushed. but at least im learning.



That sums up my entire build


----------



## Customisbetter (Nov 21, 2009)

i did some neck shaping today... its still WAY thick, but at least its playable now...
most of it was done with the belt sander and a little filing on the edges...


----------



## Customisbetter (Nov 23, 2009)

Standing up all its own. 















Also, here is a little video of my jamming without a fretboard. lol



Ok well it turns out that i will be out of town for thanksgiving from wednesday until sunday.

this is a massive wrench in the machinery of my plan.

so im going to various stores tomorrow and draining all of my bank accounts on tools so i can finish this by the 30th.

plan of attack for tomorrow (tuesday)
-get a new bandsaw blade (not really pertinent at this point but i wnat to get one)
-go to harbor freight and get this Japanese flush cutting saw for cutting my fret slots.
-buy a ryobi router table so i can mill down my fretboard material to a respectable size.
-a few screws and things to finish my bridge assembly.

I should have the fretboard fretted and glued to the neck before i leave on Wednesday.
i prolly wont finish building the bridge until sunday, at which point i will tung oil the whole guitar and take final pictures and video on Monday the 30th.

Im cutting it way close but hey! thats life...


----------



## joshuallen (Nov 24, 2009)

I like this guitar a lot. And the air guitar playing was superb.


----------



## Customisbetter (Nov 24, 2009)

Hokay. i bought a the router table and jap blade today. I just finished assembling the table and i do have a pic...






Ill do a test with the the blade tonight and see if im any good at cutting fret slots.


----------



## Customisbetter (Nov 28, 2009)

Well i just got home from a 3 hour long trip. lets get working!


















Here is the deal on my pickup. i tried to make a template and i failed miserably, so i did it by eye. But to give myself a chance, i didn't want to mess up on the tang part of the route, so i just got rid of it. 


















This is where im at as of now. i doubt anybody will comment by the time i come back, so expect this post to be merged.


----------



## Arminius (Nov 28, 2009)

anti merge comment of doom


----------



## Customisbetter (Nov 29, 2009)

Thanks man! 

Ok right now im designing the bridge plate. 

i just finished the wiring and pickup. i can't do anythng fretboard related until i get a caliper... 
...which ill get tomorrow.


----------



## damigu (Nov 29, 2009)

pretty cool idea for a clean looking pickup install!


----------



## Customisbetter (Nov 29, 2009)

^Thanks man.

im soooo tired. i think im done for the night... i worked on the bridge a bit and still need to work on that a bit tomorrow. the adventure continues after these messages...


----------



## ralphy1976 (Nov 29, 2009)

awsome build, and i particularly like the way you slotted the pickup, very neat and original, but a new option for non tremolo guitars??? shoudl patent it!!!

i wasn't expecting a bridge that big thought!!!!


----------



## Arminius (Nov 29, 2009)

wow, damn you for coming up with a cool bridge design


----------



## Customisbetter (Nov 29, 2009)

Thanks man!


Plan of attack...
im going to get the rest of the hardware for the bridge, and finish that. then im going to glue on the fretboard and while that dries, apply as much Tung oil to the body as possible and let those dry.

While that dries, im going to make the nut out of something, and file the saddle grooves into the saddle. 

when the fretboard is to the point where it wont move, ill start slotting the fretboard.

then ill by some frets on monday and hammer them.

string it up, make a vid. then rest. 


Neck covered in glue, truss rod covered in vaseline...










my bridge assembly is mostly done. just need to drill the string holes....


----------



## Customisbetter (Nov 30, 2009)

All ii need to do now is rebuild the bridge saddle. it sets way too high and causes mad intonation issues. it sounds pretty good though.


----------



## Empryrean (Nov 30, 2009)

A wooden nut?


----------



## Customisbetter (Nov 30, 2009)

^Yep works great. i made a video a half hour ago but YOUTUBE IS FUCKING DOWN!!!!

talk about timing...

anyways, ill be upping some pics in a sec. Hold on...


















This is it. 

i believe the total in materials was above a hundred dollars. i didn't really keep track.

tools included this build cost around 500 bucks. 

expect a video when youtube comes back.


----------



## Empryrean (Dec 1, 2009)

NO finish? I like it! so raw


----------



## highlordmugfug (Dec 1, 2009)

I love it. What pickup is that again, and what's the scale length?
It's really awesome looking.
(How the hell did you manage to make me want one of these?  seriously though  I want one.)

And I'm waiting for a vid.


----------



## Customisbetter (Dec 1, 2009)

^Im waiting on Youtube.. :sad:

the scale length is 26 inches. that gives me a perfect 13 inches at the 12th fret. But since i measured the fretboard when i was planning on 25.5", i lost two frets in the process. Oh well no biggie.

the pickups was ripped out of my old Washburn WG-587. that will be getting a new neck soon.


----------



## highlordmugfug (Dec 1, 2009)

Yeah, stupid scheduled maintenance. What tuning are you using? Standard?


----------



## Customisbetter (Dec 1, 2009)

^THe tuning in hte video is drop Bb...


----------



## Empryrean (Dec 1, 2009)

Dude that is Killer! plan on making more of those?


----------



## Customisbetter (Dec 1, 2009)

^Yeah once i figure out how to make a neck properly. 

im going to make one of these with a bolt on neck and a floyd. 

Oh yeah...


----------



## slumcitysounds (Jul 17, 2010)

SICK!!!!


----------



## flickoflash (Jul 17, 2010)

Kool thread


----------



## Ryan-ZenGtr- (Jul 17, 2010)

Todays headline read: Paul Reed Smith, renowned guitar maker, retires due to everyone making their own guitars and killing the market... Airline saves the day!

I love what you've done here, demystified the whole magic of guitars...

Which tonewood... erm, mdf...

All those arguments are now meaningless, thank you, thank you... I believe you have gone a long way to healing many guitarists of G*A*S*.

I wish you every success!


----------

