# .strandberg* Boden home build!



## Tjnightingale (Oct 10, 2015)

Hey all! My name is Tristan Nightingale and this is my first time posting on the forums. I'm a newby to guitar building, but have been working at Suhr for the last 2 years in both the sanding department and pickup building department, so i've got a bit of experience to help me out. I just wanted to share with you all the build i'll be working on soon. I received permission from Ola back in January this year to build my own Boden, and am now finally acting on it! I'm basing my build off of his M2M #4 series 1 tremolo demo guitar, but it will be quite different in a few ways. Specs will be as follows:

Swamp Ash body with Padauk pickguard

25.5" scale quartersawn Spanish Cedar neck with quartersawn Wenge fingerboard and Maple veneer sandwiched between the two, and custom mahogany face dots

21 Nickel Silver Jescar frets

6 string EGS bridge and headpieces

S-S-S configuration with Suhr V60LP single coils

5 way switch and volume

possibly a strat style output jack if i can make it work

I'm probably leaving something out but you all get the idea lol Pictured is the body, neck and fingerboard blank. I did a rough draw up of the guitar and all the specs/hardware. Definitely needs a bit of remeasuring and drawing but for now it works! I'd also like to see any other member's home built Bodens aswell, cheers!





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## Deegatron (Oct 10, 2015)

Welcome to the forum and good luck with the build.


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## Alex Kenivel (Oct 10, 2015)

Stratbergs are awesome IMO. Not everyone's cuppa tea, but definitely mine!


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## Tjnightingale (Oct 11, 2015)

Thanks guys! I've always been a fan of strandbergs myself, the R&D behind them is just insane.


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## Tjnightingale (Oct 11, 2015)

I did a rough cut out of the body on my bandsaw this morning, as well as planing the back down to slim the thickness down a bit. I might even the edges off with my spindle sander today and route the neck pocket, but my lungs can only handle so much Ash dust before they keel over. Pictured is the body, and also the bookmatched Padauk veneer i'll be using to build my pickguard. They will be epoxied to the top of a strat pickguard and then cut down to size for the body.




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## BlackMastodon (Oct 12, 2015)

I'd hold off on routing the neck pocket until you have the neck itself ready. Will help ensure a tight fit and it'll be a hell of a lot easier than trying get the neck itself to fit to an existing pocket.

Excited to see where this goes, been a while since we've had a strandberg home build.


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## Tjnightingale (Oct 12, 2015)

Doh, routed the neck pocket last night  I think it should be alright though, i like to put some tape on the neck template when i cut it to ensure it's a little wider than the pocket anyways, then i can just sand it to fit if necessary. Thank you for the advice though, i'll probably start by building the neck first next time i build a guitar!


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## Tjnightingale (Oct 13, 2015)

So i got my pickguard in today, this was the fit before




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And this was after a few minutes of bandsawing, now both the body and pickguard require some work with the spindle sander to smooth out the edges. Some of the pickguard holes will be relocated after i glue on the veneer aswell. Got some work to do tonight so hopefully tomorrow i can get back on this!




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## Tjnightingale (Oct 13, 2015)

I also did not anticipate the pictures to turn out that large....


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## Cloudy (Oct 13, 2015)

The builds looking great so far! How thick are you going to be leaving the body? 

It'd be really awesome if you could figure out a way to get a top loaded strat jack on there but the strandberg shape + the pickguard doesn't leave a lot of room to play around with.


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## Tjnightingale (Oct 13, 2015)

Thanks Cloudy! The body is about 1.6" deep last I checked, it'll go down just a hair once I sand both the face and rear of the guitar. And yeah a top mounted jack would be sweet, but I'm not too sure how I'd fit it in there  I'll probably just end up installing an output similar to .strandberg*s models.


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## warped (Oct 14, 2015)

Looking great Tjnightingale

Are you ordering your frets/fretwire straight from jescar? What size fretwire are you going to use?


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## Tjnightingale (Oct 14, 2015)

Thanks Warped! Yeah I'm going to order the set of 25 from them, I can't remember the part number but I'm going to get the biggest crown I can. I prefer scalloped frets so I'm trying to get that feel without actually having to scallop the board


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## Tjnightingale (Oct 15, 2015)

Just wanted to show you guys the 1/4"x36" mahogany dowel i got in the mail today that i'll be using for my custom inlays. I'll explain how the inlays will be laid out once i get to them as it will be easier to understand with visual guides rather than all by word of mouth. Or word of binary. By far easier than word of messages tied to unladen swallows... Hopefully this weekend i can get to that, i might just get the neck up to rough cut stage with the body and proceed to sand them together from there. I'm kinda flying by the seat of my pants here, but that's okay.




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## Tjnightingale (Oct 15, 2015)

Again i'm not sure why my pictures come out so large. Damned smart phones.


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## Knarbens (Oct 16, 2015)

The pickguard looks very cool on the bodyshape! Nice job!


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## Hywel (Oct 16, 2015)

Tjnightingale said:


> Again i'm not sure why my pictures come out so large. Damned smart phones.



Eh, I like the large pictures. Nothing worse than a build thread with tiny pics. 

Looking like a great start, can't wait to see how it turns out


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## Tjnightingale (Oct 16, 2015)

Thanks both Knarbens and Hywel! I'm glad everyone is liking the build so far. I'm hoping I have time to progress on it tomorrow at some point, but I may have work to do, and Sunday I'll be busy all day. Once I get a whole day to myself I'm going to really grind away on it.


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## Tjnightingale (Oct 17, 2015)

I've been researching it a lot and decided i'm going to go with a french polish on the body, and an oil finish on the neck and pickguard. I've done the natural oil finishes on quite a few Suhrs back when i was in the sanding department, and i'm extremely picky with my sanding quality (that's what i'm known for back there) so i think it should work well for this build. I'm not going to grain fill the body either since i like the way it looks when finish pours into the grain rather than giving it a glassy smooth surface. Just waiting on a day off so i can get on all this stuff


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## Tjnightingale (Oct 17, 2015)

I got a few spare hours to work on it this morning, so i'm trying to get as much done as possible. I already cut the swimming pool route and hopefully can cut the rear control cavity. I know that kind of defeats the purpose of the pickguard, but i just like the looks of the pickguard and the access of a rear cavity so it works for me. I've also got some crazy schnit planned out for the cavity that i mustn't disclose yet, but it should be pretty snappy looking when i'm done! I also know a lot of people hate pool routes, but i'm trying to cut down as much weight as i can since i can't chamber the body and this was the best way to go, so please don't kill me for this




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## Tjnightingale (Oct 17, 2015)

I was also able to carve the forearm contour today aswell, it looks a bit off in the picture but i think it's only because i haven't smoothed out the edges on the build yet. I decided to hold off on that until all contours are carved and all the cavities are routed. Once i get to sanding the whole thing will come together nicely.





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## Tjnightingale (Nov 1, 2015)

So i had some free time this weekend and i went ahead and cleaned up the edges with my spindle sander, aswell as cutting the control cavity and stomach contour. And i know, the control cavity is dangerously close to the edge. But i'll be using an ash cover for it anyways, so the edge radius is going to blend into the ash cover making it appear seamless (hopefully). If i'd moved the cavity any closer to the center it would have cut through my pool route, and that won't do at all for the wiring i have planned for it. I also did a pilot hole for the output jack, i decided to just to a face mounted one for the sake of ease. The pilot hole will help me plan out how the rest of the controls will sit and thus take the control/wiring cavities to phase 2 so to speak. I also wasn't entirely inactive last weekend, i managed to inlay my fingerboard exactly how i wanted, but when cutting it to the template with my router a huge chunk of the wenge was ripped out right along the grain line. I decided to order a flatsawn wenge fingerboard instead, hoping not to make the same mistake twice. At least i know my inlays worked so it's not a total loss!

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## Tjnightingale (Nov 6, 2015)

I'm gonna be busy tonight, but I was able to get all the stuff together for the French polish. I went ahead and mixed up the shellac and alcohol, so hopefully I can try a test run of it later this weekend. I'm also going to try to get my new fingerboard inlayed and cut tomorrow, hopefully this one works out better than the last! If it does work, I'll also route out the truss rod channel and possibly 2 more channels for carbon fiber rods, I'll have to check the measurements of the neck to be sure they'll work. Hope all are well!


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## Tjnightingale (Nov 7, 2015)

Today i got cracking on the neck, i took pics along the way but the ones of the inlay process are from the fingerboard that splintered. After that it's all the new fingerboard. Prepare your diddly holes!


First i drilled the holes for the inlays right where the side of the neck will run




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Then i glued in the mahogany dowels




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Then i planed/sand them flush




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Then the fingerboard is cut and voila, side dot/face dot hybrids! Not sure if anybody else has done them like this, but i thought it'd be cool. As part of the share and share alike program, anybody who wishes to may use this technique aswell!




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Then i slotted the fingerboard and glued it to the maple veneer, didn't actually get a picture of that as it wasn't much to see




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Then i routed/glued in the trussrod and carbon fiber rods and drilled the truss rod access hole. I'm not 100% happy with how the carbon rod routes came out, but they work. Also pardon my dirty bench...




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Then finally i glued the fingerboard onto the neck, after cutting the neck blank to a basic size/shape




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Tomorrow i'll try to get the neck shaped to the fingerboard and test fit it in the body.


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## electriceye (Nov 8, 2015)

I absolutely LOVE what you did with those markers!!! That's something I'm definitely going to borrow. What a great idea!


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## Tjnightingale (Nov 8, 2015)

Thanks electriceye! I'm glad you like them enough to use the idea! The tricky part was getting a bit to cut the bottom of the hole perfectly flat. I'm sure a square cutting 1/4th inch flute plunger bit would work, but the one I used had a small gap between the blades at the top so I had to sand down this little bump in the bottom of each hole.


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## Tjnightingale (Nov 8, 2015)

I had some time this morning to cut the neck to shape as well as radius the fingerboard. Here it is after fine sanding it to a nice 22" radius




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## BlackMastodon (Nov 10, 2015)

That is genius what you did with the inlays/side markers. Great work so far, dude!


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## Tjnightingale (Nov 10, 2015)

Thanks BlackMastadon, i appreciate your support and input through this build!


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## Tjnightingale (Nov 10, 2015)

Also, tonight i was going to work on this guitar but somebody was using it as a pillow... Anywho, i ordered a bottle of the same glue i've used for fretting at work and will hopefully be able to get around to that this weekend when it arrives. I might also see if i can get a stainless steel fret from work for the zero fret as it will wear out slower than the nickel silver i'm using for the rest of the fretting. After i get the neck all fretted i'll proceed to the shaping of the neck, and then sanding of the neck and body. I might also do a test fit of the bridge pieces/string retainers before i get too far in the finishing process. Like i said, I'm flying by the seat of my pants. 




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## coreypla (Nov 11, 2015)

+1,000 for the baby Russian Blue kitten. 

I hope to get around to some building myself. When Job-Work dies down. But in the mean time I will just be learning from all the friendly/detailed posts on here. 

looks great!


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## Tjnightingale (Nov 12, 2015)

Thanks coreypla! I'm glad you like the build and I hope you learn a thing or too from my documenting it, I'd like it to be as much a learning experience for others as it has been for me. And as for my lazy cat, I'm not 100% sure what breed he is. I believe he's got some kind of wild cat in him like minx or something, my sis got him up in Colorado. I do have a friend with a Russian Blue though and that's one good looking cat. This thread is now .strandberg* home build/cat appreciation 101. Show me your home builds and your cats


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## Tjnightingale (May 29, 2016)

Woke up from a much needed nap today. Joking aside, I regret not having been able to work on this guitar lately. To be truthfully honest, I lost all ambition to do all the things I loved after my girlfriend left me about 3 and a half years into our relationship. On top of that, I was moved from the pickup department to customer service at work which was a huge move for me, and needless to say, a difficult transition to get used to. Unfortunately, this all led to me working later hours during the week and feeling mentally/emotionally drained on weekends. But, today I decided to put my worries aside and put a dent in the work still necessary for this build. 

Last November, I was able to fret the neck, but hadn't posted any updates on it. Today, I carved the neck into a nice slim C shape. I had shaped hundreds of necks when I was in the sanding department, so it is not a foreign concept to me, but this was the first time I have shaped one completely by hand. I'm happy with how it came out so far, but it does still need a bit of work once I get to the fine sanding stage. Spec wise, I made it thin (to my standards) all the way up with a straight .830" thickness all the way up from the first fret until it reaches the heel. I know necks are traditionally thicker at the 12th fret, but this is kind of an experimental instrument, and I felt I may enjoy the uniformity of the neck built in this fashion. It will be a little thinner once sanded completely as well, but only by a hair.

I'll post some more photos once the sanding is complete, specifically where the heel meets the neck as I worked quite hard on making this area appear seamless! Also pictured is another old project of mine. I cut this body a while ago, but added the contours and "planetary" holes to it earlier this year just before everything went completely mad. That's another one I hope to be able to work on more soon. 

Hope all have been well!




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## J_Mac (May 29, 2016)

electriceye said:


> I absolutely LOVE what you did with those markers!!! That's something I'm definitely going to borrow. What a great idea!



Seconded! \m/


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## shadowlife (May 29, 2016)

Sorry for your troubles, but i'm glad you managed to push yourself into getting back on track with this project- you're pretty much building my dream strandberg lol

Also, i think it's awesome that you work for Suhr- i was trying to get a job there some years back (when Ed Yoon was there), but it didn't happen. Did they give you a choice about moving over to CS? It sounds like you were a lot happier working with the pickups, so i hope you at least got a raise.

Hang in there man, life is all ups and downs, and neither last forever...


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## Tjnightingale (May 30, 2016)

Thank you for the kind words shadowlife, I'm glad you are enjoying my build so far! Suhr is a great place to work, and I love all the people I'm fortunate enough to work with. They did give me the choice to move to CS, and I took the job as it allows me to work with more departments in the company than I had in any previous positions. It's just a different schedule than I had been previously used to and in a much different field of work. I'm happy wherever they put me, but in my heart I'm still a handyman and I do thoroughly enjoy working with wood and electronics, but at least I can still do that on my spare time!


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