# Sassafras 7 first build



## CD1221 (Dec 4, 2010)

Hey there people. This will be my first build. I have been after a 7 for some time now, but they are fairly rare in my neck of the woods (Australia) and those that can be found are fairly expensive. I have been inspired by several great threads on here and learnt a lot, so I figured I might as well give building one a go.

Hopefully this will result in a playable instrument. I will be using local timbers.


anyway, on with the details:


Specs:
7 strings (obviously)
Neck: bolt on Tasmanian Blackwood 
Body: Tasmanian Blackwood 
Top: Blackhearted Sassafras 
Fretboard: Mulga
Scale: 26.22" (the most metal scale)
Bridge: Hipshot fixed
Frets: 24
Body style: semi-original, "borrowed" heavily from several sources - Oni, Myka, blackmachine, ormsby, hufschmid
Pickups: BKP Miracle Man (thanks Zimbloth!) bridge, Duncan SSL-5 neck
Electronics: single push-push volume for pickup selection

All of the parts have been ordered, only half have arrived so far.

Blackwood body:







Sassafras top:






Mulga fretboard:






Plans:






That is the timber done. What I am undecided on, is how to use the top. I originally planned to lay it out like this:






but these two alternatives also look good. Not sure now, opinions are welcome.











The fretboard will basically have no markers, except I am toying with inlaying a styalised version of my initials at the twelfth fret, something like this mockup (of someone else's guitar...I can't remember whose it is.... apologies to the owner).






That will probably do for now. I have a uni exam this week, so I won't get into this for a few days, but the goal is to have it completed mid January.


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## CooleyJr (Dec 4, 2010)

Can't wait to see progress on this dude. Looks sexy!


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## Invader (Dec 4, 2010)

CD1221 said:


>



I'd go with this one. It flows really well with the upper horn. Otherwise, great looking design you have there! Looking forward for the updates.


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## Jexey (Dec 4, 2010)

BEAUTIFUL design!! Can't wait to watch this unfold.


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## scherzo1928 (Dec 4, 2010)

woo, more builds!! I'm loving the design. Looks fantastic.

As for the top layout. I think that if you went with the first one, but took off a little bit of wood from the center it would look AMAZING. Other than that, #2 looks great as well.

Post many maaany pics!


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## JamesM (Dec 4, 2010)

I like alllll of it. But the headstock. 

Can't wait to see more.


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## ev1ltwin (Dec 4, 2010)

CD1221 said:


>



I would go with this one. the dark lines run symmetrically down from the fretboard and start to curve out and back in in naturally with the body shape. because the lines move out perfectly horizontal away the fretboard, it really lets the upper horn and lower horn stand out against each other (much like a guitar painted one color would). i'm not sure that's an eloquent explanation, but it makes sense to me .

this is going to be fantastic, btw!


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## teqnick (Dec 4, 2010)

Ditto on the 3rd choice, it really flows. I'm pumped to see this progress man!


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## technomancer (Dec 4, 2010)

Jexey said:


> BEAUTIFUL design!! Can't wait to watch this unfold.



I'm sure Dan from Oni appreciates the compliment  Generally when you "borrow" a design from a luthier it's polite to at least acknowledge it.

Going to be a sweet guitar


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## JamesM (Dec 4, 2010)

^This is what I was thinking, but didn't wanna say anything. 

I think that body shape is absolute genius. Thanks for giving birth to it, Dan!


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## CD1221 (Dec 4, 2010)

technomancer said:


> I'm sure Dan from Oni appreciates the compliment  Generally when you "borrow" a design from a luthier it's polite to at least acknowledge it.



I thought I did:

Body style: semi-original, "borrowed" heavily from several sources - Oni


but yes, I stole it from Dan - Oni guitars (thanks Dan for the design). 


I actually started this by tracing around both my pacifica and my brother's 7321 to get the approximate dimensions. I then re-drew the horns and reshaped the main body curves freehand.

Out of curiosity I printed out a couple of full scale pictures of Dan's builds for comparison and lay my drawing over the top. Although the overall shape looks very similar, the curves and relative dimensions/proportions are all different. 

inspiration #1 (Bostjan's awesome lacewood 7 - my favourite guitar, except I still don't get the no volume control):







inspirations #2 (penguin 316's 8):







But yeah, it does look the same. 


Dan's designs are about as close to perfection as I have seen. 



Thanks for the encouragement guys. There will be lots of photos.


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## technomancer (Dec 4, 2010)

Reading fail on my part, sorry 

Also #2 or #3 on the layout.


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## airpanos (Dec 4, 2010)

Neck: bolt on Tasmanian Blackwood
Body: Tasmanian Blackwood
Top: Blackhearted Sassafras

thOSE woods are hardcore


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## Daiephir (Dec 4, 2010)

I'd suggest using the 1st or 3rd way of putting the matched top, but I'm leaning more towards the 3rd one, it looks cooler IMO.

Good luck with the build, I look forward to seeing it finished.

(BTW, Kudos to you for making a real plan )


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## D0mn8r (Dec 4, 2010)

+1 on the layout in top #3!


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## scherzo1928 (Dec 4, 2010)

How much do you have leftover on the sides? cutting off some of the white on the 1st layout could really look sweet.


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## CD1221 (Dec 4, 2010)

hey scherzo, there isn't much left.

criminally poor photoshop skills gives me this:







Not sure if I like it, it is a bit busy.


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## BlackMastodon (Dec 4, 2010)

D0mn8r said:


> +1 on the layout in top #3!


+2


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## dpm (Dec 5, 2010)

CD1221 said:


> but yes, I stole it from Dan - Oni guitars (thanks Dan for the design).



Bit of a surprise but all good. There's nothing I could do about it if it did concern me  The original entirely accidentally falls close to a couple of other designs out there. That's the issue with designing guitar bodies, you've got to get certain things out of them which means they generally all look fairly similar unless you either look entirely at ergonomics or entirely ignore ergonomics.

Great choice of woods too. I'll be using blackwood, sassafrass and mulga in upcoming guitars. Tassie myrtle is great too, I'm really liking it as a neck wood.


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## Hollowway (Dec 5, 2010)

That sassafrass looks great! But can't you include that crossover looking piece in the body? That's the coolest part, IMO.


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## Cheesebuiscut (Dec 5, 2010)

Yeah if I was gonna cop anyones body shape it would be dans as its awesome. 

my votes #3


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## CD1221 (Dec 5, 2010)

dpm said:


> Bit of a surprise but all good. There's nothing I could do about it if it did concern me  The original entirely accidentally falls close to a couple of other designs out there.



That was what I found. Whilst I am a big admirer of many of your guitars (in particular the body shape on the two guitars I posted above), this one was drawn out in pencil and paper based off dimensions and curves from my pacifica - something that I have had for 15 years and am very comfortable with, except for a few little things that I wanted changed. Mine is a tele shape (1221MS) and is neck heavy, so I wanted a top horn, but curved the opposite way to the strat style so that when I sat down and leant over it, the top curve didn't dig into my chest. The other change was to remove as much of the bottom horn as possible because I never want my hand to hit it whilst playing. 

So after I drew it up and was looking at it for a while, it dawned on me that it is remarkeably similar to your work. But, like I said, if you laid both designs on top of each other, there are almost no curves that actually match.


So, no harm meant and this thing is for me, not for sale. Hopefully I can do the design justice.





Hollowway said:


> That sassafrass looks great! But can't you include that crossover looking piece in the body? That's the coolest part, IMO.



yeah, I would love to do that, but it is a knot and there are bloody great big gaps/splits in the middle of it, so I am not sure what I could do with it. I am open to suggestions if you have any ideas.


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## Daemon (Dec 5, 2010)

erf.. don't like the shape, but good project =)


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## dpm (Dec 5, 2010)

CD1221 said:


> so I wanted a top horn, but curved the opposite way to the strat style so that when I sat down and leant over it, the top curve didn't dig into my chest. The other change was to remove as much of the bottom horn as possible because I never want my hand to hit it whilst playing



Pretty much the same aspects I looked at. I had certain areas I wanted a certain way, and I didn't want it looking like a strat. Incidentally, where did you source your woods?


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## CD1221 (Dec 5, 2010)

Woods came from Tim Spittle - Australian Tonewoods:

Australian Tonewoods

He was very helpful, a lovely guy to deal with. Replied to emails promptly, even though I hit him with 1000 questions every second day for about 3 weeks... he even sent pics of the pieces he had to help me choose, and gave me a discount on the sassafras because of the knot in it.

Took about 2 weeks on the nose for the timber to arrive via whatever crazy roadtrain truck system they use in the west to get stuff over to the east coast.

I definitely will deal with him again.


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## CD1221 (Dec 5, 2010)

Hollowway said:


> That sassafrass looks great! But can't you include that crossover looking piece in the body? That's the coolest part, IMO.



so:

mad photoshop skillz again:

#5 








I really like this last one. 

So, the question is: how do I fill the enormous knot cracks in the timber? 






will epoxy do the trick? will that be ok underneath the bridge?


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## ev1ltwin (Dec 5, 2010)

why do you want to fill the knots? i think it gives it character


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## jeremyb (Dec 5, 2010)

Timbermate wood filler will do the trick, and hoping it doesn't grow any bigger


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## Hollowway (Dec 5, 2010)

That last one is definitely the winner!


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## airpanos (Dec 5, 2010)

Daemon said:


> erf.. don't like the shape, but good project =)



+1 I don't like the shape too much but it is your project,go for it!


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## elq (Dec 6, 2010)

At first I didn't like that shape, hence I ordered Dan's more Strat like shape, but my second Oni will be in that shape - it's really grown on me. 

One other thing to note, Mulga is one of the more noxious woods to work on if I would've known that, I wouldn't have asked Dan to use Mulga for my fretboard (sorry Dan!)


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## dpm (Dec 6, 2010)

Wow, let's try to avoid splinters then  On a completely serious note, all wood dust is an irritant to some degree and it's common to see older wood workers with respiratory problems. The stuff luthiers use tends to be particularly nasty so please wear a disposable dust mask at the very least when sanding. I use a Sundstrom respirator which has been well worth the $100 it cost. The disposable ones are better than nothing but if you're working a lot with wood you'll eventually spend that much and won't have the same level of protection.


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## CD1221 (Dec 6, 2010)

elq said:


> One other thing to note, Mulga is one of the more noxious woods to work on if I would've known that, I wouldn't have asked Dan to use Mulga for my fretboard (sorry Dan!)



thanks for the heads up. I am somewhat scared now.

Mulga



(Acacia aneura) irritant, headache, nausea, wood contains a virulent poisonous principle used for spear heads by aboriginals


Sassafras



sensitizer, nausea, respiratory, direct toxin, NPC (rare)


that is pretty heavy  they put skull and crossbones right in there! I guess I should have done a bit more research first... I will certainly be looking into some decent dust gear. Do you guys wear goggles when ploughing into this stuff?






in other news:


NSFOTOD (new stuff from over the ocean day)











input jack, bunch of pickguard screw, neck screws, neck screw washers, string ferrules, push-push pots (these babies are long - I will have to watch the overall body depth) and 4+3 Gotoh tuners.


I had a hell of a time locating a compay that would sell a 4+3 set of tuners. so I contacted a manufacturer and after a few initial emails and a phone call to give my visa details....they didn't reply to my follow-up emails... I figured that they were pretty busy and a single international sale for $70 wasn't that high on their list of things to do, so after a few weeks of no response I ordered these non-locking Gotohs from warmoth (They also sell individual locking tuners, but they specifically state that they won't fit baritone strings) ... Only to find 2 days later that the other company had just debited my account for my order... now I have 2 sets of 4+3 tuners. 14 string anyone? 




​


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## bostjan (Dec 6, 2010)

Darn tuning machines and seven strings! Often been a problem for me!

The function of the body shape is genious. No troubles reaching any frets, even with an extended fretboard, and no ergonomic issues whatsoever.

I like the last mockup the best.

By the way, I love my control layout  keeps the direct out tone very bright, so I can get a good live "all out" tone. If you have a tube screamer or an amp boost, it can make some good sense. I know that that control layout will not be appreciated by everyone, though.


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## darren (Dec 6, 2010)

I love the "X" pattern in the top. You could also position it so the "X" is right underneath the bridge pickup (so those knots and cracks are routed away). That would give it a really cool look and play off the uniqueness of that piece of wood.


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## CD1221 (Dec 13, 2010)

hey there, minor update today.

Darren - I can't put the knot under the bridge pickup, there isn't enough timber. I'm going to leave it under the bridge.


The nearly-last parts drops arrived together today:







(grainy late-night phone camera photo...)

sperzels and seymour arrived today, along with a set of strap buttons.

The fret wire turned up late last week, so the only bit left to arrive is the graphtec nut.

nearly finished with the rear deck reburbishment, so I will be kicking this baby off properly in the next week or so. I have already started to map out my templates onto some mdf, so the first job will be to finish those off. 

that's all for now, more to come soon.


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## theo (Dec 13, 2010)

That looks great! Loving the native wood selection. Wattle can look lovely too!


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## bostjan (Dec 13, 2010)

"Big hole?"


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## CD1221 (Dec 13, 2010)

bostjan said:


> "Big hole?"



The awesome people at Sperzel drilled that tuner out to take a .070" string for the low B, thus saving me some future stress and panic. (thanks Sperzel )



so... the spacing on the duncan single coil is quite wide. I haven't measured it yet, but placing it over my full-scale plan, the 1st and seventh string will be positioned somewhere inside the end pole pieces of the coil. Is that going to cause volume problems? Will I be better off angling the neck single so that I get proper alignment of the pole pieces with the strings? I have never had a single at the neck, so I have no point of reference.


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## elq (Dec 14, 2010)

CD1221 said:


> so... the spacing on the duncan single coil is quite wide. I haven't measured it yet, but placing it over my full-scale plan, the 1st and seventh string will be positioned somewhere inside the end pole pieces of the coil. Is that going to cause volume problems?



I've also never had a single coil pickup in the neck position, but logically at the neck position the string has a much wider vibration path than at the bridge, so I would expect it to be fine. I do know from experience that at least neck humbuckers work quite well if the poles don't line up with the strings.


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## x-CRUX-x (Dec 14, 2010)

looking awesome!!!, love the wood selection!


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## CD1221 (Dec 17, 2010)

Thanks Crux!


Stopped at my brother's house on the way home from work to borrow some toys to use during the build:







2 (!) belt sanders, 1 flat electric sander, 1 electric plane, lots of sandaper, dust mask, a seriously sharp spokeshave thingo and a set of surgically sharp palm carving tools. These last things are terrifyingly sharp.







started work early today, roughed out my mdf templates for the body and headstock on the bandsaw.






got them home and used the sanders to finish them off - first failure of the project.






Now I know why people use spindle sanders. Even though I *thought* I was holding the timber vertical, I clearly didn't, so the template is sanded unevenly and an important section on the top horn has now been undercut. Can't save it. I made the same error on the headstock template.

Nothing to do but rough out new ones, and investigate a better sanding method. 






It is not a complete waste - I will use the stuffed body template to create the rear control cavity template.

*
learning experience #1* - ensure edge sanding happens at right angles.


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## scherzo1928 (Dec 17, 2010)

If you insist on using the belt sander for this, perhaps you could set it horizontal, and "feed" the MDF through a table. I mean, use the table as a guide.

I myself just use a couple of files, and pay attention to doing it perfectly perpendicular. It can get you tired fast tho.

If you have access to a spindlesander tho... that would be great!


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## Customisbetter (Dec 17, 2010)

I'll admit i scrolled up after seeing the pic wondering if Dan changed his avatar. 

Looks really good so far. You are showing a great habit already. When you notice a mistake, you stop and do it right from the start. Trying to cope with mistakes in templates or jigs is almost always a bad move.

Also I personally can't say anything about design stealing as I'm straight up copying Ola's designs.


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## klinic (Dec 18, 2010)

dpm said:


> Bit of a surprise but all good. There's nothing I could do about it if it did concern me  The original entirely accidentally falls close to a couple of other designs out there. That's the issue with designing guitar bodies, you've got to get certain things out of them which means they generally all look fairly similar unless you either look entirely at ergonomics or entirely ignore ergonomics.
> 
> Great choice of woods too. I'll be using blackwood, sassafrass and mulga in upcoming guitars. Tassie myrtle is great too, I'm really liking it as a neck wood.


Tassie Myrtle as a neck wood, eh? I'm using it as a top to my Tasmanian Blackwood guitar I'm working on at the moment. The neck will be Tassie blackwood too though, just like the guitar here. How would it go for a fingerboard? 

As to the OP who's building this fantastic guitar, I love it. Really nice wood selection, very similar to what I would have chosen. And it's making me consider Sassafras for the top, lovely look on it. Going to be damn beastly when it's done.


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## Jexey (Dec 20, 2010)

There's problems with spindle sanders too. Make sure it's a low grit and you keep the bastard moving. I've almost murdered spindle sanders in the past learning these lessons


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## CD1221 (Dec 22, 2010)

I went and bought some stuff from the mighty B last night - a bunch of clamps, some tassie oak I plan on practicing the scarf joint and neck shaping on, and some dustproof goggles. No luck finding a drum sander there, unfortunately.

Tonight I dragged the sander out to re-do the routing templates, pondered how I would sand it nicely perpendicular without a drum sander and table, and had a macgyver moment. 

Allow me to present the world's finest vertical sanding alignment table:







And, it worked amazingly well:

new clamps + piece of mdf sheet + marshall valvestate 8240 + protective beach towel cover = success!








finished of a few bits here and there hand sanded with a sanding block and some sandpaper wrapped around a small piece of PVC to get into the top cut and we are done.

Really happy with the result.

Then I drew out the template for the neck single coil. Both pickup routes are drawn out, will head over to my dad's in a few days to drill them out on the pedastal drill and thickness the neck and body blanks.


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## scherzo1928 (Dec 22, 2010)

that looks awesome!
Just make sure when you route with that template to runn the ball bearing bellow that little chip on the lower horn.

pro jig btw.


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## Thrashmanzac (Dec 22, 2010)

i cant wait to see more progress on this


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## CD1221 (Dec 26, 2010)

Today I went over to my dad's and ran the blackwwod and sassafras across the router and jointed them together. On Tuesday I will head back over and glue the top onto the back.

I also ran the neck blank and fretboards through the thicknesser. 


forgot to take pics though.....


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## CD1221 (Dec 28, 2010)

I had grand plans today - glue the top and move on to the neck build.

THat all changed when I unclamped the body blanks. I did a perfectly ordinary job of clamping them down and both the top and the back have glued with a fair cup, or bow in them, around 2-3 mm each. My phone camera was hard to align, but this is the general idea. It looked much worse in real life:






The solution, after much consideration was to assemble the body-flattening-router-jig 3000:






The body passes under the rails, which the router sits on. I stole this from idea from someone on the board the did a much better job (with aluminium, I think - Scherzo ??). Props to whoever it was, it saved my backside today.

so, passed the blanks through and got this:






then I made this:






added some sand paper and a bunch of effort, and got these:












not sure how much total thickness I lost, that will have to wait a few days. My original plan of a push-push volume pot may have to revert to a vol pot plus switch. fingers crossed there is still enough timber there.

The total sanding took a while. hardwood is like, really, really hard. I haven't worked with anything other than pine or mdf before, so it was a revelation. I got up to 180 grit on the back and top and now they both feel like glass. ridiculous.

so, after the several hours of hand sanding, I gathered the clamps and glue for a little get-together:











I tred really hard to keep the two pieces in alignment, but it was not to be. The top and bottom joins were in perfect alignment after the first 4 clamps were added, so I didn't check them again. after all the clamps were tight and I had been looking at it for about 10 minutes I noticed they had moved a little, 2-3mm. I doubt anyone will notice the back being ever so slightly out of kilter, but I will know it is there.



So that is where I left it, arms sore and fingers shredded from the low grit paper. 

Hopefully this gluing experience works out better than the last one.

lessons today:

double, triple, quadruple check everything.

stuff ups can be saved with a bit of engineering.

hardwood is HARD.


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## scherzo1928 (Dec 28, 2010)

My name is scherzo, and I aprove of this message:





And yeah, to avoid the pieces from slipping while glueing Ive resorted to using nails or dowels.


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## CD1221 (Dec 30, 2010)

I unclamped the body today and was really happy with the result. The body has ended up at 38mm overall thickness, so I can still use the push-pushv volume pot, very happy about that.

nothing left to do but reveal the body, so I got the trusy template out and drew the outline onto the top. Then I hit the pedestal drill, drilled a stack of holes and sawed the excess away:







end result:






I measured thrice and screwed the template onto the body.






set up the router table with the new template-following bit and started routing.

part way around, I got some small tearout.






This was approximately the spot I was going to put the jack for the lead anyway, so not a terrible problem.













this is the terrible problem:













Really bloody nasty tear-out on the top horn. The longest bit torn away was about 10mm long, so I am really going to have to come up with something clever to work around this one.

I think if I pull the end of the horn back a little, and extend the neck heel carve into the horn I can minimise the total damage.

routers are freakin scary, it all happened real quick.

This has convinced me to not route my headstock, but to use my template as a guide for drilling and marking, then sanding to final shape.


Overall, even though I had a fairly major setback here, I am real excited about finishing this one. It is starting to look like an actual guitar.







Given the router crash earlier in the afternoon, I decided to stop work on the body and do a few other things. I squared off my two fretboards:












I think I am leaning towards the top, darker one now. 

I also used a piece of the leftover sassafras body blank and split it to make a bookmatched headstock plate. I just need to thickness and rough sand them.







Apologies for the crapola photos, I keep forgetting to pack an actual camera. My phone camera is really sub par.


more to come.


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## TimSE (Dec 30, 2010)

Ahhh dude that Horn gash is lame!
maybe some fancy body contouring will help perhaps?


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## scherzo1928 (Dec 30, 2010)

I agree with Tim about carving the horn a bit. And yeah, when you route against the grain you have to be extremely carefull. Guitar is looking great, don't let that get to you, rather learn from it.

Now you know why I hate the router table and have a couple of beers immediately after using it .

And welcome to the bookmatched headstock club. I'm sure d8mnater (however he spells it) aproves too, lol.


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## bostjan (Dec 30, 2010)

Ouch, that tear out looks pretty frustrating. I'm sure you'll make it look great, though.


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## BlackMastodon (Dec 30, 2010)

+1 to the contouring idea to get rid of that gash on the horn


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## CD1221 (Jan 1, 2011)

Started on the neck today.

Assembled this little jig to cut the scarf angle on a drop saw:






used a length of tassie oak as a test run:






and then ran the blackwood through:






Satisfied at the start, I tackled my nemesis - the router, but was victorious today. rounded over the body and did a bit of sanding (and also remembered to use an actual camera).






I managed to overcome the tear-out. Took about 5 mm off the top horn, sanded it a bit and was fairly happy with the outcome.






if the carving I plan to do leaves it obvious, I have saved some sanding dust from the back that I can use with some epoxy to fill it.

While sanding I noticed a really freaky coincidence, the grain on the top and back actually follow each other quite well. Here is the bottom:






and here is the top:








really bizarre.

here is the mis-alignment of the body pieces, it isn't that bad really.








body ready to have neck and pickup routes:


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## Rojne (Jan 1, 2011)

Looks great dude!


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## arsonist (Jan 1, 2011)

looks excellent!!


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## Customisbetter (Jan 2, 2011)

Cutting back the horn was the way to go. Looks great!


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## CD1221 (Jan 2, 2011)

Thanks guys!



started the neck today.

I finished the cuts on the test piece and the blackwood and set them up for glueing.







unfortunately the clamping arrangement I used for the longer length didn't hold and the joint slipped:







*Very* happy I decided to do a trial run. 

Modified/improved the jig and glued the blackwood.


















From what I can tell, nothing moved this time. I guess I'll find out tomorrow.


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## aleXander (Jan 2, 2011)

Dude, this build is lookin' great.

And excellent job on the top horn!


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## JamesM (Jan 2, 2011)

I'd buy it.


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## TimSE (Jan 2, 2011)

good work so far


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## CD1221 (Jan 3, 2011)

Small update today. Yesterday, in between painting our spare room, I managed to get the following done.

Firstly I unclamped the scarf joint and was very happy with it. It moved maybe 0.5mm.













So, newly scarfed neck in hand, I headed over to my dad's and set up the following piece of jiggery to route the truss channel.






I ran my test piece through first, was pleased with the result and ended up with this:







Oh, I also sanded back the sassafras for the headstock plate (seriously poor photo ahead....)







that's all for now.


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## scherzo1928 (Jan 3, 2011)

oh this is going to look great!


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## adrock (Jan 3, 2011)

man that body is fucking beautiful. and the grain flows so nice on the sides. I love it.


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## b7string (Jan 4, 2011)

Nice jig for the truss rod routing, lookin good man!


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## le_meneghini (Jan 4, 2011)

congratulations dude is getting good work. continue posting pictures.


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## CD1221 (Jan 13, 2011)

Being back at work certainly slows building down...

Last week I cut out some mop for my fretboard inlay and tonight I had some spare time, so I dremelled the fretboard and glued the inlay in.

Crazy jigsaw puzzle to try and assemble, really tests out the manual dexterity.






A couple of spots were routed out a bit wide, but from arms length it is not really noticeable. Hopefully the glue + sanding dust combo will hide it further.


That's all for now.


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## ralphy1976 (Jan 13, 2011)

really good looking man, the body shape reminds me of Matt's Oni (highGain510)

nice work!!


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## airpanos (Jan 13, 2011)

Wow what a cool inlay job mister!!


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## scherzo1928 (Jan 13, 2011)

great job on the inlay!


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## Customisbetter (Jan 13, 2011)

Boobs.


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## CD1221 (Feb 3, 2011)

Well, I finally got back to this. Spent some time at a mate's house on Tuesday night to cut the fret slots and radius the board.

The fret slotting went really well and the radiusing/sanding has brought it up like glass. 


But...


Something funky happened when I glued the mop inlay in and as I sanded some of the lower mop pieces vanished before my eyes.

here is a crappy Phone photo of what happened:







Really annoyed. the rest of the fretboard looks superb, shiny and smooth like glass.


My plan is to re-cut some replacement mop and re-do the sections that have vanished. If anyone has done this before, I am all ears. tips and hints greatly appreciated. 


I am sure this will be recoverable, but it is damn frustrating.


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## Jexey (Feb 3, 2011)

It's too bad you couldn't clean it up and give it a natural fading appearance. It'd look pretty trick if you could doctor that up right.


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## aslsmm (Feb 3, 2011)

dude that sucks ballsies.


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## CD1221 (Feb 6, 2011)

I performed some surgery today. used the dremel and a scalpal to cut out new inlay slots.






and then glued the new mop in. I think I did a better job this time.






next up is to sand it back, polish the board and get the neck ready.

I changed my mind about doing a bookmatched headstock plate using the sassafras. I tried a few different sections and it doesn't look right. I am still going with a plate, to cover the scarf join, but I will be using a section of blackwood from the back instead. when sanded the blackwood is showing a bit of flame, so fingers crossed it comes up good.


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## CD1221 (Feb 8, 2011)

spent some time sanding back the glue today to reveal this:






The part on the left at the bottom has not polished up shiny like the rest, no idea why. I am not going to try and replace it though....there isn't enough mop left in the other sections.

Overall, I am happy with the repair job. It isn't perfect, but I can live with it.

Here is a shot of the full board, I just need to give it a bit more of a polish with the steel wool to remove the last of the rub marks from the fret saw guide.


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## dpm (Feb 8, 2011)

I've really got to congratulate you on this thread, it's not often people get to really see what's involved in learning this craft, how easy it is to make a mistake and what's involved in even attempting to repair those mistakes. Seriously, this is very cool, and the way you're documenting everything is admirable  I think the fact that I just skimmed through another "custom guitar for $1500?" thread put this one in perspective 

Re. the inlay material, that's just the nature of shell. It's translucent stuff, but when it's thick enough it appears to have solid colour. Once you go too thin the base material (fretboard) shows through and it looks like crap. You need to look at a wide inlay like that relative to the fretboard radius, in a cross section. Figure out how thick the edges need to be once the board is radiused, then from there calculate the centre thickness. Add a little to that and you've got the shell thickness you need to start with.

I noticed you're moving more and more toward doing trial runs before attempting the real thing, that's a really good approach, especially when you're dealing with pieces of wood that are essentially irreplaceable. Even if something is repairable the repair itself often takes far more time and effort than doing the job correctly the first time.


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## scherzo1928 (Feb 8, 2011)

That looks really nice bro.
And yeah, I think Trial runs are the way to go. Not only do you get some practice and confidence for the real deal, but you can find potential problems, or mistakes in your current aproach.


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## SirMyghin (Feb 8, 2011)

It looks good thus far, but I have one question. Why did you glue the scarf piece on that back like that? It will give a seem in the middle of the headstock. Not to mention you will be carvin out a lot of your glue joint when you shape it.


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## adrock (Feb 8, 2011)

dpm said:


> I've really got to congratulate you on this thread, it's not often people get to really see what's involved in learning this craft, how easy it is to make a mistake and what's involved in even attempting to repair those mistakes. Seriously, this is very cool, and the way you're documenting everything is admirable  I think the fact that I just skimmed through another "custom guitar for $1500?" thread put this one in perspective
> 
> Re. the inlay material, that's just the nature of shell. It's translucent stuff, but when it's thick enough it appears to have solid colour. Once you go too thin the base material (fretboard) shows through and it looks like crap. You need to look at a wide inlay like that relative to the fretboard radius, in a cross section. Figure out how thick the edges need to be once the board is radiused, then from there calculate the centre thickness. Add a little to that and you've got the shell thickness you need to start with.
> 
> I noticed you're moving more and more toward doing trial runs before attempting the real thing, that's a really good approach, especially when you're dealing with pieces of wood that are essentially irreplaceable. Even if something is repairable the repair itself often takes far more time and effort than doing the job correctly the first time.


so much win in this post. one of the most important things i've found with anything you do in life, it's not all about getting it done right the first time. with enough patience, and practice runs, that's relatively easy. it's knowing what to do when you fuck up, that makes you a real "professional" at what you do.

continuing on that, trial runs are the absolute way to go. i always cut a test piece of scrap on anything before i bring the real work piece in. always.


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## simulclass83 (Feb 8, 2011)

Hey, I just wanted to drop in and say this build looks very nice! The headstock is pretty killer. And the inlay is sweet! All looking top notch.


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## CD1221 (Feb 9, 2011)

Thanks for the props fellas!



SirMyghin said:


> It looks good thus far, but I have one question. Why did you glue the scarf piece on that back like that? It will give a seem in the middle of the headstock. Not to mention you will be carvin out a lot of your glue joint when you shape it.



I don't really like the look of a scarf joint in the neck... not sure why... I am going to put a headplate on the front of the headstock so it won't be visible from the front anyway.


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## SirMyghin (Feb 9, 2011)

CD1221 said:


> Thanks for the props fellas!
> 
> 
> 
> I don't really like the look of a scarf joint in the neck... not sure why... I am going to put a headplate on the front of the headstock so it won't be visible from the front anyway.




The big issue is the way you have it is a lot weaker than the alternative.


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## themike (Feb 9, 2011)

CD1221 said:


> forgot to take pics though.....



Wheres the ban hammer? 

haha looks good man!


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## CD1221 (Feb 10, 2011)

SirMyghin said:


> The big issue is the way you have it is a lot weaker than the alternative.




That might be true, but the headstock is quite small, so I am confident it will be ok. The low angle means there is still plenty of timber across the glue join. I am not concerned.

And, if it breaks I get to make another neck and have a third attempt at an inlay job, so no loss


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## CD1221 (Feb 13, 2011)

This weekend I put some blackwood through the thicknesser and made the headstock plate and drilled/filed the access hole for the truss rod adjustment. that sucked. fFiling holes on extreme angles in hardwood sucks. The end result is pretty good though, so I think I might not even make a cover now. Will see how it looks when it is finished.

I also trimmed the fretboard down a little, installed the truss rod and glued the fretboard on. I used a little trick from a mate: I found some 1mm x 12mm brad nails, and put one in my hand drill. I used this as a drill bit to put two small holes in the neck blank at each end, under where the fretboard goes - close to the truss channel. I then hammered two nails into those holes and nipped the head off the nail so that only a few mm stuck up. Then I positioned the fretboard over the top and pressed hard. that left little indentations in the back of the fretboard. I used those as guides and drilled *shallow* holes again using the nail as a drill bit. When I applied the glue and added the clamps - no movement at all! bloody brilliant. 

I wish I had taken photos - I was so focussed on not screwing it up that I forgot.

Clamped fretboard and glued headstock plate:














I am nervous about one thing: I had some light cardboard I was going to put under the sanding caul to protect the fretboard...... and I forgot.....

fingers crossed the caul was clean underneath and I haven't just smashed some dents into the board....


will find out tomorrow.


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## scherzo1928 (Feb 13, 2011)

you might need some more clamps there. Nice trick with the nails btw


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## CD1221 (Feb 14, 2011)

you can't have too many clamps, especially if the mighty B is having a sale for $5 each 


unclamped, my fears were unfounded. no caul marks and the thing looks great.

I did forget to clean up the glue prior to adding all those clamps, so there will be a bit of work to tidy it up.













Next I need to remove some material off the sides before I tackle the fretwork.


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## adrock (Feb 14, 2011)

woo! so excited to see this coming together.


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## CD1221 (Feb 24, 2011)

Major update today.

Last weekend I spent some time cutting the sides down and started to trim the headstock to shape.







On Tuesday I went to my mate's place and installed the frets. Was really worried about this step, but I am really, really happy with the way it turned out. I also finished the rough shaping of the headstock.











The frets made the semi-dodgy shell not as noticeable







and finally some daylight shots.







shiny, shiny 







Just need to finish the headstock and start on the neck shaping now.


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## CD1221 (Feb 24, 2011)

MOCKUP !!!!!!!!!!!


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## airpanos (Feb 24, 2011)

Wow i love the headstock!!! and the inlay looks awesome!!

keep it up


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## Jontain (Feb 24, 2011)

wow.... just wow.


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## scherzo1928 (Feb 24, 2011)

Dont think I mentioned it, but I'm glad you kept some of the white in the wood for the body. 

Also, that neck came out great!!!


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## nojyeloot (Feb 24, 2011)

CD1221 said:


> MOCKUP !!!!!!!!!!!



Man this looks great. The top wood is really gorgeous. Kind of reminds me of a Gaboon Viper.


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## OrsusMetal (Feb 24, 2011)

This looks so awesome man! Keep up the good work!


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## HaMMerHeD (Feb 24, 2011)

Yeah. I'd have sex with it.


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## Saber_777 (Feb 25, 2011)

HaMMerHeD said:


> Yeah. I'd have sex with it.


 
Can I join?


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## Saber_777 (Feb 25, 2011)

DAMN!!! Guitars are so much more in Australia, I used a converter thingy, and they are so much more. I am sorry man, the build was definitly the best choice there. Great job on it too!!!


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## CD1221 (Feb 27, 2011)

I had a small amount of spare time today, so I sanded the headstock back to correct thickness and started on the headstock side of the volute. then I drilled the tuner holes.

I used a brad point drill bit and drilled through just enough to pierce the back and then flipped it over and drilled through, to minimise blowout.







then I drilled the locator pin holes and hey presto, the tuners fit:













that's all for now.


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## CD1221 (Mar 6, 2011)

Some success and also failure today.

With much stress, I routed the neck pocket and neck pickup. No bridge pickup routing just yet - I need to redo the template, it ended up too big.






The pickup routing turned out really good, but I had some dramas with the neck. Somehow I ended up with some gaps either side of the neck, when the template itself was nice and tight. I had the template double-taped down....who knows.












I also had a brain collapse and somehow ended up routing the pocket too deep. My initial measurements were too high - I had the neck in place and positioned the bridge to check - was probably 5 mm too high. I routed down what I thought was 3mm, but ended up losing too much and now the bottom of the fretboard is level with the body. I will either glue a thin piece of blackwood on the heel to lift it back up, or maybe shim the neck slightly to give me the correct bridge height again. No idea what the hell happened there.

Dramas aside, I am pretty amped about how it is coming together:






In playing position, it sits beautifully, and the upper fret access is insanely good. Easily the best on any guitar I have played, save for a V of course.


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## BlackMastodon (Mar 6, 2011)

Looking sweet man!


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## UnderTheSign (Mar 6, 2011)

You could always recess the bridge


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## musikizlife (Mar 7, 2011)

Crazy, lovin this build, seeing this make me just a little closer to jumping on the bandwagon and going for a project of my own. Great choice of woods btw!!


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## HaMMerHeD (Mar 7, 2011)

A heel block is probably the best solution to that problem...that is, since your neck pocket is too deep, glue a piece of wood (of whatever thickness is appropriate) to the neck heel to raise the neck up a bit.

As to the (what looks like miniscule) gaps in sides of the neck pocket. If that's the worst that happens in your first build, count yourself lucky. If you find the gaps to be unacceptable, you may consider gluing veneer strips to the sides. You may find it necessary to sand the pocket sides out a little, though.


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## CD1221 (Mar 20, 2011)

It has been a while, but I finally found an afternoon spare to get this thing back on track.

I re-did the humbucker template, because the first one was too big. taped and clamped this time around and had success:






then I drilled the cable tunnel for the neck pickup.












with the scary stuff out of the way, I drilled the holes for the bridge, pickup cables, strings, ferrules and neck screws. Also flipped it over and routed the control cavity. A minor slip up there, my trusty assistant took one of the clamps off in between vacuuming out the cavity route and I didn't notice until I started routing again.....so the cavity has a little dig in at the bottom. I can cover it thought, so no great loss.






I also did a small recess for the panel mount output jack.






so here, finally is a pic with most of the important body bits in place.







I also drilled the neck screw holes in the neck heel, so the next step is to do the neck carve and some body contours, stuff I can do at home. Really excited about this bit.


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## BlackMastodon (Mar 20, 2011)

Really like that recess for the input jack. As for the little dig on the control cavity, maybe you can make the cavity cover screwless and go with magnets? The dig would then allow you access to get the cover off easier and you could tell people that it was totally on purpose.


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## scherzo1928 (Mar 20, 2011)

This is looking incredible. I Really like the recess for the jack.

It's getting there!


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## adrock (Mar 20, 2011)

wooo!!


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## Dead Undead (Mar 20, 2011)

Mulga... Even the fretboard sounds metal


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## Devotion (Mar 20, 2011)

First time I see this thread, and damn, so nice wood  Nice job man


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## CD1221 (Mar 25, 2011)

body contours complete. next step: neck carve.


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## Dead Undead (Mar 25, 2011)

Ooh! Curvy. This thing is shaping up really well.Finished product is gonna be great, I know it.

This thread really makes me wanna do that pine build I had planned.


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## CD1221 (Mar 26, 2011)

I did the neck carving today. Roughed it out with the end of the belt sander to get the right thickness and approximate contour, then moved to hand sanding. lots of hand sanding.











after an hour, there were still easily felt edges where the different angles had been sanded in and I was starting to get a bit disheartened. I pushed through and after about 2 hours (!) I ended up with exactly what I was after, a nice meaty C shape with shallow shoulders. Really bloody excited now.

23mm at the 1st fret, 25mm at the 12th.






After hitting it with some 180 grit, there was some subtle flame showing. Here is a wet shot that sort of captures it. tasty.









Now I just need to do the control cover routing and the hole for the bridge earthing wire.


progress, progress.


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## scherzo1928 (Mar 27, 2011)

See, I'm not the only one who likes thick necks.

Though the profile on mine has a much flatter back, which makes it feel even thicker.


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## CD1221 (Mar 27, 2011)

you know, with the shoulders not so prominant, I really could have gone thicker! maybe next time....


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## simulclass83 (Mar 28, 2011)

Ah, it looks beautiful, and I cannot wait till it's finished!


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## CD1221 (Apr 1, 2011)

Side dots !!!


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## drezdin (Apr 1, 2011)

Dude my current build has a jack recess almost exactly like that!
Looking way better than mine.
Great job


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## CD1221 (Apr 16, 2011)

minor update.

I have fabricated the control cavity cover and volume knob - cavity cover is blackwood, volume knob is made from the fretboard offcuts.






I have also done most of the basic body and neck sanding and started work on the nut.


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## BlackMastodon (Apr 16, 2011)

Can't wait to see this thing done.


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## BIG ND SWEATY (Apr 16, 2011)

please for the love of god DON'T PAINT IT! If you had put the "X" part in the middle i would have called the guitar "The Moth" because it kinda looks like one.


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## scherzo1928 (Apr 16, 2011)

Why would he spend so long finding the way the wood looked best, or carving the tear out on the lower horn just to paint it?


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## SymmetricScars (Apr 16, 2011)

EDIT: I was a little behind the times, it's looking really sexy! Nice work


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## CD1221 (Apr 22, 2011)

tip for the day...


When doing finish sanding, guitar bodies get very smooth and slippery.


Do not drop them onto rough concrete.


It takes a while to sand out.


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## CD1221 (Apr 22, 2011)

Update time!

Recovered from yesterday's mishap involving drop-testing the body onto concrete.


Today I made the nut and did a dry-fit hardware test. Everything fits like it was meant to be there and the thing feels awesome. Really stoked.












Happy with the tuner placement and string pull lines.






next up - finishing!


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## CooleyJr (Apr 22, 2011)

Isn't it finished already man?  Great job though.  Seriously.


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## scherzo1928 (Apr 22, 2011)

That looks unbelievable. Great job mate!


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## SirMyghin (Apr 22, 2011)

Looks like your neck is a little out of allignment, you are having more space on the high E than the lowest string in terms of end of the fretboard, and it looks like the lowest string is losing space as you climb. Fortunatelly you can easily correct that as you are working with a bolt on.


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## insaneshawnlane (Apr 23, 2011)

i never thought i'd see a body shape that i would like more than the typical super start but that..... looks like it would be incredibly comfortable

can't wait to see it finished!


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## tybro7 (Apr 23, 2011)

BIG ND SWEATY said:


> please for the love of god DON'T PAINT IT! If you had put the "X" part in the middle i would have called the guitar "The Moth" because it kinda looks like one.



hahahah! that made me laugh! vut it really does look like a moth! first time seeing this thread as well... amazing!!! looks awesome and love that your a first time builder from aus! i will hopefully be real soon too


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## CD1221 (Apr 25, 2011)

thanks for the props fellas!



SirMyghin said:


> Looks like your neck is a little out of allignment, you are having more space on the high E than the lowest string in terms of end of the fretboard, and it looks like the lowest string is losing space as you climb.



I originally marked it all out with 3mm spacing from the edge, but made this nut with 4mm spacing. I am pretty sure that is why the lower string spacing varies slightly. Good pickup - I didn't notice it straight away.

The string spacing is even to the centre of the strings. The extra space on the high E is due to the string sizes - I have a .010 on the E and a .068 on the B.

I have to re-do the nut because I stuffed it, so I will probably go back to 3mm edge spacing. I was trying to get the height of the plain strings down I took too much off. Graphtec blanks sand VERY quickly.

then I went to my second blank (good to have spares) and did a crap job.

then I went to my third bloank (really good to have spares) and cut 8 string slots ! FARK !

then I realised I had no more nut blanks....... 





Also thinking about the finishing now. I obviously am going to clear coat this one (spray can). 

The pore filling has got me confused though. I am trying 3 alternatives to see what works best for me - 

Timbermate grain filler

Shellac

egg white + sanding dust


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## HaMMerHeD (Apr 25, 2011)

It doesn't look like terribly open grain wood to me, so a pore filler may not be necessary.


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## MetalBuddah (Apr 25, 2011)

Wow! That looks incredible!! Good work!

What tuning machines are those??


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## CD1221 (Apr 28, 2011)

Hey Buddah, tuners are sperzel. 

Well, it is disassembled and I did the pore filling and sealing today. please excuse the crapola photos. 






awesome ghost in the grain there. bloody brilliant.







Now I just need a dry weekend to spray the clear coat.


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## CooleyJr (Apr 28, 2011)

YES! IT'S ALMOST DONE!!! I've watched this build so closely since I seen this thread man. Seriously.. fucking amazing work.  Can't wait to see what you do next.


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## Dead Undead (Apr 28, 2011)

I can't even put into words how much I like this.


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## Thrashmanzac (Apr 28, 2011)

this is looking absolutely stunning mate, great work


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## scherzo1928 (Apr 28, 2011)

Almoast there!!!!


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## BlackMastodon (Apr 28, 2011)

*Terrible Borat impression* Ver' nais.


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## Rojne (Apr 29, 2011)

The flame in that neck is awesome!


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## ayambakar (Apr 30, 2011)

Good lord, that wood symmetry on the top  so beautiful. Especially after the pore filling. Amazing job fella


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## CD1221 (May 1, 2011)

Sun shining today.... I now have 10 coats of lacquer on. 


But.....both cameras have flat batteries, so I used my phone.... but the cable is at work....so I can't get the photos off.

I will upload shortly.



even so.... lacquer + sunshine + awesome timber = holy shit !


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## Isan (May 1, 2011)

NAOOOOO


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## CD1221 (May 1, 2011)

Here are the photos. They don't do it full justice, you don't get to see how holographic and mobile the grain movement is.

Firstly, here is the dust free drying/curing space I created, Dexter-style. Who said you never learn anything from TV.







And here are the guitar parts:


























The neck in particular blow my mind every time I look at it.


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## TomParenteau (May 1, 2011)

Mighty sweet!


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## scherzo1928 (May 1, 2011)

I wasnt expecting the back to look that nice. 

Also, Dem flames!


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## Dead Undead (May 2, 2011)

That is absolutely breathtaking. I'm gonna ask the dwarves of middle earth to make me one for Christmas now.


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## missingastring (May 2, 2011)

Gorgeous!


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## ECGuitars (May 2, 2011)

Looks great! Looks a lot like Darrens Javelin on the back


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## Double A (May 2, 2011)

Holy shit!


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## Tranquilliser (May 2, 2011)

This is mindblowingly good man.
I have noticed only one flaw, the string spacing on the nut seems uneven. I'm sure it's only a minor issue and it shouldn't be too hard to fix, but I thought I'd point it out (even though I'm pretty sure it won't change playability much, if at all).


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## musikizlife (May 3, 2011)

scherzo1928 said:


> I wasnt expecting the back to look that nice.
> 
> Also, Dem flames!



^ This

You must now put it together and show us this beauty assembled.
I must have one


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## CD1221 (May 4, 2011)

Thanks for all the kind words fellas. I can't wait to do the final assembly and wire it all up.

The next couple of weeks are gonna be slow and painful....



but.....then I get to finally learn this:


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## CD1221 (May 13, 2011)

for the record.... having this thing hang up next to me when working out or studying sucks...


I don't plan on polishing it to a high gloss - I'm going for a satin style finish. How long should I leave it to cure?


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## Linny (May 13, 2011)

If you haven't made then new nut then do this: Mark the high e string slot at 3mm from the edge of the fingerboard and mark the low B at 3mm + half the thickness of the (B string) string. That will give you a nice spacing. Nice guitar


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## CD1221 (May 21, 2011)

string purchase.... check.

guitar assembled......check.

strap buttons fitted......check.

electronics soldered.....check.



new nut fabricated.....doh!



tomorrow's job: make the nut, install said nut, string it up. ROCK OUT!!!





how will I sleep tonight?


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## Ruins (May 21, 2011)

you wont.... at least not for long 

beautiful build mate! simple, clean, gorgeous wood, fine executed. i love how that neck turned out and it also looks so slick and comfy.


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## CD1221 (May 22, 2011)

it is done!


http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/sevenstring-guitars/158707-ngd-sassafras-7-first-build.html


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## thatguy87 (Jun 4, 2011)

I know this may be a weird question but would you consider building one of these for me....


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## CD1221 (Jun 4, 2011)

haha, nice one. 

Mate, this took 6 months... in between all the other life stuff - work, kids, study. Probably 100 hours of build time, with all the stuff ups. How much time do you have to wait and how much are you prepared to pay (and gamble on) someone on the other side of the ocean to build their second guitar for you? 


I greatly appreciate the sentiment, though. You have made my day.


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## Thrashmanzac (Jun 4, 2011)

amazing mate, congrats on an awesome first build


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