# Aysakh's Home Depot Buildstory



## Arminius

here's my template.

Probably gonna change a few things but

* I've got twp pine blocks just laying around that will probably constitute the body
* Looking for recommendations on the neck wood
* AANJ neck pocket (so i can put a decent neck in it some day )
* reversed inline headstock 
* hipshot like bridge
* Any one know how redwood would do for a fretboard? I saw some at my local home depot substitute 
* I'm gonna make it pretty thin
* either trans purple with some kind of top or green/ dark green/ black swirl, with green inlays


Completely Shameless Advertisement Plug! -http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/recording-studio/103085-new-super-chill-out-ambient-something.html#post1762198


*Final Edit*

Bad news folks, after successfully tuning the high e string, i began to tune the c string right beside it. As soon as the string became taut, this ish happened.





Surprisingly enough, there was absolutely no fret buzz while the e string was functional, ( even though the action was high as hell  ). Here is the video anyway.
YouTube - MOV05189.MPG
So I guess i pretty much wasted my whole summer, but i have to admit, it was fun. It gave me something to do over the summer and I gained a whole new level of respect for luthiers. I've met quite a few people on here and have alienated many hardware store workers. All in all, this was a complete failure, but with benefits.









Memorable pics


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## WhitechapelCS

Its different, but I cant wait to see how it looks.

good shit man


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## dpm

looking good so far. 

Redwood will be too soft for a fretboard. You want something at least as hard as rock maple. Don't go crazy with the finish or inlays unless you're really confident in your abilities.


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## Arminius

I think i found a better use for redwood


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## El Caco

Dan knows why.


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## Arminius

yeah, i think i'll trust him  oni's look like sex, and probably play even better


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## dpm

s7eve said:


> Dan knows why.


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## dpm

Aysakh said:


> yeah, i think i'll trust him  oni's look like sex, and probably play even better



I'm just saying you've got limited time and resources so concentrate on the important construction stuff for now. If you find yourself just about finished with plenty of time left then that would be the time to contemplate a fancy finish etc.... and practice on scrap first!


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## Arminius

Update numero uno

first let's move a failed project out of the way





















I tried to save it, but i failed miserably oh well, it will make a good test body. 
okeydokey now, lets find some wood for the body.




these will do nicely




now lets find that template. where did i leave it...aha on top of the huge ass filing cabinet




will it fit? Yes!




the edges are rough however, and must be planed. The ancient planer, however, intimidates me. 




Let's go get a piece of wood to test it with








wow, it actually worked








okay now, both sides are smooth




TITEBOND!!!!




At, this point however, i realize that I have no clamps large enough to hold these together. Therefore, I improvise












aren't i just amazing? Well, I guess I'll go out there in about thirty minutes to find out how badly my improvisation worked.


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## Elysian

Wow, thats an inventive way to clamp a body


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## Arminius

guess what? It worked too


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## gatesofcarnage

Thats an awesome clamp system


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## hufschmid

serioussly awesome


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## Elysian

Aysakh said:


> guess what? It worked too



Ingenuity will help a lot when building. I have plenty of situations where I have to figure out the best way for me to achieve a certain result.


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## Arminius

well, here it is all joined and sanded. Against all odds, every knot in the wood is avoidable due to the warrior shape. I know i'm just overreacting but it was a seriously cool feeling running my finger along the joint and not feeling anything, while my eyes told me otherwise. 




















I've got a ton of time on my hand tomorrow, so i'm gonna go ahead and start cutting out the rough body shape. Any of you luthiers got any recommendations to make it easier? Anything else I should be working on?

Edit: oh yeah, I also need a good picture of an 7 string aanj joint. Or even better, some measurements or a template. I know I should search for the picture, but an actual measurement would be great.


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## damigu

home dephos!

looks cool so far. and i like your ghetto approach to clamping!


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## Wi77iam

That's the spirit 
Looks good too, CUT IT !! NAO!!!


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## Arminius

damigu said:


> home dephos!


 It's actually a jackson Warrior, but that is the greatest name for a guitar i think i have ever heard!

Okey Dokey then, lets cut the body First let's get it all clamped up




This will do nicely




I did a test run, and as you can see, it kind of fishtails out, so i thinks i'll do the precision cutting with something else.








first cut




got a whole side of now




aww shit




now where would i find a spa- OH MY SCIENCE WHAT A MESS




aha!




what the hell




oh well, it works




lookin good
















looks pretty good, but i really don't want to do the precision stuff with a jigsaw. Mostly due to this








recomendations please?


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## MF_Kitten

are you using a sheet of noodles as a tablecloth? 

i would get one of those thingies with the rotating bit... like a router, except not quite that... i dunno 

i guess a router would do though?

gah, i'll let someone who knows something answer it haha


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## Arminius

well, i've got a dremel too, but i don't think it's quite big enough for this, i'll go look in the shop later and see what i can find. I may have to actually get off my ass and buy something


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## hufschmid

I'm here drolling over those pictures, i'm enjoying this so much, fantastic 

The problem with those machines is to keep them cutting straight without having the blade going side ways, its just more sanding work at the end, this is why I got away from it a long time ago and bought a cheap band saw


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## damigu

sandpaper. 

actually, i'd go with a router.


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## Demiurge

I was getting my jigsaw prepped for some work today. I wasn't expecting anything by way of precision out of it, but it's good to know that no chances should be taken.

Nice work so far, BTW. How thick do you have the body blank right now?


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## s_k_mullins

lookin cool so far Aysakh! i'm stoked to see how this thing turns out


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## Apophis

looks awesome so far


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## Arminius

It's about 2 or 3 mms thinner than the strat clone i was working on, so it's not quite as thin as i originally planned, but it's still thinner than most guitars. Thanks for the support everybody, especialy but not exclusively s_k ( a local) apophis (an awesome builder) and hufschmid (an awesome builder AND a judge).

Anyways, on to the pics

What shall i use to fine cut this thing? A dremel tool? no





THIS! no...




hmmmm.




it took me 5 minutes to do that little bit, so no




wait a second    the belt sander! his name is herbert.








Ahhh, yes indeed!












a whole side done! wanna take a break herbert?








or so he thought 




out of paper, i guess i'll stop by the store sometime this week so i can finish it


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## hufschmid




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## Sp3ktral

Aysakh said:


> it



dude! i want one!


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## damigu

better be careful or herbert will seek revenge on you.

...in your sleep!


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## Arminius

i woke up this morning with herbert on my arm trying to sand me to bits. it's a good thing he was out of paper

well, almost there. Just a little more sanding with herbert and something else to get in those tight cracks. The neck pocket, as you can see, is still quite large, due to the fact that I still need the 7 string aanj measurements. I have the six string measurements, are the screw holes in the same spot?
Anyways, on to the pics
















and because it was a pretty day


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## leandroab

Fucking sick !


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## Arminius

Got some maple for the neck today. I think I've decided against the aanj, i'll probably just make it a set neck. Will tight bond be good for that as well?













Also, will this same maple be good for a fretboard?


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## Demiurge

There was a thread on Project Guitar's forum not too long ago discussing which glue to use for a set neck. I can't for the life of me find the thread, but I'm pretty sure there was a pretty big Titebond (I, sometimes III, never II) contingent, while some people use epoxy.


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## Andrew_B

titebond original 

you can use maple as a fretboard.... 
you just need to put a bit of clear finish on it to seal it... will also prevent stains...


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## Arminius

well i've got the neck blank finished, almost (i think). Basically, It needs to be 6 cm & 8mm at the widest part of the neck. as it is, the board is about 7cm and 2mm wide. Should i add another piece? It's currently 4 pieces of maple.

clamped together




before clamping








well, some of the rags stayed on there, and the damn clamp made a huge dent. 








anyways, here it is nice and planed


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## Randy

Wow... coming along well, man.


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## Demiurge

Looks great! At least those dents will eventually be carved-out, but who would have expected maple to dent like that?


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## Arminius

yeah, the maple isn't as tough as i thought it would be. Maybe its the wrong kind


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## hufschmid

There are many thypes of maple, this may be the solft maple variety, they would thypically use this wood to build archtops back and sides which need a lots of warm sound...

Benedetto explains all of this in his videos, check it out 

Harder maples sound brighter, like rock maple etc.... 

Great work, I'm loving watching this


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## Raoul Duke

This thread is full of so much WIN!! 

Herbert the sander had me laughing my ass off. The ghetto clamp was pure genius


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## AeonSolus

Is that spaghetti?  

 joking, keep it up man, it's gonna be great


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## shotgunn

Aysakh said:


> yeah, the maple isn't as tough as i thought it would be. Maybe its the wrong kind




Nope you most likely used too much clamping pressure. (Or you used soft maple, but you should alright since you are laminating which essentially simulates quartersawn wood. It should be able to stay nice and straight.) You don't have to tighten the heck out of it. Also, you might want to use clamping cauls in the future. A caul can be a small piece of scrap wood that goes between your clamps jaw and your workpiece. The caul will take the abuse instead of the workpiece. Now if your caul leaves an imprint, then you have tightened it WAAAAY too much.

Look great so far. I hope to start mine soon.

shotgunn


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## cadenhead

Looking good so far. I'm going to be in trouble when I start building the body and neck. I don't have any awesome power tools like herbert to help.


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## Arminius

ooh what could this be 





a 7321 body 




i got it on the cheap, here's why





I plan on making a neck pocket template with it. i'll probably swirl it when i swirl the warrior. i might use it or sell it i don't know.


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## Demiurge

Aysakh said:


> I plan on making a neck pocket template with it. i'll probably swirl it when i swirl the warrior. i might use it or sell it i don't know.



Don't sell it! By the end of your build, you'll be able to make an XL neck for it!


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## Arminius

wow, it looks crazy good for basswood. but that said, i still wouldn't do a natural finish


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## Arteriorrhexis

That does look really good! I kinda want to do that with my 7321...
But anyways keep up the good work.


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## MF_Kitten

you should stain that wood red or purple, and finish it with a clear coat! 

at least that's what i did when i realized how boring it was about to get...


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## Arminius

actually, i already have the 7321 primed. I'm gonna paint it a nice dark blue and put it up for sale or trade.


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## Arminius

Hmm what a lovely 103 degree day 






the 7321, abandoned at the moment




lets cut that neck pocket 




much better




ghetto bevels, done by rough cutting the edges with a hand saw, and then sanding them flat




























bondo is your friend




and what i got now





It's kinda rough, but i'm not going to do much about it till its time to paint it. I need to get my hands on a router or something to cut out the neck pocket, pickup holes, ect. After that I'll do the smoothing and bondo-ing.


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## cadenhead

Looking good sir!


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## Xanithon

omg this is going to be awesome!


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## Arminius

Well after 3 weeks without rain, it finally clouds up.




Anyways, i got another break and decided to start routing some cavities. As suggested by dpm earlier, practicing on scrap is an excellent idea.




first i traced the outline with a pencil




then, i cut a little outline with an exacto knife




tools of the trade




as you can tell in this picture, the flat part of the chisle should face away from the part you want to cut out.












^a little rough but you get the idea. Also, the line on the left is terrible^

on to the real thing




















bondo'd




side by side with the rg body for size comparison


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## Erick Kroenen

keep going with the nice work ... congrats...


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## Alex-D33

This thread inspires me to start my own project ! 

Keep it up !! Cheers


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## screamindaemon

I have nothing of quality to add. But I must say that Herbert is the most emotional sander I have ever seen!


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## ralphy1976

herbert rules and this work is a winner for sure!!!

keep it up man!!!


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## leandroab

Whollyfack!

I never thought that you could actually route relatively clean with only a hammer and chisel! 

Keep the good work! And I'll buy that RG body for 50 bucks!!!


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## Arminius

leandroab said:


> Whollyfack!
> 
> I never thought that you could actually route relatively clean with only a hammer and chisel!
> 
> Keep the good work! And I'll buy that RG body for 50 bucks!!!



Well, about a week after i did that i found a router at dirt cheap

And the rg body is already spoken for, sorry


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## bcboz

really looking forward to more pics man, its looking amazing.


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## Arminius

If you are a child, squemish, or pregnant, you may want to avoid the following horror story. 

I have come to despise making this neck more than anything I have had to do in recent memory, thus the long delay. But It is almost done, and I'm so ready.


See this blob of wood? Yep, that was my neck just a week ago.





This phallic extension which is absolutely too small for a headstock is indeed my headstock. The shape and size are nothing like I planned, but this is all that I could salvage.




(Oh, by the way, this is part of what has been keeping me busy)




The rest of the pictures are progress from the first picture to where it is now.




























And here you can see the disproportion in its entirety.




My dog thought it would make a nice snack.


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## headibanez

may i please buy that rg body??


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## TomParenteau

Silly doggy!


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## Arminius

Sorry, the rg is a custom order paint job. And just because I am evil









I call it "stealth fighter black"


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## -mouse-

why not just order a 7 neck from warmoth? Probably will set you back a little but hey at least YOU didn't have to build it.


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## El Caco

Because it is the Home Depot competition not the assemble a guitar from parts competition.


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## Arminius

Finally making some progress.

Fret measurements. Changed later to 27 frets.




Uncannily precise ruler.




Everyones best freind








27 frets ov doom.








Soon to be frets. Currently nails.
























Bridge from Ltd H-107




Future string ferrules. Currently .22 shells.
















Here is where it stands now.


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## Customisbetter

^Lookan Badass!


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## Shooter

I don't think it gets much more metal than using bullet shells as string ferrules.


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## signalgrey

this is awesome!


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## schecter007

Envy the guy who is getting that beautiful rg body  your builds comin along sic dude


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## Arminius

Why thank yall kindly














( I don't really have a southern accent )


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## norrin radcliff

Oh my lord.


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## Arminius

I don;t know waht this stuff is, but it is here on dubbed "miracle whip"








Keeping with the home depot aspect.












Nurse, patient!




Scalpel!




Because it's hard to see the lines








As you can see, I ran into some difficulty.




Now in a rather industrial looking setting.


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## Customisbetter

lookin good. 

just need to trim those frets.


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## Empryrean

Looking pretty good!


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## troyguitar

Wow that neck is fucking awesome. I can't wait to see vids of this in action!


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## Arminius

Customisbetter said:


> lookin good.
> 
> just need to trim those frets.



Yeah, I tried pretending to play on it and nearly cut my hand


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## troyguitar

Aysakh said:


> Yeah, I tried pretending to play on it and nearly cut my hand


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## hufschmid

That's awesome, I love watching home depot buildstories


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## willybman

that neck looks a little scarry.


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## SpaceDock

I'll be impressed if it's playable when you're done. It looks like the strings won't be over the neck near the headstock. 

This is however a truly valiant effort. I have always wanted to do this, but lack the courage. I bet if you do this a few more times you'll have the process down to an art.


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## Arminius

SpaceDock said:


> I'll be impressed if it's playable when you're done. It looks like the strings won't be over the neck near the headstock.
> 
> This is however a truly valiant effort. I have always wanted to do this, but lack the courage. I bet if you do this a few more times you'll have the process down to an art.


 
They're not, I should have left the neck straight instead of tapering it, but oh well. I should still be able to jangle the open strings.


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## El Caco

if they are over the frets don't trim them beyond the strings, build the neck out. You could try and do that with epoxy or by gluing some more wood to the neck.


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## Arminius

I'll probably try that, thanks. It's gonna look haggard as hell though.


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## Spratcho

GAHAHA! This is the funniest home depot i've ever seen, I couldn't stop laughting at the
frets, don't take this as a negative message, cus i really wanna see and hear what it looks
like in the end


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## Wi77iam

That neck does look very scary


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## somn

wow crazy neck


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## TimSE

dude id just ditch the neck as start over
use a sanding wheel and really harsh sandpaper and shape it that way. tis what i did for my bullet7


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## BrainArt

That looks pretty cool (and dangerous).  I can see someone playing Industrial Metal with that.


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## snuif09

that neck is just brutal


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## Arminius

just wanted to make sure it wasn't going anywhere.


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## Customisbetter

can you actually fit a single coil in that slot? im pretty sure most singles have a triangular flange on the side...


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## Arminius

I'm gonna make my own. If time allows that is.


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## rob_707

HOW MUCH ILL BUY IT!!!


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## troyguitar

I love the million different screws placed in random locations.


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## canuck brian

You're giving Devries a run for his money.


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## CooleyJr




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## Arminius

canuck brian said:


> You're giving Devries a run for his money.



I plan on beating him to death with it. Poetic justice in a sense.


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## Bungle

I think this pretty much sums up the build so far....


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## AeonSolus

Doesn't get anything more metal than that  Bullet ferules, nail frets and schizo bolt-on neck!


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## Wi77iam

So, hows it play?


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## xmetalhead69

can you say 'jumbo frets'? I dont think you can get much more brutal than using nails. 
This build is epic as hell!


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## darren

Brutal!


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## Arminius

I'm off all next week for thanksgiving, so I should finally be able to finish this. 

And thanks for the support everyone, this was getting really depressing


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## schecter007

i wanna see more of that brutal rg body \m/ hahaha


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## Arminius

^ actually, it doesn't lack much more, I'm just waiting until it's completely done to send you pics


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## Arminius

Well here it is, other than the video of me playing, it's done. Thank Satan.

Checklist:
Pine - Free
Glue- about $1
Maple- $6
Nails - Free
Sandpaper - $8
Paint - $14
Bridge - $1
Electronics - less than $1.00
Borax - $3
Getting Finished with this thing - Priceless






















grrrr








just kidding




btw
















From here on things went bad. No matter how much I washed it out, there was some sort of oil in the trash can that wouldn't go away. (I use it to put sport equipment in, not trash, just in case you were wondering ) No matter how much I changed the borax to water proportions it just wouldn't act right, so I dunked it in any way. Observe.




I added on a nut, and now I'm just waiting for my computer to get back to post a video. Now bugger off.




( I don't know why I look high in this pic )



Edit: I kind of look like a vulcan too, oh well


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## BrainArt

Dude, that is badass.


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## Customisbetter

You seriously made both pickups? Holy shit...

how many winds on them puppies? what gauge wire?


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## Empryrean

What? You finished this?


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## Arminius

Customisbetter said:


> You seriously made both pickups? Holy shit...
> 
> how many winds on them puppies? what gauge wire?



I only made the neck one, the guage was a bit bigger than normal for no special reason. Probably 3000 winds, god my arm hurts. I don't think it works though, my magnet wasn't very strong. We shall see


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## Empryrean

^^handwound!?


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## Arminius

Empryrean said:


> ^^handwound!?


 unfortunately yes. but I look like rambo now


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## Empryrean

Aysakh said:


> unfortunately yes. but I look like rambo now


Now wind up sum more!


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## Arminius

I actually might, minus than the winding by hand part, pickup making was probably the easiest part of this build. I may get around to rigging up a winding device sometime, my RG is in need of new pickups.


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## Empryrean

Serious?


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## Arminius

It all really depends I guess. I have three guitars to refinish before I consider doing anything else


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## hairychris

This is fucking epic.

Fact.


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## xmetalhead69

Is this going to be a functioning guitar?  the neck looks seriously uncomfortable....

regardless, the epicness of this cannot be understated.


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## Arminius

I'll probably be able to jangle the open strings, which means I'll be using open C Major


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## Customisbetter

we NEED video of this guitar!


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## Arminius

Should be getting my computer back before the weekend is out. I hope I'm still qualified, as it was finished on the 30th.


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## Kapee

Crazy! This is the real deal


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## Arminius

^ A Clockwork Orange! Awesome


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## Wi77iam

Try and snag a used RG7321 neck or something and see if it'll work then, that body is pretty badass man, I dig the shape.


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## Arminius

I'm actually considering it, since I now have access to a lot more tools (of course i gain access to them AFTER the competition is over ). If I did, I would probably drill the body full of holes and put a veneer over the back (since it weighs a ton), and fill in and reroute the pickup slots. And get rid of the paint job of course


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