# A new V is born!



## electriceye (Jan 2, 2017)

Have quite a way to go, but the rough body has been cut on my very first build. This is the one with the slightly cupped body, but shouldn't have any problem making it flat when I finally get my thickness sander done (which I actually made a lot of progress on this vacation). The plans for this is to be a replica of KK Downing's candy apple red '68. Only difference will be ebony board instead of a redwood. 

Wish me luck!


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## electriceye (Jan 26, 2017)

So, making slow but decent progress. First, the 2"+ thick slab of mahogany I had for the neck was nowhere near straight. Took me a few days to cut it down to where it was as close to as perfect as I was going to get it with a table saw. I'm still working on the thickness sander. That's another story...  Unfortunately, what I had left wasn't thick enough to accommodate the last inch or two of the headstock due to the angle.

While I got a top-side template for the neck from Potvin, the set doesn't include the SIDE profile. So, using some plans I found online, I made a template out of MDF. I screwed up the first one, so I tossed it and quickly made another. Was able to rough cut the neck on the bandsaw. I wasn't sure whether or not to break with a traditional Gibson neck and cut a scarf joint. But, I decided to stay the course. I glued on a spare piece at the end and it worked perfectly. I just need to add the wings later.

After doing some preliminary sanding by hand, I FINALLY set up my spindle sander I got a couple of years ago and got the back of the neck nice and straight and smooth. I'm using a 16" radiused board I got from LMII and MOP inlays. That will be the only difference from a real Gibson.

Not sure what step I'll do next. The headstock needs thinning down and I have to route the truss rod channel. Hopefully, I can get that done this weekend. 

This ain't as easy as I thought it would be!!


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## electriceye (Jan 27, 2017)

Ears!


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## Hywel (Jan 27, 2017)

Those are some serious ears. It's going to hear you coming a mile off. 

Solid start mate!


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## electriceye (Jan 27, 2017)

Hywel said:


> Those are some serious ears. It's going to hear you coming a mile off.
> 
> Solid start mate!



It's going to have the 500T and 496R pups, so, _everyone_ is going to hear it!  

Thank you!


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## electriceye (Jan 28, 2017)

Didn't make a ton of progress today, as I was trying to get the bed done for my thickness sander. I'm just a moron and can't seem to get that part right. I'm close to scrapping it and buying one of those Jet tabletop belt sanders. It's become such a giant time suck for me.

Anyway, I've never used a router before, so I practiced a bit on a pine board. I did pretty darn well for my first time, I have to say (this is only because I've watched hundreds of videos of guys routing truss rod slots). I started figuring out how to do it on the neck and realized that, since the headstock gets in the way of the router guide, my only option is to build a router sled tomorrow. Grr.


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## electriceye (Feb 4, 2017)

Built myself a nice little truss routing sled. Again, being my first time, I had to do it like three time before I got it right (workable). Because the screws every so slightly compress the wood on the rails, its get a bit tight in spots, which causes it to wiggle off line about .001, but it's fine. Put some rubbery stuff on the bottom so it doesn't slide all over the table. 

So, got the truss rod in, drilled an access hole! Woot! This weekend, I'm going to aim for finishing the neck. I need to thin the fretboard down about 3/32, as it's too tall right now. I should probably drill holes for the inlays and glue them in, as well. Once I do that, glue it on and hope I have time Sunday to pop this bad boy on the routing table and cut the outline of the neck and headstock. 

Probably not the wisest thing to start off on a first build doing a set neck.


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## electriceye (Feb 4, 2017)

Got the fretboard done today! I had to use a hand drill for the inlays. The chuck for my large drill press won't hold a 1/4" bit. Drilled the first one too deep, but filled it with ebony dust and it was fine. It actually turned out to be the best one out of the bunch. They're all just about perfect, except one of the 12th fret inlays is off by .2mm and so is the 19th. But, hey, I'm no CNC machine! I'm not sure the sanding process was the best method or not. What do you guys do? This board was pre-radiused and slotted from LMII (and, as it turned out, stained black, because it all came off when I wiped it down at the end). But, using my 16" radius block, the board seemed to be flatter. Or, I messed it up. Who knows. After all the sanding, I have some MOP dust stuck in a fe chip out spots around the inlays. I'll probably re-dye the board black, so I imagine that will fix it. Oh, I also built a sanding jig for the radius sanding blocks.


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## electriceye (Feb 6, 2017)

When you get a lemon, make lemonade. Despite the fretboard screwup today, I finally set up my router table and shaped the neck tonight - which is what I should have done before!


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## electriceye (Mar 8, 2017)

Fixed the neck with a new board. Only hiccup I see now is that I used a template from a '58 V for the side profile of the neck. Looks like it may not fit right. Worse comes to worse, I'll add some wood back to it. It will be painted anyway! 






Also, since the large slab of hog was cupped, I had a lot of extra work to do to the body to make her flat. I made my own router sled. Worked great! I just need to set up the sander and finish it up. It's going to be slightly under the 1.5" thickness it's supposed to be, but no big deal. Tonight, I plan on routing the body!


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## electriceye (Mar 13, 2017)

Routed the body over the weekend! It has occurred to me that I've done a lot of things backwards. I should have waited a lot longer to put the fretboard on. In fact, I shouldn't even have done that yet, since I need to make adjustments on the neck heel. I also should have routed the neck pocket, fit the neck and glued it in before routing the control and pickup channels. Oh well. You don't learn if you don't make mistakes, right? 

Anyway, I had to make some adjustments to the neck, since the template I used seemed to be wrong. I have to glue some wood back on it. Given the blizzard that's headed our way, I should be able to get a ton of work done on this bad boy the next couple of days.


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## Keyani (Mar 13, 2017)

Looking good!! Can't wait to see it complete


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## possumkiller (Mar 13, 2017)

Seriously awesome. I like seeing proper metal flying Vs instead of all the 58 copies and newer incorrect 67 reissues.


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## electriceye (Mar 13, 2017)

possumkiller said:


> Seriously awesome. I like seeing proper metal flying Vs instead of all the 58 copies and newer incorrect 67 reissues.



Oh, it's going to be metal for sure. I even got 500T/496R pups for it.


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## electriceye (Mar 20, 2017)

Made some decent progress this wknd, despite not having much time to myself. I won't show anyone pics of the neck join. I messed it up SO badly, but was able to fudge everything together. Next time: route the neck pocket with an angle - and route neck heel and fit before gluing fretboard.

Either way, I just hope it plays well when all is said and done. Next up is carving the neck and heel and repairing some tearout. Then I think I can grain fill. Going to use the egg white method.  Dunno why the pics are being rotated, but you get the idea.


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## electriceye (Apr 3, 2017)

Been making steady progress. Carved the neck with the Shinto Rasp. It was actually a lot easier than I expected. I followed some tips I found on YouTube from an Australian builder (can't think of the name at the moment). I got a tad over-aggressive in a couple of spots, but nothing some grain and wood-filler can't fix. It's nice and thin. I took the measurements from my Jackson KV Pro and matched it.


Got the side dots installed. I was going to use the glow-in-the-dark ones I got from StewMac, but they look like crap in the light. instead of white, like the Luminlays, they're translucent. So I decided not to use them. Got white ones instead. (I ordered Luminlays for other builds.) 

Last thing I did was slab a few coats of egg whites to prep for grain-filling this week. In the meantime, I made a template copy of the headstock on my BCR Gunslinger. I'm also creating a template for a DK6 that someone was nice enough to post here.


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## TuffyKohler (Apr 6, 2017)

Same experience with the Stew Mac glow in the dark fret markers. They suck. They aren't that white to start with, so they aren't too bright in good light, and they sure don't glow well, so they aren't too bright in low light either.

I did find some glow in the dark powder that I had mixed results with... It never looks that great in the daylight. Luminlays, while not cheap, are the way to go if you want glow in the dark IMO.

good work so far, keep plugging away!!


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## electriceye (Apr 7, 2017)

TuffyKohler said:


> Same experience with the Stew Mac glow in the dark fret markers. They suck. They aren't that white to start with, so they aren't too bright in good light, and they sure don't glow well, so they aren't too bright in low light either.
> 
> I did find some glow in the dark powder that I had mixed results with... It never looks that great in the daylight. Luminlays, while not cheap, are the way to go if you want glow in the dark IMO.
> 
> good work so far, keep plugging away!!



If I had known how FAST the Luminlays would ship, I would have used them. I got them in, like, 4 days!


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## electriceye (Apr 25, 2017)

Not much progress the past few weeks with vacation and work, but finally got down to grain filling using egg whites. With a full-body mahogany axe, it's a LOT of work. But, as of last night, I'm just about done with that portion. Just have to sand the back down smooth with 320. I also filled in some deep grooves I made in the neck while carving with the rasp. Everything is just about glass smooth. I hope to be able to prime it by this weekend!! 

(I don't know why my pics keep rotating. Sorry.)











BTW, this V is for my 8-year-old. He's anxious for me to finish this for him (although it's too big for him). But, he helps me out when he can!






Meanwhile, started a second build!!  Probably doing green first. I have plenty of body blanks, so next one will def be pink.


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## DistinguishedPapyrus (Apr 26, 2017)

The build looks great so far. So you filled with egg whites? Like literally from an egg? I had no idea that was possible...









Also, the pics come up in the correct orientation when I pull the site up on my phone, but not on my Mac... weird.


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## electriceye (Apr 27, 2017)

DistinguishedPapyrus said:


> The build looks great so far. So you filled with egg whites? Like literally from an egg? I had no idea that was possible...
> 
> Also, the pics come up in the correct orientation when I pull the site up on my phone, but not on my Mac... weird.



Weird! It IS a Mac thing! It's fine on my iPad. 

Anyway, yeah, believe it or not, there's a method using egg whites! 
https://homegrownlutherie.wordpress.com/2013/02/04/grain-filling-with-egg-whites/

I probably slapped on 6 coats when all was said and done. After wet sanding and re-applying a few times, I smoothed it out with 320 and it was like glass. I started priming it tonight...


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## electriceye (Jul 4, 2017)

Been a while since I gave any updates on this. It's been a long ride. I finally started painting it last week. Dummy me, I only ordered one can of Killer Kans candy red. Well, that went QUICK. I tried to order more and I can't find them anywhere. Found another popular brand and got two more cans. Emptied one today. I'll be honest, I'm impressed by myself.  But, the downside is, the paint really shows just how much further I needed to go with the grain filling on this. And a lot of my sanding marks are showing a bit. But, otherwise, looking good for a first build. If I do any more Vs with a paint finish (next one I'm doing is a vintage-style white limba, so no paint), I may opt to send it out. We'll see. 

Anyway, a few more coats of candy red and then on to the black headstock and clear coats. I really hope to have this baby done by the end of the month.


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## electriceye (Aug 6, 2017)

Well, thought I'd be lucky enough to shoot some clear today, as we're back from vacation. Nope! Those 6 beautiful coats of black I sprayed on the headstock a couple of weeks ago? Yeah, looks like crackle. Clearly, the underlying primer is incompatible with the Killer Cans black. So, gonna just sand it down to bare wood and spray directly. 

While I'm at it, I got some black overspray on the side since the masking tape had lifted and I didn't notice. I sanded it away using 800 grit, but the candy layer is SO thin (mind you, I used THREE cans of candy undercoat on this damn axe), it went down to primer. I sprayed a couple of coats, but it looks like sh*t. I wiped it with some naphtha today and was going to try again to fix it, but that's when I noticed the above issue.

Next time I build a V with a painted finish, I'm sending it out. Too much of a pain.


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## electriceye (Sep 10, 2017)

So, things are finally moving along, after having to fix so many issues with the candy red coat. I started spraying the clear today. I am LOVING this SprayMax 2k. Once it hardens, it is NICE. Of course, I need to wet sand it down, but it just feels and looks so nice. I managed to do 2.5 coats on the V and one coat on my super strat. I got a little eager on the headstock, so I have to sand out a few runs. Oh well. Lesson learned. 

Some cool news, a very well-known builder offered to help me with my fretwork this coming weekend. I showed you guys sort of how I messed up the frets on the SS, but may have saved them. Since this V is going to be my son's (even though he's 8 and this guitar is almost bigger than him) I really want to get the frets right. So, I should be gluing them in this week and then having a total MASTER help me learn how to do it right.


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## electriceye (Sep 20, 2017)

I've decided to throw in the towel on getting the finish right on the V. It's taken me months of prep and mistakes. The latest BIG mistake was when I took off the tape along the fretboard. The layers of primer and paint built up and there was a sharp edge sticking out the entire length of the neck. I tried to be as careful as I could scraping it, but it exposed the white primer, isn't very clean and there really is no fixing it. How the heck do you avoid getting that sharp edge?????


So, I contacted Stike to see what I have to do to get it ready for him and how much it will cost me. It's just not worth the time and frustration any more. I've probably wasted about $200 in paint on it already and it looks like shit in spots.


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## MoonJelly (Sep 21, 2017)

sorry for your finishing woes. I've found a good rule of thumb--if it won't scrape, it will sand, and vice versa. Also a little brush and some gloss Mod Podge goes a long way to soften those sharp paint lines. You don't need the matte stuff, sandpaper will knock it down to a nice satin if you don't want it looking shiny.


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## electriceye (Sep 21, 2017)

MoonJelly said:


> sorry for your finishing woes. I've found a good rule of thumb--if it won't scrape, it will sand, and vice versa. Also a little brush and some gloss Mod Podge goes a long way to soften those sharp paint lines. You don't need the matte stuff, sandpaper will knock it down to a nice satin if you don't want it looking shiny.


I think one of the problems is that I used white primer. Many of the tutorials I read/watched never mention using primer. The red is SO thin that is takes several layers to build up, which means anytime I try to fix one area, you can still see it. 

Since this is a first build, and I talked with my son last night, I MAY keep it as is and finish it, despite the flaws. I plan on building many, many more so maybe its time to finish this and move on. Then again, the wife DID approve the cost....


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## electriceye (Nov 1, 2017)

Almost there!! Just polishing her up. Have to install the tuners and nut, drill holes for the PG screws and stain the fretboard. Hoping to be complete by the end of this wknd.


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## electriceye (Nov 9, 2017)

Well.....here it is. My very first completed build (I use completed loosely, as I have to drill for the truss rod cover, intonate it and figure out how to lower the atrocious action height)!! At the beginning of the thread, I sort of showed you the shitty wood I was working with - warped wood and all. Being my first build, I made, literally, every mistake possible. It's not perfect, by any means. But it's done. And I learned a ton. And, to be honest, it even sounds good!! I got the wiring right on the FIRST attempt! WOO! Anyway, here's the "complete" pic. I plugged her in and it sounds just as good as I had hoped. Of course, I just play through the Pod 6 program on my Mac, so I can emulate anything. I haven't played much at all the past few years, so my chops are super rusty and fingers soft. Anyway, here's build #1 (excuse the mess on the table):


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