Pierre
Stratologist
Well I have yet to get 'the book' but I figured I could start planning without it and see how it'd look from there. The project will be a neck through, 24 frets, 25.5" scale guitar. For the designs, I can't chose between a Mockingbird or a soloist style axe with ESP's headstock (inspired by ESP's M series and Rhoads65's Weapon of Mass Destruction). The Mockingbird would be painted naturally, the soloist all in black.
I'll be using grade B wood from luthiersupply. Has anyone got experience with it? Would grade B just not look as good as grade AA, but sound the same, or is it less resonant too?
Anyhoo either way, the specs would be
Maple neck with a striped of walnut in the middle
Mahogany wings
2 humbuckers
2 volume controls, 1 tone control, a 5 way megaswitch
TOM string through bridge
Both shapes are fairly easy to to shape I believe, though of course the Mockingbird will be harder due to its shape. I'm not too affraid of it though. I'm going to order a template (50 bucks but well... needed I guess) since I don't know anyone in Edinburgh with either guitars and I suck with a pencil.
Here's a list of (basic steps) I'll take:
1) buy the bridge, check the height etc...
2) draw a real life plan of the guitar (or a half scale, if I don't have room) and figure out the neck angle for a string height of 1.75mm.
3) assemble the 5 pieces (3 pieces for the neck and 2 for the wings) without gluing, draw the shapes
4) plane the neck down for its proper angle, check if I'll have enough room for a non scarf neck joint
5) shape the wings
6) use the neck's straight edge to route the truss rod channel (tight but fit), cut the neck to its nut/butt width (I'd take the measurements from my Charvel's necks)
7) do the same to the fingerboard (which will be preslotted, I'm lazy and I want to be able to play it
)
8) get the neck ready for the headstock shaping, rough cutting of it
9) put the special thingy on top of the truss rod, glue the fingerboard on, fine cut the neck to its proper dimensions, do a rough backshaping of it, drill the neck's sidedots holes drilled, put the sidedots onget
10) assemble the wings to the body
11) finish the body: heel, forearm and belly contours, fine cutting, neck backshape and bevelling the edges a bit.
12) take care of the electronics cavity at the back (smaller as possible, but with comfortable room for wiring etc...)
13) triple check everything before drilling anything else, take the measurements again, route the pickup holes, drill the holes for the TOM and strings, controls, etc...
14) triple check everything
15) fretting it
16) string it up, wire it, try, put the hardware (tuners, nut...) on it and play it (eh just for fun and to make myself happy)
17) strip it down, cover up the fingerboard and frets properly
18) spray clear coat, primer, sealer, paint, or whatever has to be sprayed first, let it dry however long it takes, repeat until it's painted using the proper steps
19) check for accumulated paint in the holes, fix if problems
20) shielding, hardware, wiring, pickups, tuners, etc...
21) play it!
And here are the questions... Is it better to paint the neck and headstock before or after having put on the nut? I'm thinking that if you do it before, you can cover up the neck's edge and paint UNDER the nut too, cleaning up a bit the area. If you do it after you can cover up the nut and yeah... I see no difference, maybe there just isn't any...
I didn't mention stuff like drilling tuner holes because it goes in the headstock prep for me. But I didn't forget. When I do a proper big plan on a paper list which will be pinned everywhere where I live, it'll be there and there'll be about 40 steps or so
If you see anything totally wrong, feel free to tell If you have any suggestions, also feel free. Thanks!
I'll be using grade B wood from luthiersupply. Has anyone got experience with it? Would grade B just not look as good as grade AA, but sound the same, or is it less resonant too?
Anyhoo either way, the specs would be
Maple neck with a striped of walnut in the middle
Mahogany wings
2 humbuckers
2 volume controls, 1 tone control, a 5 way megaswitch
TOM string through bridge
Both shapes are fairly easy to to shape I believe, though of course the Mockingbird will be harder due to its shape. I'm not too affraid of it though. I'm going to order a template (50 bucks but well... needed I guess) since I don't know anyone in Edinburgh with either guitars and I suck with a pencil.
Here's a list of (basic steps) I'll take:
1) buy the bridge, check the height etc...
2) draw a real life plan of the guitar (or a half scale, if I don't have room) and figure out the neck angle for a string height of 1.75mm.
3) assemble the 5 pieces (3 pieces for the neck and 2 for the wings) without gluing, draw the shapes
4) plane the neck down for its proper angle, check if I'll have enough room for a non scarf neck joint
5) shape the wings
6) use the neck's straight edge to route the truss rod channel (tight but fit), cut the neck to its nut/butt width (I'd take the measurements from my Charvel's necks)
7) do the same to the fingerboard (which will be preslotted, I'm lazy and I want to be able to play it
)8) get the neck ready for the headstock shaping, rough cutting of it
9) put the special thingy on top of the truss rod, glue the fingerboard on, fine cut the neck to its proper dimensions, do a rough backshaping of it, drill the neck's sidedots holes drilled, put the sidedots onget
10) assemble the wings to the body
11) finish the body: heel, forearm and belly contours, fine cutting, neck backshape and bevelling the edges a bit.
12) take care of the electronics cavity at the back (smaller as possible, but with comfortable room for wiring etc...)
13) triple check everything before drilling anything else, take the measurements again, route the pickup holes, drill the holes for the TOM and strings, controls, etc...
14) triple check everything
15) fretting it
16) string it up, wire it, try, put the hardware (tuners, nut...) on it and play it (eh just for fun and to make myself happy)
17) strip it down, cover up the fingerboard and frets properly
18) spray clear coat, primer, sealer, paint, or whatever has to be sprayed first, let it dry however long it takes, repeat until it's painted using the proper steps
19) check for accumulated paint in the holes, fix if problems
20) shielding, hardware, wiring, pickups, tuners, etc...
21) play it!
And here are the questions... Is it better to paint the neck and headstock before or after having put on the nut? I'm thinking that if you do it before, you can cover up the neck's edge and paint UNDER the nut too, cleaning up a bit the area. If you do it after you can cover up the nut and yeah... I see no difference, maybe there just isn't any...
I didn't mention stuff like drilling tuner holes because it goes in the headstock prep for me. But I didn't forget. When I do a proper big plan on a paper list which will be pinned everywhere where I live, it'll be there and there'll be about 40 steps or so
If you see anything totally wrong, feel free to tell
If you have any suggestions, also feel free. Thanks!
