Well, I'm Going To Attempt My First Guitar Assembly

JOLLY

JOLLY

Super Simonologist
I'm going to attempt everything except for drilling the holes for the neck. This will be the first time I've ever tried to do anything really, so I'm sure I'll be doing a ton of reading and asking a ton of questions. The body isn't completely finished so I'm going to have do some sanding and all that. I don't think I've done any kind of woodworking since I was a Junior in High School....lol. I'll be reading my ass off about staining and finishing the body. As far as assembling everything, I don't think I'll have a problem with any of that.

I'm going to get the neck from Warmoth. It'll be maple with a rosewood fingerboard. I'm going to go with a reverse Jackson style headstock. I may get sharkfin inlays, but I'm not really sure yet. I really want to finish the back of the neck like my EVH Wolfgang Special.

As far as the body and everything goes, I'm probably going to go with a real vibrant purple most likely. My second choice is blue. I'll probably use gold hardware. The body is alder and the cap on it is 1/8" thick. I figured it was just a thin veneer, but the guy who made it told me how thick it was.

Get ready for me to be asking alot of stupid questions. Hopefully this won't take me a year to do, as I am rather lazy.


icemanebay.jpg

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Re: Well, I'm Going To Attempt My First Guitar Assembly

That's a great looking body. Once you build one it's likely it won't be long before you're planning your next.
 
Re: Well, I'm Going To Attempt My First Guitar Assembly

Iceman! Love it! That's gonna be sweet! Personally I've never had any luck with the finishing process, but that's my fault. I have no patience!
 
Re: Well, I'm Going To Attempt My First Guitar Assembly

Have fun, it's a hobby not job
Put it down when you feel frustrated (see above)
embrace your mistakes. They are all part of the uniqueness of your build
My tele build is by far my favorite guitar. I am planning to build at least 2 more this winter. I already started the first
 
Re: Well, I'm Going To Attempt My First Guitar Assembly

Looking forward to following this assembly! Great choice of body, with a killer top! Cheers!
 
Re: Well, I'm Going To Attempt My First Guitar Assembly

metlking said:
Personally I've never had any luck with the finishing process, but that's my fault. I have no patience!
Click to expand...
I have a feeling I'll be spending alot of time on the ReRanch website.

AniML said:
Have fun, it's a hobby not job
Put it down when you feel frustrated (see above)
embrace your mistakes. They are all part of the uniqueness of your build
Click to expand...
That's good advice. Thanks!!
 
Re: Well, I'm Going To Attempt My First Guitar Assembly

metlking said:
Iceman! Love it! That's gonna be sweet! Personally I've never had any luck with the finishing process, but that's my fault. I have no patience!
Click to expand...

There it is ... the key word .... PATIENCE.

There are no silly questions, the only silliness is NOT asking the questions. John, you've no doubt followed plenty of build/refinish/modification threads here and have a good overview of what's involved, so a lot of the mysteries have been revealed to you. That's a huge start.

You will come up against certain things that you'll need to do that you've probably never done before, just as I did when I built my LP. Those things will probably lead to you reading a lot online and asking questions, and there are some great and experienced people here to give you answers and opinions (I don't count myself as one of the great or experienced ones, but i am happy to share anything i have that might be useful).

Once you have your parts and get past the initial 'I'm going to build a guitar', you'll start seeing it as a whole bunch of smaller, individual processes, and that those processes will work best by being done in a certain order. Hopefully these things will be worked out in the planning stages ....

which brings me to this, something i learnt from a guy who was a superb craftsman and who turned his hand to guitar-making. He told me that he would build a guitar in his mind, working through every detail mentally before he even touched the wood. I found myself doing that every evening before attempting the next stage the following day.

Doing something like this is a wonderful journey and it can really bring out your personality, it can test you and it can make you grow. There can be (and probably will be) moments of frustration and difficulty, but overall it's FUN.

Don't put any time limits on any of it, work when you feel good and walk away if you get edgy. The end result will be a direct representation of what you put in, particularly with the details.

My suggestion is to sign yourself up to the Music Instrument Makers Forum (MIMF) and spend time in their library, they have a phenomenal collection of information on every aspect of instrument building and finishing.

Sorry if this all sounds like some feel-good motivational spiel, but i don't know how else to express it, probably others can say it better or give better viewpoints. It looks like it could be something really special, and if i had to say all this with only one word, it would be .... PATIENCE.

But being as verbose as i tend to be, i'd want to use four words ...

be patient, have fun !!

(and ask any question at any time, never any need to feel stupid for asking, this place is highly supportive as well as knowledgeable).
 
Re: Well, I'm Going To Attempt My First Guitar Assembly

Check out the Home Depot over at TDPRI. There's a lot of very good builders any many build threads with amazing finishes in them.
 
Re: Well, I'm Going To Attempt My First Guitar Assembly

Thanks Crusty and tonechaser. I'll check out both of those forums.
 
Re: Well, I'm Going To Attempt My First Guitar Assembly

If you can mix drinks in your mouth, you can assemble a guitar.
 
Re: Well, I'm Going To Attempt My First Guitar Assembly

Those are nice bodies. I looked at them last week i have been wanting an iceman for awhile. But i ran across an IC400 on gc used site and ordered it instead. It's supposed to here tomorrow.
 
Re: Well, I'm Going To Attempt My First Guitar Assembly

I assembled my own. It screams. Didn't attempt finishing. Best thing I ever did. Can't wait to see the progress. Share the stages!
 
Re: Well, I'm Going To Attempt My First Guitar Assembly

awww hellllllll yeah...that looks badass Jolly!
 
Re: Well, I'm Going To Attempt My First Guitar Assembly

HOLY HELL that's going to look great. I vote for a nice blue stain - it's look incredible with the gold hardware.
 
Re: Well, I'm Going To Attempt My First Guitar Assembly

Also, could you shoot me a message as to where and who you ordered the body from? Thanks!
 
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