First Guitar build

rafared

Here are a few pics of my first attempt at building a guitar. It is an SG copy with a mahogany body and a beech and walnut laminated neck.
The body was roughed out using a band saw before the neck joint socket was routed. I used a wedge that cut to a 2 degree slope to route the neck pocket with the correct inclination. The pickup and electronics sockets were routed using simple MDF templates and a collet attachment for the router.













I shaped the body with a spokeshave and used a beltsander to smooth the curves



I used beech and walnut for the neck to give a bit of visual interest and contrast.




I formed the neck joint using a table saw and band saw



The headstock was cut out using a scrollsaw and I also faced the headstock with walnut


I bought a precut ebony fretboard which a planed to a radius and cut and installed fretwire in the slots.



The body has been sanded with 120 to 1200 grit sandpaper and filled with mahogany grain filler.
The final picture shows the body after it has had 1 coat of Tung Oil. The pickups and pickguard are only sitting in place just to improve the picture.




At the moment the neck joint is glueing and I hope to install the truss rod and glue the fret board tomorrow.

I would be very interested in any comments or suggestions from other people and hope to post a few more pics of the work and finished guitar if you guys would like to see them.

Phew.....that took me ages:)

Alanstrainor

Sweet. Looks awesome man.

rafared

Thanks a mil, very pleased with it so far. Have been trying to get it finished before Xmas but I doubt thats gonna happen.:rolleyes:

rafared

Forgot to add these. This pic shows the wedge template fixed to the body so the router gives a 2 degree slope for the neck pocket.

Zombienosh

looking good.

Gaspode

Very nice indeed.

damonjewel

I think the finish on the body is absolutely stunning, you've really brought the grain out.

I have been considering what projects to do in the new year and I have been thinking along the lines of a zappaesque SG loaded with circuitry. This is really inspiring.

rafared

damonjewel wrote: »

I think the finish on the body is absolutely stunning, you've really brought the grain out.

I have been considering what projects to do in the new year and I have been thinking along the lines of a zappaesque SG loaded with circuitry. This is really inspiring.

Thanks a mil. The finish is easy to apply to be honest. I sanded with progressively fine paper up to 1200 grit and then applied mahogany grain filler. Finally a coat of Tung oil, liberally applied with a cloth and then the excess wiped of after maybe 15 mins. In those pics it has had one coat of oil but I intend to give it a few more. It feels very smooth and flat to the touch with a soft sheen......which is just what I hoped.

rafared

Here are a few pics of the finished guitar. I would fully encourage anybody who's thinking of building their own guitar to give it a try. It is a very worthwhile and enjoyable experience and the satisfaction of seeing it finished and hearing it play is good for your soul:)
Im very happy with how it turned out and it sounds decent without any real setup. Its not without its faults, the neck is too "chunky" and the headstock is not totally symmetrical. I intend removing more material from the neck and refinishing the headstock. The body has had 3 coats of oil and its a finish I would encourage people to use because its easy to apply and gives very good results I think. I would welcome any comments, good or bad on the finished results.

lalee17

Looks great well done.

lalee17

Also how does it sound?

dubtom

Cracking looking Guitar mate,well done.

damonjewel

Hi, really nice work. I never used tung oil, but I did a tele in Danish oil and was surprised at how good the finish was and how easy it was to apply. I'd be interested to hear where you sourced the mahogany from. Also where did you get your hardware? and what pickups and tuners did you use?

Cheers

Damo

rafared

lalee17 wrote: »

Also how does it sound?

It sounds very well, it needs a bit of set up work done which I may get around to today if I get a spare hour or two. My kid has an Epiphone Lespaul Studio and to my ear it sounds fairly similar.

rafared

damonjewel wrote: »

Hi, really nice work. I never used tung oil, but I did a tele in Danish oil and was surprised at how good the finish was and how easy it was to apply. I'd be interested to hear where you sourced the mahogany from. Also where did you get your hardware? and what pickups and tuners did you use?

Cheers

Damo

Hi, thanks for all the nice comments. I sourced the mahogany form Michael Blacks here in Drogheda, the beech and walnut I already had in the workshop. I did try Danish oil on a scrap piece and it was a nice finish but a little bit duller than the Tung oil. I reckon the grain filling is the most crucial part because it realy leaves a smooth flat surface for the final finish.
All the electronics and hardware were bought of Ebay from a seller called CHGuitars. To be honest I didnt spend mega money on the kit because it was my first attempt at guitar building and in all honesty cash is a bit tight at the moment anyway. The machine heads are wilkinson and the pickups are made by Artec. I was worried that slightly cheaper machine heads might go out of tune easily but that hasnt been a problem so far, they felt solid before I put them on the guitar and it has kept its tune pretty well.
I did read a few reviews for the pickups and the general feeling on them was they were good quality and produced good sound relative to their price. In any case this guitar is unlikely ever to be gigged, it will be one I keep on a stand in my room to mess about on without worrying too much what it sounds like.

PeterIanStaker

Absolutely lovely guitar man!

rafared

PeterIanStaker wrote: »

Absolutely lovely guitar man!

Thanks a mil, very happy with it.:)

PeterIanStaker

rafared wrote: »

Thanks a mil, very happy with it.:)

As well you should be. Could you throw up a video?

Owen

Christ that's gorgeous. I'm promising myself for years I'll do something like that, but I'd have to have a Floyd in there. Could anyone recommend a guitar building book that covers Floyd's, I've googled and can't find much.

OP, definitely give us a video - that's a stunning guitar.

rafared

PeterIanStaker wrote: »

As well you should be. Could you throw up a video?

Thanks for all the kind comments guys, I realy appreciate them.
When you guys say video I assume you mean like an explanation or tutorial video on how I made it?
To be honest I didnt take any video but did take a few pics along the way.
I do intend doing another and maybe could video that if people wanted to see it......I have to source some materials yet and depending on what I can get my hands on I may make a strat or possibly an acoustic.

PeterIanStaker

rafared wrote: »

Thanks for all the kind comments guys, I realy appreciate them.
When you guys say video I assume you mean like an explanation or tutorial video on how I made it?
To be honest I didnt take any video but did take a few pics along the way.
I do intend doing another and maybe could video that if people wanted to see it......I have to source some materials yet and depending on what I can get my hands on I may make a strat or possibly an acoustic.

I meant as in a youtube video demoing the sounds, clean and heavy, "cycling through the pickups" as yer man from Guitar World would say!

rafared

I might get around to doing that later in the week if I can get some spare time. Have done a bit of setup work on it and it sounds even better now. Still need to do a bit more with it to get it to its best and then maybe I'll try and do a video.

damonjewel

PaintDoctor wrote: »

Could anyone recommend a guitar building book that covers Floyd's, I've googled and can't find much.

On this link it shows an upgrade for a lo trs to an edge trem. Some of the pointers are fairly good and should imagine a floyd trem would be similar.

http://projectguitar.com/tut/trs2lopro.htm