Yew-topped SG-style Guitar * Finished Pics!

[Andyjr1515]

Little by little.  

This is my hobby and usually is interspersed with a lot more 'life' stuff.  With the lockdown and building a guitar on a bit more 'doing something everyday' basis probably makes me realise how much work there is involved in one! 

But - in actual terms - decent progress.  This morning I have tapered the fretboard to it's final size and rough-tapered the neck:


Next job is probably putting the frets in the fretboard.  Nowadays, I do that before gluing to the neck - easier to handle, easier to keep stable for hammering and clamping the frets and MUCH easier for getting the fret ends square and straight with the fretboard edge.

[Geek99]

It’s builds like this that make me weep into my pots of variously coloured sanding dust....

Edited April 14, 2020 by Geek99

[Richard R]

I have finally realised what the figuring on that body reminds me of.

The vortex swirls you sometimes see behind the wings of aircraft, or the wake of a powerboat. As if the neck is passing though the fluid body at speed and leaving vortices in its wake.

[Andyjr1515]

2 hours ago, Richard R said:

I have finally realised what the figuring on that body reminds me of.

The vortex swirls you sometimes see behind the wings of aircraft, or the wake of a powerboat. As if the neck is passing though the fluid body at speed and leaving vortices in its wake.

Yup.  It reminds me of a wind-tunnel photo...

[Andyjr1515]

I cut the frets to length and detanged the fret-ends.  Lucky break - the little bit at the bottom is all I had left off the coil...



When I'm fretting, once I've run along each slot lightly with a triangular needle file, I run a small bead of Titebond along the tangs,then hammer them in (one side, other side, middle) and then pop a clamped radius block on while I'm preparing the next one.


And, after the glue has fully cured, the fret-ends are snipped and edges sanded and we have a fretted fretboard


Next job is the headstock while I wait for the trussrod to arrive

[Geek99]

You freaking amateur ... honestly I’m just disgusted ....“radiused block”, clamp, titebond it’s all just so pathetic, this is your first build right ?  you got all this jargon off YouTube didn’t you ? 

Edited April 14, 2020 by Geek99

[BassTool]

Anyone else thinking this could be the fastest build we've seen Andy do so far?  😝

Stunning work as usual.

 

[Richard R]

1 minute ago, BassTool said:

Anyone else thinking this could be the fastest build we've seen Andy do so far?  😝

Stunning work as usual.

 

Mods: please move this speedy build to the "Unexpected advantages of Coronavirus" thread.

[Richard R]

On 14/04/2020 at 15:34, Andyjr1515 said:

Yup.  It reminds me of a wind-tunnel photo...

Or the swirls in my glass as I slowly poured in a pint of Old Speckled Hen. Which would be a great name for a guitar. 

[BassTool]

9 minutes ago, Richard R said:

Or the swirls in my glass as I slowly poured in a pint of Old Speckled Hen. Which would be a great name for a guitar. 

Think you'd struggle to get all that on a headstock mind....

[Andyjr1515]

I love this hobby!

Unlike, say, hang-gliding or mountain climbing or white-water rapids rafting, you can try new and different things in relative safety

First - and it is related - if you want to see something that holds me personally in awe and makes me weep in my beer in equal measure, then spend an hour watching this video.  And if you are a guitar builder or woodworker or craftsman or anyone who likes seeing someone at the top of their game, it is well worth the hour:

Deep inside the video the guy said something that sent firecrackers off.  He epoxies his fretboards.  And he does that because epoxy doesn't wet the board and make it expand.

Ever had a new guitar where the fret ends start getting sharp after a few months?  The reason is that the fretboard is shrinking in width.  And often, this is because the moisture from the wood glue made them expand in the first place.  And they can carry on shrinking for YEARS.  Almost immeasurable, but enough for the sharp ends of the frets to re-emerge.

So why do most of us use woodglue?  Because then - if you have to - you can remove the fretboard intact by applying heat.  I've been asked to do that a few times - generally to replace broken trussrods.  If it's expoxied, then generally the only way is to plane off the old fretboard altogether and start again.

So what is the new thing I'm going to try?  Well - this fretboard is going to have the maple veneer demarcation to give me the fine white line between the board and the neck.  So the plan is:

- epoxy the board to the veneer = no shrinkage of the fretboard

- then Titebond wood-glue the veneered board to the neck = the ability, if ever necessary, to remove the fretboard in the future.

Who knows if it will make a difference, but it won't do any harm as both methods are perfectly sound in their own right.  Here is the veneer being applied to the back of the fretboard:

 Meanwhile, the headstock plate has been cut from a super piece of jet black ebony from David Dyke:


And that, too will have a veneer demarcation.  For this one, I am reverting to good old Titebond.  And no - an upside down radius block to use as a clamping caul isn't the best way to treat a wooden radius block...   :


All the rest of the bits (trussrod, tuners, stoptail, pickup rings, electrics, etc) arrive sometime today, and another room has been decorated so I will soon have no excuses but to just crack on

[Daz39]

14 hours ago, Richard R said:

Or the swirls in my glass as I slowly poured in a pint of Old Speckled Hen. Which would be a great name for a guitar. 

Storms on Jupiter.

[Simon.]

Andy - if you are using two different joining materials on either side of the maple veneer, is there not a risk of it warping? ie: the wood glue contracting on one side, while the epoxy stays ridged?

Love the idea of a demarcation line on the neck. 👍

[BigRedX]

Would it not be better to Titebond the veneer to the neck and let it dry before epoxying the fretboard?

Depending on the thickness of the veneer won't the water-based glue affect it if you don't let it dry first?

[Andyjr1515]

2 hours ago, Simon. said:

Andy - if you are using two different joining materials on either side of the maple veneer, is there not a risk of it warping? ie: the wood glue contracting on one side, while the epoxy stays ridged?

Love the idea of a demarcation line on the neck. 👍

Time will tell, especially when it turns out banana or propeller-shaped, @Simon.   

1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

Would it not be better to Titebond the veneer to the neck and let it dry before epoxying the fretboard?

Depending on the thickness of the veneer won't the water-based glue affect it if you don't let it dry first?

To be honest, I don't think it make much odds which way round you do it. 

My hunch is that the epoxy will act a waterproof membrane, but my choice of sequence itself was more about practicalities in getting a completely flat and bubble-free /gap-free bonding.  This was made much easier by being able to use bench clamps firmly clamping the ebony/veneer assembly onto a toughened glass sheet (an old glass shelf that is sitting under the maple in the photo).  That is much easier than trying to get as good a joint of veneer onto a set neck - difficult at the best of times but especially given how much the veneer itself warps when you add glue.  The result is that now, when I glue the assembly onto the neck, the veneer cannot warp at all and so I will have a completely flat surface gluing to a completely flat surface.

Well, that's the theory anyway.  That said, time will tell, especially when it turns out banana or propeller-shaped...  

[Andyjr1515]

And so to the swifts!

They haven't arrived yet in real life but should be here in a couple to three weeks.  So in the meantime, I'll have to make do with Mother of Pearl ones.

Normal stuff - cut out with a jewellers saw:


Then outlined on the plate in pencil and the chambers cut out with the same Dremel + precision router base as with the fretboard crowns:

 
Glued in with the c**k up-hiding ebony dust/epoxy mix.  Sanded off and done:


Next job - before gluing the fretboard on once the truss rod has arrived (which was supposed to have been today) - is to cut the pickup chambers while I still have a flat-top to the body.  But that job is also waiting for the pickup rings that were also due today.  Maybe tomorrow

Ditto, I will rout the recess for the back cover, again, while I have a flat top to be able to clamp to the workbench.

And then, I reckon the fretboard is ready to glue on.  So, it all depends on the postie from now on...

[TheGreek]

Here's some former shrinkage you may have forgotten about @Andyjr1515

[Andyjr1515]

1 hour ago, TheGreek said:

Here's some former shrinkage you may have forgotten about @Andyjr1515

  I will NEVER forget about that shrinkage, Mick!  I'll find the photos and post them...

[BassTool]

14 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

  I will NEVER forget about that shrinkage, Mick!  I'll find the photos and post them...

Here comes a reminder of one of the most inspired rebuilds on here, and one of my personal favourite's 😜👍🏼

[BassTool]

May as well have an interlude while you wait for the postie Andy 🤭

[Andyjr1515]

Not much done today, but I have got most of the rest of the bits - certainly enough to do a quick mockup to check if Matt wanted to go with black or metal pickup rings.
He's opted for metal.  The bridge and rings are chrome ones here from my bits box - the nickel ones are on the way.  Also, the other bits are not yet positioned, but it gives an idea of how it's starting to look:


So tomorrow's job will be the pickup chambers. 

[Pea Turgh]

Looking beautiful!  This isn’t helping my newly discovered 6 string GAS!

[TheGreek]

Personally I'd have the same timber from the headstock as the pick up surrounds

[Andyjr1515]

52 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

Personally I'd have the same timber from the headstock as the pick up surrounds

I did give Matt that option - there was enough offcut to do that - but he wanted black, which is fine.

[Andyjr1515]

Just now, Andyjr1515 said:

I did give Matt that option - there was enough offcut to do that - but he wanted black, which is fine.

Haha - just re-read that.  Thought you meant the headstock the same colour as the body.  I must concentrate harder...