Good thinking outside the lateral Dan, here's a link that was posted some where on the forum a while ago https://sites.google.com/site/guitar...ollection/home , not sure how they pan out?
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Good thinking outside the lateral Dan, here's a link that was posted some where on the forum a while ago https://sites.google.com/site/guitar...ollection/home , not sure how they pan out?
Let's see if it will let me post pictures today.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...is65-image.jpg
Cool. Here is some more shots of the contours.
Next I used a round over bit on the edges. I only have a 5mm radius bit, I would of preferred a larger round over bit. But it looks fine with the smaller radius.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...z6b4-image.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...4g58-image.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...3422-image.jpg
With the main body work done, I now set my bridge placement and finalise the control panel and cavity.
I fit the bridge temporarily to help with neck alignment when I come to fit the neck.
I made a template for the control cavity and routed it out.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...965c-image.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...88k1-image.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...jiku-image.jpg
I'm not using a neck plate for this one, I countersunk the screw holes about 1/8 of an inch and used some 5mm stainless washers.
Next I drilled the hole for the output jack with a 19mm spade bit.
In the last photo you can see some splits developing. There was a small crack in the pine, and because it is near the edge the timber has lost its integrity and the split has opened up. This is what you get when you use cheap pine that is not properly seasoned.
I got some glue into the splits and clamped them up, it helped but because they are right on the edge there is not a lot of meat to work with so they are still quite noticeable.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...v076-image.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...2377-image.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...ocdw-image.jpg
So next it was onto everyone's favourite job, sanding....... No photos for this step, just a lot of dust.
Im just using leftovers I have to finish this body. A mahogany stain, finished with tru oil.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...212k-image.jpg
looking great Dan
Last few pics for a while. This is after 4 coats
I'll keep applying coats and then give it some time to cure.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...ka0p-image.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...5c72-image.jpg
Coming up a treat Dan
Wow Dan. That's looking really classy. The shine on the colour is already deep. If I didn't know what you started off with I certainly wouldn't have guessed. It's really cool watching this build. You've almost got me believing I could do it. But I can't. No skills, no tools and no shed. One of the joys of renting. However, in three years (retirement time) we'll be moving to the tablelands and I will definitely have a shed there -and a proppa recording studio. Meanwhile... I love watching these sorts of builds. Cheers.
This is coming up fantastic.
I have now glued a bunch of rare DAR indoor xmas trees (pine) together now.. and am toying with design of a body.. then to make a template.
being one to give most things a try, what would be the downside to making a neck out of pine? also what are the mechanical differences between pine and maple (rock maple)?
Way to go AJ. I toyed with the idea to try a pine neck. Depending on the pine you are using it is quite prone to splitting. This is why I decided against it. People do make necks from pine, but you would want some good quality, well seasoned timber to avoid any issues.
No harm in trying a pine neck though. At worst it's a learning exercise.
Best of luck with your build.
Got busy Dan , finished the template and routed a body now. Just need to make templates for the neck pocket and pups.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...h-DSCF1433.JPG
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...t-DSCF1437.JPG
Must say, yours is looking a million dollars matey, well done!
I wont post any more here in your thread as I don't want interfere with your inspirational build
Just speculating, as I am sure there are others who know better, but I would think if you did make a neck from Pine, you would want to make a 5 or 7 piece neck combined with strips of some other wood between each pine strip.
My understanding is, that this type of construction reduces the potential for twisting (which is what Pine loves to do to me when building furniture).
Cheers
Darren
That's a great idea Darren. A 5-7 piece laminate neck. If you wanted to keep it to readily available and cheap timbers you could try a mix with Tassi oak or maranti.
Although I think if your going to build your own neck it would be well worth sourcing quality timbers.
And AJ that's coming along nicely. Very cool and original body shape you have come up with.
No worries either about posting your build here, it's good too see some one else jumping in the deep end with me. :)
Anyways, I received a parcel from DB the other day. A one piece Fijian mahogany body blank.
This is why I wanted some practice on some pine body's first. It's build will be a lot better planned out than this one was. What a great looking slab of timber, hopefully I can do it justice.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...wxva-image.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...v747-image.jpg
Impressive build Dan. Can't wait to see what's in store for that beautiful slab of wood.
well done Dan you knocked this up very quickly, love the shape and the colour. Look forward to seeing what you shape with the slab !
To answer the question re using Pine for necks, the short answer is yes.
However, you will need to source a hard variety such as Celery Top which has a nice straight grain.
It will also need to be extremely well seasoned.. as in at least 5 years worth.
Doable but my advice would be to stick with using Canadian Rock Maple for your first builds and dont forget to instal a two way truss rod.
Oh, Great stuff Guys!
I neglected to say well done :)
The first build is always the most daunting. Tomorrow I will post some pics of how I make my templates, it will make it even easier for you.
Well I have pretty much finished this build. I probably didn't leave the finish long enough to cure, but I couldn't wait any longer. I wanted to get on with it.
I ordered some rotary switches from overseas so there will be a wait on them. Instead of using the rotary switch I just went with a simple spdt switch to split the pup. I'm also trying a 1meg pot for the vol.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...zyvh-image.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...vzq0-image.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...h3t9-image.jpg
wow Dan well done, how does it play and sound ?
colours come up sweet with the black neck, what sort of mahogany stain was the body ? looks like a feast and Watson mahogany tint colour I've used
Cheers Wokka, yes you got it in one. It is a Feast Watson mahogany stain.
I had a few setup issues with it. Firstly, the donor neck I used had the truss rod tightened right up. So I had to back it way off.
Once I had some strings on I found the neck angle was not quite right. I had to shim the heel of the neck. I used a small piece of thin veneer to shim it out only slightly. Now the action and relief are much better. Though the neck is still settling itself due to the big change in truss rod tension.
After fixing those few issues it plays nicely now. And should be even better once it has settled into itself and I do the final setup.
As for sound, it sounds like I thought a pine guitar would sound like. It has a bright tone with a hard attack. I wouldn't say it has a thin sound because it is quite full sounding, but it has a kind of airy feel to it. Kind of acoustic guitar sort of sound.
This could be partly because of the 1 meg pot I used, it might be slightly warmer sounding if I used a 500k pot. But it douse sound fine the way it is.
I'll get a vidieo of how it plays once the neck settles in and it stays in tune for more than 2 minutes.
cool excellent, sure my scratch body builds had to tweak the neck pocket a bit, shows how important the neck pocket shape/angle is. Good description of the pine body sound, I can relate to that with mine.
Look forward to a sound demo once you've played it a bit and it keeps tune. Next scratch body build you will have to put a neck and bridge pickup.
So is the neck a Pit Bull neck or one off another guitar ?
The neck is off an old parts guitar I picked up for dirt cheap from Cashies. It's in good nick, just the truss rod was a little too tight.
As for the neck angle. Initially when I set it up without a shim, the string hight at the 22nd was around 4mm. At first I tried two pieces of .6mm veneer. But this 1.2mm shim changed the angle too much and the strings were now touching the fretboard.
Off with the neck again, removed one of the shims. Now it has been shimmed .6mm. This was perfect once the neck was back on. So from just a thin .6mm shim I was able to correct the neck angle and lower the string hight by around 2mm.
That first Tele I did had two pickups. This one I wanted to be a simple one pup setup.
I told my mate, one day I'm going to make a guitar with just a neck pup and a big kill switch. No volume or tone pots.. Well this was one step closer to that.
yer ok well done Dan, sure you have learnt a heap with the 2 scratch builds you have done. Nice work updating your avatar !
Looks a million bucks Dan!
( I have come to a standstill atm due to other commitments and weather, but should be back to hacking at the body in the next day or 2))
just a quick Q matey , normally the fender style guitars have zero neck angle as the neck is proud above the body at the joint,( the height above the top of the body is supposed to be some mysterious angle from the bridge at it's lowest height plus the thickness of the keyboard plus the fret height?????). So, when you shimmed, was it across all the heel of the neck joint or was it either front or back? I was going to use the old cort neck I have but not too sure as I might end up putting that back together. So the idea may be to get a new neck..
Hey AJ. Yeah I've been lucky to have some spare time at the moment, this is why I've been busy.
You are correct about the zero neck angle on most fender type guitars. But because I used a different style of bridge, a wilkinson aluminium wraparound bridge. I had to make some slight adjustments. I only placed the shim at the bottom end of the neck, a 12 mm wide strip across the bottom.
Hey Dan, I really enjoyed following this thread, the guitar looks sensational. Well done mate! I'm even willing to look past the fact you've probably inspired everyone to abandon the kits and start their own scratchies.
Hey guys, we sell necks and body blanks... Guys? GUYS?!?
ripper job Dan, must be cool to have one you made from scratch! Nice work too!
Lol. Thanks Adam. The thought of steering people away from your kits did cross my mind, but this wasn't my intention at all. I was just sharing my experience with other like minded people.Quote:
/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from adam on December 12, 2013, 18:09
Hey Dan, I really enjoyed following this thread, the guitar looks sensational. Well done mate! I'm even willing to look past the fact you've probably inspired everyone to abandon the kits and start their own scratchies.
Hey guys, we sell necks and body blanks... Guys? GUYS?!?
Don't worry. My next build will be using a PBG neck and body blank. That I already have and couldn't be happier with.
While I've tried to show having a crack at your own body with minimal tools is possible, you still need to have those few basic tools. Which, if you don't already have can be quite costly. So the kits really are great value.
I'm seriously considering purchasing a neck Adam, just working out how I can slip it past the OIC of finances without her noticing.. and so close to xmas 8OQuote:
/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from adam on December 12, 2013, 18:09
Hey Dan, I really enjoyed following this thread, the guitar looks sensational. Well done mate! I'm even willing to look past the fact you've probably inspired everyone to abandon the kits and start their own scratchies.
Hey guys, we sell necks and body blanks... Guys? GUYS?!?
Quote:
/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from adam on December 12, 2013, 18:09
Hey Dan, I really enjoyed following this thread, the guitar looks sensational. Well done mate! I'm even willing to look past the fact you've probably inspired everyone to abandon the kits and start their own scratchies.
Hey guys, we sell necks and body blanks... Guys? GUYS?!?
Wot Adam said.... I have chunks of trees here waiting to be turned into guitar body blanks...
the quality and price is better than most. Come onnnnnnnnnn guys!, who doesnt want a body or blank crafted by the Dingobass? :D
Pretty keen to give this a go, but need to clear a backlog first...Quote:
Quote from adam on December 12, 2013, 18:09
Hey Dan, I really enjoyed following this thread, the guitar looks sensational. Well done mate! I'm even willing to look past the fact you've probably inspired everyone to abandon the kits and start their own scratchies.
Hey guys, we sell necks and body blanks... Guys? GUYS?!?
Same, I have a small backlog to fill then I'll get my hands on one of those beautiful chunks of tree!
Well done Dan, what a beautiful guitar.
I am sure that this Thread will be an inspiration to many to do a scratch build. I know you said it was not meant to be a Tutorial, but the way you have documented the build it will be invaluable for the first timer. Still way beyond my skills and resources, but I can dream.
Thanks mate.
rob
Great thread Dan, really inspirational. I love the idea of using Pine (which I work with for other things a lot) to hone the scratch build skills.
I'm keen on one of the body blanks from DB, after some router practice...but also need to clear a backlog first.
Cheers
Darren
I've just ordered a Tl style neck to go with the "experimental" body Dan. Now am looking at various painting options before I do the routing to the exotic rare pine..If all turns out good, the next order will be for either the black wood blank or ash blank.or the cheaper Fijian . decisions decisions..