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Well, I ended up doing a second coat of Aged Vintage Yellow on the neck, mainly just to even out the colour a little and get the back of the neck closer to the colour of the headstock. I left the fretboard with just the first coat of AVY, it has just the touch of aged colour that I was looking for. Three days between each of the coats, and since then I've applied two neck top coats, again three days apart. I relented and clear coated the fretboard as well, instead of just oiling it like I planned. I figured this guitar probably won't be an everyday player and I wanted to see how the Wudtone lasts on the fretboard. Pics:
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content...p_coat_2_1.jpg
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content...p_coat_2_2.jpg
Planning on doing one or maybe two more top coats on the neck.
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brilliant job on the MOP inset
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I guess the finish line is starting to approach. The fourth and final top coat went on the neck a week ago. The neck colour has actually seemed to get a little lighter with the clear, but it's pretty close to what I was aiming for (it looks lighter in the pics, but depends on the angle). I'll probably leave it to cure for another week or so, but I had to take a look at it with the body (the neck fit is tight enough without bolting it in). The body is a little dusty in the pics as it's been hanging for the last couple of months ;)
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...k_curing_1.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...k_curing_4.jpg
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Oh, and I took a moment to hang my christmas decorations:
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...ecorations.jpg
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What started out as the decision to cut a slightly more refined pickguard for the G-special, and cut a couple of different pickguard options for my nephew's SG-1F, ended up as a bit of a template making frenzy. I mean, if I was going to cut some SG pickguards I may as well make templates for them, in case I wanted to cut some more. And, I also wanted some G-style truss-rod covers so I should probably make some templates for them too. And, if I was going to be cutting templates for all of those then while I've got everything set up I should probably cut any other templates I may need for the next few builds…
So, with a cheapo plunge router modified to mount on a homemade router table, some new Carbatec bits, and some 7mm ply I set to work… and maybe got a little carried away.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con..._frenzy_01.jpg
I now have templates for a selection of trussrod covers, cavity covers, trem covers and pickguards for LP, SG, Tele and Strat. The Strat pickguard and trem cover templates were probably the most involved and difficult, but the small size of the TRC's made them the most hassle. Very easy for the router to bite and send them flying (and risk grabbing fingers) and their small surface area meant the double-sided tape had an annoying tendency to flex if I wasn't careful. Anyway, PITA TRC's aside, I can now cut the plastics I want when I want.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con..._frenzy_02.jpg
I actually found my Dremel (set up on a router table) to be the best option for cutting the small items, and also for putting the chamfer on the edges of the pickguards and TRC's. Much more precise and better for the tight curves.
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Wow. Nice work WB.
Very organised of you.
The only thing missing is some pickup surrounds :)
Cheers
Darren
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WB - what / how did you get the shapes for the templates - just about to rip a new pickguard for a VP bass and have some MDF for templates handy - have a Dremel to cut the pickguard once I have a template - just need to cut the MDF to the right shape...
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@Brendan - For some, like the Strat pickguard, I copied them from existing items I had using a 1/4" flush cut pattern following bit. Basically, I used double-sided tape with some wooden spacers to attach the existing item about 5mm above the 7mm ply, then I could safely run the bit's bearing along the edge of the item to get a good clean copy.
For the other templates, like the white Tele and SG pickguards (on the left in the image above) and some of the TRC's, I either printed out a downloaded pattern or drafted my own then used a very light smear of Aquadhere on the ply to glue the paper pattern on and left it to dry overnight. The next day I would usually "paint" some brush-on superglue onto the outline to harden up the paper and stop it from fluffing up when I cut it. Then, depending on the item, I used either a coping saw, jigsaw, or router to rough cut the template to just outside its outline and then finished the shaping with sanding drums. I found trying to freehand the router to make a template with just a paper pattern was simply too inaccurate and prone to mistakes, and I got much better results by sanding away the last couple of mm's instead.
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well done Scott on another awesome looking build. Colours look very similar to your LP you previously built (axe in your avatar picture). Love how you get such a even burst line.
Well done on MOP inlay and the templates and covers you made look awesome, would love to make a ply pickguard.
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Scott, your templates look awesome! Great job. I really have to get myself a dremel and build that routing table..
Cheers,
Gav.
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Approaching the finish line, but there's still a lot to do…
I'll be using push/pull pots and a 4-pole 5-way switch on this build (yes, a 5 way). I modified the control cavity to fit the (very) fat switch prior to painting, basically undercut the upper side of the cavity around the switch, but the control plate itself is designed for the small mini pots.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...l_plate_01.jpg
Drilling out the holes to 9.5mm to accommodate the push/pull pots.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...l_plate_02.jpg
Everything now mounts nicely on the plate.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...l_plate_03.jpg
However…
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I needed countersunk screws to mount the Grigsby on the plate and the only ones suitable were too long, they actually would risk touching one of the commons on each side, so I had to trim them shorter. Also, the top edge of the outer wafer on the switch was touching the edge of my cavity undercut which would have been a problem once the copper shielding was in (thickness wise). There are no contacts or conductive elements on top bit of the wafer, so I trimmed it and cut the screws down to size. Now it fits nicely without risk of shorts.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...l_plate_04.jpg
Time to install the string-thru ferrules. Wudtone leaves quite a lip around cavities, especially when you've applied a ton of coats, so I first used a sharp fine craft knife to run around the inside of the holes to remove the build up. I could start the ferrules with just my thumb, and then a small hammer and a piece of dowel the thickness of the top of the ferrule allowed me to gently (and carefully) seat them fully.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...errules_01.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...errules_02.jpg
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I mentioned in my earlier post about the templates that I was cutting a new pickguard for this build, so I figured some may be interested in how I did it. The reason I was making a custom guard was that the pickups I'm using aren't quite standard, and I thought it would look better if the pickguard matched the pups.
First I made a paper template: modified, tweaked, changed it, test fitted, and modified again until I was happy with it. Then I used that to make a thin (4-5mm) plywood template, easy to cut and shape and easy to 'fix' if needed. If you take too much off or want to change it, it's easy to glue some wood back on or use some sawdust and glue filler. If you are going to make a pickguard don't skip this step… it is relatively easy to fix/adjust a wooden template, but you can't fix a mis-cut piece of pickguard plastic, and the time it takes to make the template is time (and frustration) saved cutting or re-cutting the pickguard.
So, template made, pickguard material (in this case very thin 2mm plastic) rough cut to the basic shape, and face of the template stuck to the back of the plastic using double sided tape. The template has to be on the back of the plastic for what happens later. Router table set up with a 1/4" flush cut pattern following bit. Set the height of the bit so that the bearing runs nicely along the template with the blade getting a clean cut on the plastic. I pre-drilled a couple of 10mm holes in the pickup slot so that I could rout it all in one go.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con..._making_01.jpg
Because the bearing is on the top of the bit the routing is done with the plastic facing down, and in this case it's so thin it cuts like soft butter. A couple of minutes later and the plastic is cut to shape (I cleared away the mound of plastic shavings to get a clean pic, as they tend to be static charged and stick to everything!).
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con..._making_02.jpg
A quick check to make sure there were no lumps, bumps, gouges or missed spots, and then a drill and countersink of the mounting holes. And, of course, some test fitting and tweaking to make sure it and everything around will sit where it's supposed to.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con..._making_03.jpg
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The reason I mounted the template on the back of the plastic is that I needed the 'good' side of the plastic to face down so that I could put a chamfer on the edge, which again requires the router bit to run along the edge of the template. But, in this case it's done with my Dremel on a router table with a chamfer bit. I set the height of the bit so that the chamfer starts at around 2/3's thickness of the plastic, that is, the 1/3 in from the back is un-chamfered which makes the edge less severe. And, check to make sure the solid pilot end of the bit will make good contact with the edge of the template and not mangle your plastic. I recommend doing a test on a scrap bit of plastic set up with the same thickness ply stuck to it to ensure you're happy with the angle/depth of chamfer etc.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con..._making_04.jpg
Finish off by working through 600, 800+ grit sandpaper along the chamfered edge and then some fine steel wool to give it a nice smooth polished feel.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con..._making_05.jpg
And the end result…
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con..._making_06.jpg
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And, a final test fitting to make sure I didn't stuff it up somewhere along the line. The neck isn't bolted in yet, hence the fishing line centreline for alignment purposes.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con..._making_07.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con..._making_08.jpg
And, yes, the pickups are GFS 'Lil Puncher XL's (Cool Vintage).
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Great tute WB - makes it all look so easy :).
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Love your work Wierdy. Another stunning axe. Great tutes as well. Better hide this one from Adam!
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A real slow burner, this one. Really enjoying the painstaking details being put in. Keep up the great work Scott.
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Hey Scott, your "how to" is great. I love the way you've put it all together with the mods. Be really keen to hear the different colours you get out of her.
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A bit more to do before I can finally start assembling this thing. More excruciating detail ;)
Copper shielding for all cavities, with ice-cream sticks and a few pieces of dowel as the instruments of choice for the smoothing. mmm… coppery. You have to be a little careful with this stuff as the edges can be razor sharp and it is very easy to slice a fingertip (think paper-cut except done with a razor blade).
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...ielding_03.jpg
Installed shielding link wire to the neck cavity, ground wire for the bridge, and shielded output wire to a switchcraft jack with an electrosocket mount. I could have just connected a wire to the bridge cavity shielding which would then ground the bridge, but I'd prefer to ground the bridge directly and have it provide the link to the cavity shielding.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...ielding_04.jpg
As the cavity for the output jack is pretty snug I decided to do that bit extra and heatshrinked not only the hot, but also the ground and the outside arm for the tip, just to be safe. That way, nothing should be able to accidentally short the hot (hopefully), even if the wires get wrenched around.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...ielding_05.jpg
Tested the continuity of the shielding and links with my multimeter, and also checked that output hot was isolated, and it all seems good to go. Just need the pickups in place and all the fixed wiring will then be ready to connect to the control plate.
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Time to add some jewellery to the headstock. A final check of the position of the Gotoh tuners, using a plastic ruler and square so I don't mark the finish, checking spacing and alignment. Near enough.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...ardware_01.jpg
I'm really paranoid about snapping tuner screws so I was very careful to double-check that each hole was deep enough and then used screw starters and the actual screws with candle wax to gradually prep the holes before actually installing the tuners. Once the tuners were installed successfully, I repeated the process with the string trees. I know that roller trees are overkill on a hardtail, but I wanted to test what these ones were like and see if they had any impact on tuning.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...ardware_02.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...ardware_03.jpg
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Awesome work Scott. Thanks so much for the how to on cutting pickguards from a template. Really motivated to get into it myself now. The shielding looks great and I also love the recessed output jack. Nice!
cheers,
Gav.
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Hey Scott
Classy stuff! Some really terrific material in this thread. I was thinking that it would be sad if your "making of and use of templates" got 'lost' inside this thread and hence, to ensure you get te credit you deserve, when you have time could you post a thread specifically on the process you followed. Basically if you can Start a new thread and then cut and paste your already detailed info?
Thanks
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Gav T, thanks, and Gav B if you think it's worthy of a separate thread I'll see what I can manage when I get a chance. There's a few aspects that probably should be expanded upon.
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i do think it's worth of it's own thread as I too am inspired to make a few!!
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looking very smick Scott, good idea about posting a separate thread for your templates
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This will be a Supertele when it's finished, which looks like like being pretty soon now.
Love seeing how meticulousy you go about things.
Yeah, please do a thread on "how to" by all means.
Your methods have motivated me to look into building or buying a routing table . . . I already have a cheap plunge router plus a Dremel with a router attachment, so it's time to get on it . . .
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awesome attention to detail, Scott, you are the shielding king!
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Ok guys, you've talked me into it, I'll post up a separate thread about making templates and cutting pickguards etc. I need to get a few more pics to explain a couple of things, but I should get it sorted in the next few days.
Back to the build…
The final step in my shielding was to add a touch of electrical insulation over the shielding where the switch will sit in the control cavity and beneath the neck pickup. Neither should touch, but the switch is very large and the neck pickup will be sitting very low, so I just wanted a little insurance.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...ielding_06.jpg
Regarding the neck pickup (GFS Lil' Puncher XL), it is recommended that it be mounted low, real low, like pickguard level low, to allow it to 'breathe' (their description). I took this into account from the start of the build, which explains why I had that strange looking extra bit of routing in the neck pup cavity. But, because it will be sitting so low and it will be body mounted, the normal pickup springs and screws would either leave it sitting too high or the screws would risk being too deep. Instead, I made some spacers from hard plastic tube that will be on the screws above the pickup, and used surgical rubber instead of springs. The spacers keep the screws from needing to go too deep and the rubber allows the pickup to be really low but still have just enough flex so the pickguard can be slid in/out of position.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...p_mount_01.jpg
And screwed into position. Note: before I mounted the pickup I quickly de-soldered and separated the series link of the coils (4 conductor), ready for wiring later.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...p_mount_04.jpg
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When I started the build I was considering doing coil splits etc. on these pickups, but apparently the results aren't ideal. From what I can gather the bridge split sounds the same but weaker, while the neck split washes out completely (or, so the reports go). Instead, I decided to try series/parallel coil switching for each pickup, and series and parallel options between the pickups. Here's the wiring scheme I eventually came up with (I couldn't be bothered re-doing it on the PC). The circled letters (ABCD) denote the 4 poles of the switch.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con..._wiring_v1.jpg
Note, there is an slight error in the above schematic. The 'GFS Colours' list in the upper left should be:
Green (hot)
Red
&
White
Black (gnd)
This change means the the red and white wire connections on the push/pull pots need to be reversed, so white goes to the middle terminal, red to the outer terminal on the same side.
Specs: GFS Lil' Puncher XL pickups (Cool Vintage version), 500K Alpha push/pull pots (log for volume, linear for tone), 0.047uF paper in oil cap, Grigsby 4-pole 5-way superswitch, and post-volume tone wiring.
Basically, the push/pull pots allow the pickup coils to be switched between series and parallel, which should thin/hollow and brighten their sound, and the 500K pots should help keep the overall brightness. The superswitch allows me to not only do the "Tele 4-way bridge and neck in series" option, but also the bridge and neck in parallel out of phase. Positions 1, 3 and 5 will give the standard Tele options, with the extras at positions 4 and 2, respectively. At least, that's the plan… it may change depending on how it sounds.
I wanted the control plate to be complete as possible ready for when the bridge, and bridge pup, is installed, but I can only go so far. The four wires of each pickup need to connected to the push/pull switches on the pots, but that can only be done with the pickups in place, which is going to be a real pain to do. Anyway, all the wiring and links are now in place on the plate, and it's just waiting for the pickups and output jack lead to be connected. It's a little messier that I'd like, but I had to be more concerned about minimising the profile of the switch than making it pretty.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con..._wiring_02.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con..._wiring_04.jpg
I couldn't bring myself to clip the leads on the PIO cap, it's a little too permanent and would restrict where I could position it, so instead I slid on some stripped insulation and now I should be able to position it where I want without risk of a short. The keen eyed may notice that the wiring on one of the switches doesn't match my diagram, it's just that I reversed it so that it will be easier to access when I connect the pickups.
I did a continuity check and everything appears to be connected and working the way it should be. I also checked the pots, 439K for the log volume pot, and 498K for the linear tone pot. The volume is a little low, but I can live with it.
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Wow Scott. I've done a fair bit of intense wiring in tight spaces and that is definitely up there with them. Only jiggle space left. You wiring schematic is fantastic and is going to provide so many options from a 'simple' setup. Brilliant. 8-)
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hehe thanks Lawry… I think that may turn out to be one of my tamer schematics ;)
In what I think will be one of the final steps before I bolt everything together, I had a go at making my first nut today (unbleached bone). I suppose it would be much easier if the neck was already on, but I knew if I put it together with a temporary nut it would most likely end up being a permanent temporary nut. I basically followed the StewMac Nut Making Guide as closely as I could, and used other nuts I had for reference. It's definitely a skill that will take time to develop to produce quality results, so full admiration to professionals like Gav and DB who actually know what they're doing.
I cut the nut, what I hope is, a fraction high so that it can be lowered as needed. It's not a great first effort, but it looks ok and I think it will be usable. I haven't trimmed the nut's width yet, which will wait until the neck is bolted on, and then I'll do the final adjustment and clean-up… at least, I will if it is actually usable. We'll see. If all else fails I still have the original plastic nut that I removed intact at the start of the build.
Adjusting the thickness of the blank to match the nut slot.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...-1A_nut_01.jpg
With the initial shaping done, marking out string positions.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...-1A_nut_03.jpg
And the result so far. Tough to get a good pic that actually showed the shape and slots, so this is the best I could manage. I'll see how it goes once the neck is on.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...-1A_nut_05.jpg
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I think the first one I ever did took me 90 minutes or more.... whack one out from start to finish in under 15 minutes these days. So there's hope!
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Great job Scott. I've done 2 nuts so far and it's still a struggle, especially the final adjustment. Looks like you've totally nailed it!
cheers,
Gav.
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Looking good there, and there's nothing like the feeling that you made the nut from "get go" all yourself.. and for those that don't have a stewmac string spacing rule, I found this on the net a little ways back and it is as close as you can get to the stew mac spacings.. just slide the nut down the scale till the two outside marks line up and bingo.. you got all the strings evenly compensated/ spaced.
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the pdf didn't upload first time, converted it to a jpg file.
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3rd go.. next time should get the next doors kid to show me how to..lol
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...-LAYOUT-V2.jpg
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Nice one AJ!
cheers,
Gav.
