Scratch Toronado

hi guys,

Been working on this for a couple of weeks now under Wokka's guidance. I've got a handle on the router now and she's really starting to come together. I'm building a scratch body for a Fender Toronado out of pine. Love this body shape, but am using pine first until I'm condfident enough to use more expensive materials. I'm using a Tele neck I had lying around and a body plan from tdpri. Templates were fashioned out of 12mm MDF for the body and the neck pocket.

http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...9_routing3.JPG

http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...9_routing8.JPG

http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...9_routing9.JPG

chers,
Gav.

All routing is done now. Just need to drill the neck holes, position the bridge and drill the string through holes for ferrules. Then the finishing can begin in earnest! :)

http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con..._routing11.JPG

cheers,
Gav.

So you did all that with a standard router?
I'm impressed at the level of accuracy you got for sure. Nice work.

Thats fricken awsome Gav. Nice and neat.love it

have seen this in your blog, great job mate

For a first scratchy Gav you've done very well. I learnt the hard way making some mistakes! Looks great buddy. Soon you will be staining or painting it. What color you got in mind?

Thanks guys. @Alan - yep all with a standard router.

I'm not sure about colour. I was going to stain black, but i've taken a couple of nicks out of the top with the soft pine. I'll have to see if and how they need filling after I give her a good sanding. If I have to paint, I was thinking a cream colour with tortoiseshell pickguard.

cheers,
Gav.

Great stuff Gav. Another string to your bow.

Nice Gav, looking forward to seeing that fully set up.

Really good job Gavin.

Never heard of this guitar before, the nearest thing I ever heard of was the contentious Tronado machine at SCGH from many moons ago.

It is an attractive shape and I'm looking forward to seeing your choice of finish.

Good one Gav. Great to see something a bit out of the ordinary.

Cheers chaps. I love these less mainstream models so much more than the standard guitars you see every day :). I'd never heard of the Toronado until I stumbled onto the plans. I'm also planning to build a Fender super-sonic from their current pawn shop series. Pretty awesome model..

http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...psbbcf1c1a.jpg

cheers,
Gav.

Supersonics look awesome.

Anything with zebras look awesome, I reckon!

Yes, Zebras *and* sparkles! Right out of the park.

cool Gav glad u got the scratch 'bug'
sparkly supersonic will look full sick

Hi guys,
I got the red perloid pickguard completed today. It's a bit rougher than I am really happy with, but I think it's the best I can do without a good template and with my sausage fingers. It will do for a first scratch build. Hopefully my next Toronado will be beter.

http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...0-IMG_4751.JPG

http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...1-IMG_4752.JPG

cheers,
Gav.

Awesome Gav. Part of me thinks the pickups should be further apart, closer to the neck and bridge respectively, but maybe this placing is better for the harmonic sweet spots.

looks awesome Gav, look forward to seeing it completed and plugged in. There's quite an art cutting pickguards but you've done a good job and colours are looking sweet

Thanks guys.
@Fretty - the placement of the pickups was purely aesthetic. I didn't even consider the tone! (stupid huh?)
@Wokka - man cuting the pickguard was so bloody hard! It's still a piece of crap although I've managed to mold it into something usable. It could have been much better though. I'm just calling "first scratch" and leaving everything as it happens. No do-overs!!

cheers,
Gav.

yer Gav looking back at my first scratch build I can pick many faults - but thats the learning curve. Next one you build Gav will be better and more refined

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gavinturner

Thanks guys. @Fretty - the placement of the pickups was purely aesthetic. I didn't even consider the tone! (stupid huh?) @Wokka - man cuting the pickguard was so bloody hard! It's still a piece of crap although I've managed to mold it into something usable. It could have been much better though. I'm just calling "first scratch" and leaving everything as it happens. No do-overs!

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Hey Gav, sorry to drag this one out of the vaults, but just wondered if you ever finished it? I'm looking at doing a very similar scratch pine body build, and one of the things I've read is that pine from the BGS can suffer from swelling and contracting as time goes by as it isn't fully kiln dried. Just wondered if you'd noticed anything over the past 18 months? Any other tips you could offer from the process?

I bought a few 90x45s a couple of weeks ago - I must have gone through 30+ pieces to find the cleanest ones! Now just need to find some time to get out to Carbatec to get some Titebond (I can't find a place closer to north shore/northern beaches that stocks it).

Hey Chuck,
I'm currently bringing this back from the dead after a clear coat fail. Despite that, it's been hanging in the guitar room for all this time and it's still fine. I think that the Titebond really holds the boards together and stops any shenanigans. This being said, I started on pine as a learning experience and don't really expect to be keeping the axe forever. Would be nice if I could though!

I know what you mean about looking through the pieces. I've stood there for hours dragging them all out. I got my Titebond from Masters, but that's quickly becoming an impossibility too!

cheers,
Gav.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gavinturner

Hey Chuck, I'm currently bringing this back from the dead after a clear coat fail. Despite that, it's been hanging in the guitar room for all this time and it's still fine. I think that the Titebond really holds the boards together and stops any shenanigans. This being said, I started on pine as a learning experience and don't really expect to be keeping the axe forever. Would be nice if I could though! I know what you mean about looking through the pieces. I've stood there for hours dragging them all out. I got my Titebond from Masters, but that's quickly becoming an impossibility too!

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Thanks Gav - that makes me feel good! My attitude is that with pine it'll relic much faster than other timbers so will look kinda cool anyway! Look forward to seeing how it ends up.

Here's Titebond Australia, check out the distribution channels

http://www.titebond.com.au/distributors/

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dave.king1

Here's Titebond Australia, check out the distribution channels
http://www.titebond.com.au/distributors/

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Cheers Dave - I did check that and Carbatec is closest to me (but still a fair drive). Bummer is their minimum postage charge is ~$18 which is a bit much for a $13 thing of glue!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Chuck

Hey Gav, sorry to drag this one out of the vaults, but just wondered if you ever finished it? I'm looking at doing a very similar scratch pine body build, and one of the things I've read is that pine from the BGS can suffer from swelling and contracting as time goes by as it isn't fully kiln dried. Just wondered if you'd noticed anything over the past 18 months? Any other tips you could offer from the process?

I bought a few 90x45s a couple of weeks ago - I must have gone through 30+ pieces to find the cleanest ones! Now just need to find some time to get out to Carbatec to get some Titebond (I can't find a place closer to north shore/northern beaches that stocks it).

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Hey Chuck, PM me if you want some Titebond, I have plenty of spare. I'm always in Forestville/Killarney and can drop off when you need it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by andrewdosborne

Hey Chuck, PM me if you want some Titebond, I have plenty of spare. I'm always in Forestville/Killarney and can drop off when you need it.

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Thanks so much for that - I've got a few days before I want to get cracking. If I haven't had a chance to track some down before then I may well take you up on the offer!

No worries Chuck just give me a shout

Sent from Android Nougat

I work nearby to Carbatec, happy to pick stuff up for people....especially already paid for woodworking tools! :) ;P

The strongest glue I have found for timber work is Sika polyurethane glue. It foams out of the joint and is ridiculous strong. no good for neck joints etc where you want to keep it all clean but where you can belt or orbital sand its amazing stuff.

Hey guys,

As I noted above, I have finally got around to resurrecting this build after a classic Turner clear coat fail. I couldn't rightly abandon my first (and only!) scratch body build, now could I?

I sanded back the body completely, added a new coat of black dye and got the Tru-Oil going. This is now going to be a Tru-Oil-only build and I think that's the way most of my builds are going to stay from now on (unless I get Pollocking again ;)). Things are looking good already. I didnt apply the dye as darkly this time around, opting for more of a trans-black look. The pine is looking a little blotchy with less dye in it, but that's to be expected for this wood type - I'm not that fussy. Any variation in the finish is good AFAIC. I'm not even sure whether I'll bother getting the body to a full gloss of not. I'll just keep applying layers of TO until I'm happy.

I gotta say, I forgot how much I love this body shape. I think after this one is done I'll get on to another, although I'll have to start from scratch again as my template is ruined.

cheers,
Gav.

looks great Gav, glad you came back to the scratch build and are enjoying it !

Thanks Wokks. I've gotta get some time to do some real scratch building!

cheers,
Gav.

looking good Gav.

Good to see this up and running again. Arghhh the Tru Oil, hard to give up!

Thanks Tony and Andrew! Yeah Andrew I keep coming back to the TO. It's easy, it's forgiving, and the finish looks good. What more do you want?

cheers,
Gav.

Looks great Gav. Love the colour combination of the body and scratch plate with the maple neck. T.O. for me too, I'm not game to try anything else.

Great job Gav, good to see these moving on.
Seems we have the same luck with clears, I've gone nitro and you the TO, looks like we have it covered haha.
Looks good mate, very cool retro look, love it

Hey thanks Rob, thanks Stan. I think we can all agree that clear coats are the worst. I have used nitro before Stan (on my very first build!) and it's great. Its just a little pricey when you're building kits by the bucketful :P. I am tempted to try poly again.

cheers,
Gav.