Number 5 has arrived!..no name build of indeterminate origin

[fender3x]

Not completely sure when I will get to work on this, but I ordered one of the special kits that Tim made available here:

https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...ad.php?t=12622

It got here super fast (4 days from the other side of the planet!). I have some other things in the cue ahead of it, so it may take a minute or two to get back to this one. I am including the link to clarify why I am calling it #5. It's not my 5th build, nor an oblique reference to the movie "Short Circuit."

What it is, is an excellent kit...and the kind of thing I probably would not own if it weren't a kit. Too high a degree of difficulty to be a scratch build. Can't afford an old one. Wouldn't buy a new one.

Not ready to build yet, but couldn't resist sharing a little...



My first 24 3/4" scale. First carved top. First ebony board. It is mahogany thoughout. I thought the top would not be veneer, but it turns out to be mahogany veneer, so that from the front it looks like a one piece body. It's not super thin like some of the maple veneers but I will still need to be a bit careful with it...or it will become a gold top.

the joinery on the body is so good I good I had to look at it under magnification to see where the pieces came together on the back. Neck-to-body joint is nice and tight. Neck is straight. It's quite the incentive to get my other builds done ;-)

[dave.king1]

That looks the goods.

No.7 has a book matched quilted maple veneer over a carved section of unknown wood over the mahogany which makes up the bulk of the body, the carved section is not evident when viewed from the side of the body as the carve takes it down to the width of the binding so it looks like mahogany only.

I'll start a diary shortly

[fender3x]

I took another look at mine, and it's possible that the mine is like your but without the veneer. If so, then your mystery wood is mahogany. It turns out that #5 does not have a veneer as I thought it did. It has a one-piece mahogany cap that is about 10mm thick at its thickest.

[dave.king1]

here's a pic into the pocket, the "top" timber is noticeably darker than the Mahogany body but doesn't show quite as dark in the pic and it has a much finer grain

[Tim Rattigan]

Love to see it!

[fender3x]

I took another look... and now I am not as sure with mine. I think it may have a veneer after all...but I also think the the wood under your cap, Dave, may be mahogany. At least if it's like mine.



Under magnification, it looks to me like the top is a one piece veneer (A). You can't see the seam all that clearly, but under magnification the cap is also clear (B). Like yours, the seam would be under the binding so the only place you can see the seam for the cap is inside the pickup and neck routs. So...no no idea if it is actually one piece or not.

One of the reasons that I think the wood is mahogany is that I can clearly see a seam (C) on the bottom of the rout, which corresponds to where two pieces of the body, under the cap, are joined. So it seems likely that the back, sides and cap are all the same kind of wood.

I guess that means I will need to be careful sanding the top. Fortunately it's one piece, and I don't see glue spots anywhere. Hopefully it will make the veneer less my nemesis than it has been in the past!

[fender3x]

I haven't made any real progress, and I keep reminding myself, that I have two other projects to finish...but...I have made one critical decision: this beast shall have gold hardware. I never would have considered gold hardware had Tim had not sent it with the kit. I generally don't use much of the kit hardware, so it shouldn't matter...but it feels like this guitar just wants it...so...

I plan to keep the gold bridge and stop-tailpiece that came with it. They look nice. They also answered a question I didn't know I had. I know that black hardware is sometimes not conductive. Happy to report that gold hardware is nicely conductive. I am replacing the electronics, so I have a gold switch and a pair of '57 Classic Alnico II PAF clone pickups with gold covers that have shipped and should arrive next week. I have pots on the way as well. Not gold.

Got a Pure Tone jack and plan to use it with a tele-style jack-cup. I didn't even know these came in gold.



So far the coolest thing to arrive have are the keystone tuning machines.



I had never heard of Tone Ninja hardware, but there were good reviews online, and IRL they seem well finished and very smooth. I plan to use the rest of the hardware that came from the kit which looks really nice.

I also purchased some amber dye stain from General Finishes for the top, and plan to use their "Empire Red" dye stain everywhere else. We shall see if my previous stain curse has been lifted yet.

[fender3x]

There is a great deal of sanding and applying finish to be done to my other projects...so, of course, I am mocking up the headstock for this build to procrastinate. Not sure this is anything like final, but I invested in a gold decal. Not sure how these are made since I ordered it on the internet. Not a waterslide. The directions say I'm to remove the backing paper and rub it into place. We shall see. I have a couple to experiment wit to see if it works. At the moment planning to finish either black or dark red.

I may...or may not...use the truss rod cover. It's one I had in my box of unused parts, and is made of rosewood, although it's closer to the ebony fingerboard than to rosewood fretboards in my arsenal. Here its just to see what it would look like.

[Trevor Davies]

Nice. I really like the wavy end to the headstock.

[fender3x]

Glad you like it. I have spent a few hours looking at 3x3 headstocks. This is a mod of on on an obscure brand, that seemed like something more or less doable ;-)