Starting my second build...The Reaper

[Brendan]

You just had to do it...

So what does everyone think of cow bell inlays on the fret board?

I think it would need more cowbells.

[wazkelly]

Yep, it needs more cowbells.

[geddyfan]

My kit showed up today...on a SATURDAY! It actually got here, all the way from Australia to the wilds of Northwest Montana, in only FIVE DAYS! Lets hear it for the Australian postal/shipping service!



Shipped with a set of Slinkies...thanks!



Kit looks good It's to bad that when they did the body, they didn't center the middle slab or I would go with that. Oh well...figured maple on the way. I don't want to waste it

Neck is nice and snug. Looks like someone put thin bits of veneer in the pocket to assure a good fit. Since I didn't do it myself and thus can't be sure how well they were glued in, I'll probably re-do them so I don't get a failure down the road. there's also a slight crack inside the pocket, but it doesn't go all the way through, so I'm not going to worry about it. Titebond will take care of it fine.

The neck looks good. Apparently this was the last of these kits in inventory. I wonder if I got rosewood or this "blackwood" I've been hearing about. I've seen some complaints about the blackwood, so I'm hoping it's the last of the rosewood. It LOOKS like rosewood.



After test fitting the neck, I'm pretty sure I'll be able to carve the heel, etc. to get the look/feel/seamless transition I want. It's not a whole ton of wood, though carving on the neck makes me a little nervous. Oh well, no guts, no glory...

So the plan is to do some ergo stuff to it and put a 1/8" quilted maple top on it. Then I'm going to do some inlay work with differently figured maple (a nice, big BOC Kronos symbol...should be nuts). and stain the two types of figured maple different colors to make the symbol stand out. Any examples of anyone else trying this? Could be great...could be a disaster...

So what does everyone think? A red and black guitar or blue and black? Three humbuckers? Can I fit four? (kidding), gold or black hardware? I was looking at some black gold foil pickups...hmmm...

It's not going to be very "traditional," that's for sure...hahaha



Goody bag...

[cork sniffer]

Would you build it up by adding wood out to match the curve of the heel and then carve/contour it back…

I added timber to resonator my kit.

[geddyfan]

Ah...thanks. That looks really nice. Would just need to find a little piece of mahogany...

[cork sniffer]

Ah...thanks. That looks really nice. Would just need to find a little piece of mahogany...

Thanks, I'm happy with the result.
Now ... your photo inspired me, I just ordered one as in photo :-)

[geddyfan]

A friendly bit of competition, perhaps?

[cork sniffer]

A friendly bit of competition, perhaps?

Will be a slow motion competition. My reply said "BACKORDER", I also have a 12 string Tele under construction for my dear wife to finish first. Never know if it arrives soon I could run two builds side by side?

[geddyfan]

Haha...well, I'm going to be having a foot surgery in October and will be flat on my back for a while, and then limited for about three months...figured I would be doing the world's best sanding job through all that So yes, slow motion Not a race...go for quality of finished build...heck, my bass took a year and a half

[geddyfan]

Well, completed step one and two...did the forearm contour and glued down the top...



Glued the 1/8" quilted maple top together...hmmm...I went with a lower grade this time (AAA) to save $$$. Not sure how this will turn out. I noted that the matching wasn't very good this time around, but oh well, I'm sure it'll be fine once all the magic happens.



Forearm contour...much sanding and leveling. The mahogany is a bit harder to work with than the basswood on the Gedenbacker. My cats really hate the sound of the grinder and sander (I turned the "cat porch" into my "workshop" for this).



Clamp time! I really envy those guys I see on Youtube with the nice shops and a zillion big c-clamps for this step...At this stage, i look like such a hack...haha



Glued and ready to go visit the router...my dad actually has a nice woodshop and a couple good routers, so I'll go over there for that. He can barely stand having me work in there because I'm all over the place and spread tools and material everywhere when I work (he's constantly following me around and putting stuff away that I'm still using).

So far so good...haven't destroyed anything yet