Starting my second build...The Reaper

[cork sniffer]

That's looking real promising!
Re our "slow motion competition", you're out of the gates and up to speed, I'm still looking up and down the street for my postman with kit under his arm :-(

[geddyfan]

Oh...it might seem like I'm cruising...but I promise I'll be moving at a snail's pace before you kknow it

Did some routing...



I rounded the edge with a 3/8" bit on the front and 1/4" on the back and did some preliminary sanding.

On the top horn, the bearing on the bit I was using flew off and I gouged the CRAP out of the mahogany, but I got lucky and the maple cap was unaffected. The back will be solid black, so a little filler will solve that.

I also buggered the left bridge post hole ever so slightly. Should still be tight and the hardware will cover it, but I was a bit irritated. My measurements were good, so that means the top shifted ever so slightly (I measured from the seam, like a moron).

All's good tho...I like how the more pronounced rounded edges look. I was going to do a burst, but my line is so clean I might just tape it off like I did with the Gedenbacker so you get that nice sharp transition accentuating the top...

Funny...looking at this, I'm reminded of the Carvin guitar catalogs back in 1979-1980 that we used to obsess over when I was in high school:



Don't know why...just a strange flash of nostalgia...sure did love those catalogs, tho...not that there was a chance in hell of any of us affording a $460.00 guitar in 1979. Sucks that Carvin Amplification is no more...Kiesel (formerly Carvin) Guitars does some really nice stuff

Don't know about the top...it's going to be interesting (going to do trans black with some "special" features involving a Dremel).

Okay...I'm struggling with what to do for the pickup configuration...I like excess...but this would be a lot easier if I just did one P-90 pickup...I was even toying with the idea of doing a Brian May setup...

Hmmm...

Lots of sanding to do...and work on the neck and headstock (gotta glue a matching piece of maple to the headstock)...lots to do

[wazkelly]

That is a really nice looking veneer you have got there. Love the rounded edges too.

[geddyfan]

Well, I glued a piece of the 1/8" quilted maple to the headstock:



Man, I'm a messy builder...my wife hates it when I get going on a project (and the cats resent me taking over their kitty porch).

Here's the rough result:



And shape cut and all sanded:



Do the wave...

So what does everyone think? I was going to do something more elaborate, but decided that I was getting out of hand...the truss rod access is a bit large, but the cover will take care of that, and it's probably for the best that I'll have easy access...just need to route out the tuner holes.

I'm thinking that stock nut has to go...

[Sonic Mountain]

Yeah looks good - I did something a bit similar on my SG. Highly recommend nut replacement.

[geddyfan]

That's really nice! Damn...I see stuff like this and I start looking at the saw and salivating again...

I'm looking at these zero fret nuts as a replacement...hmmm...any experience with them?

[Sonic Mountain]

I may have borrowed it from Hagstrom .. was there a link for the zero fret nut? I haven't used them but maybe someone has. I'm a fan of graphtech/tusq nuts usually. They work well for me and are a good fit on the kit guitars usually. I did have to shim the one on my JM-1 build, but nothing drastic.

[geddyfan]

Something like this...

https://www.stewmac.com/Materials_an...lide_Nuts.html

I've seen some black ones...there's a couple different designs, but it might be a cool feature...

[Sonic Mountain]

Huh, interesting. Hopefully someone will be along with some experience with them.

[WeirdBits]

Doc gave Zero Glide Nuts a try.