Matt's WL-1 build

[Simon Barden]

A big round of applause, mate. You've done a lovely job on it and your kid looks really happy. Great that you involved him in the build and hopefully he'll persevere with the playing.

I'd locate the strap buttons in a similar place as on a real Warlock. It's actually been hard to find a picture of the back of one, but I found this, which should provide enough information for you:



Just don't put them too near an edge. I'd also suggest using a dab of PVA or Titebond glue on the screws as it helps keep them in place. Because of the strap button locations, I'd suggest swapping the standard buttons to straplocks, as there's going to be a bit of a twist on the strap when it's on the buttons, and you don't want to see it falling off.

[wazkelly]

Sensible advice there Simon and positioning quite high on those rear horns will help to keep it fairly well balanced for such a wicked shape.

Top job with the finish, and yes, black does show up lots of finger prints and tiny little scratches over time. All part of the ownership experience with dark coloured things.

[mjg]

Thanks guys... Strap locks are in the post.

[Andy40]

Looks wicked man well done

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

[mjg]

Thanks Andy and Fretworn.

Few more things done. I've had another go with the perspex and router, and I've now got a new back cover, and a pick guard. I'm happy with how they came out. The pick guard adds just a little bit of depth to the front, but has the same reflective finish.

I did the edges of these with a round over bit in the router table, then sanded and polished down to 12,000 grit with the micro mesh pads.

[mjg]

I decided to put a string tree on the head, as I didn't like the sharp angle on the middle strings. Got a cheap one from eBay. Yeah, it was crap.

It came with 2 screws. Both snapped off when trying to screw them into a pre-drilled hole. Changed to a thicker screw to get it in place. The channels for the strings are too small, so the strings pop out with the slightest bump.

I'm probably going to go back to eBay for another look to see if a different style might work better... or might just try the pliers on this one to bend it into a more useful shape.

[mjg]

Anyway, I'm calling this 'done'. I still have to do a proper setup on the neck and bridge, and intonation stuff. And some strap locks. But the building is done.

The kid has named the guitar 'Vulcan'. After the Roman god of fire, metal, etc. Not after the pointy eared people on Star Trek.

Overall I think this was more than 50 hours of build time. More than 25 hours of that was sanding/polishing the clear coat to get the reflective finish. 11 hours were stuffing around learning how to spray and sand primer. The rest adds up in there somewhere.

I'd not recommend this finish to anyone who is a perfectionist, or OCD in any way. Way too stressful.

Thanks for everyone's comments and help through the build. It would have been much poorer without all the feedback and encouragement that I've got on this forum.

Bit of a dreary day here today, so I can't get any brilliant shots in the sunshine... but here's the finished product (for now...)









(Huh. Should have checked the background of that photo, or at least moved the garbage bins. Classy.)

[stan]

nice job, it looks awesome

[Simon Barden]

I think it's a superb build, you've definitely made it your (well, your son's) guitar.

[JB RETRO]

Great stuff, what's next?