Silent Guitar Scratch build ideas

[Zandit75]

Yeah, grab some scrap wood. Attempt upon it, what you intend for your guitar body and then make your mind up.
There are specific carving discs and stuff you can buy in varying degrees of cut, but I can't imagine that would be all easy to handle if you've not done it before.

Cutting down to the overall rough shape and then using the belt sander sounds safer and easier to me.

Thanks Frankie, appreciate the input!

[FrankenWashie]

Thanks Frankie, appreciate the input!

No problem at all, I like the whole concept you're pursuing with this. I personally would be one to say have a bash at building your own neck. You learn a bucket load from the experience, and you can find tonnes of advice here in the forums. I am currently using my semi failed scratch build neck as a test bed for radiusing fret boards and fretting/inlay work, so it's not like a fail is a total loss. There is always more that you can take out if these attempts.

[Simon Barden]

Unless your angle grinder is mounted on a stand, with an attached work table, I'd have thought keeping the blade at 90° to the wood would be rather difficult. Also, with a 90mm thick piece of wood, you'd need to have a very large angle grinder in order to get the depth of cut you'd need. A 230mm/9" grinder - the largest hand held size I can find available - has a maximum depth of cut of 65-70mm (or so the web says) in one go.

I'd be thinking of different tools for the job. I've got an electric plane and belt sander, neither are hard to use (though you need to be careful to not get too enthusiastic with them!) and I'd be tempted to do most of the work with the plane and then swap to the belt sander.

[Zandit75]

Sorry Simon, I guess I didn't explain myself properly.
I'm talking about using an angle grinder fitted with a sanding disc, similar to this item
https://www.bunnings.com.au/josco-10...-disc_p6320309
Many people use these to shape the back their strat bodies with a belly curve etc.

[Zandit75]

No problem at all, I like the whole concept you're pursuing with this. I personally would be one to say have a bash at building your own neck. You learn a bucket load from the experience, and you can find tonnes of advice here in the forums. I am currently using my semi failed scratch build neck as a test bed for radiusing fret boards and fretting/inlay work, so it's not like a fail is a total loss. There is always more that you can take out if these attempts.

I feel taking the leap to full scratch build including a neck will be the next step, but a lack of tools has me worries for carving a neck etc.
Baby steps at this stage!!

[FrankenWashie]

I feel taking the leap to full scratch build including a neck will be the next step, but a lack of tools has me worries for carving a neck etc.
Baby steps at this stage!!

Spokeshave, Shinto rasp and a couple of round files and half round files are all you need to start with on the carving. The trickiest bit is getting your blanks or laminates square and even thicknesses.

[Simon Barden]

Mainly my fault, mate. I've only just woken up, so my brain's skipping some of the words ATM. Probably harder to get a good flat surface with one of those sanding disks (an electric plane would be preferable for that), but it could be useful for rough shaping the back of the neck. I'd find a neck shape you like, and use one of those contour gauges to duplicate the profile at different points along the neck and copy those to some cardboard templates so you can easily see how close you are to the right shape.

[Zandit75]

I'm looking at using a PBG LP style neck at this point. I might tackle doing a full scratch build at a later date.

I'm at a financial crisis point at this stage.
My wife and I allow ourselves $100 a month for "pocket money" for want of a better word. January's is already gone thanks to a Melbourne trip at the end of last year, and I've already dug into February's with some bits for this build. I also have a birthday in March which is $200 extra. Having said that, my Playstation 4 has just died, and it is no longer covered by warranty, even though this is the 3rd unit I have got thanks to earlier failures. To go through Sony to replace it with a "Re-manufactured Unit" will cost me $230. I may be going on 42, but I still game just not as much as before, but also use the PS4 for Netflix and video streaming online.
I'm thinking of just getting a Chromecast, and be done with the PS4. That will leave me with more to finish this build.
Urgggh, I hate trying to set priorities!!

[FrankenWashie]

I'm looking at using a PBG LP style neck at this point. I might tackle doing a full scratch build at a later date.

Urgggh, I hate trying to set priorities!!

Oh brother Zandit, I am so there with you.......

[Zandit75]

Oh brother Zandit, I am so there with you.......

Thankfully my loving Wifey has helped me out! I'll be trading in my PS4 for a pre-owned unit through EB Games. Still covered by a 12mth warranty if anything does happen to go wrong.
And on top of that, I still have my Birthday money coming!!
I have a number of items already ordered through Ebay, they include the Pickup that Robin used, an acoustic bridge set up, string through ferrules, some black acoustic bridges, plus another top secret item.
Still need to buy some timber for the body, a neck through PBG, some tuning machines and a plate for the neck.

I'm now looking at ideas for replacing the dots on the fretboard. What has everyone experimented with? One idea I had was glitter glued into the hole, then scraping it level. It would be a different effect.
Any other ideas? BTW, what size are the standard holes on the PBG necks? My LP did not have dots.