The Deluxester Prototype - Sonic's foray into repeatable scratch builds

[Sonic Mountain]

Got a bit done this arvo. It looks rough, but it'll be fine. Glue job has worked well. 5 min cut out job on the bandsaw, that thing is great.

Need to finish removing the bulk material out of the pickup cavities and then back on the router to tidy that all up. Neck pocket has come up well.

[Simon Barden]

Big hugs, mate. I struggle with similar afflictions. Good luck with the laminating.

[Bakersdozen]

Hearing you dude. Watching this thread still providing mass inspo. Keep it up mate.

[Sonic Mountain]

Cheers guys, I’m OK, I think everyone has the odd ‘black cloud day’ now and again.

I’ve gotten a lot better at recognising it and not letting myself slide down further, but it’s still easy to be overwhelmed at the moment. There is definitely some truth to creative people being prone to some instability.

It’s exactly why I’ve decided to do this unplanned build, always good to have something real and present to focus on and to have problems you can work at solving in a practical way.

Also, this forum is so generally supportive, it’s a good vibe in here.

Hopefully I’ll have some more progress to report this arvo. Cheers.

[Sonic Mountain]

OK, I've had enough dust for a bit. Here's where I'm at.

Cavity routing - just using the superglue/masking tape trick to hold the guides in place.





Used a long auger bit through the neck pocket to join them up



Jack bore



Belly cut - obviously some filler going to be required on those holes. I'm probably going to use automotive bog like I did with the V build. It's held up really well.



Forearm cut



And just general shaping and refining. The laminated board on the back is basically all end grain around the edges, so I decided against using the table router as I think it would have just destroyed it. So I'm just using hand tools/power sanders etc to shape it.

Bit more work to do in that regard, but I've had enough for the day and am happy with the progress.

[Sonic Mountain]

More sanding and some filling. Getting closer, a bit to do yet.





I'm also thinking about spraying it with this stuff. It's a full can of a slightly blueish white that is just sittin on my shelf. Might go well with the aluminum pickguard that will probably end up on here.


I'm also thinking about spraying it with this stuff. It's a full can of a slightly blueish white that is just sittin on my shelf. Might go well with the aluminum pickguard that will probably end up on here?



Anyway, little way off that decision.

[Sonic Mountain]

After a day of not doing much except moping around hating coronavirus I got up this morning and decided to start on the neck.

Thicknessing down the fretboard



Truss rod channel setup and routing







Fret slotting. Noticed my kerfing saw is getting a bit blunt. It was only $8 or thereabouts and considering I made about 8 fretboards for the last build I guess it's not too bad. Time for a new one though.





And here we are after clean up.



Also having a think about recycling one of these pickguards. I'll probably nick the neck pickup out of the red pearloid for this one, considering just making a surround out of the pearloid. Alternately the white one would cut down OK, but I'd probably have to source a lipstick pickup rather than try and squeeze a strat style single coil in there. Anyway, will keep thinking about it. I still have a decent bit of aluminium I can use to make a completely custom one.

[Woltz]

Keep it coming mate. We are always learning new things. I've certainly learnt a huge amount from all my hiccups. I'm thinking about how I can refinish my kit guitar and get it where I'm happy with it now that I've learnt more.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

[Sonic Mountain]

Big push on the neck today, forgot to take photos from the start, but routed it all out etc OK. It went pretty well, still some boo-boos but they will be hidden once its together. I'm still struggling with the Truss rod access hole. I made this headstock thicker and more inline with a normal fender one, which means the access hole had to go at a bit of an angle. First attempt was a bit steep so I'll have to be careful when I do the carve as it's a bit deep. Fortunately it sits right at the thick bit under the nut, so I've filled with CA and sawdust to add a little strength and I think it'll be Ok. I'm wondering if I just need to try a different style of rod with a shallower profile.

Anyway, happy enough and its all good experimentation and nothing ended up in the bin. So that's a win. If I feel keen this evening I might glue the fretboard on. Locators are in so should be pretty straight forward.

After table router - was a lot better even though that bit is trashed as I was able to take 95% off with the band saw first.



Fretboard locator



Heel radius, this is one of the areas that I really need new templates for.



Fits OK



Headstock thicknessed



Rod in



Not as tidy as the last one, but should be OK.

[Sonic Mountain]

And I've just realised I've cut a bit much off the face so the rod might protrude a little on this one.... sigh.