# Guitar Build Progress Report



## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

*...early progress*

My oldest son recently asked if I'd build him a solid body electric guitar…. my 2nd guitar project. We agreed on a unique slightly goth shape, green curly maple front, and a black back made from ash. A purchased unfinished Les Paul style neck is on order, which will likely be painted black. The head stock will be shaped to compliment the body…maybe some color compliments too. It'll be trimmed with gold and black hardware. The pickups will be a GFS Fatbody single neck, Wilkinson single mid, and a double humbucker from an OLP John Petrucci Signature guitar. We're still deciding on a wiring scheme, but it'll likely be a simple 5-way switch, tone, and volume pots.

So far I've traced out a template shape that I'd acually build for him (first few way more radical), cut the front and back blanks from the template, and have shaped the front using a combination of router bits and hand chisels. Lots of sanding too! I've also cut a chamber for the electronics in the back, and have fashioned a cover. The back will likely be painted black, but since the first step in popping the grain on the maple was to stain it black, I stained the back at the same time…no harm done, and if the paint ever chips, it'll reveal black stained ash. The next step was to sand off the black stain, leaving just the darkened grain on the maple. Kelly green was then added to stain the front. I was ready to give the Transtint dyes from Woodcraft a shot, but rather than make the 28 mile round trip and spend $18 per 2 oz bottle, I decided to experiment with the RIT fabric dyes from local stores…$3 each, and so far the results have been really good.

The template:









The roughed out body routed using a pattern bit on the template:









The front side of the back piece with the chamber for switches hogged out:









The back stained black, with chamber cover (back will get black lacquer):









The maple front after receiving black stain, then sanded:









The maple front stained green:

























More to come!


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## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

knotscott said:


> *...early progress*
> 
> My oldest son recently asked if I'd build him a solid body electric guitar…. my 2nd guitar project. We agreed on a unique slightly goth shape, green curly maple front, and a black back made from ash. A purchased unfinished Les Paul style neck is on order, which will likely be painted black. The head stock will be shaped to compliment the body…maybe some color compliments too. It'll be trimmed with gold and black hardware. The pickups will be a GFS Fatbody single neck, Wilkinson single mid, and a double humbucker from an OLP John Petrucci Signature guitar. We're still deciding on a wiring scheme, but it'll likely be a simple 5-way switch, tone, and volume pots.
> 
> ...


Nice color, is you build the guitar from a kit?


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## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

knotscott said:


> *...early progress*
> 
> My oldest son recently asked if I'd build him a solid body electric guitar…. my 2nd guitar project. We agreed on a unique slightly goth shape, green curly maple front, and a black back made from ash. A purchased unfinished Les Paul style neck is on order, which will likely be painted black. The head stock will be shaped to compliment the body…maybe some color compliments too. It'll be trimmed with gold and black hardware. The pickups will be a GFS Fatbody single neck, Wilkinson single mid, and a double humbucker from an OLP John Petrucci Signature guitar. We're still deciding on a wiring scheme, but it'll likely be a simple 5-way switch, tone, and volume pots.
> 
> ...


No kit….pretty much from scratch, except for purchasing an unfinished neck, but I ended up modifying that.


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## HeirloomWoodworking (Feb 28, 2008)

knotscott said:


> *...early progress*
> 
> My oldest son recently asked if I'd build him a solid body electric guitar…. my 2nd guitar project. We agreed on a unique slightly goth shape, green curly maple front, and a black back made from ash. A purchased unfinished Les Paul style neck is on order, which will likely be painted black. The head stock will be shaped to compliment the body…maybe some color compliments too. It'll be trimmed with gold and black hardware. The pickups will be a GFS Fatbody single neck, Wilkinson single mid, and a double humbucker from an OLP John Petrucci Signature guitar. We're still deciding on a wiring scheme, but it'll likely be a simple 5-way switch, tone, and volume pots.
> 
> ...


My builds have always been limited to mostly furniture builds, but I would love to make an attempt at a project such as this.

I have seen several guitar projects posted here and have marveled at them…I look forward to following your blog and hopefully…it will be one of my winter projects.

I don't play but my youngest daughter is getting pretty proficient with the accoustic guitar, and is begging me for an electric…this might serve both of our hobbies.

If you get a chance can you pass along some possible hardware vendors as well as tutorial reference materials.

ps…the popping green on the maple is absolutely striking! great job

Trev


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## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

knotscott said:


> *...early progress*
> 
> My oldest son recently asked if I'd build him a solid body electric guitar…. my 2nd guitar project. We agreed on a unique slightly goth shape, green curly maple front, and a black back made from ash. A purchased unfinished Les Paul style neck is on order, which will likely be painted black. The head stock will be shaped to compliment the body…maybe some color compliments too. It'll be trimmed with gold and black hardware. The pickups will be a GFS Fatbody single neck, Wilkinson single mid, and a double humbucker from an OLP John Petrucci Signature guitar. We're still deciding on a wiring scheme, but it'll likely be a simple 5-way switch, tone, and volume pots.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the comments guys.

Trevor - Build it! Your daughter will love it. I don't play either…my first guitar was the most challenging and most rewarding of any of my projects by far. The 2nd one is going a little smoother so far. Ebay is loaded with guitar parts suppliers. Others are Stewmac.com, guitarfetish.com, Grizzly.com…there are many guitar building sites that offer free help along with a list of suppliers….Projectguitar.com, MIMF.com, HarmonyCentral.com, etc. Keep me posted on your progress!


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## tommyd (Oct 28, 2009)

knotscott said:


> *...early progress*
> 
> My oldest son recently asked if I'd build him a solid body electric guitar…. my 2nd guitar project. We agreed on a unique slightly goth shape, green curly maple front, and a black back made from ash. A purchased unfinished Les Paul style neck is on order, which will likely be painted black. The head stock will be shaped to compliment the body…maybe some color compliments too. It'll be trimmed with gold and black hardware. The pickups will be a GFS Fatbody single neck, Wilkinson single mid, and a double humbucker from an OLP John Petrucci Signature guitar. We're still deciding on a wiring scheme, but it'll likely be a simple 5-way switch, tone, and volume pots.
> 
> ...


Nice job on the guitar. you used rit dye? I made one for my son (see projects) one and only. learned a lot. got most of my parts off a guitar from pawn shop lot cheaper than suppliers.


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## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

*Updates for 8/17/10*

Here's where things stand as of noon today. All the parts and hardware are in.

Here's the top with the natural maple revealed on the sides. There's one coat of spar varnish to protect the stained surface, plus help prevent fading.









The back now has black paint. While rounding over the edges, we liked the look of the natural ash revealed as well, so we've decided to keep it….got some sanding ahead.









Here's the top and back together next to the unfinished Eden neck. The maple and ash should take on a more golden color as we clear coat it. The neck will get black paint.









Since all the parts are here, we couldn't resist a sneak preview of how it'll look. The unfinished neck is just sitting there, as are the pickup covers and knobs. These pics give the illusion that we're much further along than we are, but we're encouraged by the look so far.

















































Still to come…some sanding of the back, many more clear coats (lacquer), cut outs for the pickups and input jack, more clear coats, fine sanding, shaping the neck, painting the neck, more clear coats, very fine sanding, drilling holes for the tuning pegs, final clear coat, wiring everything, setting the neck, polishing, stringing it, and sound check! (I probably forgot something too…)
__


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## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

knotscott said:


> *Updates for 8/17/10*
> 
> Here's where things stand as of noon today. All the parts and hardware are in.
> 
> ...


Thats going to be a sweet guitar.


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

knotscott said:


> *Updates for 8/17/10*
> 
> Here's where things stand as of noon today. All the parts and hardware are in.
> 
> ...


Wow! that is a beaut.


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## webwood (Jul 2, 2009)

knotscott said:


> *Updates for 8/17/10*
> 
> Here's where things stand as of noon today. All the parts and hardware are in.
> 
> ...


very cool - the green tint came out nicely


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## DenverDave (Aug 6, 2010)

knotscott said:


> *Updates for 8/17/10*
> 
> Here's where things stand as of noon today. All the parts and hardware are in.
> 
> ...


Wow! That beats the hell out of my bird house project.


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## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

knotscott said:


> *Updates for 8/17/10*
> 
> Here's where things stand as of noon today. All the parts and hardware are in.
> 
> ...


The birds disagree!


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## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

*Updates for 8/18/10*

Some cosmetic changes took place last night…the two-toned back revealing the natural ash is out, and the back is black again, as planned. It was just too sloppy and detracted.

Here's the painted back, and the top with a couple of clear coats sitting on the back:

























Today I added a curly maple veneer to the front side of the neck headstock to match the front of the guitar.

Here's the neck with the veneer in place:









After receiving black dye:









After sanding the black away, the green dye goes on:









Back to work tomorrow to find out if I'm still employed…


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## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

knotscott said:


> *Updates for 8/18/10*
> 
> Some cosmetic changes took place last night…the two-toned back revealing the natural ash is out, and the back is black again, as planned. It was just too sloppy and detracted.
> 
> ...


Looks good.


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## UncleHank (Jan 13, 2010)

knotscott said:


> *Updates for 8/18/10*
> 
> Some cosmetic changes took place last night…the two-toned back revealing the natural ash is out, and the back is black again, as planned. It was just too sloppy and detracted.
> 
> ...


Conjures up thoughts of dragons. This thing looks awesome!


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## Brit (Aug 14, 2010)

knotscott said:


> *Updates for 8/18/10*
> 
> Some cosmetic changes took place last night…the two-toned back revealing the natural ash is out, and the back is black again, as planned. It was just too sloppy and detracted.
> 
> ...


You do realise you're going to have to upload a sound file when it's all done now you've got us all drooling. You're definitely gonna need an amp that goes up to 11 to go along with that.


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## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

knotscott said:


> *Updates for 8/18/10*
> 
> Some cosmetic changes took place last night…the two-toned back revealing the natural ash is out, and the back is black again, as planned. It was just too sloppy and detracted.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the comments everyone.

Brit…This kid will have no problem finding "11" on the volume knob! Getting him to play something worthy of a sound clip might be harder!


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## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

*August 20th Update*

Here's today's update. Adding the shop-made curly maple veneer to the front of the headstock was a little tricky because it's attached to an existing neck. My plan to rout down the face to accommodate the thickness of the veneer didn't pan out as planned because the radius on the fretboard made it rock. Instead, I ended up using the flat edge and back of the "paddle blank" as a reference and sliced the cutout on the band saw. Once the veneer was in place and glued, I cut the shape with the BS as much as I could, then sanded to final shape with my OSS. The headstock is now shaping up fairly nicely. The back of the neck will get black paint, then I'll reveal the natural curly maple edge on the headstock like the front of the body. Next I'll drill the holes for tuners, give it more clear coats, and some fine sanding, etc.

















I'm at what I consider the high risk stage…after hours of planning, cutting, shaping, staining, and sanding, I'm now cutting holes in the front of the guitar. It's easy to inflict a few battle scars, and it generally just stresses me out a little.

























The guitar is coming along pretty nicely and faster than I planned, but I've been going at it pretty hard the last couple of days. The shop's a mess, I'm tired, stressed, and need to back away for a while before I really goof something up! (it definitely happens and the writing's on the wall right in front of me!) Time to mow the lawn, take a nap, tidy up and the shop, and hit the shower. Better to rejuvenate and come back to this later…after all…this is for fun, right?

Evening update: Well, I couldn't stay away forever…tonight I painted the back of the neck, and the cover for the electronics cavity. That's definitely it for tonight!


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

knotscott said:


> *August 20th Update*
> 
> Here's today's update. Adding the shop-made curly maple veneer to the front of the headstock was a little tricky because it's attached to an existing neck. My plan to rout down the face to accommodate the thickness of the veneer didn't pan out as planned because the radius on the fretboard made it rock. Instead, I ended up using the flat edge and back of the "paddle blank" as a reference and sliced the cutout on the band saw. Once the veneer was in place and glued, I cut the shape with the BS as much as I could, then sanded to final shape with my OSS. The headstock is now shaping up fairly nicely. The back of the neck will get black paint, then I'll reveal the natural curly maple edge on the headstock like the front of the body. Next I'll drill the holes for tuners, give it more clear coats, and some fine sanding, etc.
> 
> ...


pretty fantastic. really gets me going and think about how I'd like to make mine… although that may be a while before I can uptake that plan and find the proper materials for it.


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## mcoyfrog (Jul 23, 2008)

knotscott said:


> *August 20th Update*
> 
> Here's today's update. Adding the shop-made curly maple veneer to the front of the headstock was a little tricky because it's attached to an existing neck. My plan to rout down the face to accommodate the thickness of the veneer didn't pan out as planned because the radius on the fretboard made it rock. Instead, I ended up using the flat edge and back of the "paddle blank" as a reference and sliced the cutout on the band saw. Once the veneer was in place and glued, I cut the shape with the BS as much as I could, then sanded to final shape with my OSS. The headstock is now shaping up fairly nicely. The back of the neck will get black paint, then I'll reveal the natural curly maple edge on the headstock like the front of the body. Next I'll drill the holes for tuners, give it more clear coats, and some fine sanding, etc.
> 
> ...


WOW what a project, I really dig the color (but I am partial to green LOL) Have you done many of these, I would be interested in some links of how too's if you have them.

Great job so far…...


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## RjGall (Jun 16, 2008)

knotscott said:


> *August 20th Update*
> 
> Here's today's update. Adding the shop-made curly maple veneer to the front of the headstock was a little tricky because it's attached to an existing neck. My plan to rout down the face to accommodate the thickness of the veneer didn't pan out as planned because the radius on the fretboard made it rock. Instead, I ended up using the flat edge and back of the "paddle blank" as a reference and sliced the cutout on the band saw. Once the veneer was in place and glued, I cut the shape with the BS as much as I could, then sanded to final shape with my OSS. The headstock is now shaping up fairly nicely. The back of the neck will get black paint, then I'll reveal the natural curly maple edge on the headstock like the front of the body. Next I'll drill the holes for tuners, give it more clear coats, and some fine sanding, etc.
> 
> ...


That should turn out Awsome !!


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## webwood (Jul 2, 2009)

knotscott said:


> *August 20th Update*
> 
> Here's today's update. Adding the shop-made curly maple veneer to the front of the headstock was a little tricky because it's attached to an existing neck. My plan to rout down the face to accommodate the thickness of the veneer didn't pan out as planned because the radius on the fretboard made it rock. Instead, I ended up using the flat edge and back of the "paddle blank" as a reference and sliced the cutout on the band saw. Once the veneer was in place and glued, I cut the shape with the BS as much as I could, then sanded to final shape with my OSS. The headstock is now shaping up fairly nicely. The back of the neck will get black paint, then I'll reveal the natural curly maple edge on the headstock like the front of the body. Next I'll drill the holes for tuners, give it more clear coats, and some fine sanding, etc.
> 
> ...


i've never heard of the rit dye idea but why not? how did you apply it and must the laquer be water based?


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## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

knotscott said:


> *August 20th Update*
> 
> Here's today's update. Adding the shop-made curly maple veneer to the front of the headstock was a little tricky because it's attached to an existing neck. My plan to rout down the face to accommodate the thickness of the veneer didn't pan out as planned because the radius on the fretboard made it rock. Instead, I ended up using the flat edge and back of the "paddle blank" as a reference and sliced the cutout on the band saw. Once the veneer was in place and glued, I cut the shape with the BS as much as I could, then sanded to final shape with my OSS. The headstock is now shaping up fairly nicely. The back of the neck will get black paint, then I'll reveal the natural curly maple edge on the headstock like the front of the body. Next I'll drill the holes for tuners, give it more clear coats, and some fine sanding, etc.
> 
> ...


I posted about the RIT dye after I tried it b/c I was fairly impressed with the results. A couple of others had tried it. Fading was one concern that was raised, but one of the folks who tried it hasn't noticed any. It has to be dry before you clear coat it, and it does raise the grain more than oil based stains. The first two clear coats were spray on spar varnish with UV protection to help prevent possible fading, but the guitar shouldn't see much direct sunlight. The final coats are lacquer.

Dug - This is my 2nd guitar…the whole project is chronicled in a blog series here. The link is at the top….Guitar Build. There are many how to guides on the web. You Tube has a lot of videos, and project sites like Projectguitar.com and MIMF.com offer a lot of help.


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## mcoyfrog (Jul 23, 2008)

knotscott said:


> *August 20th Update*
> 
> Here's today's update. Adding the shop-made curly maple veneer to the front of the headstock was a little tricky because it's attached to an existing neck. My plan to rout down the face to accommodate the thickness of the veneer didn't pan out as planned because the radius on the fretboard made it rock. Instead, I ended up using the flat edge and back of the "paddle blank" as a reference and sliced the cutout on the band saw. Once the veneer was in place and glued, I cut the shape with the BS as much as I could, then sanded to final shape with my OSS. The headstock is now shaping up fairly nicely. The back of the neck will get black paint, then I'll reveal the natural curly maple edge on the headstock like the front of the body. Next I'll drill the holes for tuners, give it more clear coats, and some fine sanding, etc.
> 
> ...


Kewl thanks…


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## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

*Update for 8-29-10*

Here's the latest for 8/29/10 (the 5th entry in this series):

The "final" clear coat has been applied (a couple of times! ...hopefully this is the last). The neck is drilled and the tuners are mounted. The pickups are mounted to their trim rings, and the final electronics scheme is worked out. From here it's a matter of waiting for the lacquer to cure and deciding how much rubbing out I want to do…the results from the spray can are glossy and smooth in most places, but there's some orange peel and overspray spots in a few areas. Once that's done we bolt the neck up, wire the pups and pots together, mount the chamber cover, string it, and find the ear plugs!

I did run into a slight problem on the back where the neck and body meet. When I rounded over the back of the body, I should have stopped at the base of the neck….the roundover makes the edge of the neck narrower than the neck plate. A smaller two-piece neck plate is on order and will hopefully fit. It's one of the many small things amateurs like me are likely to run into, and fortunately, there are several decent fixes for this problem.

Here's the front of the body with the most recent final coat:









...And the back with its most recent final coat:









Here's a look at the original style neck plate that will no longer fit, and the two-piece replacement:
















Here's the finished neck and the pups in their trim rings:









And the back of the neck:









For those who are interested, here's the wiring scheme we'll be using…it's an Humbucker/Single/Single (HSS) setup with a 5-way selecter. A push/pull switch in the volume knob will allow single coil sound from the humbucker, giving us 7 different pickup combinations:









A couple of 12 hour night shifts and some family obligations will likely keep me from until mid week, but I'm hoping to be done by the end of next weekend. More to come!


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## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

knotscott said:


> *Update for 8-29-10*
> 
> Here's the latest for 8/29/10 (the 5th entry in this series):
> 
> ...


Nice update.


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## HokieMojo (Mar 11, 2008)

knotscott said:


> *Update for 8-29-10*
> 
> Here's the latest for 8/29/10 (the 5th entry in this series):
> 
> ...


i almost missed this because of the profile picture change. I'm glad I didn't. Getting close!


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## knotscott (Feb 27, 2009)

*Update for 9-1-10*

This is the 6th post in a series about this guitar build.

9-1-10: Well, it's finally starting to look like a guitar. I spent today mounting the neck and the pickups. It appears that I still need to develop some sort of "string-thru" system for this type of bridge system…a realization I wished I'd had prior to adding a finish, but we'll figure something. There's always risk with anything that penetrates the finish at this stage, but it is the back, and I'm not sure there's a viable way around it….if we don't go thru the back, he'll need to remove the bridge every time he restrings it. Suggestions welcome!

The neck and the pups mounted:

















Still to go - wiring of the pups and switches, mount the 5-way switch & pots, put some screws in the cover, and string it….then we'll see if it sings! This will hopefully be the last of the documentary style posts on this. Once finished, I'll make a new post for a completed project.


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## webwood (Jul 2, 2009)

knotscott said:


> *Update for 9-1-10*
> 
> This is the 6th post in a series about this guitar build.
> 
> ...


the string through is much better than cutting the ball ends off and locking to the saddle - what a pain - my strat has a plastic cover over the rout for the tremelo springs and i believe there is a plate that the ball ends seat - no biggie - one more rout -


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## dub560 (Jun 4, 2010)

knotscott said:


> *Update for 9-1-10*
> 
> This is the 6th post in a series about this guitar build.
> 
> ...


that's a bad ass green sir and it looks cool


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## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

knotscott said:


> *Update for 9-1-10*
> 
> This is the 6th post in a series about this guitar build.
> 
> ...


Thats going to be a good looking guitar.


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## RjGall (Jun 16, 2008)

knotscott said:


> *Update for 9-1-10*
> 
> This is the 6th post in a series about this guitar build.
> 
> ...


Looks like it'll be a screemin demon


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