Early Pics of my New Studio"59" Model

[eshuffle]

Some early pics of my new weight relief Studio "59" Model. Nothing special just old school LP tone machine. Honduran Mahogany body and neck wood. Maple top plate with some slight flame. Rosewood fingerboard with celluloid trap inlay with special design ebony Studio "59"model headstock. Washed cherry burst and lemon drop finish. Cream binding neck and body. Anyone interested let me know before going to paint. E-mail me at meyerguitars@sbcglobal.net.

Ken
MySpace.com - Meyer Guitar's - 45 - Male - STERLING HEIGHTS, Michigan - www.myspace.com/meyerguitars

[G-Minor]

Im interested!!!!!!!

[G-Minor]

that looks good man

[chuckymack]

Dude, that flamed maple cap is gonna be SICK when it's finished!

[mojofilter]

Very Impressive! Keep Us Posted!!! Great Pics!!!

[eshuffle]

A recent picture of my table at the Detroit Guitar show over the weekend. Thanks to all that stopped by and said hello.

Thanks for all the nice comments guys. I appreciate them.

Ken

[goofballone]

Wow I like the Orange with Black flame!!!

[eshuffle]

Here are the pics I took today glueing the maple to the mahogany body. I figure I would share these to anyone interested. So here we go. First I clamp the maple to the body. When I get the center line to line up were I want it I pre drill some holes with a 1/16 bit and use small brad nails as indicator pins so when I clamp and glue the body it doesn't move. The pin holes will get routed out when I do the pickup cavities. I use some tape when I spread the glue and then I pull the tape before clamping this way the glue doesn't get all in the wiring channel. Clean up the extra glue really good so you don't have to mess with it later. Notice I add 2 splines to the body were the strap button will go for added stength. The weight relif took out just better than a pound of material. Ready for Glue!!











After clamping and resting over night. I'm ready to go to the router table and finish routing the maple to match the body.

[3dmac]

[stryker59]

keep the progress comin!! lookin good!! some sweeeet guitars on your table!!!

[pinefd]

Great stuff, Ken! Looking forward to the rest of this build!

And your other guitars are great, too!

Frank

[lifele55]

Sweet built...

[eshuffle]

Today I started out routing the maple top to match the mahogany body. I do this on a router table with a long 1/2 shaft pattern bit. Than I get ready to do the neck pocket with a plexi pattern I made with a center line scribed down the middle of the pattern to line it up with the maple top. Use a good quality double sided fabric carpet tape to hold the pattern in place. I then use a forstner bit to take most of the wood out before routing the cavity.









I use an older router with a larger plexigalss base for more stability. Rout out the cavity with a 1/2 by 1/2 inch pattern bit with bearing.









This is what I end up with. Know on to routing the angle on the top of the maple to match the angle of the neck and fingerboard.



To do this I use a homemade box with the same angle as the neck to run the router across the top to get the same neck angle. Looks out there but works everytime.....LOL Results are clean and straight.








I then use a disc sander with a heavy 50 grit sandpaper to remove the excess maple to match the same angle of the top. Know I can use my small router to finish off the angle of the neck cavity. You have to be careful not to take to much. Small passes seem to work best while being very steady. Can't mess up know. This router works best for me. For me it's worth its weight in gold. I use it for many different operations during the build. It's nice and compact enough to use by hand. Ready for the arch top duplicating machine.








Here is the end result. Know it's on to the Terrco copier to carve the tops and get ready to do the necks and fingerboards.

LP Body # 1



Lp Body #2


The back of both bodys.

[El Toro]

I'm loving this!

[treddingjr]

Excellent work as always!!

[eshuffle]

Well I spent all day putting the Terrco Marlin machine together. Picked it up on ebay last fall and just got around to building a bench top to get it ready for use. So I don't have alot to show today. Hopeful if things work out I should be ready to start carving on Sunday. Thanks for all the great comments I appreciate them.

Ken

[eshuffle]

Well I finished up this morning with all the adjustments and fine detail and was able to get a top carved out today. Everything went well and worked out really nice. This machine worked with out any trouble. It was well worth the the $300 plus router from ebay.





After using the Duplicating machine I do my sanding with a Variable-Speed Random Orbit Sander. It sure does make things go alot easier with all router marks let from the bit. Here a some finshed pics. I still have to fine tune the top once the neck gets done to fit it to the body. Thats why I leave alittle wood on the top were the fingerboard gets glued down. I do this so I can get a nice flat tight fit.








The finish top with a little naptha rubbed on it to bring out the grain. Now on to doing the next top and ready to start work on the necks and fingerboards. I still have binding and a few other things but they can wait for know. Most of the hard stuff is done.

[3dmac]

AWSOME !!!

[eshuffle]

Well today I decided to finish the fingerboard neck joint on the top of the 1st body before going onto the 2nd body. So I had to go back to the box jig and fine rout the top to the finish specs. I also block sand the sides the same size all the way around to get ready for binding. Plus I drilled for the toggle and volume and tone pots.








I have a nice flat fit were the fingerboard meets the angle of the maple top.








I'm really pleased with the way the top came out I couldn't be happier. I really like the grain pattern. It should look good with a washed or faded cherry burst.





Now onto both necks. First up was cutting the 16 degree angle on both the headstocks. I like the larger piece of mahogany because I get 2 necks out of the one board. But before the cuts on the table saw I had to square up the piece all the way around on the jointer. I use a angle jig next to the fench to get the 16 degree angle.



Before going to the bandsaw I layout all my lines and fingerboard and headstock veneer to make sure everything is fitting just right. Bonus the headstock was large enough I don't have to glue on any ears. I should have some updates in a few days as I have to be at my real job tomorrow. Hope everyone is enjoying the build and thanks for all the nice comments. Have a great holiday weekend......Ken

[eshuffle]

Today I started working on the long neck tenon. First I had to cut out the profile of the neck on the bandsaw. I had to cut to the specs to fit my tenon jig. I also used a small hand saw to take most of the wood out around the neck tenon so I wouldn't get any kick back from router.




Then it was on to the router table to rout the correct angle of the tenon to fit the body.







Then on to my homemade overhead router I mounted on my drillpress to rout the bottomside of the tenon. I've been using this homemade router for way to long. I really need to get a nice general pin router. It would make things alot easier.




There you have a nice tight long neck tenon joint. If you notice I also marked a centerline down the center of the neck to match the centerline of the glue joint on the maple top. Know on to routing for the 2 way hotrod truss rod.

I'll be back in a few days. Hope everyone who is checking out my build is enjoying the progression.

Have a great week.
Ken

[pinefd]

Great stuff, Ken, and thanks for all the great photos! Looking forward to the rest of the build!


Frank

[drewbertca]

WOW AMAZING......I wish I could do that.....Or afford to have one made.....maybe a Luthier would work out some sort of financing for me....

[BluesZep]

Thanks Ken!
Nice pics, and amazing job!

Waiting for updates

[Roman Rist]

You got some nice stuff there, Ken.

[eshuffle]

Thanks Roman and the rest of the guys for the great comments. So today I started routing for the 2 way Hotrod truss rod. I like these rods because you can correct upbow or backbow. I've used these on all my guitars and I don't hear any difference in tone. Neither do the guys playing them. I do this on my router table set to 7/16ths depth. I do a few passes so I don't get tear out.



I also profiled the neck and fingerboard. I used the router table to do this operation. I have a few other things to do before binding and finishing the neck. I started to build a overarm pin router so will see how that comes out. Here is the link for all those interested in plans. Overarm Pin Router - Popular Mechanics


I hope everyone has a great weekend.

ken

[eshuffle]

Well this little project sure had me busy the last 5 days. I finally finished the overarm pin router. I changed things up some by using my drillpress as a mounting arbor. It sure is alot more secure by using the chuck as a holding device. I thought I would share a few pictures of the project. It works really well and should get me by for the time being. I have to work the real job tomorrow so I won't be doing much until monday. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Ken

[eshuffle]

I finally got into the shop this afternoon. I planed down the headstock veneer and glued that to the neck and profiled the headstock. I also was able to get the binding on the fingerboard and should be able to glue that to the neck soon. I fit the truss rod to the slot so that it's ready to be installed. Not to much to report otherwise. I will carve the other maple top out soon to start and get that body ready for it's neck. Sorry about no pictures from the shop I forgot my camera at home.

Hope everyone is good. Take care.

Ken

[eshuffle]

Today I started out on the router. I profiled the headstock to just over .575. I left enough wood to form the area were the headstock meets the fretboard. I'll do my rosewood stinger later after I hand work the back of neck. I also put my fretboard markers into the binding. I use the 3/32 black stew-mac side dot material.







I fitted the 2 way Hot Rod truss rod into the 7/16 slot I routed. I first sprayed the entire rod with a dry lubricant before installing it into the channel. This insures that the threads and rod work smoothly. You have to place silicone at both ends of the rod and 3 places in the middle to stop any vibration. Then you place 3/4 inch tape over the rod and to the back of the fingerboard before applying the glue. Than apply your glue and take off the tape when you clamp the board the glue will squeeze toward the rod without going into the channel. I use 2 small pin nails in the fret slot to keep the board from moving when you clamp it together. I've done many of these types of truss rods before. They work great and take care of backbow or upbow. You get a great set of instuctions from stew-mac to follow for the first timer.











While the fingerboard was drying I started to rout out the backside of the control cavity so the pots fit into the 3/8 holes. You have to be careful this can get kinda crazy. First off you have to use a 1 inch forsner bit to the right thickness before routing the backside of the cavity. Than with a feeler gauge I set my jig to the right thickness as not to burn through the body. Total thickness is just a hair under 1/4 to fit the pot.







After I finish up on the router I sanded the florentine cutaway to match the neck so I can get ready to do the binding on the body. Thats pretty much all for today. I'll have a few more pictures in a few days with the binding and I will start routing out for the pickups and get ready to start the neck on the marlin profile machine.

[Ejecto]

Love these threads. Looking good!

[eshuffle]

I did the binding on the body and was starting to profile the back of the neck. I sent this blurry picture of the binding but for some reason my camera has been taking the worst pictures it takes me 30 shots to get 4 or 5. Until today when everything I shot was blurry. So I will have to wait on better pictures until I get a new camera. Sorry guys.

Ken