DC Jr- 1st scratch build experince

[Fret Hopper]

What I started with:
Body: Alder – 1.5 inches thick, 22 inches long, 11 inches wide. Oak back - .5 inches thick, added to the back of the alder to get it to 1.875 inch thick after sanding and before finish.
Neck: Laminate – maple with walnut strips. Indian Rosewood fretboard. TUSQ XL 1.75 inch nut.
Headstock: African Mahogany, could be sapelle – I forget. Part of the headstock is veneered with Bloodwood. I will explain why it is not all bloodwood later on.
Hardware: Hipshot Baby Grand bridge, Gotoh tuners, GFS P90 pick up, MojoTone wiring harness, Gibson jack plate. These are all scavenged from my first quasi-scratch build.

In spring 2014 I started building my first guitar, a LP DC Jr, using a body I got from GFS and a neck I made from scratch. It was more or less a proof of concept to prove to myself that I could do it. At that time I had very limited tools and I had never undertaken anything like a guitar.

The quasi-scratch build

The quasi-scratch build uses a body from GFS, which was originally routed for a bolt neck, which I modified with chisels to accept a set neck. I had glued up a rather large neck blank that gave me two neck billets. One for the quasi-scratch build, and the other for this scratch build.

In no way was I looking to build a vintage correct DC Jr. I have always liked the look of the DC Jr., especially the variations on it, like the Hamer DC.
Since I started the quasi-scratch build I have accumulated a number of power tools, in order – a Dewalt 745 table saw, a Milwaukee router, an old 14-inch Jet floor standing drill press, a pawn shop Delta table top belt sander, a CL Delta oscillating spindle sander, and the piece de resistance…a 1940s Craftsman band saw. In late spring I got an old kitchen cabinet from a neighbor for $10 and made it into my router table. Additionally, I have picked up a lot of hand tools - clamps (all kinds), Shinto rasp, various small files, drill bits (Forstner, brad points, etc). And wood….lot sand lots of wood. More on that later.

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[Fret Hopper]

Page 2
The Template:
Template was downloaded off the internet and glued to MDF. The body template was cut out using a jig saw, then shaped using a belt sander I clamped to a table, and rasps. Same applies to the neck template.
The body:
The alder piece was not wide enough for a 13 inch body, but was more than long enough. When I laid out the template on the blank, I found I could cut out part of the body and use this piece to make wings for the body, to get it to 13 inches wide.

I got the oak from HD. I used a shooting board to square up the glued edges prior to gluing, then slip matched it, glued it up, cut it oversized to the template and glued it to the alder centered on the body centerline.


I used the “swiss cheese” method to rough out the approximate body shape, then a jig saw to cut it out, and a Shinto rasp to get it to near final shape. I used a forstner bit in my hand drill to hog out for the neck mortise. Then used a chisel to square the mortise up.

Getting this portion of the guitar together was fairly easy. No drama. Once it was done, it was set to the side for the next 10 months as I worked to finish the quasi scratch build.

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[Fret Hopper]

Page 3

This spring I resumed work on this guitar. I first cleaned up the edges on my template using my router table. Then I tried to clean up the edges of the body with the router. Using tape and super glue I glue/taped the template to the body and set up the router table. I had practiced on scrap wood prior to attempting this, but I learned the hard way that you have to be careful when going with/against the grain. I had tear out on both sides of the body waist, and a little bit at the end of the horns. To patch this up I used shavings from the router work and saw dust from sanding mixed with Titebond to create a paste. I first spread a thin layer of Titebond in the areas, then worked the paste into the spots and let it dry overnight. Then I put the template back on the body and rerouted those areas. There were some very small voids left, which I filled with CA glue, then carefully sanded those spots level with the rest.

Also, when cleaning up the body edges with the router, followed by hand sanding, I ended up with these very small voids that appeared within some of the dark rays in the end grain on the edges. These I filled with CA glue and sanded down to level.

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http://s1153.photobucket.com/user/mlemberger/media/20150527_172626_zpsdg0bdbub.jpg.html

 

[Fret Hopper]

Page 4
The neck:
Since the original laminated neck billet was big enough for two necks I used the first neck (for the quasi build) to learn how to cut a scarf joint, glue it up and then carve a neck. I used index pins to center the fret board and glue it down. As you can see I moved the fret markers near the top side of the board. I did not set the side markers deep enough and it showed once I cleaned up the side of the neck. I am pleased with the neck, scarf came out well, and I found the carve experience to be a zen moment for me. Took (4) hours and 5 beers to carve the neck with the Shinto rasp. I know that is a lot longer than a lot of people, but it was only my 2nd neck. Note to self: for the next neck fret the board prior to carving the back of the neck.
It was also at this point that I realized that my neck tenon was going to sit a little too low in the mortise, where the bottom of the fret board was below the plane of the body. I glued in a piece of scrap 1/8th inch thick walnut headstock veneer to the bottom of the mortise, but didn’t get it all the way to the edge of the body. With the neck in the pocket, it looked a little sloppy. it is not real noticeable when finished. In hindsight, I should have glued in a piece that extend past the edge of the body and trimmed it back to the body edge. Or, glue the piece to the bottom of the tenon and reshape the tenon to fit.

The headstock:
The headstock design ended up as a cross between a Gibby and a PRS. My original headstock has a bloodwood veneer on it, which I really liked, and was more Gibsonesque. With a little lacquer on it, there is a very good amount of chatoyance to it. Really moved from side-to-side.

But after drilling the tuner holes, clamping the neck in place and checking my string alignment…alas, there was no joy in Mudville. I don’t where my head was at when I laid out/drilled the tuner holes (probably up my a$$), but nothing lined up correctly. I decided to add wings and I used my table saw to cut off the original headstock sides giving me a straight edge to glue the wings.

After adding the wings I got a plug cutter and plugged the holes. I didn’t have any pieces of bloodwood left that would allow me to veneer the wings, so the plan for a clear lacquer finish was scrapped. Then when I re-drilled the tuner holes I got a little too close to the edge. So… add more wings to the headstock. Now the headstock is going to get black lacquer for a finish.

Double winged headstock, after sanding sealer sprayed. You can see just how far off my original holes were.


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[Fret Hopper]

The body finish:
Behlens Sanding Sealer
Black Cherry stain for the oak
Chrysler Yellow for the alder body
Duplicolor White Primer under the Chrysler yellow
Valspar Black Lacquer for the headstock face
Valspar Clear Lacquer clear coats
Neck was not attached and Neck pocket was taped off for most of the body finishing.
Here it is prior to finishing, headstock redo, etc. At the ends of the horns you can see where I did the tear out repair.

Originally I wanted to find a way to highlight the grain on the alder so that I could do a Mary Kay finish on the alder body, with the oak back stained a complimentary color to the body. I found that a Mary Kay finish was not going to work on the alder body, and because of the tear out patches a cherry red stain wasn’t going to work either, so a solid color was the only viable option. But, what color? I found some lacquer paints at Hobby Lobby that came in automotive colors from the 60s/70s. I was hoping my local store would have something akin to Sea Foam Green, but they didn’t have it in stock. But, Chrysler Yellow is pretty close to TV Yellow, so that was my choice.
I taped off the alder portion of the body and grain filled the best I could on the oak, using Durhams Wood Putty. Oak is a b!tch to grain fill. My bigger concern was trying to get a smooth edge along the seam where the oak and alder are glued. That is because I was going to have a paint edge along that seam. I stained the oak with black cherry stain, lightly sanded and restained, then shot the whole body with sanding sealer. I sanded this down with 320g, reshot sanding sealer, sanded and reshot sealer and sanded again.

I had taped off the oak portion along the oak/alder seam, and shot the white primer. This primer is sandable and fills scratches. I shot three coats, sanding lightly in between coats with 320g. Then I shot a body color coat. There were areas along the body perimeter where some imperfections in the wood showed pretty badly, so I sanded those areas, used CA to fill larger imperfections, sanded and reshot the color. Don’t know how I missed those. More light wet sanding with 400g on the color...rinse and repeat.

Here is the guitar after neck glued in, headstock repaired oak back taped off and a few coats of color applied. Notice that I had an area I needed to repair. Sometimes I can be a clutz. I let it slip thru my hand when holding it by the neck and the edge hit the floor in the garage.


I apologize for the large photos. I edited them in Photobucket, but for some reason the cropping and resizing isn't always doing what it should.

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[Fret Hopper]

Page 6
While this was drying/curing I prepped my headstock face for the black lacquer. I did not primer the headstock, but did shoot a few coats of sanding sealer and sanded in between coats. Then I taped off below the edge. I wanted lacquer to cover where I had bloodwood veneer in some areas. After shooting a few light coats, I noticed I was getting witness lines around the tuner plugs and where I added the wings. I waited a couple days and sanded this down lightly with 320g, then reshot the lacquer. The next day I noticed the witness lines did not reappear. It had been drying for about 24 hours at this point. Since it was nice and sunny out I decided to set the guitar on a stand in the sun and hope that Mother Nature would help in curing the lacquer. The body lacquer had already been curing for about 3 weeks at this point.

I just want to point out that setting a guitar in a 90 degree Colorado sun does NOT speed the curing time of lacquer.

Nope. Not today, boy.

What it did is soften the lacquer and the witness lines reappeared big time within 30 minutes of sitting in the sun.

So a couple nights later, after work, I lightly sanded the headstock face smooth with 320g, then 400g, and reshot the black lacquer. Three light coats over the span of about 3 hours. Then I did nothing with it for the next 3 days, and then shot a couple more light coats. Now after a week or more, there is only one very faint witness line that can be seen right at the edge of one of the tuner holes. I am waiting to finish sand and rub out the headstock.

And that brings us to here...

I have shot it with about 6 coats of clear lacquer. Earlier today I started sanding the body with 400g, then I might shoot another coat of clear or two. Let it sit for a few days and sand again.
I will try to get a few more photos uploaded. As mentioned earlier I am having fits with photobucket, compounded with internet connection issues.

From the ozone...

Mark

 

[SiriusAbbott]

Nice