First design and build... a little nervous

[C Squared]

that body beckons for a solid white with black hardward (including black pickguard), metal you know, thrasher style.

exactly what I was thinking!!!!

 

[C Squared]

Body is cut. Unlike some of the more talented and patient luthiers and builders here. I just can't manage to do a full scale photo document. And my camera is ancient, but here is an update.

After experimenting with getting the curves right with MDF template, I cut the body from poplar and maple. I decided to use maple to get some ideas for color and staining. Also gave it some tone chambers. Tapping the body for tone actually yields some positive results for just being scrap wood.

 

[Bellows1]

That is gonna look sweet!

 

[H.E.L.Shane]

Body is cut. Unlike some of the more talented and patient luthiers and builders here. I just can't manage to do a full scale photo document. And my camera is ancient, but here is an update.

After experimenting with getting the curves right with MDF template, I cut the body from poplar and maple. I decided to use maple to get some ideas for color and staining. Also gave it some tone chambers. Tapping the body for tone actually yields some positive results for just being scrap wood.

I like the general design, and it looks much better with gibby-esque butt!!

I got the EXACT same suggestion about my latest design.. "the butts too long, make it shorter and fatter!!!!"

My only thought is tha the top horn looks a little "clubby" maybe arc the cutout back so it apexes between the 17th and 18th leaving the neck to body join at the 16th??

 

[GreaseBox]

Looking good man! Very original.

 

[C Squared]

First- I apologize for the fuzzy pics. It's late and I'm not gonna be anywhere near this project for a few days, so I just took a quick few with my blackberry and uploaded them to share. Anyway...

Update:
Mock body has been fully routed, and a $10 ebay neck I had laying around attached to check for basic balance, fret access, and overall feel. I never drilled the headstock out for tuners as months after receiving the neck I discovered it to be a 1 5/8" inch nut, too small for anything I would play. Oops...my mistake


In an attempt to make this as light as possible without being neck heavy, I thinned the body down to 1 5/8" instead of the normal 1 3/4" thickness. Seems to have done the trick perfectly. Even though this is just the mock body made from poplar and maple, I'm anxious to install a set of pups and wire it up. You'll notice in the pick we set the bridge pup route a little further away from the bridge to get a bridge tone with perhaps a little less bite. I may even order some tuners for this neck finally so I won't have to steal the neck off my strat for further investigation.

Next I'm going to make a master template from this body and hopefully get some time this weekend to start cutting the body with the ash I have set aside, along with one from mahogany.

 

[C Squared]

ordered some tuners, strung it up, had Jackie strap it on to see what someone else thought of balance and feel.

 

[Bellows1]

How did this slip past me?

That looks really good, how does she like it?

 

[xsouldriverx]

thats a pretty nice body design, i must say.

 

[C Squared]

thats a pretty nice body design, i must say.

Thanks for the compliment, I will pass it on

 

[C Squared]

How did this slip past me?

That looks really good, how does she like it?

Basic design worked out well. Very happy with weight and feel, just waiting to do the full build with the better wood I had set aside. The one in the picture was made with $10 maple top from lowes, $8 poplar from home depot, and a $10 ebay neck just to check it out and see if any adjustments wood be needed (like opening up the horns a bit, which we did another 1/2" and where to drill the holes for strap buttons, which were moved a few times before we found the sweet spot)

I've been dying to actually wire this one up and plug it in. I gave it three tone chambers for weight, and it actually did add a ton of resonance and bass to the poplar/maple combo, and seems to have a ton of sustain.

 

[ExNihilo]

Hey, that was a great job! I look forward to seeing the next one built.

 

[csparks75]

Wow, that's dead sexy! Very unique!

 

[C Squared]

well here's a photo thread of what's been going on, and it's pretty pathetic compared to the ones I keep looking at here. I give A TON of credit to the talented luthiers and craftsmen here who take the time to really demonstrate what they're doing through photos.

Anyway, here is a basic update WITH PICS of where I'm at now

PLEASE NOTE: MOST OF THESE WERE TAKEN WITH MY BLACKBERRY, SO DEF NOT HIGH QUALITY,but hey man I'm trying

Started with some basic raw wood

very raw as you can see. What you can't see here is the maple I grabbed from local lumberyard for a top. Found a 1"X8" board that appeared to have some hidden flame in it. They planed it down to 5/8" for me and I gave them $12. Not a book match top. I just cut the board into a few pcs and found 2 20" sections that lined up nicely.

After joining and gluing and joining and gluing some more, then mapping everything out, and taking the router to it, then the band saw for a very ROUGH cut, we have this, or at least, this is the next pic I have

to the trained eyes, yes my pickup routes are just a hair off center (DAMMIT) but luckily they are a tight fit and the rings will cover and enable me to straighten out my mistake.

Also you can't see my neck pocket template which I made from a big pc of 1/2 MDF, used a basic protractor and poster board to measure how much higher the mdf should be near the base of the body to allow me to cut a 4' angle for the tom set up. I tried this on my mock body and it worked great I know after reading so many threads here that there are better and more precise ways to do it, but this was simple and worked.

This pic was taken just after my router bit exploded. Body was very close to being done, and luckily the only damage to the body was top of the body neck pocket which I was going to take a tad more off and carve a little bit for better upper fret access. I use ferrules instead of the neck plate it makes makes the transition quite nice. You can also see a hint of the flame I was talking about.

I Love thick maple tops.

I had decided after all I was going to do this in green for myself with gold hardware. So before I left for work I rubbed it one coat. I wanted to see how the green would contrast with the rest of the body, and I was curious as to whether or not any more flame would reveal itself wet.

Right now I'm thinking I'm going to tape off the maple just above where it meets the mahogany ( maybe 1/8" ) and stain the green down to there. When I route the edges it will give me a mock natural binding effect and then the 1/8" demarcation line leading to just the natural back. I don't have any pics of the back right now, but it has some nice grain and a little figure.

 

[C Squared]

Hey, that was a great job! I look forward to seeing the next one built.

HOLY SHIT THANKS MAN!!!

Would prefer to just send you the wood and drawings and let you do them, but I'm trying and MOSTLY (except for a few oops and a few scares) having a lot of fun doing it.

 

[rodneyk915]

That is looking real good! I think you're on to something with the green color and gold hardware. Keep up the good work.

 

[C Squared]

Here's a pic of the back. I love a good flametop as much as anyone, but I just really love the grain of mahogany. The way it catches the light, the smooth flow of the lines, the warm color. Mahogany just effin' rocks

 

[LPJones]

For some silly reason I think that would look awesome with a Flying V headstock..

I didn't like it on paper but I love it in Wood.

 

[C Squared]

For some silly reason I think that would look awesome with a Flying V headstock..

I didn't like it on paper but I love it in Wood.

Something like this?

Slightly offset, just like the body.

Like you I questioned it on paper, but dug it when it was all together

 

[Mongrel]

Man, that looks really great, cant wait to see it done! keep it up!