Two builds - 1PU Firebird & Explorer

Corvus · June 2017

Bit early but here goes. I got some korina (it was sold to me as that anyway) and some mahogany for a neck which will become an Explorer. Possibly a vehicle for a paint idea - though if tests show that to be a raging failure it'll get something else.

Thinking single bastard hot hum*ucker, overall vibe is rock/metal machine. Hope it appeals because I'd really like to sell it on. But maybe 1 PU is limiting there.

Had to hand joint the slabs because my jointer is AWOL. Satisfying though. Thinned it down with the router sled, lovely finish off the bowl cutter. Routed to profile this eve

http://alleykat.co.uk/images/stuff/exbird/ex01_body_start.jpg

Corvus · June 2017

I've had this black limba a while. Couldn't decide what to make but as my favourite all-time guitar is the Firebird it'll be one o'them, but set neck. Because limited funds and two builds on the go. Got wood to use for splices and a ziricote fretboard blank that might go nice on it.

Thinking a hot(ter) Filtertron from Ben Fletcher, hopefully squeeze on some extra winds. Probably series/parallel switch, tone pot, and Gretsch-style tone switch.

Bits -

http://alleykat.co.uk/images/stuff/exbird/fb01_limba.jpg

Corvus · June 2017

Firebirding without a template -

Slice wood, plane edges true
Sand a pencil in half
Dust wood with white paint
Take one Firebird and draw round the wings
Saw out, rasp

http://alleykat.co.uk/images/stuff/exbird/fb02_wing_slices.jpg

Corvus · June 2017

Gratuitous end grain pic

http://alleykat.co.uk/images/stuff/exbird/fb03_endgrain.jpg

bbill335 · June 2017

Firebird I's are the current focus of my GAS. Keen to see how yours turns out.

PVO_Dave · June 2017

The end grain of the firebird (to be) looks like marble - will be watching this one

WezV · June 2017

That's quite common with black limba, the black lines don't always follow the grain as you would expect. Be nice to see a firebird made of the stuff

sawyer · June 2017

Watching this thread with interest!Have you ever held a Firebird upside down in front of a mirror? They look right apart from scratchplate been on wrong side. I've always thought a 'reverse''reversed' Firebird would look rather cool. Unfortunately I'm not clever enough to build one:(.

Corvus · June 2017

Cheers all.
Be nice if the psychedelic swirl was all over, but hey... Thanks Wez, hope it turns out OK. @sawyer no

but looking at mine back to front it look like the shape might work with a bit of tweaking here & there.. the "top" horn and such..

Corvus · July 2017

Got delayed by this that and the other.. family stuff. My place became a dumping ground for a house clearance. Anyways. In the meantime I tried a bit of woodturning just for something to do. Made a knife from olivewood, blade from a dead circ saw one. Now wondering about making wooden knobs...

http://alleykat.co.uk/images/stuff/misc/knife.jpg

Corvus · July 2017

I needed to make some jigs & replace old ones etc so we went to the local Emmaus (a homeless charity) on the off chance, and got a couple of tables for small money. One was solid ash, the other turned out to be a veneered board like a high-density version of MDF but with some wood usable too.

http://alleykat.co.uk/images/stuff/exbird/tables.jpg

Large shooting board, 11-deg router sled thing
http://alleykat.co.uk/images/stuff/exbird/11_deg_shooting_board.jpg

Also picked up another plane from a boot sale and fettled that up.
Sanding radius guide, mini router sled. Replace the rails for different things:
http://alleykat.co.uk/images/stuff/exbird/radius_guide_mini_sled.jpg

Trussrod channel template, fret slotting:
http://alleykat.co.uk/images/stuff/exbird/slotting_rod_channel_template.jpg

Corvus · July 2017

I got some quartersawn-ish mahogany for neck blanks. Sliced, flipped & joined so the grain is symmetrical as poss. After making the new angle ramp I ended up just bandsawing & planing the head angle... o well. Super-light wood, happy with that, it should help against neck dive.

Because it's a single-pickup I decided to put the tenon underneath... if there's any witness marks that show up down the line in the paint, it'll be less irritating.
Thinking I might put a thin plate of body wood on top of the tenon so the surface is all the same wood. Might help a little. Or be a waste of time. Not sure yet.

Rough fit-up-

http://alleykat.co.uk/images/stuff/exbird/ex02_neck_rough_fit.jpg

This is the mini router sled ready to do the headstock. I did the fretboard (zebrano) with it, hot-glued it to the table and whizzed over. Thickness differences corner to corner was 0.05mm so that works pretty damn well.

http://alleykat.co.uk/images/stuff/exbird/ex03_head_thicknessing.jpg

Quick un-pretty lash up supporting the neck. To get the headstock face good & flat down on the table the vertical pine bits in the bench vices need tapping sideways, and the neck moving up/down in the 'slot', so the headstock can be moved in both axis (axes?) with a bit of faffery.
Couple of random bits clamped on the table to brace the neck against flexing sideways.

http://alleykat.co.uk/images/stuff/exbird/ex04_thicknessing_lash_up2.jpg

Got some wood for the Firebird, walnut wenge and purpleheart. Back onto that soon.