Finished! Final Pics! Walnut re-body of Peavey EVH

Andyjr1515

Following the recent rebody I did of the Cort Curbow Bass (thread here) , I was approached by the same band's lead guitarist about doing something similar for him, based on his favourite guitar style, the EVH Wolfgang.  

He has 2 that he plays, one the higher spec Japanese model, and also a Peavey version of the same thing - not this actual one but the same model:

We have talked through the options and he is likely to use his Peavey as the donor for the neck and trem, but fit a couple of P90's instead of the humbuckers.

In the meantime, I've been looking for a decent piece of walnut for the project and, boy, have I found a decent piece for him!  This is the wood, wiped over with some naptha:

The figuring will be where the wood shows and the p/ups etc, where the plainer wood is - and yes I agree, it is usually the other way round

He came over this evening and has given me the thumbs up to start cutting wood

Andy

Hertz32

That wood looks ace! ReAlly wanna see how this one turns out, maybe suggest an oil city Void/firewatch p90 combo too?

Andyjr1515

Hertz32 said:

That wood looks ace! ReAlly wanna see how this one turns out, maybe suggest an oil city Void/firewatch p90 combo too?

I've suggested he look at Oil City, @Hertz32 but not had first hand on the P90s. What is it about that particular combination you like?

Hertz32

The void is a new hot 90 that Ash has come up with recently and would fit the whole theme of a Floyded EVH, and I believe ash mentioned being able to coil tap it down to a more vintage wind too. I know the firewatch 90 has got glowing reviews so far too.

Andyjr1515

Hertz32 said:

The void is a new hot 90 that Ash has come up with recently and would fit the whole theme of a Floyded EVH, and I believe ash mentioned being able to coil tap it down to a more vintage wind too. I know the firewatch 90 has got glowing reviews so far too.

Thanks for that, @Hertz32   - I'll pass the info down to the chap I'm doing it for   

Andyjr1515

A small but important step...the first cut 

Got the trusty (cheap) old bandsaw out and did the rough-cut of the body.  

Next step is to do an accurate outline in MDF to use as the router template.

Adam_MD

Lovely bit of wood Andy

Andyjr1515

Thanks, Adam_MD It's the nicest bit of walnut I've come across for sometime. Mind you, being a one-piece, it won't fit in my thicknesser, so getting it down to size is going to have to be done the old fashioned way )

Andyjr1515

...and that was this morning's task

First of all I rough-sanded the top to take out a few chatter marks.  Here it is with a quickly evaporating wipe of naptha on it:

The neck area has been left deliberately long so that I have a full surface to support the router when I'm routing the neck pocket - I hate hanging over a precipice with a router bit spinning at goodness what speed!

Then I used a Bosch hand power plane to take the bulk of the material off the back (there was about 12mm to take off), before finishing it off with a hand jack plane.

The back of the original timber was very plain, but I could see that just a few mm below, I would start getting to the grain and, sure enough, it did.  I was well chuffed that there was this much additional figuring hiding underneath...

I should be getting the donor Peavey this evening so hope to make some decent progress later this week, weather permitting 

As always, thanks for looking

Andy

Deadman

Lovely grain. Its gonna be a looker.

Andyjr1515

Took possession of the donor guitar earlier in the week:

Quite nice! 

 In a way, it seems a pity to pull it to pieces but the good thing about this mod is that it is completely reversible...the old body won't be touched (won't even be taking out the electrics)

But, sentimentality put to one side, out with the butchery tools ....

This Peavey is a flattop.  Some of the original EVH brands are carved tops-  softer but similar style to a Les Paul. The owner of this one will decide when I've done the routing for the pickups, etc.  I hope he goes for a carve - I think it adds a lot...

He is opting for P90's.  He is thinking Catswhisker Alnico V's...anyone here used those?

With the body now fully accessible, I could trace out and cut an accurate template for the finish routing:

Next job is routing out the neck pocket, from which all other measurements will be taken.

Thanks for looking

Andy 

Red

Hey Andy, that walnut looks fantastic! Where did you manage to find it if you don't mind me asking? I'm looking for a nice bit of walnut for a project I'm working on but can't really find anything anywhere near as nice haha

Cheers,

Dan

Andyjr1515

Red said:

Hey Andy, that walnut looks fantastic! Where did you manage to find it if you don't mind me asking? I'm looking for a nice bit of walnut for a project I'm working on but can't really find anything anywhere near as nice haha

Cheers,

Dan

Hi Dan

It was a chance purchase on ebay from this outfit, visiblespectrum  

They have another piece on at the moment, but I think it's a bit narrower.  It isn't often you find a large full depth piece...

Andy

Andyjr1515

Decent progress today.  First of all routed the finished outline shape.

I use a top ball bearing trimmer first:

Then stick my template on with double sided tape.

  To be sure, I also clamp it.

The top rout ends up something like this:

Then I flip it over and use a bottom bearing trimmer like this:

Next, I made a half-template to use for the neck pocket routing.  I used the original body to mark the neck hole positions on the MDF, drilled them, then light screwed the neck to the MDF then trace round the neck shape with a pencil:

 

5 minutes with a jig saw and some medium files and I had the routing template:

Using the top-bearing trimmer again, but this time needing a spacer for the template (I don't have a short routing bit!) routed to within a mm or so of the finished depth.  I will finish the last half mm or so of pocket depth by hand - there's too much that can go wrong too quickly with routers for my liking!

Here's the body so far:

... it fits!    

Andy

stonevibe

Looks cracking!

I've been looking for replacement body for my Peavey EVH and this is fantastic. I haven't got the space for tools at mine or I'd have a go at this myself.

Deadman

Sheesh. Unbelievable display of skill there. Bravo.

nutbox

This is looking very cool Andy ,following with interest. Are you binding as well? Cheers dazz

Andyjr1515

Thanks, folks!  

Yup, Dazz - I will be binding it.  I think it is part of the look of this design.  Probably a light wood (the walnut will darken when it's oiled).

The chap I'm doing it for is undecided whether or not he wants a carve on the top.  I hope he does go for it - I think the carved EVH's have just that little more about them than the flat-topped ones, although they are both pretty cool... 

nutbox

Cool ,I do like a carved top ,what do you use to carve the top?

Andyjr1515

nutbox said:

Cool ,I do like a carved top ,what do you use to carve the top?

It depends what depth of carve. This would be a very light carve so I would probably just use a block plane and scrapers.

nutbox

Cool,ever gone the grinder root?