Now Complete! First guitar build project underway - project diary

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the_jaffathe_jaffa Frets: 1778
edited August 2016 in Making & Modding
My plan is to build a replica of this:

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It's the custom guitar built for John Squire in 1990 by Stuart Palmer.  I've liked this guitar since I first saw a picture of John playing it at Spike Island.  I even had a picture of him playing it during the One Love video on one of my folders at school.

At the time I thought it was just a normal Jaguar but realised some time ago that there was more to it.

Bit more research and I figured out that it is a custom body shape with a mixture of Jaguar and Strat hardware which I thought was built on to a Jazz bass body.  Earlier this year though, when I bought my Country Gent, I ended up chatting with Stuart Palmer about it and he explained that it was actually a hybrid of a Jag and a Strat body, an idea that John came up with.

Anyway, after a fair bit of question asking on here and searching the web I've started the process.

After a tip off from @Tim on here I found some plans in pdf that I could base the body off.  An architect friend of mine printed them out for me this week and I've just been cutting and shutting them to make the paper template.  And here it is:

First took the printed plans and trimmed out the bits needed (the main body plan is actually a Jazzmaster but will be fine for me) and with some use of French curves I've now got a paper body outline:

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And with the two bits stuck together:

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I've got a Jaguar that I am going to take the neck and some fittings from and also a Strat and from these two I have taken a load of measurements in order to get the trem in the right place for the shorter scale length of the Jag.  My plan at the moment is to go with a Wudtone vintage trem and a pair of @theguitarweasel's finest humbuckers.

We'll see how things pan out
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Comments

  • the_jaffathe_jaffa Frets: 1778
    Next stage is to start making the mdf router templates.  I reckon this could be quite a long process to get them absolutely spot on but I figure time getting them right is going to be easier and cheaper than doing it on the proper body.

    For the body, I am planning to use Alder.  Probably a two piece.
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  • impmannimpmann Frets: 12645
    Cool project.

    From what I've read the original is somewhere between chuffing and flipping heavy, so choose the woods wisely.

    I thought it had a Strat/Jazzmaster neck on the original - full scale length, not the Jag's shorter scale? I could be wrong though!

    Never Ever Bloody Anything Ever.

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  • the_jaffathe_jaffa Frets: 1778
    edited December 2015
    Cheers.

    Yeah, I've read that about the weight too.  I think that alder should be fairly sensible really but very welcome to advice on that.  I suppose that having a strat trem whilst leaving the Jag trem there too will add to the weight but shouldn't be too bad.

    From the chat I had with Stuart and the details on The Squire Files page it was definitely a Jaguar neck.  Decal on this pic of the other one he had built would seem to confirm too:


    I like the feel of a Jag as well so shall go with that.
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  • JayceeJaycee Frets: 287
    the_jaffa said:
    Next stage is to start making the mdf router templates.  I reckon this could be quite a long process to get them absolutely spot on but I figure time getting them right is going to be easier and cheaper than doing it on the proper body.
    I was just going to make the same point. don't be in a rush to cut the body blank before you are 100% happy with the templates.
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  • the_jaffathe_jaffa Frets: 1778
    Well, finally got a chance to spend some time in the garage yesterday and managed to translate my paper template into the first three mdf templates.  All went pretty well.  Firstly using a jigsaw to cut the outline on the first mdf sheet then finessing that with a mix of files and sandpaper.

    From here, I used that to route out the second sheet, finessed that slightly the routed a third one each time getting a neater shape and squarer sides.

    Next step now is to make sure this one is spot on and then route from that to make front and rear templates and then get a nice piece of alder to make the actual body from.

    All good fun

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  • I really like this idea. I will be keeping an eye on this thread
    :-)


    The Bigsby was the first successful design of what is now called a whammy bar or tremolo arm, although vibrato is the technically correct term for the musical effect it produces. In standard usage, tremolo is a rapid fluctuation of the volume of a note, while vibrato is a fluctuation in pitch. The origin of this nonstandard usage of the term by electric guitarists is attributed to Leo Fender, who also used the term “vibrato” to refer to what is really a tremolo effect.
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  • the_jaffathe_jaffa Frets: 1778
    Cheers, might all be a bit slow as I'm finding my way with it all but I'll keep updating when stuff does happen
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  • RolandRoland Frets: 8590
    That looks a bit clean and tidy for a workshop
    Tree recycler, and guitarist with  https://www.undercoversband.com/.
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  • the_jaffathe_jaffa Frets: 1778
    Oh, it definitely had its moments yesterday. Mixture of jigsaw and router with MDF made a lot of dust
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  • SambostarSambostar Frets: 8745
    Watch that, it's the new asbestos.
    Backdoor Children Of The Sock
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  • the_jaffathe_jaffa Frets: 1778
    Yup, nasty stuff.  I was wearing one of these pretty much all day yesterday:

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  • thermionicthermionic Frets: 9499
    WOWed, partly because I haven't seen French Curves since my O-level in Engineering Drawing, 1985.

    Interesting that he kept the Jaguar trem. I suppose it would look wrong without it.
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  • the_jaffathe_jaffa Frets: 1778
    Throwback to my days as a draughtsman.

    The Jag trem is completely redundant but does add to the look of the guitar. I reckon there would be too much plain body without it and it would look a bit weird.
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  • Andyjr1515Andyjr1515 Frets: 3127
    Great project, @the_jaffa . I like this kind of thing :). Watching with much interest
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  • the_jaffathe_jaffa Frets: 1778
    Just been having some fun mocking up the new guitar layout and sketching it on to the template:

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    I really want to get going with this but need to get myself some proper alder for it. Got to be patient.
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  • the_jaffathe_jaffa Frets: 1778
    Well, I now have wood!

    Picked up a couple of lovely pieces of alder from exotichardwoodsukltd.com today.  They're not too far away from here so I popped over and chose my pieces. The proper fun can now commence.

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  • the_jaffathe_jaffa Frets: 1778
    edited February 2016
    I have now got the two pieces of alder jointed, glued and planed to thickness so pretty much all good to go there. I've also just been sorting out the layout of the top routing template. Been a fun combination of imperial and metric measurements to get it all right and with added complication from using a strat trem on a Jaguar scale length.

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    Getting the neck pocket template took most of an afternoon in the garage with the router, jigsaw, some files and abrasives. Got it spot on now though but that is a separate piece of MDF
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  • the_jaffathe_jaffa Frets: 1778
    Another template update for the project diary:

    Been out routing the top template for the final cuts. Now got a template ready that has the neck pocket; pickup and control route and the trem and extra trem holes sorted. All in their correct places in relation to each other and properly centred and aligned.

    Means I am just about ready to move on to actual wood rather than MDF which is a good thing as I am getting a bit fed up of MDF dust everywhere.

    Pic here of final check of the neck pocket alignment before routing that into the template:

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  • Andyjr1515Andyjr1515 Frets: 3127
    Getting the templates right always takes a lot of time, but saves masses of time in the long run. This is looking very good :)
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  • the_jaffathe_jaffa Frets: 1778
    Cheers. I'm definitely making a lot of dust getting the templates right but firmly of the opinion that making mistakes and learning is much better done in cheap and replaceable MDF rather than the alder.

    Excited but also a little apprehensive about getting stuck into the proper wood though. Going to be a little nerve wracking.
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