Waiting for the snow to melt.

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AustrianJohnAustrianJohn Frets: 1666
edited February 2017 in Making & Modding

During the winter my guitar building activities go into hibernation as the temperature in my workshop drops below zero. But that doesn’t stop me planning my first build of the spring – actually a rebuild (actually a rerebuild).

My very first guitar build was a Harley Benton Tele kit, which turned into a very nice guitar – despite its €68 price tag and my lack of guitar building skills.


A while later I was planning a Strat build for my brother, and he was considering going for a John Mayer relic finish. I had no idea if I could do that, and I'd planned to rebuild the Tele with new electrics anyway, so I did a relic job at the same time.
 
I still enjoy playing that guitar, but I’m not crazy about the finish, and then I saw the stunning job that @PVO_Dave had done on his Tele (left below).

 
I really like Korina, and I had a good success with a Korina top on a Strat build (above right), so I was inspired by Dave's build to do something similar, but with a Korina top. 

  

I hope that by trimming the join in the middle and using the full width of the wood, the lighter piece of wood in the middle will look like a bit like a neck through. The planned guitar layout is this (above right).

Putting a Korina top on the Strat was fine, as I built that from scratch, but putting a top on the Tele is more complicated as (a) the edges are rolled, and (b) the top will change the height of the bridge relative to the neck. So what I’d like to do is reduce the thickness of the Tele body by the thickness of the top (8mm).

My band saw isn’t big enough to handle a guitar body, so I thought of building a jig to rout sufficient wood off the top of the body. Is this a crazy idea? Any other suggestions?

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Comments

  • paulnb57paulnb57 Frets: 3044
    Thats what I would attempt and build a router sled....
    Stranger from another planet welcome to our hole - Just strap on your guitar and we'll play some rock 'n' roll

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  • paulnb57 said:
    Thats what I would attempt and build a router sled....
    Hi Paul, Thanks for that. I knew there would be a term for what I wanted, but couldn't find it. Coincidentally, the single coil pickups are the ones you exchanged for the Framus.
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  • paulnb57paulnb57 Frets: 3044
    Cool! I built a router sled as a bit of an experiment, used an offcut of kitchen worktop for the base as it is quite thick, flat and cheap, rails that the sled runs on are a couple of lengths of alloy box section, that was in the shed, the sled was thick plywood with the router screwed to it, there are loads of sled building vids on the Tube, it works ok as long as you take small cuts and is a reasonable budget solution....
    Stranger from another planet welcome to our hole - Just strap on your guitar and we'll play some rock 'n' roll

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  • PVO_DavePVO_Dave Frets: 2364
    Glad to be of inspiration - best of luck with the build, the korina looks great! :)
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  • AustrianJohnAustrianJohn Frets: 1666
    Well, the snow hasn't all melted, but the weather is turning mild so I made a start to the project this morning. The easy bit was dismantling the guitar. (Anyone want to buy a pair of Iron Gear Steel Foundery pickups?)



    Router sled is designed and I've layed everything out on the base and sled and it seems to work, so I'll visit our local DIY store tomorrow to get some 10mm plywood - shops don't open on Sunday in Austria.



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  • RolandRoland Frets: 8590
    What are you making the side rails of the sled from? If they are too thin or flexible then the sled can sag in the middle under the weight of the router, and cut deeper than you expect.
    Tree recycler, and guitarist with  https://www.undercoversband.com/.
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  • AustrianJohnAustrianJohn Frets: 1666
    Roland said:
    What are you making the side rails of the sled from? If they are too thin or flexible then the sled can sag in the middle under the weight of the router, and cut deeper than you expect.
    Good thought. I plan to use wood - I'll see what's available at the shop, but something like 20 mm wide and 50 mm high. I think a 10 mm thick sled should be ok. I did a trial run with 5mm plywood I had lying around, but that would certainly sag with the weight of the router.
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  • AustrianJohnAustrianJohn Frets: 1666
    Router sled is now complete (although this picture was taken before I routed the hole in the bottom of the sled).



    Before and after...

     



    It went surprisingly well, given that my router and I don't have a great history of successful projects together.
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  • paulnb57paulnb57 Frets: 3044
    Looks bloody good to me.....
    Stranger from another planet welcome to our hole - Just strap on your guitar and we'll play some rock 'n' roll

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  • AustrianJohnAustrianJohn Frets: 1666
    edited March 2017
    After a couple of hours skiing on good snow, I headed home as it turned slushy. Just time to rout the swimming pool and control cavities.I try to limit power tool use to about an hour a day as I don't want to upset our neighbours, so sanding the body will have to wait for another day.



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  • AustrianJohnAustrianJohn Frets: 1666
    Body sanded and shielding paint applied to the cavity.



    Top has been trimmed to size and glued.


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  • AustrianJohnAustrianJohn Frets: 1666
    Top is attached and trimmed, and I've started work on the arm relief. Haven't decided whether to stain it first or just Tru oil it. What do you think?

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  • SeshSesh Frets: 1839
    It looks amazing as it is. 
    Can't sing, can't dance, can handle a guitar a little.
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  • nick_snick_s Frets: 138
    Very nice indeed.  I'd perhaps try dampening the top with plain old water to see what it looks like as it will be indicative of an oiled surface.  If happy oil away, if not, try a little stain on some of the korina offcuts :)
    - Shine On You Crazy Diamond -
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  • olafgartenolafgarten Frets: 1648
    Stain it light blue!
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  • AustrianJohnAustrianJohn Frets: 1666
    I tried the water thing and it looks good. Main thing I was looking for was different colours in the centre and towards the edges, which is there. Sorry @olafgarten, but I'm too much of a fan of natural wood to stain it blue, although I did use a washed blue stain on a Les Paul kit build a while back.


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  • AustrianJohnAustrianJohn Frets: 1666
    Pickup holes routed, control holes drilled, body sanded and first coat of Tru Oil applied.


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  • RolandRoland Frets: 8590
    This is looking interesting. I like the control layout and pickup configuration.
    Tree recycler, and guitarist with  https://www.undercoversband.com/.
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  • AustrianJohnAustrianJohn Frets: 1666
    edited March 2017
    Switch configuration will be volume, 5 way selector and tone. Not yet decided exactly how it will be wired, but one of the five switch positions will include a single coil of the humbucker.
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  • AustrianJohnAustrianJohn Frets: 1666


    Our band is playing a few numbers at a local jam session on Friday, so I wanted to finish this build so I could show it off.

    I'm very pleased with the result, which not only looks good but plays great and sound fantastic. Pickups are all Bare Knuckle. Two Sultans (thanks, @paulnb57) and a Stormy Monday. All I need to do now is learn to play blues properly.

    Here are my two Korina topped builds - probably time to try a different wood next time.


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