abw1989 makes a Jazzmonster - Completed!

abw1989

Some good progress made today. All of the routing and drilling is now complete:



I made my own templates and routed out for basically a Les Paul control cavity. Two humbucker routes on the top side:



I used an auger bit to drill the output jack hole:



I then took onboard @MLten80 's advice of a 'long ass drill' to run the wiring channels. Absolute bargain, £2 from Toolstation in a range of sizes. You'll also notice my incredibly high tech method of keeping the drill level so ensure I didn't go through the top or bottom of the body:





I drilled the holes for the bridge ground and neck pick up to pick up selector separately. I'm now getting everything dry fit and will probably get it all wired up to check how it plays before committing to getting it finished:

mart

Looking good!

Winny_Pooh

On it's way! I'd also run a round over bit along the top so you have a clean radius.

I recommend some grain filler later as that sapele will be quite porous. I used some on a project and even with a slurry oil finish it sank in alot.

abw1989

@Winny_Pooh I've been around with a 6mm round over back and top, I might need to blend it into the body contours a bit though I agree.

I had already thought I would need grain filler and will probably be getting a can of that along with sanding sealer, black nitro and gloss from @SteveRobinson , most people seem to highly rate his products! That or farm it out to one of the talented finishers on the forum.

SteveRobinson

Thank you. Just to say that black is probably one of the hardest colours as it shows every imperfection. If you choose black be sure to sand and fill perfectly!

abw1989

Okay, all done bar some sort of finish!

I got this wired up over the weekend and I think it's great, definitely a different sound than any of my other guitars, especially with the P90 in the neck. One thing I had not accounted for is weight, loading with electrics (albeit without a finish) this comes in at 9lb 11oz!!

Seeing it all dry fitted now, I am verging to towards some sort of natural finish, any body have any experiences with Tru-Oil?





 

mart

Looks great! But at 9lb 11oz I’d be tempted to finish it in helium.

Teyeplayer

Tru oil is very easy to do and you have a greater margin for fixing any problems that occur along the way. When I finished some sapele in it, I grain filled with rustins mahogany grain filler - it gave a great red-brown hue to the pores and made the layers of tru oil sit more easily.

abw1989

@Teyeplayer thanks for that. I was wondering if I'd need to grain fill or not but that has pretty much told me. I'm just wondering if it would be be worth staining the plugs I used to plug the holes from where I positioned the tailpiece incorrectly.

abw1989

The finish has started!

Done in primer so far ready for gloss black. In the end I gave it to a local sprayer @EMHCustom ;



Also got a headstock decal from Rothko and Frost:



I've swapped out the monster for meister because German words amuse me although in my haste I forgot to specify capitals letters for the meister part, oops.

abw1989

Body colour has started to go on, a clear gloss will go on after this:





Headstock has also been finished in black and the logos applied:

abw1989

Gloss applied, fine sanding and polishing to go:

abw1989

Body all sanded and polished:

abw1989

The finish is finished, final assembly is coming along nicely!

Decided against the JB in the bridge, hence the gap, and I'm going to go for another HB sized P90. I have more than enough humbucker equipped guitars!

Winny_Pooh

Looking great, headstock came out brill

abw1989

And finally finished!

eviljoe

Awesome, good job!

Came here looking for inspiration to make my own guitar body- great to see what you've been through with this one. Looks like it came good in the end :-)