What TTony did next

TTony

After the successful (!) completion of my C1'20 challenge ... what to do next?

Here's a clue ...


Can you see what it is yet?

TTony

Bit of a clue - the timber is American White Ash, and that particular piece was what was left after I made some worktop and then cut a chunk out to fit a Belfast sink into ...

First job; new Bandsaw blade.  I'm going to be working on some heavy and thick wood, so here's a blade made for working on heavy and thick wood.



Apply blade to wood



Apply same blade to a different offcut of the same wood and I've now got a body and neck blank.



Neck is planed and thicknessed.

TTony

Body now bobbin-sanded - nice smooth outline - and marked out for the next stage ...



And here's the next stage



And the next stage just about done ...

TTony

Neck needs a headstock, so glue on some wings



Body needs a top cover, so find some nice old bi-colour Ash, and prep that


And neck needs a fretboard


I cut that from a block of beautiful maple that I've had lying around for 10+ years.  Originally bought from the US (when the exchange rate was better!).  In some ways it's a bit daft using it for this build, but then why not.

More sanding to be done, but getting there;


Not a bad day's work 
 

PeteC

Brilliant update !   Looking forward to seeing more.   

TTony

PeteC said:

Brilliant update !   Looking forward to seeing more.   

I was inspired by the accuracy and attention to detail of your builds.

Inspired to see just how far in the opposite direction I could go!


I'd originally wanted to have a go at doing it start-to-finish in a day, but I had various delays along the way, so that's not going to be possible.  I reckon it's do-able in two days though.

MattNovak

Brilliant! The world needs more Firebirds! Judging by the routing you're going fully hollow? That'll be unique. Following with interest and envy

paulnb57

Great start Tony, watching with interest, you could have used the gearless tuners on it!...

TTony

MattNovak said:

Brilliant! The world needs more Firebirds! Judging by the routing you're going fully hollow? That'll be unique. Following with interest and envy

*You* @MattNovak  ; are building a (proper) Firebird ... and it's looking like a fine job too.

Mine is more Firebirdesque.   

Or "in the style of a Firebird".   

Or perhaps "influenced by a Firebird".

Or possibly, just "vaguely reminiscent of a Firebird".

paulnb57 said:

Great start Tony, watching with interest, you could have used the gearless tuners on it!...

I wouldn't have needed them all @paulnb57 ;


Also, prompted to get on and do this after a conversation involving @Roland at the GuitarShow yesterday.


TTony said:
Can you see what it is yet?

paulnb57

TTony said:

Can you see what it is yet?

OMG its a UKE!....?

TTony

Nul points.

CeeJay

TTony

I’ve already got a bass @CeeJay.

Surely no-one needs more than one bass?

guitargeek62

Hmm, judging by the size I’m tempted to say it’s a rather elaborate keyring...

the_jaffa

Firebird inspired Mandolin?

PeteC

Yes , I'm thinking Firebird-esque Mandolin too.....

PeteC

..unless you have some huge forester bits for hogging out ! 

Jalapeno

TTony said:

<a lot of pics>

Crikey, you are cracking on at a fair old lick !

Roland

You can get a lot done when you’re not working for a living

TTony

Not had a lot of workshop time today, but enough to get the fretboard slotted, after a bit more sanding.

Even after quite a lot  of a bit more sanding, there was still a mark left from the bandsawing.  Quite a deep blade mark in the middle of the board.  Bugger.  Of course, to get rid of that tiny mark, I'd have to sand the *whole* board down to the level of the mark.

Unless ... the position of the saw blade mark just happened to co-incide with the location of a fret slot




(In the photo above, the saw blade mark is where the pencil line is, about 0.5mm to the left of the where the fret saw will cut).

Well, that was lucky .... or precisely measured



Board slotted



Headstock roughly cut to shape now, and the cap is also roughly cut to shape.



I've got an old Gibson P100 that no-one seems to want, so I'm tempted to use it here.

It does - just about - fit.

TTony

guitargeek62 said:

Hmm, judging by the size I’m tempted to say it’s a rather elaborate keyring...

Hmm, No.

the_jaffa said:

Firebird inspired Mandolin?

PeteC said:

Yes , I'm thinking Firebird-esque Mandolin too.....

And more nul points awarded

Roland said:

You can get a lot done when you’re not working for a living

I'm just "resting".

@Roland - if you think back to our conversation on Sunday, and who that conversation involved at one point, you should be able to guess!

This build isn't quite true to the original ethos, but it *is* built from scrap, leftovers and (the P100) unwanted bits that were lying around ...