Finished Pics! SG-style in Yew

Andyjr1515

It didn't take terribly long to cut but - because this incorporates the neck angle which means you need to know exactly where the body is going to join - it took an age to draw, calculate, check, recheck and check again!

But the side profile of the neck blank is cut:


And, heck, let's have the first mock-up

paulnb57

This is going to be nice!

Andyjr1515

paulnb57 said:

This is going to be nice!

Thanks, Paul.  I'm hoping so...


Like all of these kinds of builds, I've been in close contact with Matt (in fact, he may well be following this thread) with the inevitable questions of does he want this or that of the various options you have with a custom job.  

Now and again, I also make suggestions based on trying to get the best playing guitar I can.  And with the SG, there are - as we all know - certain things that could be improved upon.  One of those, in my view, is the tendency for neck dive.  And that is impacted on by where the neck meets the body (generally 22nd fret!), the short horns and where the strap button basically has to be (which is too far back).  

So, with Matt's OK, I've brought the whole neck (and therefore bridge) back a couple of frets-worth - about 20mm.  It's not a lot - not enough to make a tangible difference to the look - but enough to help, with lightweight tuners, etc, - tame that particular issue.

The other thing I will be doing is slotting the fretboard for 24-frets.  If it doesn't look right (sometimes you have to see it before you can judge), nothing lost - in that event, before I glue it on, I would just cut it off after the 22nd.

So far so good  - but still plenty of time to muck it up  

Kittyfrisk

shaunyshaun1234 said:

Andyjr1515 said:

It's been a productive day.  Amazing how much you can get done when you are ordered by your Prime Minister to stay at home.  And it's amazing how much you can procrastinate about the decorating when you know you probably have thirteen more weeks of the same (so its rumoured) with a guaranteed no-one coming to visit in that time for any other reason than one where the decorating won't really matter anyway...

Got the Yew and Sapele to their final thicknesses, the Yew cut out and also found a 6mm splice of Purpleheart for the neck!


Here's the Yew, ready for final jointing (that will be just a skim on the handplane) and gluing together:


Those who have seen my previous build threads will know that I'm a bit weird in that I will file and sand the top to its final outline and use the top itself as my routing template for the body once it has been glued on.  

My logic (and remember I simply tell you what I do and absolutely not that this is how it should be done) is that way, for the finish rout of the body outline, I don't then have to let the router blades go anywhere near those decorative horn tips because - for me, at least - that is the road to misery


Tomorrow's job will be to assemble and glue the neck blank...

Lord above!! That's going to look stunning!

Funny you should say that...
I can see a bearded deity on the left looking up, with a black hole behind.
This lockdown lark is messing with my head, man.

Beautiful wood & work @Andyjr1515 ;  

normula1

If you've moved the neck in a bit, you could put the neck pickup in the "proper" place at the end of the fingerboard so it sounds right

Andyjr1515

normula1 said:

If you've moved the neck in a bit, you could put the neck pickup in the "proper" place at the end of the fingerboard so it sounds right

Yes - I was thinking similar thoughts

Andyjr1515

Kittyfrisk said:
Funny you should say that...

I can see a bearded deity on the left looking up, with a black hole behind.
This lockdown lark is messing with my head, man.

Beautiful wood & work @Andyjr1515 ;  

Well, @Kittyfrisk - it's one way of getting priority medical treatment.  Clearly, cabin fever has hit you hard!


I mean, it's plain to anyone that it's a nicely coiffured wild boar just about to  explore a giant wormhole....

Kittyfrisk

Well, I never 

Roland

Andyjr1515 said:

The other thing I will be doing is slotting the fretboard for 24-frets.  If it doesn't look right (sometimes you have to see it before you can judge), nothing lost - in that event, before I glue it on, I would just cut it off after the 22nd.

I love these journey’s of exploration. Neck dive is a fundamental problem with the SG. I’m pleased to see any design adjustment which improves the playability. What I really like is your risk management: “I’ll just try this, and there’s a way out if it doesn’t work”.

WezV

24 frets on an SG looks more right than the standard design,  with that random gap they fill with bits of plastic


A Gibson 24fret SG

https://i.imgur.com/xxYxKdV.jpg

And one I made

https://i.imgur.com/gRosfCD.jpg

Andyjr1515

WezV said:

24 frets on an SG looks more right than the standard design,  with that random gap they fill with bits of plastic

Yes - that's my hunch too.  Thanks @WezV ;.  

The bit that I'm less sure about is whether me having moved the fretboard an inch further towards the tailstock then starts making it look a little busy.  But as I say, I generally fit the fretboard after the neck, back and top are assembled so I can see what it looks like and, if it still looks good, stick with it  

WezV

I added examples.   I think most would hardly notice the fact the fretboard  gets closer to the neck pickup

Andyjr1515

WezV said:

I added examples.   I think most would hardly notice the fact the fretboard  gets closer to the neck pickup

Great info, @WezV ;.  And I think you're right.  Thanks again.

TTony

While you’re doing the proper design job that should have been done by whoever half-designed the SG originally ... could you sort out that crammed together cluster of knobs, jack socket & toggle switch that are obviously all too close together?

PhilKing

Here's the @WezV SG now, since it was "John Birch"ified (it was always meant to be like a JB SG).  The 24 fret neck through balances really nicely, though it does have a sunken Dunlop strap lock socket in the top horn.

Andyjr1515

TTony said:

While you’re doing the proper design job that should have been done by whoever half-designed the SG originally ... could you sort out that crammed together cluster of knobs, jack socket & toggle switch that are obviously all too close together?

I need to check with Matt, but yes, it's on the list

Andyjr1515

PhilKing said:

Here's the @WezV SG now, since it was "John Birch"ified (it was always meant to be like a JB SG).  The 24 fret neck through balances really nicely, though it does have a sunken Dunlop strap lock socket in the top horn.

Looks very nice

Andyjr1515

Lots of squaring up, etc, today.  This is clearly essential because the neck squareness will affect the squareness of the top, which will, in turn, affect the fit of the back wings.

Again, I find a hand plane as good as anything to take teeny amounts off the main faces to ensure they are completely square to each other:



Once that was done, I needed to pop a 0.5mm extra depth in the trussrod slot.

Then I was able to cut my notch in the neck blank for the top to slot into:


So basically, the top of the notched face (incorporating the neck angle) will sit flush with the two rear wings:



And then the joined yew top will lie on top of that, leaving the top face flush with the top of the neck.

And, talking of the yew top, I also squared up the gluing joints of that - and it's glued and clamped as I type



And that means that the main components are getting close to assembly  

Andyjr1515

And early mock-up 2

Roland

Looking good. Promise me you won’t paint it?