Finished Shots - Trini Lopez 335 ish Tribute

Andyjr1515

WezV said:

That's very fancy.

Thanks, Wez 

DartmoorHedgehog

That's looking really good.

Andyjr1515

DartmoorHedgehog said:

That's looking really good.

Thanks, @DartmoorHedgehog .  I'm jolly pleased with it so far

paulnb57

Andyjr1515 said:

DartmoorHedgehog said:

That's looking really good.

Thanks, @DartmoorHedgehog .  I'm jolly pleased with it so far

And so you should be, its fabulous!

Andyjr1515

paulnb57 said:

Andyjr1515 said:

DartmoorHedgehog said:

That's looking really good.

Thanks, @DartmoorHedgehog .  I'm jolly pleased with it so far

And so you should be, its fabulous!

Thanks, Paul.  Much appreciated

Andyjr1515

For the back binding, I will be trying to reflect the look of the top edge.  First, I cut some strips of maple, wet them and bent them on the acoustic guitar side bending iron:


I will leave the strips taped in place until they fully dry - this helps resist the tendency for the curves to soften as they dry:


Next job will be to glue them in place (I will iron them on because I'm a bit weird like that ) and then bend and fit ebony strip to complete the binding:

Andyjr1515

Andyjr1515 said:

I will iron them on because I'm a bit weird like that 

And this is where I have to remind folks, especially ones on the steep learning curve of building basses and guitars: on these build threads, Andyjr1515 is happy to show what he does and why...but NEVER assume this is how it should be done

Iron the bindings on?  Iron the bindings on??!!

Yup - that is how I do it nowadays.

Why?  Because with an acoustic build (I've done 5 so far) the most traumatic part, in my view, is fitting wood bindings.  Why?  Because: it is the very last thing you do before fitting the neck; the 'traditional' methods are, in my view, hit and miss; you can't see if it's gap free until the following day; if there are indeed, gaps when you unwrap it all the following day, that's a BAD day!

I, on the other hand, like something that is correct before your eyes and fixable immediately if it isn't.  It's basically the same way that I (and many other builders) apply veneer to bodies.

Like all methods, there are tricks and techniques but, in essence:

And for folk who skip-read - do re-read the first paragraph reminder and also note this method can not be used for plastic binding!! 

- I use a decent PVA wood glue (my PVA of choice is the green bottle Evostic 'ResinW' Wood Glue) and coat the mating surfaces of both components with a complete but thin layer of glue.


- I let both components dry fully (30 minutes or so)

- I then get a hot dry iron (I use a cheap travel iron from Amazon...any iron will do but be aware that you do tend to get melted PVA glue on the sole.  Be warned if you are thinking, 'oh..we've got an iron in the house'    )


- The two components can be positioned because the glue surfaces are dry

- I then iron the two components together a few cm at a time - the heat melts the glue, which homogenises and then sets again when it cools.  While it's cooling, I hold the joint tight (with a cloth or gloves...it'll be hot) for 10-15 seconds, check there are no gaps and then move on to the next few cm


- if there's a gap, I can sort it there and then, so I don't end up with the equivalent of a cumulative binding 'bubble'.  I just reheat, which remelts the glue, reposition, hold until it's cooled enough to grab, recheck, move on

- and that's it, done.  It's an instant joint.  I could take this straight down to the workshop and scrape it flush:


And it's repeatable.  If I saw, once it was cleaned up, that there was a slight gap, I could just re-iron that bit, hold it down for a few seconds and, hey presto, gap gone

Just got the two sides to do the same way and then I can start bending the ebony strip to do the same thing on that.

meltedbuzzbox

I bet my name was cursed once or twice today!

Looking great as always Andy. 

Andyjr1515

meltedbuzzbox said:

I bet my name was cursed once or twice today!

No, no...not at all. 

Just the once. 






Actually, not at all.  In many ways, this is an easier way of doing it than the ready-striped binding.  I'll probably do this again in the future

Milk

This build so far is already looking stunning and I can only imagine what the finished product will be like.

as someone who wants to try something like this but no space or skills I’m in awe of this 

Andyjr1515

Milk said:

This build so far is already looking stunning and I can only imagine what the finished product will be like.

as someone who wants to try something like this but no space or skills I’m in awe of this 

Thanks!

Never let space or skills stop you  

I still don't have much space but many of my early builds were done on a Workmate and not much else!

And most of my 'skills' have been gleaned bit by bit from the clever folks round here 

Andyjr1515

I have some Rocklite ebano strip, which I think is great for fretboard binding, but I've found is actually quite difficult to bend for an acoustic or semi because the fibres are quite short and it tends to 'spiny norman' round the curves.  So, for this, I found a length of offcut from a bass fretboard and cut some 1.5mm strips from it.  It's still a challenge to bend, but with care it ended up, in my view, a better result. 

So the process was the same as with the maple bindings above; I soaked it; then bent the first piece on the bending iron; glued the channel and ebony; let it dry; then ironed it on.

Looks OK.  Just got to do the same now with the other side and the two cutaways   :


And once they are on, I can sand all the edges flush with the sides...and then move on to the pickup chambers...and then finishing and fitting the fretboard 

PhilKing

The binding looks amazing Andy (as does the guitar).

Andyjr1515

PhilKing said:

The binding looks amazing Andy (as does the guitar).

Thanks!

I've still got all the tidying up of the edges to do, but the basic binding is finished:




Next up is routing out the pickup chambers...

Deadman

At the fear of sounding gushy, that’s the most amazingly designed guitar I think I’ve ever seen. I can’t even begin to imagine how it’ll look on completion.

Andyjr1515

Deadman said:

At the fear of sounding gushy, that’s the most amazingly designed guitar I think I’ve ever seen. I can’t even begin to imagine how it’ll look on completion.

I never complain about a bit of gush

That said, I can only take an amount of the credit because the concept, and a number of the visual features, are very much @meltedbuzzbox's ;    Mind you, I bet he doesn't mind a bit of a gush either!

I have to say, I'm quite excited how this might turn out.  Let's hope I don't mess it up!

Andyjr1515

And so to the pickup chambers - and another area where my approach is slightly off centre.  Why?  Because I hate routers.  But pickup chambers is one of the tasks where not using a router at all is a long and difficult progress.

Why do I hate them?  Because they are capable of ruining a body or neck in seconds.  And they are, in my view, possibly the most dangerous of any of the power tools we guitar builders are likely to use.  And I'm rubbish at using templates

So yes, I do use routers, but only where really necessary and only where I can minimise the possibility of error or amputation

And so, repeating what I've said in the past, this is how I personally go about it, but please don't assume this is the way it should be done.

First job I do, of course, is carefully mark out the positions.  I then drill all of the external radii.  The Mojo Wide Range pickups have a narrow pair of fixing tabs and  @meltedbuzzbox ;; has asked what it would look like if we didn't use pickup rings (which would need to be custom in any case) but, instead, have them solid mounted a bit like P90's.  As such, I've added the drill holes for the where the tab ends sit :
   

Next, I use decent Forstner bits to rough out up to the pencil lines.  Normally, I would use my little (but excellent) Proxxon drill-press...but it just doesn't have the reach for such a large guitar - so this stage needed to be hand drilled:


I drilled to around 5mm of the planned chamber depth.  Here, by the way, a call for the Fisch Wave Forstners - they are VERY expensive (but I only regularly use around 3 sizes), but they are so,so,so, much better than any other Forstners (including the Fisch standard ones, which are pretty good in any case) that I've personally used.

This here, is a single continuous swarf strip - and remember it's a multi-laminated neck - from the complete 20mm hand-drilled hole:


Stretched out (couldn't stretch it and hold the camera at the same time!) it was over a foot long!!

Anyway, back to the job.  I then use some super-sharp chisels and mallet to bring the edge to the pencil line and remove the peaks in between the Forstner holes down 5mm or so from the top:


And then - but only then - I am happy to use a top-bearing trimmer bit in the router to clean up the sides of the chamber and bring it to final depth.  The router bit is now fully captive and, in this position, cannot cut any wood or appendages I'm not intending to cut (as long as I let the bit fully stop before lifting it out of the chamber   :


And, subject to a final chisel and sand-paper tidy-up, one fitted chamber:




It's up to @meltedbuzzbox whether he wants some thin ebony rings to hide the tab slots or not, but it would look perfectly fine as it is.  Nice choice to have 

Andyjr1515

And so, all going well, this week should see the fretboard tapered, fretted, glued, neck tapered and headstock shaped.

For the fretboard, @meltedbuzzbox is opting for no binding and a veneer pinstripe - this kind of thing:



That all done, then that will leave just the neck profile to do (subtle hint to @meltedbuzzbox for the profile tracings and sizes taken from his favourite neck   ) and the build itself will be essentially finished. 

And after that, the finishing can start...and that's where the magic really starts with nice woods like these

Lebarque

Re. the finish, I reckon just satin oil would look banging. The wood is striking as it is - if you make the colours and grain 'pop' even further, it might be too much. Such a lovely looking thing. Can you make me one please?!

meltedbuzzbox

Subtle reminder noted.
First thing in the morning I will open your instructions of doom and follow them