Finished! Final Pics! Walnut re-body of Peavey EVH

Andyjr1515

nutbox said:

Cool,ever gone the grinder root?

Not grinder, but certainly rasp files, chisels and sometimes even contour routing for the deeper carves 

Megii

That walnut is going to be a total wow when finished - I think the light carve would be just about perfect as well, so I am also hoping the client goes for that (but no pressure if you're reading mate!). Enjoying this one Andy.

Andyjr1515

Megii said:

That walnut is going to be a total wow when finished - I think the light carve would be just about perfect as well, so I am also hoping the client goes for that (but no pressure if you're reading mate!). Enjoying this one Andy.

Thanks, @Megii ;

I've ordered the P90s from Allan at Catswhisker - going for the 'boost' coil option for the bridge matched with a RWRP neck, both Alnico5.  I've also ordered some holly for the binding...looking forward to seeing that - I think the cream/white of it will contrast well with what will be a relatively dark walnut once it's had the finish applied.

I've also ordered an electric bender for those of you who remember my gas-burner, jacket-incinerating, home-made bending pipe  

)  The logic is that it might accelerate enthusiasm for a second acoustic build - or even a carved-top semi - sometime in the future...

Hertz32

@Andyjr1515 if you are thinking about an acoustic build in the future, I may have an idea for the future. Speculative PM incoming...

Andyjr1515

Hertz32 said:

@Andyjr1515 if you are thinking about an acoustic build in the future, I may have an idea for the future. Speculative PM incoming...

Interesting thought, @Hertz32.  PM returned 

10thumbs

Loving this build , gonna look amazing.

Andyjr1515

Thanks for the kind words, folks.

Bit of a rush to beat the weekend rain so managed to do the floyd routering.  I used the template from the body outline with a bearing-trimmer and started with the top main rout:

 Then the chamber underneath it:

Note the 'shelf' that is left between the two so that the floyd will only dive...per original and as the owner wants it 

Next the chamber for the springs:

The original has a tapering depth of the chamber.  Can't imagine what for but, just in case Peavey have a cunning plan in there, I've similarly stepped it in the middle

Then finally the top slot where the bushes will go:

So the body is looking like this at the moment:

The pickups are on the way so, pretty soon, my contact needs to decide whether or not he wants a top carve 

speshul91

That is a thing of beauty as usual andy

Andyjr1515

speshul91;671666" said:

That is a thing of beauty as usual andy

Thanks, @speshul91 The owner has decided to stay with a flat top so I will be able to apply the binding soon. I think that will add significantly to the look.

Andyjr1515

Next job is to get the bridge and neck aligned, and then rout the pick-up chambers in the correct place.  

To align the neck and bridge, the easiest way is to fix a couple of spare strings to work out the neck sideways angle and the bridge studs positioning:

With these in line, I could work out where the p/ups needed to be placed to make sure the screw-poles are in line with the strings.  I used an MDF template with a ball-bearing trimmer router bit:

Pick-up chambers routed and positions double checked:

Next was to cut the binding channel.  I used the roller binding attachment for my precision dremel router base and a flat-bottomed bit:

This is fine-accuracy work, so I went round the whole profile three times to make sure.  As far as I can see the result is fairly even and should need a minimal amount of finish sanding once the binding's glued:

The binding is holly.  It should provide a nice contrast with the finished walnut.  I will be pre-bending it, acoustic guitar-style, using my brand spanking new Ibex bending iron  

Last bit of routing is the control chamber and the overlap to allow the covers to lie flush.  But before that, I need the guitar's owner to let me know where he wants the knobs positioning!

Thanks for looking

Andy 

hobbio

Can't wait to see this finished, that lump of walnut is lovely!

Sarge

Thanks for detailing this build, very interesting to see varied methods.
Looking great!

Andyjr1515

As you may have seen on my other thread, I'm doing a bit of experimentation before finishing and fixing the binding.  

In the meantime, I'm getting ready to sort the control positions and the control chamber route.  Nige, the guy I'm building this for, has opted for the boost coil option on the Catwhisker P90's and wants to have access for mid-bar toggle switching.  This is the control arrangement he's asked for:

 

I've been able to slice a few headstock / control chamber cover pieces off one of the offcuts but am restricted by the maximum height of my cheapo band-saw:

  

To keep the grain in the same direction as the body, for control covers I'll have to stitch two pieces together, but it will still look better than a plastic one.

If it doesn't rain tomorrow, should be able to route out the chamber...   

Andyjr1515

One thing I have started before I forget to do it is the wiring channels.

With a solid body and no pickguard, the ways of achieving these are limited...and usually limited to using a f*****g long drill 

Here's the drill and the pilot hole, drilled into the neck pocket:

Because the neck pocket is shallower than the pickup chambers, this first hole has to be pretty much as low as you can get it.  To protect the bottom face of the pocket, I use an old backplate from a shot pickup.

Then, double checking that the drill is straight, this first hole acts as a guide-bearing for the drill as you go for the the long stretch between the two p/ups.  If all goes well, you should end up with the first part of the cable run - from the neck pickup to the bridge pickup.

  Once I have routed out the 3-way switch chamber, I will drill another hole from there to the neck pickup chamber...

Andyjr1515

Decent progress today, despite a rainy start.

Started with drilling the pot and toggle positions as requested by Nige.  The 3 way will go close to where the watermark is on the upper horn:

I cut a template and used the trimmer bit to rout out the control chamber.  I then used a larger guided router bit to cut the cover ledge:

Keeping the grain in the correct direction means quite a wide cover.  I'll probably semi-bookmatch the pieces I've cut to get the size required:

For the 3-way, the original has an extended chamber - I'm pretty sure that is simply to allow drill access to join the chambers...so when in Rome...

Note also the radius on the back edge.  Nige wanted a 6mm radius on the back so I used a radius router bit - much easier than hand sanding and much, much neater than I would normally achieve doing it by hand:

So next week's main task will be to do the experiments with the binding...

Thanks for looking! 

Andyjr1515

By the way...the bubinga bass on one of my other threads is still progressing slowly.  Bearing in mind that it is in similar proportions to the Warwick Thumb, just look how dinky that bass body is compared with the EVH!

 

Andyjr1515

In the meantime, I've been doing some experiments on wooden bindings - both bending and gluing.  The thread is here if any one has faced similar challenges.

After trying a few more difficult woods, I reverted to one of the easier ones for bending, opting for rosewood.  However, I wanted to keep the 'light binding' vibe seen on a lot of EVH's so I ordered one with a light detail strip, to be fitted upside down from the norm.

Using fabric softener in the dunking water (as opposed to ammonia in the experiments!), 1/2 hour or so of bending over the bending-iron had got me this dry-fit:

As detailed in the other thread, I thought I'd try the same method for gluing as I do for veneering - PVA applied to both sides,let dry and then ironed on.  The advantage is that, as the binding quickly 'relaxes' away from the tight fit, I could use the heat and pressure of the iron to force the binding into its slot, while having the next best thing to instant glue grab, once I knew it was in the right position.  The other advantage is that, if it needs tweaking, you just heat it up with the iron again, adjust it and let it cool for a few seconds, held in its corrected position.

The finished result for the 'difficult side' (the lower horn with the very sharp bends) prior to cleaning it up is this:

 

I'll be trying to finish the other side tomorrow  

Andy

Andyjr1515

Used the same approach for the second side and with the same success.  Each to his own, but this method of gluing suits me much better than the more conventional approaches.

Here's the body waiting clean-up:

Andyjr1515

Spent an hour or so tidying the body up.  

Dampened to simulate oil finishing, this is how the binding is looking:

I've definitely added it to my 'this is how I will glue wooden binding on from now on...' list   

In terms of the overall look, trying to replicate the EVH 'light binding' look, this is how it contrasts:

I'm relieved and pleased that it looks how I'd hoped 

Still quite a bit to do, but definitely on the home straight now.  Next job is cutting the matching walnut chamber covers...

As always, thanks for looking

Andy

Megii

Looks quite nice.... Tremendous work Andy, the look of the binding has been judged perfectly, just to pick one example. And actually, despite what I said earlier, I think the owner has probably made the right call staying with the flat top. One heck of a bit of walnut that is!