Starting out in guitar building - There will be questions!

SteveF · August 2023

To drill the truss rod access - I am worried about catching the headstock.

SteveF · August 2023

A la this video https://youtu.be/LzWREJGtUR4

SteveF · August 2023

I decided to mask up the face of the headstock with a load of layers of tape and be really careful. Seemed to just about go ok. Ever so slightly off the centre of the adjuster but I can get the Allen key on there so that’s the main thing.

Today’s lesson learned came in the form of dots. Really small dots.

If you need 10 side dots, for goodness sake order more than 10! They are fiddly little buggers and you will drop some and you will not find them.

WezV · August 2023

Top tip.... watch where small parts fall, don't try and catch them.

Roland · August 2023

… and listen too.

davros · August 2023

Neatly done with the truss rod. I have been using a bullnose router cutter to do the face of the hole then drilling though, as I find it makes centering the drill much easier. Although I've been building angled headstocks rather than Fender style, I imagine that would work here too.

SteveF · August 2023

I did a brad point at 45 degrees initially and then shallowed the angle before moving to the long drill bit. Part of the inaccuracy was due to me forgetting which way up the truss rod was installed and thinking the adjuster was at the bottom rather than the top. Either way, it works.

WezV said:

Top tip.... watch where small parts fall, don't try and catch them.

Roland said:

… and listen too.

I’m normally pretty good at that, but they kind of pinged and bounced off a tarp that’s over my bikes. 2mm abalone dots on a dusty garage floor not mixing well!

elstoof · August 2023

Aircraft extension bits?

davros · August 2023

elstoof said:

Aircraft extension bits?

ooh, i think you've got it! That's what stewmac are calling them. I've always wondered that!

WezV · August 2023

I wouldn't worry about finding 2mm abalone dots on the floor.... you won't see them in the side of a guitar neck either.

They are marginally more visible than black pearl, which can totally dissappear

SteveF · August 2023

davros said:

elstoof said:

Aircraft extension bits?

ooh, i think you've got it! That's what stewmac are calling them. I've always wondered that!

Huzzah! That’s the badger! Done for this time on this build but at least I know for next time!

elstoof · August 2023

Handy for strat trem claws too

BillDL · August 2023

Have you been tranquilising horses, or is that a solder sucker?

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/5d12eb4849ae182739a6a3b74d1d192de96170ae18df39d31f

SteveF · August 2023

BillDL said:

Have you been tranquilising horses, or is that a solder sucker?

Haha, yes, it's a solder sucker. I was using my tweezers from my soldering gear to put the side dots in

SteveF · August 2023

Scary bit today. Wanted to get onto the neck carve.

First I built a neck carving support out of a bit of leftover timber from my bench build. I wrapped a PVC pipe in sandpaper and used that to sand a concave radius into the top to support the fretboard, then covered it in cork. The cutouts are to enable me to get calibers in at the 1st, 6th and 12th frets to check the depth. I drilled a couple of holes at each end to enable clamping and used another offset with a dowel in to create a riser for the headstock support which can be moved to either end in case I want to rotate the neck. (easier then moving the whole jig around).

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/025d281ec9f8277b84e833408160b9e7dab87c964744117ba9

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/cb8f3b7db0d3daf0a73875e78d6b8b806dfda64bde0471f7dc

Then I made a couple of templates. I printed them off the internet, cut them out and drew round them onto MDF before cutting them out on the bandsaw and then using the spindle sander to finish them off. I then put some water thin CA glue to harden the edges and prevent fraying.

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/e20de2f5a8642371313c624e8bb517fc70f9d8303b620d65d0

SteveF · August 2023

Next up the carve. In the end it went ok I think. The neck ended up a touch thinner than the templates. I think I went all the way down to finish dimensions with the rasps and by the time I had smoothed it it ended up a bit thinner. Still feels ok. How much leeway do people give themselves when trying to size things to a particular dimension? Should I be leaving a mm or half a mm for sanding etc?

You may also notice todays lesson in picture 3... Apparently I drilled my fretboard locating hole too deep

Luckily I used a wooden stick to locate it, so now it just looks like a knot or a birthmark!

It shall serve as a reminder.

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/d77cbd4e833448087359393e581a9ca56c24a933286d5e3dfd

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/4535dcd81f5ef4ac6956107bd81859c4a00bfc37782fe23255

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/41461d92e08c7f63844ca11df0005aa7e22014ef7cc03eb996

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/65686f235269234c09f05e77b11f5cce1538dc81b679bee5c3

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/dd03ba023eb506e5489743829953ef97dae8391d001d79a21f

SteveF · August 2023

Not sure why those pics came up in that order, but you get the idea.

Actually starting to think I might pull this off. Lots still to do and plenty to go wrong, but this almost looks like a thing:

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/bf75afb80f9491efcef746de61a221d00f3828f3e36404ea87

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/c975158d0ee543c1c70654c8e3ee59ab26e2f53e330dd54e08

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/7b57935753ca00fc47e1b0953fdfac8d217bd6a7e7641b1b26

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/8b34db6bfd440ec65dc81f4ee56bce291cb95e1262851a46bc

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/15078f68c237dc2df34048fd1eb59a8d5b96ccd38cff7cc9eb

WezV · August 2023

Try and make that flat triangle on the heel as short as possible, I do it with half round rasp, file and finish with scrapers to almost hollow it out. Might be worth drawing some circles/curves on as a carving guide.

The nut end looks like it's got a similar flat spot that could do with rounding out.

The transitions are always the hardest to perfect and get flowing right.

SteveF · August 2023

Thanks Wez, appreciate your guidance. I will revisit and finesse a bit.

I wasn't sure how far to push it. The template had some lines roughly following that triangle that I assumed was supposed to be flat. Going to have a look at a couple of my guitars too to try and see how their transitions are.

SteveF · August 2023

Did a bit of reworking today, but forgot to photograph it when finished but hopefully get the idea - it's a lot smother than that now. Managed to get the triangle down to about half the size. Also sorted the headstock transition. I did a bit of work around the heel of the neck pocket too. Nothing major, just a slight angled chamfer, but it makes a big difference to the comfort.

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Starting out in guitar building - There will be questions!

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