Guitar Build 2017!

Gotta get some weight off this thing. It's coming in at 7 pounds right now. That makes maybe 6-1/2 or so when trimmed and I don't think I want a 9+ pound telecaster.
Now, Avery's blue one is a shade over 7 pounds and the body is just over 1-3/8" thick. It's either go thinner or chamber it out. I may do a little of both. Take it down to 1-1/2" and do a giant control cavity from behind.
 
Gotta get some weight off this thing. It's coming in at 7 pounds right now. That makes maybe 6-1/2 or so when trimmed and I don't think I want a 9+ pound telecaster.
Now, Avery's blue one is a shade over 7 pounds and the body is just over 1-3/8" thick. It's either go thinner or chamber it out. I may do a little of both. Take it down to 1-1/2" and do a giant control cavity from behind.
Thinline?

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Gotta get some weight off this thing. It's coming in at 7 pounds right now. That makes maybe 6-1/2 or so when trimmed and I don't think I want a 9+ pound telecaster.
Now, Avery's blue one is a shade over 7 pounds and the body is just over 1-3/8" thick. It's either go thinner or chamber it out. I may do a little of both. Take it down to 1-1/2" and do a giant control cavity from behind.
Could you cut a thin piece for the top, then hollow the rest and glue it back on, kinda like the white guitar?
 
I have that cool piece of figured stuff I was gonna use for a bookmatch top but I was thinking of holding that back for another project. I really like this slab here.
Another option would be to make a thin plate for the back side and hollow it out from behind. Like Ric does.
 
Could you cut a thin piece for the top, then hollow the rest and glue it back on, kinda like the white guitar?
Maybe do it like Warmoth does their thinline Strats, with straight, parallel channels instead of hogging the whole thing out.

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I have this piece I could split and use for a top.
 
Maybe do it like Warmoth does their thinline Strats, with straight, parallel channels instead of hogging the whole thing out.

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I tried something like that on my first tele but it didn't seem to get rid of that much weight. You have to gut it out quite a bit to make a difference that's noticeable. If I go that route, I'll probably hog it out 80% or so.
 
I think either way would work, whether you route it from the back or front. If you'd prefer to save the other to bookmatch later, then just to the Ric route with the Ric rout... :)
 
I've thinned the body down to 1.5" and the blank is coming in just over 6 pounds now. I figure once I trim it and drill cavities, it should go under 5, which I can deal with.

The new one piece walnut neck blank I cut twisted a bit. That's not uncommon when you resaw a board and it's generally a one and done proposition. The wood reaches some equilibrium inside and it settles down. I don't want to risk that, so I'm gonna stay with my laminated neck idea. It hasn't moved at all since I glued it up.

I think I've come up with how I'm going to do the truss rod channel. I have a router but no top bearing pattern but that'll fit inside the channel. I do, however, have a 3/8" spiral cut bit which will do the job. I'll just clamp down some boards for fences and make two passes. The channel will need to be 0.42". My 3/8" bit is narrow enough to do that.
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I have a love/hate relationship with this router. It's variable speed, soft start and has plunge feature. At 3 hp, it'll cut anything wood.
On the other hand, it weighs more than a small car and is damn big and awkward.
Oh well, it's a good piece of gear, though. I'll quit bitching.
 
Also on tap, templates! I made the white guitar by measuring, marking and cutting, which works fine. The only problem is, you can't make exact reproductions using that method without a lot of work. For the white one, it was kind of a prototype anyway and a one-off so I wasn't worried about it.
On this one, since I decided to just do a tele, I'm gonna go ahead and try to make it standard. I downloaded and had the local office supply print a copy of Terry Downs tele blueprint from TDPRI. Many have built from it and claim to have no problems using standard factory parts on it. The neck template is from E Hawley, also sourced at TDPRI.

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I feel like I'm in arts and crafts class. :grin:
 
Budget to date.

8/11/14 Home Depot
$04.00 80 grit sandpaper
$04.00 120 grit sandpaper
-----
$08.00

8/23/14 Woodcraft
$8.66 Maple for fretboard
----------
$16.66

9/15/14 Grizzly
$20.60 Truss rod
----------
$37.26

9/1/14 TDPRI member
$13.00 Finishing supplies
------------
$50.26

9/29/14 eBay
$40.00 Bridge pickup
-------------
$90.26

10/9/14 Philadelphia Luthier
$12.50 Fret wire
-------------
$102.76

10/12/14 Home Depot
$04.00 Sandpaper
-------------
$106.76

10/13/13 Office Depot
$08.00 Template printing
-------------
$114.76
 
Budget to date.

8/11/14 Home Depot
$04.00 80 grit sandpaper
$04.00 120 grit sandpaper
-----
$08.00

8/23/14 Woodcraft
$8.66 Maple for fretboard
----------
$16.66

9/15/14 Grizzly
$20.60 Truss rod
----------
$37.26

9/1/14 TDPRI member
$13.00 Finishing supplies
------------
$50.26

9/29/14 eBay
$40.00 Bridge pickup
-------------
$90.26

10/9/14 Philadelphia Luthier
$12.50 Fret wire
-------------
$102.76

10/12/14 Home Depot
$04.00 Sandpaper
-------------
$106.76

10/13/13 Office Depot
$08.00 Template printing
-------------
$114.76
The satisfaction of building a guitar that's better than most you can buy: Priceless.
 
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