Post by Keebo on Mar 9, 2008 20:04:02 GMT -5
Some of you may remember the post of my transplanted Variax into a Ibanez guitar. I felt kind of guilty purchasing some power tools that were just lying around and not getting used. So I decided to put them to use and build my own guitar body from scratch and use the Variax neck that I had previously installed Power Waves locking tuners and an Earvan compansating nut. I read a DIY instructasble on home made guitars and it suggested using plywood as a first attempt so a whole lot of money wouldn't be wasted if things got screwed up.
I purchased two 3/4" pieces of birch plywood sandwiched between a 1/4" piece glued together. I drew out an original style and routed it out. It looked fairly decent but I found out that sharp pointy horns does not work out too well with plywood. Some of the inner layers did not stay in place so it looked quite raggedy. Plus I mis-calculated the neck pocket routing and it was off-center a tad. I had almost enough wood to carve out another complete design, this time I went for a more rounded style, much like a Strat since I had a loaded black/siver pearl Strat pickguard. I had to rout a separate piece for the tip of the lower horn in which I drilled two holes in the body and the horn and glued two wooden dowell pins to hold it all together.
I used Bondo and spot putty per the instructable to get a somewhat smooth surface. I applied two coats of primer, sanded it down and sprayed two coats of paint. I then wet sanded a piece that was going to be covered up with the pickguard but the silver metallic paint only smears when sanded. So I applied four more coats of paint. Then I applied six clear coats, wet sanding between every two coats. I then used a foam pad on a drill and applied a cleaner/rubbing compound. It really started to luster up until I spent too much time in one spot on the curved horn. I went right through the clear coat, paint, and primer down to parts of the wood, causing several indentations along the way. I sanded down the area and applied spot putty to fill it in, and then primered, painted, and clear coated. It didn't turn out too good so I decided to sand it back down to the wood. I didn't really like the look of the metalic silver anyway.
I also had a green pearl pickguard so I found some dark green metal flake paint that I decided to use. I used the same process as above with the addition of a swirl remover with the foam pad, followed by a polisher by hand and then wax and it turned out better I think. I haven't ever seen binding on a Strat body so I decided to try a faux binding with pinstriping. I could have done a better job at applying it but it is there now. I put it under the clear coating and it turned out pretty smooth. The pics doesn't do it much justice as it was in direct sunlight and tuned out rather aqua looking in the second two photos. I borrowed my brother's camera and snapped some quick shots before looking at them on the PC before deteriming I should have taken them in the shade. Kind of like the song, black cars look better in the shade. Oh well.
I have a white pearl pickguard on order that I think would have looked better but I was a little impatient. I may still put it on but I will have to get white pickups/covers and white knobs.
I had a Fender 9 volt portable MD-20 Mini-Deluxe amp that I installed since this was not so much of a stellar studio guitar as much as it would be used for playing out in the yard, camping, boating, fishing, etc. I wanted to install my Korg Toneworks Pandora in this guitar but I ran out of room. I can still use it attached to the strap or bottom strap button with an adapter but it is a little more difficult to change patches that way. The MD-20 distorts very early even without any gain engaged so I can't get as much clean volume as I would like. I may experiment with a different speaker and perhaps cutting a hole in the back cavity cover and installing another grill.
All in all, I am happy with the outcome. It does have some finish issues but it still plays great and feels quite comfortable. I think that the experience has helped me to decide to go ahead and purchase a blank of Primavera wood and build an original design with an Ibanez 24 fret neck. I think I will dye stain it blue and black and install a humbucker in the bridge, a P90 in the middle, and a single coil in the neck. If I feel a bit froggy, I may install a sustainiac in the neck position instead of the single coil.
So yes, feel free to laugh it up at my meager attempts of building a guitar. It was a fun and educational project nonetheless.
The pics are as follows:
i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff260/Keebo_photos/YardTar/YardTar_1.jpg
i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff260/Keebo_photos/YardTar/YardTar_2.jpg
i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff260/Keebo_photos/YardTar/YardTar_3.jpg
I purchased two 3/4" pieces of birch plywood sandwiched between a 1/4" piece glued together. I drew out an original style and routed it out. It looked fairly decent but I found out that sharp pointy horns does not work out too well with plywood. Some of the inner layers did not stay in place so it looked quite raggedy. Plus I mis-calculated the neck pocket routing and it was off-center a tad. I had almost enough wood to carve out another complete design, this time I went for a more rounded style, much like a Strat since I had a loaded black/siver pearl Strat pickguard. I had to rout a separate piece for the tip of the lower horn in which I drilled two holes in the body and the horn and glued two wooden dowell pins to hold it all together.
I used Bondo and spot putty per the instructable to get a somewhat smooth surface. I applied two coats of primer, sanded it down and sprayed two coats of paint. I then wet sanded a piece that was going to be covered up with the pickguard but the silver metallic paint only smears when sanded. So I applied four more coats of paint. Then I applied six clear coats, wet sanding between every two coats. I then used a foam pad on a drill and applied a cleaner/rubbing compound. It really started to luster up until I spent too much time in one spot on the curved horn. I went right through the clear coat, paint, and primer down to parts of the wood, causing several indentations along the way. I sanded down the area and applied spot putty to fill it in, and then primered, painted, and clear coated. It didn't turn out too good so I decided to sand it back down to the wood. I didn't really like the look of the metalic silver anyway.
I also had a green pearl pickguard so I found some dark green metal flake paint that I decided to use. I used the same process as above with the addition of a swirl remover with the foam pad, followed by a polisher by hand and then wax and it turned out better I think. I haven't ever seen binding on a Strat body so I decided to try a faux binding with pinstriping. I could have done a better job at applying it but it is there now. I put it under the clear coating and it turned out pretty smooth. The pics doesn't do it much justice as it was in direct sunlight and tuned out rather aqua looking in the second two photos. I borrowed my brother's camera and snapped some quick shots before looking at them on the PC before deteriming I should have taken them in the shade. Kind of like the song, black cars look better in the shade. Oh well.
I have a white pearl pickguard on order that I think would have looked better but I was a little impatient. I may still put it on but I will have to get white pickups/covers and white knobs.
I had a Fender 9 volt portable MD-20 Mini-Deluxe amp that I installed since this was not so much of a stellar studio guitar as much as it would be used for playing out in the yard, camping, boating, fishing, etc. I wanted to install my Korg Toneworks Pandora in this guitar but I ran out of room. I can still use it attached to the strap or bottom strap button with an adapter but it is a little more difficult to change patches that way. The MD-20 distorts very early even without any gain engaged so I can't get as much clean volume as I would like. I may experiment with a different speaker and perhaps cutting a hole in the back cavity cover and installing another grill.
All in all, I am happy with the outcome. It does have some finish issues but it still plays great and feels quite comfortable. I think that the experience has helped me to decide to go ahead and purchase a blank of Primavera wood and build an original design with an Ibanez 24 fret neck. I think I will dye stain it blue and black and install a humbucker in the bridge, a P90 in the middle, and a single coil in the neck. If I feel a bit froggy, I may install a sustainiac in the neck position instead of the single coil.
So yes, feel free to laugh it up at my meager attempts of building a guitar. It was a fun and educational project nonetheless.
The pics are as follows:
i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff260/Keebo_photos/YardTar/YardTar_1.jpg
i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff260/Keebo_photos/YardTar/YardTar_2.jpg
i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff260/Keebo_photos/YardTar/YardTar_3.jpg
