-= Building a Guitar from Scratch with Absolutely No Woodworking Experience "

[GoatHerd]

I absolutely love your carved top in build #2. I took part in the GGBO2022 last year, and that top/shape is easily as good as anything on there. The string stops not being in a straight line is also a really great idea.

[Rodman]

On 1/9/2023 at 7:31 PM, Sniper Reload3d said:

I don't know how I missed this thread last year when you started the first one. I found the thread couple weeks ago. I am glad for you that you did a second one. If you are not careful, this will lead to a third one, a fourth one, then your thirtieth guitar. Then you will have to open Rodman's Guitars shop. Next thread tho, you will have to change the title as you can no longer claim zero wood working experience ,

Let me say, this is not an easy thing to do, experience or no experience.

...

Well.... ..... .... of course i am actually building my 3rd one , and from the time i began my 2nd one i knew for the rest of my life i will always be building one, and i absolutely do not care how long it takes. The past 2 guitars took about a year each, that is great, if it goes faster at the next builds - is that better or worse? Guitar shop..... no - not that i wouldn´t sell them, but to be honest what would the price be? It´s 200hours+ on a build, if i use powertools on a lot of the steps and if i can vastly avoid to do things twice (that is actually the time consuming thing) i can cut it to 100 - 130 maybe..... so adding the material which will be 500€ i think i would not be comfortable to let go under 4000€ - those are not for sale, no - i am giving them away... I have 2 kids, and i am the godfather of 3 kids - so what i am going to do is build a very special custom one for each of them, as any good godfather/daddy does i am monthly saving a lil money for them, and i am going to build an extra cavity on the back next to the electrics (and potentially battery) as a secret compartment, put that money there and gift them the guitar when they leave school for good or turn 18... and maybe one year later i would call to ask if they ever opened that cover ;)....

so it´s another 5 guitars at least i will be needing over the next years, guitar 2 has already found it´s owner, 3 is dedicated, and i am planning to build a 7-string for myself one day and a bass, and if i find an empty slot i am tempted to ask other builders, esp @ GoatHerd   if he (they) would be interrested in an exchange build, which could be soo cool to follow the other one go... (which i hereby did without planning to do that now)

I love my life.
Grab some timber, build a guitar!

[GoatHerd]

On 1/24/2023 at 4:32 AM, Rodman said:

Well.... ..... .... of course i am actually building my 3rd one , and from the time i began my 2nd one i knew for the rest of my life i will always be building one, and i absolutely do not care how long it takes. The past 2 guitars took about a year each, that is great, if it goes faster at the next builds - is that better or worse? Guitar shop..... no - not that i wouldn´t sell them, but to be honest what would the price be? It´s 200hours+ on a build, if i use powertools on a lot of the steps and if i can vastly avoid to do things twice (that is actually the time consuming thing) i can cut it to 100 - 130 maybe..... so adding the material which will be 500€ i think i would not be comfortable to let go under 4000€ - those are not for sale, no - i am giving them away... I have 2 kids, and i am the godfather of 3 kids - so what i am going to do is build a very special custom one for each of them, as any good godfather/daddy does i am monthly saving a lil money for them, and i am going to build an extra cavity on the back next to the electrics (and potentially battery) as a secret compartment, put that money there and gift them the guitar when they leave school for good or turn 18... and maybe one year later i would call to ask if they ever opened that cover ;)....

so it´s another 5 guitars at least i will be needing over the next years, guitar 2 has already found it´s owner, 3 is dedicated, and i am planning to build a 7-string for myself one day and a bass, and if i find an empty slot i am tempted to ask other builders, esp @ GoatHerd   if he (they) would be interrested in an exchange build, which could be soo cool to follow the other one go... (which i hereby did without planning to do that now)

I love my life.
Grab some timber, build a guitar!

O collab would be amazing. Maybe something we can raffle off to the Custom Forge community & raise funds. Having said that there may be some complicated logistics, as I live in Rio de Janeiro. 

[Sniper Reload3d]

On 1/24/2023 at 2:32 AM, Rodman said:

Well.... ..... .... of course i am actually building my 3rd one ,

Saw that coming.

 

On 1/24/2023 at 2:32 AM, Rodman said:

Guitar shop..... no

I'm telling ya, you're headed there... it is becoming an addiction ...

On 1/24/2023 at 2:32 AM, Rodman said:

Grab some timber, build a guitar!

As I said, I tried many years ago. had an entire wood working shop at my disposal, was an abysmal failure. Actually tho, few years ago, I already headed back down that rabbit hole. I just haven't had the time, and worse the area or room to work on one. I bought a couple slabs of timber. One is a chunk of purple heart wood, I intend on using for a short scale bass. I have a slab of bubinga for a neck. Honestly don't remember what the other chunks for bodies are. I got a couple coping saws, chisels, have most of the hardware, think only thing I need are tuning pegs. I have not been ambitious about starting it, and like I said, I just do not have the room to dedicate to making another.

[Rodman]

Ah... yeah - that was not the end end of the journey...

... eventually i came back for some customisation...

 

As i made that custom not for myself but for my dear friend @ Milo - i surely wanted to make it very personalized .... 

So i started experimenting to transfer a logo to the finish (it´s the logo from a low-output band project we started a few years ago)

 

searching for the right size and spot...

starting my transfers using acetone...

and turpentine...

which does look so promising...

but it is not

brrrr

 

[Rodman]

Yeah - that´s how it should look in the end (just placing the print)

...more testing

one word .... horrible!

 

[Rodman]

ok... turning to something different for a while:

 

 

that went very well

[Rodman]

And more personalisation...

risky stuff there...

 

after a few hours, a lot of finetuning, finessing oiling and painting more than happy there

 

[Rodman]

Ok... after some clicks on ama had arrived...
next tries -

Photo transfer paper

i do like my printer

cleaning it all very well with alcohol

applying photo transfer potch

rolling it down

quite a good good transfer there

quite a unsatisfying result

i like that i am too impatient to do proper testing... most of the time like here i just go for the first try on the real thing...

 

[Rodman]

.... so i had to rub it off

what leads to quite some destruction of course...

... followed by hours of fixing the finish

and surprisingly... for once some off guitar testing

which runs semi-good... and

a real run - cause of course now i know how to do it

... or not ... that´s already the state rubbing it away

 

grrrr

[Rodman]

Mod Podge - the internet says that´s the holy grail of pic transfer... hard to get here in Europe.... but i managed to

placing

... and sanding the finish a bit away there to have better contrast eventually

my technique... evolved

after a few days of drying... moment of truth...

hmmm... that is not bad - a bit of the paper there cause i made it a bit too wet for too long i think... but that can be fixed.... THAT COULD BE IT....

let´s see.... after some cleaning

that is not too bad...

 

 

[Rodman]

something else to be done!

Dremel like tools are great

to destroy what is pretty already

 

and a lil finish fix that i spotted while working there on the back

[Rodman]

.... of course i could deal with that little imperfections at the border on the left ... so.... i sanded it away and went for further experiments

maybe that one:

quite a good transfer.. but only rubbing over would remove the lasertoner there...

off again

another try with Mod Podge... that one did work quite well before...

and sanding the area where the gfx will be for good contrast

fingers crossed

the moment of truth #600

.... and it´s incomplete

away again

i shouldn´t have done it that way... oh my

more side by side tests with different methods

 

 

[Rodman]

The next holy grail "Liquitex"

let´s sand the area, let´s put it on....

And there it is..... a very very good try oh yay...
Just the borders not good enough

off again

 

 

[Rodman]

Next try...

Liquitex

that time trying to fix the surrounding finish while the transfer is in progress

went well

not the transfer

off again

 

scrapers - tools from the gods!!!

more testing

 

[Rodman]

 

The latest holy grail i got from those yt gurus -
Print on LABEL PAPER.... the test above proved some degree of optimism...

 

Let´s go

Preparation from a lot lot of experience...
Liquitex

Repair the finish while paper is in place

that looks good

dry to the bone

and let dry for a day

 

 

[Rodman]

make damn sure the finish will be ok, and there is NO rest of the liquitex

prayers... and let´s see

brilliant contrast, ok transition to the finish... errors in the gfx

after thinking a lot.... i decided that i could manage to put another layer exactly on top... at least it will be worth the try...

let´s go

clean the excess

skipping towards the prayer part

... not bad

after a few hours of detail work

i knee down and cry

now that was easy

 

[Rodman]

A dear friend, she is a designer made a logo for me - so ... i had to go again

final polishing of the frets

final finish on the finish of the whole guitar

love it

 

 

[Rodman]

 

strings

going for a very very precise setup

final touches

 

[Rodman]

 

 

 

 

and bye bye - off to Fin you go!

 

Thx for watching!!!!

 

That customizations at the end took more time than the whole build until then - was it worth it? My vote is yes. I learned a lot and i did in no way give in, but more importantly the guitar is looking even a bit nicer now i think.

(If anyone wants to know how to transfer a print to any surface - just send me a pm - i think i have watched everything on the internet regarding that topic and know how to do it now )

Rock, Rod.

[GoatHerd]

Man, what an Odissey! I would have suggested to make the transfer on a separate piece of wood, and then inlay it in... But you fought on to the end, and managed to preserve the body, despite all the attempts. I would not have had yr pacience. Incidently, when I did the GGBO2022, one of the competitors, a tattoo artist called Vicent Blard did some really cool artwork, painted directly on the body, and then locked in with varnish:

 

[Sniper Reload3d]

2 hours ago, Rodman said:

i like that i am too impatient to do proper testing

oof. that is like a punch to the gut.

I think that it is great that you chronicled your journey and efforts. I'd forget what worked and what didn't. Not only shared what worked for you but what didn't, and if you decided to attempt something like that again, you can look back first.

I just ordered a can of that Renaissance wax polish while back to use on a different type of project. haven't used it yet. Supposed to be good wax. how'd you like it?

[Rodman]

It's a sensational final coat - you can buff it to a semi-gloss.

It's easy to apply (heat a tissue with a heatgun/dryer and apply the wax) and if you dont like it - it disappears on a wipe of alcohol (like turpentine)

[Rodman]

Well... possibly i did it again

@ kayteck helps me so much with coding stuff, won´t take no money - so i decided to build him a full custom guitar or bass from scratch.

Guitar was his call - shall be a Metal axe, shall be red and black, and it must be well usable sitting while playing....

 

I´ll leave the planning out and start right after the fun and long development of a bodyshape a few months ago....

 

..... and METAL it shall be

seaching for the right grainpatterns on that lovely piece of wood.

small corrections by hand

have a quick peek ... all seems ok

i love my new bandsaw

 

that´s a shape i´ve never seen - which is cool.

[Rodman]

on to first sanding

i especially like those mini horns

happy so far