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

[Rodman]

 

what i´ve learned from my 2 builds is 1) do things ONCE and 2) do things when they can be done easily, and not too late...

so i did the humbuckerpockets and holes right there

some drilling

here and

there

and a test if the back cavity is gonna work

 

[Rodman]

on to the neck

hmmmmmmmmm... doesn´t that look like it holds 2 necks?

i think it does

after a lot of measuring and drawing on to rough sawing

 

... and

 

and creating a trussrodspace

that´s good

fine sawing

and sanding of course

 

straight forward

[Rodman]

why didn´t i route those together with the trussrodcavity?
because i want the carbonfibre rods to follow the edge of the neck for stability.

that worked ok

on to routing of the HB cavities

happy with that - nothing is destroyed .... so far

bringing the carbonfibre to the right lenght

and making them fit with handtools - so that ther is no tension created in any direction

a lot of sanding by hand...

to even the face perfectly flat

that did work

also the sides are flatsanded by hand

and machine

 

and here we goi

[Sniper Reload3d]

Pretty sure that I predicted this happening , Won't be long before everyone is clamoring for a Rodman's custom.

[Rodman]

let´s start with the very custom headstock

good thing....

... the surface to glue is the already quite flat one

like that

some plane action

and sanding

and that looks fine

 

[Rodman]

reinforcements are arriving

 

 

 

[Rodman]

on to dangerous things

 

make sure you are in the right spot..

start straight from top...

then go with a slight angle...

... and finish 90° to your starting position

done that. now for some detailing

 

that will do

[Rodman]

let´s do irreversible stuff

and mount the fretboard - such a nice piece of wood

testing the rod - you see it can move well

i like to protect the rod from the glue with masking tape

and the carbonfibre shall be absolutely stopped from moving (and creating noise) by the glue!

thats a lot of glue

after cleaning the exxess good as long as it´s wet clamps clamps clamps

and put away to dry

 

[Rodman]

couldn´t resist to have a peek of preview sort of

 

 

 

[Rodman]

So far - so good

 

 

 

[Rodman]

Cutting the excess of the fretboard

 

And sanding to get to the width of the neck

it´s plane - so let´s start...

[Rodman]

 

... with the most important step in luthierism - the fretboard - affecting 100% the playability - won´t do any compromise there, never.

gauges - will be going for a compund radius - like 10" on the nut allowing to get that open chords easy and flat flat on the body end like 20" for full control on the solos.

Handplanes - gotta love those

oh boy - the pattern uncloaked - already a blast

not there yet

close

that´s 100%...

.... and that is sheer horror :C

 

[Rodman]

 

 

well well well ... i must have worked some sections markedly more than others with the plane and the sanding.... strangely i must say. Hard pain cause that process is many hours and very hard work.

Totally un-acceptable of course.

 

Back to sanding it absolutely plane

markings help you see spots that are still valleys

not yet

my own creation - the stonesander - very even, very heavy, very good tool

thats a yes

here too

everywhere

and for the final radius check ---- the 12 there is a bit too wide, yay - ended up with a perfect 10".... to

17" - which is wonderful

 

last last check everywhere - and i am happy again.

 

 

[Rodman]

that´s nice .... well i won´t have a choice but have a peek on the final look

oil it up

measuring

mini mini corrections

perfect

yes

yes

 

[Rodman]

Let´s create a super-playable slim neck

tools are ready

I like slim necks for metal guitars. my personal reference is my strat ultra neck. In a short brainstorming with Kayteck we ended with a modern flat C to D shape.

I prefer 20mm on the nut side to 22mm at 16/17th fret 

on to the bandsaw

take care!!!

there are 2 problems with that cut -

1) you tend to be sooooo careful, cause crossing that lineanywhere means a destroyed neck, means 30 hours of work gone plus material that would have to be restocked before work can continue

2) you cannot see what´s goung on at the other side of the neck while cutting

and that leads to bad cutting

let´s go from the other side with confidence!

thats somehow ok

tool from the asian gods - the japanese sawrasp - there is no rasping faster and more precise!

in a minute all is flat

just because it´s standing there i did the last 0.5 mm with the osc. spindle sander - the nervewrecking part there went well.

 

[Rodman]

 

 

let´s start with a centerline

you mark the (almost) flat area in the middle that shall not be touched

and for a more D than C you divide the remaining space laterally into two

and also on the side you divide the neck in two...

and you start by rasping away the outermost (marked) part

voila!

now you divide the newly created area by two and also the area next to that on top

and you do the same on the side ...

and rasp away the marked areas

and you get

a symmetrical, well shaped neck in like an hour

that´s the moment to take it and feel if the thickness and shape is about what you want - cause it´s not getting markedly thinner no more, just smoother

if you feel ok - take sanding paper and sand from both sides evenly

the measure HAH that´s "precice" on the nut side

oh yes that´s on the 17th fret

looks

and feels great

we got ourselves a guitarneck

[Rodman]

 

go fretless?

probably not - so scary things incoming again

i really recommend 2 (or 3) independent measurements BEFORE cutting the frets - i do measure, and i have the positions from the frets of my strat marked on an alu ruler.

 

What makes cutting a lot easier is first go with a sharp blade along a ruler

like that

point of no return - fret slotting saw

first time i use that radius block as a guide to keep the blade perfectly straight  - works well

one fret i slipped minimally at the upper end - less than 1mm, won´t be seen under the fret, but i still would know - so fixing that with sawdust and glue - just let dry, sand, oil and cut again

watch out - don´t use sawdust and superglue - that will darken the fill!!!

just mix the sawdust from cutting with a bit of woodglue on a paper or piece of plastic - and fill in.

all is done - repair cannot be spotted

roger that. Very important to measure again there - the carving of the neck had taken away a lot of material and altered the tension inside the neck, also does the fretslotting alter the tension in the fretboard. Now would be the time to see if a lil twist of the trussrod will straighten the neck or - in worst case - do a bit of sanding to straighten again.

Both unneccesary here.

[Rodman]

i´ll skip the fun process of designing the inlays - here is our results and a lot of fine fine work to be done.

 

 

Finding the right Size to fit 13-11 perfectly

that is good

starting with a sharp blade - a fresh one

hard work but that will pay

using a dremel like tool to route being very very very carefull wearing lens glasses also

cannot be happier pfffff

deciding what to use - yes - shells from lovely Bibione, Italy it is

hammer smashed shells

making it small, not too small

 

sealing the ground with oil...

and quick sanding sealer (i don´t want epoxy to oenetrate the grain and make ugly dark lines eventually)

filling with tranparent epoxy and the shells

over the top of the fb

reinforcements are arriving

let dry

and file it down

WEAR A MASK!!!!!!!!!!!! that dust will sit in your lungs forever!

finish the sanding with a bar with like 400gr

oil - yes!

better than expected

and the other ones - Kay created very special ones - never seen any like those

setting it all

a lot lot of fine fine work later

oiled and sealed

sidedots

must be measured and drilled precicely will be seen all of the time

and straight forward filling of the inlays

after filling filing

sanding

oiling

happy

 

[Rodman]

installed and polished side-dots

on to some frets - that´s gonna look great

don´t forget to use a small triangular file to oben the top of the fretslots to avoid tear-out if ever a re-fret will be needed. i use a bit of superglue and a normal fretting hammer - starting to hammer in the middle and going to both sides then

after fretting cutting the ends and filing them to the level of the fretboard from the sides

then sanding a bit

and ultra-important start to round over the edges with a file that has one rounded edge to not harm the wood

thats how you would get most bought guitars finished...

but we will take extra steps - a 2nd round of rounding over

a lot better already

sandpaper up to 600 gr

fretrubbers medium to superfine

always testing each and every end and going back to the file when needed

that is the fretend Kay deserves

some oil

and have a first look at the final thing

i think that payd off

 

[Rodman]

Now - the part soo important for playability.. that has often also to be done on a newly bought guitar, and every guitar deserves that agrain and again after 200-300 hours of playing ... a fretjob

Before you start on an old guitar - set the neck straight with the trussrod - best by measuring on the woodsurface with a notched straight edge

protect your fretboard!!! 2 layers of masking tape

done in minutes

a permanent marker of the color of your choice

a freshly prepared levelibg beam - 400 - 600 gr

go softly until all the marker has disappeared on all frets -

meaning there should be no valleys anymore

check each fret (always 3 at a time) at at least 3 positions

you see how much difference there is in what amount has to be taken away!!!!! To create a perfectly flat surface

when that is done for playability it´s a cool thing to create a fallaway from 12th or 13th fret - that will give the strings a lil more space over the area where they move most - so the setup can be very low action without buzzing  on the high frets and you will have great playability up there for the solos

so - 12th fret is protected and minimally elevated by 2 layers of ... i use isolating tape .. and there is more sanding done on the upper frets - so that elevation leads to the last frets being more sanded than the ones close to 12

when all is done and fretrock check says all is good (watch out the rock at 12th towards the higher frets is natural and wanted now!) - mark again all frets and...

with a triangular file with rounded edges (! - otherwise the fretboard gets harmed!)

you go from either side of each fret

not touching the small center line (< 1mm)

thats perfect perfect

fine sandpaper (~800gr then 1000 up also to 2000 if you have) wrapped around finger or a credit card slided all along the fretboard

to create evenly smoothed tops

fretrubbers (from medium to superfine) do make them shiny by pollisihng

Then MEASURE WITH THE Fretrocker and go back if there is the slightest rock or valley

that´s shiny frets

[Rodman]

now to something completely different .... headstock

 

i like angled headstocks, and i just use the piece cut away to create the angle on top to augment the bottom

sanded perfectly flat

glue

a lot of clamps

already a good result

 

perfect

[Rodman]

You might remember that i decided to save the other part of the neck for another build - so the headstock naturally is too slim.

But i had that planned. For longer time i did want to veneer and add wood

a piece of the body

Funder i use for veneer

cut

glue the veneer

glue the extra piece of wood

clamp

ugly?

better

a good time for some tunerholes!

start drilling in the wrong direction to avoid tearout!!!!!

I really like that

 

[Rodman]

 

sorry @ kayteck i think i will have to keep that myself

let´s create a neckpocket...

all is set straight, measured for the bridgeline

and with "borrowed" Kappla from my kids, superglue and masking tape the custom routing template is done in minutes

i start by drilling to the right depth

what a stylish bit (shakes head)

routing feels sooooo dangerous cause you cannot see what you do

but it´s done well

cut

finetuning

hell - what an axe!!!!

great

you gotta trust your joints, they shall not need glue to be stable

 

[kayteck]

9 minutes ago, Rodman said:

sorry @ kayteck i think i will have to keep that myself

i think i owe you at least that

[Rodman]

i was planning to go string-through... so let´s see

measure measure... after a lot of testing with unsymmetrical designs there - that is coolest i think

yes, thats it

pro to cut that right now - the flat surface on the back will yield parrallel holes

love that

for good comfort playing while sitting Kay wanted to get the jack right on the side, and to have the cables protected not too far pointing upwards, and the stringholes covered - that setup there will do

drilling and routing went well

if you forget to drill that hole before glueing the neck you are doomed

drill that FROM THE FRONT SIDE!!! I didn´t on my first guitar (!)

perfect spot

fixing a tearout with sawdust and woodglue

 

all is good