What's on your bench?

[nakedzen]

So with covid lockdowns and all I started building guitars a few years back. Anyone else do luthier stuff as a hobby?

Some builds so far:
Fatty LP, quilted mahogany

Baritone 7, ash and maple

LP JR, ziricote and mahogany

80's nonsense, korina and padauk

ESP Aero inspired neckthrough, ash and maple

Baritone fan fret, walnut, wenge, quilted mahogany

Also made some active pickups for the guitars


Next one I've been thinking is ESP EX inspired set through neck from korina.

 

[mnemonic]

since nobody else wants to share, I have dabbled with some guitar building hackery, certainly nothing to the level of your stuff though. Necks are still beyond me so I’ve only really done bodies, using necks I’ve bought.

This was my first some years ago, really like the guitar but up-close you can see all the mistakes, like tear out when routing the body, tooling and sanding marks that weren’t fully sanded out, etc.



Second attempt, using a spindle sander to shape the body so no tear out, much cleaner edges, etc. also used clear coat and wet sanded and buffed the finish. That did make it chip easier on the edges though (pine body and nitro finish) and the top was less flat than I thought it was, once I got to sanding the finish.



This one I used a router and a home made router sled to ‘plane’ the glued up body blank so it was actually flat. The finish was mirror flat when I was done sanding and buffing but it did sink into the grain quite quickly after that (and chip on the edges). At this point it’s also got a lot of vertical checking lines that follow the grain which I think looks nice. I made the pickup ring and pickguard from some phenolic sheet I got on eBay and lacquered it.



Most recently a couple weeks ago I finished modding a strat body I’ve had for years, converted to 7 string with some LTD neck off eBay, and with a recessed floyd (blocked). The guitar has had many different mods over the years, used to be rear-routed HxS pickup config, but routes have been moved and added, many of which with a chisel before I had a router. I filled and rerouted the bridge pickup area but it needs the pickguard to hide the sins. I was never quite happy with it in the past but I really like it now. Finish is a coat of red nitro on alder with no grain filler or clear coat, and was my very first attempt at a rattlecan nitro finish, like 8 years ago. Maybe in the summer I’ll redo it and try to make it look nice.



Nothing else guitar related on the workbench currently but that’s not to say I don’t have a bunch of other half-done projects that maybe I’ll get around to when I feel like it.

 

[mnemonic]

So with covid lockdowns and all I started building guitars a few years back. Anyone else do luthier stuff as a hobby?

Some builds so far:
Fatty LP, quilted mahogany
View attachment 353801

Also, that carve is insane.

I am tempted to try something carved top but I know it will probably take several attempts to make something that actually looks decent.

I did find a video on YouTube of a guy who used a router and a bunch of templates to rough out the carve with a bunch of stair steps, then used an orbital sander to finalise the shape. He made look easy but clearly knew what he was doing.

 

[CrystalSky]

So with covid lockdowns and all I started building guitars a few years back. Anyone else do luthier stuff as a hobby?

Some builds so far:
Fatty LP, quilted mahogany
View attachment 353801
Baritone 7, ash and maple
View attachment 353804
LP JR, ziricote and mahogany
View attachment 353798
80's nonsense, korina and padauk
View attachment 353795
ESP Aero inspired neckthrough, ash and maple
View attachment 353792
Baritone fan fret, walnut, wenge, quilted mahogany
View attachment 353813
Also made some active pickups for the guitars
View attachment 353807View attachment 353810

Next one I've been thinking is ESP EX inspired set through neck from korina.

Holy shit man, you are difinitely not a newbie to woodwork and electronics. Stunning for a hobby builder

 

[CrystalSky]

since nobody else wants to share, I have dabbled with some guitar building hackery, certainly nothing to the level of your stuff though. Necks are still beyond me so I’ve only really done bodies, using necks I’ve bought.

This was my first some years ago, really like the guitar but up-close you can see all the mistakes, like tear out when routing the body, tooling and sanding marks that weren’t fully sanded out, etc.

View attachment 354023

Second attempt, using a spindle sander to shape the body so no tear out, much cleaner edges, etc. also used clear coat and wet sanded and buffed the finish. That did make it chip easier on the edges though (pine body and nitro finish) and the top was less flat than I thought it was, once I got to sanding the finish.

View attachment 354038

This one I used a router and a home made router sled to ‘plane’ the glued up body blank so it was actually flat. The finish was mirror flat when I was done sanding and buffing but it did sink into the grain quite quickly after that (and chip on the edges). At this point it’s also got a lot of vertical checking lines that follow the grain which I think looks nice. I made the pickup ring and pickguard from some phenolic sheet I got on eBay and lacquered it.

View attachment 354041

Most recently a couple weeks ago I finished modding a strat body I’ve had for years, converted to 7 string with some LTD neck off eBay, and with a recessed floyd (blocked). The guitar has had many different mods over the years, used to be rear-routed HxS pickup config, but routes have been moved and added, many of which with a chisel before I had a router. I filled and rerouted the bridge pickup area but it needs the pickguard to hide the sins. I was never quite happy with it in the past but I really like it now. Finish is a coat of red nitro on alder with no grain filler or clear coat, and was my very first attempt at a rattlecan nitro finish, like 8 years ago. Maybe in the summer I’ll redo it and try to make it look nice.

View attachment 354044

Nothing else guitar related on the workbench currently but that’s not to say I don’t have a bunch of other half-done projects that maybe I’ll get around to when I feel like it.

Brother, you built it the wrong way

 

[mnemonic]

Brother, you built it the wrong way

Crap!

 

[nakedzen]

Also, that carve is insane.

I am tempted to try something carved top but I know it will probably take several attempts to make something that actually looks decent.

I did find a video on YouTube of a guy who used a router and a bunch of templates to rough out the carve with a bunch of stair steps, then used an orbital sander to finalise the shape. He made look easy but clearly knew what he was doing.

That's how I did the carve. Made the templates with a bandsaw from some old mdf shelf. Most of my stuff is pretty cheap, bandsaw is a $100 Einhell and the router table is $35 Katsu router, a router insert from aliexpress and the table was free from local ads.

 

[nakedzen]

since nobody else wants to share, I have dabbled with some guitar building hackery, certainly nothing to the level of your stuff though. Necks are still beyond me so I’ve only really done bodies, using necks I’ve bought.

I've always found necks to have much less work than bodies, nothing to be scared of imho. Route the truss channel first, then do the angled headstock glue-up when it's still just a blank. If you're worried about messing the fret slots you can get pre-slotted boards LMII or guitarsandwoods.com.

Edit: LMII went bust this year? Shame. There's always stewmac I guess.

 

[nakedzen]

Holy shit man, you are difinitely not a newbie to woodwork and electronics. Stunning for a hobby builder

It's really not that hard to make guitars that look good in photos. Just pick good looking woods and don't mess around with dyed tops or high gloss finishes. All my builds are either tru-oil or Odie's oil, very hard to mess up.

I've done this maybe for 3 years now? Started by watching BigDGuitars, tchiks, Maximum Guitarworks and Crimson Guitars builds on Youtube.

 

[CrystalSky]

It's really not that hard to make guitars that look good in photos. Just pick good looking woods and don't mess around with dyed tops or high gloss finishes. All my builds are either tru-oil or Odie's oil, very hard to mess up.

I've done this maybe for 3 years now? Started by watching BigDGuitars, tchiks, Maximum Guitarworks and Crimson Guitars builds on Youtube.

I mean sheer skill with wood itself is there, finish is just a final touch, not very important in my eyes as I like natural colors too.

Proper lacquering requires equipment and prepared space, so I think you can do that too given the resources

 

[mnemonic]

I've always found necks to have much less work than bodies, nothing to be scared of imho. Route the truss channel first, then do the angled headstock glue-up when it's still just a blank. If you're worried about messing the fret slots you can get pre-slotted boards LMII or guitarsandwoods.com.

Edit: LMII went bust this year? Shame. There's always stewmac I guess.

I could probably figure out fret slotting, it’s the fret work, leveling, crowning, etc that I find tricky. I bought a cheap £20 strat neck off eBay once to practice some fret work on, and I didn’t manage to improve it much.

I guess I only tried it the once, I should give it a second try.

I’ve got an aluminum beam that’s machined flat and some cheap needle files, I would need to step up to some quality files. I dragged my feet for so long getting some quality nut files but they were worth it, used them on most of my guitars now to get the nut action just right.

 

[mnemonic]

Proper lacquering requires equipment and prepared space, so I think you can do that too given the resources

I’ve sprayed my guitars in my driveway then hung in the garage to harden, just gotta wait for the right weather. I used rattle cans of nitrocellulose lacquer so no specialised tools required, though if you had an air compressor and spray gun you’d have a lot more control.

The hard part is all the sanding involved. Preping the surface before paint with either grain filler or sanding sealer so it’s flat. Then the time and patience to wet sand flat after spraying, working the grits up to something like 1000 or 2000 grit, then buff. And don’t sand though the finish at any point

 

[Ben Waylin]

 

[CrystalSky]

Clean!

I’ve sprayed my guitars in my driveway then hung in the garage to harden, just gotta wait for the right weather. I used rattle cans of nitrocellulose lacquer so no specialised tools required, though if you had an air compressor and spray gun you’d have a lot more control.

The hard part is all the sanding involved. Preping the surface before paint with either grain filler or sanding sealer so it’s flat. Then the time and patience to wet sand flat after spraying, working the grits up to something like 1000 or 2000 grit, then buff. And don’t sand though the finish at any point

Hope you used a gas mask, otherwise nitro lacquer takes away years of life pretty fast.

And yeah, sanding and all that shit takes some time. Might as well go for shellac, as it is applied with a rag iirc.

 

[mnemonic]

Clean!


Hope you used a gas mask, otherwise nitro lacquer takes away years of life pretty fast.

And yeah, sanding and all that shit takes some time. Might as well go for shellac, as it is applied with a rag iirc.

Yep I have a respirator, certainly a good idea when spraying

 

[nakedzen]

Yep I have a respirator, certainly a good idea when spraying

Personally I've moved to Crystalac Britetone if I must have a high gloss finish. Water soluble, non-toxic, great results. Can be brushed or sprayed on.

Started making a sevenstring ceramic prototype, we'll see how it is tomorrow. 17k dc resistance so pretty hot I think.

 

[311splawndude]

So with covid lockdowns and all I started building guitars a few years back. Anyone else do luthier stuff as a hobby?

Some builds so far:
Fatty LP, quilted mahogany
View attachment 353801
Baritone 7, ash and maple
View attachment 353804
LP JR, ziricote and mahogany
View attachment 353798
80's nonsense, korina and padauk
View attachment 353795
ESP Aero inspired neckthrough, ash and maple
View attachment 353792
Baritone fan fret, walnut, wenge, quilted mahogany
View attachment 353813
Also made some active pickups for the guitars
View attachment 353807View attachment 353810

Next one I've been thinking is ESP EX inspired set through neck from korina.

Wow. These are really nice. And all so different. Good work. Love the ESP inspired neck through.

 

[nakedzen]

Wow. These are really nice. And all so different. Good work. Love the ESP inspired neck through.

Thanks! It was a real PITA to get painted with rattle can nitro. I had to have white gloves on when handling it otherwise it would develop black fingerprints that would need to be painted over. Only after the lacquer was applied it has stayed white when handled. It's definitely not perfect when looked closer.

 

[nakedzen]

For inspiration:


I think it cost me around $200 in tools and $150 for the wood for my first build.

What you need:
Router and pattern bits with bearing
Bandsaw
Orbital sander
Sandpaper (80, 120, 240, 320 grits)
Titebond original
Lots of clamps! Big and small
Truss rod
Drill and bits
Pickups and hardware
Screws
Tru oil for finishing
Template (can be bought or just printed out and made from mdf/particle board)

You can buy ready made nut and slotted/radiused fretboards, no need for nut files or fret slot saws yet. For US go to stewmac.com, EU guitarsandwoods.com. A lot of tools on stewmac is rebranded stuff you can find on aliexpress for a fraction so pay attention.

Fretwork can be done with a spirit level beam and 240 grit sandpaper, you don't need to pay out the a$$ for a leveling beam. My crowning file is the cheapest one from thomann. A 400 grit kitchen knife sharpener plate is also handy for fret ends.

Not necessary but nice to have:
Drill press
0000 steel wool
Planer
Thicknesser
Oscillating spindle sander

 

[Floyd Eye]

Currently a Beretta 1301 T.

It will have the rail replaced by a GG&G unit and the 510C that’s on it currently, replaced by a 507C.