Official Luthiers Forum!

Thanks man. Made the table myself from a piece of 3/4" marine ply and an old workmate i had, bolted my big handheld router underneath and hey presto. The bit is a 50 mm long template follower, think think its a 3/4" diameter bit.

The axe isn't finished yet as I've been focussing on building a workshop in my garden. All this has been done at my work so far but I can't keep doing that. Too much dust and I have to clean up every night for the place to be used the next day, gets annoying.

How big is everyone's workspace? I'm looking at 10'x12' sheds and outbuildings but i dont want to make the mistake of buying something too small..

I thought 16 x 16 would be plenty. Never have enough.

Update. Taking me ages but I'm not far away now. Bought a fret press system to do the frets and it works beautifully. Went with abalone dots in the end too, 9,8,7,6,5mm going down as the gap gets smaller between frets. Looking not too bad now, need to finish shaping the neck and a couple of holes here and there. Got to inlay my logo then I'm ready for oil or laquer. I've decided on "Thistle Guitars". I have a local jewellery workshop making me a solid silver thistle I designed to go in the headstock, should be pretty cool.

Saaaaweeet!

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Thanks Dan. I also made this little ebony cover for the truss rod today. I have left a step inside the hole to allow a screw on one side of this. The screw can be undone raising the cover until it can swivel under the strings allowing access to the spoke wheel without string removal or fidgety covers.

Probly been thought of before but I'm claiming that as my idea lol.

Cool!

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why not a string through design? Not much harder IMHO. Looks good though.

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"Preoccupation with an effect gives it power and enhances the error"
from "Your Owner's Manual" by Burt Hotchkiss.

Yeah it is a string through design Nick and I agree it does give the back a nice look. That's actually my sticking point right now. My little pillar drill doesn't have enough depth to reach those. I'm a bit dubious about doing it free hand from either side but if anyone has any tips on how to get this correct I would really apreciate it.

The neck is done pretty much now. Frets are levelled beveled and polished to 24000 grit. Still have to blend from neck to headstock a little more but it's a nice c shape and I just kinda did it by feel. Got to make the nut and tru-oil it and it's there. The body is now contoured like a strat and the last few holes with a pillar drill are all that's stopping me final sanding and finishing it too. I'll post a few pics for you starting to look good.

My next research task is the wiring. It's my first guitar so I wanted a good range of sound. My question is what's my options on wiring. Obviously it's a tele style plate. Here's what I have.

2 Seymour Duncan '59s
1 linear 1 logarithmic 500k push pull pots.
5 way super duper ultra or something switch with double connections.

Is it possible to have a phase shift and coil tapping ability with this type set up. Had a look for a diagram but the top Google hits all seem to want 2 tone pots and a vol. As I said I'd like a good range of tone and options, what would you guys do?? I need a little inspiration

My photo bucket links haven't shown up??

Hey guys, she lives. The Slantocaster mk1 is born. Few rookie errors and bits I have learned from but all in all I'm happy with it as my first attempt. Misaligned marker dots and my stupidity in drilling the tuner holes directly on the string path rather than the width of the post out, if you know what I mean. It's the reason the headstock is so small and I really wish I had picked up on it before. Lesson learned lol. String ferrules are a little bit out also.

Specs:

Body. North American Ash with 5mm inlayed scratchplate figured scottish black walnut.

Neck. 5a maple and Macassar ebony fretboard. Paua abalone marker dots decreasing in size from 9-5mm (3rd to 24th respectively) 3mm paua abalone side markers. 43mm nut, bone. Chunky neck profile much like a baseball bat les Paul or wide-thick prs which is my preference. Locking tuners.

Both body and neck have 13 coats of tru oil.

Seymour Duncan '59 zebra pickups with 5way super switch (Bridge series-B parallel-both series-neck parallel-neck series). Both pots are push pulls which switches phase on each pickup.

So here she is, plays really well and is very powerful with a nice tone. Again thank you all for your advice and help where I needed it everyone. I have the bug and no2 is in design stage right now. Apologies for the phone camera..













Edit.. Fixed typos.

Brian.

Weighs 9lbs on bathroom scales.

Super-nice Brian!
Your first looks better than my tenth!
Dan

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That turned out really nice, Brian! I like the 4 over 2 peghead! What's next?

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Thanks guys. Yeah I think it's turned out really nice. Next Alex, will be my take on a les Paul/PRS type. Set neck, carved flame maple top with mahogany back and neck, Indian rosewood fretboard and flame maple binding including fretboard. Probly go with stop tail and abr1 bridge like a LP but will be more PRS in shape than LP. 25" scale again since I have my jig and I have a pair of original 1956 p90s there that I've been itching to try. They check out ok on the ohmmeter so a new set of covers and a basic three way toggle switch with 1 vol 1 tone setup should sound like the old skool Gibsons I played as a youngin.

Does anyone use a cad program for designing guitars?

Finishing touches. Logo and case.