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I post very little of my builds because they are for somebody else but this one is for me.

As for the finish all I know is that I want all the Birdseye on the body to be the same as the fretboard. I'm going to amber tint the neck and will be using nitro.
It's the body I'm not sure about. I like to see wood but I also like solid colors/sunbursts, etc.- really no preference so I guess it comes to whatever will help balance out or make the inlayed "pickguard" pop.


I know my best option is to ask Howard to do it but I'd really like to give it a go.
Most of my finish experiences have been with oil but willing to attempt whatever may work best.


Appreciate all suggestions and sorry for the lack of photo skills.

I'd just bury it in clear... should look awesome!

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

oooh-yeah! That looks sweet!
Is the pick guard flush with the top, or is it a thin veneer?
I'd go with clear as well. The nitro should give it a light amber color.
Of course, it will look good with any color you apply.

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The "pickguard" is a bookmatched piece 1/8" thick - inlayed and flush w/body.

I've used nitro-cell a couple of times- I used it on my '57 V neck Strat when changing radius and frets.
I sprayed clear then the amber tint and clear. I was thinking that this neck would look fine like that.

When I thought of doing the whole guitar like that I felt I was taking the easy way out and possibly missing out
on the chance of adding color...so thought I'd ask what ya'll may think.

Appreciate the feedback guys.


Finished the reliefs...noticed the date on camera is off

Cool!

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looks very good. I think birdseye looks very good with a creamy white. I don't think there will be enough contrast if you would apply a natural finish on both.

Bart, as you probably know, Fender had a "Vintage Cream" (they called Vintage White).
I like that color and fortunately don't own any Strats with that color...and I like it.
Thank you.

I see you have a wooden control cover, it should be sealed on all sides to prevent warping. Make sure to allow enough room in your dry fit up for the finish that will be on the edges of the cover.

I also agree with bart that the birdseye pickguard will not stand out much if all finished the same. My thoughts would be to do the neck and pickguard with an amber as you suggest and then either just clear over the body or a contrasting tint.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

Thank you Brian.
Also for the cover advice.

I'm not setup to spray so will be using ReRanch spray cans.

I've always wanted to make a Strat type body with an inlaid wooden "pickguard". You beat me to it!

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Old growth, shmold growth!

I made the mistake of using an aftermarket guard to make the positive and negative templates...glad I noticed the edge wasn't consistently spaced by the roundover.
Rather than take one off my Strats I made a paper one for the section by the roundover.
Not having to wrap around the trem was nice but did wonder how it will look...took the easy road.

What an excellent idea. Never seen that done before, what ever you choose hope it turns out well.

Steve

Thank you Steve.
I haven't either FWIW.
If I manage to get a guitar out of it I'll post results.

That looks awesome. Fantastic idea that I might copy in the future if that's ok?. I agree that the inlay needs some sort of contrast against the body. Just clear would look good but from a distance i dont think you would even see all that hard work and ingenuity

Thank you Wilson - it's unlikely that it is an original idea...but I don't know and I don't mind if others enjoy doing it.

The idea originated to me from thinking about using different woods to make a top something like EVH Frankenstein (rather than paint).
I wasn't ready to deal with trying it - not sure how it would bend- and then this idea happened. I did consider using wood for more contrast but wanted it to match the fretboard and I had already started the neck.

I added vintage tint to the Birdseye, not the body and did get what I was hoping for. I believe when the neck is on it will be as I expected. ( thanks to Brian for the needed push)

It's not the best picture and I do apologize for my lack of photo skills...but the tint did add enough contrast for what I was shooting for. I'm looking forward to seeing it with the neck attached.

Looks really good man, I can't wait to see it all built up. I'm about to start my first build which will be a tele and I am going to steal this idea since you don't mind lol. I was looking for an idea to make my tc a bit different and this is it.

Good luck with finishing it off, have you thought about pickups or stuff yet? Just an idea but a chrome set of pup covers would really set that off. In my opinion white or black may be a little boring for it.

Good luck with your Tele style Wilson. I look forward to seeing your project.

I build pickups and have made two sets to try out and have a third set ready to build if I don't
get the sound from either.

Naturally I want the guitar to look good but since I'll be playing this one there are many things
much more important to me.

very nice result.

Hey Michael,
If you do not mind me asking, did you use a pattern router bit wit the bearing and really thick templates, or router bushings?
Thanks,
Dan

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Thank you Bart.


Dan I used 1/2" MDF to make the negative. I kept the inside pieces to space as needed to keep the router/bearing bit supported and went down about 1/8" into body.
The positive I made by tracing the negative to the bookmatched piece of Birdseye.
I made the positive a little larger so I could slightly bevel the edge - my hopes were that when I pressed it into the body I would get a good fit. It worked very well except in one small area that I sanded a little to much away on the positive. It's very small but I can see it. You may be able to spot it but the little bit of fill really looks like Ash grain. It's the rounded area (horn) below the tone control-straight down from the middle of input jack cavity. First picture shows it best.
Naturally I left the positive proud and pattern bit trimmed for the neck pocket area.

I traced a pickguard on paper to check how it would fit the body. I wanted a uniform space from the roundover. All I had was aftermarket pickguards and none kept the 1/8" distance from the roundover that I wanted so I modified until it was right. When it was perfect I used the paper template to make the negative. Keeping track of the center-line kept everything right on.
Hope that makes sense.
I think the only failure was me goofing with a sanding mistake. The bad part was I didn't see it until after it was glued in and I sanded it level to body. Maybe the beveling of the positive is not the correct way. I'll try the next one without it.

Thanks Michael,
Your method is what I was thinking. I figured there would be no way to make a full 1" thick template.
I may give it a try on my next build.
Dan

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You're welcome Dan and if you decide to I'd enjoy seeing your project.

Hi Sandywood,
I'm doing an inset Redwood "pick guard" similar to yours.
This is a drop top, so I tacked my boards together and cut it out with a scroll saw.
I should be able to fill the saw kerf space.
Thanks for sharing your idea!
Dan

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I think that is going to look fantastic Dan.

I imagine one could outline the guard much like acoustic sound holes and get
a nice look too.
I thought about that as a way out in case I blew the fit on mine but I also thought things can
get to busy...but something I'd like to see sometime.

I look forward to seeing it Dan.

Thanks Michael,
I had a heck of a time trying to get everything aligned.
I bought a redwood billet for tops until I realized it was too soft, so I'll find other uses for it.
Thanks again,
Dan

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