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I started this probably in August. I got to this point and stopped intentionally.

Body
mockingbird shape
2-piece cypress
dyed yellow
heavily contoured

Neck
normal bolt-on
purpleheart/flamed maple 7-piece lam
no extra fretboard - it will be the top of the laminates
Yes, this means the fretboard will be pinstriped!
black dot markers
tiltback 6-in-line headstock

Hardware
custom-wound RestorationAD PAF humbuckers with purpleheart bobbins
purpleheart pickup rings (because of 'Spoke's tutorial - thanks!)
chrome hardware
TOM bridge, probably through-ferrules
3-way, 1V p/p, 1T p/p (wither a tap & phase or 2 series/paralell)
possibly a mini toggle (possibly phase)

I think these pics are hilarious. When I was making the neck blank, I surfaced the boards in the planer prior to glue-up. As you know, PH is gray/brown when it's first worked, but turns purple when exposed to UV light. I glued up the pieces, then set it outside to drip in the grass. When I took it in and took the clamps off, you could tell which side was towards the sun and where the clamp heads were.

_________________
Bad decisions make for good stories.
-------John


My blog - http://poplarmechanics.blogspot.com/

Atop the body is a test piece of cypress I dyed yellow. The original plan was to dye the body. I've since decided to paint it instead.

_________________
Bad decisions make for good stories.
-------John


My blog - http://poplarmechanics.blogspot.com/

I sliced off a piece of the blank for the f/b, re-planed both pieces, scarfed the neck, and beveled the edge of the body. It's not STAYING beveled, I just did that to help me visualize the contours and remove some material that wasn't going to stay anyway.







That's where I left off on November, 11 with taking pictures. That's also when my digital camera died.

_________________
Bad decisions make for good stories.
-------John


My blog - http://poplarmechanics.blogspot.com/

Here's where I am as of today.









BODY: All the contouring has been done by hand with a rasp, file, microplane, and a sureform. All routing is done, all holes are drilled, all pieces have been test fit.

NECK: Truss rod installed, fretboard slotted & re-attached, f/b radiused, frets in and ends beveled & filed, ebony dots cut with plug cutter and in place, back of neck shaped, nuts ready to be glued/screwed in.

I was originally going to use a Kahler locking nut. When I put the f/b back on, I didn't leave enough room at the not position for it, so it's going on just past the nut. Oh well. The neck heel needs a little more love, but that's really it. I have yet to finalize which headstock shape I'll be using.

Right now, the body is getting it's first coat of sanding sealer. The cypress is pretty soft in places, so I'm hoping that the sealer will toughen it up a little. Probably not, but it's worth a shop. I'd actually use sealer before the primer anyway, but I'll be doing more than one coat on this one.

As for balance, it wants to hang completely horizontal, so it's not 100% there. With my forearm sitting on the body in playing position it stays in place just fine, so I don't see any issues in the long run.

I know the pics are a little yellow - I'm still figuring out how to use the new camera.

_________________
Bad decisions make for good stories.
-------John


My blog - http://poplarmechanics.blogspot.com/

Nice looking guitar. I like the no-fretboard look with the stripes.

Any issues with shaping the purpleheart ? I've has problems with it being grabby and wanting to split/tearout/explode when routing flush to a template.

-jd

Thanks. I've come to the conclusion that because I have no formal training in lutherie, I tend to think outside the box because I don't really know where the box is. You know - can't break the rules if you don't know what the are in the first place.

I didn't have any unusual issues with the PH. The neck carved exactly like any other wood - as long as I went with the grain, the spokeshave peeled it away just like it was supposed to. I recently made a 3-drawer chest with some really curvy PH pieces that I routed to a template without issue. Here's a PRS body I made with a PH top, also with no problems at all.





By contrast, the cypress had a tendency to want to have issues with the end grain. It didn't chip or tear out in chunks, but there were spots that individual fibers pulled out leaving a hole that needed to be filled.

_________________
Bad decisions make for good stories.
-------John


My blog - http://poplarmechanics.blogspot.com/

Thinking about it for a few minutes... purpleheart burns on the end grain really easily, whether you're sanding or routing.

_________________
Bad decisions make for good stories.
-------John


My blog - http://poplarmechanics.blogspot.com/

There are several species from the same family that are sold as purpleheart. Looks like you have used it quite a bit more than I have. The first time I used it, I got some that worked wonderfully. It was lighter colored and turned very light when worked -colors as shown in your pics. Based on this years later I got some for a more intercate freeform project. This time the wood was much tigherter grained and freshly cut surfaces were dark purple, not the lighter shade. This stuff just hated the router, pattern routing was nearly impossible and even roundovers were tempting fate.

About a month ago I used some scraps from this darker stuff some inlays. It had oxidized to a nice dark brown and I didn't even realize it was purpleheart until I scraped it level and whiped with shellac. color under finish was a very dark purple which will likely oxidize back to brown over time.

Scraps from the earlier lighter stuff are still a vivid purple despite having been exposed for a couple years longer.

-jd

I got a little done on the 'Bird today. Not pictured is a little bit of finesse contouring on the heel and sanding/re-application of the sanding sealer.

After fussing with the headstock shape and tuner placement for about an hour, I drilled some holes.





The stock that was left for the headstock wasn't very wide, and I don't have a lot of PH to make ears from. That meant that the tuners had to let the strings go in a straight line from the nut. This has the benefit of forcing the headstock to taper, thus giving me some scrap to make some ears from. The final shape I landed on is a hybrid of a PRS and an Ibanez. You probably can't see the pencil outline in the pics, so you'll just have to wait for me to finish it up.

_________________
Bad decisions make for good stories.
-------John


My blog - http://poplarmechanics.blogspot.com/

The body is in the primer stage, so there's nothing exciting going on there.

The headstock grew some ears, so there's some shaping and thinning out coming in the near future.

_________________
Bad decisions make for good stories.
-------John


My blog - http://poplarmechanics.blogspot.com/

Nice pics. Thanks for posting them up. The purpleheart contrast with the cypress looked kinda neat--but I like the "natural wood" look.

BTW, I will be interested in seeing how the cypress acts as a "tonewood." I know it is soft, but it is one of the few woods that we have in abundant supply here in Florida. I am all about using wood that can be acquired without a lot of fuss and expense. Most traditional hardwoods are difficult to acquire here without having them shipped.

I have no idea about the cypress tone either. All I know for certain is that it's been used in classical guitars for a long time, so I'm trusting that to mean that it should sound OK.

As for working with it.... I'll never make another body from it again.

It's similar top pine in that the rings are really dense while the late growth in between are really soft. This means that in the areas where the rings are further apart, the soft wood in-between is just impossible to get even. (It's rippled)

This soft wood also gets dents & dings pretty easily. I've had to fill in a BUNCH of them.

On the end grain, there isn't tearout but little holes that end up needing to be filled.

Lastly, it's really light, so it wouldn't balance with a really heavy neck. I mentioned in an earlier post that the balance on it is OK, but a different wood would be better. Maybe if it had a cedar, limba, or light African mahogany neck it'd be doing better.

Honestly, if I can't get the slight ripples to level out through the finishing, I'm going to end up scrapping the body and making another from a different wood.

_________________
Bad decisions make for good stories.
-------John


My blog - http://poplarmechanics.blogspot.com/

Just asking for info here.....how much experience with body work do you have? I don't want to bore you if you already know how to do the steps and I don't want to sound condesending. So how can I help?

You mentioned that the body was in primer. What kind of primer? Are you familar with using a guide coat for leveling a primed surface?

Mike

When you say "body work", are you meaning cars? I've made a couple dozen guitar bodies, but have NO experience with this wood until now. I was just talking with someone yesterday about "Bondo for wood", but I wouldn't know where to look for it.

For primer/paint - I don't have a spray setup, so I have to use rattle cans. I know it's not optimal, but it's what I have to work with and I can get good looking results.

_________________
Bad decisions make for good stories.
-------John


My blog - http://poplarmechanics.blogspot.com/

Well, body work is body work in my book

Now that I know what you are using I may be able to help. True, rattle cans are not the best solution, but they will work. Forget the bondo for wood and go to your local auto body supply house, or, if you have a friend in the business go to him. Get some two part polyester glazing putty and a couple of the small rubber applicators. I have used several different brands of the putty and found very little difference in any of them. Make sure this product can be used over rattle can primer before purchasing.

Also purchase a black primer of the same manufacturer for compatibility sake. I think I saw that your the body was gray. If so, shake the black primer and get a couple of feet away and mist the body with black primer all over. Give this time to dry the use a level sanding block and sand the body lightly. You will immediately see some light gray areas showing up. These are the high spots you have just sanded the tops off of. Only worry about the flat surfaces for the time being. Once you have the body sanded, you will see areas that show the black misted primer. Those areas need to be filled with the glazing putty. Mix about three table spoons of the material using just enough of the hardner to change the color some. The more hardner you use, the faster it will set and will do so rather quickly. Take one of the little applicators and begin to fill the low areas trying to keep the outside edges of the applicator on two pale gray sanded areas. This will help to keep the putty level. Repeat with the mix and app until all your low areas have covered. Let the material dry a couple of hrs then use 120 grit and block sand all the flat surfaces again. This time it is ok to take the hight spots to the wood below, but do so carefully.

Re prime with about three coats, let it dry then mist your black primer guide coat on the guitar again. Repeat until you can sand all the black off and not have any wood showing!

Now the radiused edges are a different story and we will wait to see how you fare with the flat surfaces.

Mike

OK then.... I guess I'm off to the store. Progress pics on the body to come when I have something to show.

_________________
Bad decisions make for good stories.
-------John


My blog - http://poplarmechanics.blogspot.com/

I decided against putting more money into the body. It felt like I was trying to polish a turd. Before scrapping the cypress, I had to get a glimpse of the final paint, just to be 100% certain.

After putting a coat of yellow on the body, it was as rippled as my ex-wife's thighs.

I already have a 1 3/8" mahogany base in the clamps. The 1/2" top is up for grabs: maple, cherry, walnut, poplar, or ash. I'll think about it and investigate tonal comparisons through the weekend.

_________________
Bad decisions make for good stories.
-------John


My blog - http://poplarmechanics.blogspot.com/

Blowing up the body and completely re-doing it isn't really a bad thing. It's allowing me to change some things around a bit and correct a couple of things that I just didn't like about the first one. The first change, aside from the woods of course, is the control placement. I'm now putting the pickup switch on the bass horn.





I decided in the end to go with cherry for the top. It'll end up with a sound very similar to a LP, but not exactly the same. It'll be a bit brighter because of the maple/PH neck. I'm not positive exactly how bright cherry is, but I know it's up there almost on line with maple.

In the first pic, you can see a couple of little pieces that still need to be glued onto the sides. These are waiting until after the top is on. It'll be easier in the long run for me to glue them perfectly flat & even then than to try and do it before the top is on. As of right now, the bass side of the top is in the clamps. The trebel side gets it tomorrow.

The neck & headstock are done. I just don't have any pics yet.

_________________
Bad decisions make for good stories.
-------John


My blog - http://poplarmechanics.blogspot.com/

The body is all routed out , the edges beveled, and the whole thing ready to be shaped.

This mahogany is really odd. I've not encountered anything like it before. Whenever it's worked, it smells like hospital antiseptic. I'm guessing it has been chemically treated somewhere along the way.

I'll also note that this is the smallest control cavity I've ever done. I'm not overly fond of it, but with the amount of contouring I'll be doing, smaller is much better. I don't like doing the wiring, so a big cavity is better for me. Oh well.

_________________
Bad decisions make for good stories.
-------John


My blog - http://poplarmechanics.blogspot.com/

Here's the front & back after they've been contoured, sanded to 100 grit, and wiped down with mineral spirits.

_________________
Bad decisions make for good stories.
-------John


My blog - http://poplarmechanics.blogspot.com/

The heel before any shaping, then shaped, then contoured & drilled.

_________________
Bad decisions make for good stories.
-------John


My blog - http://poplarmechanics.blogspot.com/

Finally, some shots of the headstock with all the hardware in place.

_________________
Bad decisions make for good stories.
-------John


My blog - http://poplarmechanics.blogspot.com/

Lastly, the body getting sealed & grainfilled with sanding sealer.

Not much left to post about until I can start to get some primer/paint on it. Not that it's very exciting, but it'll be something.

_________________
Bad decisions make for good stories.
-------John


My blog - http://poplarmechanics.blogspot.com/

John.....p-leaseeeeee don't paint that! It is gorgeous just like it is!

I will be taking care of the little item early next week!

Mike

My father-in-law would feel the same way. Nope, it's getting painted yellow.

_________________
Bad decisions make for good stories.
-------John


My blog - http://poplarmechanics.blogspot.com/