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Got a mahogany slab in for free, was an errant ship, seller didnt even want me to pay!
So I thought I would do a full mahogany bodied PRS copy. I did have minor chipout on the back trem section because I stupidly drilled from the top instead of trying to meet my top drill halfway through the bottom. Decided to fix it with some titebond II and dust I got from the slab, after sanding it out I hope it will blend in pretty well.
Anyway, I did all this today, hope you enjoy!

Looking good!

Sorry about your mishap in the back....I am assuming you are going to carve the top?

How thick are you going to make the body?

That Mahogany does look good....nice ribbon pattern in the back, so that when you stain and then lacquer, it should pop, almost with an iridescent type of shine....it almost looks like Sapele...

Would love to see your progress....best of luck with your build!

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-CyborgCNC
http://www.cncguitar.com
https://www.facebook.com/CncGuitar

Thanks.
Actually after I checked it the cavity covers should be big enough to cover that mishap up, so I should be able to route it out.
And yes I'm going to carve the top, just gotta route the topography in there.
Overall the guitar is 1 3/4" thick. I'm not sure if i"m gonna stain it or not. I was raising the grain with some water and it has a deep red color to it.

Good Stuff!

I am also in the process of a PRS build, but I am going via the CNC route....I am a BIG fan of carved top guitars, like Les-Paul's and off course, PRS...I recently designed the model in Solidworks....here:

viewtopic.php?f=10106&t=29836

Have not cut it yet, but will soon....

_________________
-CyborgCNC
http://www.cncguitar.com
https://www.facebook.com/CncGuitar

Wow, cool stuff you have going on.
I'd love to have a CNC myself, but that is a far more intelligent, and financially loose person than myself.

Carved the top today, first time I've ever carved one. Didn't do so well on the knob recesses, but I haven't tried them before, but they look acceptable. Also routed for the backing plates. I also wet the grain to give an idea of what the finished product will look like. Let me know what you think!

That mahogany has a good looking pattern! Are you going to stain it a certain color, or going to leave it as is?

The button recess carves look nice...I think they came out quite good!!

Are you going to use mahogany for the neck as well??

_________________
-CyborgCNC
http://www.cncguitar.com
https://www.facebook.com/CncGuitar

Yeah I'm gonna leave it natural. Just looks good so I wont want to stain it. No point in adding to something that looks good as is.
I am either going to use mahogany for the neck, or claro walnut. I'm trying to score a big enough piece for 1 pc neck. I don't like scarf jointing, I'm not that bad at it, but it's just a pain in the ass. Ebony fretboard, but no inlays, I haven't tried inlays and I dont like dots.

This is not mahogany. It's sapelli.

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Francis Richer, Montréal
Les Guitares F&M Guitars

Hmmm. Guy said it was mahogany that he bought from the washburn custom shop.

A lot of people mix everything. Mahogany became a sort of wide meaning word... Sapelli, Khaya, Sipo, African Mahogany.... They are ''acepted'' as mahogany but these are not realy Swietenia.

You said it comes from Washburn... Big companies are the best ones to mix wood names (or just lie...)
I'm 95% sure it's sapelli. I have never seen mahogany with ribbon like this. There is ribbon mahogany... but was I see on your pictures is particular to sapelli.

By the way, jimmy.. I'm not bashing neither on you or your guitar, I'm just saying it's sapelli.
And I love sapelli guitars

Francis

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Francis Richer, Montréal
Les Guitares F&M Guitars

Well thanks for clearing it up! And no offense was taken at all.
Now If I can only find a big enough piece of claro walnut to do a 1pc neck I'll be in business.

Oregon Wild Wood have some. 1'' thick.
Check out at Gilmer wood too, sure they have.

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Francis Richer, Montréal
Les Guitares F&M Guitars

I was looking for something about 2 3/4" thick.
I hate scarf jointing, it's a pain to do, it looks cheap in my humble opinion, and It's just not worth the trouble to me. If you use the fretboard to stiffen the joint everything has to be dead on perfect, and if you don't, you have to veneer the headstock to stiffen the joint. I've read a lot that 1pc necks are a lot weaker, but PRS and Gibson do 1pc necks, so it must hold up. I do have a neck I just scarf jointed, but I dont know why I did it.

Well I have to disagree about a scarf looking cheap, at least the Spanish variety where it is made on the headstock. When done right it is all but invisible. You do have to put a headplate (and veneer) for both strength and looks. With a backstrap plate, even better. Hard to beat such a sandwich in ters of strength.

You could make the neck out of maple for a nice contrast and the headplate(s) out of mahogany to match the body.

The main thing about scarf joints is that it allows the use of thinner stock. At the rate forests are depleted, a 1 piece neck is something bordering indecent. Actually 1 piece necks, and the lack of headplates, are results of factories trying to make production faster and cheaper, and at a time when nobody could image mahogany might face (commercial) extinction.

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Build log

I agree with with Alexandru. For me, one-piece neck look cheap. And you say: ''I've read a lot that 1pc necks are a lot weaker, but PRS and Gibson do 1pc necks, so it must hold up''. Well, gibson neck often, really often break where the angle begin. I'd suggest you to read cumpiano on that.

Using the fretboard to ensure the joint is illogic, according to me. But, using a headplate to ensure it makes a really good and stiff joint. Even more with a back plate.

Francis

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Francis Richer, Montréal
Les Guitares F&M Guitars

Gibsons do sometimes break, but they have a lot of headstock angle too.
I like the look of a 1pc over a scarf.
Not to mention I just hate scarf jointing.

I am just about done with this body. I just need to final sand it and drill for the input.
After that I just gotta find the neck wood. It's very hard to get claro in a big enough piece for a 1pc neck I have come to find out.

PRS's are actually 3 piece necks, assuming you count the "wings" that they glue on the side of the headstock to make it wide enough.

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http://www.PeakeGuitars.com

Very true!

Nice carve, Jimmy.
Hey, if you don't like scarf neck joints,
maybe you could laminate some walnut together,
and get 2 necks out of the deal.

That's going to be a beautiful guitar! The walnut will look good for the neck, but IMHO I'd use sapelle, same as the body.
As for a scarf joint, everyone likes what they like. I'm a fan of the scarf joint, when it's done at the headstock with a headplate. I don't have a band saw, so cutting out a one piece might be a bit difficult, and it's not really hard to make a scarf joint. I do it with a really cheap back saw(the saw and the plastic mitre box it came with cost $20, lol.), and smooth and square up everything with a hand plane. Works fine.
I look forward to watching as you progress with this.

_________________
Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Thanks! I ran into a problem with the template as the neck is undersized by about .070 from side to side in the pocket. So I need to just make my own.

Cool project! Another fan of carve tops here. I'm currently in the plotting and planning stages of a PRS-inspired electric myself. Got a few acoustics to finish before I get started putting it together though.

And if you're looking for one-piece claro neck blanks, you could try Goby Walnut http://www.gobywalnut.com/instrument-tonewoods.htm. I've never bought from them before, but they have 30x3x4 neck stock on the list. Might even get 4 of them out of that if you're crafty, or at least 2 one-piece and a scarf blank.

I love scarf joints myself. It's the stacked heels on acoustics that irritate me But a single block laminated on for a heel doesn't bother me.

Made the neck today. Had a little mishap routing the truss rod channel because my straight edge slipped, but it was nothing major that requires any concern. I did get the neck in there and wanted to try to use my tabletop belt sander instead of using a straight edge and a template bit to get my taper right, well, expirement tried, and although it worked, it wittled my nut size from what I wanted at 1 3/4 to 1 9/16". Again, no biggie. I am having problems with the look of the joint now as one side is dead flush, and the other has a very small gap, I discovered I had a tiny tiny tearout right there. I filled it in with some titebond and mahogany dust from that body, and after I rout the tenon depth for the neck and get that on there I will file it down flat and flush. it is currently a very tight joint though and I can hold the guitar up from the neck.
Here are some pics, prolly wont be anymore until I get the fretboard and bridge in so I can finalize the neck.

Had a new problem today, I was trying to get the neck pocket routed to depth and then fitting the heel in there, well, it was so tight I was tapping it in with a hammer, and done it over and over again. Well, I was tapping it in and all of a sudden the joint got a little more loose.
You might have guessed it, neck pocket cracked. Nothing too terrible. So I seperated the wood and let some glue seep in there and clamped it for 30 min, then sanded it and decided to go ahead and glue the neck in there without the fretboard installed. I glued it with titebond instead of hide glue, because titebond has seeping properties to it. I figured it would be good to have the neck pocket crack fully dry and have the neck in there to dry with it, that way hopefully the titebond seeps in there and there are less expansion/shrinking worries in that joint in the future.

Don't know how you guys would have handed it, but that's what I chose.