The Luthier Community

OK, screw that;

Here's the deal - I figure, I said 'parter' and that's what it should be, in all respects - AND, realistically, if we wait 'till I have time to to make a neck, well...

So I ordered a neck from WDBiz - Maple and Ebony paddle head made to fit a Tele, but some assembly required; we'll need to fine tune the neck for the pocket, and do some fret and setup work, but that's good experience and typical for dealing with a true parter. So here's the neck - Oh, FYI it was $85 all told.







So, now we can get this done in a more timely manner!

Red I, Jim?



E

I's reddy, sir!

I'll put plugs in the inline holes and veneer the head back and front with somethin'. I guess I had better check max and minimum head thickness first. I have a maple fretboard that seems quite thin to me. But I could put the frets in now, couldn't I? And the dots. I have a black plastic rod for that. Is your fretboard already glued to the neck?

Since you showed me yours, I'll try to show you mine tomorrow!

Jim

mine's all fretted, glued, etc - I just gotta do up the head profile, etc, but I'm good for that!

E

Eben,

Just a gentle prod on this one. I know Jim and I were really interested in seeing you do this parter guitar.

How is it coming and when do we get more pics?

Tom

Yeah, you guys, my wife and the damn guitar!



I'll be back on it VERY SOON!!

E

Ok, onward!
Biggest to do with this kinda thing is the neck to body connection when the parts come from different makers. Right off the bat, first thing to do is fit the two together and see what ya got.







In this case, they’re close but not nearly good enough. We have fit issues at lower bout to neck and front of neck to neck pocket. I look it over carefully, mark what needs to go with pencil, and then very slowly and carefully make the needed adjustments. This one took some wood removal from the front face of the neck and some re-contouring of the neck block where it hits the lower bout. I use a stainless steel micro whatever – The plastic handled thing has a blade like a high-end sureform, it works great on Maple. Then smoothed with a chisel, then sandpaper 80 grit through 220. I fit things a bunch of times of course, carefully taking neck off each time.









When I’m done, I check the orientation all around, first as to center of body, then to vertical alignment. Fenders and clones don’t have a neck relief angle like a Les Paul does, so the important thing is that the neck and fretboard are even height and dead perpendicular to the body, as well as confirming fret scale against the neck and the whole shebang. It took about an hour and change, but it ended up right on, so I drilled neck screw holes in to the neck blank and then carefully screwed ‘em in with the neck plate. That’s when I realized I forgot black neck screws, so until I get ‘em, I used nickel…

















I think it's lookin' pretty skookum!



E

Hi Eben,
I'm a newcomer on this forum and I'd just like to say what an excellent tutorial this is.

In the last 5 or 6 years I've been making electric basses. I've only made 4 but each one has been totally different from the others.

I'd like to suggest to anyone wanting to make a first electric instrument that, as a complement to your tutorial, they get hold of a copy of 'Make your own Electric Guitar' by Melvyn Hiscock. I (and a lot of other people) consider it to be the 'Bible' of electric guitar building. For those who aren't familiar with the book, he shows in detail how to make a neck-through, a set-neck (Les Paul type) and a bolt-on (Fender type) instrument. He also shows how to build an instrument from modified parts. Everything you need to know (electrics, finishing, etc.) is in there.

Hope you don't mind me chipping in Eben.

Hey, Dave, WELCOME

and you're right on - That book has a prominent place in my luthier shelf and that's a great recommendation!

E