Sing The Body Electric - Building a Parter

[Eben]

I got some Texas Ebony that might look pretty cool...

Urb

[Dennis Mitchell]

We don't need no stinkin' poll........Go for it!

[Eben]

Well, the burst won, so I'm doin' one, and I'm opting for the black/brown/amber, real thin on the dark colors.

Right on, allez!

E

[Jim]

Eben,

I had lost track of this thread, and want to resurrect it for two purposes:

1. What's you finished guitar look like? I assume you completed it.

2. I will post some photos of my long-sleeping electric build soon.

Jim

[Eben]

Oy vey ist mere, another ghost!

Thanks for raising this one, Jim, 'cause it' needs to be! No, it ain't done, so we'll do that - Funny how the stuff 'for me' never gets finished... And let's do see yours too - That was the one you got the guts for from your buddy who teaches and was starting new kits, right?

Urb

[Jim]

Yep, the one from my buddy, Doug Hunt, who is teaching tech ed about 30 miles north of here. I visited him again this past Monday and saw how far along his students had come in just a few short weeks. He's quite a teacher. I had a bunch of questions to ask him and he sent me off with information and his best wishes. The parts for this guitar are not as well-formed as the ones he's making and obtaining now. So I had some work to do.

Now that it has warmed up a bit, I warmed up the shop with my Jotul stove, and went to work out there.



It is a large shop, poorly insulated, but I can get it to about 50 degrees with this stove when it is about 30 to 35 degrees outside. But that's about it. Behind that door is my "clean shop." I don't make sawdust in that room. OK, I sometimes use a handsaw, but that's about it.

Here's the body, front and back. I've drum sanded the top to remove the slightly small recesses for the pickups and bridge that might have been visible in the first shots I posted way back in the beginning. They have been sanded here to 220.



I had to plug and redrill all but one hole for the bridge. I kept the center hole for the screws as my datum point. I was afraid the drill would wander when I redrilled, but with care, they all lined up nicely. The neck slot was slightly undersized, but although Doug cautioned against it I planed off just a tiny bit from each side for a perfect fit. I'm not too worried that the spacing of the strings might put them at the edges of the fretboard; they seem OK to me.

Next post will be about the neck. I'm not sure what to do with it right now.

OK, Eben, get busy and post the progress with yours!

Jim

[Jim]

What I need today is somebody to tell me about the installation of the adjustable neck rod. The brass ends of the rod fit glove-tight, not leaving much room for silicone. I plan on putting a dab on each side and the bottom of those brass ends, right? And I wonder if something like a bit of fiberglass insulation could be put in just two or three places to ensure the rods won't rattle?

I reshaped the pre-drilled paddle head of the neck to this shape and put some lacewood on both sides of the head. I had to put something there because, in straightening the neck, I had to sand into the head a bit and thus I had to thin it by about 3/16" or so. I really didn't measure it, but after I put the lacewood on I sanded both sides on the disc sander to get the best thickness for my tuning machines.



I do have fingers, but for some reason I folded them under the handle of the chisel.




I might have made the groove into the head a bit too long, but I imagine the plate I put over that will cover that.

Tomorrow I'll glue the fretboard to the neck. The neck I received is poorly joined at the scarf joint and is somewhat bowed. Doug thinks that after gluing the fretboard and putting the frets in, it will be true. I sanded it as flat as I could, and removed a bit of wind (twist), but it is still bowed a bit.

If any of you have any suggestions about installing that adjustable neck rod, I would appreciate hearing from you.

Jim

[Eben]

What I need today is somebody to tell me about the installation of the adjustable neck rod. The brass ends of the rod fit glove-tight, not leaving much room for silicone. I plan on putting a dab on each side and the bottom of those brass ends, right? And I wonder if something like a bit of fiberglass insulation could be put in just two or three places to ensure the rods won't rattle?

Jim, I use just a little spot of flexible CA glue on the bottom of each brass end, and then a bit of silicone along the shaft of the rod - That said, the plastic covers that these nice modern rods have pretty much remove the rattle issue - That happened to uncoated steel rods more than anything; I'd say you're in good shape!

E