Lets start this build again 5 String 35" Maple

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Ok its been a week and some but the parts have started to arrive.First in were the Abolone fret markers from Taiwan. Just as well I ordered 80 as only about 30 were useable the others were pretty plain. Anyhow I set right too and installed them. Sorry about the picture quality my camera was playing up. And as you can see I have started to stain the fret board. It will get darker than this as I add more colours. this is Cherry Red also to come are light yellow (after a rub down and Amber Honey, I am aiming for a sunburst up the fretboard, we will see how it goes.



This is the dots after epoxying in place.






And this is after a going over with my homemade radius block with 220 grit



A little more sanding to do just to get the fretboard ready to finish also more dye required.

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Thought I would break these posts up a little, also arrived tonight were the Brass and Aluminium Nuts, I only needed one but I guess that gives me enough to make mistakes with. I am obviously not going to install it yet, but it is marked for drilling.



OK a question I need your help, once the dye is ready, I am going to finish the fretboard with polyurethane, (thats what I have) should I do this before fretting or after? I am thinking before but would like your advice.



I have started to carve the neck, at the moment it is a D shape but I need to take off another 16th or so and hopefully it will end up as a C. This was started with a 1/2 inch roundover bit in a router and a bearing running along the fretboard, the rest has been done with a hand Rasp and glass paper.




I am intending to put Walnut veneer on the headstock front back and sides, also around the bridge and pickups. I am also toying with the idea of some round veneers under the volume and tone knobs



The reason for dyeing the areas that will go under veneer is that I am thinking of doing cutouts to reveal the colour underneath. May do some practice runs first to see if it will work





The pickups are sprayed gold and have metalflake added into the poly finish then covered with another 5 layers of polyurethane. I am hopefull that they will contrast nicely with the Walnut.

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So I have done some work on the headstock, I laid out the tuner positions and as a result shaved some width off of the headstock, I realy want a straight run out to the tuners from the nut.

And then I tried another first for me I applied Walnut Veneer to the edges front and back of the headstock.



so this is from the side, the veneer I have has a glue backing and is applied with an Iron, it went on much easier than I thought it would, and even bent very nicely around an acute corner, I found that steam from the Iron made it much more pliable.

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This shot shows the veneer going around those acute angles

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Trimming the edges with a surgical scalpel blade

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Rear veneer applied and trimmed

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Front Veneer applied and trimmed, not sure If I should apply a coat of varnish now to protect the wood from the stain that I need to apply to the rest of the neck?

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So this is where I am now, I have to drill out the holes for the machine heads, and trim the truss rod cavity and the nut recess, but I am really pleased with the results of the veneer, it realy was much easier than I thought it would be

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Preliminary dye added to the wings and neck

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So tonight I drilled out the headstock for the tuning keys, because the thickness was a tad over 1/2" I drilled the washer (3/4") so that it was inlaid by 1mm now it lays flush with the surface, then I drilled the 1/2" hole for the shaft, then it was a case of rotating 80 grit in the hole until the tuners slipped into position.

I also trimmed the trussrod access hole, and fashioned a cover from raw maple, it should contrast nicely with the dark walnut veneer.

I also trimmed the veneer for the Nut Slot and levelled it out.

Tommorrow I start with the bridge placement.

Not to be insecure but is anyone actually reading these posts?

[pilotjones]

Chill - you've got over 1000 views.

Interesting job veneering the headstock. I haven't seen that done that way before. How did you wrap the veneer around the curves at the backside base of the headstock?

Are your body wings still not glued on, or do you have some kind of raised-center-Thunderbird thing going on?

It looks like you've got some stain over-penetration at the fret slots. I don't know of a way to fix that.

[James Mobius]

I see the virgin Mary in your fretboard. and I'm not even Christian!

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Thanks for the comments Pilot, it was getting kind of lonely in here felt like I was talking to myself.

It was my first time applying veneer, so I followed the instructions on the packet, the Veneer was glue backed, I used the wifes steam iron to apply heat and found that the steam made the veneer much more pliable so for the curves I litteraly ironed on the veneer, then used a chisel handle to press into the contours and get any air out, I have trimmed the back into a point now and hopefully can blend the veneer edge into the neck.

No the wings will go on later, I found it difficult with my last neck to apply the frets and file them to my satisfaction after the wings were applied, I also find it more difficult to apply finish and get a good shine around the edges and details of the 24th frets with wings applied, so my intent is to install the Frets first get them leveled and finished, then complete the dye and put a finish on the fretboard to seal it. Then glue on the wings and level the neck and wings together before applying the finish Dye. I am still very much just learning and making it up as I go along.

My wife and I used to make novelty birthday cakes one of our finest was thunderbird two rising out of the centre of the cake on its ramp. It does look a little raised but I can say it is perfectly level. once I have the wings on I am going to cut the rest of the PUP slots out and then veneer over the centre, again I have no firm plan, so I am kind of making it up as I go along.

Yes there is some dye penetration along the Fret cuts, but the next dye to be applied is honey Amber which should darken the fret board a lot, plus I still have to go over the board with 200, its still at 80 grit at the moment, we will see how it develops.

James now you mention it it does look slightly religous, less so now I have applied the first of the Dye coats, I will rub her down very gently and reverently, and say a few hail marys in the process. Never know when a chisel slip might cause irrepperable damage

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I decided to seal the walnut veneer to stop any stain splashing it whilst doing the neck, whilst I was at it I have put some poly on the fretboard. this is with three coats and no rub down, I am going to let it harden for a couple of days, then give it a rub down followed by a few more coats prior to installing the frets.



I am pleased with the veneer it pops realy well. The paper rolls stop the varnish running through and forming drips on the rear of the head stock.




The fretboard ended up with a mixture of Light Yellow, cherry red and amber analdine dye, it has given it a pleasant aged look









I still have to put in the side markers, at this time I am thinking of using copper wire, not sure how this will look but I will try some test pieces before commiting.

[slappa_dat_bass]

Looks good! I love the veneer on the headstock

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Ok so I am adding layers to the poly finish on the headstock and the fretboard which is a long process so I started to do some trial pieces for the neck side dots.




The ones on the left are tiny dome topped nails gold colour but in this instance they sit proud of the neck. I could counter sink the top 1mm and fill the dome with varnish, need your opinions here please!!!!!!!!

The ones on the right are copper wire inserted and sanded flat. when freshly polished like this they shine realy well with a lovely bright copper colour, a coat of varnish would seal this colour for good.

This is another view with the test piece turned around(its very difficult to get decent pictures as the camera autofocus is easily confused)



Finally a distance shot to show that both types show up quite well




I would like some opinions as to which to go with, at this time I am favouring the copper wire, but would really value your input

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So its been a while since ive posted but the temp in the garage has been sub zero for the last couple of weeks, so progress has been slower than I would like.

Since the last post I have fitted frets, they still need dressing and final leveling.


I have aligned the bridge pieces and drilled the mount holes, also the earth (ground) wire for the bridge has been drilled and the sheild wire installed, then covered with Aluminium tape. The theory is that this tape will be covered with walnut veneer, then as the bridge screws pass through the Aluminium tape the bridge pieces will be grounded. I use this Aluminium tape (Aircraft grade speed tape) for all of my sheilding it works as well as copper, and its cheeper.




The pickup cavities will be sheilded properly once the route is completed, for now this just keeps the sheild wire contained.

the side dots have been completed, but now I am undecided whether to leave the back of the neck pure maple or to stain it, I will decide once the wings are on.

I have fitted the lower wing, these pictures show it without glue cleanup. the top wing is going on today.

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So the upper wing is on, lots of sanding and routing now before the top veneer can go on



at this stage I am contemplating making the pickups non height adjustable to hide the unsightly screw supports. as long as I get the height correct can anyone see any problemns with doing this?

So I will build in some pickup surrounds that will hide the screw bulges

[dremy2006]

awesome stuff