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I finished my Fenderbird.

davelowell2

davelowell2

I’m not superstitious. Maybe a little stitious.
Supporting Member
Apr 20, 2006
4,561
10,103
NY
#1
Thought I'd post a very quick snapshot of the finished product. I will eventually get some new strings (these are the stock rounds and I don't like them very much). I got the string tree today, it's black. I wanted chrome, but can't find one locally, so I'll have to order one when I order something else.

The neck is Mighty Mite, I lemon oiled it because it was dry. The tuners are Hipshot ultralite, HB6 I think.
The truss rod cover is just a tracing of the Epiphone one onto some pickguard material, then shaped to make it around the tuners. Thanks, Mark (TBird1958), for the tips and photos of yours!

I moved the strap button from the upper bout to right behind the neck pocket, parallel with the neck. Like this...
Heelbutton2.jpg


That's about it. Oh, I did the neck shaping with a Dremel. It's a very cool tool to have and was only about 90 bucks. I'll use it a lot around the house, I think.

I'll get to some better pics in a few days, sorry about the poor quality of this one!
Later, Dave.

Fenderbird006.jpg
 
#7
FriscoBassAce said:
That's a very cool creation! Where did you get the idea? Does the Fender neck make a difference in tone? I'm impressed!
Click to expand...

Well, I would think the maple neck would contribute to a tonal change from a neck through Gibson, however, this was a bolt on Epi so the change from that would be minimal. It is a much better feel because I was not a fan of the Epi neck finish.
John Entwhistle was the origin of the Fenderbird, if I'm not mistaken.

I wish I could have taken more pics of the process. My camera battery was drained and I couldn't locate the charger. I was not going to wait until I found the charger (not until today) to continue working, so no pics of "in progress", I'm afraid.

And since I'm not that computer savvy, I can't record any sound clips, sorry.
 
#8
Hey Dave,

That came out real nice looking, the black pickgard, truss rod cover and the paint on the body compliment each other very well. Quite cool, glad to see somebody else try it!
 
#12
I just snapped a few proper pics.

Fenderbird008.jpg


Fenderbird009.jpg


Fenderbird011.jpg


Fenderbird012.jpg


Here is a shot of the neck routing I did. Not the most professional job, but I'm not a professional! Also, the strap button here has stopped all resemblance of a neck diver.
Fenderbird015.jpg
 

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