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Custom Grabber - 1st A to Z build

#101
To drill the bridge ground wire, use a loooooong drill bit at a steeeeeep angle. But drill straight into the body about 1/16", to make a little cavity for the tip of the drill bit to anchor into before going to the steeeeeeep angle.
 
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#102
Bridge ground wire achieved with long 1/8 drill bit. Holes to be filled with epoxy either tonight, or tomorrow, but most of the body work is done including the routing of the cavities. Not perfect, but it's underneth everything so no one is going to notice (even when the pickguard is off, it'll be black inside hahahaha) Also, finally got the scarf joint flush and smooth. Glueing process starts and waits for 24h. Tomorrow, i really start making the neck a neck and the first thing i'm doing is drawing everything i need to cut out on it. Truss rod channel will be routed out. Hopefully the weather is a bit warmer, cause right now, it's gettin cold.
 
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#103
SO i haven't glued yet cause i'm wondering if i'm suppose to plan the thickness of the headstock first beforehand for the tuners i will use. Following Invalid Link Removed this guideline so far for the whole process, should i plane it to the correct thickness? THe tuners i'm using are hipshot ultralites clover 1/2 sized posts. The dimensions i've pulled from the hipshot website say that the length of its shaft is 1.24from the base where the threads start to the tip of the post. My blank is a tad over .75 thick. I've marked both sides like the guy said 1/2" from the longest part of the headstock piece. If anyone has hipshot ultralite 1/2 sized posts, could you measure the shafts length and report back. It'd be much help for me, then i could jsut plan it out and everything will be fine.

p.s. if i don't plan it now, and glue everything together, will it be difficult to plan it once it's glued on and set as part of the neck?
 
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#104
Easier to thickness it first and then glue it up, but the reverse isn't too difficult either.

I have 1/2" Hipshot Ultralites on my Tele, as a matter of fact! That headstock is 0.5" thick, which is the minimum necessary for those tuners. Between 9/16" and 5/8" is typical, so you're not too far off from that.
 
#109
While the epoxy is curing for the next two hours on the body's holes, i will use my time to reduce the thickness of the headstock and then proceed to gluing the head and neck piece together to form the dreaded scarf joint!!! (dundundun~) ANd once that's over with and curing for 24hours, i will route the inside cavities (pickup/electronics) so they are smooth and uniform....ish.

Pictures to follow up sometime this week, haven't gotten a chance to do much, although my gf is now following me during this build so she has much more pictures than i.
 
#111
As i was looking at my completed scarf joint, i've noticed that it didn't sit flush all the way... :S
20141023_091407.jpg


So my question is, will it be strong enough to work with, or will have have to redo it? (i still have so excess wood i can use from the blank at the bottom of the neck tracing)
20141023_091508.jpg


p.s. if i get an answer sometime today, i'll be able to start it up again, or continue with the neck. Thank you
 

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#113
Mmmmm, that doesn't look good. Best to saw it out and re-do it. Sorry. Did the two pieces mate well when dry-fit? What glue did you use?
 
#114
ctmullins said:
Mmmmm, that doesn't look good. Best to saw it out and re-do it. Sorry. Did the two pieces mate well when dry-fit? What glue did you use?
Click to expand...

That's okay, rather have a good solid neck, than one that breaks upon either shaping it, or string tension. I used elmers wood glue, it's the new formula thing it bonds better i guess. And yes they did when i dry fitted them. Maybe i didn't shave the neck blank's downhill enough so i'll be doing that today. Thanks Mullins :P
 
#117
You have the right approach - better to re-do it than risk an unsatisfactory result. And we learn by doing, right? (I know I do, frequently!!)

You'll want to make sure there are no gaps when you clamp the joint dry (no glue). Keep planing the joint until you can't see any gaps. Then (and only then) apply glue and clamp it up.
 
#118
ctmullins said:
You have the right approach - better to re-do it than risk an unsatisfactory result. And we learn by doing, right? (I know I do, frequently!!)

You'll want to make sure there are no gaps when you clamp the joint dry (no glue). Keep planing the joint until you can't see any gaps. Then (and only then) apply glue and clamp it up.
Click to expand...

Yes indeed. I am the same way hahaha. And i shall be working on this tomorrow & saturday. I'd rather have all the clamps ready when the time of gluing comes upon the scarf joint. Also, i'll be getting myself a flush cut saw. Just gogta find a good one that will enable me to cut all the way through without having to use my thicker cut saw -.-.

As said before, i will follow up on my work. If all goes well these next two days, the body will have it's final routing & then off to paint. In the mean time of it drying, the neck will be the main focus to do everything right with no screw ups and then itself will be off to paint (headstock) & clear coating Gloss headstock front, satin back of neck.

Question about the fretboard: the width at the top is 1 5/8 which is like the original grabber, but i'd want to slim it down to 1 1/2 like thunderbirds and jazz basses. I've calculated that i need to shave off 1/16th on each side for it to be equal. Now is it okay? to trim a ready made fretboard to the size i need? Only the top would change really the bottom part wouldn't change at all. Also, the fretslots have been cut already, so i don't know if trimming it would do it harm and cause it to break. Thanks for the guide. I'll try to post pictures of the fretboard sometime soon so you can have an idea.
 

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