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SBO 2024 - First Fretless

#41
I've done a bit of work since my last update. I started to carve the neck. I tried to get pictures but it just looked flat on camera so not much to show.

Today, I did a few things. First, installed some side dots. I decided no lines, side dots only. Abalone on bloodwood looks nice. I can't wait to get it fine sanded and oiled.

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Next step today was to glue the body wings. Rather than try to calculate neck angle, i laid it out and took some measurements.
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I didn't have any string to serve as stand in string so I used a flexible tape measure and just pulled it tight. For the picture, I taped it at one end but for my actual measurement, I used both hands to pull it tight. Unfortunately, I didn't have a third hand to operate the camera. The stand in string is just under a quarter inch proud of the fingerboard, so I'll angle my neck so the bridge sits a quarter inch lower.
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I'm not using dowels or biscuits for alignment so i taped a piece of scrap to the part of the neck blank that will be cut off, so the piece doesn't shift when clamping.

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I was able to pull the scrap piece off after the clamps were in place so it didn't stuck to any glue squeeze out. Even if it did, it wouldn't have been a problem since that part is getting cut away anyway.
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#42
I glued the treble side body wing on a few days ago.

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I used a caul to help make sure the body halves came out coplanar, but it didn't work out as expected. It worked perfectly on my first build but this time it didn't. I figured out it was because I used an angled headstock on this one but a flat headstock on my first build. Because of the extra thickness the angle gives, the tip of the headstock was in contact with my work bench, so it wasn't flush against the caul. At first I was worried that I would need to cut off one of the wings and reglue, but I took some measurements this morning and it wasn't as bad as it initially looked. A little (lot) of elbow grease with a hand plane and sanding block and the halves are just about perfect.

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Tomorrow I plan on doing the back and cutting the body to shape.
 
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#44
Lots of work today now that the heat wave is over. Sanded the back flush, and started to profile the neck heel, it still needs a bit of work but it's getting close.

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I also routed the body shape and contoured the edge.

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Not sure what to work on my next session. There will be a lot of sanding to do. I also need to make my pickup covers and control cavity template. I'm at that stage where it looks so close but there's still so much to do.
 
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#47
I spent the weekend routing the cavities and making the control cover. I had plans to also get the sanding done this weekend so I could start finishing tomorrow but of course things take more time than anticipated so I got half as much done as I wanted and took twice as long.

Front worked very well and is looking nice.
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The rear cavity and cover gave me some trouble. Things weren't lining up. Goles got drilled too deep and needed to be patched. The cover, despite being much thicker than on my last build, was thin enough that I worried the tip of the brad point drill bit would poke through, it didn't but the magnets stood proud so I had to recess the magnets on the instrument side. This is what took up most of my time, spend all weekend working on something that won't even be seen.

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This was my first attempt at a seamless control cover and it didn't really turn out. The alignment was off so it doesn't really match. It's the back of the instrument and won't really be seen so I'll just live with it for now. If I end up hating it after the finish is applied, it's something I can redo later with a contrasting wood, I have plenty of leftover pau ferro from the top if it comes to that. As it is, I want to make sure I meet the build off deadline so I don't want to waste a day making another cover since this one is perfectly functional.
 
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#52
Minor change of plans. I did some shellac tests and wasn't happy with the results. I'm not skilled in film finishes so my teats didn't turn out as well as I hoped. I decided to do an oil finish on the whole thing. The sad part is, I just put my last coat on the neck this morning, so had I decided to use oil from the beginning, I would be done by now. Oh well, the BLO dries so much quicker than the tung I used on my last project, so I'm only a week behind.

Didn't get a pic of the back, I had already taken my gloves off and didn't want to put on a new set just to turn it over. You'll have to wait to see what oil does to sapele.

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#53
ddm0502 said:
Minor change of plans. I did some shellac tests and wasn't happy with the results. I'm not skilled in film finishes so my teats didn't turn out as well as I hoped. I decided to do an oil finish on the whole thing. The sad part is, I just put my last coat on the neck this morning, so had I decided to use oil from the beginning, I would be done by now. Oh well, the BLO dries so much quicker than the tung I used on my last project, so I'm only a week behind.

Didn't get a pic of the back, I had already taken my gloves off and didn't want to put on a new set just to turn it over. You'll have to wait to see what oil does to sapele.

View attachment 7018744
Click to expand...
A couple of years ago I built a guitar with my brother and used sapele for the body. The Tru Oil finish on it looks amazing! Can't wait to see yours.
 
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#59
Incredible build, great job dude! I love your construction methods and thank you for being so detailed and informative in this thread.

I also prefer to play on an angled neck. Plus, another huge advantage is the strings get raised higher from the body so the pickup cavities don't need to be as deep which enables you build a thinner body to save weight.

edit: you have definitely inspired me for my next builds
 
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