[seapotato]

Looks like I managed to shave off a little over a pound. I'd need to router in from the back to do much more.

It's just under 9lbs now and if I stop reading "the gear page" that won't bother me. 🙄

Decided to give it the Seagull headstock because I didn't like the chibson vibe the Amazon neck had.

Paint went weird but it kinda suits it almost.

I guess it's a Les Gullcaster now??? 🤣

 

[MarkM]

My bench was my project the last couple days, hasn’t been cleaned off ever!

It was an effort, been fighting Covid and it zaps your get up and go. I do not have the ability to sit and watch TV. Especially herself’s shows, Blue Jays have been on TV for 3 days straight as far as I can see. I can not stand watching ball on TV!

 

[MarkM]

It's pretty much a Les Paul Junior body shape with tele guts routered in.

I liked the look of those Fano guitars so I stole the idea a wee bit.

I drew out the body from some lpj measurements, made it a bit smaller because of the size of the wood lump, and routered the pickup holes and neck pocket from a template I made.

Body was mostly just a pencil and a bandsaw tho.
Pickguard too.

You can see the flat spot on left that made me whittle it down a bit. Lol
Almost gave it a bigsby... View attachment 414819
View attachment 414820



Hopefully I got a couple pounds off.

k now you have my attention, what do you use to cut out the bodies, how do you draw out your cut lines, how do you cut out your pick guards and covers, and do you route out freehand or use jigs?

 

[seapotato]

k now you have my attention, what do you use to cut out the bodies, how do you draw out your cut lines, how do you cut out your pick guards and covers, and do you route out freehand or use jigs?

It was a couple years ago now, but I think I started with a big printout of an lpj body.
One of those where the printer does it on several sheets.
Taped it together and trimmed it till it looked right and drew around it on the wood and cut out on bandsaw.
The routs, I did neck pocket first with a jig I made, then I made another jig with the tele pickup routs that uses the neck pocket to locate it.

So basically it's a funny shaped tele, with 24.5" scale.


Pickguard I started with a piece of thin cardboard and just drew something I thought looked cool. A bit tele, a bit Gibson.

Same bandsaw and belt sander treatment as the body.

I'm not very sophisticated 🤣

I like it a lot better with the gull head.
The Amazon neck isn't bad (other than one high spot on a fret I missed😡) but something about the headstock was just off and bugged me before. Glad I changed it. Plays better now too haha.

 

[seapotato]

This is this pic that got me lusting after a tele/lpj lovechild. Fano SP6.

I'm far too cheap to actually buy one tho lol

Fano Guitars - SP6 Alt de Facto

Combining two classic tonal elements to create this beautiful, hand built masterpiece from Fano Guitars.

www.fanoguitars.com

 

[MarkM]

Looks like I managed to shave off a little over a pound. I'd need to router in from the back to do much more.

It's just under 9lbs now and if I stop reading "the gear page" that won't bother me. 🙄

Decided to give it the Seagull headstock because I didn't like the chibson vibe the Amazon neck had.

Paint went weird but it kinda suits it almost.

I guess it's a Les Gullcaster now??? 🤣



View attachment 414863

View attachment 414864

look like you rock guarded the head stock!

 

[seapotato]

look like you rock guarded the head stock!

Haha yeah the paint orange peeled on me for some reason.

I hate painting, and didn't want to wait for another coat to dry so I gave it a quick steel wool and then promptly forgot about it.

Maybe I'll do a better job of it one day, but the pics make it look worse than it does in person.

I'm sure I'll have it all apart and on the bench again before too long. I ordered a LP style toggle switch.


This is why I don't build things for other people. Literally EVERYONE is fussier than me.🤣

 

[seapotato]

A lump of maple I've been eyeballing for years.



Arch top hollow tele with a bigsby?🤔



Thinking carve the top, router the bejesus out of the back.

Planed it off a little to see what the grain is like, and did a very rough scribble to see if it would work, and it's just barely big enough.

I think it might be cool.

 

[MarkM]

My recent order from Nextgen Guitars is on my cleaned off bench, let the solder flow!

 

[Mark Brown]

View attachment 415283
My recent order from Nextgen Guitars is on my cleaned off bench, let the solder flow!

Honest question here but for just standard wire, why not go get a spool from crappy tire or something? Figure you will never use that just or just a pain to store it or is Nextgen really that competitive? I can't say I looked at their wire prices as I just buy spools.

 

[MarkM]

It’s really not that bad and I will only use that gauge for guitars so I didn’t want to buy a bunch of spools of different colours. I have a whole shop full of inventory of bulk shite that I convinced myself I should have. When I die my sons are going to hate me for all the stuff I have acquired in the last 40 years. I still have it all. I have wondered through life getting carried away with guitars, firearms, fishing, wood working, motor cycles and now tractors.

That is why!

 

[Mark Brown]

Solid reasoning my good man!

 

[SWLABR]

I have wondered through life getting carried away with guitars, firearms, fishing, wood working, motor cycles and now tractors.

So many similarities… oh so many.
Well, I only own 1 firearm (for varmints) and no motorcycle. But the guitars, fishing, wood working, and I just got my first tractor!!

 

[Vally]

Finally got my hands on one of these MIJ Tokai teles… I mean breezysounds and it is just stellar. Didn’t need much work, just some cosmetic adjustments and replacing the 3-way with a 4-way switch and a no-load tone pot.
The pics do not do the colour justice, it is “old candy apple red” and it is spectacular
Before:
View attachment 414530
after:
View attachment 414531

Like the black guard. I have a Tokai LP and love it

 

[aj6stringsting1]

I routed out the middle of my Randy Rhoads / Jackson for 15.87k ohms GFS pickup at the bridge, the middle has an swapped alnico 3 magnet 12.04k ohms Dimarzio Evo and the neck has a GFS pickup at 11.23k ohms, with a 5 way switch, three concentric pot ( yet to be installed ) for each pickup .

It got a Randy Rhoads cover for the truss rod .

My Epiphone LPC got one too ....

My RR / Jackson copy got a new cover too .... ( Hello Kitty ...my 7 y.o. Daughter's work ).

And I installed a 11.06k ohms Dragonfire neck pickup with a Seymour Duncan Screamin' Demon on steroids kick to it.

 

[aj6stringsting1]

Next week, the the RR copy is getting a SD Triple Shot pickup ring for the neck .

The Jackson is getting the Triple Shot for the middle and the neck.

The Epiphone is getting one for the neck.

 

[Moodivarius]

My friend came over this evening, & we did some work on the neck of his LP Special neck.

Truss rod routed, & backside of headstock.

I thought of a different approach than cutting the thickness of the backside of the headstock.
On my LP, I used my bandsaw. It’s hard to follow a straight line with it.

I placed the front angle of the headstock, face down on the CNC table, used some blocking sideways, the 10 deg angle wedge we cut off the front, and another block further back. A strip of 1/2” plywood across to hold it down firm.

Used a 5/8” end mill in the CNC, set zero on base of CNC. Then we knew when we get close to +0.625 on the CNC, we where close. The rest can be sanded. I used my handheld dongle & ran the X,Y,Z manually.

As the saying goes, “Many ways to skin the cat”.

After a quick sand on the orbital.

Another evening, we will cut the side profile, & tenon.

 

[Moodivarius]

Moved some stuff around in the shop. Setup the CNC station in a different spot, which is much more organized.

Now neighbours with my milling machine.

 

[seapotato]

Moved some stuff around in the shop. Setup the CNC station in a different spot, which is much more organized.

Now neighbours with my milling machine.

Envious of both those tools. Milling machine is next on my list, but I'm curious, is that cnc something you built from a kit?

I had a Maslow cnc given to me a couple years ago, but the gifter decided to ungift it when I had to ask his friend ( my tenant ) to leave.

Fortunately I didn't spend any time setting it up.

I'm not entirely sure if I would enjoy using one, or if the computer end of things would frustrate me. I worked at a boatyard where the old brit shipwright/owner would talk wistfully about the saw pits where he apprenticed. I'm not quite that old school, but he did poison me a little. lol

 

[Moodivarius]

Envious of both those tools. Milling machine is next on my list, but I'm curious, is that cnc something you built from a kit?

I had a Maslow cnc given to me a couple years ago, but the gifter decided to ungift it when I had to ask his friend ( my tenant ) to leave.

Fortunately I didn't spend any time setting it up.

I'm not entirely sure if I would enjoy using one, or if the computer end of things would frustrate me. I worked at a boatyard where the old brit shipwright/owner would talk wistfully about the saw pits where he apprenticed. I'm not quite that old school, but he did poison me a little. lol

I bought it used from a fellow in Thunder Bay.
He had a mutual friend of both of us that build it for him, from plans online. Quality framework, machined on CNC, out of high grade plywood. Then aluminium, rails, stainless bearing runners, quality stepper motors, screw rods, etc. I had asked the fellow that built this CNC, it, about building my own kit. He mentioned, that the fellow in Thunder Bay had upgraded to a large 4’x8’ commercial CNC, and he may be looking to sell it.
Long story, short, I purchased it with computer, design software, and control software.

The design software is the learning curve, but once you figure it out, almost limitless, what you can build.
I’m having lots of fun.

Scott