It is currently Tue Mar 17, 2020 12:20 am

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 638 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ... 43  Next
Go to page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ... 43  Next
Author Message
Post subject: Andybighair's Big Hairy Strat Build. FINISHED!
Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 5:58 am
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue Dec 01, 2009 9:22 am
Posts: 2175
Hello!

I've thoroughly enjoyed reading the build threads that crop up on these forums from time to time. I've learnt a great deal from those threads and hope to give something back by sharing with you good people, my latest attempt at putting at Strat together. :D

Now, before we start, I must warn you, I'm a total a amateur and have had no formal training in Luthery or playing for that matter. I completely fudged the last body I made so I hope to get this one right. A carpenter friend of mine once said “Andy, what you lack in skill you make up for in enthusiasm”! Which was very nice of him seeing as at the time I'd just hung a door for him.....very very badly. Any-whoo I've been playing for half my life and have put a couple of guitars together before, so I have some idea of what's involved but, I'm no Ceri (who is clearly a Jedi Master when it comes to guitar building and making truly entertaining and educational build threads)! So now that I've sufficiently lowered your expectations.....

Let the games begin!

Most of the parts have arrived now but already I've hit my first problem. As you can see in the pics bellow, the body is lacking some of the essential features one would normally associate with a Strat (or any other guitar for that matter). It will in its current state however make a serviceable chopping board or Cat Podium :D

Image

Image

Humm...... To start with I'm going to need some templates me thinks (we'll come back to the body in a bit).

I've made templates from MDF before and I'm not happy with them. So I'm going to make a batch of fresh ones. Now this time I'm going to use perspex and a different method for making them. On previous builds I've made a template then fixed it on top of my timber of choice (African mahogany in this case) then used a router with a template cutter to cut out a body . With the router on top I've found it all too easy for it to rock in places scaring the timber and at times causing chunks to fly out which then have to be glued back or sanded out. I hate that. So I've gone all out and made myself a router table to hopfully solve that issue.

Image

Image

I'm pretty chuffed with how well it turned out. The mole grips are attached to a threaded bolt which is used to adjust the hight of the cuter. Very handy. While we're here we'll have a slight detour and give you a peek at the other tools that I'm probably going to use at some point.

Image

Ok so the nunchucku probably won't get a look in but they're always handy to have around.....just in case :D

That all I've got time for at the moment. Next post: Chapter 1 - Making Templates.

Enjoy!

Andy

_________________
Pending Greatness


Last edited by Andybighair on Sun Oct 10, 2010 4:45 am, edited 1 time in total.

Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject:
Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 6:10 am
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Fri Feb 19, 2010 4:55 pm
Posts: 723
SAAAAAWEEEEEETTT :)

Love the vice grips as a staple part of the diy table router :D

I 100% agree about the Nunchaku, you never no when you'll need to fend off annoying ninja attackers.

It seems you already have a "workshop supervisor" (read: Cat) taking care of proceedings though, so ninjas should be kept to a minimum :)

Can't wait till the next installment

_________________
My Rig: Guitar into Pedals then into Amps and out into Speakers.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 6:46 am
Offline
Roadie
Roadie

Joined: Mon Jan 26, 2009 8:55 pm
Posts: 226
Location: Washington
Cooool! I love these posts the most.

Tagg


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 6:49 am
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Thu Oct 08, 2009 7:58 am
Posts: 2187
You plan on using nunchucks????

_________________
"Epitaph on a blues musician’s tombstone: “I didn’t wake up this morning”" Davy Knowles


facebook.com/313DBC


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 7:19 am
Offline
Amateur
Amateur

Joined: Mon Apr 12, 2010 3:35 pm
Posts: 197
Location: S W Florida
I do not think you ever plan on using the chucks, it just happens... Damn ninjas!


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 7:24 am
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Thu Oct 08, 2009 7:58 am
Posts: 2187
Be thankful you're in Florida. Many nations, those bad boys are illegal! (I didn't know that until about 1/2 hour ago... Slow day at the office)

_________________
"Epitaph on a blues musician’s tombstone: “I didn’t wake up this morning”" Davy Knowles


facebook.com/313DBC


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 7:29 am
Offline
Amateur
Amateur

Joined: Mon Apr 12, 2010 3:35 pm
Posts: 197
Location: S W Florida
They are pretty slow down here, most of the ninjas are retired. :roll: good luck with the build!


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 7:53 am
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Thu Nov 26, 2009 9:36 am
Posts: 511
Location: Oakville, Canada
nunchucks are used for distressing guitars, gives 'em a nice aged look.

good luck


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 8:21 am
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Sat Jul 19, 2008 4:27 am
Posts: 1513
Location: Southeast USA
Or... guitar is used as a shield to protect oneself from the nunchucks and then swung (is that proper English?) at the offending ninja in an axe like fashion...

Thanks for the build thread Andy look forward to the rest of it. Don't forget the obligatory cocktail picture...


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 9:28 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jun 30, 2008 10:47 am
Posts: 15336
Location: In a galaxy far far away
Andy

Fantastic idea of reversing the router on the table. I may employ that myself. Also the vacuum hose/nozzle going up to the table. Very clever indeed.

Very impressive. Nice Makita router too.

_________________
No no and no


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 9:55 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jul 26, 2007 4:57 am
Posts: 13164
Location: Peckham: where the snow leopards roam
Yo, Andy! Only just seen this - tres cool! 8)

Matters arising straight away. Care to mention where you sourced your body blank, please? I know several good suppliers; always ready to add more, though.

Could we have a close-up of the baseplate of the router as seen from the top of the router table, if you please? And further detailed pics of the height adjustment mechanism would be most interesting. Having built the table I have a notion you are going to have no difficulty at all making the guitar...

Just want to point out that several things are absolutely required for a good building thread. Pix of feline assistants are top of the list. :D

tdanb2003 wrote:
Or... guitar is used as a shield to protect oneself from the nunchucks and then swung (is that proper English?) at the offending ninja in an axe like fashion...

Whoa - that's not our Ninja you're swinging that axe at, I hope? He only offends in the friendliest most entertaining ways, after all... :lol:

tdanb2003 wrote:
Don't forget the obligatory cocktail picture...

:D :D :D Another build thread essential!

Now, let the fun begin! - C


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 1:27 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Sat Jul 19, 2008 4:27 am
Posts: 1513
Location: Southeast USA
No I'm not swinging the axe at Niki it was a reference to the nunchucks pictured amongst all the tools Andy had out... Nikininja would use a pair of plastering trowels tied together at the handles anyway... :lol:


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 2:39 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2009 7:05 pm
Posts: 2333
These are lots of fun to read :lol: Couldn't be more intrigued.

I like your cat by the way!


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 2:44 pm
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jun 30, 2008 10:47 am
Posts: 15336
Location: In a galaxy far far away
tdanb2003 wrote:
No I'm not swinging the axe at Niki it was a reference to the nunchucks pictured amongst all the tools Andy had out... Nikininja would use a pair of plastering trowels tied together at the handles anyway... :lol:


Nope I've officially retired from construction. I'm strongly considering selling crack, as a career.

_________________
No no and no


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 2:53 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue Dec 01, 2009 9:22 am
Posts: 2175
Howdy!

Thanks for the posts guys (ooh and girls). I did say that the next post would be more on templates but I feel there are a few sideline topics to cover first.

Ninjas

I was at a class once when someone asked my Sifu if he was afraid of the dark. His reply made me chuckle “I'm not afraid of the dark, but I am afraid of Ninjas and that's generally where they hang out” :D I'm not as smart as my Sifu and I have no fear of Ninjas (famous last words right there!). I see an encounter with these legendary assassins as a welcome opportunity to test ones own martial capabilities (I just hope they don't set fire to my guitar once they've kicked my arse!) .

Router Table – A closer look

Impulse7, Nikininja and Ceri, Thanks for your interest in my router table. Mr C, I'm more than happy to give you a closer look. Its made from junk lying around at work that was due to be dumped. The frame was used to hold up an old sink. The top is an off cut of some laminated MDF with a perspex cap. The perspex came out of a large broken notice board cover. What's left will be used to make the templates. Here's some more pic's as requested:

Image

Image

Image

I believe the above is the Fender Forum's approved method of proving ownership! The perspex top works well with dry-wipe markers so i expect few messages will get scribbled on there :D

Image

Above and below are shots of the underside.

Image

Image

The height adjuster is made from two bits of Dexion and a piece of 2x2 timber with a threaded collar fitted top and bottom. A matching threaded bolt with a flat....cup thing (!?!) on top is screwed in and adjusted with the mole grips. Jobs a good'un! Simple yet effective:D

Nikininja, Pic number 5 shows where I usually attach the hoover but my test runs revealed the necessity of a second. Well spotted. You have the eyes of a …..well.. a ninja!

Timber Merchants

I used Sykes Timber. Great service with the option to pop up there and chose the piece you want. Which is what I'll do next time, not that there is anything wrong with the piece they sent, its great! I just fancy hanging out in a decent timber yard for a day! Here's a link to they're website:

http://www.sykestimber.co.uk/

Alcoholic Beverages and Feline Assistants

My Cats name is Randel. He's quite a character and his exploits are the stuff of legend. for example: In Mordor he is known and feared as "Randalf the Grey" :D He'll be keep a close eye on my activities and will let you all know if my work fails to meet his high standards.

Image

Tonight I will be mostly drinking.....

Image

Oooh, I almost forgot! Thanks for the tips on making a good build thread. I'm very keen to maintain the essential content! :D

Next post: Chapter (1) Making Templates.

Enjoy!

Andy

Edit: My spelling is appalling! Must get my girlfriend to proof read any future posts (she’s much smarter than me!)

_________________
Pending Greatness


Last edited by Andybighair on Wed May 19, 2010 3:12 am, edited 2 times in total.

Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 638 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ... 43  Next
Go to page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ... 43  Next

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: