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It's been a long haul, but I finally finished my first scratch built electric. I have been working toward and dreaming about this for a long time, and now it's finally here.
Here are the Specs.
Neck-(set neck) I was told that the neck wood was walnut. It used to be the center leaf of an old antique table. The table is long gone, but the center leaf still remained, and was donated by my mother-in law. She worked in antiques for quite a few years, and assured me it was walnut, so i took her at her word. I had to cut it into strips, flip it 90 degrees and laminate to get a quartersawn blank (got 2, actually). It is hard wood, has huge pores, and is really stiff, but I think it is not walnut. Doesn't look like it, anyway. Whatever it is, it makes a nice neck.
Got another neck from it in the works.
Body-I cut the body from an old cutting board about 15 or 20 years ago, then realised I was out of my depth and set it aside until, over the years, and after assembling a few guitars from parts and doing tech work for about 14 years, I had enough knowledge to go for the build. It is poplar. I finished the body and neck in a solid color, since the wood is not very pretty. I think it turned out well.
Scale length is 24.562" Gibson scale, 24 jumbo frets.
Rosewood fingerboard and truss rod cover.
Got the truss rod out of an old Epiphone neck that was given to me. Modern one-way rod.
Ebony headplate
Schaller mini tuners with ebony knobs.
Unbleached bone nut.
Ebony control knobs.
Ebony rear control plate.
Gotoh Tune-o-matic and Stopbar.
GFS Vintage 59 humbuckers, 3-way switch, 250k Alpha pots and Switchcraft jack.
Grover straplocks.
On to the pics

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

More pics



Some shots in the case.




I made my share of mistakes, but I'm over all pleased with the finished product. It sounds and plays great. Can't say enough about the pickups. Could not have done better for the price I paid for them. I'll definately buy them again. The guitar has gobs of sustain. It's also very responsive to playing technique. Very easy to get what you want out of it. Harmonics literally jump out of it, anywhere on the fretboard you want them. Tuning is also very stable.
One of my favorite things about it is it's balance and feel. It just hangs off the strap in perfect playing position, even with a cloth strap that normally will cause a guitar to slide around a bit. And it feels very sleek and fast.
Thanks for looking, and on to the next one, lol.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

WOW, Beautiful! It's a piece of art on its own.
A perfect example of why we build.

Whoa Mike! Awesome!
The contouring and finish look flawless, as does the whole package.
Is that an original shape? Sorry if I missed it but what is the finish?
You should be proud, great job!

That is really nice. I really wish my first could have looked half that nice. Well done!

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John Thiessen
http://www.iszacguitars.com

Cool
James

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James W Bolan
Nashville Tennessee

Thanks for all the comments and encouragement, guys.
Edward, the finish was rattle can stuff. I used Krylon "old formula" for the color coat. If you don't know what that is, Krylon used to be what is called an acrylic lacquer. Works just like nitro, IME, and I've done a few guitars with it. Now it is mostly an enamel. The clear coat was Duplicolor acrylic lacquer. You can get it at the auto parts stores, although it looks like the stores around here are phasing it out for, of all things, enamel. Finish just got more expensive for me, because if I want to do color, I'll have to find another option. No enamel for me, thank you.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Mike, that's beautiful! You should be very proud of your first...and to have a bit of the antique table in it is nice too! Now, like you said..."on to your NEXT one"!

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

perfect color for that shape.
is that your own shape design?
outer space.
sweet!

In answer to the questions as to whether the shape is original, yes and no. I started with modifying a strat shape, but then I added my own ideas of what I wanted in a guitar. Basically, it is a combination of several different ideas that i thought would make a guitar feel better in my hands.
For instance, the contour in the top is slightly deeper on the bass side of the body, to act sort of like a forearm contour on S type guitars. The body and the headstock are slightly asymetrical. The treble side of the body is slightly wider than the bass side, which let me get a big, wide cut out for the treble horn, and gave me room for the deep contour there which also helps to aid in reaching the high registers of the fretboard. The headstock is asymetrical just because I like the look, lol. The belly contour on the back is really deep(because I have a big belly, lol). Finally, the bridge is further back toward the butt of the guitar,though i confess I got it a little too far back than intended, mostly because I didn't work from plans, but just went for it. This balances the guitar a little differently than most. A lot of this is really subtle, and you have to really look for it to see it, but it's there. And it makes a huge difference in the way the guitar feels.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

By the way, anyone interested in the build thread to this guitar should go here.
http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/177171-something-different-iow-my-first-scratch-build.html

_________________
Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.