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Hi guys! For those of you who remember, I've been working on my first scratch build for some time now. The instrument is nearing finish stage, so I thought I'd post some progress pics fpr those interested.
The body is poplar, and used to be a cutting coard. The neck is walnut from the center leaf of and old table. Some of the pics are indoor and some outdoor. Picture quality will vary due to poor photography skills and a cheap camera.
Here are a few shots of the neck joint.



And here's a pic of it strung up in the white.

Waiting on the weather so I can begin finish. Thanks for looking.

_________________
Mike

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

Correction, the body used to be a cutting board, not coard.

_________________
Mike

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

Looks great Mike!!!

What are your plans for finishing your guitar i.e. natural, colors, burst, etc.?

Great job!

Thanks, Hesh. I've played it sans amp a few times. It actually sounds good unplugged, with good sustain. Can't hardly wait to hear it with some juice through it.
As for finish, It'll be a solid color. I'd love to finish it in a natural or transparent color, but it's poplar, and it's got some huge green streaks in the grain. Also, since it used to be a kitchen cutting board it's made of several pieces. In fact, I'm having nightmares of some of the pieces seperating and ruining a year+ of work. I'm afraid any stain I use would accentuate the lines where the pieces were joined together. I also would not be able to stain the neck unless I sanded it down to bare wood, since I've already filled the grain with CA. I think at this point, my wisest course would be a solid color. I'm not sure which yet, but I'm leaning toward black. The way I designed the guitar the neck pickup is actually positioned more like a middle pickup. It's a lot farther from the heel than most. Since my pickup rings and hardware are black, a lighter color might make them stand out a lot more, and might make their positioning look a little strange. With a darker color, the difference might not be so glaring. We'll see.

_________________
Mike

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

Taking your thoughts about pup placement and "hiding" them with a dark paint job out of the picture...

With a walnut neck and rosewood f/b, a white or eggshell color would look great next to the dark woods. I've seen a super-strat with a wenge neck and a pearl white body that just knocked your socks off.

_________________
Bad decisions make for good stories.
-------John


My blog - http://poplarmechanics.blogspot.com/

John, thanks. I've considered white, almond or cream. But I've done a few projects with those colors for myself as well as a friend, and quite frankly, I'm getting sick of it. But it's still an option. I did a mock up with a couple of pickups and pickup rings, and against the lighter wood of the body the distance from the heel of the neck pickup as well as the fact that both pickups are a lot closer to each other than normal looks weird to me, especially with black pups and rings. But my tuner knobs are ebony, and so will the control knobs be, so black looks like the right choice for the rest of the hardware/parts. But maybe I need to look at it another way. Accentuate the differences instead of toning them down. Don't know yet. I've got time to decide. I'd appreciate yours and anyone else's view on the subject. Thanks again.

_________________
Mike

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

It'd take some work, but it's not too late to plug the hole and re-rout the neck pup closer to where it normally is. Since it's getting painted anyway, the repair will be totally covered.

_________________
Bad decisions make for good stories.
-------John


My blog - http://poplarmechanics.blogspot.com/

John, thanks. A "repair" is not an option. For one thing, I don't have any more poplar available, and the only place I could get anymore without driving 35 miles and spending $50 or more on a few board feet would be Lowes. Although their lumber is supposedly kiln dried, I'm certain it's not to a moisture content I'd be comfortable with using to plug the cavity. Secondly, there is purpose in the position of the pickup. I want it where it is. I just need to take that into account and put the final touches such as finish on accordingly.

_________________
Mike

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

Actually, I think my first reaction was to over-react. Looking at it again, I don't think it'll be a problem. Here are some pics. Please excuse the use of the flash, but it's necessary indoors with my cheap camera, otherwise you'd never be able to see it.



It's also possible that by stringing it up it looks more like a guitar than when I looked at it first, and puts things in better perspective.
As for color, I'm thinking of a greyish, stone type color, called Castle Rock. I have some of that here, and it's beginning to grow on me the more I look at it.

_________________
Mike

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