Wizard's first build attempt

Wizard

Bought the wood. A 3m stretch of Alder planed to 46mm supposedly; actually 50mm:

Cut out 5 blanks.
This one has a large knot ... so am using this as my first attempt:

Using a circular saw & jigsaw got the first rough cut. Then smoothed with belt sander:

guitarboy2828

Dude, looking sick!! ? Keep posting, I am one day going to build my own guitar too.. ?

Wizard

The cut out shape didn't look quite right; especially the top right wing.
I also realised if I were going to use a standard Strat pickguard; that I had to have an accurate Strat shape else it would look stupid.

I found an original Strat plan on the internet:
http://media.photobucket.com/image/stratocaster%20plan/jwells393/StratBP2201.jpg

Because it had dimensions written on it, I was able to size it correctly in Photoshop; print it to scale; stick it onto plywood and cut out an accurate template with a jigsaw:

I then used it to find the error in my current body (marked in black):

And some more jigsaw work got it accurate to the template.
It now looks more like a Strat shape; but needs some smoothing work; especially in the tight bits near the neck:

aja

What are your plans in terms of thickness and general shaping at the back?

Gearhead

I found it useful to leave the area around the neck pocket too large at first. You can then rout the neck pocket before creating the outline when you drum sand. That way, you have more control over the arc length at the treble end. The round over router bit is the last thing before final sanding.

Wizard

aja wrote What are your plans in terms of thickness and general shaping at the back?

Alan pointed me in the direction of an Eric Johnson strat.
It has really nice body shaping, which makes it comfortable to hold; so will be aiming at trying to replicate that.

Wizard

Gearhead wrote I found it useful to leave the area around the neck pocket too large at first. You can then rout the neck pocket before creating the outline when you drum sand. That way, you have more control over the arc length at the treble end. The round over router bit is the last thing before final sanding.

Good insights - will use them. (except for the bit about leaving the neck pocket area oversized - it's cut already :? )

Manfred-Klose

looking good.

Wizard

Very valuable having access to the original Fender architectural blueprint to get exact dimensions.
The body thickness is 1.75" (44.45mm).
I had asked the wood shop to plane the wood to 46mm, but never checked it.
It is actually 50mm ... so will need to get it planed down further

(guitar building brings tool GAS ... so now I need a thicknesser and a bandsaw, or better jigsaw)

EDIT:
Realized while GAS'ing for tools that the single piece body has a width of 330mm.
No affordable home thicknesser goes anywhere near this wide.
Looks like it will be the belt sander or hand-held electric planer.

Manfred-Klose

isn't there any wood working workshops close by that can plane it for you?
R50 for planeing will save you alot more money than going out to buy something that you wont use much

P.S:this is where is gets fun, when you start adding up all the figures of stuff you bought, you'll realise it would have been cheaper to buy a guitar ?

Wizard

There is absolutely no doubt that buying will yield a better guitar at a lower price.
But that's not why I'm building ?

In fact, I am astounded how it is physically possible to produce a guitar like the Fender Bullet to retail at the price it does.

AlanRatcliffe

Wizard wrote In fact, I am astounded how it is physically possible to produce a guitar like the Fender Bullet to retail at the price it does.

Mass production and cheap labour.

Gearhead

Wizard wrote {...} single piece body has a width of 330mm.
No affordable home thicknesser goes anywhere near this wide.

Gearhead has the Metabo DH330... Guess what the 330 stands for? ? too narrow for ES335 anyway :-[
I would like to have a thickness sander, too: stops tear-out in hard wavy-grained woods (e.g. flame maple). Very expensive though.

Wizard

My next step is to figure out how to cut the neck pocket.
There seem to be a lot of different ideas floating around.
I would appreciate the wisdom of those that have done this before (Gearhead?)

Something that puzzles me - there are many references to cutting the pocket at an angle of 3 or 4 degrees.
Why would you do that?
I would have guessed that the neck has to be straight (0 degrees) so that the strings run parallel to the body to the bridge ...
But I'm obviously missing some insight.
Again - those who know, please inform those of us who don't.
Many thanks in advance ... ?

I found it useful to leave the area around the neck pocket too large at first.

This may still prove to be critical advice I heard too late and didn't follow.
I think it's good that this is the "trial" build where I can make my errors.
But irrespective of how bad it is; I still intend to complete the build end-to-end and make the instrument playable.

AlanRatcliffe

Tilting the neck pocket back a little gives the neck a bit of a back angle without needing to shim, keeping 100% contact between the neck heel and pocket. The back angle also means you get more string clearance over the body for pickup adjustment and the bridge saddles are adjusted higher so that the hex height adjustment screws don't poke out of the top of the saddles to shred your right hand when you palm mute.

Bob-Dubery

Alan Ratcliffe wrote The back angle also means you get more string clearance over the body for pickup adjustment and the bridge saddles are adjusted higher so that the hex height adjustment screws don't poke out of the top of the saddles to shred your right hand when you palm mute.

Ah. Is that why they call it "shredding"?

aja

X-rated Bob wrote
Alan Ratcliffe wrote The back angle also means you get more string clearance over the body for pickup adjustment and the bridge saddles are adjusted higher so that the hex height adjustment screws don't poke out of the top of the saddles to shred your right hand when you palm mute.
Ah. Is that why they call it "shredding"?

Nope, but from now on it is!

Gearhead

Fender AFAIK never had any angle on their neck pockets - the angle Alan speaks about must be REALLY small since the stroke you have on those tiny little saddle height screws is limited. An alternative for if you do not want any adjustment screws cutting into your hand: do a setup, play it for a while and if you like it, grind down the bottom of the screws until they are just long enough.
Then, since they wind up too short, buy some new ones and try again ?

AlanRatcliffe

Fender AFAIK never had any angle on their neck pockets

Correct. And most guys end up shimming them to get one. ?

Wizard

What sort of angle are we talking about?

And just to show my ignorance a little further ... which direction exactly is this angle?
i.e. If the guitar is lying on its back, does this angle:
a) lift the headstock off the ground
b) drop the headstock towards the floor