Update . . . again

Well people I'm still working on it . . . . . the manufacture of the blank for the pick guard is driving me up the wall . . . and that's just the design for the material . . . .

I think I have if figured now though . . . here is the current manufacturing process (subject to changes at any time for any reason)

1. Cut a sheet of 1/16 (or so) aluminium to the design of the guard (under the strings and up) - update: looks like it'll be more like 1/64 . . . and only a "rough cut" for the outline
2. Key / scruff the whole thing to give the epoxy something to hold on to - update: sand it (40-80 grit) to remove the oxide layer and clean with acetone . . . test epoxy and gorilla glue
3. Cut the holes for the controls
   - current thinking is 2 4 position rotaries (3 pole) for pickup selection (rail, both par, both series, P90 on the Duncan P Rails) in the top cavity - update: interchange 2 & 3
 4. Glue on 1/16 exotic wood (Wenge / Red heart / Yellow heart linear mozaic) - update: drill holes as appropriate first.
 5. Cut wood to aluminium sheet
 6. Finish and install

And then put a 'regular' pick guard over the bottom cavity which will contain . . .

  - Oak/Grigsby 4 position (2 pole) switch in the bottom horn for switching neck, parallel, both, series
   - tone & volume in the usual places . . .
   - which leaves me 1 position (she has a les Paul style side jack) . . . either a 2nd tone (so individual neck and bridge tones) or . . . something else. I've been playing with the idea of a capacitor switch & phase switch in that position but have come to no firm conclusion yet . . . probably will have to make a scratch guard and j... just do it . . . (with apologies to Nike).

Here is a sample of the current front runner pickguard material for the bottom

71ogBGMAVjL._SL1000_.jpg

I'll have to get it to decide if it 'works' though . . . . . . .

Update

Yep . . . it's been 2 months since the last one.

Real life still getting in the way.

Nope . . . nothing really new to mention . . . except that the house is finally reaching a stage that I can put in a new work table so I can get back to the guitar project again (as well as some other things that have been left hanging ... or got hung up ... in the last 2 months. In the mean time I've been playing it without the electr(on)ics and with the (crappy plastic) pretty much unadjusted nut I put in to get it stringed . . . . it actually already plays pretty darn well . . .

Here it is in it's current state next to it's sister.

Picking at the guard

Well the list below is moving along so I had some time to work on the guitar.

Still working on the pickguard ... some progress. Made a number of proposals from stiff cardboard to start with and then ... transferred to a piece of 1/4" poplar hobby board for testing. Turns out 1/4" is slightly more than the gap so it'll need to be sanded down some ... about 1/16th later ... not bad for the first try

 ... the bridge end needs some work.

More of that thing . . . . . real life that is . . . . . and it keeps on interfering . . . . . . . . . . .

Sorry for the lack of updates . . . I haven't forgotten but my todo list looks something like this:

- Finish garage room
    = make school table
    = build beam for hanging chairs
    = build wall
    = build work table
    = build bench

- Finish kitchen island for friend . . . . . at this point it's pretty much down to the top

- Finish living room
    = build plinth for cube book cabinet
    = make new guitar hangers w/ led lighting
    = . . . .  .

- Finish sons room
    = fix cabinets to wall
    = design & build bed
    = put french door is closet
    = finish base boards

- Finish daughters room
    = design & build bed
    = put french door is closet
    = finish base boards

- ....
- ....
- ....

- Finish guitar
    = laminate wood
    = cut lower pick guard
    = mount pickups
    = wire electronics
    = get nut cut
    = set up guitar

As you can see work on the guitar will be catch as catch can at least until the first two items are pretty much done . . . . . then I can steal an hour here and there to get back to it . . . .

More of that thing . . . . . real life that is . . . . .

Ok so the OTHER project I was talking about was the rehab of our 'garage room', which means that until I get a new work area set up . . . . I won't be able to get 'anything' done . . . .

Which won't be until after:
          • the walls are painted (by coincidence the same color as the outside of the house - we only noticed once we entered the paint color into the 'house records' and went ... wait we just saw that) . . . we're about 70% done on that one.
          • some book cases have been moved . . . about done 60% on that.
          • the living room - were the book cases came from - has been moved around . . . and a new (larger, what else) hanger backer for the guitars has to be put in . . .
          • the new project table has been set up in the garage room (maybe some posts on that later)
          • a sitting bench is made (may post that here as well)
          • the current fan is replaced . . . by a 'non fan' light fixture
          • a beam is put in to hang a couple of hanging chairs

Yep the wife has some HONEY DO things to do before I can get back to our regularly scheduled programming.

All strung . . . . . . . out . . . . . . up . . .

Well I did have a 'free' morning this weekend so I decided to see how things fit together . . . here is the result next to it's relative . . . . .

For now it's hanging up to get the neck set before I start monkeying around with things. The HAMP locking tumers from Gotoh are nice but I'm not sold on the 'no string trees are needed' part of the advertising . . . the high E string has this annoying 'ring through' . . . then again the el cheapo plastic bridge (uhm . . . it's a NUT the BRIDGE is the OTHER end of the strings dummy . . . ) that's on it right now is almost certainly at least part of the problem . . .

The action is still pretty high but the bridge can still be lowered some ... and ... of course the neck hasn't 'set' yet ... and ... the truss rod hasn't been adjusted .... and ... that el cheapo nut is still 1 mm higher than it should be ... and . . . . . . I foresee some more work in the future.

On the plus side, it does play quite well already on the higher frets and I like the feel of the neck . . . a LOT.

Posts

Real life keeps interfering but I did manage to set the inserts for the bridge into the body.

Here are the intended players in today's drama.

The holes supplied were not deep enough so these needed to be drilled out . . . . AND . . . . of course the flat point drill bit my dad brought over has a shank the same size as the bit = 11 mm . . . . which is ... JUST ... big enough not to fit into the 3/8 collet (I think that's what it's called) on my drill . . . . . SO that was a NO GO. 

The boxy thing has 2 11 mm holes lined up dead vertical to help keep the drill bit aligned in lieu of a drill press . . . which I don't have . . . basically a couple of scrap pieces of 3/4" white wood for the sides and 2 1/2" pieces for the top and bottom screwed together. The blue tape is on the bottom over the crew heads to prevent scratches. The metal ring is a depth stop . . . to prevent drilling THROUGH the body should the bit grab.

OK so the flat point bit doesn't work (it WILL NOT fit the chuck of the drill FAIL . . . ) . . . back to the brad point, after verifying that I have enough depth for that little brad point to not go through . . . 

Check depth needed . . . and against the body (sorry no pic) . . . and I did make a couple of pictures of actually setting the inserts BUT . . . they are all out of focus . . . darn.

So here is the finished product . . . . one step closer to a playable instrument . . . .