Pete's Burl Maple SG - pretty much finished!

Andyjr1515

Hi

My latest build is progressing OK.  It's a burl maple-topped SG tribute 6 string I'm building for Pete, our old-gits-band's bassist.  I built him the Jack Bruce Special-esque fretless bass last year (photos in one of the other threads) and he is nothing if not a glutton for punishment

 :-)

The spec is:

• Mahogany back
• Burl Maple top
• Mahogany/walnut/mahogany neck
• Ebony fingerboard and headstock
• Mother of Pearl inlays
• ToneRider Classic IV humbuckers (Fantastic pickups - in a recent upgrade I did for a pal's cheapo LP, a pair of the same outperformed the stock p/ups in his Gibson LP Custom...)
• A thru neck (yes...I know...)

I have got to the final sanding stage and started to put the stain on the top - I am using red calligraphy ink.  I have used this before and this shot gives no representation of how good using this as a stain ends up once finished:

I actually think fountain pen ink makes a fabulous stain - through the internet, there are dozens of great colours available too :-)

I forgot to take a shot of the back with the final heel carve, but this is one from last week which gives a clue to the construction.  I do thru necks a little unconventionally - I shape the neck complete with angle first, then do a straight routered slot in the body to 50% body depth. With the limited equipment I have I find it easier than the conventional 'wings' approach.

 

The neck profile matches Pete's favourite of his 6-string electrics (a Gibson Firebird).  Hopefully, he'll be pleased with the final result!

Oh, by the way, the other unconventional thing (Pete isn't a purist and doesn't want the usual head-heavy balance) is that I left the body thick, then put all the hardware in position and found the balance point.  I then thinned the back of the body and repeated until it balanced.  The resulting thickness is around 1.7" - thicker than the original (which varied but I think was generally around 1.5") but guaranteed not to do the 'SG dive' :-) 

Thanks for looking

Andy

jd0272

You clever (patient) bugger!!! Love the colour too.

Andyjr1515

jd0272 said:

You clever (patient) bugger!!! Love the colour too.

Actually, patience isn't one of my strong points.  I usually start off with the right intentions but then, like now when the end is in sight, start rushing things and usually end up cocking things up :-) 

guitargeek62

Looks great! Brilliant idea of using pen ink too, might have to try that.

Andyjr1515

It's too dark to take a shot of the back (b****y winter's on the way!) but this is the top with one or two coats of varnish:

DSLRs hate red so I've had to change the White Balance to try to show what it looks like in real life - even so, this doesn't do it justice.  It is a true deep blood red.

The varnish is good old Ronseal polyurethane from Homebase, thinned with about 40% white spirit and wiped on using a micro-fibre cloth.

I have also added a faux binding by masking off a thin strip at the join.  The mahogany is unstained...I'll post a shot of the back when it gets lighter in the morning.

Thanks for looking

Andy 

Setzer

Wow! I am one of the very few I suspect that don't suffer from GAS but that guitar has surprised me at how much I would love one just like it!

I like the look of a nice SG but I just dont like the way Gibson make them with the balance issues and flappy neck etc but I bet that guitar is as good to play as it is to look at and doesn't suffer from the usual "problems".

Fantastic!

Andyjr1515

Setzer said:

Wow! I am one of the very few I suspect that don't suffer from GAS but that guitar has surprised me at how much I would love one just like it!

I like the look of a nice SG but I just dont like the way Gibson make them with the balance issues and flappy neck etc but I bet that guitar is as good to play as it is to look at and doesn't suffer from the usual "problems".

Fantastic!

Of course, time will tell...

However, I live in hope 

ChrisMusic

Coming along beautifully.

I am getting SG envy.

Lovely looking guitar  

BTW @Setzer, you do get used to the "usual SG problems", but it is better if they aren't there in the first place.

FX_Munkee

Oh my! That is nice (puts tongue away..).
Well played sir, well played.

axisus

I've never really liked SGs personally, but that is the best looking one ever!

ThePrettyDamned

Ooo. Nice.

I hope I can get a finish half as nice as that one...

Andyjr1515

Thanks for the nice feedback, folks.  Just a few quick shots of how the back is starting to varnish up:

Thanks for looking  

Andy

Megii

It's a pleasure to look at this guitar being made - beautifully clean-looking craftsmanship, and that red dyed top looks good enough to eat lol. Fabulous work, cheers for sharing it with us.

ThePrettyDamned

Love it.

I'm planning on masked binding my build at the end of the year, so any advice as to how to get it...Er... Good?

Andyjr1515

ThePrettyDamned;48807" said:

Love it.

I'm planning on masked binding my build at the end of the year, so any advice as to how to get it...Er... Good?

Thanks - I'm pretty chuffed with it so far, though there still is time for me to cxxk it up ! It's the first time I've tried faux binding. I think it helped being maple...it is so hard and smooth there was likely to be very little creep of the ink along the grain so I just needed to make sure my masking was stuck on tight. I used self stick go faster stripes strip from Halfords. It seemed to work OK. I'm not sure how you would do top binding in the same way and get it to stick round the bends...maybe use wider tape and cut round the strip width. Anyone know? Andy

ThePrettyDamned

Cheers fella. I just want the edge faux bound, I'm using wudtone so I'll just colour front, sides and back with the maple masked, then top coat it all.

I'll remember the racing stripes tip!

Andyjr1515

So - next scary bit...fretting.  Seemed to go OK with the frets well seated and fairly well even (bit of a rock on 9th that will sand down).

Here it is in progress:

Technique stolen from others was: open the top of the slot slightly with a triangular needle file; tiny bead of titebond on tang; hammer one side, then the other side, then the middle; hammer with a 12" block to ensure an even seating.

Here it is with the ends trimmed, ready for flattening, crowning and finishing:

Doug

That really is very nice, hows about a DC junior/special, amber stained version next?.
 just an observation though,  why have you changed from trap inlays to blocks from the 15th fret?

Andyjr1515

Doug said:

That really is very nice, hows about a DC junior/special, amber stained version next?.
 just an observation though,  why have you changed from trap inlays to blocks from the 15th fret?

Hi, Doug

Thanks.  Mmmmm - DC junior.... 

Ref the trap to blocks, it's a traditional luthier technique called 'hiding the cock-up'

The board is curved to 12" and, as I suspected they might, the top blocks sanded through.  Rather than trying to be clever and route the shape, I thought it better to keep it neat and square them off.  Some people don't route for the inlays until they have sanded the board, but I find that too unstable to get a decent finish.  Thicker inlays was also an alternative but this was a particularly nice bit of MoP so I thought I'd risk it.  Well observed, by the way  

Andy

Evilmags

Have a wow. Lovely work.

Andyjr1515

Well, I hope these are the last shots before I can declare it FINISHED!

Varnishing is finished except for the final polish after about 2 weeks hardening.  Body is gloss and neck is satin...although there is therefore a demarcation in the thru neck at the back, I think this is one area where playing performance is more important than aesthetics.  The neck, even without final varnish hardening, is smooth as silk.

I got an Epiphone-style SG truss rod cover engraved from the States (£6 to £7 ... through the door in less than a week!)  The 3 swifts are my personal moniker and cut out of Mother of Pearl.

Here's a closer look at the body.  The 'ripples' are reflections - it took some doing but is pretty smooth, flat and dust buggy-free :

As in previous posts, the red shows more orange  here than in real life, which is a true, deep cherry red.

Still to go is the last scary bit - drilling the TOM and stoptail bushes + earth channel in the right places, then ready to wire up and try!