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I'll be making a routing template for the neck pocket by drawing around the heel on some MDF and cutting just inside that line so that I can sand the pocket out to be snug.
This forms a really strong bond in every direction apart from straight upwards so really handy for firmly fixing something down in the knowledge you'll need to remove it later. I then dragged up some GCSE maths and a compass to create a set of points to create a centre line:
The final job today was drawing out the body template:
I really wanted to get the neck jig routed out and the body template roughed out with a jigsaw today, but constant rain and the thought of more indoor MDF dust soon put those plans to bed! Those are the next things to do on my list, then I'll be practising lots of neck pocket routing.
I know that the neck will need to be angled due to the tunomatic bridge, I know that Gibson use four degrees so is it right to assume that I will need the same...?
The raises another question of how do I route the pocket at the correct angle? Is it a case of sanding/planing the angle into the top of my neck pocket jig so that the router will cut at that angle?
IMHO:
- Buy the bridge first (so you can check its dimensions and range of adjustment) and draw everything out on a roll of paper (e.g. the back of wrapping paper or wallpaper) to get the neck angle right. You can't assume 4 degrees (and Gibson don't always use 4 degrees)
- Rout the pocket base flat, and angle the heel of the neck. You may have to add some material to the neck first.
Others on here will no doubt have their own ways of doing things, but this is what I find easiest.
After a bit of a break for Christmas and New Year, I managed to get back into this at the weekend. I'd actually been putting it off a bit because I was worried about ruining everything with the router...
Gladly, it all went quite well. I decided to have a crack at the headstock first. but not after a practice run on a bit of scrap. Here is my wonderful routing set up. I couldn't mount it from underneath as the router has a 'safety switch' of some sort that turns off when you let go of it, maddness...! So instead I went for big flat table and the masking tape with super glue to hold things steady:
Practice run complete, and I'm quite happy for my first attempt at routing. I flipped this over and finish the cut with a different following router bit:
After this I put on my big boy pants and set about the headstock for real:
Success! No tear out at all, but definitely needs sanding and re-profiling where the headstock meets the neck around the nut. My only issue was a couple of bits of router burn, but I'm hoping I can sand these out:
I set about the neck pocket next, again grabbing a scrap block of wood to test out the jig, Unfortunately in my haste, I let the router grab on the pocket jig slightly leaving a small bump. Not too much of an issue and I can skip it when cutting:
Again this was pretty successful, bump was skipped and the pocket is nice and snug on the neck. Onto practising the pick up route:
This was probably the most satisfying to route for some reason, probably as there was a bit of shape involved. The JB for the bridge and a pickup ring fit nicely around, with some wiggle room either side:
I wouldn't be lying it a very small part of me wishes to slap a bridge and strings onto that and call it finished....
I am also coming around to the idea of having to put a top of some sort on this. I don't want a pickguard and I don't think I will be able to get the required angle to drill though the pick ups routes and to the control cavity; ideas any one?
Next up will be cutting out the template for the body blank.
Sanded the headstock smooth from the router cuts and blended it into neck for a smooth transition:
Annoyingly, the neck had been already finished with the paddle headstock. As a result I'm going to have to strip the lot so that the finish I plan for it takes properly all over. I'll probably mask off the fretboard and leave that with the original finish.
Next up was the bit I had been dreading, routing out the body. This is where it could all go very wrong. However, success!!
I screwed the template to the body where the neck pocket and bridge pickup are going to be and ended up with (including neck pocket route):
And even better, the neck fits in the pocket:
Next issue to solve is the heel joint. An LP thickness body with a Fender thickness neck heel has left a lot of material underneath the heel. Some sort of carve/contour is required I think.
Any advice from any one on doing body contours also?
Having really only ever played Les Pauls and never really picked up a Fender guitar, I had assumed that the fretboard sits on the body as per an LP. Having looked at a Jazzmaster last night, it seems the fretboard stands proud of the body by about 4-5mm.
With the neck as it is now, I'll never achieve a decent action. Seems like the next step for me if to create neck pocket shaped block to fill the pocket in slightly and raise the neck.
Fun times.
I've canted the neck back in the pocket to roughly where it needs to be and it looks aggressive due to having a flat top body rather than the carve in like an LP.
I'll get some tuners and a bridge and get it strung up to assess which direction to go.
Certainly I’d try that first, put a wedge-shaped shim in, and test again to see if the height is reasonable.
I like a fairly low action even though I don't use the upper all that often, it gets scary after the 12th fret...
I'd put the numbers into a neck angle calculator and come out with 2.1 degs so I'm happy to use your maths and have a go at the shim.
Neck angle calculator I used for reference: https://www.tundraman.com/Guitars/NeckAngle/index.php
In fact I was rounding when I said 3mm would give 2.5 degrees - it’s actually closer to 2.3 degrees, so matches fairly well with that website calculator. This gives me more confidence in both my calculations and that website!
*calculations are great in theory, but nothing beats practice. So I could refine my calculations if you give me some exact dimensions, but I don’t think it’s worth it - just see how 3mm works and use trial and error from there.
One 3mm shim!
It does the job nicely and I think it provides a nice angle to use with the TOM, thanks @mart . It doesn't perfectly fill the pocket cavity but once I am happy that I can get the right angle once the bridge is fixed in position, I'll glue it in there and use some woodglue and sawdust to fill out the rest of the pocket:
I also shaped in the forearm and belly cut contours using a rasp then finished over with sandpaper. I think I may still need to take a little more out of these especially the belly cut. It looks more like an aggressive round over that a cut out at the moment:
The final thing done last weekend was drilling holes for the TOM tailpiece. I used this to anchor the strings and then float the bridge on a shim on the body to replicate the posts to test out the shim angle:
I also managed to get to the Guitar Show last weekend and managed to get the TOM bridge and tailpiece, strap pins, black speed knobs and a brass nut for the heady price of £16 from Warman Guitars! Bargain!
Next up is to position the bridge and route out for the humbuckers, controls and switch.
Looks like it's really coming together!
At the minute I'm leaning towards this explanation:
http://projectelectricguitar.com/how-to-install-tune-o-matic-bridge-posts/