Axes of CC

[neohic]

Have we discussed guitars here before? I play. I’m sure others here do as well. Doesn’t matter if it’s guitar, bass, banjo, sitar, or dulcimer… playing stringed instruments is awesome. So? Who’s rocking what? Let’s see those set ups!

 

Mine is almost cut/paste from my shop thread, but there has been some changes to the line up recently. Everything lives in the cabinets up in the loft in my shop. 
 

 

They’re simple plywood boxes that do a good job of keeping the dust out with their stained and glazed cherry doors. In the middle, you’ll find a couple boxes for gear below the Ampeg BA112 amp. As of recently the gang has been a small collection of a strange combination. 
 

 

From left to right is a 1974 Fender Precision bass that’s got multiple layers of history for me, a late ‘90s Cort Curbow five string that’s been following me around since 1999 in junior high, a baritone ukulele I’ve had since high school that I’ve been threatening to finally learn how to play properly, and then a weird assortment of parts built around a maple, white oak, and walnut body I put together in high school, took apart for other parts, and then recently reassembled.

 

Anyhow, I like to play. Since quitting my job four months ago to focus on myself and my shop, I’ve gotten back into it after not hardly picking up a guitar in over six years. Between working in my shop I wander up to the loft and just sit down to noodle around. Now that my shop is completely up to speed I’ve been looking back at building guitars. I kind of did in high school, but it was mostly just the basics of building a body and reusing a neck.

 

 

It was never quite right though. Originally it had a fretless neck but after refinishing it i found out that it had a broken truss rod. The replacement was from a parted out Mexican Fender Jazz that I picked up used but never really fell in love with. This bass has a huge, heavy body that screams for a fretless neck just in terms of giant sound and fat tone. So?… I took it apart… again. I wanted to build another bass the same way I did years ago but more so that’ll match the Jazz Bass neck. I started with plywood and a pallet. 
 

 

I’ve got a pile of 10’ stretchers off the bottom of huge pallets. They’re all some kind of hardwood and this one turned out to be some kind of red oak. The two other cut outs are from leftover sub flooring plywood. This was more of a proof of concept type idea for me and a challenge for not having any special tools. I don’t have a router so that was the point of multiple layers. Everything was done like an inside out topography map.

 

 

There’s channels for the wiring, the electronics cover was made just by tracing the shape before the body got glued together, and a bunch of other oddities of building a guitar body that I completely sidestepped by doing it this way. Can’t say I’ve seen someone build a guitar this way, but I saw no reason why not. After finalizing where everything goes, a whole bunch of glue and clamps were used. 
 

 

This was the first time I used a grinder to carve wood. I also saw no reason why not to. Mostly using a gnarly 36 grit flap disk and a flap wheel on a die grinder I got the general shape. This was followed by a DA and hand sanding.

 

 

Then a bunch of clear. 
 

 

Right now I’m letting it calm down before some more sanding. The clear has really shown off the highs/lows in the grain that I’d like to soften out. In the mean time I’m further embracing the leftover/garbage theme with making a pick guard from a vinyl record. 
 

 

… but I digress. That turned into a wall of text but I’m curious who else plays or builds their own guitars. Let’s see who’s got chops to lay down some sick licks!  

[Pete M]

excellent vinyl choice  

[neohic]

20 minutes ago, Pete M said:

excellent vinyl choice  

Need to find a use for the album cover too. 

 

 

Very groovy. 

[Pete M]

my uncle lined the walls of his drum room with covers. 

[89 MJ]

I should get my brother to make a post on this. He’s up to somewhere around 15 guitars. 

[neohic]

On 11/27/2022 at 8:59 PM, 89 MJ said:

I should get my brother to make a post on this. He’s up to somewhere around 15 guitars. 

You should. Guitars are especially rad when you can look at a rack or a wall and really have to decide which one to pick up.

 

In the mean time, here’s my pick guard for the “waste-bass-ket”… yup, it got named. 
 

[howeitsdone]

Always been an acoustic player until a couple of years ago when I built my first electric. Got into lots of metal at that point and learned a different side of playing. 

The 59 in the neck is glass while the SB6 in the bridge screams. 
 

For now it’s sitting in a storage unit in UT. 
 

 

[neohic]

23 minutes ago, howeitsdone said:

Always been an acoustic player until a couple of years ago when I built my first electric. Got into lots of metal at that point and learned a different side of playing. 

The 59 in the neck is glass while the SB6 in the bridge screams. 
 

For now it’s sitting in a storage unit in UT. 
 

 

Sweet! Did it start out as a manufactured rig, kit, or a put together parts-caster? Love the white with the grain on the back. Very sharp!

[Pete M]

found a photo of one of his walls

 

 

[watchamakalit]

Here are some of my "axes".......

[howeitsdone]

On 11/29/2022 at 9:10 PM, neohic said:

Sweet! Did it start out as a manufactured rig, kit, or a put together parts-caster? Love the white with the grain on the back. Very sharp!

 

Thanks! It's actually an automotive pearlescent. Was one of my first woodworking projects as you can tell by using boxes as stands . It was purchased as a cheap kit from eBay I believe. Had a buddy help me with finding hole placements in the body based on the LP blueprints and drilling them out. And had a lot of sanding/finishing to do.

 

Ran with all the Chinese components for a while while learning and eventually started putting in upgraded parts like the Seymour Duncans, Grovers, Push-Pull pots (which are a game changer for those tele sounds). It certainly needs professional fret work. I tried my best but no matter what I always have some dead notes.

 

My next project will be similar to yours. Which looks great btw! Much easier to make a flat style vs the contoured LP-style from scratch. I'm guessing you sourced the neck?

[neohic]

I've wanted to try a kit for a while now. There's a few manufacturers that I've heard really good things about that are a decent quality. Nothing fancy... but quality. I briefly looked into just trying to source a neck from one of them but I got the cold shoulder with an "all or nothing" type response. I ended up recycling (again) a Mexican Fender Jazz neck.

 

Finishing got wrapped up yesterday. I should be able to assemble everything today. Very excited to see how that mostly plywood body sounds!

[neohic]

Back up to three functional basses. This one turned out to be a real screamer!

 

 

Feels great and it’s super light weight but still balanced. Maybe I’ll try flat wounds on it once these strings wear out. 

[fiatslug87]

11 hours ago, watchamakalit said:

Here are some of my "axes".......

[fiatslug87]

Ben, you need to make one of these.

[neohic]

34 minutes ago, fiatslug87 said:

Ben, you need to make one of these.

I’d love a Rickenbacker!… but you saw how I roll. I’m cheap!  Maybe one day when I grow up and get a job again. 

[howeitsdone]

22 hours ago, neohic said:

trying to source a neck from one of them but I got the cold shoulder

 

There is a great company called The Stratosphere that takes new guitars and parts them out so you can do just that. Not going to be low-cost necessarily, but great if you have a certain neck in mind. I prefer an unfinished neck as my hands get very sweaty and stick on the lacquer so I wouldn't even mind taking a stab at making one for the next build.

 

Love the natural look btw! Came out great.

 

https://stratosphereparts.com 

[neohic]

Had a quick look around Stratosphere. That’s a rad site! Thanks for the heads up on that one. 

[Minuit]

While I don't have much in the way of actual talent, I did play quite a bit in high school. Haven't played at all in about 8 years, but I've been thinking recently maybe I should start again.

 

 

2010 Telecaster American Special. Maple neck on alder body. Hardly ever played, because I got expensive taste in gear not long before I stopped playing altogether. I tuned it tonight and played around a little bit - yep, I'd be starting back at 0 with pretty much everything.

[neohic]

12 hours ago, Minuit said:

While I don't have much in the way of actual talent, I did play quite a bit in high school. Haven't played at all in about 8 years, but I've been thinking recently maybe I should start again.

 

 

2010 Telecaster American Special. Maple neck on alder body. Hardly ever played, because I got expensive taste in gear not long before I stopped playing altogether. I tuned it tonight and played around a little bit - yep, I'd be starting back at 0 with pretty much everything.

 

Beautiful Tele! Extra badass points for letting your string tails run wild.

[gogmorgo]

On 12/1/2022 at 5:52 AM, watchamakalit said:

Here are some of my "axes".......

Guess I'm not the only one disappointed this thread wasn't actually about axes. Not that guitars aren't cool or anything... but you know. Axes.

[watchamakalit]

5 minutes ago, gogmorgo said:

Guess I'm not the only one disappointed this thread wasn't actually about axes. Not that guitars aren't cool or anything... but you know. Axes.

Yeah kinda saddened I didnt see firewood porn when I opened the thread....

[Pete M]

11 hours ago, neohic said:

 

Beautiful Tele! Extra badass points for letting your string tails run wild.

 

I don't have a single photo, but I did that with my first guitar, an acoustic.   because kid reasons.   

[Pete M]

16 minutes ago, gogmorgo said:

Guess I'm not the only one disappointed this thread wasn't actually about axes. Not that guitars aren't cool or anything... but you know. Axes.

 

I've got a harbor fright maul, does that count? 

[thecodemonk]

I should get a family picture of my guitars sometime but here’s my main collection…it helps me get through the workday since it sits right next to my desk in my home office.

 

 

from left to right:

- Gretsch 5230t

- Fender American Fat Strat (2001)

- Squier Classic Vibe Telecaster

- 99 Epiphone Les Paul Custom I revived from a shell

- Fender Aerodyne PJ bass

- A Yamaha acoustic a friend loaned to me 10 years ago that I’m still holding onto for her

 

Not Pictured:

- Martin DM12 12-string acoustic