new low budget build!

[Leonardo Silva]

guess what?, my other project got another stop, so for now I'm building a low budget guitar to try some new tricks, I'm using some old pickups I had from my first guitar.

I'm also starting to do some sort of build thread on my facebook page, a lot of people seems to enjoy see and learn a few things or too since in my country luthiers don't share much, sadly..., compare it to here, people are very supportive

anyway!, the plan is the next one.

I was going to build a "Velvet" model, but its kinda different, not sure if Im gonna name it differently or is it an update of the Velvet model shown in the next pic.



and a lot of pictures!, I'm working really fast compared to my first build, now I have confidence in what I'm doing and the process, don't need to watch a youtube video every 15 mins xd.



national wood for the neck, its named "Lingue" (persea Lingue is the scientific name I think), its a really good material for a neck, is kinda "soft" but quite strong, is the boutique in wood quality around here along with other species, it's like our own maple, but a bit less strong and with a bit sweeter sound, is between maple and mahogany I should say, not so close pore as Maple though, but machines really good, a bit of tear-out but nothing out of the ordinary, it will just look outstanding!


(someone might recognize that truss rod from another thread) that's the headstock template, I'm positioning the neck in order of avoiding most knots. oh btw, as this is a low budget build, I go away with sing the worst lingue piece I had xd, I have enough for 3 necks and this is the worst piece, still quite good overall, some little knots here and there.

on the template you see the exact position in order to have a good layout of the tuners, hope it works.


I'm very proud of this truss rod channel, I used the router this time, had a smaller bit that I should, so I did 2 passes to get the proper width, it's perfect!



glued in a side for a little tip to complete the headstock.


rough cut with jigsaw


drilled through tuner center and fixed with some nails, protected the template with some masking tape



and routed flush, it was quite tricky as I had a really small surface to rest my router, I got a little problem but got sanded away in the end without much fight, the holes drilled where I fixed the template are now guides to drill the tuner holes


missing photos* I used kinda of a jig in order to route the headstock to it's thickness, but it wasn't the best way, was quite risky and I almost destroyed my neck as I didn't have suck a good grip on everything, next time I swear I will have a good jig for this xd.

and finally I put the tuners on, as you see, they are a bit misaligned, specially the Re string (4th tuner), I will have to reevaluate how should I align my tuners, as I saw, 6 in line tuners need to be more symmetric than 3R+3L, as you might see, it's easier to spot any non alignment between each other.


they are not actually fender tuners, they yell chinese from a mile away, still they weren't the cheaper tuners around.


that's it!, I'm amazed I did all of that in only 3 days of work xd, its fun to have quick progress compared to the other thread that I had to wait months because I had problems in between :/

[Leonardo Silva]

oh my god, I had so many typos that I should get degraded to kindergarten, still I can excuse myself that English ain't my mother language xd.

also, thanks to the guidelines of fixing the template, I could drill half the depth of hte holes from a side and the remaining depth from the other side, so I won't get any tear-out when you just press drill from one side.

[Hans Bezemer]

Good job, another three days and your finished!

I like your headstock design, but I wondered if it is strong enough to withstand the stringtension.

Looking forward to the outcome.

[Leonardo Silva]

I always ask myself the same thing, if it would be strong enough, If its needed I will slam some sort of reinforcement, it will surely answer well against string tension, but other than that I'm more concerned with the strength against some slam, I don't want this thing breaking up with some small hit, still, i guess it's more resistant than one of those fragile 1 piece mahogany gibson necks.

[Chris Richards]

It's all looking really good and nice to see your woodworking techniques changing, there's certainly nothing lacking in your woodworking skills, like you point out the right tools and learning the right technique is quite handy! I enjoyed looking at your other guitar build and hope it's coming on well...Just as an aside, on this headstock will the top E string span the cutaway section in the headstock? That may look a bit odd (or maybe not). I don't think that there will be any issue with strength.

[Eric Baack]

Parker seems to do well with that headstock shape

[Bill Raymond]

I think I would plug and redrill that 4th string tuner hole. It shouldn't be noticeable under the ferrule. Also, I'm not too fond of having the head cut out beneath the first string like that; there's something about a string passing over the empty space that isn't too aesthetically pleasing to me, but, of course it may not bother you or your customer. Good luck with your building. You're making good progress,

[Peter Wilcox]

If the guitar falls and hits the headstock, it will likely split at the 1st or 2nd tuner hole. But that should be a much easier repair than a break near the nut.

[Leonardo Silva]

missed me?

my last project got wrecked http://www.mimf.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php ... 515#p32515

but this one will see the light, cross my heart

so, this one is "Velvet Prototype" I swear it was going to look like a stratocaster in a way (look at the initial picture) but ended up a complete modern and different kinda beast on its own, has some parker inspirations hell, let's take a look at it!.


2 piece laurelia body, really noble wood to work with, medium pores, very even quality, excelent workability.


see how I angled the humbucker? it was a modification I wanted to try on, but in the end a lot of people told me it was ugly, so switched it to normal later on, angled single coils look way cooler than humbuckers, angles humbuckers will stay for multiscale probably.


wax potting with pure beewax, still can't test the pickups if they work properly.
(pickups were taken from my dean vendetta, my first guitar that I detroyed for learning xd, I repotted them hoping they will sound better, I taked a lot of care for that guitar and I also didn't used it that much as I was more of a bass player)



I discovered a workshop kinda close to where I live (a city away) I pay for them to make some works, this save MONTHS of work!!

...also I really need better clamps, this is going to be a firts priority when I get money.




I used the routing technique for some time, but first time in a body, let me tell you boy, I will use it way more xd, I just need to perfect it.


I decided to make it set-in, so that's why you see the neck pocket being different.


of course, a pic of my dog, it's mandatory on my posts.


neck pocket, a bit tricky I must admit, need refinement.




ULTRA NECK POCKET, ok ok xd, I still need a bit of sanding, it's too tight



(I should had a better nut slot, it made the final adjustment of the nut a paint in the ass)



need better clamps X_x



looking nice!, my dot position is my trademark, hopefully (even when they are kinda copied from brands like washburn xd)

oh, actually now that I remember, I used the WORST bit for that, never again, the dots were weird, weren't 6mm, it's like 6.5mm, it's conventional acrylic as this is a low budget build



more pictures left, a lot more xd

[Jason Rodgers]

Glad things are going better on this project. The second one progresses with much more confidence.

How thick is your fretboard? Maybe it's just the transition from the playing surface to the headstock, but in that last picture it looks really thick.

[Leonardo Silva]

SIDE DOT PROCESS.

I also post on facebook pictures with explanations, the public value it a lot, I get a lot of interest for potential buyers/clients, it also helps beginner luthiers and, I don't know, in here luthiers are very secretive, they post very few pics and you don't know how they do it (keeping their secrets for themselves, like they are afraid of competition maybe).

so yeah, general public on facebook value a lot my time making all this posts, speciall since in Spanish we barely get info about this stuff, I would love to post videos too, but I lack the money to achieve it.

so in general, all this "sharing your secrets" is more benefitial to your work than detrimental, I've got very charming comments thanking me for the effort of explaining it all (it's actually a lot of work and writing xd, it would be better if I just work without pics)

ok, so here are pictures of how I insert this bronze bars side dots (also can be used for the front dots of the fingerboard)


I make the holes, round the bottom of the bar


apply CA glue


Insert it in


very few hits with an small hammer, no hammer at all and it won't stick, hammer too much and you might bend the bronze or break the fingerboard (maybe?), you could use an stainless steel one (a nail?), but that's too hard for work with, someday I will, maybe.


this is how I cut the metal, there are "flush saws" for this but this work just great and then you flush with sandpaper (the metal used to be a chinese hand saw that broke of)




I need to get a guide for the side dots, it's quite hard to get them aligned, I would need an acrilic guide as I need a transparent, I don't know where I can buy it thought.


the 24 position is the more tricky, I clamp a curved piece of wood so the fingerboard won't break.

and that's it!, it works great.


much more photos to come, MUCH more!

[Leonardo Silva]

Glad things are going better on this project. The second one progresses with much more confidence.

How thick is your fretboard? Maybe it's just the transition from the playing surface to the headstock, but in that last picture it looks really thick.

I can't remember, on later photos you will see I sanded it down to proper thickness (maybe an mm thicker than an standard), this is the problem I had with the nut slot, since I trimmed the fretboard, now the slot was too shallow and had to deep it by hand.

[Leonardo Silva]

back from lunch.


starting the carving, I decided to do the "edge" of the instrument with a router and a rounded 1/4" bit without bearing (so I could get "closer" to the body than using one with a bearing bit on the bottom)


and chisels, I surely need bigger chisels xd



with a video I could get a better insight in how I carve my tops, with words is just weird, anyway, on the bottom there is a bass from a client, a very metal one xd. https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/ ... 08c0d42d09 will have its own topic on this forum someday.


last time I had a too "thight" electronic component, now I did a more standard one, it ain't perfect, with time and time, I'm getting better at doing this guides for routers.


you might ask, why the hell such a deep cavity cover?, you'll see, you'll see.

technique for poor people without adequate bits.





I tried to make the "thicker" top for my electronics possible, laurel does not have outstanding mechanical problems.

forgot to say that this model has a pickguard, but since money, I don't have for pickguard material, so decided to just make a regular back cavity.


I had a creativity burst, with more experience, I also get better ideas overall





you get the funny feeling that sometimes just one process make your guitar start to look a LOT like an actual guitar?, well yeah, start looking great.



no photos of actual gluing the neck.





starting the back carving!, exactly, that was why the electronics cover had to be that thick.



hope you can see how is the back carving with this.


perfect access to all 24 frets!




I realize this body is feeling quite "thin" in a comfortable way and angle shots are beautiful (If I can say so xd), this is the prototype, when, further improvements to the design will be focused on that.

that's it for now, later on I will publish even more pictures, more art and more mistakes to come, I'm gonna get another coat of nitro into the guitar right now, will be back in a flinch.

[Leonardo Silva]

aaaand I'm back, a nitro coat done, someone know how many coats should I use?, they told me once every day but I usually do like 2-3 in the span of a few hours each one.

excepting the first coats, which I spray a lot of material at first, I'm still a novice in finish, my dad got me with my uncle which gave me finishing tips (he paint cars), will use car paint or polyurethane next time I laquer something.

so, let's go with the pics.


first and last, never glue the neck without fretting ._., it was just a pain to work the fret ends with the risk of ruining your body (I did a bit but with sanding it was great)


I blame my brother for this


nothing some good steam can fix (I got this tip from this forum)


wway better, the rest is sanding until perfection is achieved.


glueing in the fret ends with CA glue, I got the idea from the Carvin factory.






final polish


(the accident its invisible)


next time I would make some little adjustments to the headstock design, too much string breakage angle at the Low E, I would make the headstock a "bit to the left" in the picture.

----bridge position----

this bridge is so easy to install compared to the tune-o-matic xd, for anyone making a guitar the first time, I would recommend using something similar.





(used the saddles to measure the 25.5)

and tried to fix the bridge with some masking tape.


bolted in!


hand made string through, also made a little thing for making it easier to retire the cavity cover in case of anything.


installing tuners (this are fairly heavy, cheap stuff I guess)


as I said, I always use this templates from now on.


I need a better idea to fix the template better, it still moved.


template is more precise than the other holes


the bushings fit perfectly.

after this I decided to strung up the guitar and hear it for the first time as all the hardware was set, next comment will be about my tests (no pictures or audio, sorry), it's the first time I handle a guitar made by me, all national woods (except fingerboard) so, yeah, how it will sound unplugged, how it felt, etc.

[Mark Swanson]

Looks good, one thing about the pickup potting. It will not "make the pickups sound better". It will help them stop feeding back, if they were doing that, but it does not change the sound of the pickups. Good work.

[Leonardo Silva]

I've heard some people who waxpotted some pickups with tone improvement, it was a guy opinion without a soundclip comparison to confirm it (as well as some other guys).

I heard different potting techniques affect tone in a way or another, but actually the true reason for potting them was to "restart" the life of the pickup so it won't cause feedback for longer time, not the tone, sorry .

[Henrique Schneiter]

You have quite a long neck pocket, you didn't really need to extend the neck through the neck pickup cavity. Anyway that's looking great so far.

[Leonardo Silva]

You have quite a long neck pocket, you didn't really need to extend the neck through the neck pickup cavity. Anyway that's looking great so far.

the longer the pocket, the more contact surface you have with the body for waves propagation (sustain), also, with that I can shape the neck heel however I want without worrying about strenght.

there are "deep set-in" or "set-through" construction where the neck tenon is so large it reaches the bridge (similar to neck through).

and well, I have seen PRS and Gibson prolonging the tenon to the neck pickup, and also looks cool xd, so that's the reason I did it.

[Leonardo Silva]

----This comment is dedicated to appreciate my experience with the instrument with strings on and without finish-----

I was really surprised with the unplugged tone and sustain, the whole instrument vibrate, you can feel it in your tummy and the sustain goes for ages (louder solid body instrument I've heard, of course since it doesn't have finish,it resonates way more), the laurelia is very resonant apparently, in tone its similar to basswood but with steroids, with more of a bright and an "airy" feel, hard to explain as its difficult to compare it to a classic tonewood.

I will treat laurel as an upgraded basswood, I really dislike basswood or maybe is that I never came across a good guitar made of it (tried a lot of Ibanez, I still feel they sound dead in tone).

also, the lingue on the neck for my surprise was way warmer than I imagined from the taptone, the combo laurel-lingue is a bit weird, next time I will use brigther woods for the neck, never tried a guitar with a non-maple neck and I it feels a bit weird, when playing there was no "maple tone" in it, I kinda missed it, but is a thing of getting used to it, this beast will sound amazing with distortion.

finally, I don't know how much of the Cumaru/almendrillo(fretboard) contributes to this sound, I'm planning on going crazy and doing a super thin 100% almendrillo neck, just for giggles, Cumaru is quite bright (thanks to density) but with a dark flavor in it, similar to rosewood I think but since its less oily, you can hear more overtones in it.

the string-through, 2 piece body, set-in, fixed bridge played a role in this sustain, I guess its a quite solid construction, this part of testing with the strings is SO important, it invigorate you with a feel of acomplishment, as this guitar is almost ready, then the finish work is way more amusing, its like all the work was worth it at that point and makes you want to finish the project even more, but without being eager.

and I was expecting it would sound bad for some reason, I felt good with this c:, next are the final pics of the stain and laquering procedure.

[Leonardo Silva]

I went overboard with the pictures of the stain, all of them are on facebook, I'll just post the more relevant ones in here.

used an special stain that's manufactured here in Chile, its sold in liquid form and uses an "special solvent" (80% water, 20% alcohol) very good penetration and alternative to the expensive transtint that I would need to import.

used coats of 1:1 dilution with the solvent, the liter of stain might be good for 4 or 5 guitars.






I had an small problem, as the stain raised the grain a bit, I overlooked that factor completely as the stain had water in it, but I just don't know how would I prevent it so I went on with laquering. (maybe its too heavy stained?)


Nitrocelulose laquer with pyroxilin solvent 1:2 relation, I realized it was way easier to spray the laquer when its very liquid and not as dense as last time I used it (1:1,5), so, I need to be patient and not rush this part as I did last time.


this is the beauty of stain over the solid color.


it still need some hands of laquer but start looking good.


everything is way more pretty with the finish on, I will never again doubt my national wood, it's actually lovely the end product.


the wood cover also needs to be laquered.


I loved that transition, better than I had expected

I got a problem as the laurel sucks way more laquer than the lingue, the lingue is almost ready to go but the body need extra coats, it also feels a bit grainy, with water sanding it should be a really good looking product.

so anyway, I need to finish this part, my uncle suggested me to use an acrylic laquer that's designed as a top coat over the nitro laquer, he says it makes it more shiny (it comes ready to apply), I will value how it looks after all the nitro coats if it needs that top coat he said.

only left is fret dressing, to oil the fretboard a bit and, mounting hardware/pickups/electronics and its ready to go!, at most in 2 weeks.