Neck-Thru Build Pics

[Gordon Bellerose]

.Why do you use three coats of epoxy is that for pore filling

Yes, the Zebrawood is quite porous, and actually had a few small cavities in the surface.
Walnut is also porous and needs filling.
The western Ash is a bit more close pored, but it never hurts to fill anyway.
I don't want to get halfway through spraying lacquer, and have the pits start to show up.

Correction: Above, I said that I will scratch sand with "Scotchguard".
Obviously I meant to say "Scotchbrite".

[Gordon Bellerose]

I didn't have much time this morning, but I thought I would at least drill the holes for the controls.
The pots I am using have a 3/8 shaft.
I am also putting the output jack on top of the guitar.
This has the advantage that you can actually stand the guitar in a stand, without the jack being in the way.
And, the profile I used does not allow for enough room to go into the side. The jack plate is too big.

One disadvantage is that a player could mark the finish with the plug.



And I also drilled the extra pockets in the pickup pockets, to accept the longer humbucker screws.

[Gordon Bellerose]

I'm off work this week, so I got out into the shop this morning, and decided I had better get something done.
I superglued in the side markers. A drop of glue, insert plastic rod, cut flush and then sand the extra glue off.
Also filed the fret ends down level with the fret board, so final dressing will be easier.



I let it dry for a while, and got my clamps and cauls organized to glue the fret board onto the guitar.



I also use a block to help hold the board even, at the nut end.



Sorry. I didn't take a picture of the clamping.

[Gordon Bellerose]

Here are a few pictures of what it looks like now. Sand the epoxy, and on to finishing.



Make sure the truss rod is in!

[Eric Baack]

mmmm, now that's purdy!

[Jason Rodgers]

Looking good, Gordon! I've not been following your updates, as the pics don't show up on my Kindle, so I take a look every now and again when I'm sitting at the PC.

Comment/suggestion: waaaay back, with your headstock debacle, you cut off the ears because you didn't like the visible glue lines. I realize you want the neck-through stripe to show, but in the future, if you run into that issue again, another option is a headstock cap and backstrap. Some more of that Zebrawood would look pretty snappy on the headstock.

Question: I've gone through quite a few posts, and don't see anything about neck elevation or back set. Does the neck shaft meet the body wings flush and in plane? I've not built a neck-through, but I've owned a Carvin, and the neck met the body wings in plane, but elevated about 1/8". In other words, a straight edge on top of the jumbo frets, on top of the 1/4" fretboard, on top of the 1/8" rise, would sit at about 7/16" off the body at the bridge location, just below the saddles on the hardtail bridge. The other solution is to glue the neck to the wings with a few degrees of backset. If you've not taken this geometry into account, you may end up needing to recess your bridge.

You've done a great job of logging your progress. Keep it up!

[Gordon Bellerose]

Looking good, Gordon! I've not been following your updates, as the pics don't show up on my Kindle, so I take a look every now and again when I'm sitting at the PC.

Comment/suggestion: waaaay back, with your headstock debacle, you cut off the ears because you didn't like the visible glue lines. I realize you want the neck-through stripe to show, but in the future, if you run into that issue again, another option is a headstock cap and backstrap. Some more of that Zebrawood would look pretty snappy on the headstock.

Question: I've gone through quite a few posts, and don't see anything about neck elevation or back set. Does the neck shaft meet the body wings flush and in plane? I've not built a neck-through, but I've owned a Carvin, and the neck met the body wings in plane, but elevated about 1/8". In other words, a straight edge on top of the jumbo frets, on top of the 1/4" fretboard, on top of the 1/8" rise, would sit at about 7/16" off the body at the bridge location, just below the saddles on the hardtail bridge. The other solution is to glue the neck to the wings with a few degrees of backset. If you've not taken this geometry into account, you may end up needing to recess your bridge.

You've done a great job of logging your progress. Keep it up!

I went through a lot of scenarios when I cut into the neck with the band saw. Actually, Mark Swanson came up with the best idea; of course it was after the fact. He suggested scarfing a new headstock on. That would have worked, and possibly saved me a lot of work.

The neck is on the same plane as the body.
I did a scale drawing and found that if I left the fingerboard a bit thicker, (it is 9/32) and allowed for .050 high frets, and allowed for a minimum of .030 clearance on the high E string, I would have enough height using the bridge I have.
The bridge saddles will go lower than what I drew out, so I should be OK.

Having said that, I will install the bridge, tuners and strings to check it out before finishing.
The neck is .800 at the 1st fret, and .850 at the 12th.

[Gordon Bellerose]

Question: I've gone through quite a few posts, and don't see anything about neck elevation or back set. Does the neck shaft meet the body wings flush and in plane? I've not built a neck-through, but I've owned a Carvin, and the neck met the body wings in plane, but elevated about 1/8". In other words, a straight edge on top of the jumbo frets, on top of the 1/4" fretboard, on top of the 1/8" rise, would sit at about 7/16" off the body at the bridge location, just below the saddles on the hardtail bridge. The other solution is to glue the neck to the wings with a few degrees of backset. If you've not taken this geometry into account, you may end up needing to recess your bridge.

You've done a great job of logging your progress. Keep it up!

The neck is on the same plane as the body.
I did a scale drawing and found that if I left the fingerboard a bit thicker, (it is 9/32) and allowed for .050 high frets, and allowed for a minimum of .030 clearance on the high E string, I would have enough height using the bridge I have.
The bridge saddles will go lower than what I drew out, so I should be OK. quote]

I ran a straight edge down the fret board, and measured the height at the bridge.
I have 11/32 at the bridge.
As the bridge I have goes down to 5/16 at the lowest point of adjustment, I should be fine for bridge height.[/b]

[Gordon Bellerose]

I've been spraying clear lacquer on this guitar over the last week or so.
I now have 6 coats on, and it is sitting in the spray cabinet curing.
I will take some more pics when I start the wet sanding / buffing process.

I have also finished another neck, and am in the middle of fretting a neck that has binding.
I'll show some of those photos a bit later.

[Gordon Bellerose]

It's been a while since I posted any progress pics on this build.
I'm getting 3 other guitars ready for a show that is coming up Sept. 27.
This one will be ready also, but I do have a bit of work to go yet.

I finished spraying, and I thought I had better do the fret work before wet sanding and buffing took place.
As usual with a new build the frets have to be leveled.

I make certain the fret board is straight, using a notched straight-edge, and using the truss rod to adjust the neck.


Then I check the top of the frets, using a straight-edge and feeler gauges. If they were perfect I could skip the whole thing, but they were not.


I use Stik-it Sandpaper on the radius sanding block.


I protect the guitar and start leveling.

[Gordon Bellerose]

Oops. double post.

[Gordon Bellerose]

I check the fret tops with a light. Once I have just touched every fret, I quit sanding.



I then sand a bit of fall away into the upper frets, using a short sanding block. I like to have these upper frets tapering from even, to about .006 lower at the end of the neck.

[Gordon Bellerose]

Time to crown the frets.
I start with a triangular file that I have sanded one edge off of, and a fret board guard.
I only use this on the frets that I have had to take the most off.



Then I use the fret crowning file for the rest.



After that I double check both the board, and the frets. any fret that may be a bit high gets a bit more work with the crowning file. Once the frets are all level, I use some sandpaper and Scotch-brite to shine them up.

[Gordon Bellerose]

Got the guitar sprayed and now it is wet sanded and buffed.



Here is another pic. I will post a few.

Onward to bridge, electronics, and tuners.

[Art Davila]

Oh man that is a thing of beauty. I love neck thru guitars and when I get to that level of build, if hope mine comes out half as good I would be happy.

[Gordon Bellerose]

I am now wiring this guitar, and want to finish the thread also. It's been quite a while, and you're probably all bored.

Here are the pickup pockets shielded. I am wiring it with Push-Push switches for coil splitting, so some of the sounds will be single coil, and I want it to be as quiet as possible. The inter-connecting ground wire is not shown in this picture, but all the cavities are connected together.



And the control cavity.



Here's a couple shots of the wiring.

[Gordon Bellerose]

Today I installed the nut and strings, and did the set-up.
Here's a shot of the guitar after removing the strings to oil the finger board.



Here's a shot of the ebony fret board after oiling.



I installed Push-Push controls on this guitar, to split the coils. You can see that the Tone knob is in the "Up" position.



And finally, the Babicz Full contact Hardware bridge.
I will post one more time tomorrow, when the strings are on, and that will be the end of this thread. It has been fun keeping a record of this build. I hope someone may have learned something from it. I know I sure did.

[Dave Locher]

Oh, I've learned a TON from this thread. Thank you for documenting it.

[Gordon Bellerose]

Finally. I have a finished product. It has been a while for sure.
I am showing pics of the finished guitar of course!



When I cut into the neck, and had to make a new one, I also decided to leave enough wood to make a small volute.
I don't think I mentioned it anywhere, so here's the picture.



Here's a shot of the back. I also make my own plastics. I may decide to use wood on the next one.
You all know how this addiction is; there is always a next one in the works!

[Gordon Bellerose]

LESSONS LEARNED.

1. Always be sure to take your time in the joinery. Being in a bit of a hurry cost me BIG time.
Remember that I had to cut the one body half off, and the headstock in half?
And finally had to cut both halves off for the new neck?

2. Always quit work when you're tired. Do not go for that last quick step just because you think you have time, or are just in a hurry. That is what caused the neck debacle, where I cut into the neck right where the headstock curves into the nut.

3. Keep a pictorial record for yourself. It may come in handy for future builds.

4. Share the build on this forum. All the good, or more importantly, the mistakes.
If I had not reacted badly and cut the neck into pieces immediately, I may have been able to save it. Mark Swanson came up with a great idea to scarf a new headstock on.

5. I had to build a few new jigs on this build. If anybody wants to get some measurements, or pictures let me know, I'd be more than happy to share.

Thanks for watching, and participating in this thread with me. It has been fun.