Began Finishing my first LP!

Dan Erlewine · May 12, 2006

That's pretty; the spalted one is different, and cool in that respect, but it's more, like, "handsome". This one is purty. Keep
em coming.

de

mnbaseball91 · May 12, 2006

Dude, you have talent. I hope mine come out that good!

thewizardofaz · May 12, 2006

Ok..I'll bite. What's the double cut skinny? It's gorgeous.

guitargary · May 12, 2006

Let me ask you a question?........................I have a Custom Shop Jackson that is in immacutate condition [Neck-frets etc etc]. The body is in very good shape also 95%. A couple of dings. ANYWAY the question.........The color is TERRIBLE. It is called Burgandy Mist, actually it is a Pinkish/Purple. I was gonna shoot the guitar a Metallic Plum Purple. But after re-thinking this I want to take it down to NATURAL wood and then put either a Tung-Oil finish on or a thin laquer sealer like is used on Gibsons Faded series. WHAT IS THE BEST WAY to STRIP this Body down to Natural Wood. It is a 1-piece custom ordered Maple body. BTW I am a Gibson man and play an occasional Strat/Tele. Its my first Jackson, which happens to be a San-Dima's 87 custom ordered USA Custom Shop guitar. very impressive guitar. I am not a big fan of pointed headstocks but the fretwork and action on this guitar is as good as ANY I have EVER SEEN. I been playing since 67! Thanks for your advice..........GARY T.

rmconner80 · May 12, 2006

Man, that spalted is incredible. I can build a mean tube amp and have shot ReRanch nitro, but I can't even BEGIN to wrap my small brain around what it would take to actually build a set neck guitar, especially one so true to its inspiration. Bravo, that thing is gorgeous!

thewizardofaz · May 12, 2006

gary..what's the finish, poly or nitro? If it's poly, bout all you can really practically do is scuff the coat and shoot over it. If it's nitro, then you can strip. Burgundy mist is an awesome color though. I had a Strat that color. Gorgeous.

guitargary · May 13, 2006

I'm not sure, its a Custom Shop 87 San Dima's Jackson Stratocaster. Its not at all bad. [body] The neck is drop-dead mint with a nice healthy feel to it [not thin at all]. Has one of the better fret jobs I've ever seen. The body has on ding on the back [to-wood] which is very small. A small press mark just below the 5-way switch. And the usual pick-rash. Its maybe a 8.7 to 8.9 on a 1-10 scale [the body]. The Burgandy Mist was applied well, no issues with the paint job. Just tha it came out VERY PINK looking. Not a bad thing, the girls dig it, couple have walked up and commented on it already. Hell I had the guitar a week and took it out once to play. I'm just VERY impressed with the guitar. Never owned or desired to own a Jackson. I wound up with it in a very good trade for a Schecter C/SH-1. I think the guy was nuts to swap me a CS hand built guitar for a Korean production line, but hey he feel in love with the Schecter. ...................ANYWAY, I am gonna keep the guitar. I re-did the electronic's already. I just thought with a Natural Wood look to the body the guitar would be Beautifull looking. The neck has a Brazilian fretboard, bound headstock and neck. Very well done neck. Do YOU KNOW what Jackson used for paint? I assume Poly. I'll go to there forun and find out. So you don't think its worth the effort? Or it will be to difficult?

thewizardofaz · May 13, 2006

Well, BM is one of my favs and it usually is good for a girl coming by and commenting..or two. If it's poly, stripping is a LOT of work. Tonally it is like putting the guitar in a trunk. If it's nitro, it's not nearly as much. Open a cavity up, like a pup or control cavity. Take a small brush or eyedropper full of lacquer thinner. If it softens or melts, it's nitro. Since it's a custom shop, I'm gonna guess it's probably nitro, but you never know.

guitargary · May 14, 2006

I should know for SURE shortly! Otherwise your right I'll check the Trem cavity.

stompbox · May 20, 2006

cibai said:
Finally, Im almost done. I need to redo the nut, which turned out great except I cut the high E too deep :doh , and a little more fretwork
I was really surprised by the tone as I wasnt expeting much. Its a little bluesier and less agressive than my R8. I am definalely going to gig this thing!
Its been a cloudy day today, but I managed to get a shot in. Hopefully I will get a nice sunny day soon. (BTW, the gold grovers are a bit much I think, but I got a little excited and carried away when ordering all the harware :dude)

Here is what Ive been working on while this was curing:

Wow those look great! Did you make the neck and everything or did you just order the neck and make the body?

NHMorgan · May 21, 2006

Thanks stompbox, I started from just milled wood. The neck took me as long as the body, as I made some mistakes in the order in which I approached things, for example, I didnt use the factory edge of the blank to make the top of the neck, and ended up hand planing and sanding forever to get a flat surface to glue the fingerboard on to (I dont own a joiner). I also waited to rout the curved truss channel until after I had cut the taper into the neck, and cut out the headstock and neck profile, which made getting a straight even route much more difficult. On that second guitar, I cut the truss rout first thing. I made most of the plastic for it, but after almost cutting my fingers off on the router, I just stole the truss cover off another guitar (btw does anyone know a source for the wide bevel covers that arent $25!)

NHMorgan · May 21, 2006

Got some better pictures today, and played it in a gig for the first time last night. I was really happy with the sound, and it cuts well through the mix but is not overly bright.

I wish I had saved that brazillain fingerboard for a later guitar, as it is the darkest piece of rosewood Ive ever seen.

mnbaseball91 · May 21, 2006

That's beautiful. Nothing beats playing a guitar you built at a gig!

Bainzy · Jun 5, 2006

Wow. I'd love to be able to build anything as good as that, so far all I've managed to do is assemble Warmoth parts, finish them with nitrocellulose and do a basic setup on them. How would you go about learning how to make your own Les Paul body/neck and how would you get the dimensions?

Do you mind if I ask how much this project has cost you, minus the expense of the hardware, pickups and paint?

(Ie. cost of woods, tools, inlay/binding material)

NHMorgan · Jun 6, 2006

The stew-mac LP plans are the way to go. I also used them to base my second non-lp guitar off. As far as cost, I'll just say I could probably have bought a nice used R9 for the cost of getting into building guitars. I figure I spent 2k+ easily (probably more!) just at stew-mac. It came in short bursts, as I bought tools for each phase of the build, so the tool cost was spread over 4-5 months. On the first guitar, I got the body blank for $40 at gilmerwood.com, the neck blank for $30 at exotic woods (out of which I got two necks), $50 for the braz board, $20 for the inlays, and the spatled maple top was $16 at 3dhardwoods.com . As far as the maple goes, I would recommend going to a lumber yard that deals in specialty woods. For example, I found a really nice highly figured curly maple 8/4 board for $50 this weekend that I cut down to get 4 really nice bookmatched sets. That works out to about $12.50 for sets that on the internet routinely fetch $150-$200. So, after the first guitar, they are definately cheaper, as the tools are by far the biggest expense. By my calculations, for my next few guitars (I've got a batch of 4 on the bench right now), the cost of the guitar itself will be much much less than the cost of the hardware that will be on it.

clayville · Jun 6, 2006

Nick, those are beautiful! Glad you're happy with the sound of the singlecut, too. Your ol' pals in the JamZone would love to hear it (hint).

What's in/on the doublecut? That looks pretty radical with the string-through, the nickel P-90 and all.

Congrats again.

stompbox · Jun 9, 2006

I think that guitar is awesome looking... very very very nice!

NHMorgan · Jun 9, 2006

Clay, the double cut is from and old set of mahogany shelves, and will have a timbucker p-90 in the neck and a 47classic in the bridge (which is moved forward about 5/8 from the traditional bridge PU position to make it a little mellower. There will be an abr bridge. Ive designed the guitar as a slide guitar, and am hoping that the thinner body with sound a little closer to an SG than an LP. In truth though I have no idea how it will sound! It ready to be buffed, Ive just got to find time to clear out the woodshop for sanding and buffing. I cant wait to get it into the Jamzone, but I cant make much noise these days, as my wife is newly pregnant (our first!).

AnthemBassMan · Jun 9, 2006

-Dang Cibai, Those axes are great! That Lester shure would be sweet with some aged nickel hardware on her. Unless that's what you have and I just can't quite tell. I tell you what. The only guitars I made were a Strat and a Tele that I bought the body from USA Custom Guitars. I tip my hat to ANYONE with the cajones to build a carved top Lester or the like. Especially all from basic lumber. Kudos again.

L8R,
Matt D.

JVIoneyman · Jun 10, 2006

Thats an interesting choice of wood.

The finish looks perfect. I always wanted to build a guitar, but never got around to trying it out. Maybe this summer. It woudnt be near as good as yours though. Nice Job!

Began Finishing my first LP!

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