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In my attempt to build a neck, forming the shape of the back of the neck was the most fun part
I also used a Stewmac trussrod in my neck and that thing is really strong. You twist the wrench for a couple of degrees and the neck starts to straighten up immediately. At first I thought that something was wrong with the wood, then made a research on the internet and found out that it is how it works.

I still suck at fret leveling, crowning, filing sharp ends and polishing frets. I'm looking forward to see what tools you use for it

new to the thread, but this is some serious nice work here.

great stuff, looks like you have a lot of fun doing it as well, can't wait to see how these play out.

i think the shark fin looks pretty ace as well, great mod.

I'm Back. Sorry for the break in action, but Christmas, Church, and Year end paperwork for my business had to take a front seat for a while.
The Guitars have been drying for almost 7 weeks now, and should be just about ready to cut and buff. They are looking real good.
I have decided to finish the guitar I'm building for my brother first, so I got to work on the neck. They have been sitting for a month as well after pressing in frets, so they should be settled as good as can be.

I roughed it out with with a hand belt sander, and then worked it over with a vibrating hand sander, them just finessed the rest by hand. Here's where I'm at so far.














I love a FAT neck. It came in at .920 at the first fret and .950 at the 12th.







Planning on staining it a very light brown, then Tru-oil possibly tonight.

Looking good!

While the neck finishes drying, I decided to cut and buff the body out for my Brother's guitar. From here on out it will be referred to as "CHUB".
I came up with the name last night, and there is a story behind the name. My brother does not know that I'm making this guitar for him, but our grandfather "Pap" who passed away several years ago always called my little brother "Hoss". After Hoss Cartwright on the old western tv show called Bonanza. We used to love it as kids. I can still hear my grandpa sitting in the stands at the baseball game, hollerin' out to my brother who was a pitcher. He'd say "Throw 'em the dark one Hoss! Strike him out!". Anyway, Me and my grandpa were really the only ones who called my brother Hoss. Well, come to find out, the only horse that was strong enough to carry Hoss Cartwright was a Half Thoroughbred Gelding that was the only Horse that lasted for the entire life of the show. twelve or fourteen years. He was dark brown in color, and his name was "Chub". I don't think even my brother knows that, but I'm sure he will love the sentiment of the name.

Here are a couple photo's of the cut and buff process. Basically I started with 800 grit wet/dry sandpaper, then moved up to 2000 grit, then 3000 grit. Then I moved on to a automotive glazing compound, and finally a Mother's brand Carnuba cleaner/Wax.


this was what I started with after 7 weeks of drying.

That is beautiful. You're probably tired of hearing it by now but outstanding work there.

Nick wrote:That is beautiful. You're probably tired of hearing it by now but outstanding work there.

Actually I really appreciate comments. This is definitely a learn as you go process. I'm not real smart on this stuff, but love it whenever I get a chance to chat with others who dabbble in this trade. I try to always be learning. I'm an auto mechanic for a living, and love building and playing as a hobby. It's like therapy.

I went to Ace hardware and purchased a 4 foot aluminum straight edge. Then I cut off a section that was as long as the neck. After marking it where all the frets are, I took my grinder and notched it so that it would lay flat on the fretboard.


Then for my fret sander, I took an old level that I had. Once I made sure it was level and wasn't twitsed, I used spray glue to attach sand paper to it.


This was my first attempt at fret leveling, and I just followed the example of many youtube videos that I watched, and everything seemed to work out perfectly. I straightened the fretboard with my home made gauge. After marking each fret with a black sharpie, with barely any pressure at all,I used the sanding block that I made and sanded till each was making contact. Then I double checked everything.
after that I used my stewmac fret crowning file and re-crowned the frets. after that it was on to final polishing, and I think everything turned out real well. Of course the proofe will be when I finally get to play this thing.



I also stained the neck a light brown to match the body, and then put on several coats of tru-oil.

The next step was to marry the neck to the body. The pocket was not as snug as I would have liked, so i did glue in a paper thin slice of Ash to shim it just enough to line everything up and make a nice snug fit.
It came out true to centerline of the body and down the length of the neck.

Schaller bridge and fender tuners went on like a dream. I am still trying to figure out a way to get a ground wire from the controls pocket or bridge pickup pocket to the bridge. Usually those ideas hit me at night when I'm lying in bed mulling things over in my mind. I've been sleeping on this one problem for a week now and still haven't come up with a solution.

Before I could start with Electronics, I needed to make the pickup rings. I did not want to use plastic, because I thought walnut would look nicer. My only question is weather they will stand the test of time. I sure hope so. Here's some pics of that little adventure.

I prethicknessed some walnut, then double stick taped my template onto it and routed out the insides. From that I made a couple of other jigs to cut the outsides, and drill the holes. I stained them a little darker to match the body color, and have decided to finish them in spray polyurethane. Mainly because it dries mutch faster and should be good and tough if it gets hit with a guitar pick and such.

Just a little side note.
After I got the Neck and body together, I figured out it's name. I don't know why, but I name all my builds, and I try to come up with names that have meaning, so Here is the name for this guitar. It's name is

"CHUB"

Now here is the reason why.
Since I am building this guitar to give to my brother, it had to have a name that was special to both of us.
Our GrandPappy used to call my brother "Hoss" as a nickname, and Pap and I are really the only ones who ever called him that. Since my grandpa passed a few years back, I wanted to do something that would remember him too. I can still hear my Grandpa hollering out from the bleachers behind home plate, to my brother who was a pitcher. He's say "Throw 'em the dark one Hoss!". It was after Hoss Cartwright on the old wester tv show called Bonanza. Well, anyway, I wanted to call this guitar after a girl that Hoss fell in love with on the tv show, but after some thinking and a little research, I found that Hoss' horse was the only horse that lasted for the entire 14 year life of the show. He was a strong Gelding that was 15.5 hands tall, and was a half thoroughbred. He was dark brown and was the only horse strong enough to carry Hoss.
The horses name was "Chub". So that's the story behind the name.

I am also still thinking about making my brother a guitar strap out of some heavy cowhide. My uncle is a awesome leathersmith, and I may have him write Hoss on it. And maybe a picture of a horse. Still in the thinking process on that one. Here is a picture of Hoss and Chub.

Here's a couple pictures of me and my brother Corey "Hoss"


This is of me in the middle, my dad on the left, who is helping me build this guitar, and on the Right is my Pappy who nicknamed my brother Hoss.


Sorry for the nostalgia moment. I'll get back to guitars soon enough.

Dude! That's looking great so far. Can't wait to see the finished guitar. Keep it up!

The finish on the body looks excellent.

royb8s wrote:I am still trying to figure out a way to get a ground wire from the controls pocket or bridge pickup pocket to the bridge. Usually those ideas hit me at night when I'm lying in bed mulling things over in my mind. I've been sleeping on this one problem for a week now and still haven't come up with a solution.

Get a really really long drill bit and do it at an angle. Finboy did this to an undrilled body:
http://shortscale.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=62167

I liked the nostalgia moment! Guitars and memories seem to go hand in hand.

71Smallbox wrote:

royb8s wrote:I am still trying to figure out a way to get a ground wire from the controls pocket or bridge pickup pocket to the bridge. Usually those ideas hit me at night when I'm lying in bed mulling things over in my mind. I've been sleeping on this one problem for a week now and still haven't come up with a solution.

Get a really really long drill bit and do it at an angle. Finboy did this to an undrilled body:
http://shortscale.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=62167

Thanks for the link. As soon as I saw it, I remembered looking at it before. That was the conclusion I had come up with as well. Just brings me pain to drill into that beautiful Lacquer. Of course it's under the bridge and will never show, but it still hurts a little.

Got the electronics together. I'm wiring it like a 50's Les Paul with a few twists. I'm putting coil split controls on the tone knobs, and I reversed the in and out posts on the volume pot. Later I will post a link to a video that explains why. I will also post some pics once I get the electronics soldered in.

I just set the pickups and rings in, just to make sure everything lined up and fit well.

Getting close. I got all the controls soldered and in. all that is left is pickups tonight, strings, and then set-up.

I cut out the back cover plates out of walnut and stained them dark dark brown. Then I finished them in Polyurethane instead of Lacquer. It cut the dry time down to about a week instead of 2 or 3 months. I still think I would rather use lacquer for the guitar bodies though. I like the way that lacquer melts in to the previous coat as opposed to how Poly just lays on top of the previous coat.