ShortScale.org

Here is a nice little pic of my templates.
I drew around my Jagstang, basic but effective...


I'm gonna use a squier mini-strat neck, which is 22.75" scale.
I've got one of them cut-down 3 saddle telesaster style bridges, a hot rails style pickup, and a black pick guard blank.

I rough cut the ash blank I got off ebay tonight and it weight in at a hefty 8lbs.

Not sure if I want a bridge pickup like a bronco, I think would sound better?
Or throw it in musicmaster style for visual coolness?
I'm biased toward visual cool right now...

visual cool all the way.

Nice, i look forward to seeing how this project develops. I just did a Jagstang myself.

I like your location description, made me rolf. Good old Stoke. Welcome to Shortscale btw.

The pickgaurd goes well with the body shape.

Welcome to the boards!!! And with a pretty coool project to boot.

that looks like it'll be really cool.
im looking forward to seeing some cool pics in the future.

So, I'm about half way through routing the body...


I've had a few F*** ups, which i need to tidy up before I flip the whole lot over and finish routing the out line!
Seems you can't get the bits long enough that fit my cheap nasty router!!!

Does anyone have any advice for cutting the neck pocket?
I've bought a neck pocket template. I know I will need to space it away from the body to get the right depth.

I'm a bit bored...

So here a few of the pictures I got inspspiration from

Music master


Bronco


Musicmaster Bass



And, of course Jagstang


I stole all my ideas from Fender, so hopefuly will look a bit like one!

AddamInsane wrote:I've had a few F*** ups, which i need to tidy up before I flip the whole lot over and finish routing the out line!
Seems you can't get the bits long enough that fit my cheap nasty router!!!

Does anyone have any advice for cutting the neck pocket?
I've bought a neck pocket template. I know I will need to space it away from the body to get the right depth.

If you have a 1/4 inch router you will struggle to get a long bit but if you have a 1/2 inch router you just need to buy a 50mm straight flute bit. Like what kitchen fitters use.

When i did my neck pocket i made a plywood template the shape of the body and made the neck pocket hole larger to cater for the routers guide bush (BE CAREFULL WITH THIS MEASUREMENT), i then clamped the template to the body and used the depth stop on the router so i did not go too deep on the final cut.
Theoretically it is only an open end square route, so you can use 3 pieces of 2x1 timber for a jig. Just be carefull on positioning and clamping tight.

I have this template for the neck pocket. So hopefuly I can't mess it up?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Neck-Pocket-Routi ... .m63.l1177

It has a centre line marked into it. So I'm planning on lining it up with the centre line of the body.
My router bit is an inch long and half inch diameter with a half inch bearing.
The pocket doesn't need an inch deep so i'm planning on making a little spacer, to raise the template up a bit. And drill lots of holes in the neck pocket area so my feeble router just has to tidy it up!

I cut a spacer slightly smaller than my body template, to give a shallower first cut with the router. That worked really well!

I've seen a 50mm long Router bit, with bearing on the end, but that had a half inch shank and about an inch cutting diameter. Was only £2!

I'm not worrying too much about the last bit of cutting the body thickness out- i'll just flip it over and cut from the back. Either with the original template and cutter or using a cutter with the bearing on the tip.

The bearing on the end is to guide the cutter. They are generally used for laminate trimming (i fit kitchens). You cant plunge with these cutters so it wont be any use for a neck pocket.
When you route you should take small ammounts out at a time not all in one go. Doing it in one go with Hardwood will over heat the cutter and you risk the blade breaking, you can also end up with 'tear out' where a chunk can break off the edge of the cut.

That template looks cool, good find. You are using your guide bush are'nt you?



You see from this diagram the guide bush collar rests against your template and makes a neat cut. Without the guide bush you'll wreck your template.

I kind of (but not quite?) followed Fran's advice...


I built a little framework jig for roughing out the neck pocket. I made many passes at cutting.

Here's the neck template and spacer in action.



And the neck almost in position, the pocket is slightly under size and will need finishing by hand. As evidenced in the corners!



BTW- Before anybody tells me I've done it all wrong.
I have literally ZERO wood working experience!
If I can do it anybody can!

GET BUILDING!!!

More updates soon...

Here it is with the pickguard template and bridge.



Gonna be Dakota red with black pickguard.

Good work. You may get over the depth using a neck shim, 1.5mm is no big deal as such but will dramatically effect the action.
How you cleaning up inside the horns? I bought some cheap sanding drums for my drill to take the main roughness away.

i love the pg shape, cept the control area, seems like it sticks out too far, but, its still pretty kickass looking.

Routing scares the shit out of me!

Routing neck pockets scares the shit out of me too!

I'm almost there with the neck pocket...

So I decided to clamp the neck on to check for fit. It's still a bit wonky needs cutting out toward the body a bit more, no big deal...
This is what it looks like clamped up and hung next to my real JS for comparison.



I might tweak the design of the pickguard, I havent cut the control route yet.

i think the pickgaurd looks lovely actually
dakota red and black reminds me of those 80s want guitars where everyone had big hair

I used to have some crappy humbuckered Strat copy when I was 14. That was red with a black pickguard. I had new guard made for it with a mustang style curved top. The sloppy fit meant I always had a pick wedged in behind it (for convenience), I think I repainted it too?

Anyway, not all red/black guitars need to be Floyd rose equipped hair metal axes!

Looking good dude. I'm not the biggest fan of the PG shape either, but it's all in the finishing. I'm sure you can make it look awesome.