Finally Done! Solid Body Electric Guitar

[scott spencer]

There have been a couple of sneak preview shots of this guitar over the past couple of weeks along with some helpful discussion from some of the experts here. Well....it's finally done. It's a solid body electric guitar made from mahogany, curly maple, and birdseye maple. The finish is Minwax spray polyurethane over a few coats of Waterlox. Special thanks to Vaughn and Alan for their technical help, and to my good friend Tom for the curly maple and the use of his MM16.

I bought the neck from locally from Stutzman's Guitar Center (what a great place for you Rochester folks or visitors). It uses two single Fender Strat pickups and a an OLP "John Petrucci" humbucker. I've got a couple of Ibanez Affinity humbuckers on order that we may play with later on. There are also a set of gold finish strap pegs coming to replace the silver ones.

I don't play but my 16 year old son does. When we started out I was just hoping it would work. Turns out we got lucky in a big way because it sounds and plays great according to him....it sounds alot more alive than his Behringer Strat clone even to me, and the switches reveal alot more diverse sounds....it hoots, howls, growls, twangs, and rips! His says it "hammers" way better and "sustains" more (new terms to me ...I guess that's good!) A challenging but very rewarding project....a Visa commercial definitely came to mind the first time I watched him play it.

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http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y203/hewood/Projects/g6.jpg
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[Jim Becker]

That really turned out WONDERFUL!!! It's a looker, for sure...and it sounds [sic] like it sounds really good too...the ultimate compliment to the builder! Nice!

[Doug Shepard]

Saweeet! Nice job. I can hear Tyler now though: No sound file - it didn't happen.:D

[Mike Canaris]

IT looks awesome...nice clean lines!

[Roy Wall]

Scott,

That is ONE BEAUTIFUL guitar......nice work!!

I can hear all your sons' friends saying - "Your Dad made it?? That is awesome!!!!":) :)

It's nice to make something your kids will treasure....good stuff!

[Tom Pritchard]

My hat is off to you Scotty!!! I know what a difficult project this was for you, but you really nailed it! It looks great, and I know that Cullen will treasure it for the rest of his days. I'm sure you increased your skill level tenfold on this guitar. Congratulations, it looks BEAUTIFUL!

[Joe Mioux]

Scott. Congratulations on a well executed project. the guitar looks great!

Joe

[Corey Hallagan]

Congrats to you Scott. That is a beautiful guitar for a first or one of many. Awesome and I think the last sentence of your post says it all. Awesome job Dad!

Corey

[Travis Stinson]

I love it! That's a real beauty. Love your choice of woods, adds a lot to the playability and character of it's sound.:cool:

[Dave Malen]

Scott,
Great craftmanship. Love the wood choice. Nice finish too.
Dave

[John Michaels]

Very nice!! There's a guy in my neck of the woods that builds guitars like yours also. Keep up the good work.

[Rick Peek]

Just beautiful! Nice work.

[Tim Dorcas]

So it really can be done! and done well apparently. Awesome job.

I'd be interested to know some details about it's construction. How long did it take? Did you use a particular plan? Any gotchas for anyone thinking about doing the same project?

Tim

[glenn bradley]

Very nice Scott. As an ex-rocker (not guitar) I've seen a guitar or two. That's a looker. Dig the modified tension nut cover.

[Corvin Alstot]

Beautiful work.
Did you sign or add a "made by" logo anywhere?

[Dennis Peacock]

WOW!!!!! That baby ROCKS!!!!!!!!!

I'm hoping to build me a bass guitar in the near future, but I want to make a neck that fits "me". I have short fingers to be a bass player so some tweaking of the neck design will be a requirement for me.

LOVE That Guitar!!!!!!!!! Jammin' Baby!!!!!!:D

[Norman Hitt]

Scott, you really showed your skills in Top Fashion on this project. It sure turned out beautifully and it seems you got all the "Tekniks" worked out to perfection too. Maybe your son will build you a new "Dream Shop" when he makes his first Million playing it.;) :D

[Vaughn McMillan]

You nailed it, Scott. It's a beauty! I don't remember seeing any pics of the mahogany on the back...it's as pretty as the front. I'm also very pleased that it sounds good (said while wiping a bit of sweat from the brow). The best part is the fact that the new owner loves it. Give him a high five for me.

[scott spencer]

Thanks for all the kind comments guys....y'all made my day! :D

Tim - Yep, it can be done...just go for it...you'll end up somewhere! I actually started it last fall and ran out of weather, patience, and nerve, then this spring I had surgery which set me back another couple of months. It probably took 80-100 hours total but that's just a wag. No real plans...I looked at alot of pics and developed a shape I like using french curves then made templates until I got it right. I planned to use all 3 Strat pickups in the originally wired configuration, but then with Vaughn's help I got brave and wired my own ideas which allowed me to use my brother's humbucker pickup. The gotchas are getting the neck and pickups straight and aligned....there's alot that can go wrong with the neck. Use an adjustable bridge. I made the nut on the neck and getting the string spacing and height seemed critical there.

Corvin - I've got a brand new rubber stamp that I was eager to use...I even spent some time with a stamped piece of transparency to see where it looked best, but I realized too late that the ink needs to go on before the clear coats or it won't dry....so it's void of my mark. :o

[Karl Laustrup]

That's a beauty Scott. Now hopefully your son doesn't play in one of those bands that smashes their guitars. :eek:

How about a pic of him using it at a gig?

Karl

[Tyler Howell]

Looking Good. As long as you're not a player, better send it over for me road test.:rolleyes: Can't tell how it performs by looking;) .
Well done.

[Kelly C. Hanna]

Gorgeous!!! Very fine work indeed. Congats on a huge success. Sounds like it sounds great!!

[Curt Fuller]

Man that's pretty! If it sounds half as good as it looks you've really go a fine guitar!

[Alan DuBoff]

Scott,

It came out excellent! Your son should never feel cheated owning a hand crafted guitar, by his OWN father! That in itself if some braggin' rights over his friends, but the wood looks great, and I bet it sounds excellent.

I hope that other gent is looking on this thread, that was thinking/asking about building one himself, for his son.

That is just so cool, nice job. Now you're ready to move on to an acoustic!:D Your son's gotta have a nice quiver, doncha know?:p

I bet he's one proud son...