Not Another Guitar Project!!!

Oct 12, 2009

It's true.  In the midst of building my guitar project named Project 4, I have started Project 5.  But there is a method to my madness.  A lot of my time is just setting up equipment, and getting it ready.  Not much is actually spent working on the wood itself.  So, since I have the equipment set up already, I can make another guitar, this time named Project 5, rather quickly. 

One reason I can make it rather quickly is that they both use the same template as a neck through guitar.  They will use 90% of the same parts.  Only the pickups and the wings are different.  Oh, and Project 5 will use a different tailpiece. 

Project 4 is based on a Mosrite guitar.  Project 5 is based on an old Silvertone guitar that I have that is a Les Paul copy.  For the record, the Silvertone is a bit longer and thinner than a Les Paul, and has a Florintine cutaway. 

A lot of building guitars is waiting for the glue to dry.  While one project is glueing up, I end up working on the other.  So it ends up working out pretty well. 

One thing that is neat about the maple on Project 4 is that it is hard rock maple.  It is so incredibly hard.  I was sanding it down on my belt sander with 60 grit paper, and it was having a hard time sanding it.  And that was a brand spanking new belt.  The maple came from a giant maple tree in Indiana.  The wood has been drying for over five years, in fact, it may be as long as ten.  On high dollar orchestra instruments builders like to have the wood dried and stabilized for seven years.  Since the maple on this guitar has had so long to dry and stabilize it will help the neck stay nice and straight for many years. 

I checked out the mahogany neck, and it was very strong as well.  I tried to give it the bend test, where I grab it at both ends, and try to bend it a little, and couldn't.  I'm very happy with the mahogany that I have for Project 5.  It came from the same batch of mahogany that I used on the electric cello project.  It is a very rich golden color with no wormholes or imperfections.  The grain is straight, and the wood is highly stabilized.

So, new pictures are posted of Project 4, and a new folder has been made for the new pictures from Project 5.  I will continue to post pictures of it as I work on it.