What were you doing at 9am?

Good morning, faithful followers! After a quick trip to Lowes, I just finished the first coat of sealer, and my, is this lady lookin' purdy...

I'll throw on a 2nd coat before I leave for work, then do the back tonight or tomorrow.

A friend asked how much this project will cost... I hadn't even thought of a budget, since this is something i've always wanted to do, but just for fun, let's price it out:

Body (Ebay): $75 (I got a great deal, $100 is more average)
Neck (Warmoth): $170
Paint & finishing supplies: Approx. $80
Electronics: already have some, but if I went new, about $150
Tuners: $70
Bridge: $100
Sweat: $0
Time & energy: priceless

So, about $645 for a premium American-made instrument, built to my exact specs with all top-of-the-line parts, finished & assembled by some schmuck in his mom's garage. Only in America!

SCHWEINHUND!!!

A German curse, similar to "Sonofabitch" for us... fitting since Germany is in the Euro '12 semifinal today!!! Deutschland Uber Alles!!! Kill those Dego Wops! (Kidding, kidding... we all know what happens when German pride gets out of hand...)

But I digress... sanding the epoxy was a real pain in the @$$, but it's done, and I learned a few valuable lessons... 

1. Easy on the epoxy! A little goes a long way, especially in the cutaways, which are a "schweinhund" to sand. It did it's job, but made more work for myself than necessary. If this was to be a natural or transparent finish, i'd have the sand the cutaways even more. See?

2. I'll be going with a professionally-finished neck... it's just too important to risk screwing it up. I've settled on a Warmoth headstock style that's based on traditional Fender Strat, but just different enough to make it unique:

The neck will be all maple, 22 frets, 25 1/2" scale, 1 11/16" nut, modern "C"-shape profile, Warmoth's 10"-16" compound radius, Jumbo 6100 frets, with a vintage yellow tint and satin finish.  Oh, and a reverse headstock, just to say F U to the status quo.

Anyways, here we are for now... i think i'll do a coat of sanding sealer tomorrow morning, even though I was going to skip that step initially. It's recommended for nitrocellulose finishes, and it's cheap AND easy to sand! Whew. Good thing my right hand is in GREAT shape...

Sanding epoxy...

... blows. No wonder the guys at Fender didn't want to do it. That's all i have to say right now..

Step 2: The Body

I got lucky.  I also found the perfect body for my guitar project. After a couple weeks of searching Ebay for Strat bodies, I narrowed it down to a Fender American Standard or Deluxe. Why these? Because of the routing... both models are factory routed for HSH pickups and the Fender 2-point tremolo, which the Wilkinson VS100 is a direct replacement for with no additional routing required. The difference between a Standard and Deluxe body is minimal... the wood may be of a slightly higher grade in the Deluxe, and the heel is contoured for easier access to higher frets... but, when I saw this hunk of alder for $60, i forgot about those things fast:

It's a brand new B-stock Fender American Standard body, with a born-on date of March 1, 2012. Why B-stock? Because of some slight openings in the wood grain. Alder bodies generally don't need to be filled, so for the guys at Fender, this was an extra step that they deemed too much work. For $10 in resin epoxy, a few sheets of #200 sandpaper, and a day or two of work, the grain will be filled & sealed, ready to be primed.

Here we are after a coat of epoxy resin. I'll let this dry overnight, then sand it smooth again. The epoxy will fill all of the open grain and leave a solid, smooth surface for primer, paint, clear coat, and finally, polish.

Step 1: The Idea

Yup, that's right... i'm building a guitar.  Not exactly from scratch, but as close as I can get without losing my fingertips to a jigsaw (so i can actually play the damn thing when it's done).  As a guitarist for 20-odd years now, and a constant tweaker of all things electronic & stringed, it's a thought that's been brewing for years. FInally, a perfect situation presented itself... my two favorite guitars are a Les Paul and a Strat, but when I gig in NYC, I can't always bring more than one. Therefore, I wanted one guitar with the combined characteristics I like about both.

My perfect guitar wish list:

1. Comfortable body: Gonna go Strat-style for this, considering my Les Paul Custom can double as a boat anchor. The thick mahogany body & maple top of a LP gives a great tone, but I feel confident we can find a middle ground that has the classic LP midrange attitude, plus a wider and more balanced frequency response across the entire spectrum.

2. Comfortable neck: This is tricky... I like the feel of a Gibson neck, but also the longer scale of a Fender. The flatter Gibby radius (12") is nicer for soloing and single-note playing, but the rounder Fender radius (7.5"-9.5") is more comfy for rhythm. I'm leaning towards a Warmoth compound-radius maple neck right now.

3. Electronics: I want versatility, but not at the expense of tone. My model for this is the Suhr Guthrie Govan custom model... HSH pickup config, with some potential options. Likely going with Seymour Duncans, as I have them in two of my Gibsons and think the value for the price is the best out there. Thinking JB in the bridge, '59 neck, and an SSL-2 in the middle.

4. Hardware: The Wilkinson VS100 tremolo is the best Strat-style bridge on this planet. They might've had something better on Krypton, but neither Marlon Brando nor Christopher Reeve are around to confirm that.  Schaller tuners & straplocks are also bulletproof & mandatory.


5. Aesthetics: The fun part. I have too many black guitars, so I'm going in a very different direction... Ocean Turquoise. It's an old custom car color from the '60s. My bedroom in my parents' old house was a dark teal color, and i always loved it. Still debating pick guard... possibilities are chrome, tortoise shell, or black pearl. Neck will be maple with a vintage tint, and a reverse headstock... because why the hell not?

So, there ya have it... the plans have been drawn up. Now, let's get started.