Monday, January 28, 2008

The Locking nut is fixed

Man locking nuts get hot when you put them on the grinder. Rather than try to lower the nut seat on the neck I just ground the Locking Nut down using hte side of my grinder and finishing with my belt sander by hand.
When you get the open string action right it makes a world of difference.
King V is ready for sanding and finishing ...

Testing finish

In order to see what this puppy will look like with just tung oil I wet it with water and took some pics. I might stain it with vintage amber first....
















First look at the electronics cover. I am seriously considering small magnets instead of screws...

Boredom creaps into the boring mind

Strung the King V up to get a final fit before sanding and etc...

2 things. One I botched the angle of the trem claw screw and it sticks up 1/16" over the back. Looks like a job for the deadblow hammer.... but I will probably fill it and re-drill. The trem recess missed by an 1/8" on the upper side so I will clean that up too.

Overall I was amazed at how well the thing plays without a real setup yet. I wish I had recessed the neck into the top a little more.... to late now.

Boredom creaps into the boring mind

Strung the King V up to get a final fit before sanding and etc...

2 things. One I botched the angle of the trem claw screw and it sticks up 1/16" over the back. Looks like a job for the deadblow hammer.... but I will probably fill it and re-drill. The trem recess missed by an 1/8" on the upper side so I will clean that up too.

Overall I was amazed at how well the thing plays without a real setup yet. I wish I had recessed the neck into the top a little more.... to late now.

Friday, January 25, 2008

Next up RR V Project

This is one massive hunk of 8/4 Ash. I bought the billet 20 years ago. It has been a body blank for around 12 years. Originally it was the replacement body for my RG470. However I have grown to like the RG and it is time to do something new with it. The cool thing is it is really going to make 2 guitars. One bolt on and one neck through. First up will be the bolt on. I am using these bolt on projects to refresh my skills as it has been a while since I built anything...

Links to the photos

Moded Model 5 Project
The King V Project
Saving Jackson Project

Beater V

I filled every hole in it with Bamboo skewers and epox/Padauk dust mix. Then I routed it for the Kahler. After the mock up I realized I am going to either lower the neck in the body or redusce the neck angle for the new bridge.... This looks ugly but when I strip it, sand it, seal it it will all be covered.


Gibson Faded V


I bought it as research.... ha.

Model 5 to San Dimas

I really hated the purple poly coated 1989 Model 5 Charvel for numerous reasons. One was because it was a Fort Worth USA and not a San Dimas. It had 2 pickups, an active boost, three knobs, a 5-way, twelve coats of poly, and it was heavy. So here is the results of a massive overhaul. I think I will refinish it all white soon.



Stripped all the paint and used Super Glue to refinish it. The poplar sides where very soft until I hardened them with the Super Glue. No need for a heavy finish now. It soaked into the wood so far I was able to shape some contours and still have solid Cyanoacrylate permeated wood.

Moved the input jack to a strap jack and re-contoured the back shedding weight as well as hard edges.





Filled the neck pickup with a maple block.



Simplified electronics with a coil tapped 1989 SH-6 Seymour D and a push-pull 500k volume knob and built an aluminum bracket to fasten the SH-6 directly to the body.



Mounted the volume knob in the input jack hole. Not a great idea cause it is hard to get to. I will fix this before I refinish it.

Saving Jackson Neck and tuners

This is the neck after the rough coat of Cyanoacrylate Glue. I will sand it with 400 and maybe re-coat it. I filled all the tuner holes with dust and Cyanoacrylate. Since it is a beater and intended as a player I really don't care what it looks like.

I think V's are the most efficient builds

V's that are cut right waste almost no wood. This is an example. I have enough of the wings left to build a second body. And you can cut the sides with a skill saw and angle aluminum guide...

The V Templates

I bought a nice piece of acrylic from lowe's and a laminate trim bit. Yes I screwed it to the top of the V to make the copy. Used some sheetrock screws and a countersink bit. At the time I didn't plan on rebuilding the firewood V.




Terror Twins

The terror twins... This is farther into the project.

King V Project Trem Routes

Forstner this ... Yes I used the forstner to rough out my pockets...


But after some router work they look a little better...

Saving Jackson Kahler style

Decided to put the cheap Jackson together as a beater. I have a slew of 80's parts that I am using. I am fogoing the stock TOM in favor of a vintage Kahler Flyer. I am not sure about the pickups yet. I have the original Jacksons, a set of JC80's w/20db boost out of my Model 5, or a strange set of German Ultrasonics I might use. The tuning keys are cheap allparts circa 1989. After stripping the neck and cleaning it up I lost a mm or so. It went from a 43mm to a 42mm nut. I am refinishing the neck with superglue /clapton style=""/. The hardboard top of the V will get the same Superglue treatment before paint. Wicking the hardboard with Cyanoacrylate makes it hard as a rock. I have used this technique on Basswood and Poplar guitars before finishing them because it is not as heavy as an epoxy or poly.



Thursday, January 24, 2008

King V project Neck Pocket

Routing neck pockets at a 3 degree angle... I used a bastard file under my template for the angle. I am recessing the bridge so I want the neck close to the top of the body...





King V project



Routing neck pockets at a 3 degree angle... I used a bastard file under my template for the angle.

Saving Jackson

The other V I picked up was painted with car paint and green.... And the second Jackson neck I scored for cheap had been bolted, glued, and painted into some monstrosity to look like a neck through. I bought the wasted remains and cleaned it up. The King V turned out to be some unknown wood with a hardboard top and back. I could re-top it with the back of a poster frame... I bought it as a template anyway.





The humanity...

King V project


Ok pictures of the V after some work. I am posting this all at once so timeline is shot. It took roughly 2 weeks at Christmas to get here...

King V projects underway...

So I got a JS30 King V Body from ebay.... the plan was to build a King V and to use the JS30 as a template. So after getting the wood together, buying some parts, and a spare Jackson neck or two I ended up with some interesting prospects.



Basically I will have a King V made from Padauck, Wormy Ambrosia Maple with Mild Flame, Purple Heartwood, and my enemy Cocobolo. I am highly allergic to Morado and Cocobolo dust. Sucks. Never was when I was younger... now my nose swells shut and drains for days after exposure. I can't even sweep my shop without dust protection.

Here is the padauk body blank. You have to love the motorcycle tie downs...

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

King V Neck Pocket

Routing neck pockets at a 3 degree angle... I used a bastard file under my template for the angle. I am recessing the bridge so I want the neck close to the top of the body...