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So I finally got her done, after a year of making more mistakes than progress it seems I finally got the build portion of my first out of the way. Took her down to Portland Fretworks this morning to get some pickup rings as I had planned to wire it this weekend, (which I was not looking forward to), and ended up asking what it would cost to have them wire it up for me. Since I already had the electronics they quoted me at about $75 which seemed like a more than decent price for the amount of strife it's going to save me. So, I should be picking her back up next week and know that she'll be playing as soon as I plug her in, I can't wait! So, here's what she looks like.

Root Beer burst



shot of the binding


overall


abalone dots (they show up a little brighter in person, it's tough to get on my phone)


little better on this one


think I could do a little better on the nut but it plays fine so I'm not gonna push my luck


headstock inlay of the guitar's namesake La Llorona


back of headstock with my star trek volute and relic'd tuners


So the body is made out of a chambered sapele core capped on top and back with flame maple, banded with flame maple and bound with bocote with fiber purfling on the top. Subtle recarve around the edge and the body is actually a flat top not tapered towards the neck. I angled the heel of the bolt on neck until I achieved a little more than 2 degrees for the neck angle which lined up just fine with the Tune-o-matic that sits very close to the body due to a slight recess in the top a la Carvin. I went with a bolt on because I was terrified I was going to screw up the neck and wanted to be able to swap it out if that happened. So far though the neck seems very stable and is holding a very small relief perfectly which has resulted in a very nice action.

The neck is quarter-sawn hardrock maple with curly maple and walnut laminations with the flame forming a chevron pattern up the back of the neck. Decided to augment the scarf joint with a piece of walnut which I think makes a nice design element. Headstock inlay includes walnut, west african ebony, copper, curly maple, impregnated curly maple, abalone side markers as the rosary beads, a cross from one of my Wife's bracelets, spalted maple and lots and lots of super glue to harden and plasticize it for polishing.

The electronics are an alpha tone pot with a push-pull volume for coil splitting, five way rotary selector switch like a PRS. This way I can select the neck or bridge pickup and coil split each one if I wish, whereas the rotary switch by itself doesn't let you do that. It should result in ten pickup configurations which I'm sure is much more than I'm going to use but hey, why not. I used one of the newer telecaster jack cups that sit flush to the edge of the guitar, electrosockets I think they're called. I'm using a Tom Anderson H1 pickup in the neck position and an H3 in the bridge position which were recommended to me by Tom Anderson. I picked these because my main amp is a Mesa Boogie Mark IIC+, and Mesa uses Tom Anderson pickups as their bench testers. Seemed like a good idea to use these then, and so I wrote Tom and asked a few questions. He wrote me back and asked me a few questions, mainly about construction and the music I like to play and followed my answers with his recommendations. I thought he was very nice and very helpful and I'm looking forward to hearing what they sound like.

I'm already going on number two, it'll be like this one with a few differences mainly cosmetic. I'm toying with the idea of doing a series of deadly women as the headstock inlays and waiting to get a decision from the owner of number two about who he'd like to see up there. After these I have two SG's that I'm planning on, and possibly a tele after that. I'm hoping that number two goes easier than number one which felt like it was going to kill me at times, (I'm sure it'll get easier, lol) and I'm looking forward to being a little less of a pain in the *&# to my wife and my bosses and everybody around here and MIMF and anywhere else I've been a know-it-all know-nothing! Thanks to everybody for the help and the encouragement, I'll post some more pics next week!

1st one .. really??? . thats spectacular work !!!!! .. you should be very proud !!!!!

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Thank you Tony! Hey does it still count as your first one when you have to do almost everything twice to get it right?

Beautiful. Turned out beautifully!


Posted using two tin cans and some string.

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

Color me green with envy.

That guitar is the cats pajamas!

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Thanks Tony in NYC, your help with my finish proved invaluable

posted via cricket morse code

Thanks Chris, I don't care what anybody says about you, you're a-ok!

Wow, nice job. What are you going to make next? That neck is crazy cool. Gorgeous top.

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Jason Moe
LaCrosse WI 54601

That is top-shelf work, John! Great job!

Next one's gonna be another double-cut LP this time with a quilted top and no back cap, or side wrap (phew!). Neck will be the same although I may alter the headstock shape. I'm pleased with this one's shape but I'd like something a little easier to cut and clean up. Too many inside angles on this one which led to a ton of work with the needle files. The buyer has requested a charcoal grey transparent top and I'm going to do a ribbon sapele fingerboard. It'll get some bareknuckle nailbombs and a wrap around resomax bridge. Similar wiring to mine, probably done by others as well. (I used to make r/c cars as a kid and was terrible at soldering, I'm sure I could do it myself but every time I look at the signal path diagram a little part of my brain drips out of my nose and then I have to lay down)

Thank you Lincoln!

Yummy, John! Congrats

Thanks Beth!

Like they used to say in the old country, " HOLY COW " !!! That is stunning work, John.

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Don't know what Hinduism has to do with it but thanks Alex!

Awsome!

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

Sweet! I love that look.

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http://www.booneguitars.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stephen-Boone-guitar-builder/488208541257210

Very nice, John!
The headstock is killer.
DZ

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wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

That's beautiful but err.. um.. you forgot to put the pickups in.

The inlay looks real good. I love doing crazy hot wiring's but the funny thing is I almost always just use standard settings. But you never know when you can drop some out of phase or series parallel sounds in.

That's an awesome looking guitar. Nice job!

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

thank you Brian, Bryan, Stephen, DZ. JFMckenna and Waddy!

Beauty! Good choice with the wood binding. Much nicer than plastic. The inlay looks really well done. And I learned something. I now know who La Llorona is.

Cheers,
Danny