| I chose some rosewood for the fingerboard - due to the maple top there is a step between the neck and body. I will make a two-piece fingerboard to cover this. |
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| I ripped two pieces from the board, one 8mm thick
(to match the maple) and another 4mm thick. Cut the 8mm thick piece down in length to butt up to the maple top. |
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| The thinner strip of rosewood will be glued over the top - set this aside for now. |
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| Using some plywood cauls to spread the load, glue the rosewood onto the neck. |
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| Trim off the excess with a router and flush trim bit. |
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| I want the headstock to have a black veneer, like on Gibson guitars. I ripped a 3mm thick piece of Blackwood. |
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| After planing smooth glue it in place, again with a caul. |
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| When dry remove the overhang with a fretsaw, then scrape flush |
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| and it looks like this. |
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| Next its time to rout recesses for the pickups. I made a jig from MDF and attached it to the guitar using double sided sticky tape. The majority of waste I removed on the drill press, then finished off with the router. |
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| Then repeat for the second recess. Test fit the pickups to make sure they don't snag anywhere. |
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| Then drill a hole from the front cavity to the bridge cavity - I used a long 10mm spade bit in the cordless. I also drilled through from the bridge pickup cavity to where the control cavity will be. |
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| Next is the control cavity. I made up two templates. |
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| I marked out the position on the back and then removed the waste on the drill press. |
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| Then I attached the first template and routed out the lip for the cover. |
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| I then routed the bottom of the recess flat(ish) |
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| All the components have now arrived so now I can press on! I bought everything from Axes R Us and got great service - well worth a look if you need guitar components! |
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