Truss rod and fretboard.
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Routing the pickup cavities.
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Carving the neck.
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Levelling the fretboard and installing frets.
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I cut out the body on the bandsaw and used the body pattern to guide the router for the perfect body shape.
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Routed the neck pocket, carved and sanded the body.
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Before gluing the neck into the body, I checked the angle to and alignment with the bridge. Once that was done, I took the plunge and set the neck in place with wood glue. The cat wanted me to believe he was helping but he was just pestering for food (he’s greedy).
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Time to install the bridge. I put masking tape on the body in the area where the bridge was to be installed. I then used a long ruler to mark out the exact scale length onto the masking tape. From there I could mark out where the holes for the bridge were to be drilled. I then drilled the holes and installed the posts.
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Fret level, crown and polish.
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I made sure I got the pickups into exactly the right position before drilling the holes for the retaining screws. I used masking tape so they didn’t move during drilling.
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I put a coat of Finishing Oil onto the guitar whilst I made the electronics.
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Installed all the hardware.
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Here are some pictures of the finished guitar.
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After playing the guitar for a while, I realised that the frets I had installed were too small for my liking so I did a complete refret with some much bigger ones.
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Now I am the Master!
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No? Ok, I was only joking!
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Nice build John!
Look at the grain on that, I assume, mahogany!
Nice headstock design too... so hard to come up with something special!
And... brave to do a refret. I'm in the process of that with my latest electric build...
Thank you very much Herb.
Yes it is Mahogany and it is a particularly nice piece. When I put the Finishing Oil on, that lovely grain just popped out at me, it really does make you proud of all the sanding involved to get to that stage.
I am a big fan of reverse headstocks so I just modified Mark’s design to get to what I wanted. Mark’s headstock shape is already a great shape so I didn’t want to change it too much.
I was a little nervous changing the frets but I made myself do it for the experience. I plan on continuing to make guitars so I had to learn how to do it sooner or later, I chose sooner. There was nothing to it really, I didn’t run into any problems but that is not to say I won’t have problems with one in the future, on an older guitar for instance.
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The pickups I used in this Bailey Bandsman are Hot Slags from Iron Gear.
I do like a couple of hot slags ?
I bet she sounds great.
I have too many guitars...said no one in the world..ever!
They do sound great for inexpensive hotness!
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