Ya, it's been a long time. I want to get three done. This is the hardest of all three. Thought it would be awesome to get the fun one first. This will be a piezo semi hollow guitar.

The guitar will be made in four layers. The top is 1/4 ply. The second layer down is 1/2 ply. Third layer is 3/4 maple from a table top. This layer will support the neck. Bottom layer is another layer of 1/4 ply. 

First. Each layer will first be cut into 13 11/16 x 17 7/16 rectangles. Each piece of wood will get a 3x3 inch grid. There are three patterns. Each patter has 3x3 grid markings. So they will line up in the very same spot on each piece of wood.

The bottom layer gets two recessed plates. The will be cut out of and sit flush in the 1/4 ply. I'll have to start each with a knife cut. Then use a jig saw to finish them. These tow access plates will screw into the maple layer above them.

The maple layer will get three cavities cut out of it. One for the pots and jack. One for the three way toggle switch. And one large one on the left side, as your looking at it in a stand, of the guitar. 

The 1/2 ply layer is mostly one large cavity. There will be support for the output jack. And a block of the same wood for under the bridge.

The top layer will get holes for four knobs, the output jack and three way switch. There will also be a sound hole.

At this point the four layers are still rectangles. I'll first glue the top two layers together. Then cut the neck pocket out of them. Then glue the rest to make one block. Once dry I'll cut the body shape out. 

The two piezos. The one at the neck will be permanently sealed within the guitar. the only way to have access to it is to make a plate on the face of the guitar. Choosing looks over function. The second piezo will be under the bridge/

Two pics. The first pic is the maple layer. The second is the 1/2 ply along with the block for the bridge.

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I"m going to start pulling my hair out!!!!! And i've got a full head of long hair. This is getting absurd. I now need new printer cartridges. Apparently everyone on this side of the planet not only has the same printer I have. But they all ran out of ink and beat me to every store within 45 miles to buy cartridges.  OK. So I settled down. I have a second guitar I can put together wile waiting for printer cartridges. Check my email to see about the Alexander Pribora pickups. Guess what. They are not going to come till mid SEPTEMBER???? MID September. From an Ebay auction listing.  I could scream.  So i got on Ebay and ordered a set of Fender Custom Shop 69's. They will be here in three days. I should still have some hair left by then.

 

Fender Custom Shop 69's are great pickups, but there's been some confusion about whether the middle pickup is reverse wound and reverse polarity for humbucking modes. Let me know after they're installed.

Good to be back on, haven't been able to get on for 3 days.

Good to have ya back. I go nuts when my net goes down. 

All indications, including from the Fender web site, say it's reversed wound. I know guitars back in the 50's had the mid with regular windings. There may be some of the 50's sets you can get that way. Those old style pickups have a bit to much 'spank' for me. They're great for surf music. 

Because this is now the only build i'll be doing for a wile I want to make it challenging. I'm going to use a Less Paul style neck. Means I have to get the bridge 100% accurate. I plan on cheating. I'll mount the neck on a piece of wood. Then using a bock of wood and a Nashville bridge I'll string up both E's and set the intonation. Then take the measurements for the bridge placement. I have three less paul style guitars. Each has a slightly different scale length. The neck i'm using is a bit longer than all three. 

Two angled single coil pickups. One single coil sized humbucker in the bridge. Two switches. One 5 way. Neck, neck+mid, mid, mid +? and off. Thinking of a passive mid cut circuit for position two on the switch Just incase I want to get 'spanky'. And an on,off,on switch. Full humbucker, off, coil tap. The pattern itself is just a way to get placements of things.  

The pickguard  will be part of the guitar's top. I already have the spray paint  Krylon's Blue Ocean Breeze. Nice vintagy look. With a white pickguard. Already have a name for this monster. RATdillac. 

Yeah Gibson hasn't been consistent on scale length. They tend to be either 24.5", 24&9/16" or 24.75".

The usual rule is mark a line for the length for bridge placement, move the bass/low side away from the fretboard 3mm and move the treble/high side towards the fretboard 3mm. To add confusion, some will say the later part shouldn't be done, but when I'm doing a fixed bridge and follow the first mentioned steps it works every time. Then the Lightning bridge suggestions are all over the place, but I'll find out for sure soon enough. LOL

It's 7AM and I still haven't gone to bed after working all night. Got the box of pups yesterday. Each pickup has a 5.8K output. So I'll have to use the old fashioned pickup hight to even out the volume. According to the Fender web site the mid pickup should have a lower output. But that my be because the out of phase sound itself. 

Got some different Jig saw blades as well.  A set of Bosch 20 tpi "Clean for Wood". Supposed to cut really slow with these thinner blades. But have the power almost all the way up. Really like what the other blades did for me. If these do the same I'll save em for tighter curves.

Plan on banging as much of this guitar out this weekend as possible. Got to get to bed first...: )

I always set pickup height by ear. It has never failed for any pickup. Start at the lowest  and adjust upwards til it sounds best.

Made a note on those blades for a future purchase.

I'm finding I actually like them lower. You get a good overdrive sound but with the pickup at a higher volume. Your pickup retains more of it's tone. The pickups I was playing with were humbuckers. So they have a higher output,. Almost twice what the Fender 69's have. 

Well the plans have changed again. I'll be pairing those two Fender 69's with a Dimazio 'Bluesbucker' I have from a previous install. Its output is 10.7 so it'll be quite a bit lower than the single coils. It's brighter in tone than most humbuckers so it should fit well with the 69's. 

I think I have more pickups laying around than I do distortion and fuzz pedals. And ya'll know I when nuts with them. : ) 

I have a set of Dimarzio PAF's that are fantastic. I would be hard pressed to come up with a bad Dimarzio pickup.

The Bluesbucker will work great with the 69's, might have to spin the Bluesbucker 180 degrees to stop any "out of phase" issues with the middle pickup.

I have a guitar with a double coil bridge and singles in the middle and neck. I left the pickups in their usual positions, but I wired the 2 singles together in series as a humbucker. The Result is awesome tone. Both singles were ceramic mag pickups measuring 5k for the neck and 5.5k for the middle. So they form a humbucker measuring 10.5k, but cover a wider space. Truly love the sound from that humbucker.

Oh no Paul. I WANT that out of phase Fender sound between the fist and second pickup.  And between the mid and neck. The wiring in this guitar is going to be off the wall crazy. But more on that once I get things in place. 

Ater getting off work late last night I was in the garage till 6:30 in the morning making slots in wood with a foster bit. I'll be going back to the garage to finish those up tonight.  Then I'll send em all up and spray paint them. Going to use EVA foam as pads on the business end of the clamps.  As far as the hex head bolts go. they be expensive. I can get a six foot 3/8 threaded rod for $6. I'd need two rods. Or I could buy 6" hex head 3/8 bolt for $1.80 each. Going to go to youtube and see just how hard it is to drill a hole through a 3/8 rod. Stick a pin in it to keep it from going through the clamp. I'll be using oversized washers so the pin wont get at the wrong angle and go through the slot. 

Good carbide or titanium bits will cut right through. Hard to keep the holes straight unless your using a drill press and a vise though.

Hi, file a small flat on the rod first gives the drill a better start. If it was me I normally use a nut on both ends, saves a lot of work.

Taff

That's a very good suggestion Taff.

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