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Finished my first build

Keeping it simple. Using an Oliva box and a red oak neck. Will probably keep it fretless. 24.5" scale.

Closet thing to this is a bass refinish I did last summer. Have another refinish in the works, but my air compressor decided to crap out on me. The bass was a black Peavey Fury. I did a single color burst finish. [IMG]http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll288/oldrookie_2008/Peavey%20Fu...[/IMG]

Cut the neck 1x3 in half to get two necks out of it. Have cut the box and have begun cutting down the oak to fit inside the box.

[IMG]http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll288/oldrookie_2008/CBG%20Numbe...[/IMG]

Tailpiece is too long and I'll cut that back down.

Classical guitar tuners, so I plan to route out the headstock. Haven't decided on a nut, or the bridge either for that matter, but have some brass hinge pins I may use. May use screws instead so I an adjust the string position and string spacing easily.

[IMG]http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll288/oldrookie_2008/CBG%20Numbe...[/IMG]

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Permalink Reply by MichaelS Country Boy Guitars on February 12, 2011 at 11:13am

Off to a good start.

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Permalink Reply by Dan Sleep on February 12, 2011 at 12:57pm

I have made a few with the Oliva boxes, they sounded pretty good.

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Permalink Reply by J Cramer on February 19, 2011 at 11:25am

Made some progress today. Have the neck trimmed down so the lid will close and have cut the channel for the inline tuners.

Lots of clean up sanding to do, but it's coming along.

Attachments:

DSC_0060.JPG, 3 MB
DSC_0065.JPG, 1.2 MB
DSC_0068.JPG, 2.9 MB

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Permalink Reply by Dan Sleep on February 19, 2011 at 1:07pm

Looking good...

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Permalink Reply by Habanera Hal on February 20, 2011 at 3:08pm

Looks like a nice clean build. I'm starting my first CBG this week, I'm going to attempt to fret it. What are you doing for the nut and bridge? I picked up a Corian sample at Home Depot that I will use for the nut, but not sure what to do for the bridge, maybe just a nice piece of shaped hardwood.

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Permalink Reply by J Cramer on February 20, 2011 at 3:18pm

I picked up some brass hinge pins at Lowes. I cut the end off and have a nearly perfect round pin to use as the bridge and the nut. I cut the pin to fit the width of the neck and will use the remainder for the bridge

I'm not planning to fret this one so I don't need the strings to be real high off the lid.

I was looking at kitchen cabinet handles and thinking that the right one might make an excellent bridge at some point.

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Permalink Reply by J Cramer on February 26, 2011 at 3:42am

Got some more done this a.m., but no pics. My camera battery is out of charge, so pics will have to wait until later.

Did some shaping of the neck to make it more comfortable to play. Also did the grain-filling on neck to get it ready to put a finish on it.

Mixed black Mixol with wallboard joint compound and rubbed it into the neck, let it dry and sanded it back off. Looks pretty good at the moment. Fretlines will be marked, shellac next, then stain coat, then more shellac. Finally, several coats of lacquer to seal it up.

Will cut the nut slot prior to finishing. Bought a bone nut blank the other day for it.

Will likely drill the string holes and insert ferrules at that point.

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Permalink Reply by J Cramer on March 1, 2011 at 3:10pm

I finished the neck with five coats of clear enamel and figured out some ferrules. I'll go with lacquer on the neck next time. Just easier to work with since it melts into itself and enamel doesn't.

I did a rough assembly tonight. Drilled two small holes in it and put some leftover strings on it just to see if it made noise. It does. Mild yea!

Haven't got the right strings...in fact, I have no idea what the right strings are. A bit more reading seems necessary.

Getting close to the end now.