The build has begun on an as yet unnamed guitar, I really need to remember to take pictures this time as I’ll be documenting every step.
Starting with the template, the body shape is somewhere between a strat and a tele, and the f-hole gives away that it’s going to be a thinline/semi-hollow. Direct mounted neck pickup, so no pickguard, and the neck pocked is deep enough for a 22 fret neck with no overhang. The stains around the edges are shellac, which helps protect it from wear and makes it nice and smooth for the router.
Two piece sapele mahogany body, thicknessed down to 35mm. The chambering will be routed in from above before the top is glued on. Speaking of the top:
Birds eye maple, 5mm thick. The camera hasn’t captured it very well but the figuring is nice, I’m considering a grey burst stain. The top added to the body makes up a 40mm overall thickness, nice and slim, this combined with the chambering should make for a fairly lightweight guitar.
The neck is a three piece mahogany/walnut/mahogany combo, I’m still waiting for the long maple veneers to arrive which go in between each piece as pinstripes. The mahogany is quarter sawn and the chalk marks are so I don’t lose the orientation as one piece is turned and flipped. These steps are done to make it as strong and resistant to warping as possible.
The shiny stuff. Bare Knuckle “Yardbird” pickups, Babicz full contact bridge (string-thru body), and Schaller locking tuners. The bag of bits includes a 4 way switch, allowing for the additional option of having the bridge and neck pickups in series, almost like a very wide humbucker.