OK Boy's and Girl's here we go!!!!
I got her all wired up! And I installed the covers.
I like to make my covers a little on the thick side. I find when I do they don't warp as easy. I first put the covers in place, then I drill the holes. Once I drill a small hole, I then drill out the coves so that holes are a little bigger, so that the screw won't bind up. I also use a drill bit as big as the screw head so that the screws will have a counter sink.
The next pictures are showing the covers are in place and screwed in. One think I have found when making wood covers. You don't want them too tight. Wood does move. I use to make them tight. Until I could not remove one of my covers. So now I make them fit lose.
This is the instructions that came with the Pickups that John made for me.
This is some instructions I got from SD. Between the two set I was able to wire up the guitar the way I was wanting. The Pickups that John made for me has a different color code from the SD chart. So I wanted my push pulls to in the tone position. All you have to remember is not to ground the pols on the push pulls, and wire it up like John shows you in his instructions.
This is the nut! HA! So since I did not say anything earlier about the nut I will now... This is a bone nut. It was a blank I got off eBay a long time ago. I first cut the blank to size, then I cut the slots. Here is how I go about cutting the slots. I place the nut in place, I then use a pencil that has been cut in half (long ways) Then with the nut in place I scribe a mark along the nut running the pencil over the top of the frets. This will give you a guide to know how deep to cut the slots for the strings. I cut my slot angled back toward the tuners. You want to keep in mind that the strings will go into intonation better if you strings are coming off the front of the nut. Without the angle your strings will more than likely be coming off the center or the back of the nut. When people bring me their guitars and tell me they can't get the intonation set right, this is the first place I check. Can't tell you how many guitars,(from the factory) the nut's are filed flat.
When filing for the space between the string and the first fret... I hold the string down at the second fret, to see how much space there is between the string and the first fret. If there is too much, I file until the string just touches the first fret. Some people use the 3rd fret to do this. But I like doing it off the second fret. Then once I get that done I then set the action and the the initiation.
I use this tuner to set the initiation... I have tried to use the clip on tuners, but they are always off when making these kinds of settings. This tuner plugs into the guitar, and have found so far it is spot on every time.
A word about the bride... I used a 25" scale for this guitar. Some call it the PRS scale. What I do when measuring for the bridge.. I measure from the nut 25" to were the bridge will be. I make a mark on both sides where the bridge will be. I then measure back 1/4" on the bass side of the bridge and make a new mark from my 25" mark to the 1/4". When I went to set the intonation on this guitar It was really, really close. In fact I could have just left it alone, but I wanted to see if I could get her spot on and she is spot on.
to get the bridge centered there are a few ways of doing so. One way id to draw lines down from the neck sides. Or if you put in two tuners, you cans use guitar strings or use string, fishing line works too to find the center of the fret board. An other way is to mount the tale piece put two stings on, The high and low "E" and then put the bridge under the strings and move the bridge around to find center.
So this is how this build started.
and here she is now.
Well, that's her... I have to say I think John nailed the pickups. I really like them a lot! I use a 45 tone cap non PIO. (I didn't have any left) I use the orange drop type. She sings really nice... I can't wait to hear her in a few more months.
The finish on her is tung oil. I applied about 6 coats on her. The oil was a the point of being shinny. I first wed sanded, then I use scotch bright to give her that satin finish I was wanting. She feels real smooth to the touch. I like smooth.
The neck is an other spot of the build that I did not go into. I have had this idea running through my head for a long time. So here is what I did.
When caving the neck, I wanted to change the way neck are carved. I always wanted to know if I took and carved the neck a little flat on the High "E" down by the heal how it would feel. So I did it. Wow, I like it a lot! The palm of my hand fits really good. At first it felt a little odd, but once I got use to it, I really like it. This is what is so cool about custom guitar building. You can make them any way you want them to be. So glad they way I carved the work out. It is supper comfortable.
Ok... Here is some news, I am afraid this is going to be my last build. I went through a of hard pain to get this build done. I have a really bad neck that every month It gets worse... So I'm going not build any more from this point on. I am going to make a few cigar box guitars, because they are not as taking on me. But I will have to see how that goes.
I hope you all liked the build. I hope I was able to explain this for you, to the point that maybe some one will try their hand at building one.
John, how do you feel about pinning this build so others can see it?
Thank you all for your input and feed back.
A big thank you to John for the pickups, and a big thank you to Hoz for the design of the Eagle Blues decals!
EB