New guitar build in progress - a guitar for my son!

[Serratus]

Thought you guys might want a look. I'm building a 7-string guitar for my 13 year old son (he's into lots of Djent!!).
First, bought an unused Aria neck from Jonathan at Feline guitars (in London

But we didn't like the head so I re-shaped it to be a bit like a Black machine:

Got a 2-piece ash body blank, thicknessed to 36mm:

This is the body with most of the shaping done:

And with some stain on it - needs a bit more blending of the colour yet though:

I've got all the parts for it, chrome hardware (fixed bridge, locking tuners), and managed to get the active pickups and switches, etc from an Ibanez RGA from eBay for £12!! Bargain! (and Ibanez found me a wiring diagram so I'm ready to get that fixed up again).
Next job is to finish the staining and then shoot a thin coat of nitro to seal it

 

[Pushead]

Looks awesome! Hope your son gets a lot of use out of it.

 

[Steinmetzify]

Sick dude......looks awesome.

 

[PeteLaramee]

That's awesome.

 

[dooredge]

Dad??? Dad!!!!!!

 

[crankyrayhanky]

Looks great!

 

[Serratus]

Thanks guys
Today I just did a bit more sanding and staining to get the burst a bit nicer, and did some more to the headstock. The neck was obviously built for a massive locking nut, so I had to work around the shelf they'd made for it. So I first glued on the TUSQ nut and then made a little plate and matching truss rod cover - looks ok I think

 

[Shark Diver]

Sweet. That is going to be bad ass!

 

[Tvd]

You are a fucking awesome human being, wood-worker, and father.

There's no doubt that he knows it,

I thank-you for this post

I can't wait to see where this ends up!

 

[Dominik1986]

Really cool!

 

[Burn]

Wow... That really is cool!

Out of curiosity, did you shape the body by hand?

 

[Serratus]

Out of curiosity, did you shape the body by hand?

If you mean "not CNC'd" then yes! I used a plunge router and straight edges to run the router along, etc, for all the cavities, and then cut the shape out roughly with a band saw, then did all the rest of the shaping with hand tools, sanding disc in a grinder, and flap wheels in a drill, etc.

Thanks for the nice comments everyone

 

[Burn]

Out of curiosity, did you shape the body by hand?

If you mean "not CNC'd" then yes! I used a plunge router and straight edges to run the router along, etc, for all the cavities, and then cut the shape out roughly with a band saw, then did all the rest of the shaping with hand tools, sanding disc in a grinder, and flap wheels in a drill, etc.

Thanks for the nice comments everyone

I tried some woodworking, so I can imagine how much work and skill that must have took.

 

[Serratus]

Did some sanding and polishing! It's not a perfect mirror finish, I only sprayed a thin coat of nitro which will sink into the grain nicely over the next few months, and it's for a 13-year-old after all so it'll probably get knocked a bit (so not really worth spending ages getting the clear coat like a mirror!!). Looks nice though

 

[luxxtone]

Great job Dad!!!!!! Love the bevels on the body, very creative!

 

[IHateRap]

These kinds of threads are far and away my favorite to check out. Very cool!

 

[Badronald]

Awesome!

 

[Serratus]

It's just about finished!! All put together, actions nice and low and the neck is straight, all the electronics work. Sounds and plays pretty good!! Just one last job of sorting the intonation, I just ran out of time! Here's a few quick pics, I'll take some nicer ones once its completely finished

 

[gibson5413]

Wow, looks great!

 

[xiwiwix]

Looks killer man!