# My first scratch guitar build, "Sundance" ... and more ...



## Apple_Pie (Jan 16, 2021)

Hey all, thought I'd share some of my recent adventures as I dive into the world of scratch built electric guitars. A few background thoughts first.
1) I love wood. Always have, always will.
2) I've got a nice little shop in the backyard with all the tools including a nice CNC that I've grown quite fond of
3) I'm pretty decent at 3D modelling and
4) I'm an addicted builder. If I see something cool then I just have to build one myself. Can't help it, can't stop it.

So this whole Covid thing somehow resulted in me unearthing my 1986 Les Paul Studio from the basement and started playing it after a bunch of years of not picking up a guitar at all. I found that I was really enjoying playing again and then I started thinking about building a Le Paul replica based off the Studio. Mostly to see if I could do it. So, an incredibly large number of hours later I had a functioning Fusion 360 model and was off to the races building my first guitar. I set a deadline of Xmas so I could give it to my dad as a surprise present. He's had classical guitars since the 50's but had never played an electric until he tried out my Les Paul a few months ago. I decided to personalize this one as best I could by using birch from a tree that fell down at our summer cabin in BC and an inlay based off an old indigenous rock painting at the cabin that my grandmother affectionately called "The Sundance". My wife thinks it looks like aliens, but you can all decide that one for yourselves 

I'm shocked at how excellent this guitar plays. I'll post some specs as well for those that will most certainly be interested in the nerdy details  My God but I love nerdy details..


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## Apple_Pie (Jan 16, 2021)

Some specs:
Guitar Body
Main Body Wood Species: birch 34mm
Body Cap Wood Species: spalted birch 16mm
Bridge: Gotoh GE103B-T – Cosmo Black
Tailpiece: Gotoh GE101Z – Cosmo Black
Speed Knobs: 18 spline Black
Finish: Odies Oil

Neck
Wood Species: spalted birch
Neck to Body Angle: 5 degrees
Width at Nut: 43mm
Width at 12th fret: 52mm
Thickness at Nut: 15mm
Thickness at 12th fret: 20mm
Neck Profile: Semi round symmetrical
Truss Rod: Dual action 440mm
Headstock: asymmetrical with volute
Headstock Angle: 8 degrees
Nut: Graphtech TUSQ XL 43 X 6 PT-6643-00
Tuners: Gotoh SGS510 - Cosmo Black
Finish: Odies Oil

Fretboard
Wood Species: Pau Ferro
Inlays: Sundance – Americano Flecks; Suns – Pineapple Flecks
Scale Length: 24.75” 22 frets
Fretboard Length: 461mm
Frets: Jescar Medium Nickel/Silver
Radius: 12” constant chord

Electronics
Pickups: Dual humbucker split coil pickups
Pickup Selector: 3-way sealed pickup selector
Volume: CTS Push-Pull A500K long shaft
Tone: CTS B500k long shaft
Tone: Capacitors 0.022uf

Setup
Strings: Ernie Ball Regular Slinky 10-46 (10,13,17,26,36,46)
Action at Nut: 0.021 Low E, 0.010 High E
Action at 12th fret: 0.065 Low E, 0.050 High E
Weight 9.2 pounds


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## Apple_Pie (Jan 16, 2021)

So I learned at lot through building this first guitar and there are lots of improvements to be made on this hilarious adventure, but that's enough for today. More to follow another time.


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

Lovely. You have some serious equipment to work with.


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## KapnKrunch (Jul 13, 2016)

I like the personal story too.


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

Everything looks great! Nice to see birch being used! I like birch. 

I was noticing the fret slots don't go all the way to the edges of the finger board, so they must be cut on the CNC. What size cutter are you using for that? 1/32" is the smallest I've ever seen.


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## bigboki (Apr 16, 2015)

Great, great post. Great story as well. Keep 'em coming!


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## nnieman (Jun 19, 2013)

Looks amazing!!
i definitely enjoy reading all the nerdy details!

Nathan


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## Apple_Pie (Jan 16, 2021)

0.6mm bit for the blind fret slots. 0.3mm depth of cut and many many passes. Surprisingly I’ve only broken a couple of these bits so far but they are only a buck apiece on Amazon so no worries there


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## Apple_Pie (Jan 16, 2021)

This is the tip of the proverbial iceberg. There is more entertainment in build #2.
I too really like birch. It doesn’t machine as nicely as maple and others, it’s a bit stringy but the warm yellow tones are pleasing to my eye. More on that one shortly too. Might be build #3 (foreshadowing 🙄)


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## Apple_Pie (Jan 16, 2021)

Danger Will Rodgers, I got hold of some quilted and curly maple at Windsor plywood (who knew?). It’s not master grade by any stretch but should provide for some more interesting builds in the future.


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## Always12AM (Sep 2, 2018)

Whoa! Very cool.


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## Apple_Pie (Jan 16, 2021)

OK, so an earlier pic showed two bodies on the table, one birch and one mahogany. The birch went into Sundance and the Mahogany went into Lightning. So sometime leading up to Christmas I came to the conclusion that if I was building one guitar well then I might as well be building two. Note to self, not always the best idea. So in parallel I came up with a bit of a fun idea for my nephew who is a Tampa Bay Lighting fan. He's 14 and is quite musically gifted (piano, all the ipad garage band kind of stuff, school band, dad is a high school music teacher kind of thing) but there is a giant lack of guitars at their house. So let's remedy that problem. A couple of weeks before Xmas I layered on the challenge of modifying my Les Paul model to accommodate a few changes. Pictures probably say it best, so this is my guitar build #2 starting with a few screen shots of the Fusion model and onwards from there.


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## Apple_Pie (Jan 16, 2021)




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## Apple_Pie (Jan 16, 2021)




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## Apple_Pie (Jan 16, 2021)

Nerd wise it's basically the same specs as Sundance except for the mahogany body. It plays beautifully so its a lifetime keeper which is quite cool. I have to say that the whole paint and lacquer thing was so damn frustrating that I'm done with this style of finishing for a while. But I'm really happy with the end result and my nephew thinks its cool too so there you go. Makes it all worthwhile.


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## Always12AM (Sep 2, 2018)

Are you a wizard?


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## cboutilier (Jan 12, 2016)

Always12AM said:


> Are you a wizard?


Has to be.


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## Apple_Pie (Jan 16, 2021)

Always12AM said:


> Are you a wizard?


If I was then I'd choose to be Gandalf...


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## laristotle (Aug 29, 2019)

too bad that he plays bass


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## Verne (Dec 29, 2018)

If he plays bass holding it like that, then he must really be a drummer. AHHAHAA 

I KID !!!!


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## cboutilier (Jan 12, 2016)

Apple_Pie said:


> If I was then I'd choose to be Gandalf...


Gandalf's two Blue colleagues are still unaccounted for...


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

@Silvertone will enjoy this thread. He is also an extremely accomplished builder.


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## Apple_Pie (Jan 16, 2021)

Lincoln said:


> Everything looks great! Nice to see birch being used! I like birch.


I have a soft spot for birch since we had some planked up few years back, so I used some here on a mahogany body. I've used birch in a bunch of projects and if you are selective on the pieces you use it can turn out quite attractive. I also have a soft spot for golden retrievers, with mine spending a lot of time on the couch nestled up next to a guitar. Hence #3 has a golden retriever theme to it. I narrowed up the neck profile a couple of mm at the nut and the 12th fret since I prefer that feel, and threw some sweet Seymour Duncan 59s. Caribbean rosewood fretboard (Chechen). Tru Oil finish rubbed out to satin with 0000 steel wool. It's sooooo comfy in the hands and just a pleasure to play.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

That's pretty frigging impressive for someone who says these are first builds.

The pawprint inlays are delightful. Should I assume they are some type of epoxy filler?


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## Apple_Pie (Jan 16, 2021)

Thanks! I’ve built quite a few things over the years and I’m quite hooked on the CNC for it’s crazy accuracy and repeatability. Learning the software and machine operations is a big mountain to climb but once you do the view is beautiful.
Epoxy with metallic flecks. Many many color possibilities. I cut the inlays and fill them, then radius the fretboard to produce a nice crisp image. Anything that can be cut with the 0.6mm bit is fair game. Call it a creative outlet...


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## Apple_Pie (Jan 16, 2021)

And for full disclosure, I fed eleven necks into the fire pit before getting it right. But only one body, that’s the easy part 😁


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Apple_Pie said:


> Thanks! I’ve built quite a few things over the years and I’m quite hooked on the CNC for it’s crazy accuracy and repeatability. Learning the software and machine operations is a big mountain to climb but once you do the view is beautiful.
> Epoxy with metallic flecks. Many many color possibilities. I cut the inlays and fill them, then radius the fretboard to produce a nice crisp image. Anything that can be cut with the 0.6mm bit is fair game. Call it a creative outlet...
> View attachment 346622


One of the builders at the Festival Sonore in Montreal last year was showing a guitar with a fingerboard made of thin slices through banksia nuts, the holes of which were filled with glow-in-the-dark epoxy.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

As a former 3D CAD guy I'd say you have some serious skills! Awesome stuff.


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## Apple_Pie (Jan 16, 2021)

mhammer said:


> One of the builders at the Festival Sonore in Montreal last year was showing a guitar with a fingerboard made of thin slices through banksia nuts, the holes of which were filled with glow-in-the-dark epoxy.


Oh wow that's some serious work right there! Impressive stuff to say the least.



davetcan said:


> As a former 3D CAD guy I'd say you have some serious skills! Awesome stuff.


I've watched a whole lot of YouTube tutorials and made a whole lot of sawdust over the past few years. Every new project seems to requires a skill I don't currently possess so there's a fair amount of head scratching going on for sure, but eventually I seem to figure it out and move forward. I'm starting a new design from scratch now that I've built a few LP style guitars. Trying to keep the stuff I like and modify the stuff I don't. Anyways, it's fun and keeps my brain occupied...


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## MarkM (May 23, 2019)

mhammer said:


> One of the builders at the Festival Sonore in Montreal last year was showing a guitar with a fingerboard made of thin slices through banksia nuts, the holes of which were filled with glow-in-the-dark epoxy.
> View attachment 346665


Really like to see it glow in the dark!

That is a beautiful neck Board.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

MarkM said:


> Really like to see it glow in the dark!
> 
> That is a beautiful neck Board.


I had to cup my hands around my eyes and lean in *really* close to see it - I couldn't ask them to shut the lights off at the show - but I can vouch that it really does glow in the dark.


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## Apple_Pie (Jan 16, 2021)

I've had this maple burl around for a bunch of years that I wasn't too sure what to do with. So I sliced it up and bookmatched it to make this quite attractive top. Brown aniline dye and tru oil rubbed to a nice satin finish. Chechen (Carribean rosewood) fretboard. All in all I think it turned out really nice.


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## Jokeybird (Dec 10, 2020)

WOW - that is amazing- Great work!


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