# Scrapwood project idea - Jazzcaster



## Hypno Toad (Aug 1, 2009)

My dad was building a cedar structure, and there's a bunch of leftover red cedar boards lying around my house, thick enough for a guitar body. It's not great stuff, but I'm talking a solid body here, not an acoustic soundboard. Basically I just want to re-mill it down to size, and make a body blank for a cheapish, but unique guitar project. Normally I don't paint my stuff, but frankly the cedar looks like crap, so it's no shame to paint over it.

I figured I'd just make a strat out of it, but I wanted something a bit different, so I came up with this (excuse the lame photoshop)












I wanted something with the ringing tone of a strat (though the softness of the cedar may make it sound more smooth), but wanted to give it that retro-futuristic 50's look of a jaguar/jazzmaster styled body.

What do you guys think? Monstrosity, or keeper? I'm not really sure what to think about it.


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## al3d (Oct 3, 2007)

I actually like it..


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

I really like the shape too. Great idea!


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## starjag (Jan 30, 2008)

Slightly offset. Looks great!


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## Hypno Toad (Aug 1, 2009)

Alright, Had to change the design slightly to fit the dimensions of the scrapwood blank. I've decided that I'll just use leftover parts I have, to save money. I don't want to spend big on this since it's a bit of en experiment, and may be selling/renting it to a friend for cheap. 2 EMG select humbuckers (the single size is a rail humbucker) and obviously no pickgaurd will be involved. It's going to be 24 fret, padauk neck with rosewood fretboard. I'll be doing that Keith Richards style pickup config, Full sized humbucker in the neck, and single sized in the bridge.

As you can see, the cedar got roughed up during the process, I'll be doing some heavy sanding before I start painting. I'm trying to decide between a powder blue, and vintage white color, leaning more in favor of the powder blue.


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## copperhead (May 24, 2006)

i like it as well toad , I'm always curious how a softwood sounds as a solid body electric keep us posted ,very nice :food-smiley-004:


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## Hypno Toad (Aug 1, 2009)

Yes, I'm quite curious about that too. from what I gather, woods like Cedar, Spruce, and Pine improve the natural acoustic of the guitar simply due to their weight : strength ratio. As for tone, I'm not sure. I'm guessing pretty soft and mild. The neck will probably have a bigger influence over the tone anyways, but I'm guessing the cedar will soften it's tone.

I'll probably make a sound demo when it's done, so you can see for yourself.


Also, probably worth mentioning, the body is so lightweight, it's ridiculous. The body weighs almost nothing. The padauk neck blank actually weighs more than the entire body. Here's hoping that the hardware on the body will add a bit of weight so the guitar isn't neck heavy.


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## Hypno Toad (Aug 1, 2009)

Found the big downside to using cedar, it is like a magnet for tiny dings and nicks when it's unfinished, so there's a few little marks and crap spread out over the surface that were invisible before painting. Also, the grain rises like bread when you start painting, even after multiple sandings. I guess I'll just have to live with a slight grain pattern; it doesn't really look bad, but I wanted a completely solid finish.

Other than that, it's turning out fairly nice. had a few problems when drilling holes, but nothing that will be seen when the hardware is on.


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## elbandito (Oct 14, 2009)

Looks great so far! Your original drawing reminds me of this:


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