HARTFELT.DE Guitar project

Buildlog

2009 oct 20

Gibson have so far spent 107 years building instruments, Fender have been at it since 1946... I should be able to do that too with no relevant background knowledge what so ever... This page will describe my attempt at building a stratocaster-like guitar.

2009 oct 20

I figured i'd start out easy by not making the neck myself, as that seemed way too hard. I have thus bought a used neck from Hamer Slammer. Below is a picture of a cardboard-cutout of the body i plan to make. It is somewhat inspired by the Ibanez' RG-series, just slightly less curved than the standard stratocaster, with a little more SG-like spikey-ness.

2009 oct 20
I know... the camera sucks

I know... the camera sucks

2009 oct 23

The bridge I ordered off ebay arived yesterday. Unfortunately, I'm too busy cramming for my exams to do anything with it...

2009 nov 18

I finally managed to cut out a prototype from a piece of wood that was left over from my kithen. The piece is not as thick as the original body, but hopefully, it will allow me to test-fit everything, none the less. I also figured out the paintjob.

2009 nov 18

2009 nov 18

2009 nov 23

I gave up on making a prototype of the body, thus, the piece of wood from my kitchen table will become the final body. If it turns out, that glued-together birch sounds horrible, I'll buy another neck and a nice piece of hardwood and make another guitar.

Having made that decision, I have now fitted the neck to the body, reshaped the headstock, and sanded down the body. Nice and smooth :)

2009 nov 23

2009 nov 30

bjuhn has gained 11 exp. bjuhn learns a new skill: ``freehand routing''.

2009 nov 30

2009 nov 30

2009 dec 09

Waai, progress :) I've made a mounting plate for the single-coil out of a piece of computer casing.

2009 dec 09

2009 dec 09

2009 dec 09

After careful calculations and precise measuring and drawing, the goddamned router guide slipped -_- Thus, the speaker holes didn't turn out quite as nice as i had hoped...

2009 dec 09

2010 apr 16
I suck at updating

I suck at updating

2011 mar 16

I still suck at updating :P

I broke my pickup selector switch, and the electronics generally suck...

2011 mar 16

2011 jul 29

Getting tired of the humming noises, I decided to rebuild the electronics. In preparation to this I scouted the internets, and came upon an site describing all the common errors guitar manufacturers make in their circuit design. Having based mine off of one such design, my guitar had all the same flaws. Thus, I sat out to shield the inside of my guitar.

2011 jul 29
The old electronics halfway through the dissasembly

The old electronics halfway through the dissasembly

2011 jul 29

As I was too lazy to go to a store to get proper shielding tape, I went to the kitchen to get the aluminium foil... Having no good glue to hold it in place, I just ducttaped it in place. High-tech, motherfuckers.

2011 jul 29

2011 jul 29
Everything coated

Everything coated

2011 jul 29
Reinstalling components

Reinstalling components

2011 jul 29
Everything in place

Everything in place

2011 jul 29
A nice slab of tinfoil wrapped cardboard finishes the rebuild

A nice slab of tinfoil wrapped cardboard finishes the rebuild

2011 jul 29

Before the rebuild, I had quite a bit of humming going on, the volume knob only turned down to 50%, and the tone knob did nothing. Now, the humming is gone, the volume knob turns all the way down... but so does the tone knob. Still room for improvements, I guess ;)