430 project progress

[teb]

Well, it's a better than usual day out in the driveway, so I'm out doing more sanding on the 430 project body. The binding's been on for a couple of days and hasn't fallen off, so it must be reasonably well attached. I'm still playing with contouring the heel area and trying to decide whether to continue shaping it, or just chop it off like it's done on most typical bolt-ons. The rest is coming together pretty nicely though. The top binding and bubinga back make kind of an interesting double-bound look. The new guards are done and look good. The longer I sand, the longer I can put off varnishing, which I find incredibly tedious.

[teb]

Here's the "before" photo and one of the 430 with my 2030. Makes a nice pair for "bargain guitars".

[jdawe]

Looks great, Todd!

I may have missed (or forgotten about) an earlier thread explaining this, but did you re-shape and add a bubinga back to the original 430 body, or did you stick the 430 neck on an entirely new body?

[paologregorio]

I'll take one with a mild, German carved top, recessed p/ups, and a Bigsby, in Jetglo, with CB and FWI!

[teb]

There are people on this forum who could do that. Unfortunately, I'm not one of them. Plus, I'd probably need a more dust-free driveway for spraying the Jetglow. This one's a step up for me because it's made from more select wood, where the 2030 body was laminated from Home Depot maple shelf boards. As long as it's pretty much just a modified cutting board or resembles some part of a boat, I don't have a problem, but that's about as far into lutherie as I go.

Jonathan, I built the new body from scratch. I also still have the original and I'm cleaning it up for a spare (or fail-safe, in case I screw up the new one). It has some holes in annoying places from previous owner mods (Alien pickup screws, big ugly pickguard screw holes, and why would someone drill new strap button holes right next to the existing ones?) so I'm thinking about veneering the top before installing the binding. I assembled a mandolin kit for my brother a while back and added a 1/64" flamed maple top to the body with epoxy resin and it worked pretty well, so the same thing should work for the original 430 body. We'll see what I can find for veneer.

[IHeartRics]

Very cool Todd! Is the body slightly bigger than a 320/325/350? That's been my issue. I'm tall and feel awkward with smaller bodied guitars, which is why I'm thinking of parting with my 620.

[Ain'tGotNoPokemon]

Did you take that Ric plate off an old model, or make it yourself?

[teb]

Chip, I live in a Rickenvoid and have never seen a 320/325 or 350 in the flesh. In any case, it's a pretty tiny guitar. I used to have a 660/12 and I don't get the feeling that this is much bigger than those bodies are. One of the factors involved for both this one and my 2030 was that they had to fit in the original cases. I don't mind moving the internal pads around, but didn't want to have to spring for new cases. The original factory bodies for these models are long and rather skinny from top to bottom, so that limited the size I could build. I'm 6'4", so I'll probably look like Tiny Tim with his uke playing this one, but they don't let me out in public much these days and my dog doesn't care.

Guy, the black plexi truss rod cover came with it. It's genuine and in perfect shape. When I first opened the case it was a very unexpected surprise, since the auction photos were so bad that all you could tell was that it was a black one. There aren't any extra holes in the headstock. so I assume it's original. Once in a while, even I get lucky!

[Ain'tGotNoPokemon]

Chip, I live in a Rickenvoid and have never seen a 320/325 or 350 in the flesh. In any case, it's a pretty tiny guitar. I used to have a 660/12 and I don't get the feeling that this is much bigger than those bodies are. One of the factors involved for both this one and my 2030 was that they had to fit in the original cases. I don't mind moving the internal pads around, but didn't want to have to spring for new cases. The original factory bodies for these models are long and rather skinny from top to bottom, so that limited the size I could build. I'm 6'4", so I'll probably look like Tiny Tim with his uke playing this one, but they don't let me out in public much these days and my dog doesn't care.

Guy, the black plexi truss rod cover came with it. It's genuine and in perfect shape. When I first opened the case it was a very unexpected surprise, since the auction photos were so bad that all you could tell was that it was a black one. There aren't any extra holes in the headstock. so I assume it's original. Once in a while, even I get lucky!

Sorry; I thought you had been building it from the ground up. Look's sweet.

[Ivan3000]

Your builds are always cool!

[teb]

During a test assembly yesterday, I started to get the feeling that the new, taller, modern pickups might end up awfully close to the strings with little or no adjustability available. So.....I decided to re-router the pickup openings to allow current high-gains, toasters, etc. to be recessed onto the top if needed. Normally, I would do all the routering very early in the program, just in case I screw it up so that I'm not wasting a lot of other work, but I really felt it needed to be done. I spent most of the the morning making a jig for my old Rockwell hand-held router. With its big body and a jig in place, it's pretty much a blind operation, so I must have measured fifty times before actually summoning up the courage to fire it up and start cutting. All went well and the holes fit snugly around the pickups and will allow them to drop as much as 1/4" below the top surface if needed.

Today was spent filling most of the grain in the bubinga back and giving the back and sides their final sanding. I'm going with a hand-rubbed, gunstock-like satin finish on the back and sides and will most likely shoot the top with slightly ambered gloss and buff it out smooth and shiny. I will literally be spraying out in the driveway, so the less area I have to spray, the better. Here is the back after its first coat of sealer. Me likey!

[Ivan3000]

During a test assembly yesterday, I started to get the feeling that the new, taller, modern pickups might end up awfully close to the strings with little or no adjustability available. So.....I decided to re-router the pickup openings to allow current high-gains, toasters, etc. to be recessed onto the top if needed. Normally, I would do all the routering very early in the program, just in case I screw it up so that I'm not wasting a lot of other work, but I really felt it needed to be done. I spent most of the the morning making a jig for my old Rockwell hand-held router. With its big body and a jig in place, it's pretty much a blind operation, so I must have measured fifty times before actually summoning up the courage to fire it up and start cutting. All went well and the holes fit snugly around the pickups and will allow them to drop as much as 1/4" below the top surface if needed.

Today was spent filling most of the grain in the bubinga back and giving the back and sides their final sanding. I'm going with a hand-rubbed, gunstock-like satin finish on the back and sides and will most likely shoot the top with slightly ambered gloss and buff it out smooth and shiny. I will literally be spraying out in the driveway, so the less area I have to spray, the better. Here is the back after its first coat of sealer. Me likey!

Me Likey as well!

[jps]

During a test assembly yesterday, I started to get the feeling that the new, taller, modern pickups might end up awfully close to the strings with little or no adjustability available. So.....I decided to re-router the pickup openings to allow current high-gains, toasters, etc. to be recessed onto the top if needed. Normally, I would do all the routering very early in the program, just in case I screw it up so that I'm not wasting a lot of other work, but I really felt it needed to be done. I spent most of the the morning making a jig for my old Rockwell hand-held router. With its big body and a jig in place, it's pretty much a blind operation, so I must have measured fifty times before actually summoning up the courage to fire it up and start cutting. All went well and the holes fit snugly around the pickups and will allow them to drop as much as 1/4" below the top surface if needed.

Today was spent filling most of the grain in the bubinga back and giving the back and sides their final sanding. I'm going with a hand-rubbed, gunstock-like satin finish on the back and sides and will most likely shoot the top with slightly ambered gloss and buff it out smooth and shiny. I will literally be spraying out in the driveway, so the less area I have to spray, the better. Here is the back after its first coat of sealer. Me likey!

Me Likey as well!

+1000, looks great, Todd.

[teb]

This afternoon's project: figured maple headstock veneer to accent the body. Attached with boatbuilder's epoxy resin.

[jps]

Nice touch.