Well I've had these parts sitting around for a while after finishing that guitar building course I did last year and I didnt get to start that jagstang done right I designed and I no longer have access to neck building materials so I've decided to use the tele neck I built last year (at least for now) and design a new body, based off a Soviet guitar Odessa. I don't have the means to do any complex joinery so and I think Danelectro guitars are cool as hell so I'm making it out of plywood sandwiched between bits of masonite, also as a bit of a response to the ahem, tonewood debate.
The original Odessa looks pretty similar to a DiPinto or a Galanti but the silhouettes are surprisingly different. I reshaped the butt a lot from this picture though.
Day 1, started off with a drawing in illustrator and a bit of a parts mock up (I decided against 9 switches after no one (understandably) wanted to have a look at my wiring diagram but I'd already printed that out ).
Traced it out onto some plywood with some help of my new kitten Aggi (please don't throw her off a bridge).
Recently got a bandsaw at a garage sale and it's a mixture of I think it's not very good + it's not set very well and I'm having trouble getting it set right.
Blade instantly goes sideways when it hits the wood, blade loves jumping off the rollers, not a clean edge at all. It's set as tight as I can get it, not sure what I should do. I remember that I have a jigsaw later on and it works great.
Damn you cheap plywood! Nothing some super glue and wood dust can't fix though.
Trying to use my drill press as a makeshift spindle sander. Worked ok but was worried I was going to damage the drill press (especially because it was originally from Aldi and I got it used). Unfortunately the sanding bit is about 28mm and the ply is 30mm so I ended up with about 3mm of unsanded wood on the outside. Ended up sanding it by hand with 80 grit paper and that probably would have been quicker if I did it by hand from the start.
Day 2, electronics arrived. Ditched the 9 switches idea to be replaced with two 6 way rotary switches (one for the humbucker, series, parallel, in/out of phase with itself, each of the coils, then another rotary for the same options but between both pickups), 3 knobs, volume, treble cut, bass cut and a switch to bypass the treble cut pot
Didn't realise how big the body was going to be until I saw it next to this old kawai I have. I think it's a similar size to a jazzmaster but the waist isn't as tight but I don't have a jazzmaster or jaguar currently to compare it to in person.
Started hogging out the plywood with a drill press, before remembering that I own a jigsaw.
Oh god that's so much better.
The jigsaw ended up cutting much nicer than the bandsaw, will probably use it for everything from now on.
A few "uh oh"s but nothing superglue and not using plywood next time won't fix
Time for the masonite!
Nice little masonite/plywood sandwich. Just need to cut the F hole out and then it's ready to glue and then trim it flush to the plywood.
I think I should cut out the f hole first but I'm worried about how fluffy the masonite is when you cut it. Does anyone have any tips on cutting masonite cleanly? or would I be better off just skipping the f hole entirely?
Soviet Odessa Inspired/Danelectro Construction Build
- dylanafghjkl
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- PAT. # 2.972.923
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Re: Soviet Odessa Inspired/Danelectro Construction Build
If you don't own a router, i would skip the F hole thing altogether.
Having said that, how are you going to do the neck pocket?
Oh, and regarding the bandsaw, if it's a cheapie, no amount of adjustment may fix the blade guides. Ideally, they should just touch the sides of the blade, just behind the throat of the blade teeth. If it has a roller on the back side, that should be set so that it contacts the back of the blade.
You may also want to buy a quality blade, and replace whatever's on there now. Sometimes, if they heat up, they'll distort a little, and start cutting to one side.
Having said that, how are you going to do the neck pocket?
Oh, and regarding the bandsaw, if it's a cheapie, no amount of adjustment may fix the blade guides. Ideally, they should just touch the sides of the blade, just behind the throat of the blade teeth. If it has a roller on the back side, that should be set so that it contacts the back of the blade.
You may also want to buy a quality blade, and replace whatever's on there now. Sometimes, if they heat up, they'll distort a little, and start cutting to one side.
(Christopher, also)
I've been to one World's Fair, a picnic, and a rodeo, and that's the stupidest thing i ever heard come out a pair of headphones.
I've been to one World's Fair, a picnic, and a rodeo, and that's the stupidest thing i ever heard come out a pair of headphones.
- dylanafghjkl
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Re: Soviet Odessa Inspired/Danelectro Construction Build
I do have a router. With the F hole I'm mostly not sure about how to get square edge on the inside. My first instinct is a triangle file but I'm not sure yet.
It's a tele neck pocket, I don't have access to tele templates anymore but it's just straight lines so I'm probably going to do okay.
- epizootics
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Re: Soviet Odessa Inspired/Danelectro Construction Build
A sharp chisel works wonders for this sort of stuff! If you use the straight lines to guide the bottom of the chisel and push it very slowly towards the round corner left by the router, it's pretty much a foolproof way to do it. Stop a millimeter away from the corner, then square it with one or two strokes of the file. It'll be faster and you'll get a squarer line than by doing it solely with the file, granted you keep your chisel parallel to the lines. Just woke up from a deep nap, I hope all of this makes sense.
Really cool build by the way, it's a lovely outline and I have a a certain fondness for "not-so-noble" materials.
Really cool build by the way, it's a lovely outline and I have a a certain fondness for "not-so-noble" materials.