Monday, July 11, 2011

Update: The Whisky Special Guitar Build

I love Canarywood. Not only is it wonderful to work with, but the tone and resonance it possess is nothing short of outstanding. In fact, I find it more consistent than the Honduran Mahogany that is available these days. The only disadvantage with this species as far as electric guitar building is concerned is its weight. Because of its heft, most luthiers who use it make necks with it rather than solid electric guitar bodies. However, that didn't stop me from making the Whisky Special's body out of a thick slab of the stuff.

After I'd glued together a two piece, 1-5/8" thick blank, I realized the body was going to weigh in at close to 8lbs! Therefore, I made the decision to hollow out the body. The following photographs show my progress so far.

From the back of the body, I drilled out a cavity, which
surrounds a central core where the neck, pickups and
bridge will be mounted.

Next, I sliced off two 1/4" thick sheets from some scrap
and glued them together to form a bookmatched back.

Then, I glued the bookmatched sheet to the body.

After the glue had dried a few hours, I trimmed away the
excess with my bandsaw. The next step, will be to
sand the sides nice and smooth.

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