Routing The Latest Batch Of Envirocasters

Today, I finished routing all four of my current batch of Envirocaster bodies. At this stage, each Northern Ash body weighs 5.8 pounds. That's about 2.5 pounds heavier than if the were made from Swamp Ash. I know some people are picky about weight, but IMO, tone and sustain are far more important. In my experience, the best tone and the most sustain comes with a slight weight penalty.That being said, my goal is to hit about 9 pounds for each of the finished guitars. That's about what a Les Paul weighs.

My control cavities are made by drilling out the area with a 1.5" diameter forester bit. Then I rout the cover shelf with a template.

The double cutaways will get three single coil pickups.

The single cutaway will get a pair of P90s.

A New Envirocaster Build

Actually, I have two Envirocasters under construction. One is a double cutaway and the other is a single. Check out the progress on the single:

I'm using Ash for the body. This shot was taken just after cutting the shape on my band saw.

This one will be fitted with a pair of my custom wound P90 pickups.

After brushing on some thinned Timbermate, I let it dry for a couple of hours and sanded off the excess with some 150-220 grit sandpaper.

Since Ash is an open-grained wood, the surface has to be filled and sanded smooth before any finish can be applied. This is how it looked after sanding off the excess Timbermate. It's much smoother now, but I can still feel some of the grain, which is the look I am after.

I like to use a thin coat of oil-based Minwax Natural stain as a pre finish. The reason for this step is it helps me to see any surface flaws (scratches, dings, etc.) before I apply the final stain. Once I am happy with how the surface looks, I'll lightly sand it with some 320 grit sandpaper and proceed with a darker finish stain.

Guitar Build Update: The Envirocaster's Pickups

I finished a set of P90s for the Envirocaster. The bobbins and 

baseplate are Birdseye Maple left over from making the neck. 

Each pickup has 8,000 turns of 43 AWG wire, which produces 

just over 9k Ohms of DC resistance. Originally, I had planned 

on potting the pickups with water-based lacquer brushed on 

the coils every 1,000 turns, but I decided to leave them alone. 

If they squeal, I can always go back and pot them later. The 

magnets used in each pup are Alnico V. 

Can't wait to hear them.

Winding Pickups For The Envirocaster

This guitar is going to feature a truly unique set of pickups. Based on the good-old P90 design, I made them almost completely from scratch. The bobbins and baseplate are Maple left over from the neck and fretboard. Of course the wire and magnets are made from traditional materials (copper and Alnico), but there isn't much I can do about that. I know that copper wire and Alnico magnets are probably not very eco-friendly to make, but as a total percentage of the guitar's composition, they represent only a small portion.

Speaking of the neck, dig the Birdseye!

Just a couple of coats of pure tung oil to seal and pop the eyes.

The first bobbin is done. Instead of potting in wax, I have opted for
a different method that uses brushed on water-based lacquer.