Dom in Somerset

Once the "plank" (the bit that the tuning pins go into) wares out in most cases that's it. Most of what I'm using are "straight strung" pianos, just not worth repairing and sound like a bag of spanners even when they work. They stopped making them in the 1920's.

The resin leaked out from the cardboard dam around the test blocks so first job of the day was to remove them from the workbench with a hammer and chisel. One of the reasons for the test piece was to try out the router template. Note the extra bit of plywood the angle the cut . It's the wrong way round in this picture. You can rout through epoxy and cloth. This is a trial for the neck joint , it slopes to give the correct neck angle.

I am using Gorilla glue but it's the PVA type. I don't like the way the brown stuff expands as it cures.

Are you sure it's not "C GIANT" ?

I've removed the veneer from the front face of the body. It's stuck on with hide glue (made from hooves , horns, hide etc). Even though the glue is 100 years old it melts when heated with an iron. It smells like a wet dog in a pet food plant. Body minus veneer: Slotting the fretboard, it's made from green poplar, it will be treated with cellulose hardener and possibly stained. Wooden blocks with fabric stuck on , surrounded with card and filled with resin as test pieces.

I've been working on the neck today. It's made from oak (100 year old ex piano) I glued the angled headstock on last week and did some shaping today. A jig I made to hold the neck while I rout the channel for the truss rod. The two bits of wood allow me to use the outside edge as a guide and keep the routing central regardless of the shape of the neck or headstock. Truss rod in situ: This is where it get's weird....I'm going to cover the body and headstock with tartan encased in resin. These are for testing purposes. I'm planning on using green poplar to make the fretboard with yellow shell dots. TT stands for "Tartan Terror"

7 or 8 individual bits of piano stuck together. It's hard to count them now I've glued and trimmed it. I've spent the day working on templates and cutting up wood for the neck , more pics soon and hopefully I'll have a trial run of the finish I'm planning.

I put the blank together last year and intended to start work on it properly today but my sander needs a new belt. At least by posting it here I'm committed to it! Rough cut body blank, it's made from 7/8 bits of piano and will have an interesting finish applied to it eventually. 7/8 bits of piano in three layers, I'm trying to stay close to the original Gibson body thickness. But why has he titled this thread "TT" Flying V?

Hi, I've got a few things planned for next year, notably a flying v build. I'll be starting a new thread for it and going into a bit more detail. It should be a bit different if the finish I have in mind works. It's not something I've tried before and I'm not sure if anyone else has either! Anyway , that's for next year. Meanwhile ...I took an opportunity to use up some spare parts to make this Frankencaster for one of my partner's grandchildren's Christmas present: An old strat body that I re-sprayed + the best fitting of the three necks I had gathering dust. The hardware and pickups are all things I took a punt on to see what they were like but decided not to use on a full build but perfectly good for a first guitar. I'm really pleased with it , hopefully the new owner will be too.

Apart from a beautiful piece of abstract art ....what is it?

It is, very metal!

I'm glad I'm not my neighbours because I'm making some evil noises with this:

I've spent an eternity playing with finishes, getting there slowly, I hope to assemble it next week.

I'm going with that option unless I have any better ideas further down the line. I've done more work on the contours , it's taking on an SGish look.

More progress on the Green Death, not sure which bridge/pickup mounting regime to go for. I've done some contouring and I'm experimenting with finishes.

The Green Death stumbles forward... The neck now fretted and profiled: I've done some shaping on the body, there's more to come but not until I've done the routing for the pickups: Together: Oh no!!!!.....a side project!!!

More on the Green Death soon... I've been a bit distracted by another project

The front and side dots will be ebony turned from the black keys. Trimmed and sanded: Not sure about the headstock , I wanted to try something different. I'll stick with it for this guitar , the body will get pointy too.

I have decided to call this guitar Green Death because it's green, the name sounds bad ass and it's a Doctor Who reference. The main timber used for pianos is poplar , it varies a lot in density and colour .It's usually covered in veneer but in this case I've stripped the veneer. I've chosen dense green wood for this guitar and not just the body. I was originally only having a bridge pickup but last weekend I had a rehearsal/writing session and found myself using the neck pickup a lot. There will be some contouring eventually. f For the neck I'm using part of an old chest of drawers: No idea what the wood is but it's plenty hard enough: For the fretboard I'll be using green poplar again: I've glued and clamped it over night, I may work on it tomorrow but I have other things on the go...

I have used ebony from the black keys but I'm not keen on ivory even if the elephant died 100 years ago. I might try some of the synthetic key covers but most of the older ones discolour , sometimes ending up muddy orange. Not sure what I'll use on this one , I'll decide when once I've selected the fingerboard.

Hi, some of you may know me and my previous projects from basschat. These are two basses made using wood from scrap pianos. At the moment I'm making a guitar from similar materials. It starts like this with panels taken from pianos , mostly pre 1920 so the wood is likely to be 100 years old. Mostly poplar with various veneers.ody The body is made by gluing several pieces together , pianos don't tend to have much wood that's thick enough. For this build I've removed the veneer and the front face of the body is made from opposing blocks with the grain at 90 degrees to the centre line. It's mostly for me to play in a punk band so I'm keeping it simple, one pickup by the bridge , vol and tone control. There will be some contouring but I haven't decided quite how much yet.

Well Dorset actually. (If the mods could change my username that would be great, I think the system kept my original name from Basschat) Some of you may know me from Basschat, I would say I'm a bass player first, acoustic guitarist second and electric third. Having said that last July I became the guitarist in a glam punk band and I'm enjoying the challenge. I make instruments from recycled materials , mostly old pianos. https://www.scavengermusic.co.uk/