Yamaha SG-3 & SG-2 replicas - SG-2 Finished p15/18

[Sonichris]

Yeah, the one on SG101 is pretty nice - here's the thread. It's not mine, and I'm not affiliated in any way. If i was in the market for one, this one looks to be a decent deal.

http://surfguitar101.com/forums/topic/14650/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[mikethemod1992]

for the plate, were you just going to use a Jag plate? or get a custom job on that, aswell?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Fender-USA-Jazzmast ... 4837df2cdb" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[theworkoffire]

Amazing what a day without the internet inbetween jobs can do. I've still got a daunting amount of stuff to work out with this build but in the end I've just decided to go for it and see what I can come up with.

Roughing out the neck on the bandsaw:



And the body!



I've worked out that although my new thickness planer blade is only a foot wide, if I put a sheet of 6mm MDF down as a base I can send a whole body through with enough clearance between the pillars.



It just leaves a little raised section at the edge, which can be easily planed off by hand:



Template screwed on, using the pride of the fleet to do half the trimming one way:



Then flipping it over and exposing the bottom bearings to do the other half the other way.



Using my new best friend to make a start on the cavities. I'd only used it with its fixed base before this, so it took a bit of getting used to. Such a joy having a working vacuum attachment and a built-in light, though.



Swapped the template to do the rest of the cavities and the neck pocket. I didn't have time to run off my usual thicker MDF copies, so I ended up having to grind the end off a tiny bearing-tipped router bit to get right into the neck pocket corners.



And I had to use a couple of long thin follower bits to get right into the crook of the neck and the truss access hole:



Probably seven router bit swaps later - the most complicated pickup cavity I've ever seen:



Took me a while to work out how to do the Yamaha-style rounded edge. I bought (thanks Paul!) a fancy double-ended rounding bit, but the curve didn't seem quite right, so I dug out a big 7/8" radius roundover bit which seemed like a closer match, just using the tip of it:



The end result, after some hand-shaping around the neck area:




It still needs a bit of finessing - the arm and tummy contours, too, but it's nearly there. I might have over-rounded the transition between the rounded edge and the flat body a little, but it's not far off.

[Stereordinary]

Hell yeah, that looks great!

[jingle_jangle]

Fantastico! Great to see this one coming together...I'm a great Yammy offset fan...

[Jazzprod]

I love this!!!
Looking good Ben!!

[PoppaPopp]

That looks incredibly good. Wow.

[ludobag1]

nice ,isn't it
really love this shape

[therizzla]

I would love one of these with JM pick-ups, wiring and trem! That would probably be my ultimate dream guitar!

[egosheep]

Awesome job, Ben!

[garyptaszek]

Ben your work is, as always, fantastic!

[chase]

[the older brother]

Great work, as always, Ben!

There's some nice grain pattern going on on that piece of wood.

[EvLoutonian]

This is absolutely excellent!
I can't wait to hear how the Narrow Range P90 pickups sound, too.
I've got my eye on them for a project.
The body is looking just fantastic.

[EvLoutonian]

I can't wait to hear how the Narrow Range P90 pickups sound, too.

Has anyone heard these pickups who can comment at this stage?
From the description, they do sound indeed sound like the perfect pickup for this guitar!

I did some experiments with a combination of both P90's and Seymour Duncan Jazzmaster pickups (hotter ones, with the bobbin plates ground down to P90 size) and trialed them in a guitar as two sets of humbuckers, but I didn't get particularly good results. But I love the idea.