My four string bridge arrived in the mail, so I was able to drill the holes for the screws and strings.  The holes for the strings go all the way through the body.

I used a long drill bit to drill a hole from the bridge to the control cavity.  I will run a wire through this hole to ground the bridge.

A long drill bit is nice to have.  It’s difficult to use a regular length bit and still get the desired angle without rubbing the wood with the drill.

On the back side of the body, I countersunk holes for the string ferrules.

The cutting, shaping, and drilling are now complete.  Before painting, I like to assemble the major components on the instrument.  This gives me confidence that all of the parts will fit together.  If something needs to be adjusted, it’s much easier and cleaner to do it now.

Now that the body has been sealed, it is ready to be primed, painted, and clear coated.  Midnight Wine paint will look great on this.  (I’ve already given the maple neck a clear nitrocellulose finish, so it’s ready to go)

I used my recently acquired drill press to drill holes for the fret and side markers.  The side markers were made by drilling shallow holes, pushing thin plastic rods into the holes and then flush cutting the rods.  The fret markers were made by gluing the premade hard plastic dots into the holes.

The frets were pounded into the slots with a plastic tipped hammer.  Excess fretwire was trimmed off with a fret cutter.

I use t-nuts to attach the neck to the body.  I feel that this makes the connection stronger.  The neck will have a lot of tension on it, so I want it to be securely fastened.  Small screws help to hold the t-nuts in place.

I took a chisel and cut out the area for the t-nuts.  This will make the top of the t-nuts and screws flush with the bottom of the neck.

I will use an oval jack plate for the neck plate.

The neck is ready to be clear coated.  I think I’ll do about 6-7 coats of clear laquer.

The major shaping and routing were done with a round-over bit and a straight bit.   I used the round-over bit around the edge.  The straight bit was used for the pickup and control cavities, along with the neck pocket.

The body is now routed.  The routing for the control cavity isn’t my best work, but the control plate will easily cover everything.

Timbermate wood filler is great stuff.  Even though alder is considered a non-porous wood,  I’ve found that spreading wood filler all over the wood (I rub it on with a gloved hand) makes sanding the wood smooth much easier.

Since I’m painting this body, I didn’t worry that my wood filler stained the wood a little.  If you wanted a natural finish on your instrument, you would use a wood filler with a hue closer to the wood’s natural color.

I penciled in the pickguard on the body.  (Remember that if you are painting the body, then you can mark out the various parts with impunity.  If you are running out of paper, you could even use it to do long division.  If your finish will be transparent, mark in a way that can easily be erased.) I then traced the pickguard shape on some tracing paper.  This is a great way to get a template for the scroll saw cutting.

The pickguard is now ready for holes.  I think I’ll use 8 screws to attach it to the body.

The body is ready to be to be sealed.  Applying a clear coat and then sanding it as smooth as possible is critical in order to have a nice, flat surface for the paint.

The bridge hasn’t arrived yet.  Normally, I’d drill all of the holes before I sealed the body, but that’s not critical.  I’ll just give the laquer time to cure, and then finish drilling.

This neck started out as a .75 X 3 inch maple board.  I traced out the headstock and figured out how long the rest of the neck needed to be.  The overall scale length will be 15 inches.

Once again, a scroll saw was used to cut the wood.

I marked the nut and fret positions and then used the “waste” piece to keep the neck square as I cut the slots with a thin bladed saw and a miter box.  Once I get a drill press, I’ll  drill the tuning machine holes.  I will use black dots as the fret markers.  These will contrast nicely with the maple wood.

I used a roundover bit on my router to rough out the profile of the neck.

A spoke shave is an awesome tool for carving necks.  With it, I was able to transform the bulky, squarish board into a smooth and comfortable neck in a relatively short time.  Some 100 and 220 grit sandpaper also helped to get rid of the rough edges.

Once I drill the holes, set the frets, and inlay the dots, the neck will be ready for a clear coat laquer.

I started this project by printing out a body and a headtstock on some paper.  This is done to make sure that all of the parts will fit, and so that I can see if everything is proportional.  These papers will be used to mark the lines on the wood to be cut.

The body is made of 1.5 inch thick alder.  I cut out the body with a scroll saw.  A scroll saw is a great tool for this type of job.

The body is now cut out.  Next will come sanding, routing, drilling, and more sanding.  When all of that is accomplished, then I can start preparing it for painting.