Next build- "Phantom Surfer"

[beerbelly]

I'm a sucker for the VOX Phantom guitars from the 60's; I just love the design, even if it's not great for playing sitting down. So I decided it's time to build one, a mashup of a Phantom with Fender Strat and Jazzmaster hardware. I chose the Jazz/Jag trem after using most others over the years; it's just so simple and has such fluid response.

Here's the plan I drew up:

The neck is a WD Music #PHNSR maple/rosewood half-paddle neck. 12" radius, 22 medium jumbo frets, flat-bottom nut slot, vintage size tuner holes, and a top-adjust truss rod with a walnut plug. It feels like a medium 'C' to me, and really nicely made. The plan is to cut a VOX-ish headstock shape.

The body will be Alder, with a swimming pool rout and a belly cut. Color is in flux right now, but I'm leaning towards a Roth metalflake or candy color nitro.

Hardware will be Tonerider Surfari pickups, a Fender Classic Player trem with lock, an Allparts roller bridge and Fender vintage style locking tuners. Controls will be CRL 5-way switch, CTS 10% 250K pots, Orange Drop .047 cap, and Switchcraft jack.

Parts will be arriving over the next few days, and I'll update as I go.

 

[Guithartic]

I love those Phantoms! One of my favorite models ever. Keep us (at least me) posted.

 

[JamesE]

VOX guitars always remind me of Brian Jones. I also look forward to seeing the finished guitar.

 

[Della Street]

your sketch looks so good and professional.

i pulled up the actual guitar on the web out of curiosity. they were atrocious to look at.

 

[beerbelly]

Headstock shaped, frets polished, and fretboard oiled, ready for some Amber nitro. Alder body blank arrived from Exotic Tone Woods, a pretty nice chunk, but 1-7/8" thick vs the 1-3/4" I ordered; not a big deal for the low price. The Art of Tone Strat controls arrived; I'm only using 2 CTS pots in a master volume/master tone circuit. All the best stuff in this kit for a good price.

 

[beerbelly]

Jazzmaster tremolo just arrived; this is the heart & soul of this guitar to me, a much better system than the Strat tremolo for surf music. This one has the nice curved arm instead of the ones that have a kink in them, and screw-in vs. pop-in.

 

[beerbelly]

Making Strat neck pocket router template:

 

[StratUp]

Have you considered making a Special?

 

[Eric_G]

Have you considered making a Special?

View attachment 612989

Why not, it’s such a simple wiring

 

[beerbelly]

Have you considered making a Special?

Nope! They kinda went crazy with those organ guitars, but it's that iconic shape that I'm drawn to.

 

[beerbelly]

Worked on the body today, rough cutting it on the bandsaw, then sanding the edges with an auto body sander. The body is a simple shape, so no need to set up the router table, and it was a relaxing way to have a beer.
I attached the neck pocket template with a couple screws in the area where the swimming pool route will be, then routed the pocket to the typical 5/8" Strat & Tele depth; fits nicely.

 

[beerbelly]

Vintage locking tuners just arrived:

 

[Della Street]

watching your progress and jelling. i can't finish squat in the winter - as in applying finishes. my shop is not heated.

 

[beerbelly]

Tuners mounted. I always use a straightedge for these vintage Kluson-type tuners so they line up nicely. And also the right size drill bit and beeswax on the mounting screw threads- I can't tell you how many times I've read about stripped heads or broken screws from not drilling pilot holes or forcing them into an undersize hole. It's not the wood's fault...

 

[CirroStratus]

Very intriguing! You’re moving quickly on this project. Will love to see how it all comes out

 

[beerbelly]

The rest of the parts showed up today, so I should have everything I need. A fellow luthier sent me some genuine vintage VOX aluminum knobs which are way cool.
And a buddy with a planer is going to take 1/4" off the back to get the body down to 1-5/8" thick.

 

[beerbelly]

Got the body routed today. Although I have a router table, that would mean I'd need to make routing templates, and I just didn't feel like it. So I just started all the corners with Forstner bits, hogged out the majority with a larger Forstner, then carpet-taped 3/8" MDF blocks around the areas as guides and routed to depth with a top-bearing bit.

It's time to start thinking about color. Surf green seems an obvious choice, and I also considered some crazy metalflake ala Dick Dale, but I only have one spray gun, and I don't want to run flake through it.
I'm open to suggestions, and it needs to be nitro compatible.

 

[crankmeister]

Beside your tools and obvious skills with them, I’m digging the tidiness of your workstation. And yeah, cool guitar too.

 

[beerbelly]

 

[J-Mart]

Amazing work so far!!