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Internet was down for 8 hours. It gave me time to do things other than sit in front of the computer. So I did more work on this, and realized, I'll be away next week - so I have to do a GOOD amount on this to meet the deadline.

I made a paper template for the pickguard.I like doing it in paper, because I can easily cut and tape more to it until it's the shape I want. I decided to go with a pickguard like this:


So I took the paper template down to the barn, taped it to my black plexi from the old refrigerator front, and rough cut it. No snakes around - a good thing. I brought it back to the house where I can trim it up better on the jig saw.


Once it was cut, I used a file and scraper to clean up certain areas to make sure it fit properly.


I attached both necks to the body, and worked slowly on the pickguard with the files and scraper till it fit just right. You can see the paper is falling away, and the black is showing through here.


Then I had to drill out the holes and cut the areas for the pickups. Unfortunately, the jigsaw blade broke (last one). No time to run out and get a new blade - this will have to wait a week until I'm back.

Moving on to something else, I needed a bridge for the sympathetic strings. I decided on 6 pins - 2 strings each. I covered and measured, and marked the area, then drilled right through the tape.


Peeling the tape away reveals clean drill holes. Nice!


And working on the bridge for the playing neck, I started drilling holes for the adjustment screws. Each string will have its own saddle, so I can set the height and intonation far more accurately than the real instrument.