Building the 2017 Weybach T-Deluxe

A New Model- The 2017 Weybach T-Deluxe

Hey Tone Chasers! The Weybach T-Deluxe was a special project for me, because I spent a lot of time thinking about what I wanted to offer this year. I wanted to build the ultimate T-Style, something unique that hasn’t been done before. The wood rack had some very nice Cocobolo in the wood pile that I knew was going to be necks someday. I love the feel of a rosewood neck and wanted to try something with a more distinctive grain and color. You can see the wild variations in the color and grain as I cut into it.

I found the range of colors to be very striking.

Here are the necks after flattening the back of one of them.

Here they are roughly cut around the outline.

They get trimmed to the template on the router table.

Another one close up. Wow that grain is cool.

Truss Rod Routing

Here I am routing the space for the truss rod. My overbuilt jig allows me to run the router in a perfectly straight line.

Here it is after the channel is done

Then I cut the headstock closer to its final thickness.

I drill the hole that the truss rod feeds through to the neck heel. It needs to line up to the exact right height and depth.

I drill a hole for the truss anchor through the front.

Here is the truss rod nut. This allows you to adjust the neck tension to counteract the pull of the strings.

I install a rosewood skunk stripe in the truss rod channel to hold the rod in place. It needs to be a perfectly tight fit so it stays in there.

Here is the skunk stripe after planing it with my hand plane.

And another shot of the back of the neck.

Working on the Body

I started a few different bodies because I did not know what I wanted to use for the back of the body. I settled on the thermo ash on top. It is very light because the water is baked out of it in a vacuum kiln.

Here is the pau ferro top after resawing the board. By slicing the board vertically you can open it up and have the grain matching on both sides

To make the cocobolo neck pop I wanted to give it a binding. This is a cumbersome process with lots of hand work, but I love doing it. Getting the corners right is tricky.

Here it is all taped up while the glue dries.

here are the necks after the binding glue has dried. You can see the slots where the frets will be installed.

Top Glue Up

Here is the top being glued together. You need a perfect edge for a seamless glue joint.

After cutting out the top I sand it to the outline of the template.

Here is the body after routing out the f-holes and pickup cavities

The body is chambered out as much as it can be.

Here the top is being glued onto the back. You can never have enough clamps.

Installing Body Binding

The body gets a binding too, because it looks awesome. it really makes that dark wood pop.

The tuner holes get drilled out, and the headstock sanded while I get ready for finishing.

Here are the necks with a sealer coat of finish applied.

Sanding Like Crazy

The body gets a good sanding with progressively higher grits.

Same with the back. This is a time consuming process that involves sanding, blasting the dust out of the grain, cleaning the body with Naptha, and repeating with higher sanding grits.

Making Plastic Parts

Here I have routed out the access holes for the switch and controls. I made some covers out of a plastic sheet.

Here it is up close before sanding and drilling holes.

Testing the neck fit. It needs to be nice and tight so that vibrations can travel between the neck and body well.

I begin installing most of the hardware as I get ready to lacquer the guitar.

Shooting Lacquer

The color really comes out of that thermo-ash with some lacquer and sunlight. The first coat seals the grain so I can give it a round of grain filler.

I turn my attention to winding some Humbuckers. I built these with the 4 conductor wiring for some cool tricks with the tone circuit.

Here they are nice and shiny with the covers installed. They get a wax bath to fill any tiny little voids in the coils.

Building up some more lacquer coats. I’m loving the headstock grain.

Another look at the back of the neck.

Grain Filler

Here is a close up of the grain fill on the back. It gives a really cool contrast with the dark thermo ash.

I just love that look with the light grain. It really shows the beauty of the wood.

Drum Roll!

Here it is! The 2017 Weybach T-Deluxe! I wired it with 4 push/push pots so you can press the knobs to tap the coils, reverse the phase, and put them in series/parallel. I really wanted to build a statement guitar, that would be very versatile tone wise. If you are an Atlanta local, stop by and try it out. I’ve been enjoying the heck out of playing it.

Weybach T-deluxe – Way back guitars

Way back guitars headstock

Thanks for checking it out! Please feel free to contact me if you have questions. The only change I am thinking of making is doing to necks out of pau ferro so that it will look the same as the top. Or I could do the top in cocobolo.

Edit- 4/10/19 It’s neat to see that people are enjoying the blog still. I think it gets more traffic now as a resource for guitar builders than when it was a shop. Feel free to reach out here and i’ll check in from time to time. Enjoy!