Soma Custom T-Style Deluxe
This guitar is featured in several places throughout our website and we thought it might be nice to show you some of the steps that went into making it. It is a Tele Deluxe-style guitar with a lot of custom options. Check it out!
For this build, we started by creating routing templates for the body and the neck.
The body for this guitar is being made out of mahogany. After it was milled to the correct shape, we routed for the control cavities and marked the angle for the forearm bevel - not something you would typically see on this style of guitar but, custom is what we do!
This guitar was also going to have binding on the top, so here we have routed the ledge for the binding to sit in.
We then began shaping the forearm bevel. As you can see, this removed some if the routing for the binding. The binding is going to follow the curve of the bevel so we will cut the channel to follow the bevel once it is completed.
Once that has been completed, we applied the binding to the body. Tape holds it in place while the glue cures.
After the binding was set, we rounded the edges on the back of the body and also began creating the belly carve - another custom option!
A coat of shellac is applied as a sealer. This will prevent moisture from penetrating the wood, and provide a good surface for subsequent coats to bond to.
Mahogany is a porous wood, so we've applied black grain filler to allow the color and clear coats to lay flat without and dips or pits.
Here we've sanded back the filler so that it is left only in the pores. Then we apply one last coat of shellac to seal the filler in.
This is the body with the black top applied. Once this sets up we'll spray 15 coats of clear finish.
Now, we begin working on the neck, which will be made out of flamed maple. Wehave our rosewood blank ready for the fret work as well.
We have marked most of the measurements on this block with our template from before. Here, you can see some of the markings near the heel of the neck.
Here, we are drilling the access hole for the truss rod, which will be adjusted at the heel.
We then rout the channel for the truss rod, which we have prepared on the left.
After we have cut the neck shape and attached the completed fretboard, it is time to shape the neck, which we start with two sections by hand.
We check these spots periodically with our contour gauge. Once we have the desired shapes in our tow locations, we can speed the process up at the sander.
Here, we are able to use the sander to work the rest of the neck to the desired shape much faster, using our previously measured spots as guides.
At the headstock and heel of the neck, we complete the shaping by hand to ensure a smooth finish and to get the correct shaping that our belt sander can't do.
After the finishing and assembly has been completed, we had these next shots taken to really accent this awesome guitar. Here is the owner of the shop, Joel, polishing the finish.
Here's that beautiful mahogany again, and the finished neck. Our custom Soma neck plate is another one of those small details we like to pay attention to here at the shop.
This is a great view of the custom forearm bevel and belly cut that were specified on this build.
As with all guitars that we work on, we test everything to make sure it is up to our standards.
We loved building this guitar and really appreciate the owner, Nate Rudy, allowing us to include it as a showcase for some of the custom work we do. If you enjoyed what you saw with this guitar and have any questions, or would like to order your own custom Soma guitar or amp, feel free to reach out to us!