Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: JacksonRR on December 01, 2010, 05:23:11 AM
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Here is the start of this project. Just came today from Doug at Soulmate Guitars. I figured I better stay out of fretwork for my first real build and well with the cost of that having to be paid it just made sense to get the neck done too. Here's some pics of what I have. It's a neck though. Wenge neck, ziricote fingerboard, ebony binding and 24 stainless steel frets. Doing a Randy Rhoads shape with her. Going to get the body wood this weekend so hopefully it'll move pretty quickly. Planning on slapping Miracle Men in there, maybe Aftermaths... I don't know just yet.
(http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y353/flyinryan1/2010-11-30140959.jpg)
(http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y353/flyinryan1/2010-11-30170831.jpg)
I'll get some updates going when there's progress. =)
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nice wood ;)
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I love wenge :)
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Great! I love RR and love the look of Wenge, might be a win-win!
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Ughhh. Couldn't make it to Peachstate Lumber on time today. Had a dude with a broken 5150 come late for his repair dropoff. At least he's paying for my wood now. =) I did get the headstock cut out, shaped the volute a little better into it, sanded that to a final and got the tuner holes drilled. I'll get some more pics up once the body is cut out. My photobucket doesn't hold much, don't wanna waste it on a headstock shape everyone's seen before. =)
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I love Telecasters :)
Say what!!!
Good luck with the build - hope you make quicker progress than I am on mine!!
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Better to be slow and correct than rush a cr@p job. I'm guessing it'll be a month before she's strung. We'll have another 40 something years to play our hopefully awesome and beautiful guitars, so I don't worry about speed(but still dream of the day it's done). Craftsmanship>buying shite>regret on wasted wood. Are you doing a thread on your tele build? I'd like to see that.
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Ian Price loves Bum sex! :)
Say what!!!
Good luck with the build - hope you make quicker progress than I am on mine!!
Right back at you :P
(edit oops lol)
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Better to be slow and correct than rush a cr@p job. I'm guessing it'll be a month before she's strung. We'll have another 40 something years to play our hopefully awesome and beautiful guitars, so I don't worry about speed(but still dream of the day it's done). Craftsmanship>buying shitee>regret on wasted wood. Are you doing a thread on your tele build? I'd like to see that.
Agree with all of that. I did start a thread on the tele build - will take a look around later to see if I can find it!
The outline of the body was pretty straightforward although I have screwed up the neck pocket a little. Will be spending some time over the next few weeks correcting it.
This may sound sad to some but I got a great deal of enjoyment just sanding the edges of the guitar down until they were smooth and rounded. I can happily sit down for hours running my hand over the edges. No jokes about stroking wood here please [cough]Afghan[cough/] :)
Really hope it works out for you - I'm not a fan of the V shape to be honest but I'll definitely be interested in seeing what it comes out like.
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Ian Price loves Bum sex! :)
Say what!!!
Good luck with the build - hope you make quicker progress than I am on mine!!
Right back at you :P
(edit oops lol)
:lol: I was a bit confused for a minute!
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it's okay, I don't think he noticed :D
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(http://cw2designs.com/blog/wp-content/gallery/face-palm/facepalm013.jpg)
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So I finally got to the lumber place on time. They were really cool and had a lot of good stock. I was talking to the salesman about what I really needed(not a whole $150 board) and he asked what it was for. I said, "Guitar" and he said, "Hold on." Came back and said, "Well we like to make things work for guitar builders so my manager said cut the one you want in half and charge you $35." YESSSSSSS PLEASE. When I went to pay for it, there were two other guys in there picking up guitar wood. They had a 5 inch stack of photos on the counter of guitar projects. I think I'll be going back. :lol: Here's a pic of the stock I just picked up next to the neck for comparison on how freakin amazingly close it is in grain and color. Could've came off of the same tree. I'll be taking it to a buddy's house tomorrow to get a straight-line rip on it for joining. The lower horn will be one piece and the longer upper horn will have to have another joint.
(http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y353/flyinryan1/2010-12-12185940.jpg)
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So I'm set on the overall shape, but I'm teetering on the neck heel.
option one:
(http://www.amfisound.fi/finland/images/imagesatrain/Atrain%20neck%20joint.jpg)
option two:
(http://www.musik-schmidt.de/images/product_images/original_images/Jackson-RR-24-M-Rhodes-BK_1.jpg)
What do you guys think? I like them both. The more scooped out one looks really comfortable, but the second has the official Rhoads joint that just looks the part.
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Nº2
You won't need more space to play than it, I guess
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So I have the body pieces clamped up right now and it's freakin me out a little. I did a little test joint last night with some scr@p and it turned out better than I thought it was going to. Looks like I knew what I was doing. Still, I'm not gonna know until tomorrow when I can take the clamps off, sand it some and see if my stick with frets is gonna turn out nice. Anyone else been down this path?
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Starting to take shape. Here's a pic of it still clamped up. I wanted to show how I had to put some steps for the clamps to pull in squarely. Those got nipped off with the band saw. The little blackish triangular piece there is my truss rod cover. I had to keep my hands busy for awhile after to keep them off the curing piece. It's wenge, made from scr@p that came off when I ripped the original piece of timber. I put Tru-oil on it, so there's the difference between the body color now and later when it's wearing a bit of protection. I did have a slight shift after gluing the longer wing on, it was about a piece of paper's thickness, but it's standing out in this photo though it's been sanded now. Next pic update will be right before I start routing things, so after the neck heel is carved, the bevels routed and a good bit of sanding done. I'm gonna have to research how to take better pics, mine kinda suck, lol.
(http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y353/flyinryan1/2010-12-16183341.jpg)
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I have to say, this thread is fascinating, i have neither the knowledge or know how to even put a parts guitar together, let alone build a guitar from scratch. How do you even start to learn how to do something like that?
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:o
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Tekbow:
A year and a half ago is when I started looking into construction methods and I'm still asking questions. Feline Guitars here has answered some for me and the man who built the neck part, Doug Darling, has also been really informative. I also have a luthier who lives about 15 mins away from me, who has been great. The bridge that's going on this was bought from him. It's a NOS Kahler Killer 2700. Flawless and as old as I am. Well I've picked up a few items from him for other things and every time I'm there I pick his poor brain ragged. He might make 5 bucks off of some trem part or whatever, but I leave with a bunch of questions answered by someone who feeds himself doing this. He's a real good guy, too. Loves talking shop and smiles the whole time. He'll go grab items for a visual presentation of an answer, lol. "Hold on, this will be cooler."
Guys like to explain how to do stuff to other guys. I don't know why, but I'm not complaining. :D
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Doug also does really great looking bolt-on necks. Similar prices to Warmoth, but a longer wait time. The trade-off here is his woods are absolutely exceptional and his product is well worth that wait. If you don't wanna go joining wood together or do a finish, maybe something like this is up your alley:
(http://www.soulmateguitars.com/images/forsale/curly_ebony_back_thumb.jpg)
(http://www.soulmateguitars.com/singleBack.jpg)
(http://www.soulmateguitars.com/images/dt_binding.jpg)
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Girlfriend told me about Imageshack and it's unlimited uploads. I can do more pics of steps. Here's the neck heel with it's final rough shape. Did this today. Ready for sanding. The two blobs of wood on the top there are what's left of the difference between the neck wood and the body wood. Neck was an eighth of an inch thicker. It's flush on top. I decided I don't wanna drive 30 mins to borrow a plane so I decided to route it flush, well it's still sticking up just a bit, enough room to sand the router marks out. I guess I still have to go get that hand plane... Couldn't get those last bits. The fins are still a bit thicker than what I need, even after sanding I have room for my tremolo block to move without bottoming out on the cover.
(http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/210/20101217214504.jpg)
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Very very cool... I just think that much recessed heel will be unecessary :)
But this wenge RR will look stunning! :D
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Thanks Fernando! I worked it pretty slowly. My thumb stops in just the right spot for reaching the 24th fret. Don't have to reach or change hand position at all.
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That's great! :)
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So I've been planning on doing the standard tapered bevels with a 45 degree chamfer bit with my router, but then I saw these:(http://kuvablogi.com/nayta/prev/img2562236.jpg)
YES? NO? Give it a shot and if I hate them, sand them smooth after? I don't even know what tool they used here.
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(http://kuvablogi.com/nayta/prev/img2562233.jpg)
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I guess a rasp file...
Not sure if it will look good on the RR... :? Try it on the wood that you're not going to use...
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its not rasp marks - just chipped off with a carving/pen knife. i would say dont do it
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+1 it looks a bit of a hack job in my opinion. Stick with the nice clean bevel look
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Yeah, I just wacked into a scr@p piece with a rotary rasp, a carving knife and then grabbed a wide wood burning tip and just stabbed the piss out of the bevel. It's 6 inches of dead-on replica. Put some furniture oil on it just to see what it looked like dark and it's a no go. Looks bad. I think it needs the lighter wood to really pull it off. I don't get the color thing so much as the texture changes popping out at you. But grabbing my pen torch and burning the bevels may be an option I'll try later today on scr@p. I don't really feel like working on it right now. Last night was sanding and more sanding.
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Well I spent a lot of time working the neck and taking care of some little things I wasn't happy with shape wise that were a real pain to work right. Here's a shot of the neck joint just after I wiped it with mineral spirits to see if I had any scratches I didn't get out. You can see some of the dry Wenge, but I think this is a pretty good representation of what the final color will look like. The recessed straplock will be located there at the top of the "slide" helping me get a better balance hopefully. I have to travel for Christmas so it's on hold for a week or so. Next step, those bevels and the belly cut. The standard Jackson tapered bevel is 1/2 wide and deep on the 45, so not the hypotenuse or length of cut. I think I may give some wider bevels a shot on some scr@p as the natural RRs that I've seen seem kinda wanting there. I'm going to have to make a wedge for the router to move farther away from the edge as I go towards the neck and the crotch of the V near the bridge. Unless someone has a better solution, because that would be great. Hope you guys have a Merry Christmas.
(http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/6462/20101221003104.jpg)
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Well I'm just now getting over a bad cold, so I decided to get on those bevels as they were calling out to me. The short leg went great, couldn't ask for any better, as did the outside of the long leg. The inside of the long leg turned to cr@p after the two lines intersect near the tip. It looks like garbage. I'm gonna post pics tomorrow, just wanted to vent this out right now. I set up guides for the router base itself, clamped to the body. Worked well except it slipped on me on the inside route job when I had to take one of the two off to finish it up. I guess I have to lop off the tip and join a new piece now. It's not looking good and can't be fixed. Too much material gone. I thought this was gonna be the easy part, haha. Those Amfisound bevels are looking like heaven right now. Oh well, it's just the tip. It's not like it's trash all the way to the bridge area, that's all fine.
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that's sad dude :(
Can you route down and add a top on it?
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No. It's not really an option to me. I already circumcised the long tip and fitted a new one on. It's going to cure overnight and then I'll just give it another go. There was a joint right there pretty much exactly where the slip happened so it's not going to affect it in the long run. It was depressing last night, but now it's on the mend and I'll be more careful this time around.
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Hope it gets right this time.
In my (not very big) experience, guitar building in a "hurry" is equal to mistakes. Take the time you need to get it best done, even because making it twice takes longer than doing once well done.
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Doing this twice is horrible and humbling, but not the end of the world or the guitar by any means.
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Here are some pics of the good bevel, the bad one and the new tip clamped up. There are two 3/4 inch long, 1/4 inch wide dowels in that new joint there to keep everything in place. I tried to just glue and clamp and that was not anywhere close to working. Sliding around is what happens without the dowels to keep things aligned(thanks Feline).
(http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/23/nicebevel.jpg)
(http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/4682/horriblebevel.jpg)
(http://img811.imageshack.us/img811/408/newtipclamped.jpg)
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It's looking amazing! :D Congrats!
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Thanks man! I have two Latin Americans named Fernando cheering this guitar on, the other is a co-worker who immigrated from Uruguay. I haven't done the other bevels yet though. I do like the grain pattern that was revealed on the bevels. One thing I did notice, that I hadn't before is the wings on a Rhoads aren't curved all the way to the tip, they straighten out after the point where the bevels come together. That is another factor to how that failed bevel happened to be concave instead of straight. It will happen correctly this next time, for sure. :D
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Cool! :D I'm looking forward to see it finished, but I've kinda the same low credit of PhillyQ to ask people to finish their projects fast :?
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I've never done one like this before. I thought it was gonna go faster, but it took a lot of time to sand and final shape the body. The band saw I have has a very small blade, which leave more marks to sand out than a wider one. It is also much harder to control. It took me about 45 mins to just cut the wings out. I don't have access to an oscillating spindle sander or a palm sander like my last project and this has all been sanded by hand with a sanding block.
The neck profile also took me about 5 hours total to rework. I was sanding, comparing to my Jacksons, checking with the calipers, sanding some more. It was stressful getting the heel correct, especially near the binding. I am home from work now so I am going to get the rest of the bevels routed tonight.
This weekend I will take it to my luthier friend and he will install the bridge. I am staying out of that process. He does excellent work and gives me really great prices. It will cost $50 USD, but I have to make him the template to fit the bridge into the body. He has the rest of the template set for a Floyd Rose and those will work for the routes on the back side.
Here is a picture of the bridge that is going in. It is a NOS Kahler "Killer" 2700 series. It was the top of the line Kahler Floyd style fulcrum.
A host of nice features for this trem:
Every piece on the trem is hardened steel.
The arm is screw in style with a tension adjustment screw so it will flop or stay where you had it last.
The ends don't have to be cut from the string. This is cool because it aids in stability having the string end anchored as well as locked down near the witness point.
It has the lowest profile ever for a Floyd style bridge.
The fine tuners have almost twice the range of a standard Floyd.
The saddles can be adjusted for radius, intonation AND string spacing. All without shims.
You can do "pull ups" on individual strings by pressing the string lock thumb screws that are on the back end. The amount you can go up is dependent on where the fine tuner is screwed though. You're basically playing with the rest of the range, but it's still a neat effect to put your palm on them and rock it from low to high.
The knife edge is not on the trem itself. The knife edge is located on the "posts", which are really just black machine screws. The tremolo has little pockets to accept the edge of the screw head. So when the knife edge wears, it costs 50 cents to fix, instead of refiling or replacement.
(http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/9044/kahlerkiller.jpg)
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Sounds like a really good bridge!
About the cutting: Wenge is damn hard to cut, isn't it?? :)
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That bridge is bitchin!
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Oh my god is it ever hard to cut. I made a snow sled out of pine with the same band saw and it was like soft butter compared to Wenge.
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That bridge is bitchin!
Yeah, they don't make them anymore. I don't know how I came to find two perfectly good specimens which have never been installed. I feel lucky for the price, $50 USD a piece. The only guitar I know of that used them in production was the Peavey Vandenberg, but I am not a fan of the route job they did for it. It's way too large, rounded and just not "right". It's like a loose pair of jeans over a nice tight female butt. :lol:
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They don't sell them anymore? Dang it. I would've wanted one.
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No worries, Jonny. Now that the Floyd patents have run out, Kahler is producing new fulcrum style bridges and they are being released this year. If you go to their site and e-mail them about it, they will confirm, but no set date yet. The guy who runs Whammi World told me in e-mail that he's seen them and they will blow minds when they are available. He said they look like a modern version of what I have here, but the pivot joint is very different and you can use either knife edges OR ball bearings.
Whammi World also has a very small amount of these bridges I have, but only in black and they are $250 USD. I'm pretty sure you can talk him down in price if you e-mail him as these are forgotten relics of the 1980s tremolo war. Paul Gilbert used these on his Epiphone and Ibanez guitars he played when RacerX was in full swing. Here is a pic I found of Paul with a chrome version with black saddle assemblies.
(http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/4374/l9aafa519b33d16de5fa4e8.jpg)
I don't think my fingers have ever done that move there, lol.
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SUCCESS!! Well, close. I still have some sanding to do on it, but the bevel is more or less correct and I'm happy. :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
(http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/4629/beveltop.jpg)
(http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/3767/bevelside.jpg)
Nice and straight this time! I was still feeling gun shy after the last run, so I didn't do them last night. This was about 30 mins ago, lol. Now to do the backside bevels and the belly cut. I'm not so nervous now. After some tests on scr@p(I know don't even say it), I found the best method was to draw the curved bevel on the top and route to the intersection. Then I had a straight edge guide for the other side to follow that side out to the tip. So at this point the tip is half finished so I drew a straight line from the top intersection to the tip and routed that.
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nice bevel work - and an excellent save
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Very nice! Time for a pic of the whole guitar? :P
I saw that Wammi World (seller of only Kahler bridges) has this one in stock: NOS...
Thinking if I shall buy one, it looks "okay" (I hate the other Kahler's look) and if it's so superior than a FR, is something to considerate
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Well I'm on the fence here about the belly cut. Here's a quick thing I did in paint. Altered the neck heel to be closer to what I did as to get a better image. What do you guys think? Red? White? Fernando, I'll get a pic of the whole guitar from the front in just a few mins.... The back isn't done yet so no pics, lol.
And about the Kahler, three things to consider that I didn't mention. One, the stud spacing and the route is not the same as any Floyd, so unless it's a new build, I wouldn't recommend it. See how the pic of Paul Gilbert's guitar has an adapter plate where the old trem was?
Two, the range of downward motion is more limited than a Floyd because of how the studs and the pockets on the trem interact. All this means is that you can't make your strings totally loose spaghetti like Eddie Van Halen. The pull-ups aren't affected they have about the same range, but going down is. It's absolutely fine for any whammy trick except for making your strings have no tension.
Three, it is not easy to find parts and the ones that are available cost a fortune. Whammi World sells, for instance, one of the saddle assemblies for $35
Other than those three things, yeah, I do feel it is better than the Floyd Rose. It looks better(IMO), it feels better(IMO), it's more adjustable, it's lower and the knife edge is easier and cheaper to maintain.
If you like Strat style guitars, look for a used Peavey Vandenberg or Nitro. They used the Killer and generally it is cheaper to buy a whole used Vandenberg than to buy one of these trems outright.
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LOL! Forgot! Red or white guys?
(http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/7118/rhoadsbellycut.jpg)
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Here. Whole thing with a black background. I tried a different camera and a lot of lighting. I read that somewhere, but it looks kinda washed out. The fingerboard will stay the same tint, but the Wenge, when oiled, with be much much darker.
(http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/5484/wengerhoadswholeandunfi.jpg)
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Here's one looking down the fingerboard. It's a better pic, but I need a tripod or something. Every pic I take has fuzz from my slight movements.
(http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/1752/ziricoteneck.jpg)
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VERY cool! :D
About the belly cut: depends of the size of your belly :lol: That is a lot personal choice, when I was fit I didn't care about it, now it's different :lol:
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Perhaps I should stick a normal Kahler on it and carve the back out much more in preparation for my bodies unstoppable demise. I will make sure to leave a little prong in the middle so I can keep it aligned by sticking that in my belly button. Ergonomics, baby. I think I'm gonna get pretty damn fat later on when my testosterone drops and I keep eating the way I do.
Well I'm not a big guy, but my chest sticks out farther than my belly does. I went with white, tried it out, and continued to do the red. It hugs the bottom of my ribs really nicely. Perhaps if I still played my guitar like I did as a teen, I would not need a belly cut at all. I would need a "bulge" cut. Unfortunately, this would be a much smaller feature. :(
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Well, as far as I can understand, you used to play like the guitar shall stay: the back route for springs fitting that particular part of men's body :lol:
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I would do a different kind of pinch harmonic if that situation ever happened, lol.
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Here is the belly cut. Wiped it down with a little solvent to see minute scratches and it brought the color to what it would be if I oiled it so I snapped a pic. I will be altering the color a bit to make it darker, not black, just darker so it goes better with the fingerboard and the binding. It's a bit to light and a bit too red as is. At the tip there where I made the repair there is a little glue line. That was just on the surface and has been sanded.
I think I will do the other backside bevel tomorrow. I called my luthier guy who agreed to put in the bridge and he said he has some guitars to build before he can take care of me. Have to wait two weeks, pay someone else or do it myself. I may do it myself if I can find some extremely detailed instructions. Don't wanna mess that up.
(http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/8042/bellycut.jpg)
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heel cutout looks good
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Ok, so I put the body in the same place as my Rhoads with Floyds, but I didn't account for the string locking thumb screw that comes out the bottom of the trem. This is a problem as the lowest string will extend beyond the crotch of the V there.
Not an emergency in the least. I have two options.
1. Use my buddies belt sander to alter the part of the bridge that touches the string so that when it's locked the thumb screw is much closer. I had to do this on my other guitar with the same trem so I know it works and is fine.
2. This has been a feature that I have been going back and forth over for about 7 months. I looked at this pic like twice a week and right now I just may pull the trigger and do this route here. I don't like much about the rest of the guitar, but I do fancy how the bottom of the trem route just keeps going. I really like it, even though it's different, but it's a risk. I had convinced myself to not do it just to keep more in shape with the standard Rhoads look, but now I sort of have a reason behind it.
(http://shredguitars.com/collections/data/504/medium/V24_Custom.jpg)
What do you guys think? Progressive and stylish or regret waiting to happen?
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Regret waiting to happen.
And I'd go with the belt sanding, seeing as you've done it before and can do it again hopefully.
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Well I started thinking more about how the straight lines there aren't very natural looking combined with the shape of a Rhoads. Last night I watched a movie and started doing sketched of other possibly neat routes I could do that would look a bit more aggressive.
Here's what I came up with in photoshop. It's off kilter and not to scale, but it shows the idea. The dark brown part is all routed down 1/2", the normal depth of the area under the tuners. The light brown area is a half-round curve up to the body top. Of course, I'd have to route smaller in front of the bridge so the posts and anchors are at the right height, but the bridge will block view and confuse things to where you can't really tell, it will be the same curve after all. A depth of 1/2" on the sides and tail still comes up to the bottom of the bridge at the sides(no wood under of course), so it will still look tight.
(http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/5484/wengerhoadswholeandunfi.jpg)
So sort of an embellished version of this idea:
(http://www.amfisoundgallery.com/KR/Kridbody.jpg)
And then this guitar was also in my thoughts:
(http://www.guitarasylum.com/product_images/caparison/Dellinger_ca_white.jpg)
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don't do it mate... just don't...
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Alright. I'll give it some more thought then. My buddy makes knives for a hobby and he has a special belt sander just for putting the rough edge on blades. He has a little jig setup for it that I put the string lock assembly in and that keeps the angle exact while I take 1/4" off. It's fast and easy, but I am a sucker for interesting curves and carves so I'll see if a few more designs can't be churned out in the meantime.
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I believe something like the korina v above would be the best, if you really need doing that recessing...
The RR already is a busy looking guitar, the less things you add, the better to keep it cool... If you add many things, if get saturated....
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Yeah, I'm getting a really mixed amount of feedback on these options. You guys seem to be lovers of traditional design and others are saying do something different and unique. I'm gonna have to mull it over extremely well, can't put the wood back.
Too busy Fernando? :lol:
(http://www.amfisoundgallery.com/silverizedrouta/6.jpg)
It also has LEDs in the body, but they're not turned on here. 26 frets lol.
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Doh :?
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don't do it mate... just don't...
+1
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Yeah, I'm not gonna do anything crazy anymore. I just like exploring ideas. Like the deep bevels I did.... I really should have followed some other guitars I've seen with bevels like that and NOT done them on the back. I made a mockup with scr@p so I knew what it was going to look like and I thought I liked it, but the more I stare at that long tip it looks more like a device for killing vampires than a guitar. It's just pissing me off now so it has to go. I have ordered a plane that goes on my drill press to take half of the Wenge on the back down and I will replace it with another type of wood so it doesn't look so much like I was forced into it. Whatever wood I choose, it will be dyed jet black. I'm thinking Alder since it's grain won't clash with the Wenge and the extended highs and lows will even out the Wenge's pronounced mid attack. I was also thinking Ash, but it's grain is probably not going to match up so well. Maybe you guys have another suggestion that would look/sound good here? I've made the final decision for a Miracle Man in the bridge and a Cold Sweat in the neck, if that helps any.
I'm not so heartbroken though as I was planning on tinting the back very very dark and having that continue to the top bevels where it would lighten up some. I've used one of these planes before and it'll do the job stunningly. I'm not worried.
Here's the bright side: Before I glue the new back, I can use my 1/4 round nose router bit to make a channel for the output jack, which will be located on the long tip. My previous plan was to use a very long 1/4" drill bit that I have. I've done a move like that before on my RR3, but this will be safer and more controlled.
Also I can do this style of jack much easier:
(http://www.amfisound.fi/amfisound_galleria/routa_2008/RoutaK8/RoutaK8jack.jpg)
Here's the plane that will be here soon:
(http://woodworker.com/images/j210/24760.jpg)
Another thing: I won't have to as much work on the bridge as I thought to make it fit. I had a 52 in the low spot on my other with the same trem and I put a 60 on it last night. The way the saddle is made, the thicker the string, the farther back it sits and the intonation point is farther back meaning the assembly will sit closer to the neck. It will still need a little extra machining, but not a lot. So at least that is done. Regular trem route it is.
Well, here's to first builds and proper planning/design! At this rate, I'll be able to work on it at the beach. Oh well, At least I love what's staying and I've learned way more than I thought I was going to doing this. My next build, however, will have some real experience and confidence behind it so I'm looking forward to that as well. All Mahogany ESP Ninja with a spalted top and 25.5" scale is the #1 contender for build #2. :D
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I feel really good about making this decision on the top of the guitar. I found a site that showed how to distress wood with a wire brush so I decided to give it a go on some scr@p. Of course, I can get a much more exaggerated version if I spend more time brushing, but I really dig how it makes the grain come out a lot more. It doesn't look unnatural at all in real life either. The wire bristles follow the grain 100%. Here are two pics of smooth and then brushed. I think brushing just the top, not the bevels with look real good in contrast to the smooth jet-black Alder that will be on the backside. I will also brush the face of the headstock. I dig the Amfisound Kelo finish a lot and this will be a more buttoned down version.
(http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/6618/20110119173755.jpg)
(http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/4836/20110119173849.jpg)
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that is how wenge ages! if you see any old eko acoustics they tend to have very ridged fretboards like that. I think it is the lighter streaks in wenge that will wear away first so pay attention to your grain patterns before you start
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That's cool! It's also interesting to know how my guitar will age too :)
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that is how wenge ages! if you see any old eko acoustics they tend to have very ridged fretboards like that. I think it is the lighter streaks in wenge that will wear away first so pay attention to your grain patterns before you start
I tried more techniques on other scr@p and the best I found was to move the brush slowly and with little pressure. It takes longer, but the edges don't tear out and the bristles follow the grain more naturally.
Yeah, it is the lighter streaks that go a little deeper and the darker ones stay a little higher. I gave it a test with some Watco Danish Oil last night and the color is perfect. I can't find the Rustin's you had suggested here in the U.S. and the Watco seems to be very popular here for guitar finishes, recommended over many other brands. The only "fault" is that it has a slight yellowing affect. Well guess what? My Wenge, when wet with clear naptha, is slightly purplish so it turned and very dark brown and stayed that way when it cured. A combination of removing the lighter parts and then a bit of yellow has it looking EXACTLY as I had wanted it all along. Just a few shades darker than Roo's and the reddish purple is canceled out. The color rests somewhere between the lightest and darkest parts of the Ziricote.
edit: The brush I used was about 2 inches or 5cm wide, as long as my hand and had some give in the wire bristles. I tried a smaller, stiffer brush and the results were horrible. Better off brushing it with a hammer.
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Regarding that new Kahler fulcrum trem I was talking about, here is the e-mail I received today:
Hello Ryan,
We are still in the ending stages of R&D… We believe that the fulcrum trem will be ready in the next 6 months… Thank you for the inquiry.
Best Regards,
Nick Wilbur
That's what they said last time. :(
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I'm not a huge fan of RRs or plain wood finishes but I think this going to look really good.
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Well that's a thing to consider now, Wez. Is Roo's top going to eventually become what I'm planning here? I would think the Danish Oil would prevent that and the fingerboards you had mentioned were that way because they were unfinished(or the finish rubbed through) and then handled much more so than any guitar top. I tried different degrees of the effect and I settled on what I would call light brushing. I'd like it to stay that way as much as possible within the constraints of an oil finish. No effing way in hell is this getting nitrocellulose or acrylic.
Wenge with a clear coat:
I think there's some wood under that all that plastic.
(http://www.synergyguitars.com/Brian-Moore-Guitars/wenge.JPG)
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yeah, the amount its handled will make a massive difference - on those old eko's you usually see massive divots where the first position chords are
danish oil wont maker much difference - something like tru-oil will as it sits on the wood more
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So can we work around this by reapplying a thin coat once a year or something similar? I don't care if the neck ends up like that cuz that'll be cool. The top though..... Want that to stay in the same state for as long as possible.
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you wont have to worry about it for a long while. Look after it - but let it age the way it wants
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Look after it - but let it age the way it wants
Well said and fine advice, for both guitars and marriage.