Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: Oli on June 18, 2007, 10:20:17 PM
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(http://oli.digitalwaffle.net/guitar/warpig7.jpg)
Picked up my Warpig 7 from the post office today (cheers for the quick delivery Tim! :)) Will be going in a fanned-fret 7 string i'm currently building. Can't wait!
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Any pics of the build . . . and what scale lengths are you using for the two outer strings?
I'm currently experimenting with my first fanned fret build and decided to go with only a slight fan to the frets rather than a couple of inches difference. So far it definately looks less intimidating than the other fanned frets i have seen and seems to be a better compromise between lower and upper fret access.
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That's a 'mockup' of what it'll look like (http://oli.digitalwaffle.net/guitar/templates.jpg), the scale lengths are 27" and 25.5" if i remember correctly (all my stuff is down in the workshop, but i'm pretty sure that's it). I went with having the bridge nearly parallel, so that i can use a regular 7 string bridge, and not have separate saddles (purely a cost thing really- £15 vs. ~£50+). That said, i think the fan at the 1st fret will be perfect for a B5 chord :)
I've only got a few pictures of the build thus far (in the same directory as that mockup), i've got the neck laminates planed flat- i've just got to sort out the truss rod. Do you know where i could get a 500mm truss rod by the way? I could make my own, but the taps and dies are quite expensive (about £70 in total). The body is about to have the neck cavity routed, and i'll do the pickup cavity too- now i've got the pickup here :) I'll post some more pictures when there's something of interest- it's just a blank at the moment.
The only thing im curious about is the fretting- i could build cauls to press the frets in, but i think it might be easier to just hammer them in.
Do you have and photos of your build?
Edit: that photo looks a bit weird- the perspective is all out because it was laying on the floor away from me... the body isn't quite that big.
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good idea having the bridge parallel to cut down on costs, but it probably does make it a mainly lead guitar.
I have used standard guitar truss-rods in guitars up to 27.2" scale length. Since the truss rod has very little effect near the heel you can have it starting at the nut location. I usually use Cf reinforcement bars as well. You could always get a two-way bass truss-rod, cut it to length and get the ends re-welded. That will only work if you find the right kind of two way truss rod, it works with the deluxe ones craft-supplies sell but there stocks tend to vary.
As for fretting, i have only ever done one fret-job with a hammer - then i brought some cauls whichi have used for the next 50!! Pushing frets in with cauls usually means you have a lot less fretwork to do afterwards than when using a hammer. I am not yet sure if the fanned frets will affect what radius of caul should be used - i cant quite figure it in my head till i get around to it - which will be some point in the next few weeks.
The idigbo looks nice, i have some i am tryinag at the moment to see if it really is identical to Korina/limba.
I cant really post pictures of my ff guitar at the moment, i shouldnt even be talking about it!!. All will be revealed around the end of august. Oh, i suppose i can say i am thinking of getting some rebel yells for it.
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Yea, i've got some 500mm CF rods that i was going to use aswell anyway- i've got a 460mm truss rod here (damn ebayer, said it was 500mm :roll: ), so i might just use that then :) We'll have to see how it sounds/plays- i think it'll be quite nice (after the initial transition) to play rhythm with the fan like that. Also means that i won't have to adjust my sweeping technique much due to lack of fan at the higher frets.
With the fret cauls, what i was going to do was build a few radius blocks (of different widths- bass end will need a longer block than the treble), and then line the inside of that with some aluminium to make it stronger. That way, all you have to do is keep the radius 'caul' in line with the sides of the neck.
I look forward to the end of August then :)
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I use the stew mac fretting caul in my drill press for pushing frets in but there is no reason something similar cannot be constructed easily - i'm just lazy when it comes to making jigs and tools
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mine will be sold when all is said and done so i dont want to do anything so extreme it puts people off, i just want to add being able to do fanned-fret instruments to my repetoire. Scale length are 24.75" on the treble side and 26" on the bass with the 7th fret being the straight one, hopefully it will still be very easy to play and not look so strange as to put people off. Should downtune a lot better as well. I am fully documenting the build process as well - warts and all!!
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Nice!
How do you guys make the fret slots?
Just measuring and marking them with a sharp knife or something and than saw? -->is that accurate enough?
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basically but it needs to be very accurately done, a normal ruler wont suffice. For my first i am marking it individually and very carefully but if i end up doing more i will make some templates like these:
http://www.doolinguitars.com/articles/novax/
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That's cool!
I was thinking about trying to make fret slots just by calculating and measuring "by hand" (also to experiment with different scale lengths etc.) but I am very worried about the tolerances though, but for fanned frets this is a cool option :D
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Well, time for an update methinks :)
(http://oli.digitalwaffle.net/guitar/bodyneck1.jpg)
That's it at the moment- body has been rough-shaped, a few mm to take off still and body contouring to do etc. (and the heel too). The fretboard needs radiusing, and the neck needs shaping, which i've now started, but as you can see, there's a lot of material to remove! Headstock has been rough shaped too, but again needs finalising. Need to drill the holes for the string-throughs and the pickup.
A few other pictures from the build are here (http://oli.digitalwaffle.net/guitar/)
To the mods: if you wish, this topic can be moved to the guitar/amp forum, as it isn't so much about the pickup itself anymore :)
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looking good!!!
have you thought about the high e string and what angle it will be at over the nut- at the moment it looks like it might hit the angle where your headstock starts before getting to the tuner. I think this may be a problem for th fanned fret design unless you can get your head around the angled splice joint - personally i cant yet!!
Maybe having the nut then a carved wooden string guide will solve the issue - be interested to see what you think!!
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looking good!!!
have you thought about the high e string and what angle it will be at over the nut- at the moment it looks like it might hit the angle where your headstock starts before getting to the tuner. I think this may be a problem for th fanned fret design unless you can get your head around the angled splice joint - personally i cant yet!!
Maybe having the nut then a carved wooden string guide will solve the issue - be interested to see what you think!!
Yea, that's the thing i've been working on, ideas have included having a nut which will be kind of triangular shaped so that all the strings exit at roughly the same angle. Or having a string guide built into the truss cover, which will cover the area from the nut to the end of the truss channel. When i get the tuners for the guitar bought and installed, then i'll be able to sort it out properly :)
This project has already been a real big learning curve- the next neck (got it sitting here as i got two necks out of the one blank- which was a short set of neck-through lams) will be much better build and smoother too :) After reading Mr Hisc--ks' book, i am tempted to to a set tennon design next, but my sensible side says i should do another bolt on to perfect that first. I think it might be a regular 7 string, but i'm not sure, because i might save the neck as it's wide enough to do an 8!
Carving an angled neck volute is a strange thing- it looks all wrong, but feels correct when you hold the neck :)
Oh, and by the way, the fingerboard is quite thick- about 7.5 mm (not radiused yet, so probably about 7 or just under when done), so the strings will be quite high off the the neck when they exit the nut, so i might not have such a problem.... maybe ;)
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well the angle on my first fanned-fret headostck transition isnt as much as yours - but it felt wierd carving it. It feels nice now though. All i need to do is drill for the tuner holes, inlay the headstock and get it sprayed and i will put some pics up!!!
i was thinking of a triangular nut or a normal nut with a traingular bit of ebony behind it as a string guide but its not as much an issue on mine because i have much less of an angle at that end of the neck
but then my design is for a 6 string that can be down-tuned with relatively even tension. If i was doing a seven string i may have gone for scale lengths more like yours
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I was thinking of an ebony thing too actually... it might be one of those things it takes a few attempts to see what works best, not too hard to change it. The scale lengths are actually 27" and 25.25", and not 25.5 as i said before. If the bridge was angled as well as the nut, then there wouldn't be this 'problem'.
I decided that i'm not going to have any controls on the guitar, as it's only 1 pickup i don't need any switching, and to be honest, i never use the tone control on my other guitars... so it means there'll be no front or rear cavities, as i'll drill a hole from the output jack through to the pickup cavity- nice and minimalist :)
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Gorgeous design mate!
Can't wait to see the final pictures from either of you!
Love reading your conversation - It's such a great learn!
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i think even if the string can go straight to the tuner there would not be enough of an angle over the nut to get good downward pressure. This will lead to poor sustain and possibly some buzzing!!
I think you are going to need a string tree behind the nut to get enough downward pressure - but that gonna make the strings more likely to hit the angled section so it will need some other kind of guide at that point. the problem is that all these 'solutions' take us further away from the ideal string travel of going straight from the nut to the tuner - but at least it should only really be needed on the higher strings. It should still function quite well - as long as its not a trem equipped guitar!!!
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i think even if the string can go straight to the tuner there would not be enough of an angle over the nut to get good downward pressure. This will lead to poor sustain and possibly some buzzing!!
I think you are going to need a string tree behind the nut to get enough downward pressure - but that gonna make the strings more likely to hit the angled section so it will need some other kind of guide at that point. the problem is that all these 'solutions' take us further away from the ideal string travel of going straight from the nut to the tuner - but at least it should only really be needed on the higher strings. It should still function quite well - as long as its not a trem equipped guitar!!!
Agreed - the final design should make the string arrive at the nut at the correct angle, whilst still clearing the headstock, when i get my tuners i'll measure them and do some drawings to solve it :)
I'm not a trem-man myself, i've only got one guitar with one- my Charvel... a trem remains pretty much an 80's kinda thing for me, and i have no cause to use it in the music i play, so the bridge is this one (http://guitarpartsdepot.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/GSFB7_B.gif). With a fanned fret design, i feel that this bridge is preferable over a tune-o-matic due to the extra adjustment available :)
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Some more progress, some good, some bad!
The bad:
Today I was routing the final bodyshape, just taking the last 4-5mm off prior to sanding. All was going well until I unclamped the body to move it round, and forgot that the centre of gravity was off the edge of the worktop. The result was a body that fell to the ground before i could catch it (damn you quick release clamps!), and some language that Gordon Ramsay would approve of. The aftermath:
(http://oli.digitalwaffle.net/guitar/damage2.jpg)
Fortunately, none of it chipped off, so i can fix it with some some very low-viscosity superglue that can get deep into the cracks and hopefully it won't be too bad. I'll need to reshape the horn slightly to get rid of the dent that'll be left.
Another picture here (http://oli.digitalwaffle.net/guitar/damage1.jpg)
The good: (not good by anyone elses standards though ;))
Neck shaping is coming along reasonably well- the Purpleheart is tough stuff, so it's taking a while, but i'm getting there :)
(http://oli.digitalwaffle.net/guitar/neckshaping1.jpg)
Wes: I now have the tuners, and I won't need to have any jiggery-pokery with the high E to clear the headstock knuckle. The angle at which the strings will reach the nut should be plenty sufficient too :)
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Wes: I now have the tuners, and I won't need to have any jiggery-pokery with the high E to clear the headstock knuckle. The angle at which the strings will reach the nut should be plenty sufficient too :)
excellent news!!
just a shame about the drop. Personally i would go with hot hide for a repair like that. you would need to warm the area up first so the hot glue lowed into it better but structurally it would be a lot more secure than superglue. Especially since i guess you are having a strap button there - super glue might not stop it from splitting again as a screw was put in
the volute looks huge :wink: :wink:
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Wes: I now have the tuners, and I won't need to have any jiggery-pokery with the high E to clear the headstock knuckle. The angle at which the strings will reach the nut should be plenty sufficient too :)
excellent news!!
just a shame about the drop. Personally i would go with hot hide for a repair like that. you would need to warm the area up first so the hot glue lowed into it better but structurally it would be a lot more secure than superglue. Especially since i guess you are having a strap button there - super glue might not stop it from splitting again as a screw was put in
the volute looks huge :wink: :wink:
I hadn't thought about hide glue- I took the body down to Luthiers Supplies and one of the builders down there suggested the superglue... i'll have a read up on hide glue, never used it before.
Hehe, the volute IS huge :p I need to get it down more, but it will be larger than a normal one, but it's also shaped so that i can slide my hand down the neck and when it hits (and stops) at the volute: BAM! a B5 chord shalt be produced :)
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the super glue might work just fine for 9 out of 10 repairs - its just the fact its yet to have a screw added and might be under a bit more pressure in this area.. superglue has very little strength so might just crack open again.
hide glue is harder to work with though and the thing i said about heating that area is crucial to getting a good flow of glue into the crack. heat lamps work best if you have them but other than that a hairdryer should get you through
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the super glue might work just fine for 9 out of 10 repairs - its just the fact its yet to have a screw added and might be under a bit more pressure in this area.. superglue has very little strength so might just crack open again.
hide glue is harder to work with though and the thing i said about heating that area is crucial to getting a good flow of glue into the crack. heat lamps work best if you have them but other than that a hairdryer should get you through
Ah righty, looks like hide glue then :) There's probably a heat lamp or two i can get ahold of. I'll dig out the compressor to blow the dust and other cr@p that's got inside the crack away.
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Neck shaping getting there, probably about two hours left i'd say:
(http://oli.digitalwaffle.net/guitar/neckshaping2.jpg)
And as promised, the volute has been 'tamed' :) Certainly still bigger than a standard one, but i think this is the final size for this guitar.
(http://oli.digitalwaffle.net/guitar/volutesize.jpg)
The fretboard is yet to be radiused, so it'll come down from ~8mm thick to about 7 when done :) It'll be fun!
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Gorgeous neck!
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what do you mean two hours left!!! - can carve a neck from scratch in less than two hours!!! :wink:
I really like the laminations - but i reckon the volute is a bit much
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that sucks about the drop, it looks really nice!
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the super glue might work just fine for 9 out of 10 repairs - its just the fact its yet to have a screw added and might be under a bit more pressure in this area.. superglue has very little strength so might just crack open again.
hide glue is harder to work with though and the thing i said about heating that area is crucial to getting a good flow of glue into the crack. heat lamps work best if you have them but other than that a hairdryer should get you through
Is hide glue basically animal glue, or is this something different entirely?
EDIT: Oli, just out of curiosity, what is in between that purpleheart?
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yeah, basically thats the idea
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The centre laminate of the neck is Paduk, pretty easy to work with.... and smells nice! :p
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A little update: I've finally got the rest of the essential tools that i need, so the fretboard has now been radiused, and is awaiting fret slotting and fretting itself :) I've also got the hide glue too, so i'll have the body fixed soon, perhaps on sunday.
I've picked up some more woods for future projects, mainly fretboards aside from a piece of Wenge which I hope to split between 4 necks. Some pictures of the fretboards:
(http://oli.digitalwaffle.net/guitar/fretboards.jpg)
left to right: Leopardwood, Macassar Ebony, Cocobolo
(http://oli.digitalwaffle.net/guitar/leopardwood_fretboard3.jpg)
A closeup of the Leopardwood, after a wipe with some spirit- the righthand edge is quite nice, a little snaking going on there :) It's far from finished, but with a little sanding and tlc, the colour comes out more and a little extra clarity pokes through.
(http://oli.digitalwaffle.net/guitar/macassar_ebony.jpg)
Closeup of the Macassar Ebony, which will be used on the next guitar.
The Leopardwood i may use on a bass, perhaps a fretless. The Cocobolo i think may go onto a 6 string guitar, but i think it'll have to be paired to an appropriate body :)
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i love macassser ebony but find the dust really irritating. I wanted to do some solid necks from the stuff but it would probably kill me.
Nice stuff anyway and i hope for your sake you dont have the reaction i did!!
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i love macassser ebony but find the dust really irritating. I wanted to do some solid necks from the stuff but it would probably kill me.
Nice stuff anyway and i hope for your sake you dont have the reaction i did!!
Yea, same with the Cocobolo- will be making sure I don a respirator, goggles and overalls for those two items. The piece of Macassar is long enough for me to get a fretboard and a headstock veneer from, so that might be quite cool to do, especially as the grain would match perfectly :)
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Those are $%&#ing huge chunks of wood!! Must have cost a pretty penny!
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Goddamn :shock:
Just finished radiusing the fretboard and went to have a few practise cuts (on scr@p) with the fret saw i bought.... and the blade isn't straight! The rib on the back is straight, but the blade isn't- so it wont cut fret slots straight :( So i can cut the slots until at least Tuesday when I go back to Dykes to get it sorted. Hopefully i'll remember to get some abalone dots and white rod for the inlays too!
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(http://oli.digitalwaffle.net/guitar/slotted.jpg)
Fretboard slotted! The fret dots aren't drilled yet, just there to show where they'll go, but i'll probably install them tomorrow.
(http://oli.digitalwaffle.net/guitar/slotted2.jpg)
The slotting went pretty smoothly, but there were a couple of chip-outs on the treble side, but i'll get that sorted :)
And i need to build myself a nice workbench when i get the space.... does my back in working from the current bench and the workmates!
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lookin very nice so far, luvin ze inlay design, simple yet original!
keep coming with the pics! i luv looking at guitar builds (especially ones with a natural finish, and yes natural finishes ARE my weakness!)
the one thing i will say is the frets look "slanted" rather than fanned, but my knowlede of fan fret guitars is limited (to about zero) so that may not matter, but hey, looking awesome, and that neck is sexy!
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looks excellent so far, definately looking crazier than my first attempt at fanned frets - which i should be finished with in a few weeks
the one thing i will say is the frets look "slanted" rather than fanned,
oli's scale lengths are fanning out from the bridge which makes it look that way.
the two important decisions for playability of a fanned fret instrument are 'what are the scale lengths of the two outside strings' and 'where are you going to fan from'.
I decided on mine to fan from the 7th fret so its almost normal in the middle of the neck but fans out in either direction. That meant i spent over £100 on individual string bridges for it to accomodate for the fan at the bridge. Oli can use whatever bridge he wants the way he has done it.
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He also has the bonus of vastly improved upper fret access on the lower strings.
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Cheers guys :)
izy: As Wes said, mine fans out from the bridge unlike his, which fans from the 7th fret (the 7th fret being perpendicular to the centre of the fretboard, mine having the bridge perpendicular). The differing point at which the frets fan from will alter the playability. I'm planning on experimenting with other fanned fret designs, to find the optimum fan for overall comfort :)
(http://guitarpartsdepot.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/GSFB7_B.gif)
That's the bridge i'm using... next time i think i'll probably buy the same bridge, but build a separate baseplate for the saddles, so the bridge can be fanned as well :)
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Looking superb!
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thank guys, i know it was fanned, what i meant was it dosn't fan the other way (so its like \ | / as opposed to | / ) and i was just wondering whether that effects the intended purpose of having a fan-fretted guitar, but nethermind, ignore my weird ways, its lookin very nice, and i'm lookin forward to the finished result.
although i would like to see you play tears in the rain on that :lol:
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I need to see the final results of this stuff.
i´m highly interested
pretty good thing
Q:)
JP
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Well, i guess that with the nearing completion of Wes' fanned build (which is looking great by the way, good job!), its about time for an update for mine :)
The damage has now been fixed- it's not perfect, but it'll definitely do for a first build! a little more sanding is needed, but the whole body needs a good sanding too, so I haven't got to really concentrate on it. The pickup cavity has been routed and chiseled out- if i were to critique it, i'd say 'adequate'- i need to sort out my oilstones so i can sharpen my chisels properly, and i need to create a proper 7 string pickup cavity template to make it perfect next time.
I've also drilled the pickup wire channel which was a right beast; as i'm not having any controls on this guitar, the pickup goes straight to the output jack- this means there are no cavities than I could drill through to. So I had to drill a hole from the output jack to the pickup cavity in one go ( it wasn't possible to drill from the pickup cavity itself, aside from a little connecting channel). It was a right mission, but i got it done without too much hassle :) Then came the bridge grounding wire, which should have been a simple 1.5" hole to connect through to the pickup output channel... only whilst this was happening, the drill bit snapped, right inside the body :roll: Had to drill a hole at a different angle as there's no way to get the half of the drill bit out of the body... fortunately the hole will still be hidden under the bridge, and i'm sure the bit won't rattle around- it's in tight!
A picture shows where the guitar is at currently:
(see attatchment)
Things left to do:
Fret the neck
Cut and shape the nut
Drill tuner holes
Finish final heel shaping
Drill straplock holes
Sand the body to finish standard
Apply oil finish
Due to just starting my degree, it may be a few weeks until she's all done, but the end is in sight now :)
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the drill bit snapped, right inside the body :roll: Had to drill a hole at a different angle as there's no way to get the half of the drill bit out of the body... fortunately the hole will still be hidden under the bridge, and i'm sure the bit won't rattle around- it's in tight!
Aw man, that sucks. At least now you can truly call your guitar a METAL guitar :twisted:
A picture shows where the guitar is at currently:
http://www.doom-metal.com/oli/output_channel.jpg
It says i am forbidden to view it...because i don't have an account? I used to have an account on Doom-Metal.com, but it has been a long time, a loooong time. Could you redirect it somewhere else please? I am very anxious to see it, as i am sure all the other members are.
Due to just starting my degree, it may be a few weeks until she's all done, but the end is in sight now :)
what is your field of study? (im sure you have said this before, however, i have forgotten)
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the drill bit snapped, right inside the body :roll: Had to drill a hole at a different angle as there's no way to get the half of the drill bit out of the body... fortunately the hole will still be hidden under the bridge, and i'm sure the bit won't rattle around- it's in tight!
Aw man, that sucks. At least now you can truly call your guitar a METAL guitar :twisted:
A picture shows where the guitar is at currently:
http://www.doom-metal.com/oli/output_channel.jpg
It says i am forbidden to view it...because i don't have an account? I used to have an account on Doom-Metal.com, but it has been a long time, a loooong time. Could you redirect it somewhere else please? I am very anxious to see it, as i am sure all the other members are.
Due to just starting my degree, it may be a few weeks until she's all done, but the end is in sight now :)
what is your field of study? (im sure you have said this before, however, i have forgotten)
I've attatched it to the post now- forgot that we've got hot-linking disabled on the d-m.com server.
I'm studying Audio Engineering at SAE, looks like it's going to be a fun couple of years :)
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the drill bit snapped, right inside the body :roll: Had to drill a hole at a different angle as there's no way to get the half of the drill bit out of the body... fortunately the hole will still be hidden under the bridge, and i'm sure the bit won't rattle around- it's in tight!
been there done that - call it a tone injection system from now on!!!! :wink:
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Nearly finished, been a long time since my last update. Only got the nut to cut, finish to apply (after removing the hardware ;)), and the frets to dress. The 'strings' are just lengths of coloured wire so i could see how it looked. Can't believe it's nearly a year since i started the build (beginning of May), i've learn't so much, i'm confident that my next build will be better :)
Click the picture to see a few more, showing chording etc.
(http://web.saeuk.com/~13144/guitar/1.jpg) (http://web.saeuk.com/~13144/guitar/)
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Hmm... nice looking build, but it doesn't look like it will intonate very well
to me. I've never seen a fanned fret guitar that had a straight bridge, no matter where the parallel fret was.
edit: NVM, read page 3. Thats an interesting concept :) Looks nice as well.
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looks good oli - now get some finish on it!!
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Hmm... nice looking build, but it doesn't look like it will intonate very well
to me. I've never seen a fanned fret guitar that had a straight bridge, no matter where the parallel fret was.
edit: NVM, read page 3. Thats an interesting concept :) Looks nice as well.
Isn't the idea that nut slanted instead of the bridge?
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Blimey Oli, that looks amazing! Well done. 8)
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Cheers guys :) Interestingly, the fan of the frets makes it really easy to do a G chord (check the 6th image), it's really comfortable and ergonomic for it- no more stretching and contorting for it... obviously some of the other chords are harder to do, but i'll get over it :)
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That fretboard and neck are totally hawt! :twisted:
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My Dad just saw your guitar pics and he thinks it's great and he is in his 70's!! :D
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Hmmm...
Fanned frets...
Brain hurts. Does not compute.
Must lie down...
Only just coming to terms with the concept of more than 6 strings.
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OK, I'm feeling calmer now.
How do you cut a radius into a fretboard? Is there a special curved file or something?
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ah, fanned fret is so easy to play - i'm considering doing another one this year because my first turned out so playable!!
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Well, the nut is cut, so i've strung up the guitar, and wired the pickup so i can give it a play for a few days to see if there are any tweaks that need to be made before the finish is applied.
The Warpig7 sounds monsterous through my JCM900.... don't need my RAT in front of the amp at all.... can't wait to crank it up tomorrow for a bit :)
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Well, the nut is cut, so i've strung up the guitar, and wired the pickup so i can give it a play for a few days to see if there are any tweaks that need to be made before the finish is applied.
The Warpig7 sounds monsterous through my JCM900.... don't need my RAT in front of the amp at all.... can't wait to crank it up tomorrow for a bit :)
PICS or it doesn't exist!
:)
Roo
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yeah it would be nice to have pics of the finished product, it has been so long in the making!
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Well well well, finally it's done! Took bloody long enough :p Got half way through finishing the neck, then i decided i wasn't happy with how the maple was looking, so off all the finish came and i spent a few hours just cleaning the maple with wire wool to get it looking nice.
Click the photo to link to the album- there's 7 pictures in there, hope you enjoy :)
(http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/sqol/Fanned%20Fret%207/01.jpg) (http://s36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/sqol/Fanned%20Fret%207/?action=view¤t=01.jpg)
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looks nice!! how is that fan working out for you?
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Love it.
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Looks really nice. That's a huge chunk of bloodwood you've got there. What is the body wood? Any chance of a video of you playing it?
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its korina (idigbo) aint it
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Fantastic! How do you find it playing on the fanned frets?
Roo
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i liked my first one so much i started another:
(http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/new/XL803866.jpg)
i went for the 7th fret as the perp again but this one is 26.5" on the treble and 28" on the bass side so its really a baritone
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i liked my first one so much i started another:
(http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/new/XL803866.jpg)
i went for the 7th fret as the perp again but this one is 26.5" on the treble and 28" on the bass side so its really a baritone
Is that a 6 string or 7 string? It looks like a 6 string.
But frankly, I don't see the point of fanned frets on anything less than an 8 string, since tension isn't really a problem on 7 strings.. Especially if you have a baritone allready.
Fanned frets do look great though - But Wez, how much better in terms of tension will that be compared to a traditional 27" baritone - It might aswell be, considering you're 26.5 on the Treble...
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its a 6, going to be tuned A-E-A-D-F#-B with a light baritone set but it might take a few sets of strings to find the ideal ones
I see it as a bit of a problem that people only think multiscale is usefull for extended range instruments. The one i did already is 25-26" 6 string and is in standard tuning strung with 10's most of the time - but is capable of drop C without changing the strings. Just in standard tuning the bass strings have more piano like qualities, much clearer and harmonically rich. And its damn easy to play.. i would say as easy as a normal guitar. it takes about 30-60 seconds to get used to it (dont look!!) then its really easy to switch between this and a normal guitar
baritones generally skirt around the 27-28" scale length.. personally i find the tension on the low strings a bit loose at 27" and would always go for 28" in a standard baritone... but then the treble side feels a bit tight... and so we fan!!
if i could give you one to play for a few minutes you would be convinced tht its genius!!
till then watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3wqZ0JovqU
thats the first time the guy had played a FF/multiscale instrument
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Just in standard tuning the bass strings have more piano like qualities, much clearer and harmonically rich. And its damn easy to play.. i would say as easy as a normal guitar. it takes about 30-60 seconds to get used to it (dont look!!) then its really easy to switch between this and a normal guitar.
That is something that really struck me with mine- playing clean stuff with the bottom few strings sounds so much better than i've heard before! I'm liking the fan- i think it's about the maximum you could get away with, but obviously you could extend it on the bass side :)
Thanks for the comments guys, it's taken me so long to do, i'm glad it's properly finished now!
I'm coping well with the change, it doesn't take long to get used to the frets, the only thing that takes a bit longer to get is pinch harmonics- because the point you pick at changes for each string.
Wes: Looks good, let us know when it's done :)
I'm looking forward to the next one now!