Turner Model 1 Copy

[Dave_B]

Your radius jig worked great! I have a nearly identical one in mind (only a 44" radius and some black gas pipe I have on hand) when I get around to building an Iceman.

[WezV]

i like the body radius jig - may have to try that at some point

The pic is darker than what it looks like - I cant seem to get a good pic unless I go outside

well, the answer is obvious :D

[Prostheta]

i like the body radius jig - may have to try that at some point

The pic is darker than what it looks like - I cant seem to get a good pic unless I go outside

well, the answer is obvious

The camera doesn't like taking photos properly when Mr Natural is in the same room?

[Mr Natural]

as you guys can tell- I should proof read before posting-

wes and prostheta- good ones- I left myself wide open for that.

just to show you both that my photographic skills match my "excellent" command of the art of written english- take a look at this- this pic was taken after I glued the neck in place and applied a second coat of teak oil (wet sand with steel wool)-the guitar at this point has dried out for a couple days- the guitar body looks "orangish". I cant seem to take a good pic to save my life- pretty pathetic considering the camera is fully automatic. The "real" color is a nice deep rich mahogany brown- but you cant tell that from these pics. I really need to pull out the manual for this camera and figure it out.

battery cover box (purpleheart dyed with fingerboard dye and then lacquer) and black walnut control cover that has been sanded to match the radius of the body

Thanks for the comments rad and dave. the jig took less than maybe an hour to make- and after the last passes with the router on the body of the guitar- it took no time at all to clean it up with 100 grit on an orbital sander.

after this pic was taken- I finally decided on tuners- so I drilled those holes let the guitar dry out for about a month and right now its getting its last few coats of lacquer. I will post more in a few weeks

[Mr Natural]

well- as usual with my builds- this one has sat in a corner while baseball season takes up all my time with my youngest son. Spring season end a few weeks back and I finally got this one finished.

This was a fun build and I learned alot.

[Ponticat]

Lovely outcome!

A further about the body radius jig: How did you radius the back side?

[Mr Natural]

Thanks Ponticat.

as far as your question- I simply flipped the body over- and the only thing that held it down was a screw that is located in the middle of the pickup housing circle. I used a long 4 inch #10 screw (the screw on the finished guitar is a 3/4" inch long #12)- and if you look at the pics of the jig- there are blocks that are screwed down that keep the body from moving on the sides of the body. These were tall enough that they also kept the body from rocking on the radiused front. At first I thought I was going to need some shims- but the single screw really did the work- and those side blocks further reinforced preventing any rocking. The trick in cutting this was to take shallow passes and go slow. Took a good while to do- but I had no chip out on the sides- and with just a little sanding it worked quite nicely.

[Ponticat]

Thanks for your reply. I may try a similar jig on a very different body.

[ScottR]

I love the way this turned out! How does it sound?

And the rotating pick--is the effect of that subtle or pretty noticeable?

SR

[Mr Natural]

Thanks Scott.

Let me start off by saying that I am not really a huge active pickups fan on guitars- I do like them on basses, but I prefer passive on guitars- so- keeping that in mind....

The rotating pickup doesnt really affect the sound too drastically on the treble strings- but there is a very noticeable effect on the bass strings. I would say my "prefered alignment" would not be as shown in the pictures- but rather the bass side of the pickup towards " 10-11 o'clock" and the treble side of the pickup towards 4-5 o'clock.

When played clean- if the pickup is towards 1 o'clock on the bass side- it gets a little muddy/boomy on the low E, especially if you dig in or the electronics are turned down and not emphasising the trebles. You can somewhat "counter" this, if you will, by playing towards the bridge. I cant explain it- but plucking or finger picking towards the bridge cleans up that muddiness (a little bit).

Distorted this guitar get can into some weird places. Using the "bass side of the pickup towards 1 o'clock position"- I got some absolutely narly sounds with overdrive/compression and such. I must admit I dont know how to "usefully" use those types of overdriven/narliness sounds effectively- but I got some squels/growls/farts and such out of this that I actually sounded (somewhat) like something off a 80s era King Crimson (Belew). Fun- but like I said- I dont know what to do/how to handle that stuff. Keeping the "prefered position" on this pickup- it sounds pretty good- but honestly its seems "limited" to me. A one trick pony if you will. But then again I dont have the same electronics that reside in a real Turner Model 1. This guitar does really "ring" though. Notes hold on before breaking up and I was really surprised- as I have always thought that one piece necks usually ring better-maybe I have read that more laminations = less (i hate to use this word) "sustain". Maybe the use of purpleheart had something to do with it- I dont know- maybe I just got lucky.

I should have recorded this before sending it out the door- but I meant to have this to my friend- oh- I dont know- about 6 months ago- so I was a bit rushed to get it out and didnt think to record it. Plus- now that its gone- I can work on other guitars that have been started long ago and need attention.