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7 String Build


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Hello All,

In this thread I shall be building a 7 string version of my 8 string design. The guitar itself will be fairly plain but it will be the electronics that stand out.

The plan for the electronics at the moment is to pair a set of EMG 707's with the full Graph Tech acoustic and hexpander kit. Hopefully this all goes in without a hitch :D

QLD Maple 2 piece body, top bound with black plastic.

Flamed Maple neck and fretboard bound with black plastic.

All black hardware.

So far I have the body cut and routed to shape. The body is going to bit a little bit slimmer than the 8 string (43mm versus 50mm) because I don't need as much weight in the body to counteract the neck weight.

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I picked up a strat neck blank second for a good price because it was discoloured at one end. This will be made into fretboards.

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The neck has a scarf joint with some dyed maple veneers for accents.

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Truss rod fitted.

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I sliced the neck blank second into three fretboards which came out at 6.5mm each when finished.

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And catching up to today's progress I marked out the fret slots. This one is having a 27" scale. I have allowed for my binding thickness because I always forget this so I have taken to marking them separately.

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Fret slots cut with my new Japanese style saw from Stew Mac. It is much better than the older style one. Only roughly tapered at the moment.

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Tomorrow I will be attempting to build a jig for routing a conical fretboard (16"-20"). I think I will go with this one I found on TDPRI. Does anyone have any input on performing this style of fretboard? I have read all the threads I can find on here and on TDPRI so hopefully I should be all right.

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So we decided to scrap the conical fretboard for this one and go with a 20" radius.

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Routed the headstock shape. I really should get a new bit for this.

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And I rough cut the neck to shape.

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The next step I am wanting to do is get the fret slots to final depth but the fret wire hasn't turned up yet so I can't measure it. :D Hopefully it turns up this week.

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I really would not be comfortable ordering from a site that doesn't have proper dimensions.They also don't tell you how they cut it up,so you may end up short on width or on how many frets you can get out of it on a 7 string neck.Also having 24 frets also makes it more likely you may get shorted.Let us know how they send it to you.

I order from here

http://www.alliedlutherie.com/fretwire.htm

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I have on order the Warmoth 6100 stainless steel wire. I can't see on the site the tang measurement, only the crown width and height.

That sucks about the measurements. I personally order in bulk so that I have enough for 10 guitars at a time. I pretty much only use 2 sizes. but if I need a different one I just order bulk and take a hit on the fret job. But I'll have it in the future.

I order from Stewmac.com

Good luck on the build.

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Thanks for the link Wes. I didn't even realise there were no dimensions until after the order had shipped.

The wire turned up today while I was at work. I ordered quantity two since they said it comes in a length to do one guitar. It is definitely more wire than I have received from other sellers who claim it is enough for one guitar so I am happy overall.

I already have a regular supplier for my fret wire but they don't sell stainless unfortunately.

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Finished slotting the board to the correct depth this weekend. I saw this setup over on TDPRI for attaching your depth guide while also using the mitre box. Works a treat for getting a consistent curved slot.

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Now that the slots were the correct depth I could attach the binding. It is black plastic.

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I also bound the headstock before attaching the fret board.

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And then scraped it down using a razor blade.

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Then I glued the fret board overnight. This morning I routed the neck flush with the fret board and started by making the neck pocket template.

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Pocket routed and the corners cleaned up with a freshly sharpened chisel. Passes the no glue test so I am happy.

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To finish off the weekend I decided to start the neck carve.

Rough in both ends with a course rasp.

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And connect the ends with a sharp spoke shave.

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Starting to look like a guitar now.

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Now I am just waiting for tuners and the electronics to turn up so that I can finalise the routing and then get on with the body carve.

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A little more progress this weekend.

Got the tuner holes drilled. I bought the recessing bit from Stew Mac in my last order so I recessed these tuners. They feel a lot more solid drilled this way.

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I also got some routing done.

This is to set the height of the carve.

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The rout for the binding.

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And lastly I got the back rounded over.

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Made a little bit more progress while waiting for the electronics to show up.

Got the bridge drilled for and recessed the string ferrules using the Stew Mac bit I used for the headstock. Thanks to RAD for pointing out the uses for this bit as it certainly makes life easier.

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And also got the frets in, still need to clean them up. These things are massive and are an absolute pain to remove the tang for the binding. They are so solid though that once I got them exactly to the radius of the board I could just hammer them in and they didn't change shape one bit.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks Doug.

I did the bulk work of the body carve this weekend. I'm still using the angle grinder with a sanding disk and finishing off with the spoke shave and scrapers.

I also hand cut the binding channel around the forearm contour. It was fairly easy to do, I just sharpened the point on my marking gauge and scored the channel edges deeply. Then I sharpened my chisels and chiselled the rest away.

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I also got the binding installed and roughly scraped back. I will probably be stalled on this project now until the electronics turn up.

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  • 1 month later...

Finally got the pickups in. A set of EMG's.

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I hadn't routed for 7 string EMG's before so I knocked out a new template. 12mm MDF works perfectly for me.

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A short time later we have both cavities routed.

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I drilled through to the bridge pickup for the wire from the neck pickup and then glued the neck in.

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Just waiting for the rest of the Graphtech ghost bits to turn up before doing the cavities. Hopefully not too long now, they have only been on order for 4 months. :D

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks mate, I try to make them comfortable. It is 43mm thick.

Very awesome! makes me worry less about my build. Its 15 millimeters more thick than yours. But i'm Chambering it and carving it so it should be light and look good :D

Keep the pics coming! :D

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Moving on now that I have all the electronics.

Holes drilled for pots and switches. 3 way switch for the EMG's, EMG vol with coil split push/pull, piezo vol, midi vol, midi program switch and two switches for piezo/midi/EMG selection.

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Control cavity routed. This is bigger than I normally use because of the electronic boards.

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Rout for the battery box. I use the Gotoh flip out ones.

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Now to take care of the problem of the output jacks.

First I made a mould and bent the material for the jack plate using a heat gun.

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I decided to put both the stereo 1/4" jack and the midi jack in one large cavity. I tried setting up a jig but just found it easier to chisel it out in the end.

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Here is a very poor picture of the plate once I cut it to size and added the holes for the jacks.

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I then used a scraper on the edges of the plate as if it were part of the binding. I will finish its shape once the body is finished so that I get it exact.

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I will try and get the final sanding done during the week so that I can start the finishing routine next weekend.

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  • 1 month later...

I sealed the body all over by spraying on sanding sealer. Once this was sanded back to smooth I used ebony grain filler on the front and mahogany grain filler on the back.

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After the filler was sanded back I applied another coat of sealer and made sure that the body was perfectly flat all over.

I mixed up some alcohol based stains with some metho and sprayed this colour onto the top. I was aiming for the same colour as my last 8 string but just a little bit lighter.

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And this is where I am up to now. The body has been clear coated and left to dry for two weeks. I scuffed it up at the one week mark as this helps this type of paint to cure quicker.

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So after may months of delays due to unhelpful suppliers and a couple of stuff ups in my spraying routine I finished her up this morning.

I probably shouldn't have taken the pictures at midday but the rain looks like coming back.

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The finish came out well enough but I think I will need to move onto something better in the future. This paint never seems to get past the milky look rather than going all the way to a wet look.

Oh and the electronics all worked straight off the bat which I was very pleased about. It has dual EMG's with the neck coil split and also the Graphtech Acousti-Phonic and Hexpander kits.

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