psikoT Posted March 28, 2016 Report Share Posted March 28, 2016 Hi there, guitar building season is open. I was preparing the mini-workshop and bought all the woods, tools and parts I need for this project. This time I've spent a bit more money and got some decent stuff. Let's put everything together. This is a rough draft: And this is the good stuff. Madagascar Rosewood top, fingerboard and headstock. Swamp ash body with mahogany veneers. Rock and flamed maple for the neck. I just need to find some time to work on it, hope it doesn't get too long. Stay tuned! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightroExpress Posted March 28, 2016 Report Share Posted March 28, 2016 This is going to be great! I'm officially staying tuned Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2.5itim Posted March 28, 2016 Report Share Posted March 28, 2016 Ooohh I like the lines, I'm staying tuned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 28, 2016 Report Share Posted March 28, 2016 I'm donning my deerstalker and duck call. Open season!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 28, 2016 Report Share Posted March 28, 2016 I'm so ready for another psikoT build. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted March 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2016 Thanks guys, I just got envy while seeing you working... I would like to tell something about the project, but sincerely I don't know where to start... my last build was a lil bit disappointing and I'm just trying to improve those details I'm not happy with. The body contour and the carving are going to be different this time, also there will be some modifications regarding to neck/fretboard dimensions... just some millimeters more here and there. I really wanted to start building an nice jazz guitar, kinda semihollow, archtop, whatever... but I couldn't achieve any good design so far, so I gave up and try this one... maybe I change my mind in the next days and the design will be completely different. You never know. In order to save some money in shipping, I bought most of the things in the same place, so I got some pickups randomly. This time I will try some Tonerider Rebel-90, kinda humbucker sized P90s... I never tried a P90 so this makes easier to replace in case they don't appeal to me. I've heard some videos in youtube and they sound decently... let's see. There was an incident in the delivery, one of the pieces of the rosewood top had a small crack in the side... so I requested another top to the provider. I don't have to send back the broken one, so now I have two tops. The "broken" one still can be used I think... ^^ so I will try to make a sandwich rosewood-mahogany-rosewood and make some cool lines with the carving. Now I'm just trying to have some spare time to prepare all the boards... I still couldn't recover from the last year sanding session, this gonna be the hell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 29, 2016 Report Share Posted March 29, 2016 Hand sanding can be a real workout all right. Think of it as saving money instead of going to the gym. I personally love the tone of a good set of P-90s. I don't know that they'd be good for metal if that's your thing, but for a classic blues based rock to straight blues, the tone is hard to beat. In my own opinion, of course. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted April 4, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2016 I finally bought a small band-sander (?) which accelerates the process a little bit. Sorry for stupid update, I spent most of the time preparing the things I need. Since I have to reduce the thickness of the body blank, I had to upgrade the router planner. I've increased the height to 48 mm and also increased the width to fit the body, the tops and the veneers. Also made a new "upper part" which works like a charm. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted April 4, 2016 Report Share Posted April 4, 2016 That router thicknessing jig looks fantastic. The reinforcement should help reduce any deflection of the sled from the weight of the router to nothing. The melamine layer is useful too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted April 4, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2016 2 minutes ago, Prostheta said: That router thicknessing jig looks fantastic. The reinforcement should help reduce any deflection of the sled from the weight of the router to nothing. The melamine layer is useful too. Thanks!... BTW I got the idea from your tutorial... ^^ but I prefer this method to the other one, I think is more accurate. It also needs less space. The melamine also reduces the grip, which makes everything easier to move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 4, 2016 Report Share Posted April 4, 2016 2 hours ago, psikoT said: I finally bought a small band-sander (?) which accelerates the process a little bit. Sorry for stupid update, I spent most of the time preparing the things I need. Belt sander, at least that's what we call it over here. Doesn't it sometimes seem like you can do two or three days work just to get ready to start? SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted April 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2016 On 4/4/2016 at 11:19 PM, ScottR said: Belt sander, at least that's what we call it over here. Doesn't it sometimes seem like you can do two or three days work just to get ready to start? SR Thanks for translation, I knew the term but I couldn't remember... The biggest deal is against the laziness after some winter months of inactivity, but slowly I'm getting the grips again. I had some spare time this week so I could assemble the core of the neck. The same wood combination as the last build, Rock maple, at the center, is always a lil bit darker than the flamed one on the sides. Then two mahogany veneers to give it some accent lines. It still needs more sanding, but I feel sooo lazy... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted April 6, 2016 Report Share Posted April 6, 2016 Your builds always strike me as very zen-like. Everything in its place and well-ordered. How's the new mini-workshop working for you? If I remember, you were trying to keep dust under control? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted April 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2016 1 hour ago, Prostheta said: How's the new mini-workshop working for you? If I remember, you were trying to keep dust under control? I wanted to do it cool, with wooden walls, a door and so on, but I finally put a curtain made with some cheap carpet (?)... ^^ it works very well, although I have to use the vacuum after every step. It's also quite warm inside so maybe I should build in winter, cause this summer is gonna be the hell in there. Let`s see. I didn't want to show it before because it looks awful, but since you asked... proudly present my working corner: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted April 7, 2016 Report Share Posted April 7, 2016 I can't allow my wife to see this. I would go through so many levels of hell being asked why I can't be so tidy. I do more than make one guitar per year though. That is seriously cool. If we have a lineup of each other's workspaces, I would identify that as being yours for sure. Clean, calm and unhurried. Mine is like walking a tightrope between tidied and....in use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted April 7, 2016 Report Share Posted April 7, 2016 Ooooh....that's got me inspired. And absolutely my wife is never going to see that picture @psikoT ! I can hear it now, 'Well look....if he can keep it that tidy, why can't YOU!' After 37 years of marriage, I didn't think it was possible for my wife to hate me any more than she already does....but if she saw that neat workshop, by golly she would find more...much more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 8, 2016 Report Share Posted April 8, 2016 Mine is like a jungle...... SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted April 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2016 Sorry guys, if you consider that your marriage is in a risk because of the pictures, just tell me, I have no problem removing them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted April 8, 2016 Report Share Posted April 8, 2016 Oh totally not...hahah! More a case of Adam Savage's "drawers are where tools go to die". Everything needs to be within arms reach and available. I don't tidy because things get lost that way. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted April 15, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2016 Since the neck is 99% equal to the previous one, I thought it would make no sense to post the same pictures of the same process, with the same wood, in the same place. So I tell you what I did and you imagine. Routed the truss rod channel and glued the ears and the rosewood-mahogany sandwich to the headstock. I also had some time to prepare the fretboard. I just wanted to show you this stupidly cool tiny piece of wood. This is the first time I use rosewood in a fretboard, always used ebony, and I was not sure, so I bought both madagascar rosewood and 1st grade ebony, just in case. After tapping with the fingers both fretboards, this one gave me a bright belly sound, whilst the ebony one had a stupid mute response, like tapping a piece of hard rubber... that was really dissapointing, so finally I think I made a good choice. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted April 15, 2016 Report Share Posted April 15, 2016 That's the thing about Ebony. It's desirable for all the wrong reasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2.5itim Posted April 16, 2016 Report Share Posted April 16, 2016 I have grown over time to love rosewood, it's a joy to work with, it smells great when cut and it feels great on the fingers! I have 2 guitars in the works with Honduran rosewood and I find them a joy. I really like the look of Madagascar, I'd like to try some soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted April 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2016 Finally got the headstock cap in place and the truss rod access is done. Next step is working on the fretboard. I have to cut a couple of 3 mm. strips before slotting it, as I will need them for the binding. Hope I can do that tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted April 17, 2016 Report Share Posted April 17, 2016 Very nice warm combination. I've noticed that a lot of your photos are very biased towards red. It might be worth experimenting with the white balance of your camera since it seems to be defaulting to colder daylight-type adjustment. Which reminds me; I need to buy a grey card sometime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted April 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2016 I have no idea how to take a picture, so I use the automatic setup... there are two yellow lights and the orange wall, which reflects to the yellowish table, that's why I get these warm photos I guess... Finally spent most of the morning preparing the fretboard and the afternoon setting up the mitterbox, so I could make few slots only... since the scale is 666 mm. I have no template, but still much more precise than the manual way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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