Popular Post psikoT Posted April 7, 2017 Popular Post Report Share Posted April 7, 2017 Hi guys, is not very orhtodox to me to start a new project without finishing the previous one, but here in Vienna I have a short timeframe with relatively good weather and I have to move fast otherwise I'll get stuck at some point. So I had a couple of pickups here around and I thought that it would be nice to make them sound somehow... so I need a guitar to hold them. Still waiting for the wood to arrive and quite busy at the moment, but I hope to give it a go as soon as I can. Here is the first mockup: Nothing special, just a superstratish I wanted to have since long time ago. The design is not 100% mine, the body contour is taken from a RAN crusher with some mods but the top carve is gonna be different, hope to have sucess this time. Specs are: - Madagascar Rosewood top - Alder body - Rock maple neck - Crelicam Ebony fingerboard, 666mm scale This will be the first time I'll make a scarf joint and a 6 in line headstock. I feel like a noob. Cheers! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 7, 2017 Report Share Posted April 7, 2017 Woohoo! A new build from psikoT! I always look forward to your builds. I like your headstock design and also am looking forward to seeing that rosewood. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted April 9, 2017 Report Share Posted April 9, 2017 Yup - looking forward to this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted April 13, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2017 Thanks for watching, guys. The wood arrived today... now I just need time. A little bit dissapointed with them though... the fingerboard looks weird, nothing to do with the picture. ^^ I think I will go for the black ebony, still deciding. And the rosewood top looks quite stripy to me, but I guess I have to deal with it. I'm gonna install some carbon fiber rods this time, but they are 5 mm thick, so I'll need a proper router bit. I use a 6mm one for the trussrod but I guess it's not valid. This is the first time I use carbon fiber and not sure where to install them, as they are really short (370mm). I've seen a guy who uses even shorter ones and places them close to the heel.... any advice about carbon fiber rods is really appreciated. That's it. Can't wait to start this one. Cheers! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted April 13, 2017 Report Share Posted April 13, 2017 3 hours ago, psikoT said: any advice about carbon fiber rods is really appreciated. If it were me I'd position them in the middle of the truss rod's length. Pretty much as you have them in the photo. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted April 13, 2017 Report Share Posted April 13, 2017 OMG that fret board- or- that piece of wood at the bottom of the photo. its going to be a shame to put frets into that. (are there two fret boards in that pic? you could always make a fretless guitar with a sustainer as with all your builds- looking forward to this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted April 25, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2017 Ok, so I decided to go for a scarf joint this time... it was my first scarf joint ever and already had a mistake calculating the length of the headstock, got it 8 mm shorter than planned... Cutting that piece of maple was not easy, had to make some corrections in the way... I've made a jig for this purpose. Next time I'll think on adding some stops to avoid touching the jig with the router bit. But it worked very well... After some sanding, I got perfect flat surfaces, ready to glue. Not sure what's easier, the scarf joint or the laminated way... laminated necks look cooler, but scarf joint requires less wood. On 13/4/2017 at 10:46 PM, curtisa said: If it were me I'd position them in the middle of the truss rod's length. Pretty much as you have them in the photo. Thanks, I'll do it like so... On 13/4/2017 at 11:04 PM, Mr Natural said: are there two fret boards in that pic? Yes, there are two... Gabon Ebony and Crelicam Ebony. I like the blank itself, but not sure if it's going to be "too much", and not sure about the combination with the rosewood top... we will see. Thanks for watching! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted April 25, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2017 While I was typing I found the solution to fix the headstock length... since it is a very thick piece, I can remove some millimeters of thickness to get it longer. Simple trigonometry! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jdogg Posted April 25, 2017 Report Share Posted April 25, 2017 WOWZERS that fretboard blank on the bottom is EPIC! that's the kind of fretboard where you design an entire guitar around it. I think your right.... it might be a bit much for this build. personally I would put that on a very plain looking guitar as the single piece of "flash".... but YMMV regarding the scarf... how thick is your maple? I like to have about 7/8" thickness on the headstock piece. perhaps thin it down as shown and add a thicker headstock veneer to bring the thickness back up? or you could laminate the headstock area to bring up the thickness... see my gremlin build for what I mean... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted April 25, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2017 1 hour ago, Jdogg said: regarding the scarf... how thick is your maple? I like to have about 7/8" thickness on the headstock piece. perhaps thin it down as shown and add a thicker headstock veneer to bring the thickness back up? or you could laminate the headstock area to bring up the thickness... see my gremlin build for what I mean... Hi, the blank was for a bass neck, so it's thicker than needed, 33mm to be more precise... that gives me a lot to play with. BTW, veneering the headstock will substract length to itself. Anyway, it will have triple veneering, as usual in my builds, which I have to take in consideration in the final calculation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jdogg Posted April 25, 2017 Report Share Posted April 25, 2017 1 hour ago, psikoT said: Hi, the blank was for a bass neck, so it's thicker than needed, 33mm to be more precise... that gives me a lot to play with. BTW, veneering the headstock will substract length to itself. Anyway, it will have triple veneering, as usual in my builds, which I have to take in consideration in the final calculation. ah crap. totally my bad. wasn't paying attention on the veneer.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted April 26, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2017 No problem, it's not easy to figure out... I had to redesign the headstock in several builds just because I've added some veneers to it. Keep in mind that for every 3mm veneer, the headstock is like 10 mm shorter. Stupid trigonometry... ^^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pan_kara Posted April 26, 2017 Report Share Posted April 26, 2017 19 hours ago, psikoT said: While I was typing I found the solution to fix the headstock length... since it is a very thick piece, I can remove some millimeters of thickness to get it longer. Simple trigonometry! lol I had to do some variation of this on pretty much every other scarfed neck that I did. Either taking wood off the neck face, the headstock face, or gluing on a faceplate and of course the classic that you mention above (realizing that after I level everything my nut line has moved by a cm (and the headstock is now too short)) 19 hours ago, psikoT said: Not sure what's easier, the scarf joint or the laminated way... laminated necks look cooler, but scarf joint requires less wood. I do both typically, laminate together a straight blank and then cut the scarf in that. Best of both worlds man, that ebony board is awesome! I have 4 of this type, and I can't fit them into any build since I usually go with busy figured tops and then its just too much to have a wacky fingeboard ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted April 26, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2017 So I removed some material from the headstock and got a nice 22 cm long piece, more than enough to keep the original design. Now I'm afraid about the joint ending too close to the volute, we'll see. Then I've proceed to glue both pieces, in a not very proffesional way... hope I don't have to level the neck surface too much. 4 hours ago, pan_kara said: man, that ebony board is awesome! I have 4 of this type, and I can't fit them into any build since I usually go with busy figured tops and then its just too much to have a wacky fingeboard ... Yeah, I guess I'll save it for the next one... still thinking what would match well with it, maybe a wenge top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariahrob Posted April 27, 2017 Report Share Posted April 27, 2017 Great design and wood choices. I agree about the fingerboard. Keep the fancy blank for another build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattharris75 Posted April 27, 2017 Report Share Posted April 27, 2017 20 hours ago, psikoT said: So I removed some material from the headstock and got a nice 22 cm long piece, more than enough to keep the original design. Now I'm afraid about the joint ending too close to the volute, we'll see. Then I've proceed to glue both pieces, in a not very proffesional way... hope I don't have to level the neck surface too much. Yeah, I guess I'll save it for the next one... still thinking what would match well with it, maybe a wenge top. One thing that I've found helps me on funky joints like this, where there is a big tendency for the joint to slide, is to use blue painters tape on it. A bit of tape in the right spot can really minimize the amount of clean up work you have to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted April 27, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2017 1 hour ago, mattharris75 said: One thing that I've found helps me on funky joints like this, where there is a big tendency for the joint to slide, is to use blue painters tape on it. A bit of tape in the right spot can really minimize the amount of clean up work you have to do. I've pinned the two pieces with 4 nails but they got bent while applying pressure with the clamps, so I finally got the headstock 2 mm lower than the rest. But I can level it with the thicknessing jig, I guess... thanks for the suggestion anyway. I saw a jig for this purpose somewhere but I was unable to find it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted April 27, 2017 Report Share Posted April 27, 2017 I'm watching with great interest -especially the trigonometry. I always live in fear of getting my angles the wrong way round....and I qualified in Mechanical Engineering, albeit many years ago! NEVER walk over a bridge I've designed.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted April 28, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2017 To be honest, I have no idea about trigonometry... luckily nowadays those things are done by the computer. I don't trust on bridges, no matters who designed them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pan_kara Posted April 28, 2017 Report Share Posted April 28, 2017 20 hours ago, psikoT said: I've pinned the two pieces with 4 nails but they got bent while applying pressure with the clamps, so I finally got the headstock 2 mm lower than the rest. But I can level it with the thicknessing jig, I guess... thanks for the suggestion anyway. I saw a jig for this purpose somewhere but I was unable to find it. yea I think nails are not enough .. I tried staples with the "connecting bar" cut off (the stewmac trick for gluing fingerboards) on a multiscale scarf I was gluing and they had nowhere near enough power to hold the wood in place. When I have space on the sides (like in your glueup) I drill two holes with 6mm bits on the sides of the scarf and leave the bits in. That holds it fine. Or, if everything is square, I put the neck on it's side on a flat surface and clamp everything DOWN to the surface. And add some stopping blocks at the ends of the two pieces of wood that keep them from sliding in the directions they want to slide (away from the joint) but anyway, its done now 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted April 28, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2017 I finally could level the surface with the thicknessing jig. Actually, I had to remove some material because I got the neck too short this time. Well, live and learn, next time will take a lot of things in consideration. But yeah, it's done... now I have to think how to make a couple of 5mm slots for the carbon fiber rods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted May 1, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2017 Made some progress... So there was no room for triple veneer, due to tight dimensions on both neck and headstock. But single veneer is also cool. I'm tempted to add a binding to the fretboard. I had this koa binding laying around since long time and wondering if I should... Very happy with the truss-rod access. BTW, I'm not going to install the carbon fiber rods, I don't have a proper router bit. Maybe for the next one. I think it's time to make the contour templates for the body and headstock... I hate that. Cheers 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted May 16, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2017 So I got some days off, which I'm gonna spend with my guitars. I've already started laquering the singlecut and made the templates for this one. I'm gonna prepare the body first, which is the hardest part. I don't have long clamps, so I've used this method to glue the top. Japanes style, looks fine to me... ^^ we'll see... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted May 16, 2017 Report Share Posted May 16, 2017 How did you tension those cords? SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted May 16, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2017 43 minutes ago, ScottR said: How did you tension those cords? SR The tension is given through the multiple passes, as every time you pass the chord is giving a lil bit more of tension. But yeah, crossing some stick as tensors would have been nice, in the next one... This method is the same i've used to glue thinner tops, where you place some nails in both sides, but the distance between them is slightly shorter than the width of the top, so the nails are giving the pressure from the side: The problem with thicker tops is that the nails are not strong enough and they tend to bend outwards, that's why I've used the chords, just to keep them pushing inside. I know is not the most professional way to do it but I've checked it and it worked very well. Plus I don't have long clamps... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.