Limba 6 Multiscale Filter'Tron

[charisjapan]

Twas a rotten day, but rain is coming ...

 

The strap is a gift from my ohana daughter especially for this guitar.  A little gaudy, but works well, IMHO  .

 

Recap: White Limba body, Paduak neck, Wenge fretboard, Padauk garnish everywhere.  628~648mm (approximately 24-3/4"~25.5") multiscale, TV Jones Filter'Tron Classic Plus single pickup, mixed Black/Chrome Hipshot hardware, 45 degree string-through, and .... snow-capped Mt. Fuji headstock  .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[charisjapan]

And especially for @Mr Natural ...

[Norris]

That turned out very nice!

[Mr Natural]

[Mr Natural]

I have really enjoyed watching this ax come to life CJ. Well done. 

[bileshake]

Nice work, I really like the body shape also. Props.

 

[kenggg]

Love idea of headstock.

[charisjapan]

On ‎3‎/‎8‎/‎2018 at 11:02 AM, kenggg said:

Love idea of headstock.

Thankee Very Much!

Hope to get going on the next Chinaberry 6 and a Multiscale Short Scale Bass soon, but fighting pretty severe tendinitis in my right arm/hand.  While I love using hand tools, I may have to use power router sled and box, and power sanders more.  (sigh) 

(some may think it's weird, but I kinda like handplanes and sanding blocks)

Cheers!

[Norris]

5 hours ago, charisjapan said:

(some may think it's weird, but I kinda like handplanes and sanding blocks)

Absolutely not - I'm in full agreement . I hope the tendinitis clears up soon - it can take quite a few months of rest to do so though

[Pariahrob]

Beautiful results. Another fan of the headstock here. Also love how your string through is done. Very nice. 

[ScottR]

17 hours ago, charisjapan said:

(some may think it's weird, but I kinda like handplanes and sanding blocks)

I do too.

SR

[charisjapan]

We~~ell, it's been nearly a year since I called this build finished, and I have been enjoying the guitar a lot.

But ...

I really find I want more tonal variety from this guitar, as in a neck pickup. Pretty sure that with a neck pickup, there'd be little need for most of my other guitars. The contenders for that position are another TV Jones Brian Setzer Neck, or if not worried about "visual continuity," a noiseless tele pickup like the S-D STK-T1N. Both are available to me here ... in fact, I have both in hand, and whichever is not used here will go into the Chinaberry Six build for my daughter.

(side note: still dealing with the right thumb/index finger/forearm troubles ... beyond the tendinitis and numbness, now have bursitis elbow ... like a ping-pong ball! but seems to be settling down, less pain, and no more cortisone shots )

And ... while I am really digging the positioning of the guitar, the ergonomics are not "just right." With the low saddles and multiscale, my forearm was even more uncomfortable than just my health issues. As long as it's my guitar for me, thinking about putting a rasp to it. The bevels are kind of inspired by my '78 The Paul (and maybe a bit of strat!). I had made this body cutout of 2X6s, so gave it some color to exaggerate the bevels. This guitar is solid Limba, so won't be anything like this contrast, but wanted the overall silhouette and the inner shape to be complimentary.

Please comment!






 

[Prostheta]

I've found that doing straight roundovers at sharp corners often lends an overly-artificial feel to profiling. Tapering the radius by hand might be useful and help maintain the desired end look.

Sorry to hear about the medical issues with your hands and arms. It's very very disabling and weighs on one's mind a lot. I hope the pain is manageable and there is light at the end of this tunnel. No tunnel jokes intended.

[charisjapan]

14 minutes ago, Prostheta said:

I've found that doing straight roundovers at sharp corners often lends an overly-artificial feel to profiling. Tapering the radius by hand might be useful and help maintain the desired end look.

Sorry to hear about the medical issues with your hands and arms. It's very very disabling and weighs on one's mind a lot. I hope the pain is manageable and there is light at the end of this tunnel. No tunnel jokes intended.

Thanks for the reply @Prostheta!

Yeah, I forgot to add that this will not be sharp bevels a la SG, but smoothed to complement the original roundover.  I was trying to imagine what the inner/outer shape would look like, then blend them. This 2X6 pine mockup already had the roundover, and so does the Limba 6, so I will just pencil a basic line on the top and sides, rasp down to my mark, then smooth by hand. Hope the aesthetics work on Limba!

Indeed, medical issues are the pits!  As a carpenter and biker, I've had "Hammer Elbow" and "Cycle Wrist" over the years ... but did not expect "Rasp Wrist" and "Plane Elbow!!"  As to pain, it's there, but really don't like meds, so mostly sticking to plasters (pun intended) and topical stuff.  The doctor ordered the cortisone shots, and I really don't want to go there again. 

... I'll be back!

[charisjapan]

Here's a few pics to describe the redux plan:

Bevels. Not sharp bevels, as there's already a 3/8" roundover the whole body. I'll rasp down bevels something like this, then smooth them to flow into the existing roundover. Not sure if I will do all the bevels shown, including the tummy cut, or not. You could chip in any thoughts, and all would be appreciated.

Neck pickup. And associated third knob. The guitar sounds great now, a lot is happening with just volume and tone knobs, but ... I do sorely miss neck tones. Toyed with the idea of a Tele neck pickup, but since I already had this Brian Setzer pickup, the idea of a dual TV Jones set just looks right. From what I've read, it should sound pretty good, too .

Neck carve. I am enjoying the multiscale, though there are a few times when the barre angle goes wrong. The nut and heel width are perfect, but my "V" carve is a bit too deep. I will shave to about 2mm thinner, and make the "V" softer. Almost all of this will happen between the 9th fret and the nut, as this neck is a "D" to "C" to "V" carve.

Finish. The neck is perfect with Odie's Oil, not gonna change that. The Limba body, however, is gonna get something different. Not sure what, but while I love the feel of the natural wood (warm and smooth and "real"), the color is just not doing it for me. I might grain fill and spray a lightly tinted something (amber?) or maybe semi-opague (butterscotch?). Perhaps even a two-tone to accentuate the bevels? This is undecided, and my finish skills are pretty much nonexistent, so kinda limited. But I always willing to try something, and not shy about stripping the whole thing and doing it over.

Thanks for reading this LONG explanation!


 

[Mr Natural]

ultimately everything here is your call- I think the bevels as you have them in your test body look good. 

I had a Washburn A-20V in the 80s and it had a V neck and I absolutely hated it. If it was a C carve in the same depth-I would have loved it. I find that V carved necks can put my hand in a weird position- as my thumb becomes an anchor point if you will- vs a C carve where my hand naturally will "wrap" around the neck- and for instance putting my thumb over the neck to barre the low E string is comfortable whereas with a V its both uncomfortable and damn near impossible for me to do.

[charisjapan]

1 hour ago, Mr Natural said:

I had a Washburn A-20V in the 80s and it had a V neck and I absolutely hated it. If it was a C carve in the same depth-I would have loved it. I find that V carved necks can put my hand in a weird position- as my thumb becomes an anchor point if you will- vs a C carve where my hand naturally will "wrap" around the neck- and for instance putting my thumb over the neck to barre the low E string is comfortable whereas with a V its both uncomfortable and damn near impossible for me to do.

I found I like the Soft-V after I bought a Clapton Strat neck. In my case, it's because my barre finger is about 1/4" short and a bit mangled after an episode with a 12" radial arm saw .  (something like, "I fought the saw, and the saw won.")  The Chinaberry Bass Soft-V came out perfect, but on this Limba I was afraid to take off too much.  Well, 6 months later, it's time to rectify that.  And I agree, a Hard-V is too much of an anchor point ... It's what I am struggling with now.

Since the Clapton neck is perfect for me, I'm going to take real careful measurements and try to get that.

 

[charisjapan]

Today was the day!

Just did a preliminary bevel using 25-degrees as my baseline. I have no idea what is considered a "good bevel angle," but this seems to have a nice feel. I used a Shinto Rasp first, then the SteMac Dragon, then a card scraper. (side note: after about 4 months of R&R, I'm pretty sure I will feel this in my forearms and shoulders tonight!) Also drilled for the third pot and the neck pickup rout. As expected, all that sawdust and shaving amounted to less than 100 grams. I will definitely explore the idea of shaving the top and back, hoping for another 50 grams ... the TV Jones pickup, Hipshot knob, and a push-pull pot will get me right back where I started .

 

[Prostheta]

25° sounds good. I think I did a 1:3 (uurrrr...about 19°?) on Nina's SG so this isn't too far out from that, and besides, SGs are pretty thin.

Glad to hear that you're on the mend and rehabbing through this work! Like we've mentioned before, that inlaying of key components is superb work. Do you think that the top shaving is worth the risk? I would only do so if I had access to a drum sander, or is the wood was plane-friendly. Any tearout and you're right back at square one, just with a mm or two less wood than you expected!

[charisjapan]

4 hours ago, Prostheta said:

25° sounds good. I think I did a 1:3 (uurrrr...about 19°?) on Nina's SG so this isn't too far out from that, and besides, SGs are pretty thin.

Glad to hear that you're on the mend and rehabbing through this work! Like we've mentioned before, that inlaying of key components is superb work. Do you think that the top shaving is worth the risk? I would only do so if I had access to a drum sander, or is the wood was plane-friendly. Any tearout and you're right back at square one, just with a mm or two less wood than you expected!

My SGJ is about 20 degrees, and yeah, pretty thin.  I could probably go to 27 degrees without looking too steep.  On the other hand, I don't want the "inner" shape to be much smaller than it is, so a shallower angle is out.

One of the reasons I want to thickness the body is that I never really flattened the body at all ... just cut it out from the blank.  The seller said it was drum sanded, but this chunk of wood has been worked, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's no longer flat.  I don't have a drum sander (or access to one), and I'm not confident of my skill to flatten with a hand plane, so the router box is my only real option.  The dish bit is very sharp, so tearout should not be a problem.  The only problem is that Padauk bridge inlay sit up about 2mm, so can't sand the top flat anyway.

I'll mess with it a bit more, and keep ya'll up to date!

 

[charisjapan]

Saved 15 grams over the Electrosocket. 

[Prostheta]

You crack me up! But seriously though, that is going to be a lovely tie-in with the rest.

[charisjapan]

13 hours ago, Prostheta said:

You crack me up! But seriously though, that is going to be a lovely tie-in with the rest.

 

charisjapan Silver Supporter

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Hahaha! Not to worry, don't take myself too seriously. either! 

 

Will probably get out the Dremel and clean up the "Padaukesocket" and inside the control cavity. Yet another red doodad, yeah!

My fetish for loosing grams started with building racing wheelsets for mountain bikes ... less reciprocating weight = better steering response on technical courses. Never had a failed wheel, lots of happy customers. Next was a sub-22 pound cycle with a steel frame, front suspension and no strength compromises ... it was a big deal back then. (now there are carbon fiber bikes much lighter) I know it matters little with guitars, but old habits die hard.

Havin' fun!

[Prostheta]

I'd get into that new socket surround with some files or papers wrapped around a pencil. The left side looks like it is defining the minimum border size so it needs finessing to be equal all the way around. If a Dremel is your weapon of choice, great. I find they easily get away from me when I blink or think about something else like beer or brass screws, or maybe solder. Lasagna. Oh f....new divot in the wood....

[charisjapan]

On ‎6‎/‎3‎/‎2018 at 6:15 AM, Prostheta said:

I'd get into that new socket surround with some files or papers wrapped around a pencil. The left side looks like it is defining the minimum border size so it needs finessing to be equal all the way around. If a Dremel is your weapon of choice, great. I find they easily get away from me when I blink or think about something else like beer or brass screws, or maybe solder. Lasagna. Oh f....new divot in the wood....

 

I agree that I needed something to clean up the shape of the "Padaukesocket" ... but why waste a perfect opportunity to make a one-off specialty tool for the job?!   I had the original white wood spindle and a small cutoff from my drill press lathing, so just rounded it a bit and double-side taped some #180 paper and put it in a cordless drill.  Looks better, methinks.