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On 7/8/2018 at 4:59 PM, Danstinyexplorer said:

Well it sounds 100x better now with twice the sustain. Above maybe the 8th fret it sounded a bit woolly before but it rings very nicely now. I was wondering if I would need a fret levelling tool, as it stands my broomstick press worked a treat, they all seem flat to me with no buzz or dead notes anywhere. I’m really rather pleased. I should really get that bone/tusk nut finished and get a wooden tone knob made now. 

To think a child’s toy has become such a long winded project!

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Looks good :) Well done and here's to the next one 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

So I got rid of the plastic tone knob and knocked up a new one from a lump of African Blackwood. So it’s not very shiny but you may have noticed I’m more rustic than glossy, it suits me fine this way! 

I found some Victorian bone crochet needles which I put to good use as fret markers ( is that what they are called?). I did this in totally the wrong order, I’m sure 99% of people probably cut frets and drill holes in the fingerboard before it is glued to the neck but hey, who likes convention anyway? 

I’ve still got a 3 pole pickup in there, I need to hunt about for a four string version really, hopefully something with a bit more grunt. I can’t say I really know where to look for options here, any pointers would be gratefully received.

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On 7/18/2018 at 11:46 PM, Danstinyexplorer said:

So I got rid of the plastic tone knob and knocked up a new one from a lump of African Blackwood. So it’s not very shiny but you may have noticed I’m more rustic than glossy, it suits me fine this way! 

I found some Victorian bone crochet needles which I put to good use as fret markers ( is that what they are called?). I did this in totally the wrong order, I’m sure 99% of people probably cut frets and drill holes in the fingerboard before it is glued to the neck but hey, who likes convention anyway? 

I’ve still got a 3 pole pickup in there, I need to hunt about for a four string version really, hopefully something with a bit more grunt. I can’t say I really know where to look for options here, any pointers would be gratefully received.

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Knob looks good.

Ref the pickup, what's the top to bottom string spacing at the pickup position?

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  • 2 weeks later...

String spacing over the pickups is about 11mm. Not a size I would have ended up with if I had given the project any forethought!

The head was a little thin and as a result quite easy to knock out of tune. I whacked a bit of ebony veneer on top which gives the tuners a bit more support and hides the join where I sawed it up and extended it. 

Ive still got to finish that bone nut but need to come up with something to slot it with in absence of the correct tools.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 8/12/2018 at 10:20 PM, Danstinyexplorer said:

Good thinking, I’ll dig into mandolin parts and see what surfaces. 

I started making this little fellow this evening. I’ve no idea if it will change the sound in any way but I thought it would look cool either way!

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I'm with @Prostheta here...what is it we're looking at?  A bridge?

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  • 1 month later...

I’ve been thinking I would like to make a bigger hollow body guitar at some point so did a spot of mucking about/scaled down prototyping with some scraps of pitch pine and mahogany. Ended up with a super light body which has some large cavities in there. 

Fitted the home made bridge which was a bastard to get into the correct place using hidden screws from the back, all in now though after making some rotating posts with offset holes through the middle that allow some addistment of the bridge position whilst staying invisible.

I bought a ocustom pickup from Pete at Almuse, he is an absolute diamond and well worth speaking to if 4 strings are your thing.

A bit of fettling is needed here nd there but I suspect it’s evolution is nearing completion. I’ve learned a few things through trial and error but am starting to get the gist of what this guitar building lark is all about. Gearing up for A 3/4  size build soon....... to 

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Because the string spacing is particularly narrow mr Almuse built a Phatbird mandolin casing with magnets that would normally live in a ukulele . This is 10mm across the poles where his ukulele pickups are 12 or 14mm. It is so much louder and smoother than the one that came out. It arrived within 2 working days of ordering and I wasn’t charged any extra for having it built......dead pleased with everything about the little transaction, top notch! 

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