daveq Posted March 13, 2004 Report Share Posted March 13, 2004 It's comming along: I decided to redo the neck from the last pics I posted (a while ago). I wasn't happy with the skull on the last one and I decided against the tilt-back headstock since this is a Kami-inspired guitar. I put in Black MOP for dots because I wanted to highlight the skull. With the bright white dots, it would have been fine but I like the way that they kinda stay subtle and let the skull have the limelight. It's an ebony fretboard (compound radius) with a very nice birdseye maple neck (thank you Larry - from Gallery). Jumbo frets from stewmac. I was going to use the birdseye for my RG but it will have to wait. The top is a 5A eastern maple top. 5A means different things to different people but regardless - I like it. There's lots of sanding left to do. The top is getting a bit dirty so I'll have some clean up to do before staining. It will probably get stained blue and black or blue w/ darker blue. I want blue so it will match with the LEDs. There's an 81 in the bridge and 85 in the neck. I wish I put an 89 in the neck (maybe I will?). There's a kill switch for the LEDs and a kill switch for the pickups. 1 vol, 1 tone. The bridge is a Schaller floyd (14" radius). No fretwork done yet. I just strung it up to check it out and it's working great. Thank you to everyone who helped with great advice along the way!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKGBass Posted March 13, 2004 Report Share Posted March 13, 2004 SWEEET once again, man. You always do a great job. ps...what did you do with the old neck? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammy Posted March 13, 2004 Report Share Posted March 13, 2004 F**king amazing! You fancy telling us how you did the LED work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angry_jeremy Posted March 13, 2004 Report Share Posted March 13, 2004 You fancy telling us how you did the LED work? YEAH! YEAH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted March 13, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2004 Thank you- I've got some material for a tutorial on LEDs (for side markers) in the works. I'm not sure when I'll be done with it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feylya Posted March 13, 2004 Report Share Posted March 13, 2004 Mmmm LED tutorial Incredible work dude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted March 13, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2004 Mmmm LED tutorial Yeah, it seems like someone asks about them almost every week. I hope to post something about them soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feylya Posted March 13, 2004 Report Share Posted March 13, 2004 I asked you about them the last time you posted that guitar. Can't wait to absorb that tutorial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlexVDL Posted March 13, 2004 Report Share Posted March 13, 2004 Oh man that's one hell of a nice shred axe!! I want one!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Litchfield Custom Gutars Posted March 13, 2004 Report Share Posted March 13, 2004 These 2 pics sprung an idea for me to give you. I thought you could use some very black dye, and it back so it's just on the figure, then a bright orange dye. Then, being as you already have a Lynch thing goin on, it'd be one of these, But done with flamed maple, rather than an airbrush. The finish would be quite similar to a Gibson Joe Perry Boneyard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLS Posted March 13, 2004 Report Share Posted March 13, 2004 That inlay is awesome! Then you add the LED's and.... DAMN! I envy you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted March 13, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2004 Thanks guys- Litch - yeah - I like those guitars a lot. I still think I'm gonna go with black/blue though to match with the LEDs. The yellow is tempting though. I intend to build an M1-Tiger someday. I think someone posted their replica a while ago and it turned out great. George is comming in April with Yngwie and I was hoping to get this one signed. I never have the guts to do those things but from what I have heard, George is very willing to do these things for fans. Who knows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahelcaya Posted March 14, 2004 Report Share Posted March 14, 2004 Amazing work !!!!! Defenetly tutorial ! hehehe I bought some 1 mm optic fiber, and will attempt to use that instead of leds, for the sidedots. Anyone ever try this? I kind of have an idea , but would really appriciate tips ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted March 15, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2004 Yeah, I bought a sample set and tried them out very briefly. I found that the bending radius is way too large (even for the 1mm stuff) to work easily with side dots. There are ways to do it without bending but I don't have the time to become a fiber optic cutting ace. If you decide to do it, I think the trick is to cut at the proper angle (there is a critical angle at which it will no longer reflect), and then you have to "silver" the end to make it reflect efficiently. The other thing was- for a bolt-on I needed a way to get the two pieces to line up perfectly when connected. I thought that it would require some tricky routing in the neck heel and decided I was getting into way too much hassle and went with LEDs. Good luck - let us know if you find a way to make it work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted March 15, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2004 One more pic of the skull. The others don't show it as well as this one. The fretboard is kinda dirty as is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkyboy777 Posted March 19, 2004 Report Share Posted March 19, 2004 daveq, I really dig the Lynch style stuff....I've been taking a break from this stuff for awhile and intend to do something similar soon. Ive got the Lo Pro and tuners on the way, in the vintage silver that is on the JemVSBL. Haven't figured out the finish yet, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodFather Posted March 19, 2004 Report Share Posted March 19, 2004 damn thats a sexy guitar, love the inlay and LED's. Can't wait for the tutorial. (my guitar will be completed by friday ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted March 20, 2004 Report Share Posted March 20, 2004 I love this place cuz people like you Dave What a freakin' inspiration that piece of work is. I've learned a few things along the way, and one thing I've learned is this: You can have all the knowledge of great technique in the world, without a kickin' and creative imagination to go along with it, to let the imagination lead the way and drive the machine, great technique don't mean a thing. You'll just be a really good copy artist or replicator unless sooner or later you let your imagination take control of the show and believe in it and what it can do. You got the imagination and the technique, like a lot of guys here, that's a -serious- double-whammy mah man Hats off. ...But you better have that tut ready soon podnuh, I'm dyin' to try one ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted March 20, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2004 Thank you very much - I'm actually a very modest guy so don't worry- those very kind comments won't inflate my head. I have most of the pics ready to make a tutorial - I just need to write up the text for it, and ask Brian if he would allow it. I think a lot of it is just common sense but I'll try to include some warnings for things that are easy to overlook and common mistakes (yes, I made quite a few while learning how to do this ). I hope I can get it sanded and stained (or is the proper word dyed?) this weekend. Thanks again to everyone for their help along the way. It seems that each guitar I have built has brought up issues that I could not have solved without help from others here at projectguitar. I know I would not have made it this far along without your help. DaveQ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primal Posted March 20, 2004 Report Share Posted March 20, 2004 Just an idea for your next LED project: What if you used some type of translucent material for the inlay that way the whole inlay would glow so you could see it in the dark? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted March 20, 2004 Report Share Posted March 20, 2004 That thought had crossed my mind too, but then I figured that anything that thin (some MOP is usually translucent enough to glow with a light behind it) ...that would show light thru it wouldn't cut it for a neck inlay, too fragile, but would work for a body inlay...at least that's what my common sense is telling me...I'm plannin! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skibum5545 Posted March 20, 2004 Report Share Posted March 20, 2004 instead of going for something thin, could you do something akin to frosted glass, but with plastic or something? What might be cool is using UV leds and using glow plastic (or even glow-filled) epoxy over it. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primal Posted March 21, 2004 Report Share Posted March 21, 2004 Thats kind of what I had in mind skibum. Frosted plastic with clear eyes so that the whole inlay would glow with the eyes being brighter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted March 21, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2004 You are right about the MOP glowing from the LEDs. I don't know if it shows in my pics but the skull does glow from the light comming from the eyes. It doesn't cover the entire skull, just the area around the eyes. I think the hard part would be avoiding seeing bright spots where the LEDs are. Maybe the trick is shining the light in from the sides? If anyone decides to try it, I would definitely recommend getting the super-bright type (high mcd rating 2000mcd an up). I think someone here is building a guitar with an acrylic fretboard with some sort of lighting. I don't think he uses LEDs, I seem to remember something about glow wire (the stuff people use for PC mods). It was a bit controversial as I remember, since the lighting source he used creates a bit of noise. Try a search in the inlay section or electronics section if you are interested (maybe use "glow" for a keyword?). OK, I found it, here's a link to the pic: Pic Page I can't find the topic anymore but I think I used "fretboard" for the keyword and snork for the username. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spider-Skot Posted March 24, 2004 Report Share Posted March 24, 2004 Dude, that is extremely cool, wicked, awesome, kickass and a whole big list of adjectives. I'd better not let my buddy Robert see that or he'll want ME to do something like it (in red) and I just don't think I'd have the time or patience...maybe I'd just send the neck to you Of course, with a tutorial, ANYTHING is possible Good work. SKot 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.