Jdogg

Any chance you could post a photo of the razors you use for the inlay? When the initial route is down I use thee types of razors. One with a sharp tip, hook, and rounded. I'm trying to picture them and not quite getting it.

Wenge is rarely, if ever, unacceptable in my opinion.....

A good sharp reasonably narrow kerf blade is paramount. tall fence not soo much. your stock must be square and flat and the edges must be jointed to be exactly 90 degree's to one face. then you have to ensure that same face is always against the fence. I use a 2" block of body scrap that has been jointed on one side to hold the stock against the fence. then it's simply a matter of taking multiple small cuts and just pushing the stock through the blade. it works rather well.... The only actual difficult part is cutting out the center section without letting the saw blade wander and cut into the sides (ruining the bookmatch).

Yeah, it's a random orbital sander clamped into an incredibly Janky stand. It rattles the shit outta the workbench, it's loud as hell, needs to be clamped down or it will literally run away on you...... But on the same token, it's savagely effective, works well when you've got a template glued on top (as the cutting action is down so you don't get the regular lifiting / fuzzies that you get with other sanders, and it leaves a nice 90 deg smooth surface. I wish I had money for one of those nice 12" disk sanders.... but... this was nearly free... and works pretty good....

I had to put my K&K build on hold as I'm a sucker for build challenges. Just finished up assembling the bobbins for a mulitscale neck pickup.

looks like a winner, You must be a machinist...

Being sore the next day is the best part. that's how you know you did something worth doing.....

I agree with MisterMikev. this is a very ambitious first build. Good luck!

I've heard the same thing said about Wenge (very mid-tone-ish) which also happens to be very hard and stiff. I would have though both timbers would be very bright based upon the hardness but apparently that's not the case.

More progress over the last couple days. started my day off yesterday with a nice little splinter. Managed to dig her out with a razor blade.. not ideal but sure as hell don't want it going septic. I forgot how freaking splintery Wenge can be... reminder to self... only use BRAND SPANKING NEW router blades on wenge or it's tearout city.. bodies routed and forearm contour completed. this is my fretboard blank. it's just wide enough at the bottom and 2" thick so I should get a couple blanks out of it. had a slight warp to it tho so needed to flatten it before splitting. Then started throwing pieces of Wenge thru the table saw to split em. yeah, I'm SUPER wasteful but I don't have one of them fancy schmancy band saw's other than my little Ryobi that wouldn't split this if it's life depended on it... trust my... I tried.... LOL.... Should have enough there for some 1/4" neck laminations + some headstock laminations + cavity cover plates + fretboards once it's all split out and routed flat. good times. that's all for now...

might be a good idea to ease that hard edge on the forearm contour. the more radius you put on there the less likely it'll crack. Also, use a heat resistant glue when you glue the top together... in case you need to use an iron. wouldn't want the joint to separate while your trying to bend the contour.

Ooooooo.... that top looks nice.... I like the shape too.

Try Kalium strings (used to be circle K strings) https://kaliummusic.com/strings/

Indeed. I'm glad to be back. I let life and other projects interfere... it's time to get back at er. I know right. these kid's better love me when I'm done! LOL

Game plan is to do something very similar to my oldest son's guitar (show below). Not quite a carbon copy but close. Keegan (my son) likes Dinosaurs and Kayden (nephew) likes trucks/cars so i'll update the inlay / fabric top to match that. So I loaded up the vehicular with some maple and Alder. managed to get some Wenge "shorts" for 14 bucks a board foot so I loaded up on those too.... Lesson learned, pay more attention when buying alder. it's knotty shit and getting a clean blank out of any board can be an absolute nightmare. a little bit of explorative surgery to see where the knots went and I was able to map things out.... The knots prevented me from putting the seam on center line but that's never bothered me and sure as hell wont bother the kiddo's. Cut, flatten, Joint, and glue up. easy peasy. I've cut out the body blanks, routed to shape, cut the arm contours and started splitting the wenge in preparation for the neck laminations and will likely to Wenge fretboards but managed to neglect to take any pictures. : (

Okay... this guitar is badass... love the shape.... love it.

I love this shape... very cool.

If your not going to finish it. perhaps hang it on your wall in the shop... as a reminder of where your coming from vs where you are going (current projects).

"80s and un-PC" you misspelled "hilarious"...

Another vote for finishing it. looks like a pretty spectacular attempt with the limited tools available.

Classy as hell. this thing looks like it would be equally at home with some jazz head noodling around or some metal head melting your freaking face off.... That wenge looks DARK... is it the oil or a particularly dark piece? Also, that neck profile looks interesting... is that a very soft version of a vee mixed with the toone neck profile.. sorta?

Thanks for your thoughts on the Padauk / tonewood. I used it for a neck on my 2nd build and found it to be everything you've mentioned above and intensely stable to boot. the color however is my favorite part.... even after it oxidizes.... love it.... ah, danmit... now I wanna do another Padauk build.... I blame you!

What are your thoughts on guitars made entirely of Padauk? Crimson says it's very similar to Mahogany but Warmoth says it's very similar to Maple... those are 2 exact opposite ends of the spectrum... so somebody's lying here... LOL... I suppose this question is only really relevant if you buy into the whole wood affects tone by any measurable amount argument.... which I'm not even sure I buy in on....

With something like Arduino and a couple of servo's you could set it up to move away from the bridge when high frequency notes are played and away from the strings as volume increases... kinda like a mechanical EQ / compressor.... someone needs to do this....

I agree with Kmensik, That looks like Alder to me too.