ooten2 Posted May 17, 2005 Report Share Posted May 17, 2005 This is my project from the last few months. http://photobucket.com/albums/y207/summell/Neckthru1/? Carvin neck-through, Honduras mahogany body, spalted maple cap. Carvin C22 pickups, electronics, tuners, and fixed bridge. One volume, one tone, 3-way pickup switch. Simple, simple. Actually too simple, I want more knobs! Danish oil/wax finish on the body and head, tung oil on the neck. This finish has to be felt to get the full effect. Everybody who sees it wants to touch... could be a good thing, could be bad! I don't have a digital camera right now, so the pics are from a throw-away Walmart camera, developed onto a cd. Wish they could be better, but between the camera and my poor attempts at photography.... This guitar plays fantastic. Carvin's fret job is great as usual. I like the tones, especially the middle position (both pickups). It has an SRV ballsy quality to it, which I wasn't expecting at all from 2 HB's. The electronics are very quiet, moreso than my LP or strat. I'm planning to take this to a reunion gig over Memorial Day weekend, where I'll get a chance to try it out live. A bunch of old bandmates are getting back together for the first time in years, and I'm the youngest at 41. So the youngest old geezer will play his new guitar with the geezer wood at the 30th anniversary of the band. Cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted May 17, 2005 Report Share Posted May 17, 2005 Wicked-awesome. A tip of the hat to ye olde Telecaster without actually being a full-on tele. I'm sure there's a hint of other axes in there, too, but I don't want to start naming a million guitars hoping to guess the right one(s). Plus, at the end of the day, it's an original design, not a copy. Very nice-looking! What did you use to plane off the extra bit of the... er... tenon (for lack of a better term) to make room for the veneer? Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKGBass Posted May 17, 2005 Report Share Posted May 17, 2005 Neat looking guitar. For future reference, you need a good straight on shot of the body, not having one tends to be annoying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdw3332 Posted May 17, 2005 Report Share Posted May 17, 2005 I like it a lot - nice work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted May 17, 2005 Report Share Posted May 17, 2005 Great lookin guitar! Looks very clean. Peace, Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jer7440 Posted May 17, 2005 Report Share Posted May 17, 2005 Very nice, I dig that spalt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pibrocher Posted May 17, 2005 Report Share Posted May 17, 2005 Yeah the spalted top looks super sweet. Reminds me of the embers of a dying fire. I am a big fan of Carvins,at least the amps that is. I haven't ever played a Carvin guitar. Been lookign at their catalogs for years now though. The photos weren't as bad as you might think, the Wal-Mart camera always works in a pinch. Keep up the good work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ooten2 Posted May 17, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2005 Thanks to everyone for the comments. Greg, you're right, it's based on a tele, with a little bit of Samick Fastback stretch in there. Also, the spalted maple kept cracking, and I ended up having to change a few of the curves as I went along, to accomodate that. A couple of spots actually cracked completely off, but I was able to glue it back together without any visible lines. On the shape, I like the upper bout, but I wish the lower bout and the tail would have come out a bit different. But overall, it's ok. I sawed the neck tenon (I don't know a good term for that either!) with a tablesaw. I worked the cap down to thickness first, and then sawed that amount off of the top of the maple neck. That turned out to be a good plan, because I had to take alot more off of the spalted maple to get it flat than I originally planned. I had to be careful when sawing, as I had horrible visions of sawing off the entire fretboard if I wasn't careful!! I ran the neck through the saw up to just short of the fingerboard, then hand sawed the rest to get a straight cut. As for a straight on pic of the whole body, I thought I had one. But when the film was developed, I didn't see one. Maybe it's on the other camera. I have more pics of it waiting to be developed. I really need a digital camera for this stuff! A few more comments about the guitar: Body: I routed out some chambers in the mahogany before glueing on the cap. This helps keep the weight down, and I like to think it changed the tone a bit, too. I like chambered guitars. Warts and scars: Uneven ferrule holes in the back! Next time, I'll put BigD's tut into practice. The curves of the body could flow alot more smoothly. The top has a couple of low spots that I couldn't even out because of the spalt. If you run your fingers across the top, you can feel them, but in a way, it kinda matches the "rustic" look of the spalted maple. Finish: I used Watco danish oil, natural color, on the body. It darkened the soft spots in the spalt a little more than I planned, but it still looks good. I really like what it did for the mahogany. I didn't grain fill it at all, just used the oil. The first coat of oil, I really soaked it, keeping it wet for about 2 hours. After 3 days of drying, I took some 400 grit sandpaper and more oil, and went over it again. The wet sanding created a goop, or slurry, of oil and sanding dust, that filled up the pores of the wood. I was careful to not wash out this slurry when adding oil to the sandpaper, and went over the end grain several times to get it as smooth as the rest. I worked my way up the grits on sandpaper, and on the last coat I used Minwax paste wax with 0000 steel wool. This really made it SMOOOOOOTH.... The mahogany has all kinds of colors in it, that really doesn't come through in the pics. There are reds, oranges, browns, golds, black, etc. It's really beautiful. A big thanks to everyone on this forum for all of the great advice. I know I dodged several pitfalls, especially with the spalt, due to the information here. Also, my deepest respect goes out to those who take the time to document the building process. That's WAY MORE work than I ever imagined. Just remembering to take pics during the build is almost impossible for me!!! I'll be adding more pics as I get them developed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted May 17, 2005 Report Share Posted May 17, 2005 Nice work! I would have done a hard finish on it, just to protect it a bit more, but it turned out great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mledbetter Posted May 17, 2005 Report Share Posted May 17, 2005 Yeah man, really nice looking instrument. Very well designed and executed. I can't wait to see what you do with the limba! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ooten2 Posted May 17, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2005 Maiden, I wrestled a long time with the idea of a more protective finish. But I have no way of spraying. I could possibly work up something with rattle cans in the backyard, if I cut down the pine trees that drop those stupid needles all over the place. And brushing a finish on a guitar just feels wrong to me for some reason. I would feel like I'm painting a house or something! So I decided on the oil in the end. I guess time will tell if it provides enough protection. It sure gives the guitar a good "feel". But that blue 7 string of yours makes me want to spray... Mledbetter, I love that limba! Every time I go in the garage I look at it and shudder, it's so cool! I'm keeping an eye on the progress of yours. That's going to be an awesome machine. Thanks for the comments guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted May 17, 2005 Report Share Posted May 17, 2005 Except for the fact that it doesn't have a real Tele bridge (I'm weird like that), it's BEAUTIFUL! Where's the applause sign, cuz I'm applauding! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pr3Va1L Posted May 17, 2005 Report Share Posted May 17, 2005 VERY NICE !!! that's kinda what i'll build soon... did you sand the top of the neckthrough to put the cap? also: could we get a shot from the back? anyways, *very* nice for a 1st build Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ooten2 Posted May 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2005 Drak, I wanted to keep the top uncovered as much as possible, so didn't go with the standard tele bridge. Not that it would have covered up that much more, but that was my way of thinking when I bought the parts. Speaking of the bridge... before I started the finishing process, I mounted the bridge and tuners, and put a couple of strings on to check that everything lined up ok. I was a little worried that the bridge would sit high, and the saddles would have to be lowered quite a bit. So to be sure, I recessed the bridge into the body, equal to the amount of the thickness of the bridge base, so the set screws didn't stick up above the saddles and stab my right hand when the action was set. When I was sure everything was correct, I pulled off the bridge and tuners and started putting the finish on. Pr3Va1L, I sawed the top of the neck-thru (about 1/4") with a table saw to just above the fretboard, then completed the cut with a handsaw to get rid of the blade curve. After that, I sanded the handsaw area to get it flat. The rest of the neck tenon was straight from the table saw cut, and didn't need much sanding. If I had a band saw, I would have used that. I may have taken a pic from the back, I don't remember! I'll see when I get the film in the other camera used up and developed. I need a digital camera, but Rich (fryovanni) keeps putting all that awesome wood out for sale, and of course I HAVE to buy some, so my $ goes to that! Thanks for the comments everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lietuvis Posted February 26, 2006 Report Share Posted February 26, 2006 Wow... very nice build! I'm seriously considering using the same type of finish for my neck-thru V... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ooten2 Posted February 26, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2006 Wow... very nice build! I'm seriously considering using the same type of finish for my neck-thru V... Thanks, much appreciated. This guitar is coming up on its first birthday, and it's all settled in. It stays in tune very well, sounds great, and has become one of my favorites to play. People seem to be fascinated by the spalted maple, I get comments on it all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
croaticum Posted February 26, 2006 Report Share Posted February 26, 2006 Awww man, that looks sweet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Druss Posted February 26, 2006 Report Share Posted February 26, 2006 Hey ooten2 is that a FT6C bridge? I'm planing on going with carvin hardware too, you wouldn't happen to have any thing recorded with that guitar would you? The all black hardware looks awesome on your guitar I hope to build something that nice someday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ooten2 Posted February 27, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2006 Thanks for the feedback everyone. That black hardware is definitely my favorite, has a tough look to it. That is an FT6 bridge from Carvin. I don't have any recordings of that guitar at this time, I loaned my recorder (Roland VS880) to my nephew. That reminds me, I need to get it back! The pickups are Carvin C22's. To my ears, they are alot brighter than most humbuckers, but in a good way. There is a clear bell-ish tone in there, along with the power of a humbucker. I've used these pickups on 3 guitars now, and for each of them, the tone I like best comes from backing the tone knob down to about 70 or 80%. I want to try the Holdsworth pickups sometime, maybe on the next project. I really like the Carvin stuff, sorry if it sounds like I'm preaching, cuz I'm always hyping on it. But it is great stuff, especially for the price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pr3Va1L Posted February 28, 2006 Report Share Posted February 28, 2006 The pickups are good? What C22 model is it? I'm considering ordering from them to change my HSS guitar's pickups someday... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ooten2 Posted March 1, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2006 The pickups are good? What C22 model is it? I'm considering ordering from them to change my HSS guitar's pickups someday... I have a C22B in the bridge position, and C22N in the neck position. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pr3Va1L Posted March 1, 2006 Report Share Posted March 1, 2006 alright thanks... The C22B is one I was considering. I heard that the C22T was totally crap lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ooten2 Posted March 1, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2006 Yeah, but one man's crap can be another man's treasure! Especially when it comes to tone, everyone's ears are different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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