Drak Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 I started a new guitar tonight, I am calling it John Shaft, cuz it's a baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad muthu (shut yer mouth). Here's the topboards, and it's a crappy picture, there wasn't much sun, so there's not much color or contrast, but it's a really beautiful natural Maple color. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemleggat Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 Whack-a-Whacka! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 At least you know it won't cop out when there's danger all about... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mledbetter Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 it's gotta have some bling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n8rofwyo Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 Looks simaliar to a redwood burl I saw a few months ago. Nate Robinson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmrentis Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 The worst thing about using such a beautiful top is you have to cut routes into it, I hate seeing any of it get routed away. Oh well what can you do. Very nice top Drak, you definately pick out some of the best wood. Later. J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 Cool lookin Maple. Looks like a slice of brain matter . Peace, Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
american_jesus Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 that is a very cool piece of maple... is the shape drawn on there going to be the shape you use? that'd be really cool if it was...looks a lot like my es-125... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted August 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 Yes, as a matter of fact I glued it to the body last night, the shape you see was drawn on there by me, not some ebay seller. You're right, it is modeled after my favorite guitar, the ES 225 (I had a '57 for about 15 years), which is basically the same thing as a 125 body-wise, but this one is a bit smaller, it's bigger than a Les Paul for sure, and a taddy smaller than a real 125 or 225, -just- the size I like it to be. It's going to be Floyded believe it or not, I wanted to build a carved top old-world Gibson-bodied Floyded guitar, and this one is the one. Alder body, highly chambered, as close to a hollowbody as I can get with just enough wood to be able to install the Floyd. I picked Alder for several reasons: it has a good base tone, not too thick and soft like Mahogony, not too bright, just right really, and I think will compliment the Maple tone well...not too heavy, not too soft, it seemed just the right wood to use to compliment everything else. Rear cap should go on tonight or tomorrow, I have to route the Floyd first so I can make all the cavity covers out of the rear wood like I usually do, but this time there will probably be three: 1. rear control cover 2. rear Floyd spring cavity cover 3. rear 3-way toggler cover The neck will join the body at the 15th fret, 25 1/2" scale, it will be a bolt-on Warmoth but will be glued on. I don't like bolting necks with Floyds, too much pressure going back and forth...I've had bolt-on necks actually crack and creak when using Floyds before. I don't mean crack like the neck cracked, but when using the Floyd, you could hear the neck shift in the pocket slightly and make a cracking noise...I didn't like that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdguitars Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 love the new tag..... 'Crazy Hilbilly Builder'...InDEED. :-0 btw where did you buy that wood what seller? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Rosenberger Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 Better get the Teese Wah out and warmed up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEdwardJones Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 The worst thing about using such a beautiful top is you have to cut routes into it, I hate seeing any of it get routed away. Oh well what can you do. Very nice top Drak, you definately pick out some of the best wood. Later. J ← It's not a bad thing. It's just complicated. No one understands it, but his woman.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 Nice top Drak, looking foward on progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pr3Va1L Posted August 7, 2005 Report Share Posted August 7, 2005 PLEASE. just DON'T W.O.D. that wood!!! it's too beautyful!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted August 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2005 OK, here we go. This guitar is ALL about planning. Every single step had to be planned out and thought about in advance, making sure the order of operations was correct and I wouldn't wind up screwing myself somehow down the line, and this was the first step, drawing out everything. I had to be sure that there was enough wood to support the various Floyd parts and also be able to remove as much wood as possible. This was just the beginning of the planning, more to come. PS, the body wood is Alder, but it wasn't quite big enough, so I used some pieces of quartersawn Sycamore for the end tips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
!!METAL MATT!! Posted August 7, 2005 Report Share Posted August 7, 2005 A Floyd On A LP style body SWEEET!! It that A fly? !!METAL MATT!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted August 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2005 Here I'm routing only 1/2 the body! Why? Planning! Since I want to use the rear wood (quilted Maple booked set) for the control cavity cover, spring cover, and toggler cover, I had to route the Floyd spring cavity BEFORE I glued the back on. Tricky, eh? 1. I needed to know EXACTLY where the floyd cavity was going to be, front AND back, so I had to identify the exact placement of the bodyshape, just a drawing wasn't good enough, I needed to actually route the body, since the information needed to transmit itself to the rear of the body just as exacting, so I routed 1/2 the body, then extended the route on the centerline all the way down the rest of the body at the backend and at the neck pocket. 2. To make the bridge look correct (placement-wise), I had to join the neck at the 15th fret, to shift everything 'down' the body a little, so the neck pocket wound up being about 3 1/2" instead of the normal 3". Anything more forward (towards the neck) than that would have made the guitar look awkward and stupid. 3. I had to route the body first (1/2-way), -then- route the neck pocket, to place the neck in position so I could -THEN- place the floyd in proper position and -THEN- mark the back of the body to route out all the wood except for the area surrounding the Floyd spring cavity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted August 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2005 OK, now I got the body routed, neck pocket routed, neck in position, I can mark out the Floyd cavities and get to routing them out. Matt, not only a Floyd on a Les Paul, but it's actually much bigger than a Les Paul and a hollowbody on top of that, heehee!! It's 14 1/4" across the lower bout and 19 1/4" from top to bottom. Major Sweet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted August 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2005 Here's a close-up of the finished recessed Floyd route. They usually call to route the rear pockets 5/16", but I want SEVERE up-pull ability, so I route mine out to about 1/2". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted August 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2005 Once I finished the Floyd routes, I went ahead and routed the pkp cavities. I'm not sure if I'm making things hard on myself (probably am) since I still have to carve the body out, we'll see what happens. PS, I wetted the wood with water for this shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haggardguy Posted August 7, 2005 Report Share Posted August 7, 2005 Drak that is beautiful, It almost looks like a guitar made of marble Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted August 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2005 And the obligatory rear-end shot. This brings y'all up to date, time to go out and do some more now. I hope to get the rear covers cut out, the back glued on, and final body routing by tonight, maybe get the binding ledges done too. Then I think it's on to the carve. I'm scared. Very scared. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted August 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2005 Teaser shot! Of course, you know the real unit will be GOLD, right? I just use this unit for measuring and stuff... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted August 7, 2005 Report Share Posted August 7, 2005 Drak, I always do carving after I've done all of my routing. The only thing I do after carving is drilling for bridge and tailpiece post holes. I even carved the top on my current project with an f hole routed into it. I've never had a problem carving with the holes there. As long as you're carefull and methodical(which you are), you'll be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
!!METAL MATT!! Posted August 7, 2005 Report Share Posted August 7, 2005 WOW Now I Like The Look of that Floyd on there and That Top Is Just NUTS (But You wouldn't have It any other way) Great Work man! Oh and I Still want to know If that Was A FLY on the body! !!METAL MATT!! 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.