Devon Headen Posted August 16, 2005 Report Share Posted August 16, 2005 Usually I don't post pictures as many of you have probably noticed. In fact, I'm not sure I've shown any of my scratch builds other than in PMs. Anyhow, I was going to chronicle this build with lots of pictures, and as luck would have it, the camera died just before I started. Today I went and got a new camera phone, so don't expect much quality. I've only gotten one pic so far, but don't call me a tease I'll try to get more up ASAP, and hopefully better quality. I thought the boards could use some actual content, and I love looking at other builds, so I thought this could be a good way to contribute. The wood for this guitar (other than the top) were supplied by Rich (fryovanni), and I highly recommend him. He shares plenty of info here, is great to deal with, and can get you just about anything (or so it seems). He has a thread in the classifieds and I believe he's working on a website soon. A couple specs: Custom design Black limba body and neck Deeply carved flamed maple top Ziricote fretboard and head veneers 25" scale length Brass roller TOM bridge with string through body Locking Gotoh tuners Seymour Duncan '59 pickup set All gold hardware Top will be dyed green The problem I'm tring to work around now is the pickup rings. The complexity of the top carve makes it impossible to get a ring to sit flush with the body. Any ideas are welcome. I'm thinking about inlaying the rings and making them removable. That way I could just trim the top of the rings to match the body's curvature. I'm just worried it will be difficult to do and make it look good (no gaps at all etc. Anyhow, without further ado. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmrentis Posted August 16, 2005 Report Share Posted August 16, 2005 Wow, that looks very nice. I really like the carve especially around the horns, that is how I would want my carve to look, very smooth with a little bit of crispiness. How did you like working with the black limba? Will you use it again on another project? Also now that you are done more or less shaping the body(back) do you like how the limba looks? Well I can't wait to see more pics of that guitar. Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n8rofwyo Posted August 16, 2005 Report Share Posted August 16, 2005 Thats Niiiice! As far as the rings go - I had to recreate the carve on a mantel molding a few years ago and I ended up using a double cast of plaster to get the shape I needed. First I cast a the contour of the mantel by simply putting cling wrap on it and setting it in the plaster. I then made a new cast from the exisiting one, getting the original shape of the mantel itself. Then I glued sand paper to the cast to get the new molding to take the shape of the mantel. Don't really know if that is usefull in your case or not, but it seemed to work ok. But, the cast was about 2" thick, so breaking it during sanding didn't seem to be a problem... just something to consider. Hey, it looks great, though, and I think recessed rings would look stunning, even if it was a monster of a workload. Nate Robinson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted August 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2005 How did you like working with the black limba? Will you use it again on another project? Also now that you are done more or less shaping the body(back) do you like how the limba looks?← It works like butter, I like it a LOT, I'll definitely use it again. Well, I put a back of black limba on the body without a contrasting veneer in between. That's the thing I'm most dissapointed about in this project. It won't be bad once I finish it, but it's gonna bug me forever. The limba does look really good other than my bad judgement about the laminations. As far as the rings go - I had to recreate the carve on a mantel molding a few years ago and I ended up using a double cast of plaster to get the shape I needed. First I cast a the contour of the mantel by simply putting cling wrap on it and setting it in the plaster. I then made a new cast from the exisiting one, getting the original shape of the mantel itself. Then I glued sand paper to the cast to get the new molding to take the shape of the mantel. Don't really know if that is usefull in your case or not, but it seemed to work ok. But, the cast was about 2" thick, so breaking it during sanding didn't seem to be a problem... just something to consider. ← Thanks for the suggestion, but I don't think I could get it to work in this paricular instance. Plus I wanted the rings to be ziricote to match the flow of the guitar. Does anyone know if recessed rings have been done before? I was thinking it would look great if executed properly, but I've never heard of it before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haggardguy Posted August 16, 2005 Report Share Posted August 16, 2005 You tease! (someone had to say it) Nice stuff though, i really like the shape and the carve it looks really good. Has anyone else noticed a surge in the popularity of green guitars around here lately? Anyways, I want more pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikhailgtrski Posted August 16, 2005 Report Share Posted August 16, 2005 Very nice work... What's the neck angle? I wanted to build my PRS-ish project as a string-through, but I didn't think I could make the geometry work with a TOM. Are you going to recess the TOM? Thanks, you've renewed my hope Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted August 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2005 Thanks. I didn't calculate what the neck angle was, I just set it relative to the bridge height. No, I didn't recess the TOM. I do have a break angle piece behind the bridge and before the string thru holes (you can see the recess for it in the picture) so that the string thru holes aren't all the way at the strap button. My carve is REALLY severe (the cap was just about 7/8" and it's carved down to 1/4"), and the TOM is high enough that the string break angle behind the bridge was going to have to go almost all the way to the butt of the guitar so that the strings wouldn't touch the back of the bridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmrentis Posted August 16, 2005 Report Share Posted August 16, 2005 I went to go find a discussion we had that Drak started about routing the pickups routes and bindings. I looked through it and didn't find what I thought was in it. In it FrankFalbo say he has done a bunch of recessed pickup rings, so maybe he could give you some good advice for this. I think you posted in that discussion so you would already know what was in it. But it seems to be a difficult area to make flat on a carved top with rings and I never see much on how to do those things. Well good luck with that and I hope you figure it out. Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted August 16, 2005 Report Share Posted August 16, 2005 Really beautiful guitar and workmanship, can't wait to see it done. There's some real killer guitars being hatched around here lately! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setch Posted August 16, 2005 Report Share Posted August 16, 2005 Mini-buckers are mounted in p90 sized holes with p90 covers for mounting rings, so it can be done. If you plan on making your own rings it should be pretty easy. Setup a template, and route a nice tight step for the rings. Any slop will dissappear when you add the thickness of the finish to the top, and if things get too tight, you can always introduce the rings to some sandpaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted August 16, 2005 Report Share Posted August 16, 2005 All I'm going to say is ... ABOUT FREAKIN' TIME YOU POST A GUITAR PIC MAN!!!! OMG, it took quite a while, but I'm glad because it looks very nice (I hate that the resolution is not good, but it definately looks good). More pics are mandatory from now on! I like the way you introduced the piece behing the TOM to break the angle! Is it going to be straight (horizontal) or is going to have a half moon shape like the top ferrule holes? I like the idea of the recessed rings, it sounds good, but the rout have to be impecable in order for it to looks great, if the rout or position of the rings is not straight it will detract a lot from the overall balance of the guitar. Well, enough rambling, get working! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlGeeEater Posted August 16, 2005 Report Share Posted August 16, 2005 That's freakin' BADA@@ dude! I just can't wait until you get some better quality pics. NICE workmanship on that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted August 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2005 Thanks for the compliments, guys. The string break angle piece is straight. I'm pretty confident I can make the ring slots having no gap, but there's always that chance. The recess for the break angle piece has no gaps anywhere. I'm going to have to have the piece in the slot and just tape it off or something, because there is NO room for finish. I can literally pick the guitar up with it when it's in, but it's not too hard to push in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mledbetter Posted August 16, 2005 Report Share Posted August 16, 2005 Dang son.. you have been holding out on us Looks really nice. Man, i've got an extra digital camera.. it would almost be worth it to just sen it to you so we can see some more pics! lol.. really though, they aren't that expensive anymore but camera pics are better than no pics. keep up the good work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay5 Posted August 16, 2005 Report Share Posted August 16, 2005 How did you rout for the pups? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mledbetter Posted August 16, 2005 Report Share Posted August 16, 2005 to your question about rings.. i haven't seen that with HBs but it's more common on single coils with no pickguards.. with the wood rings i bet it would look sweet. and if you recess them just enough to get a flat bed to screw them down to it should tie into the guitar really nicely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted August 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2005 I never thought about that. I was planning on contouring the surface of the rings so they'd flow with the top, but I think your idea would look better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted August 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2005 More pictures: same quality, but different views. Another front view Back Top carve That last picture shows the dilemma I'm having with the pickup rings. I really like how the volutes on the horns look, but it adds complexity to the top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haggardguy Posted August 16, 2005 Report Share Posted August 16, 2005 All I have to say is, don't mess with the carve its lookin sweet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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