New Project Done

[ooten2]

Here's my latest project. It was strung up for the first time in February on the same day that my nephew's son was born, so it has special value.

The Specs:

Carvin neck-through neck with the carved top headstock option. Myrtle top, chambered black limba body wings, ziricote trim and control plate. Carvin C22B and C22N pickups, phase switches, 1 volume, 1 tone. Carvin FT6B bridge and tuners. Limba and myrtle control knobs and pickup switch. Tru-oil finish.

The Curses:

Control cavity plate has a slight gap and could be a tighter fit, but it's the best one I've done so far.

Those bright brass wood screws holding the cavity plate on will be replaced with black ones.

The shaft holes in the wood knobs are a bit too big, causing the knobs to fit too loose and be a bit crooked when the set screw is tightened. New knobs are waiting for a finish in the garage, and will be done in a week or so.

The Praises:

The limba and myrtle are BEAUTIFUL!! The pics don't show it as well as seeing it in person.

The tone is fantastic. It's brighter than a Les Paul, and it has a sweet spot when backing the tone knob down to about 50 or 60%. The phase switches add alot of tonal options; I particularly like the sound with both pickups selected, with the neck switched to single coil and bridge to humbucker.

I tweaked the truss rod to take away some of the neck relief, and this thing plays with very low action. It's almost too easy to play, need more string resistance. (Never thought I would ever say that!)

This is my first time working with myrtle, and I must say that I really like it. It works easily, has a great spicy smell, and the colors and figuring is really incredible. The black limba is really great, too. HUGE thanks to Fryovanni, who sold me all of the wood for this guitar, (except the Carvin maple neck, of course). Thanks Rich!!

And thanks to everyone on this forum for such great advice!!

http://photobucket.com/albums/y207/summell/Neckthru3%20DC1/?

[Duff Beer Man]

I like it. Good work. I love the finishing of projects around here lately. Seems like once a week at least someone is posting finishing pics of their projects.

[wardd]

ooten,

Looks really good, simple, clean and I dig the natural look.

I've been working with finding a good way to make wooden knobs too.

I ground down a 1/4 in. drill bit a little and that seems to help.

On the loose ones, you might try either putting a couple drops of water in the holes to swell up the grain.

Or, fill the holes with baking soda, tap it out, then put some drops of superglue on a toothpick and coat the insides to build them up. This also makes a hard coating.

(Just thinking out loud here.)

I remember in the '70 when I worked in a music store there where these guitars with aluminum necks that were about as close to perfect as you could get and super thin.

Had the same reaction from players, they were almost too easy to play.

Be Cool,

d ward

[blazingblake]

HI that looks great how much did you pay for the carved top headstock option?

[ooten2]

Thanks for the comments.

The Carvin catalog lists the carved top headstock option at $40. I like the 3 on a side tuner set up better than 6 in line for some reason.

Thanks for the ideas on the wood knobs. I may try that out if the new knobs still have problems. I used a 3/4" plug cutter and the drill press/sandpaper thing to make them. That part turned out to be quite fast and easy, but getting the shaft hole centered, straight, and tight has turned out to be the most difficult part.

I have enough myrtle left over to make a head plate, and I've been kicking that idea around alot. But I went ahead and finished it, and now I don't want to take the tuners off and not be able to play it!!

[Robert Irizarry]

That looks very cool and I like the natural look. Its something I'm still debating about my own project (once it truly gets under way that is).

My only complaint is that the pictures are taken from too far away! Some close up shots would help us appreciate it more.

Nice work nonetheless. Thanks for sharing!

[fryovanni]

Nice , That Zircote on the backstrip and cover is kinda different(had to zoom in on the pic to see what you were up to there). Very clean work my friend!

Peace,Rich

[ooten2]

Thanks guys.

I really like the natural wood look, and I'm not really big on painted or colored finishes. That could all change one day, but for now that's what I'm into.

Hey, I never claimed to be photographer! I have this fear of cropping off the edge of the subject, so I zoom out, then I'm too far away.

That ziricote and black limba go SO WELL together, I had to find a place for each on this guitar. Also, the body is right at 2" thick, and the neck "tenon" plus the top is about 1.75", so the ziricote strip fit nicely in that gap. It made the heel of the neck thicker also, which might be a problem for some but I have long monkey fingers so it's not a problem for me.

The thicker body allowed me to chamber a bit deeper, and the guitar has a good amount of acoustical volume when not plugged in. So when Mama says "turn it down!", I can still play unplugged.

[wardd]

ooten,

The last set of knobs I made I took a piece 1/4 x 20 threaded rod and filed down the threads a little.

Then made up blocks with the several thin laminates and a layer for the main body of the knob.

i.e. A sandwich of layers type deal.

I then cut a chunk out and drill a hole with a 1/4 bit I have ground down a little.

I rough out these blanks on the disk sander then put them on the threaded rod, lock them with nuts above and below.

I put them on base to base which makes it easier to get the same taper on a pair.

Into the drill press and shape them with files and or sandpaper blocks.

i.e. Ending up with a barrel shape with the same taper on each end.

Then I glue on a cap piece and blend it into the rest of the knob by hand or put the knob on a dowel and carefully trim it with the disk sander.

I then have a jig to hold a knob base side up and counter sink the bottom with a dremel bit in the drill press.

i.e. To make room for the knob to sit over the nut from the pot.

With the knob in the same jig I then open up the bottom of the hole with a standard 1/4 in. bit leaving enough of the smaller diameter hole to fit over the knurled part of the pot shaft.

Then I moisten the inside of the hole and jam it onto an old pot.

Usually makes a real tight fit.

For my next set I got some plastic tubing at the hobby shop, I want to try putting in the center to give the knurled part of the shaft something to dig into.

Eventually I want to make them with a metal tube I can thread and use with locking set screws.

Anyway, for what it's worth, that's my procedure.

Good Luck,

d ward

[ooten2]

Ward,

Wow, thanks for that info on how you build your knobs.

I used a 3/4" plug cutter from rockler for mine; part # 36898 for about $20. It will cut a plug up to 3" long, and the plugs come out very smooth.

I glued together a 1/4" thick piece of wood for the base, and a 1/2" thick piece of top wood for the knob top, to come up with a total thickness of 3/4". After the glue was dry, I used the plug cutter to cut out the knobs. That piece of wood was big enough to get 5 or 6 knobs so I would have extra. Anyway, the knobs come out of the cutter very smooth so it doesn't require major sanding.

Then I measured out the center of the knob and drilled a small pilot hole where the pot shaft will be. I have this weird little bit thing in my dremel kit that has a small wood screw on the end, and I chuck that into the drill press and run the screw end into the knob. This holds the knob while sanding it in the drill press.

I start with 150 grit and go up until it gets to whatever smoothness I want. I sanded the edge of the top of the knob at roughly 45 degrees to taper it and get rid of the sharp edge. This all went really quick.

After sanding, I countersunk the base of the pot with a forstner bit that was big enough to cover the pot nut, just as you mentioned. Then I drilled out the hole for the pot shaft. The only thing is, the shafts on my pots were all smooth and not knurled. I think I may have had better luck with the knurled ones.

After this, I got some small set screws from Lowe's, (the smallest that they had, don't remember the size), and drilled a small pilot hole through the side of the knob. Then I just threaded the set screw through the wood until it hit the pot shaft. My problem comes in right here, because the force of the set screw causes the knob to go crooked on the shaft. I think the shaft hole is drilled slightly too big in diameter, and there is too much play between the pot shaft and the hole in the wood knob.

Anyway, when I get time, I plan to work with my extra knobs and try drilling the shaft hole a little smaller. I'll see how it goes.

Thanks again for the great info!