Mickguard Posted May 5, 2006 Report Share Posted May 5, 2006 A little noobish question here... Click These are the string ferrules, but what the heck are those screws for? I mean, you just hammer them into place after finishing the guitar, right? Did you ever figure this one out? Those screws look like pickguard screws... Anyway, I'm a big fan of Gibson's cherry red mahogany. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikhailgtrski Posted May 5, 2006 Report Share Posted May 5, 2006 There's little as shimmery and deep-looking as clear gloss sprayed mahogany. It's really quite magical. Yes, it can be a wonderful thing ... but if you want a little color enhancement my contention is that the direct dye method looks much deeper vs. laying on tinted clearcoats. But I'll admit it, I'm addicted to aniline dye. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester Posted May 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2006 Did you ever figure this one out? Those screws look like pickguard screws... Nope, never did. But I'm PRETTY sure that they have nothing to do with the actual ferrules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester Posted May 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2006 Progress. I glued a laminate of mahogany, birch and mahogany (0.6 mm veneers) to the head, cutted out the shape with a coping saw and cleaned out with various files and a small drum sander bit on a hand drill. Then I rounded the edge just enough to expose the birch veneer. Now I don't have to bind the headstock as I originally planned to do. Here's the result -Click- The black dots are where the tuning machines will go. Hmm... Still got some cleaning to do. I sawed the neck profile (roughly) with a bandsaw and started working on the volute. -Click- Very rough as you can see, but I'll finish it off when I have the fretboard glued in place. -Click- Then I made a template for the control cavity. No pics of the template, but here's the end result. -Click- I made a template for the cover plate too (no pics of that either), but didn't have the time to use it yet. I routed a channel to the side of the neck for the wiring a while ago, so here's a pic of it. -Click- Somewhat cleaner than on the 'test piece', eh? And here's a full shot. -Click- Comments? Critics? Flames? Gimme! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAI6 Posted May 9, 2006 Report Share Posted May 9, 2006 Did you ever figure this one out? Those screws look like pickguard screws... Nope, never did. But I'm PRETTY sure that they have nothing to do with the actual ferrules. Could it be that those ferrules are supposed to go with a string-through flat-mount bridge, and that those are the screws that hold the bridge? That's my guess........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert_the_damned Posted May 10, 2006 Report Share Posted May 10, 2006 lookin' pretty sweet Jester! I really like how you did the 'binding' on the headstock very nice indeed! donno if you could do multi-ply that way though! its looking very neat indeed! Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester Posted May 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2006 Yeah! Multi-plying is a cool trick that I learned a few years ago. Adds those cool little details. Today, I did the control cover plate from a laminate of birch, mahogany, birch, mahogany, birch and some red unknown wood (0.6 mm veneers). Also made this: http://www.buildyourguitar.com/resources/tips/radblock.htm with a 400 mm radius. Then I sandwitched birch, birch and mahogany (veneers again) for the fretboard bindings. I'll be slicing the laminate and glueing them to the fretboard tomorrow. Sorry, no pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester Posted May 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2006 (edited) A quick question!! I've bought one of these and it says that it has a 12" radius. So, if my fingerboard has a radius of 15.75", is this going to cause any problems ? EDIT: Lets just break it down... If I don't have any neck angle with a bridge like that, would it work properly? If not, how can I make a neck angle on a neckthrough? Tutorials? Is it possible to angle the bridge itself instead of the neck? And if I don't do any neck angle, do I have to recess the bridge? And again, would it work properly? Any answers will be greatly appreciated! Edited May 10, 2006 by Jester Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~john~ Posted May 10, 2006 Report Share Posted May 10, 2006 You can make the bridge a 15 inche radius by filling the string slots a little deeper. You can resses the bridge into the body if you don't have any angle on the neck, just rout out a channel so it can sit into the body a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rista Posted May 10, 2006 Report Share Posted May 10, 2006 Yeah, you don't "angle" the bridge, you just recess it into the body a bit. It's quite an easier solution than angling the neck. TOM bridges are tall so you have to do either of that. My TOM bridge has a 12" radius too and like john suggested, I'm gonna file the string slots to make it 16". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester Posted May 11, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2006 (edited) How much deeper exactly (the string slots) ? Are we talking about somehing like 0.05 mm ? Some progress today. I did the binding for the fretboard. -Click- I trimmed the excess off with a really sharp small knife so it's still a little rough. As you can see, I used a miter joint to join the laminates in the back of the board. Looking quite nice. -Click- Not... -Click- Well, for a very first binding job (at anything), I'm not overly disappointed. I'll be filling the gap with something. I also did some routing to make the fretboard stand proud of the rest of the body about 5 mm (+ the fretboard). I don't know how to explain it better (me sucko in englishh) so I'll get back to that when I have pics. But it's supposed to help with string height since there is no neck angle. And maybe, just maybe, I don't have to recess the bridge. And thanks for the answers, guys! Edited May 11, 2006 by Jester Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester Posted May 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2006 Progress, progress and progress. Here's the thing at this point: Too tired to explain what I've done so far, so I'll just show the pics. Here's the fretboard standing proud of the body about 5mm. -Click- -Click- The neck: -Click- -Click- Heel: -Click- -Click- -Click- Volute: -Click- -Click- I'm kinda proud of it. Side dots (only these two at the 12th fret): -Click- Control cavity (yeah, I know. It'll get fixed): -Click- Head: -Click- -Click- -Click- Everything is sanded 100 grit, so it's still a bit rough. Tomorrow, I'll drill holes for the bridge posts, route the second pickup cavity, drill a hole for the jack (you know... what's it called?) and a few other things need to be done too, like holes for the strings to go thru the body. After those, it's pretty much ready for complete and troughout sanding. Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opencan Posted May 18, 2006 Report Share Posted May 18, 2006 very nice built as for the scrapped guitar. I think you better continue it with cheap materials. just get some really cheap wood for the fretboard, whatever is local there and have the grain you want. get the cheapest bridge, like a wrap-around bridge, used tuners or so, and then see if you like the results. its a good train of barely paid materials, and you get a guitar with a unique sound. at least you'll know how a birch guitar sounds I would spend the other 50-100 euros for the materials and have a guitar, that maybe will last only a year and break, but will give me the experience or working with different woods than normaly used. just seem wrong to me. its not like you've done any fatal mistakes on it that makes you unsetisfied with your work. anyhow, that "new" guitar is looking great. love the headstock for some off reason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester Posted May 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2006 very nice built as for the scrapped guitar. I think you better continue it with cheap materials. just get some really cheap wood for the fretboard, whatever is local there and have the grain you want. get the cheapest bridge, like a wrap-around bridge, used tuners or so, and then see if you like the results. its a good train of barely paid materials, and you get a guitar with a unique sound. at least you'll know how a birch guitar sounds I would spend the other 50-100 euros for the materials and have a guitar, that maybe will last only a year and break, but will give me the experience or working with different woods than normaly used. just seem wrong to me. its not like you've done any fatal mistakes on it that makes you unsetisfied with your work. anyhow, that "new" guitar is looking great. love the headstock for some off reason Thanks! After those words, I think I'll save it and use it as an experimentation piece. I'm pretty much done with all the woodworking for this project now. Only the truss rod cover plate still needs to be done. Some more sanding all the way to about 400 grit and then, I'll put on some grain filler, smooth it out and spray a clear/tinted laquer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddiewarlock Posted May 18, 2006 Report Share Posted May 18, 2006 What a clean and beautiful work! I have built 6 guitars and none of them were as clean as yours, i take my hat off to you, gorgeous guitar! I also built a neck thru explorer just like yours, all mahogany and KL headstock, but like i said, nowhere near your level, gorgeous, simply gorgeous guitar, i´m looking forward to see this one finished Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted May 18, 2006 Report Share Posted May 18, 2006 Very Very nice! I like explorers a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert_the_damned Posted May 19, 2006 Report Share Posted May 19, 2006 that's gorgous Jester! you're not a glamour photographer are you? sure looks like you can take the right kind of pictures! its lookin' really good! Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester Posted May 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2006 you're not a glamour photographer are you? sure looks like you can take the right kind of pictures! its lookin' really good! Thanks! Photographing is a hobby of mine. The guitar is now sanded to 240 grit (it's enough) and it'll get a nitrocellulose lacquer finish on monday. But before that, I'll have to figure out how to use this: I had always thought that grain filler is applied before lacquer, but when I asked about this from my teacher, he said it should be applied after lacquer. Any kind spirit wanna sort this out before I mess up my guitar? And here are more pics of the guitar: Front: -Click- -Click- Back: -Click- Bridge recess: -Click- Jack hole: -Click- Pickup rings (not finished): -Click- Control cavity plate: -Click- And when I was blowing the dust off, I found this: -Click- I'm pretty sure the filler will fix that (if I ever figure out how to use it...). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert_the_damned Posted May 19, 2006 Report Share Posted May 19, 2006 Thanks! Photographing is a hobby of mine. I should have guessed as much! what cammera are you using out of intrest? looks like you can get some seriously good close ups with it (judging from your fingerboard on body shots). my girlfriend does a lot of photography to so I have to be intrested in it! I like your bridge recess....VERY neatly done. The stager on the string though looks nice too, looks like you've got it matching the body shape well I've seen to many guitars where they've attempted to mirror the body shape but not done it well so it just looks awful! that's one big can of grainfiller that's gotta be at least 5 foot high! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester Posted May 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2006 I should have guessed as much! what cammera are you using out of intrest? looks like you can get some seriously good close ups with it (judging from your fingerboard on body shots). my girlfriend does a lot of photography to so I have to be intrested in it! that's one big can of grainfiller that's gotta be at least 5 foot high! It's a shitty Canon PowerShot A70, but it gets the job done, for now. I'll be getting this in the summer. Jeah, the filler looks HUGE in that pic! You know anything about fillers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert_the_damned Posted May 20, 2006 Report Share Posted May 20, 2006 It's a shitty Canon PowerShot A70, but it gets the job done, for now. I'll be getting this in the summer. that's a pretty cool cammera sorta comparable to my girlfriend's Kodak Z740 though she's after a Cannon EOS 5D they're sooo expensive though. Jeah, the filler looks HUGE in that pic! You know anything about fillers? I think the rough concensus is to wet the grain slightly then sand (reapeat this until it doesn't lift any more), then sand to about 400 grit, and then apply grain filler with a flat piece of plastic so it squeezes into the gaps but doesn't build up on the high bits of the grain. or at least thats what I do. Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted May 20, 2006 Report Share Posted May 20, 2006 MMm....Canon 5D. I love my little 300D, though. Wouldn't trade it for a compact cam, ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester Posted May 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2006 Today I started fretting the neck. Two frets in and I already realised that I was doing something wrong. No matter how hard I hammered, the frets just wouldn't go in all the way. And I learned that the part that goes on top of the fretboard binding has to have a perfectly flat surface. Yes, the slots are deep enough and yes, the slots are wide enough since it was pre-slotted. And the fact that I 'radiused' the fretwire by hand might have somehing to do with that too... At this point I was pretty pissed off (still am), so I decided to take the frets off. And just to frustrate me even more, the fretboard teared around the slots when pulling out the frets... Conclusion: I Failed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted May 21, 2006 Report Share Posted May 21, 2006 (edited) Unlucky! Dont give up! I'm sure it'll work out eventually. Stewmac sell a tool for flattening the barbs on fretwire that may help: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting_suppl...ing_Pliers.html I think heating the fret with a soldering iron before you pull it out makes the fretboard wood release oils and is supposed to make it easier. http://www.fretnotguitarrepair.com/fretting.htm Good luck sorting it out! BTW, when you say the slots are wide enough cos you bought it preslotted, did you buy the right fretwire for that size of slot? Edited May 21, 2006 by Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester Posted May 25, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2006 (edited) BTW, when you say the slots are wide enough cos you bought it preslotted, did you buy the right fretwire for that size of slot? Yes. I'm hoping that I made the slots deep enough... Anyway... While waiting for the lacquer to dry, I made this: -Another pic- Groovy! Edited May 25, 2006 by Jester Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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