Neckthrough Flying V / Dv8

[albertop]

Hello guys, it's been some time since I posted here, I always check the forum, it has been a lot of help and very inspiring as always. I've been busy with three projects (among other things), this is one of them: a Neckthrough Flying V ala ESP Dave Mustaine DV-8. My brother is a big Megadeth fan and he asked me to build him a guitar so this is what I came up.

The neck and body are mahogany, the fretboard is ebony with white binding and jumbo frets. The hardware is black and also the body paint is. I tried to be as close as posible to the original. I'm still learning so to me is like practicing until I feel I can come up with something original. I would like to thank to Doomlord because he was a great help with pics from his original DV8, thanks man.

I haven't finish it yet but I'm pretty close, these are some pics:

here you can see the neckthrough,

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27263073@N00/...57594411756928/

the belly contour and control cavity:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27263073@N00/...57594411756928/

a detail of the bottom flange(?)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27263073@N00/...57594411756928/

the heel (still unfinish by the time I took the pic):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27263073@N00/...57594411756928/

the volute:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27263073@N00/...57594411756928/

painted headstock:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27263073@N00/...57594411756928/

body painted black:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27263073@N00/...57594411756928/

heel:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27263073@N00/...57594411756928/

and the rest so far:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27263073@N00/...57594411756928/

I'll post better picks as soon as I finish, it's been real fun to build this kind of guitar. I really like making neckthroughs also. Well, I'm gonna post the two other projects

Edited December 9, 2006 by albertop

[Vinny]

That is sweet! I dig the bound ebony fingerboard against all the black, I gotta see it with the hardware installed. Really nice build. You're brother's a lucky guy. -Vinny

Edited December 9, 2006 by Vinny

[johnsilver]

Alberto, that looks good. I can't wait to see it all assembled and ready to ROCK.

[ElysianGuitars]

if i were building it, i would have made the wings start between the 23rd and 24th fret, its so much more comfortable to not have neck heel or wings in the way on V's... but its a nice guitar, looks like you did some really great work, good job.

[westhemann]

very nice...nice indeed.i do agree with elysian though...a vee is one of my favorite shapes and i own 3 of them with one more on the way...i built two of them and have designed a third offset style vee which i have not put into implementation yet as i can't decide on a few important factors...but i make all of my vee designs with a neck thtrough in mind for the reason of the upper fret access...on a vee you slide the neck further in the headstock direction and it REALLY opens up the upper frets.

keep in mind though that in doing that you movded the lower frets further away from your body,but i compensate for that by bringing a neck angle into the design,whicgh pulls the lower fretts closer to your shoulder and brings you fret arm back into comfortable playing position.

having said that,i do realize that jackson makes the king vee the same way you did.

[albertop]

Hey guys, to be honest with you I didn't think about the body joint because I was trying to build the same way as the original ESP. I agree with you in that it probably will be more comfortable though. But what about the neck pickup Wes? the humbucker ring wouldn't be off the body? or maybe too close to the bridge pickup? How do you deal with that? What you say it's a really good point indeed.

And also I'm gonna post better pics, they are too dark I think.

I also think my brother is a lucky guy Vinnie, cheers

Alberto

[westhemann]

But what about the neck pickup Wes? the humbucker ring wouldn't be off the body? or maybe too close to the bridge pickup? How do you deal with that?

the ring fits on my design...but the vee i bought from kxk doesn't use rings...it adjusts from underneath,which is also a cool look

[yahilltrade]

wow that is truley amazing work.

it looks so professinal.

love it alot!

great job.

your brother will be a happy man.

[NickCormier]

At first I thought it was one of the Agile bodys, just everything removed.. Great work, wish you were my brother lol

One thing im curious about those guitars in general, if you dont mind explaining to me..

The input jack is on the upper wing, but it has no cavity route.. How does that work? Do you just drill a hole in and put the wires thru to the main cavity?

Im asking because im really considering my first build and it will have a jack similar to that, position wise.. Far from the cavity

[ElysianGuitars]

http://www.elysian-online.com/Sigma7Pics/Sigma7Pics4.jpg

you can see what i mean there, i'm not a fan of the offset style like the esp SV, i prefer it to be the same on both sides, but i think a pickup ring wouldn't be an issue, but i'm more a fan of direct mounts, i feel it looks neater...

[westhemann]

balance is also an issue,you don't want the headstock to be so far from the body that it takes a nosedive while playing.my kxk joins at the 21st fret...the rounded heel(just like the one you did on you mustaine v) starts at the 17th/18th fret

this gives complete access to all 24 frets without any stretching or bad hand posture...any more than that is completely a waste of time and a threat to proper balance.nothing ihate more than a nose diving guitar...except for the guy who built a nose diving guitar

[Xanthus]

The input jack is on the upper wing, but it has no cavity route.. How does that work? Do you just drill a hole in and put the wires thru to the main cavity?

Yeah, I've been wondering the same thing for a bit now; my next build is going to be an AL/RR flying V crossover.

Also, that finish looks really good! What type of products did you use, would you mind going more in depth? I had some problems trying to paint my project black the first time, but yours came out very well!

[albertop]

Hey Wes, I have never seen a humbucker that adjusts underneath... seems I really have a lot to learn. But it sounds like a pretty neat idea. Or did you mean "underneath" like in direct mount?

I was thinking that the balance is the main reason of the joint at the 19th fret in this particular guitar. But I think with a good plan it can be possible like ElysianGuitars says.

And Nick, about the input jack cavity, well at first it was located in the other spike? horn? (sorry english is not my main language) and was conected directly to the cavity but I noticed that the jack was at the other side so I drilled a hole to the bridge humbucker with a long drill bit. I was lucky that it doesn't pass through the ferrules holes so I think it's ok. Or not? I dont know if it will be a problem having a long wire going from the jack to the cavity in this long route. When you think about it's a cool idea to have the jack there but I think you need drill the hole and then glue the wings, that's how I would do it anyway.

And about the finish Xanthus, it's polyester, it's kind of straight forward process really, like any other finish but I think you need practice and luck.

Cheers,

Alberto

[Xanthus]

Polyester? I was going to say it was a poly, but I was thinking along the lines of polyurethane, not polyester Looks really good, regardless.

And yeah, that's what I thought the problem would be with having a jack that far away from the cavity, is not hitting the bridge pocket (tremolo) or ferrules (string-through). If I build one, I will probably move the jack to the other side of the strap button, but on the same wing. That way, I can plug in and string it right up under the strap. The one thing I hate is a flying V with the jack on the far end of the lower wing, Gibson-style. When I play a V, the lower wing tends to rest on my knee/between my legs a lot, and having the cord coming up and "invading" that area is just uncomfortable.

Yeah, drilling the hole THEN gluing the wings to the neck would be better. I was also thinking that maybe routing the wing out like a sandwich would be good too, like how Gibson gets the switch from the hole to the control cavity. For such a long distance, I might shield the slot. Hell, I'd probably shield it anyways, that's just the way I am

[guitar2005]

Very nice work. The binding throughout is very clean and all of the routing looks excellent. Everything is nice and sharp, the way I like it. The woods look like they are all top notch.

Did you rout the final body outline with a template bit or is that all sanding? I hope that my Explorer turns out as nice as your V.

I'm surprised Wes didn't mention the glue lines on the neck through to body wing attachement

Edited December 10, 2006 by guitar2005

[albertop]

Xanthus that was my main concern and at some point I tought it was not worth it but I really wanted to be as close as the original so I went for it. It was going to be a long wire anyway... well I hope everything will work ok. And I definitely going to shield the cavity with paint, I think.

I read that the polyurethane doesn't work on guitars, is that right? The polyester works fine I guess, sometimes I work with piroxilin lacquer on my sculptures but I don't know if it's the same than nitrocellulose lacquer, if it is I'm going to swicth then.

Guitar2005 I routed the final outline with a template and then I sanded to even it out, my template wasn't smooth so I had to sand to make a perfect flat surface. And believe me I sanded a lot, I like the surfeces to be very neat and smooth.

And what about my glue lines?? yeah I know they're not perfect but I guess that is as close as I can get them to be right now,

Alberto

can I ask you guys something aside? English is not my native language and sometimes I wish I could participate more on the discussions but I don't feel confident enough with my English writing, do you think it's that bad?? If you can understand me I guess that's enough to me cheers

[westhemann]

Hey Wes, I have never seen a humbucker that adjusts underneath... seems I really have a lot to learn. But it sounds like a pretty neat idea. Or did you mean "underneath" like in direct mount?

yeah...but not direct mount.the screw goes into the wood beneath,but there is a spring there for adjustment

direct mount is screwed directly to wood,no adjustment possible.i don't like that method

your english is very,very good.don't worry i would not have even known if you had not told me

polyurethane,nitrocellulose,and polyester are all used on guitars...they all are fine paints,but polyester is the toughest and most durable,followed closely by polyurethane.

don't believe the hype surrounding the different paints.the most important thing is to protect the wood and polyester excels at that.that's why everyone except gibson and some boutique builders are using it now

[guitar2005]

And what about my glue lines?? yeah I know they're not perfect but I guess that is as close as I can get them to be right now,

The glue line in this picture looks like it has some gaps. I'm being picky here given the fact that

1- The guitar is painted and

2- That joint will most probably be just fine as there's no real stress on it.

Were the pieces properly jointed before glueup? Just curious. Is it just that area?

The scarf joint on the other hand, looks perfect. Would you care to tell us which technique you used to cut it and glue it up?

The paint job looks like it is top notch. Bravo! I can't wait to see this one done. Black is the hardest color to do with a high gloss.

BTW, Alberto, your English is just fine. Keep up the good work!

Edited December 10, 2006 by guitar2005

[eddiewarlock]

Man it looks great!! and your english is fine, believe me! I wish you could participate more cuz you're like the only other guy from south america from this forum i know. My only beef with that guitar is the headstock, asides from it, it's a flawless guitar it looks awesome, just like the rest of your guitar

[Xanthus]

Thanks for the information on the paint, Alberto. I might look into polyester for painting my next guitar, because your paint job is beautiful!

[NickCormier]

Thats the part that I am most concerned about with making a guitar.. the finish.. I know nothing about painting lol and Im not looking for a solid finish like this one.. Unfortunately the tuts here dont make much sense to me lol

It looks good though

[albertop]

That joint is fine guitar2005, I was very careful preparing the surfaces but to me that's the most difficult part of making a neckthrough: gluing the wings. And this time the wings were at an angle and it was kinda hard to glue them to the center piece. But well, I was checking it and it looks fine I guess, it could be better though.

That scarf joint it's just me and my hand plane, to me is easier that way beacuse I can control the surface better I think. Gluing them to me it's a little hard because the small piece tends to move because of the glue. So you need to be very precise (and patient) otherwise you'll end up having a crooked headstock. Then I glue the headstock wings and plane to make a flat surface for the fretboard. I was thinking in building a jig to plane the scarf joints with my router but i haven't had time to make a research.

Hey Eddie I know what you mean, man. I´m kinda like a classic-guitar guy you know, Lesters and Sg's so to me this was kind of a challenge. I'm not particular fond to metal-guitars but sometimes it's good to build something you're not accustom with, just to improve your skills. And I'm sure if it's a next time I will know how to make and hyper-metal axe

And Nick you're right, a finish can make your guitar great, just average or crap, no matter if its construction is excellent. So there you go, the finish it's really important.

[albertop]

Well, it's been a while since I posted here so I want to show you my little progress, I made the scratch plate and finish to fit the hardware (except for the humbuckers, hopefully they will be Seymour Duncan sh-4 and sh-2)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27263073@N00/360778564/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27263073@N00/360778569/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27263073@N00/360778561/

I already fit the strap pins and the guitar balances really well, better than I expected. And obviously you'll want to play it standing up, it really is comfortable thanks to the carve on the back.

I haven't work a lot on this one, mainly because I'm still getting all the pieces; I'm gonna work on the fretboard and then I'll buy some strings to fit the graphite nut.

On a side note, it's the first time I work with black hardware and it makes me a little nervous, you need to be extra careful not to ruin the black finish. Other than that I'm really glad this is coming really well.

Hope to hear your opinions, best regards

Alberto

[yahilltrade]

awsome build man love it alot

keep up the great work.

what build is this for you....(what number)?

[albertop]

thanks yahilltrade, it's my 6th I think, I'm building another neck through SG and a LP junior that it's coming out awesome.

I had my doubts about the pickguard, since it has a backplate it wasnt necessary to put a pickguard but I tought it will look really cool, as is the original guitar. And now that I put it I believe it looks right.