biliousfrog Posted May 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2007 quick update: haven't got too far with it but I've got the neck roughed out with the trussrod channel, added some sycamore accents to the headstock & fingerboard & roughly cut the body outline. I started to sand the edges smooth but my vac died yesterday so I'm holding off until I find a solution. Scarf glue-up Headstock veneers Headstock cut out Parts layout Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted May 21, 2007 Report Share Posted May 21, 2007 That's one huge neck tenon! Lookin' sweet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biliousfrog Posted May 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2007 yup, right through to the bridge a lot of that will be removed to allow for the top, something that I could have done earlier but I prefer to deal with things one step at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biliousfrog Posted June 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2007 Tiny update but I thought that I'd post these pics here & then link to them from my thread about ugly scarf joints. The grain from the heastock piece & the neck didn't quite match which left me with a very obvious join when making a volute. The solution, which I hadn't even considered, was to cover it with a veneer or two...or back-strap it. I considered using the same sycamore veneer that I used on the front & fingerboard but for some random reason I cut a slightly thicker piece from the same wood as the carve top to see what it looked like & I preferred it. I followed the steps in Setch's backstrapping blog article & all went surprisingly smoothly. Here's the result: I still need to clean it up a bit but I'm very pleased with the results so far Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted June 25, 2007 Report Share Posted June 25, 2007 Wow. Definitely giantamightous tenon for sure! Nice looking neck BF. I did the same thin accent on one of my headstocks (black between maple and flame maple) then sanded it around the edge to bring it "off the edges". Boy did that make me happy. Is that a full-on rosewood neck? You crazy man! I would love cackobanana neck but given that just sanding a fretboard made of deathwood makes me sneeze and hack like Albert Steptoe I just daren't. That tenon is so full on....you're not hiding it then I take it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biliousfrog Posted June 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2007 yep full-on indian rosewood neck & yes I am hiding a lot of it. I'm doing a deep set tenon, going right up to the bridge area. I don't like the look of neck throughs but I can appreciate the increased response from having the neck span the entire string length. I tried a deep-set tenon with my last build & I really like the characteristics of it so I thought that I'd do another. It's a lot of work but I think that it has some sonic benefits. The dust is nasty, I've got a fairly decent mask but my vac has broke & the dust goes everywhere...great to plane though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sambo Posted June 26, 2007 Report Share Posted June 26, 2007 I'm unable to find anywhere in the UK or europe that sells spoke-wheel trussrods so I'll probably go with a normal hex style at the headstock end. It will give me a chance to make a nice matching trussrod cover out of the rosewood. There was a bloke on ebay who was selling them a while ago. I bought 4!! Had a look through my ebay history to find name, but cant find it sorry. But they do pop up from time to time on ebay. They're very similar (in size etc) to the ones WD music sell, cept with the spoke end. S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biliousfrog Posted June 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2007 I bought one from a guy on ebay too, probably the same one. It had a blue plastic "sheath". I contacted him about getting some more but he said that he wouldn't be getting any for a while. The only other rods that I've seen similar in the blue covering where Gotoh ones so I suspect that they might be those? The guy I bought the hex rod from is going to keep an eye out for the spoke ones but I haven't heard anything as yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biliousfrog Posted July 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2007 My girlfriend was really ill last weekend, she seems to think that the pub she visited the previous night had filled the Smirnoff bottles with cheap vodka but I suspect that it was more likely the vast amount of the stuff that she drunk...anyway, it meant that I could have some time off from shopping for shoes & doing DIY & had a chance to do some work on my baby. I rounded over the back of the body, no belly cut just a roundover all round. I routed out the mortice for the deep-set tenon, routed an edge for the carve top, planed the neck angle & pickup plane, cut the neck slot in the top & started the carving. Roundover Mortice Neck & body Carving Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J_48_Johnson Posted July 21, 2007 Report Share Posted July 21, 2007 I've been following your build and it is coming along quite nicely. The sound holes on the carved top is a very clean, classy look which I like a lot. The looooong tennon should give you great sustain w/o the look of a neck through which I never cared for much. Kudos on the fine work, and keep posting those pictures! B-rad in Akron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted September 10, 2007 Report Share Posted September 10, 2007 What's the progress, BF? I'm about to start work on a singlecut for my wife and I checked back on this thread as your chambering stuck in my mind as a very common sense compromise between large chambers and good solid construction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biliousfrog Posted September 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2007 the progress is.....actually quite a bit but I've been so busy that I only get to spend an hour or so on it & the last thing I'm thinking of is taking photo's. This self-employed lark is bloody hard work! I'm hoping to get something done next week, if so I'll take plenty of photo's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biliousfrog Posted October 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 More: http://s133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/bil...ed_seperate.jpg http://s133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/bil...ained_front.jpg http://s133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/bil...ined_bottom.jpg I've partially fretted the neck, one popped out when test fitting the top over the neck...or rather when removing the top after test fitting it. The side markers are sterling silver rings made from tube beads. I've added a sycamore heel cap. I'm quite pleased with the carve top, staining & faux binding as they're all firsts for me...in fact there's very little that I've done before on this. BTW I couldn't find my tack rags or mineral spirits so there's still some fine dust over the body, add to that my inability to take sharp photos of guitars & the finish might look a bit smudgey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hooglebug Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 finally some new pics!! get on with it and finish it you lazy swine! hehe looking good - i love the sound holes and the neck looks coolies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 I can never get enough of blue guitars, sweet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 I have to admit that I like the practical qualities of your build so much, i'm using them for my wife's Les Paul build which I will update very soon. I can't wait to see how the top looks when cleared! How did you get the light wood emerging in the truss rod access hole? I can't remember seeing a headplate on there, just a backstrap.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sb guitars Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 More: http://s133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/bil...ed_seperate.jpg http://s133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/bil...ained_front.jpg http://s133.photobucket.com/albums/q75/bil...ined_bottom.jpg I've partially fretted the neck, one popped out when test fitting the top over the neck...or rather when removing the top after test fitting it. The side markers are sterling silver rings made from tube beads. I've added a sycamore heel cap. I'm quite pleased with the carve top, staining & faux binding as they're all firsts for me...in fact there's very little that I've done before on this. BTW I couldn't find my tack rags or mineral spirits so there's still some fine dust over the body, add to that my inability to take sharp photos of guitars & the finish might look a bit smudgey. what is the total length of the neck from tip to tip? does the tenon go past the bridge? or does it stop before? or does it stop as soon as the bridge stops? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikester Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 Wow looking good! I am excited to see this one finished! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 That design is genius. What's your neck angle? It looks pretty steep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob_tart Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 lthought my eyes were going wonky at those photos... then i saw your comment about not being able to atake an in focus picture!!! Love the color.... and whole concept... cant wait to see this one in the bag well done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlexVDL Posted October 3, 2007 Report Share Posted October 3, 2007 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted October 3, 2007 Report Share Posted October 3, 2007 I think it's a trick of the perspective. The neck angle can't be that huge, else the long tenon would run out a mile or two! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biliousfrog Posted October 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2007 Thanks for the comments & encouragement. The neck angle looks much steeper because the top of the guitar is sloped from 1" to 1/8" & then there's the neck angle as well. It was very complicated to work out especially as the neck pocket area is at an angle rather than square like a PRS or Gibson. I've got the bridge about 1/8" above the body which will allow me a bit of adjustment. I could have gone less but my last TOM hasn't got quite enough so I didn't want to risk it. If you look at any two pickup P90 equiped guitars, the bridge pickup usually looks too high, probably because they don't have any pickup rings. I had a bit of a panic when I realised that the bridge pickup was going to be raised so high but after a quick google I realised that it's quite normal & isn't really noticable. http://www.prsguitars.com/mccartysoapbar/index.html http://www.prsguitars.com/singlecutstandar...pbar/index.html http://www.guytonguitars.co.uk/images/semi...stic/semi03.jpg The pickups aren't fixed yet...actually nothing's fixed yet, that's going to be the scary part! In order to get the bridge pickup at the "sweet spot" I've routed a deep pickup cavity & will use springs to get the height correct & then add some shims once I'm happy. I could just leave them with springs but I'd rather have them fixed direct to the body. The headstock has a thin sycamore/rosewood headplate. As for the blurry pics...I don't know what's wrong with me. I like photography, I've got a Canon DSLR & a reasonable Sigma lens, I can usually take quite good pics but, for some reason, my guitar pics are always blurry. I expect that it's because it's usually getting late, the lights fading & I'm in a rush. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted October 3, 2007 Report Share Posted October 3, 2007 Very nice! As for the neck angle thing, I find it's easiest to just use the planed back angle (bridge to body edge at neck) as the reference surface, and index the required neck angle off of that. What the neck angle relative to the back of the guitar/glue line between body and top is isn't really relevant... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted October 4, 2007 Report Share Posted October 4, 2007 This guitar is going to be gorgeous. The entire design is really brilliant, IMO. I love the color of the neck woods against the blue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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