Prostheta Posted July 16, 2007 Report Share Posted July 16, 2007 Sorry Perry, no 3D models for you on this one - just 2D. The body is going to either be an Ibanez RG shape (as per the RG2228) or the LGM Leviathan shape. I was considering either a BC Rich Mockingbird or Jackson Warrior shape, but the balance issues put pay to those. Usual "typical" eight-string hardware and pickups (Hipshot, EMG45-DC) apply so nothing special there. The neck is designed to be bolt-on for which i'm going to fit some recessed ferrules a la Ibanez. The construction is a central laminate of zebrano (thanks Will!) and two outer laminates of wenge (thanks Will!) with oak and wenge veneers between for the pinstripes. The fingerboard is going to be wenge with no fret markers, with more wenge and oak veneers underneath. The headstock is a piece of wenge scarfed on at some angle which escapes me right now....probably 11°....the headstock has also been backstrapped with a layer of black poplar veneer and a covering veneer of wenge. The scale length is 30" over two full octaves per string. back of the neck shot I have a big ol' body blank of maple right now, but I really don't think it'll be a good idea to use it due to the weight issues. Failing that, i'm hoping to snaffle a couple of sapele blanks off Simo or some alder from Luthiers Supplies....if the month treats me right however, then a wenge/zebrano body could be on the cards.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted July 16, 2007 Report Share Posted July 16, 2007 Great work! Wenge is such an awesome wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travismoore Posted July 16, 2007 Report Share Posted July 16, 2007 there are few words that can describe that neck.. i choose "GOD DAMN!" nice work =D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted July 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2007 Thanks :-D Wenge is awesome, and as people point out regularly it has a strong resonant ringing tap tone. I've not been finish sanding anything up till now, but wenge does have this awesome habit of polishing up very well when you hit it with 400 grit cloth. Hopefully the zebrano won't get clogged up with wenge dust too badly unlike my annoying padauk/maple encounter. I'm holding off on the body work until later this month. I want to tie up all the woods for a nice cohesive look, but i'm finding it very hard to source wenge or zebrano in the UK any thicker than 1" for body stock. If anyone has any ideas on this score, I would be very appreciative. I'm not too worried about completing the neck so far in advance of doing the body as I have a 1:1 CAD plan for the build anyway, and i'm bang on with the measurements so far! Recessing the tuner bushings and routing the bevelled headstock top shape was a PITA. I wouldn't recommend trying it without balls of steel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted July 16, 2007 Report Share Posted July 16, 2007 Wenge has a great sound, but man it's a pain to finish (and rout). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted July 17, 2007 Report Share Posted July 17, 2007 (edited) wow, finally one thread about an 8th string that delivered!!! And not full of CAD drawings! Good job, now go work some more and post pics please! Edited July 17, 2007 by Maiden69 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travismoore Posted July 17, 2007 Report Share Posted July 17, 2007 You tryed german ebay for woods? Occasionally wood comes up there normally bubinga and wenge but on ocation some zebrano shows up =D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted July 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2007 I've got more CAD drawings if you're wanting some more disappointment Maiden! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted July 17, 2007 Report Share Posted July 17, 2007 The leviathan is not my thing, it is a good design but not my cup of tea. And the RG-Ibanez shape, well, it is most associated with the 8th, but on that I will mod the lower horn for better fret access. I don't know, I think that the way the headstock looks deserves a unique body shape. And work, please, not more drawings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted July 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2007 Touché, Maiden! Yeah, the next job is the fretboard and truss rod cover before final shaping and finishing. As much as I would like to rush ahead and get the body done, I would rather wait till the right wood comes around instead of piling ahead into it. I think given the right amount of patience, I can rustle up some zebrano for a central body laminate and wenge for outers. Best go raid eBay methinks (thanks Travis!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted July 17, 2007 Report Share Posted July 17, 2007 Good thinking!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted July 18, 2007 Report Share Posted July 18, 2007 Methinks I saw some wide & thick wenge just up the road from me; wood supplier moving into a new shop, some stuff was uncovered that even he'd forgotten about. PM me if you want me to look into it (but alas, I'm in the US so....). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted July 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2007 (edited) Thanks Erik - that would be awesome if you're up that way. PM sent also. I will definitely be interested. I also managed to score these off eBay last night: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...A:IT&ih=009 http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...A:IT&ih=009 The size of these would work very nicely as a central laminate between two pieces of wenge, or in the case of the 610mm piece as a neck blank if I grafted on an additional composite piece for the headstock.... Edited July 18, 2007 by Prostheta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted July 18, 2007 Report Share Posted July 18, 2007 Why do I find it so easy to picture a Leviathan-influenced guitar with a Dana Scoop? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted July 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2007 I hate those things....the only use they have is to create access to Fender-style back-of-the-heel rod adjustment points :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin stam Posted July 18, 2007 Report Share Posted July 18, 2007 i would go with a large scale iceman body, that would look nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted July 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2007 i would go with a large scale iceman body, that would look nice True - the scale length would be conducive to the shape, but the balancing issue would be awful which is why I decided against the Mockingbird and Warrior proposals I threw around in the design stages of this (these) build(s). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheIRS Posted July 18, 2007 Report Share Posted July 18, 2007 I'd say do a modified BC Rich Stealth design but! that is too similar to the warrior i think, and you already threw that out the window. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gibsonsg26 Posted July 19, 2007 Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 mayby you should have the bevels of the headstock flow into the body somehow that would probably look cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted July 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 That's a possibility. I could perhaps even work a "faux pickup ring" around the EMG with a round-nosed bearing bit, and perhaps even a small raised round section around the volume knob. I'd not considered things like this, as I wanted a nice simple look to the body but a bit of tieing up never goes amiss. I am trying to get out of the whole "changing specs and designs mid-build" and stay true to the original spec'ed design. I do have one or two other eight-strings similar to this one in the pipeline of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dude Posted July 20, 2007 Report Share Posted July 20, 2007 Yeah, I'd try to do a body more based on the headstock shape. Maybe a cross between the Ibanez RG and the LGM Leviathan. Continuing the bevels onto the body sounds like a good idea, too. That's just me, though. It's your guitar, after all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PunkRockerLuke Posted July 20, 2007 Report Share Posted July 20, 2007 (edited) I must say a body that flows with the design of that neck would be KILLER Edited July 20, 2007 by PunkRockerLuke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck Brian Posted July 22, 2007 Report Share Posted July 22, 2007 wow, finally one thread about an 8th string that delivered!!! And not full of CAD drawings! Hey! I delivered with no CAD drawings at all!! That headstock looks bonkers!!! I love the recesses for the tuners and I seriously can't wait to see this one turn out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted July 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2007 Totally, Brian! I loved your eight-string build. How is it turning out now you've had time to live and work with it? I've still got string gauges to work out, but i'm going to try a 0.80 for the eighth and see how it feels. I would prefer a similar tension over the "traditional" six strings to be fairly similar to how a 10-46 set feels on my Explorers (24-3/4") when in standard E. I'm not even sure if the string lengths of D'Addario EXL strings will fit the instrument. Wouldn't that be the stupidest thing ever? I was actually inspired by a Dolan Guitars instrument with a similar headstock so I won't take credit for that one, however I changed the design and added by own little eccentricities like recessing the tuner bushings and angling the tuners to make it more compact. It's not exactly too dissimilar from yours though - mine just has about 1/2"-3/4" cut from the middle :-D The resultant design is more like "made harder to build and was more annoying to get right" which is how I can justify using CAD to make sure everything is going to go right, as opposed to making tug material. I did go through two dummy headstocks before I committed to the final build though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted July 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2007 (edited) UPDATE: Radiused the fretboard, finished shaping the neck and installed side markers and fretwire. Still bits of sanding to do in the curves, so it's not exactly catwalk glossy standard right now. ANOTHER PIC YET ANOTHER PIC (wood wetted slightly, hence the dry stuff in the grain) Edited July 22, 2007 by Prostheta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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