Maiden69 Posted November 9, 2007 Report Share Posted November 9, 2007 The color will important because you are staining blue. If you get it and you want a light blue color, it is advisable to bleach it. it is very similar to the top I got for my bass. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/Maiden69/c7ad6372.jpg And at that thickness, it would be a close call for a carve top with faux binding, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted November 10, 2007 Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 Yeah, maiden has a point about the colour issue but its definitely got the nicest figuring and i dont reckon the colour difference would be enough to rule out a blue dye finish. really that depends on the type of blue you want. A deeper blue will do fine on that wood but a pale worn denim colour of blue might still show the colour difference a little more - but that doesnt mean it will look bad. Its not the optimal thickness for carving and leaving faux binding but as long as its planned well it should be fine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inisheer Posted November 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 I am not planning on doing a pale denim type thing. It will be a bit of a darker blue, pretty similar to that blue singlecut Maiden69 did a while ago. This should work then? And I know the carve won't be very deep. How thick was the top on that SC, Maiden? Also, Jeff Miller uses a 1/2" thick maple top on his guitar to carve and has faux binding. And doesn't PRS use 1/2" tops? This wood would allow the carve to be .19" deeper than those, so it should work fine, right? Option 2 is 1" thick, would this work better for my purpose? It is also more consistent in color. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted November 10, 2007 Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 1/2" is, IMO, the bare, bare minimum, and I tend to use 5/8", preferably 3/4", sometimes even a little more than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackdog Posted November 10, 2007 Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 (edited) I am not planning on doing a pale denim type thing. It will be a bit of a darker blue, pretty similar to that blue singlecut Maiden69 did a while ago. This should work then? And I know the carve won't be very deep. How thick was the top on that SC, Maiden? Also, Jeff Miller uses a 1/2" thick maple top on his guitar to carve and has faux binding. And doesn't PRS use 1/2" tops? This wood would allow the carve to be .19" deeper than those, so it should work fine, right? Option 2 is 1" thick, would this work better for my purpose? It is also more consistent in color. PRS tops are much thicker than 1/2" I would say about 3/4" (19mm) at the highest point. For a deep carving like a PRS you need about 1/2" (13mm) for the carving itself (I used 13mm for my build), and add something between 3/16" to 1/4" (5 to 6mm) for a faux binding to make sense. For my next build (carved top, faux binding) I got a 19mm top. 0.69" (17.5mm) is doable, but probably too close a call. Now 1" is more than enough, but maybe too much: you'll want to concentrate your efforts in the carving, not into converting 5mm of maple into sawdust to get it where you need it. Believe me, it's a lot of work. Maybe you can ask the supplier to thickness it down to 3/4" before shipping ?? I know the german provider I bought from will do that upon request. Edited November 10, 2007 by Blackdog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted November 10, 2007 Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 3/4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inisheer Posted November 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 Everyone seems to be saying that 3/4" is the optimal thickness. That would be .75- only a .06 difference from this top. This is approximately only 1/16" thinner, is that slight bit really going to make that much of a difference? And sorry, I guess I was wrong about the PRS specs. May I ask again which of those three choices I posted would be best, if any? I can use the 1" thick one (choice 2) and have a deeper carve, or should I stick with the .69" one? And thanks for all the input guys, I appreciate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted November 10, 2007 Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 It's not going to make a huge difference, no, but you'll have to settle for a less deep carve. Which will give it a slightly different sort of look. Not bad, just a bit different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted November 10, 2007 Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 You can accentuate the carve by going deeper than the edge. Kinda like a pool between the edge and the carve crest. I think that the Carvin is like that but I haven't had one in my hands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougK Posted November 10, 2007 Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 It's not going to make a huge difference, no, but you'll have to settle for a less deep carve. Which will give it a slightly different sort of look. Not bad, just a bit different. True but think about where the PRS is the thickest aka up at the bridge. Once you put the taper on it (if your being true to a PRS) its 1/2" tops near the horns anyways. Since you have the long smooth taper down to 1/4" on the "arm" side of it, that will probably be almost impossible to really see unless you look at a real PRS next to it in cross section. just my 2cents Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted November 10, 2007 Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 It's like this, I just did mine steeper and I went to 3/8" at the edge of the body instead of 1/2". And I didn't round the area where the bridge goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hector Posted November 12, 2007 Report Share Posted November 12, 2007 You can accentuate the carve by going deeper than the edge. PRS uses this technique too. I think it's called the recarve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted November 12, 2007 Report Share Posted November 12, 2007 recurve - its used on archtops to voice the instrument because the recurve decides how much the top will flex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hector Posted November 13, 2007 Report Share Posted November 13, 2007 recurve - its used on archtops to voice the instrument because the recurve decides how much the top will flex yes! that`s it. recurve!! thanks wes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RjY Posted November 13, 2007 Report Share Posted November 13, 2007 Hey, looks good..... Thought i'd pass on this like as i thought you might find it useful.................... Blue PRS finish RjY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inisheer Posted November 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2007 Thanks for the link, RjY, I plan on using that when the time comes. And I'll take everyone's advice and try a recurve to make the carve look deeper. Now for the progress: I've been working on the neck and fretted it. I was really worried about the whole fretting process. I used a cut off end from a radius sanding block in a drill press to install the frets. Then I had to level the frets, which didn't take as long as I thought it would. Then I bevelled the ends and sanded with fine grit sandpaper. It may not be the best, but it seems ok to me (everything lines up with a straightedge). Now I am starting to carve the back of the neck. Here is a pic of the fretted neck. I also got my mahogany body blank today. It looks really nice, but is a lot lighter in color than the neck. Since I am doing a natural finish, the two pieces won't match as well as I would like.....perhaps when the finishing process comes around I will add a very light amount of brown stain to the body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killemall8 Posted November 30, 2007 Report Share Posted November 30, 2007 Thanks for the link, RjY, I plan on using that when the time comes. And I'll take everyone's advice and try a recurve to make the carve look deeper. Now for the progress: I've been working on the neck and fretted it. I was really worried about the whole fretting process. I used a cut off end from a radius sanding block in a drill press to install the frets. Then I had to level the frets, which didn't take as long as I thought it would. Then I bevelled the ends and sanded with fine grit sandpaper. It may not be the best, but it seems ok to me (everything lines up with a straightedge). Now I am starting to carve the back of the neck. Here is a pic of the fretted neck. I also got my mahogany body blank today. It looks really nice, but is a lot lighter in color than the neck. Since I am doing a natural finish, the two pieces won't match as well as I would like.....perhaps when the finishing process comes around I will add a very light amount of brown stain to the body. nice. did you do any re crowning or dress the frets at all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inisheer Posted November 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2007 nice. did you do any re crowning or dress the frets at all Yes, I did that too. I had planned on being cheap and using a regular file to carefully recrown each side of the frets, but I ended up getting a specialty crowning file from stewmac, which was probably a better choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inisheer Posted November 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2007 I was excited about carving the neck, so I got up and finished it this morning. It still needs some sanding to smooth it all out, though. Sorry for the bad picture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mastertone007 Posted December 1, 2007 Report Share Posted December 1, 2007 It's like this, I just did mine steeper and I went to 3/8" at the edge of the body instead of 1/2". And I didn't round the area where the bridge goes. That looks like a space ship of star trek or something... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackdog Posted December 1, 2007 Report Share Posted December 1, 2007 I was excited about carving the neck, so I got up and finished it this morning. It still needs some sanding to smooth it all out, though. Sorry for the bad picture. That neck of yours is looking really nice !!! Do you use a profile gauge (I think it's called) to check for simmetry ?? I found about it when I thought my neck was basically done, and found that I still needed to correct quite a few things. Also a must if you want to copy an existing neck profile. If you don't have one, go get one and give it a try !! Inexpensive too. Can you show / tell me more about that band saw that shows partially in your picture ?? If that's what it is I could use something like it myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted December 1, 2007 Report Share Posted December 1, 2007 Blackdog: in terms of small bandsaws, check Martkplaats for a used (or new) medium/small benchtop Elektra Beckum bandsaw. Pretty good quality machines, don't cost too much, don't take up too much space. I'll stick with my big Italian bandsaw, but if I had less space, I'd definintely consider one of the elektra beckums. Heck, if I had more space, I'd consider getting one for cutting smaller things/curves, so I could leave the big one set up for straight lines and resawing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inisheer Posted December 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2007 Thanks for the kind words, blackdog. I meant that the rough shape is basically done, though it still does need some refinement. I was planning on getting one of those contour gauges to check for symmetry. I am not sure if I want to copy the profile from another neck or try something new. And that is a Craftsman 10" bandsaw. I've been using it for the last year and it seems pretty good to me. It cut through some mahogany pretty easily that was almost 4" thick. It was fairly inexpensive and I would recommend it if you are looking for a smaller bandsaw. But I am not sure that it is available where you are from (Netherlands, right?). I would listen to Mattia's advice in that case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mastertone007 Posted December 1, 2007 Report Share Posted December 1, 2007 Am i the only one who sees the starship??? BTW i am not mocking or anything... And the guitar thats been build on this therd is going very well. Awesome work, keep it up.. Another PRS for the brotherhood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RjY Posted December 4, 2007 Report Share Posted December 4, 2007 All the work looks really good!! People knock others who build 'copies' or whatever, but in a way i think they can be a far more challenging build, especially for beginners... Sure you can just measure one up and see where everything will go and how it will all fit together, but at the same time, everyone knows how it should look and will home straight in on your mistakes.... This looks like a really good build and i hope it plays well for you at the end!!!! RjY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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