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The Engagement Guitar


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Earlier I had posted a topic about "the engagement guitar"-and now i cant find it. Anyways-after too much work, i have finaly come back to the guitar, and i've got an update. I will no longer be using a snakewood fretboard-too expensive and to complicated (design wise). Instead i am not sure which fretboard wood i should get.

the update: the neck now will no longer be all mohagany-instead it will me mainly moh-with purple heart and maple. the laminate will consist of 7 pieces moh/purp/maple/purp/maple/purp/moh.

the body is moh with a maple top seen below...since the neck is deep set i am torn between showing that its deep set and not. however i would like to make a tobacco burst, so i dont know how the deepset will look with the stain...any thoughts?

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee242/sbmann/970.jpg

nevermind the snakewood neck---remember the question are....what kind of fretboard and should i show the deep set neck(route the top (maple) to show the neck on the body......please help

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since noone wanted to take a stab at it i've decided to bring the tennon to the end of the neck pickup---and the neck is now going to be

moh/map/thick purpleheart/map/moh

I cut enough for two neck also.

the fretboard is also going to be purple heart

I'll be making the fretboard myself---any suggestions on a mitre box with precut slots? I saw stewmacs and said eff it i'll make my own---but i will be getting their fret saw with the depth gauge as well.

with gold hardware including the frets

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---but i will be getting their fret saw with the depth gauge as well.

FWIW I bought the fretsaw with the depth stop from StewMac and it does the job. However I read somewhere here that it's not the best option around, it was even mentioned as the only piece of their fretting kit that was not that great.

Do a search in the tools forum before buying....

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  • 1 month later...

Alright it's been a spell; I haven't beenon lately---had a close call with death-so hence my "break" from building.

Update:

The neck hasn't been glued in yet. It's a 5 piece moh/maple/purple heart/maple/moh----with purple heart fretboard--I'll be using gold fret wire.

The body has been cut out---moh back with a thin crotch maple top(bookmatched)---more pics of the build are coming very soon--I will be doing more buiding this week

After I am satisfied with the body progress this week, I will be starting my pickup winder, so if anybody has any winder plans please post em.

P.S.---I scored a 7 foot plank of purple heart for 20 bucks from this guy that didn't even know how valuable it was!!!!!!!!!!!

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PLEASE HELPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!

what kind of burst should i do when all hardware is gold with black accents, maple top, and a purpleheart fretboard?

i first thought a tobacco burst would fit, but now i'm thinking that it would be too "worn out", I am deffinately doing a burst with dyes, but i am in need of some advice.

WHAT KIND OF BURST WOULD FIT?

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No. Purpleheart will oxidize regardless of what finish you apply to it (any wood will). You can definitely slow down the oxidation process, but you can't stop it by any means. How much Purpleheart oxidizes varies from board to board, you may end up with one that wont darken so much over time.

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Remember that purpleheart fingerboard may well be brown in a few years time....

You know Mattia, I have heard that but never seen it. I have some purple heart that I have had for about five years and it is purple as can be. I have seen it brown up after being freshly surfaced or cut, but have never seen it lose its color over time. Have you had a piece brown up over time?

Peace,Rich

Edited by fryovanni
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regarding the fretsaws

LMI has a japanese saw that is supposed to be very good, i know it was mentioned somewhere else on the board, but FWIW id go with the sheffeild england one,,,and a depth stop is always nice to have :D

EDIT: also about purple heart i was going to make a purple heart acoustic, but i resawed a peice from my billet and it went **** brown. 6 months later and its still pretty brown, so i dont know what im gonna do with it....the outsides still purple as hell though.

Edited by Kenny
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Jon, That is pretty dark looking Purple heart. How old do you figure the very dark surfaces are? I have actually never seen Purple heart get quite that dark, but I suppose those bits are pretty intensly colored, and I would expect they would be a great example for how dark it the species could get. I guess the time line on and how dark a piece could get would depend on time and intensity of color in the peice. Knowing that I have pieces that have been raw for 5 years plus(wood in my shop) that are not finished, and have not gone dark purple brown. I suppose the same piece with finish would not become extreamly dark for quite some time (decades??) if it has the potential to become that dark.

Kenny, It should purple up (LOL, I guess that is the way to say it). Do you have it exposed to air? or is it stacked on a shelf (it doesn't seem to color up unless it is exposed to air).

Peace,Rich

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Remember that purpleheart fingerboard may well be brown in a few years time....

You know Mattia, I have heard that but never seen it. I have some purple heart that I have had for about five years and it is purple as can be. I have seen it brown up after being freshly surfaced or cut, but have never seen it lose its color over time. Have you had a piece brown up over time?

Peace,Rich

I've never bought any purpleheart, but my local woodyard had a stack of purpleheart that was completely brown; boring, ugly colour, except for a few freshly planed pieces. Then again, they also have a huge, long board of purpleheart up against the wall that's been purple for years (sample piece, they're not selling it) without a finish on it. Seems sort of like Padauk that way, I guess. Don't know if a finish would protect the colour better.

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Jon, That is pretty dark looking Purple heart. How old do you figure the very dark surfaces are? I have actually never seen Purple heart get quite that dark, but I suppose those bits are pretty intensly colored, and I would expect they would be a great example for how dark it the species could get.

Hmm, a little over 2 years now. It is the first and only piece of Purpleheart I have purchased. I bought a gigantic piece for about $16. and this is the very last of it. I have built 3 necks from it overall.

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