mattharris75 Posted March 22, 2008 Report Share Posted March 22, 2008 I think your idea of a natural finish with black hardware is going to look great. Definitely go with that! Everything is looking really good so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted March 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2008 ive been rendering all night trying to see what would look good, but redwood is so damn hard to finish well! and plus my fretboard already has ebony im thinking i might stick to the orinal plan but just have the back of the guitar all natural? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted March 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2008 (edited) here we go! some to report today, i was up until 2 last night carving the body, i got the final shape down and then got to it with my rasp. i routed the recesses for the covers and am pretty happy. i did it freehand because i dont have a template or the correct pattern bit :-p right rick? anyways here she is just a 3/4 inch roundover, then some more hand filing to make it look sexier i wanted a very soft and inviting apperance heres the view i like the end came out nice, i like the mahabgony walnut redwood surrounding the neck lamination opinions? also, keep in mind these pictures are from 2 in the morning last night Kenny Edited March 23, 2008 by Kenny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck Brian Posted March 24, 2008 Report Share Posted March 24, 2008 Gotta say I'm really diggin that body. Looks really inviting and I can't wait to see more progress on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmrentis Posted March 24, 2008 Report Share Posted March 24, 2008 That round over really brought the guitar to life it seems. It does look really comfortable to play. Projects really coming together well, very nice work and keep those progress pics coming, its looking good! J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted March 24, 2008 Report Share Posted March 24, 2008 Dig it The carve/roundover works very well. Can't wait to see some more pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted March 24, 2008 Report Share Posted March 24, 2008 Yeah, the roundover really adds a lot to it. Looking good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted March 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2008 (edited) thanks! for the feedback guys, i didnt post ehre but i went into more detail behind the carve on the Michael Angelo Batio forum that i frequent. and one of the things i was trying to go for was to make the guitar, how do you say, look like it is soft to touch, and something that is comfortable to touch so all the great feedback makes me feel good! more progress in addition to that glued on the FB, used a leather guitar strap and a sandling block as a caul. we will see how it comes out, but i have a feeling this and a little troulbe area under the nut for the neck might be the two bad areas of this guitar. (i glued the board really well, but i had to make the cavity for the truss rod shallower than needed. i routed out a little under the FB aswell as filed the rod down asmuch as possible, but im not sure if it sits perfectly flat :-\, but hell its only my second build and i wont make the mistake of not checking under nut thickness with the truss rod :-p theres like .2" left to shape so im going verrry gingerly on that area! also, i started doing the top carve, which is turning out much nicer than i had hoped! sorry about no pics tonight, ill post pics when i route the shape of the neck, and finish the top carve rockon Edited March 24, 2008 by Kenny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted March 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 MORE PROGRESS i strarted the top carve and glued on the fretboard (more on that) i also started the neck joint heres where it got bad the fretboard didnt glue flush becuase for whatever reason, and theres a hump in the middle that at its highest point is around 1-2mm (havent gotten around to measuting it) here is the hump anyways, im waiting to get an iron to take the fretboard off becuase i dont want to leave it to chance but it might also turn out that the string tension will flatten it to a certain extent and i can level the frets without the guitar looking noticiablly crappy :-p opinions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted March 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 do you think i should sweat it out and string it up and see if it flattens out somewhat? youd think the tension of 7 strings would do the trick. i really want to avoid ruining this fretboard, i spent ALOT of time on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anderekel Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 I'd say you might as well give it a try, worse that'll happen is that you discover you will have to remove it anyway, at least as far as I can see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 My vote's to remove it anyways, but you knew that. 1-2mm isn't a ton, but setting action deals with very tight tolerances, ya know? Happened to me with my first fretboard because I put too much glue on. That was a fun one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmrentis Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 Ouch, hopefully you'll figure it out cause I really like that fretboad. I guess thats one of the major advantages of fretting last as you can level at any point you desire really. As Soapbarstrat pointed out in another thread, the tools Stewmac sells for pressing frets shouldn't be too hard to make for a reasonable price and I believe they would enable you to fret afterwards even on a neck through, which would mean you could level the board should you find any bumps, humps, or lumps. Its at least something to try on the next one or if you have to make a new fretboard for some reason. Honestly in the picture I couldn't see the hump really, I could see some significant fall away, but thats it. However, I remember you saying that there was little neck angle and I see some, so a bump could make it look like there is more neck angle and more fall away than there really is. Keep us posted. Best of luck. J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted March 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 i put almost no fall away into the 16-24 fret very little but its almost negligable its the hump thats making it look like that since you cant really see it go up. it starts at the 3rd fret bass side and ends at like the 12th fret. im going to try to remove it when i get my hands on an iron so for now production has come to a slight halt. on the bright side i bought 17bf of honduras mahagony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orgmorg Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 I wouldn't rely on the strings to flatten it. I know it's a drag, but you are right to take it back off and try again. Also, I think that guitar will look fantastic with a clear finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted April 10, 2008 Report Share Posted April 10, 2008 I would try first of all to pull the frets, then re-level and radius the board (if the inlays are deep enough) and then re-fret. Inlays, binding and fretting probably won't survive a fretboard removal in the same condition as they are now (if at all) meaning starting the board from scratch anyway. You will need to deepen the slots when you refret if you level the board. Does your rod work? If you're pulling frets, introducing a little backbow may relieve a little of the tension on the tangs of the frets within the adjustment range. Not much, but perhaps enough to dissuade the board from splintering badly when you pull frets. Ebony is a PITA for that. Glued the frets in? Heat them with a soldering iron before pulling them to loosen the glues grip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted April 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2008 oh, forgot to post progress i used a steam iron with 2 t-shirts and a hot knife fretboard came off with no problem, i had a slight issue with some of the redwood chipping, underneath the fretboard tho. i got a new rod and used a belt sander to get it to size (the aluminum u canal) glued on the FB with 2ton epoxy, worked great. dried hard as a rock and the rod works. phew! that was a close one the next challange is to carve the neck, but under the 1st fret i have very very little material where the rod is. so steady we go... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bass-Man43 Posted April 13, 2008 Report Share Posted April 13, 2008 Thats awesome that everything worked out great for you after all that hard work going into that fretboard! Can't wait to see this one finished Bass-man43 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted April 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 alright lots to report i fixed the FB issue, built a bridge (near perfectly except for where the router dipped once), and finished body carve, aswell as 3/4 of the neck carve (asymetrical) i decided on a clear finish with ebony pickup covers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bygde Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 Beautiful work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted April 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 more pictures kenny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 I think you've inspired me to give redwood a try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattharris75 Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 This is looking great, Kenny. Very impressive build. That redwood is going to really pop under some clearcoat. Looks like the whole thing is going to turn out beautifully! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 Woot! Issat the same fretboard? How did you go about fixing the problem? The neck heel came out nice, much better than my own (still trying to improve it). With the low-angle shot, the body looks pretty thin. What's its max thickness? And I hope you're paying Erik for that bridge design Looks great, Ken, I can't wait to see some clearcoats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted April 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 redwood is great to work with, very soft the only problem i have is it drinks a lot of any type of liquid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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