How to build a B.C.Rich Widow peghead?

[GuitarMaestro]

Hi!

I want to build a peghead which is very similar to the B.C.Rich widow peghead. I did some tests with maple yesterday and found out that the spikes of the widow peghead break very easily if built from 10mm thick maple. Does someone have B.C.Eich to check how the pghead is constructed to make it stable enough? How would you go about building the Widow peghead? I fear that I even might break the spikes during sawing them out with a bandsaw. I am also interested in how to build the body's spikes.

Thanks in advance,

Marcel Knapp!

[westhemann]

i shaped a similar headstock with my bandsaw.basically you do the perimeter shape with the wood at full thickness front to back,then you cut out the profile of the neck

[Snork]

thats a really cool lookin guitar. i think the headstock has the tuners on teh other side. so that you cant see em. Not sure though.

[hardlyneeded]

thats a really cool lookin guitar. i think the headstock has the tuners on teh other side. so that you cant see em. Not sure though.

Actually that's with the new Floyd Rose Speedloader. No tuning pegs, similar to a Steinberger with a a ball at both ends of the strings.

[GuitarMaestro]

i shaped a similar headstock with my bandsaw.basically you do the perimeter shape with the wood at full thickness front to back,then you cut out the profile of the neck

Isnt it very difficult to get the peghead to its final thickness this way?

[Snork]

?????????? so how do you tune it!?

[weezerboy]

the same way you tune a floyd rose...tuners at the bridge...there isn;t alot of tuning to be done as the strings are pretty near as long as they need to be

[westhemann]

i shaped a similar headstock with my bandsaw.basically you do the perimeter shape with the wood at full thickness front to back,then you cut out the profile of the neck

Isnt it very difficult to get the peghead to its final thickness this way?

no

[krazyderek]

i shaped a similar headstock with my bandsaw.basically you do the perimeter shape with the wood at full thickness front to back,then you cut out the profile of the neck

Isnt it very difficult to get the peghead to its final thickness this way?

no

lol, so descriptive wes, i think spindle sanders are a key tool in making those aswell

[GuitarMaestro]

What do you use to get the peghead to its final thickness then?

[westhemann]

i use a bandsaw...you can do it both ways.with my carved top i cut out the thickness first,then the taper and headstock shape...with my beast i did it the other way around.it doesn't matter as the wood you use for the neck should be strong enough to resist chipping.when i cut the horns on mine i didn't try to follow the curve with the blade.i just came straight in and stopped my cut at the line,taking out one thickness of the blade each time.

there are blades you can by which are much thinner front to back that will make those curves,i just don't have one yet.you could use a dremel with a routing attachment and bit to cut those horns out.they also make coping saws for hand use which will do it.you should go to woodworkers supply (on the net)and have a look at some of the tools they have and read about the uses.there are many ways to do it and all will do a good job...it depends on the person doing it more than the method itself

[Drak]

Scroll-saw would work.

I don't even own a bandsaw, I use my scroll-saw for everything a bandsaw would do. I just slap a Fat Bob thick blade on it and it'll cut up to about 3" thick (slo tho) and I get the added benefits of what a scroll saw will do too.

[GuitarMaestro]

First of all thanks alot for all your answers!

@Wes:

1. Do I get you right that you shaped a peghead by only doing cuts perpendicular to the outer line of the shape? Doesn't this take ages?

2. I am not to sure about the stability of rock maple anymore. Sometime ago I dropped a similar shaped test peghead made from western rock maple on the floor in order to check its stability and one of the horns broke off immediately.

3. Isn't it very risky to cut the peghead to its final thickness with a bandsaw after shaping it? I guess it would be better to dirst cut it to the final thickness. Why do you do it the other way? Is there an advantage I dont get?

Greets,

Marcel Knapp!

[westhemann]

First of all thanks alot for all your answers!

@Wes:

1. Do I get you right that you shaped a peghead by only doing cuts perpendicular to the outer line of the shape? Doesn't this take ages?

2. I am not to sure about the stability of rock maple anymore. Sometime ago I dropped a similar shaped test peghead made from western rock maple on the floor in order to check its stability and one of the horns broke off immediately.

3. Isn't it very risky to cut the peghead to its final thickness with a bandsaw after shaping it? I guess it would be better to dirst cut it to the final thickness. Why do you do it the other way? Is there an advantage I dont get?

Greets,

Marcel Knapp!

1) it only took about 10 minutes

2)you shouldn't drop it...that is no way to check stability

3)it is not any more risky than the other way...i did it because if you look at a widow headstock it is a tilt back headstock but the horns are cut square to the fretboard,not the headstock itself...in other words the inside of the horns are slanted to the headstock...hard to put into words..but that is the way bc rich makes it

[westhemann]

but mine is modeled after a beast headstock...not a widow

[westhemann]

if you are still worried use bubinga for the sides of the headstock..it is much tougher

[westhemann]

this is an old pic of my peghead

[GuitarMaestro]

Thank you very much for your help and the pic Wes!

[Ace]

On a totally unrelated note (well not totally, but...), has anyone of you ever seen/played/retrofitted one of those speedloader thingies in person? Can you buy them for your own guitar or are they exclusive for the Ricos?

so long

ace

[GuitarMaestro]

@Ace: The speedloader can be bought as a single unit. As far as I am concerned there is no reason to retrofit a guitar with the unit though. What advantage over a usual Floyd does it have? You need no locking nut and no tuners. Both are present on an older guitar anyway.

[jbkim]

@Ace: The speedloader can be bought as a single unit. As far as I am concerned there is no reason to retrofit a guitar with the unit though. What advantage over a usual Floyd does it have? You need no locking nut and no tuners. Both are present on an older guitar anyway.

What scares me about the speedloader is the $11 US per set price tag plus the lack of single 1st string availability. The final fear is what if it doesn't take off... no more strings!!! I think floyd made a mistake of closing the string to Dean Markley only. They should have kept it open like Steinberger did with the double ball-end string. Who knows, that might change.

[westhemann]

well the advantage is quicker string change

[pour bleeding me]

my thing about the speedloader is that the little bullet looking things at the ends of the strings just sit in the nut...so if u depress the bar all the way down to the body wont the strings just come out of the nut? and also the headstock looks so stupid without pegs! its so dumb! whats the point of a headstock?!ill never own one of these

[westhemann]

yeah alot of people doin't like them.i really don't either

[krazyderek]

On a totally unrelated note (well not totally, but...), has anyone of you ever seen/played/retrofitted one of those speedloader thingies in person? Can you buy them for your own guitar or are they exclusive for the Ricos?

so long

ace

Ya i must admit, if you're not making a headless guitar it looks kinda silly to have a blank headstock, but if you have a crappy set of tuners then....

As far as i know, i'm the only person selling them as a seperate after market unit, and the free shipping offer is still on.

Speedloader

One last thing, isn't the bridge end exactly like the fender bullets? so if they do stop making the string for the floyd, just use a set of fender bullets with a regular nut and tuners, althought then it's just a over priced version of the original with more of a tuning range.