Daniel Schmolze Posted December 27, 2008 Report Share Posted December 27, 2008 (edited) Following my post here I've finally gotten started on my first project. Here's the final design I came up with: I managed to get access to a monster Epson 9600 printer, so I printed a bunch of back and front views of the design full-size: I then cut out one of the views, taped it to a piece of MDF and traced the lines with an Exacto knife. I used a band saw and a spindle sander to cut out the shape, and did the same thing to get templates for the headstock, neck pocket and pickup cavity. I calculated out the fretboard dimensions rather than printing it, and then traced around the resulting fretboard template to get a nice tight neck pocket template. finished templates So now I'm just waiting for my wood to arrive (should be here Monday). A bit about the specs and hardware: 25.5" scale, mahogany neck with wenge headplate and maple veneer, mahogany body with 1/4" wenge top and maple veneer, hipshot fixed bridge, Planet Waves tuners. Not sure about pickups yet, will probably postpone that decision until the very end. Edited December 31, 2008 by Xanthus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted December 27, 2008 Report Share Posted December 27, 2008 Very classy design! I like the little point at the bottom. I'd be concerned about the horns breaking off, but since you're putting a cap on it, maybe you could inlay some cross-grain splints under the top, if you see what I mean, since there will be short grain there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j. pierce Posted December 28, 2008 Report Share Posted December 28, 2008 Pretty neat! I'm not sold on the horns, but that's more personal taste than necessarily a bad design. I think you've managed to put together some interesting elements without being over the top here. As far as structural integrity on the tips of the horns, I've seen worse. Simply not putting the strap button at the very tip of the horns can probably alleviate the worst of fears there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narcissism Posted December 28, 2008 Report Share Posted December 28, 2008 Hmm, i'd play it! I'll be watching this thread. Cool design! It looks like you put some time into it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Schmolze Posted December 31, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 (edited) Major progress today, shop looks like a sawdust bomb went off. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves: Here's one wetted down. Pretty impressive color change. Front agan Back carved Front carved and wet Here's where I stand now. Body pretty much done, except for bridge and controls. Front Tomorrow: neck stuff (got the scarf joint gluing now, and the fretboard has been slotted and tapered). Edited December 31, 2008 by Xanthus pic count Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattharris75 Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 Wow, that is really sharp! Great design, great execution. Love the carving. Looking forward to seeing the progress on the neck and finishing process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmarlin Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 Wow the carving really made that shape look alot better. Very nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 dude that carving looks AMAZING! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anderekel Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 Wow, that carve really makes the body, that's awesome, now you should round off that neck pocket some and make it a bit more comfy just a suggestion though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travismoore Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 Looks awesome! Keep up the good work =D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maikman Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 Wow that looks great. With that deep neck pocket are you planning any type of contoured heel? AANJ maybe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 Looking great on the carve, Daniel! The wood selection really worked well. How long did that take you, to get the carve perfect? ps. Took care of your pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
factory5150 Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 (edited) Links are broken now, here they are. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3223/315199...35610e8bf_o.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3291/315199...fbf0efa42_o.jpg Guitar looks super classy man keep it up! Edited December 31, 2008 by factory5150 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bygde Posted January 1, 2009 Report Share Posted January 1, 2009 That thing is awesome! It's got that Iceman sexyness to it, and I really like the carve on the top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Schmolze Posted January 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 Thanks for the comments guys. I'm really pleased with how it's going so far, definitely much smoother than I had feared. First for the questions. maikman: definitely gonna contour the neck heel after it's glued in. Upper fret access is gonna be a breeze on this thing =] Xanthus: getting the carve roughed out went pretty quickly with an angle grinder, once I got the hang of using the thing. Maybe an hour for the first draft, then another hour with a round rasp perfecting it. (Oh, and thanks for the photos) Alright, got a bunch done on the neck over the past couple days. Here are some new photos: Fretboard and ears gluing up. Fretboard glued and radiused, headstock cut out. Side view at this stage. Ran out of fretwire halfway through the job. Damn! Hopefully more will be arriving tomorrow, and at least the fretting itself seemed to go smoothly. Headstock thicknessed, neck rough carved. Neck carve close to finished. Need to finish installing the frets before I continue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dadovfor Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 Veeerryy nice Daniel ... this is coming together beautifully. For a while I've been throwing ideas for a bass around in my mind and the design elements of this guitar capture the style and quality I'd like to achieve. Keep the pics coming! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Schmolze Posted January 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2009 Well, the fretwire didn't end up arriving yesterday, much to my disappointment, so I decided to go ahead and glue in the neck anyway. Also got the headstock veneers on, and did a little carving of the headstock to complement the body. Pics: I'll blend the neck/body join at the heel, and add a wenge veneer to the back of the headstock. Headstock closeup. Not quite finished, but you get the idea. Unfortunately, school is starting back up for me, which means I'll be a couple hours from my shop, but I'm gonna try to go back this week and I should still be able to work on the weekends. Hoping to more or less finish this thing next weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verhoevenc Posted January 5, 2009 Report Share Posted January 5, 2009 Dunno if I woulda messed with the headstock like that. Your tuner bushings will most likely stick out past/over the carved area. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kpcrash Posted January 5, 2009 Report Share Posted January 5, 2009 Unless you don't use tuners with 90 degree pegs... that could look really slick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guerrilla Radio Posted January 5, 2009 Report Share Posted January 5, 2009 I'm still drooling over that body carve. Great work so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted January 5, 2009 Report Share Posted January 5, 2009 i think you have a lot of potential; not many people can pick up an idea like guitar building and churn out something like what you have done although there just a lot of things only practice can teach us this is really great. i am concerned about the headstock though; it seems the bushings for the tuners are most likely going to be partially over the carve. just keep it up man this is beautiful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted January 5, 2009 Report Share Posted January 5, 2009 NO BUSHINGS! We clearly need to start a push for alternative tuner designs, ones that stay in the headstock not by bushings, but solely by FORCE OF WILL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bmth Builder Posted January 5, 2009 Report Share Posted January 5, 2009 Really nice work, love the body carve and shape although I dont like the horns Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted January 5, 2009 Report Share Posted January 5, 2009 Really nice work, love the body carve and shape although I dont like the horns i wouldnt like the horns on any other guitar; but i think the accents of the laminations make this one look stunning...i had a build that had a similar lamination plan..but with bubinga i never got around to doing anything but maybe thats why i like this build so much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Schmolze Posted January 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2009 Thanks for the feedback guys. I did the headstock carving with the tuners in hand (Planet Waves), and they fit without hanging over the carve, so I think I'm OK there. However, last night as I was falling asleep I suddenly realized that I forgot to drill the holes for the pickup wires. The plan was to do this through the neck pocket, which is obviously now not accessible. Anyone have any ideas for how I can get this done? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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