ScottR Posted April 21, 2009 Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 nice on the headstock. I'm curious about the technique used to go from the gouge/spoon to being flat... some kind of thumb plane or spoke shave? Nicely done. Actually, that was done with one of the most versatile tools in my box....sandpaper. I marked a line parallel to the top surface and used a dremel with a small drum for the roughest stuff, and mucho hand sanding with a small block made of a tongue compressor (a wide popsickle stick). There was also some carefull work with a cabinet scraper and a micrometer to get uniform flatness and thickness. Obviously, there are more efficient ways to do this. I just love the feel and sight of the grain and figure of beautiful wood come to life under my fingers. That came first. Having the end result be a guitar came next... Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted April 21, 2009 Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 Scott, if I may ask, where did you source the Myrtle? It's been several years since I have used it, I can't remember where I got mine, somewhere in Oregon I believe, which is where most Myrtle comes from if memory serves me correct, tho I could be wrong. Looking at your top, I'd be very interested in doing another one someday. Beautiful build and great choice for a top, really, really nice work there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skullsession Posted April 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 I can answer that one for you, Drak.... Oregon Wild Wood The guy who owns the place is named Dana. I spoke to him briefly on the phone, and he seemed like a nice enough fella. Lots of good lookin' tops on his site and as far as I could tell, the pricing was better than any place I was able to find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted April 21, 2009 Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted April 22, 2009 Report Share Posted April 22, 2009 +1 for Oregon Wild Wood - they have some very nice Bastogne walnut as well. This build is going really well so far. I would second the notion for master or concentric V & T pots, having played a Les Paul for years and years, I personally have never used both volumes to mix the pickups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 22, 2009 Report Share Posted April 22, 2009 +1 for Oregon Wild Wood - they have some very nice Bastogne walnut as well. This build is going really well so far. I would second the notion for master or concentric V & T pots, having played a Les Paul for years and years, I personally have never used both volumes to mix the pickups. Yes they do. Gilmer Wood is another good source, although they are more pricey. Has anyone been to the Hobbit House site: http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woo.../indextotal.htm? It has more pix, facts and opinions on exotic wood than any sane person probably wants to know or see. Nothing is for sale either. But as a resource for info on new and exotic woods for that new project, it is great. It will make one desire fancy and exotic ... stuff that one probably, really shouldn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skullsession Posted April 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 A shot of the Myrtle being pressed to keep flat as it acclimates to the Houston humidity. Oh...and the ebony for the headstock faceplate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skullsession Posted April 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 Fretboard with the signature carved into it. Again, the board is thicker than needed at this point. After sanding..... After filling, and sanding a bit more. No radius yet....and still not to final thickness, but he's getting there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skullsession Posted May 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2009 This last weekend, Scott glued on the headstock faceplate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skullsession Posted May 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2009 Then, we came across a problem. The boards for the carved top were quite a bit longer and wider than I had represented in my mockup. Therefore, the mockup design is a bit flawed in that the wood was not really to proportion of the actual cut. My intent was to get as much of the burl in the guitar as possible...so we took some out of the middle to move the burl inward. The burl wasn't very symetrical anyway to begin with. That's actually one of the things I liked about it, but I'm afraid that now that we've taken an even bigger swath out of the middle, the boards look funny together. We did take out the same amount from each side, but it doesn't look like it.... Can I get some opinions from you guys on this, please. Did I just hammer the top? There is still time to get something else if you guys agree that I just screwed the pooch. Here's Scott squaring up the boards before we glued them. The actual boards rough-cut as I asked Scott to do. Here is the same photo, but I dropped in neck, pickup, bridge, and stop piece placment. I feel better about it knowing that some of those places that don't marry up quite right will be hidden...but still not sure I'm cool with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted May 4, 2009 Report Share Posted May 4, 2009 I think it looks allright,aside from the fact that the lower horn is too long aestheitically...no use going for originality if it looks awkward...just shorten it like an esp eclipse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch Posted May 5, 2009 Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 I think it looks allright,aside from the fact that the lower horn is too long aestheitically...no use going for originality if it looks awkward...just shorten it like an esp eclipse. I agree. It just looks a little odd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skullsession Posted May 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 It REALLY does look better in person, so I'm going forward rather than looking for another top. And that bottom cut will be different by the time we're done. Thanks for your input once again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skullsession Posted May 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2009 I've been kicking around the idea of adding a Bigsby to this guitar. I'm being told by my local guitar tech guy that the use of a Bigsby with a non-roller bridge is less than ideal. He's saying that I'll experience string "skipping" on the round wound strings. I guess that makes sense. This is why I gave up on the Bigsby idea in the very beginning. I'm not a "dive bomber"...I just like tremolo for very light movement. The bridge I'm going to be using is the Fishman piezo loaded tuneomatic....I'd hate to hear what that sounds like if a string slips on a saddle..... I've never used Bigsby though I've always loved the look. So, I'm curious - anyone got experience with these tremolo systems? Any word of advice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skullsession Posted May 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2009 Here's the neck with the truss dropped in. And some more shots of the headstock as it nears final shape: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skullsession Posted May 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2009 The neck is almost there. He brought it to me today to make sure that I really, really wanted to dye it black. Such pretty grain here, but in the end I think the gold frets and gold-flake markers will look much better against the black as originally planned. Here's a peek prior to fretting. More to come soon.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skullsession Posted June 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2009 I had a change of heart when it came to the silver inlay on the signature. We just couldn't get the surface finish to be consistent across the whole thing, so I removed it and had him fill it with a clear epoxy/silver flake mixture. Here's a shot of it before we dyed the fretboard: And here's a shot of it after dye and fretting. We still need to drop on the nut and the truss cover, but the neck is finally all but done: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrkIncGuitars Posted June 11, 2009 Report Share Posted June 11, 2009 The neck turned out good. I like Myrtle it's very different than that of everyday top woods Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cam Posted June 12, 2009 Report Share Posted June 12, 2009 why did you have to dye that beautiful piece of wood? I really liked the grain on it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anderekel Posted June 12, 2009 Report Share Posted June 12, 2009 why did you have to dye that beautiful piece of wood? I really liked the grain on it... Because it's his piece of wood and he can do with it as he sees fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJE-Guitars Posted June 13, 2009 Report Share Posted June 13, 2009 why did you have to dye that beautiful piece of wood? I really liked the grain on it... Yep I thought the same. The neck and fretboard were looking pretty damn fantastic then they go and cover it in black dye! :o Why didn't you just track down a high grade piece of ebony? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ae3 Posted June 13, 2009 Report Share Posted June 13, 2009 I was loving the grain too. Your call though, and gold on black does look nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skullsession Posted June 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2009 It really wasn't a tough call since the intent was for it to be jet-black from the beginning. If you look at the mockups, you'll see that the neck was never supposed to show grain. The fact that the grain was ever visible was simply a consequence of getting there. Though, we DID have a last minute discussion about dying it or not....we did agree that the grain was killer, but just not meant to be on this one. Thanks for your concern! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cam Posted June 14, 2009 Report Share Posted June 14, 2009 fair enough, your right - sometimes you don't need nice grain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skullsession Posted June 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2009 Right....and if it makes anyone feel any better, I think he's got enough of that ebony left for another guitar - so I'm sure we'll be seeing a neck with that grain eventually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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