8-string Fanned Fret Headless

[Strandberg Guitarworks]

So, slight change of plan... As I am building this guitar (now called #6) along with a custom order by Chris Letchford called #5, I will make this also a fanned fret 7-string, 25.75 – 25″ scales. But, it will have a trapezoidal neck profile and the cavities in the body will be made differently. #5 will have cavities routed from above and a top glued onto it like my other EGS guitars. #6 will have cavities routed from the inside edges of the sides. I have never tried this in practice, so it somewhat of an experiment.

So, a little progress has been made:

See the other threads for more info.

[Our Souls inc.]

So, slight change of plan... As I am building this guitar (now called #6) along with a custom order by Chris Letchford called #5, I will make this also a fanned fret 7-string, 25.75 – 25″ scales. But, it will have a trapezoidal neck profile and the cavities in the body will be made differently. #5 will have cavities routed from above and a top glued onto it like my other EGS guitars. #6 will have cavities routed from the inside edges of the sides. I have never tried this in practice, so it somewhat of an experiment.

So, a little progress has been made:

See the other threads for more info.

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...st&p=461262

I had great pains getting the controls in on mine. I ended up leaving a few extra inches of wire so I could solder outside the body, then tuck them up inside the cavities. Oh - if you do the output jack, it doesn't need a door , you can access it through the other cavities.

best of luck and thanks for keeping us posted !

[Mattia]

What are the specs on the CF material you're laminating? Woven? Thickness? Sources? Are you carving the necks purely with abrasives or is the material not too evil to work with hand tools? The solid monodirectional layere sheet (stiff, not fabric) I've used for laminating braces is hell on chisels and the sanding dust isn't much less evil...

[Strandberg Guitarworks]

Mattia,

read all about the CF in http://guitarworks.thestrandbergs.com/2010...r-construction/

It is a beast to work with machines.... I went through two brand new band saw blades just to make the first cut to separate the two pieces. I have then used a belt sander with 40 grit paper to do the rest of the shaping so far.

The only other experience I have to date is with the bolt-on neck I did before that has only two strips of CF. I shaped that with a rasp and then sanded down - didn't reflect that that was too bad though.

Our Souls: I can see that it would be tricky... Impressive piece of work you've got there. I would only do the cavities for weight/sound purposes in both sides of the body but then use a regular accessible control cavity with cover on the back.

[Our Souls inc.]

...... I would only do the cavities for weight/sound purposes in both sides of the body but then use a regular accessible control cavity with cover on the back.

Great idea !

You are one of the innovators of our craft in my opinion.

Love your ideas and implementations.

I'd copy them, but they are out of my grasp !

[Cam]

Love the zebra wood!

Hows it for weight?

I'm thinking of doing a guitar with similar woods.

[SwedishLuthier]

It is a beast to work with machines.... I went through two brand new band saw blades just to make the first cut to separate the two pieces. I have then used a belt sander with 40 grit paper to do the rest of the shaping so far.

Jupp, Try to avoid using cutting tools with carbon. The edges will be dulled instantly and heat will build up pretty quick. Sheping it using a belt sander is the way to go.

I see that you use carbon in pretty much the same way I use. Where do you get yours from? And that neck blank, is it the same you showed off in the Fuzz magazine? I don't know if it has been mentioned here before, but Ola got some really nice reviews and a comlete two page write up in the Swedish guitar magazine Fuzz :

http://www.fuzz.se/default.asp?go=22&sgo=1

(no exerpts from the interview availible on line)

[Strandberg Guitarworks]

Some more progress - will get back to you on Zebrawood weight, it is fairly heavy. I get my CF from Epotex, Gunnar Swärd is incredibly helpful and good to deal with.

14-stringer anyone?

And you can download the FUZZ article here, it does indeed feature this neck blank.

[Strandberg Guitarworks]

Truss-rod experiment... Combining the CF tube that I had on #3, which worked out really well with a conventional double-acting truss rod. For more details, see main site.

Truss rod adjustment

And new fingerboard end

And on a side note, I just got one of these

I used it last night to cut the angle of the body end of the neck. It works really well.

[FireFly]

That looks like a hot rod. Since one side of the rod stays straight, is ther a problem with proper expansion inside the carbon fiber tube? Does it stay put inside the rod? I'm very interested in this!

[verhoevenc]

I'd be worried about the rod turning inside the carbon rod too. I would look into finding some way to anchor it to make sure both nut ends stay vertical.

Chris

[Strandberg Guitarworks]

I'm thinking that the rod running inside the tube will be similar to it running inside a routed channel, so it shouldn't make a difference with the expansion?

Chris: it is secured against rotation by the threaded brass sections on each end of the rod sitting in 6 mm grooves just like they normally would. It doesn't show in these pictures, but I squared off the channel with a chisel.

But... I'm just as nervous as you guys. We'll see how it works out!

[RestorationAD]

I'm thinking that the rod running inside the tube will be similar to it running inside a routed channel, so it shouldn't make a difference with the expansion?

Chris: it is secured against rotation by the threaded brass sections on each end of the rod sitting in 6 mm grooves just like they normally would. It doesn't show in these pictures, but I squared off the channel with a chisel.

But... I'm just as nervous as you guys. We'll see how it works out!

Ola innovative work as always!

I was wondering what problem are you trying to solve with the carbon rod? Are you trying to stiffen the neck or maybe add some resonance with a chamber?

In my experience and this is strictly opinion I have always felt that really stiff carbon reinforced necks don't resonate like a neck without carbon rods. I like to feel the guitar vibrate in the neck while I am playing. I am not condoning building a neck that flexes but I won't use carbon rods.

If you are adding the rod to gain a hollow area in the neck and reduce weight then I want to know how this turns out. I have been toying with the idea of chambered necks for a few years and would be interested how that turns out.

Thanks for sharing. I get so many great ideas from you and Rick it is amazing.

[Strandberg Guitarworks]

..snip..

I was wondering what problem are you trying to solve with the carbon rod? Are you trying to stiffen the neck or maybe add some resonance with a chamber?

In my experience and this is strictly opinion I have always felt that really stiff carbon reinforced necks don't resonate like a neck without carbon rods. I like to feel the guitar vibrate in the neck while I am playing. I am not condoning building a neck that flexes but I won't use carbon rods.

If you are adding the rod to gain a hollow area in the neck and reduce weight then I want to know how this turns out. I have been toying with the idea of chambered necks for a few years and would be interested how that turns out.

Thanks for sharing. I get so many great ideas from you and Rick it is amazing.

The primary goal for the carbon is to stiffen the neck in a way that it allows me to remove weight inside it. In this particular instance, the weight of the conventional truss rod was so high that the air introduced in the neck didn't make a difference, and the geometry of the neck laminates didn't really allow cutting any additional sound channels (i.e. air pockets).

Secondary goal is that have found that this carbon tube arrangement has resulted in a very uniform tonal response across the neck, completely free from dead spots. This needs more evidence to be proven, but I have high hopes.

Cheers,

Ola

[Strandberg Guitarworks]

Some more build progress below. There are 18 pictures in total on my site, all of which I will not re-produce here.

Neck set

Weight removal (almost 250 grams) in a novel way

Neck shape (left is Chris Letchford build)

Gluing sides (finally!)

I am doing things in the following order:

1. glue laminates of neck
   
2. band-saw away and shape section on underside of neck portion
   
3. insert truss-rod (while sides are straight and can be used as guides for router)
   
4. shape contours of fretboard (so that it can be used as a router template later)
   
5. cut fret slots (while it’s still thin and easily fitted into the slot-cutting jig)
   
6. glue fretboard (while it is flat so that it can get optimal clamping pressure)
   
7. use router to shape contours of neck (using fretboard as template)
   
8. rough shape back of neck
   
9. radius fretboard
   
10. finish fretboard (add inlays) and fret neck
    
11. glue sides (and top)
    
12. finish shaping
    
13. sand
    
14. sand
    
15. sand
    
16. rout cavities for controls and pickups
    
17. sand
    
18. sand some more
    
19. finish/polish
    
20. done
    

So, it’s an easy 20-step process.

[Strandberg Guitarworks]

after the first few coats of oil

[Strandberg Guitarworks]

Done!

Many, many more pictures on my facebook page http://www.facebook.com/strandbergGuitarworks

Will post the full specs when I have caught my breath....

[WezV]

WANT

[Strandberg Guitarworks]

Removed almost commercial content....

[WezV]

i am a poor student again - do you do student discount

[Reinhold]

So which pickups are those, the p90's or the bass bars?

[Strandberg Guitarworks]

So which pickups are those, the p90's or the bass bars?

They are the P-90s. I have been curious about the Bass Tone Bars, but they seem hard to find, at least when I tried.

[FireFly]

I just realized that this guitar is in an 8 string thread, but has 7 strings.

Aside from that, it looks really nice!

[Strandberg Guitarworks]

I just realized that this guitar is in an 8 string thread, but has 7 strings.

Aside from that, it looks really nice!

Hehe... it started as an 8-string thread but evolved into just a 7. Sorry to disappoint :-)

[RestorationAD]

Everything on this one is great. Love the Zebrano.

IMHO not a fan of the chrome alumitones... I think black would have been better. But that is minor...