pauliemc Posted April 24, 2010 Report Share Posted April 24, 2010 Just finished this one. This was built for myself as an experiment with Trapazoidal neck profiles & future pickup testbed. The spec is as follows. Sapele Neck & body with a black walnut top. Rosewood 25.5 inch scale fret board. Side dots only. String thru - Hard tail Fender bridge - Chrome. 3 way toggle switch. 01 vol. 01 tone - Chrome. Gotoh mini rotomatics - Chrome. 2 X Blues engine Pickups - Nickle. Brushed Varnish finish to top of body. Oil on back of body & neck. Poly to face of headstock. The main bulk of the body (the back), the neck & headstock are all cut as one piece from a large block of Sapele. The top is 12mm thick Black Walnut, 2 piece, not book matched. overall the body is 52mm thick. The neck has been shaped to a Trapazoid profile with permission from Rick Toone (http://www.ricktoone.com/2007/11/trapezoidal-nec.html) Or at least my variation on it. I have altered it to better suite my playing style. The sides of the neck have been striped with 4mm Walnut to match the top. Kind of like a heavy binding. This is all topped with a Rosewood board. All hand carved using a band saw. hand router, rasps & som sand paper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oblaty Posted April 24, 2010 Report Share Posted April 24, 2010 I´m not a big fan of JS, but this guitar looks awesome! Could you post some pics of back and neck for us? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted April 24, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2010 Some snaps of the back. The rear panel is Walnut to match the front, Just steamed to tone down the colour & grain a little. So it is not so huge a contrast in colour as the top is to the back of the body. Sanded to 4000 grit, oiled & then polished with 000 grit steel wool. You can see the neck profile here. the lack of a glue joint for the neck is visable also. I will throw up some snaps of that soon as I have them taken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted April 24, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2010 Some piks of the neck. You can see the Trapazoid profile here fairly well. The steamed walnut contrasts well with the sapele here. Makes nice feature I think. The fact that the body & neck are all one piece shows up well here. I kept the heel as I wanted to retain some of the feel of a traditional bolt on. I figured the freaky neck would be enough to get used to. But I have to say it took all of about 2 minutes to completly forget it was not a rounded neck. 4 hours later (yes thats right, 4 hours ) My hand still didnt feel fatigued. As a concept, this trapazoid thing realy seems to work. All Credit on the Trapazoid shaped neck concept has to go to Rick Toone, If you havent looked into his stuff then you are missing out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reinhold Posted April 24, 2010 Report Share Posted April 24, 2010 Very nice neck, I've always wanted to try one since looking at Rick's stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted April 24, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2010 Very nice neck, I've always wanted to try one since looking at Rick's stuff. Do it man. Get a beater strat & make a new neck for it. Or get Rick to make a neck for it. I couldent believe how well it played. It should feel completly wrong but it doesent. absolute fookin flyer, realy fast, very stable platform for all sorts of messin about. I say give it a go !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reinhold Posted April 24, 2010 Report Share Posted April 24, 2010 I'll do it for my first build since I have a thick wenge board to use. Maybe i can try this on my bass and mandolin builds I've been planning. It looks comfortable as there is never quite enough on the back of my MIM strat neck to keep me happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 25, 2010 Report Share Posted April 25, 2010 This is slicker 'n green owl sh*t Paulie! Did attaching the fretboard and Walnut neck "binding" pose any problems since the neck already had a body on it? And how do the blues engines sound? I've not heard them before. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted April 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 This is slicker 'n green owl sh*t Paulie! Did attaching the fretboard and Walnut neck "binding" pose any problems since the neck already had a body on it? And how do the blues engines sound? I've not heard them before. SR No not realy. i approached it as a completly flat set up. the "binding" on the neck was done just like ordinary body binding would be. Just 4mm thick is all. once the neck was bound i levelled it to the body & attached the board on top. The blues engines are actually very nice. I like them more than the evos I was originally putting in this guitar. Lots of realy nice tone, good sustain & overdrive realy well. I have another one of these guitars underway, that one is all one piece apart from the board & rear cover, Now THAT one is posing me problems. Ill put up piks in a while. Once it is well under way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrValentine Posted April 26, 2010 Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 so the profile is literally a trapezoid? or does it just sorta look like one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted April 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 so the profile is literally a trapezoid? or does it just sorta look like one? Yes, it is literally a trapazoid. the cross section would be a 4 sided polygon. The back of the neck consists of 3 faces. All of them completly flat, with just a tiny round over on the edges. Apart from the radius on the fret board there are no curved surfaces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrValentine Posted April 26, 2010 Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 so the profile is literally a trapezoid? or does it just sorta look like one? Yes, it is literally a trapazoid. the cross section would be a 4 sided polygon. The back of the neck consists of 3 faces. All of them completly flat, with just a tiny round over on the edges. Apart from the radius on the fret board there are no curved surfaces. Thanks i might try this for my build this summer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reinhold Posted April 26, 2010 Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 Can you use a normal truss rod on a trapezoidal neck, or do I need to make an aluminum core? Building a core would be no problem, but I already have a truss rod I would like to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted April 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 Can you use a normal truss rod on a trapezoidal neck, or do I need to make an aluminum core? Building a core would be no problem, but I already have a truss rod I would like to use. I used a double action truss rod. But you can use a core if you like. Rick Roone (where I first saw trapazoid necks) uses cores, Sells them aswell. Go check him out http://www.ricktoone.com/2007/11/trapezoidal-nec.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reinhold Posted April 26, 2010 Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 Can you put a picture of the neck profile with dimensions put on it if possible, that looks really comfortable for how I play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrValentine Posted April 26, 2010 Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 Can you put a picture of the neck profile with dimensions put on it if possible, that looks really comfortable for how I play. Agreed for i used to play classical guitar a lot and this looks really comfortable to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted April 27, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2010 Can you put a picture of the neck profile with dimensions put on it if possible, that looks really comfortable for how I play. Agreed for i used to play classical guitar a lot and this looks really comfortable to me. I might throw something up when I have taken full detail dimensions of the neck for my own records. If your realy interested in one then go here http://www.ricktoone.com/2007/11/trapezoidal-nec.html Its where I got all the info from in the first place. I would recomend reading all the info on the design concept before you try build one as there is a lot more to it than meets the eye. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reinhold Posted April 27, 2010 Report Share Posted April 27, 2010 (edited) It really is incredible and I definitely will be doing this one, I'm gonna comment on the site and wait for a reply. Edited April 27, 2010 by Reinhold Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted April 27, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2010 It really is incredible and I definitely will be doing this one, I'm gonna comment on the site and wait for a reply. This is prety much what I have on this guitar. Not a lot of dimensions but enough to be able to build from if you know what you are doing. The original concept calls for the back face to remain a constant width the whole way along the neck. But as my thumb tends to wander off centre the further up the neck I go, I altered this one to better suite my hands. I stuck to the usual dimensions for an AEolian neck on this build as I wanted to get a good idea of the difference between the traditional profiles & this one. Most of my necks are 22.5 - 25.5mm thick, fairly chunky compared to most manufacturers, but still very playable. So I built this one to my usual specs except for the back profile. There is a definit difference in how Thick the neck feels with the Trapazoid profile. It feels much smaller & is less intrusive to finger reach along the frets than even my JEM7vwh. I was surprised at how easily it played & how quickly it melted into the background. After only a few mins playing I had no idea there was anything unusual happening behind the fretboard. Im gona have to try this on a Les paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reinhold Posted April 27, 2010 Report Share Posted April 27, 2010 Thanks, that helps. Can't wait to start my build now, only a few weeks until I'll have time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrValentine Posted April 28, 2010 Report Share Posted April 28, 2010 Thanks, that helps. Can't wait to start my build now, only a few weeks until I'll have time. +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted April 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2010 Thanks, that helps. Can't wait to start my build now, only a few weeks until I'll have time. +1 Cool. If you dont want to tackle the neck yourself, Rick is doing conversions on Fender replacement necks, The big baseball bat necks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fowl2338 Posted April 29, 2010 Report Share Posted April 29, 2010 How's that would sound? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted April 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2010 How's that would sound? Realy nice sound. Lots of meat in it, Kinda like a Les paul with a stronger mid range. but not sloppy or muddy on the low end. The highs are very strong aswell, But not shrill or overly piercing. Thers a huge wide mid range to it, so lead/solo stuff works excellent. Out sustains my Les paul aswell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fowl2338 Posted April 30, 2010 Report Share Posted April 30, 2010 Definitely meant to type *wood*. Lol Wow, that sounds great. Kinda like a mix between Mahogany and basswood. What's the average price? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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