The Fool Guy Posted April 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2014 Just realised that some old progress pics on the neck are missing from this thread. I have this build documented in two places and must have missed posting in this one. So, from September 2012... The drop off... Think I made this a bit too deep and the markers... despite taking great care with this, the 19th and 21st dots are slightly out. This combined with the fact that I re-routed the neck (don't ask why, I can't even remember now) which has made it ever so slightly thinner and so no longer a tight fit, hence the thoughts of making a new one... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 23, 2014 Report Share Posted April 23, 2014 As you can see here, I didn't have much room left for sanding before I started to expose the (badly drilled) wiring channel... As long as you are gluing a top on anyway, why not route wiring channels into the body before gluing the top on? You never have to worry about getting the right drilling angle or boogering up your top. That's what I do anyway. SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killemall8 Posted April 23, 2014 Report Share Posted April 23, 2014 An easier way would have just been to go from the neck pocket to the bridge pickup cavity, then from bridge rout to cavity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fool Guy Posted April 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2014 As you can see here, I didn't have much room left for sanding before I started to expose the (badly drilled) wiring channel... As long as you are gluing a top on anyway, why not route wiring channels into the body before gluing the top on? You never have to worry about getting the right drilling angle or boogering up your top. That's what I do anyway. SR Believe it or not I did do this, BUT I routed the channel using the template I had bought and it wasn't long enough to reach the control cavity or neck pickup rout, so I had to drill to it from either side. A beginners error that I won't make again (I hope)! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
demonx Posted April 24, 2014 Report Share Posted April 24, 2014 Looks tidy enough so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fool Guy Posted May 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2014 Tons of updates but don't seem to be able to paste pics at the moment? Tried from PC, mobile and iPad... Will try again from my work PC tomorrow... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 6, 2014 Report Share Posted May 6, 2014 Use the Gallery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fool Guy Posted May 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 (edited) Uploaded this in a rush, will comment on pics later Edited May 8, 2014 by The Fool Guy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fool Guy Posted May 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 Now I can't modify posts, oh well. Pics fairly self explanatory, made a binding glue from binding and acetone. Got pretty messy but no major problams, a couple of gaps which should fill easily enough. Still need to scrape the sides, looks pretty thick at the moment. Will get the rest of the scraping done, then fill in the gaps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 Yeah, it is plenty self explanatory and nicely done to this point. That's a sweet piece of quilt, are you going with that black dye? If so it will be a nice comby: black quilt, black fretboard, white binding.....what finish hardware are you going with? SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 Is that some kind of composite board? Looks like Paperstone or a high grade Micarta. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fool Guy Posted May 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 The fretboard is richlite. It cuts ok (although the 'sawdust' is a little weird), we'll see how it sands later... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 If it is anything like Paperstone, test on scrap first before you fret it. The material doesn't rebound like woods do, so tang retention is lower and glue becomes advantageous. SwedishLuthier noted that Paperstone is quite chippy and I suspect Richlite would be also. I've considered the possibility of sideways fretting recently, so those fingerboards I made up might make a re-appearance if I can resolve the fretting issues. Don't Gibson use Richlite? I'd be interested in their solutions to fretting issues, if in fact they do exist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu. Posted May 10, 2014 Report Share Posted May 10, 2014 Looking good, fella. A lot of people keep saying those phenolic boards respond a lot like ebony, and they're a hell of a lot cheaper! Gibson and Epiphone started using them after their ebony was all seized, but they might have stopped now though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 10, 2014 Report Share Posted May 10, 2014 That's the thing though isn't it? Everybody wants their perfect Ebony substitute and replacements have to "respond" just like it. The heart of the matter is that people are pre-sold on the virtues of Ebony, when in reality (like all woods) it is an imperfect material that we've just learnt to work with within its specific foibles. Selling substitutes up to the good points of Ebony seems to be more of buying into that "Ebony mindset". "It's as good as Ebony!". Gibson Corp. are shrewd (or perhaps duplicitous) enough to talk up Ebony substitutes out of immediate requirement than of their intrinsic worth. Calling something "as-good-as" is a mighty claim. Composites don't act like woods and certainly don't "live" like woods. They have their own distinct set of advantages and disadvantages which should be represented what they are rather than viewing them through Ebony-tinted glasses. The tang barb retention characteristic of genuine woods relies on wood fibres deforming and rebounding after the passage of the barbs, closing up the groove created in order to retain the fret wire at depth. Phenolics/composites rebound far less, some not at all. My experiences with Paperstone and other composites taught me that a different skill set - or at least a different perception of NotWoods - is required to take advantage of the materials plus points. Frets benefit from something to close up the groove voids that the barbs leave when pressing or hammering in from the top, whether that be superglue or epoxy. Even Titebond. I hope to experiment with Fender's old sideways-insertion technique with composites. I have a strong feeling that this is perfect for composites. It doesn't solve the issue of the material chipping out to death (worse than Ebony!) when removing fretwork, but it does interest me as an idea. Right. Got to go to sauna. I've yakked enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fool Guy Posted October 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2014 After ANOTHER long break, I finally got back to working on this. Sanded the back and did a quick grain fill... Sanded the front ready for stain... Black... Sand back... And colour... Perfect! Now I knew the colour would lighten and the figure disappear as it dries, but for some unknown reason I added some more colour (probably just to remind me what it looked like), and when I came to grain fill it was way too dark :'(. I'm now going to sand it all off and start again... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted October 7, 2014 Report Share Posted October 7, 2014 The more you stain then rub back and start again, the better it will look in the end Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fool Guy Posted October 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2014 Ok, so this is what it looked like before sanding it back. It was actually much darker than it seems in this picture, almost black with green highlights. It had kind of grown on me while I stared at it for a week and I almost left it as it was but no, back to the original plan (maybe next time). In daylight... Didn't take any more pictures until after the grain fill. I went with just blue this time (I added a bit of green before, but when it came to grain fill it made it look even more green), and am pretty pleased with the result. Was hoping for a slightly more turquoisey colour but this will do just fine Need to clean the binding up a bit now, then work starts on the neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff St. Germaine Posted October 17, 2014 Report Share Posted October 17, 2014 The colour with that top looks fantastic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BetterOffShred Posted October 18, 2014 Report Share Posted October 18, 2014 Yeah, that looks amazing! That top really pops, and the white binding makes it even more crisp. Fantastic work, I really admire the work that goes into making a nice top come alive like this. -Brett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted October 21, 2014 Report Share Posted October 21, 2014 What they said! SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck_Chill-Out Posted October 28, 2014 Report Share Posted October 28, 2014 May daughter said it looks like water. Great job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdshirtman Posted October 28, 2014 Report Share Posted October 28, 2014 The way the body grain matched up in the center is beautiful. You dont need me to tell you how nice the top looks. You already know. This is going to be a stunner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fool Guy Posted October 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2014 The way the body grain matched up in the center is beautiful. I should hope so... it's a one piece body Thanks for the kind words guys, just wish i had more time to work on it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fool Guy Posted April 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2015 It's been a while since I last updated this, but I have made some progress... Neck blank (purchased from Simo a couple of years ago) with rout for truss rod With truss rod fitted... Fretboard glue-up... I didn't quite get the locating pins in properly resulting in some fretboard slippage... Fortunately I caught it after a couple of hours, and I managed to get it off with a spatula and a couple of hefty whacks with a hammer, phew! Cleaned up the surfaces and had another go... That's better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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