verhoevenc Posted February 24, 2013 Report Share Posted February 24, 2013 Yay! Route-down headstock! Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted March 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 Position markers and neck carve done. Really digging the gidgee fretboard, lots of character. Red myrtle in the scarf and lams looks pink in these shots but turns burgundy when the clear goes on: Also whipped up a couple of cavity covers in tiger myrtle to match the top: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 Really digging the gidgee fretboard, lots of character. Yeah, that is killer! Looks like your fret markers came out nice and clean too. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted March 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 I'm still refining my technique somewhat with those concentric inlays, but they came out better this time around. Got a few more ideas to try out to ensure the two pieces line up perfectly every time. At the moment about a third of the inlays get thrown away due to off-centres. First time around it was 50/50. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted March 13, 2013 Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 Time to carve: I'm working on a carved top and I'm trying to figure out how to do that round recess for the vol/tone controls. How did you do that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted March 13, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 I'm working on a carved top and I'm trying to figure out how to do that round recess for the vol/tone controls. How did you do that? 1/2" diameter bullnose bit in the router, plus template ring fitted in the router base. Drill a 30mm diameter hole in a piece of clear acrylic and lay it over the area to be routed. Run the router around the circle template to a depth of 3-5mm to taste. I find I get a cleaner result if I run the router around the template in an anticlockwise direction (ie, a climbing cut). Marking a set of crosshairs on the body, and drilling your hole for the pot/switch before you route makes lining everything up easier too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted March 13, 2013 Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 Damn! I don't have a template ring for my router. I wonder if a big router bit on the drill press would work (I already carved the top BTW - I guess that complicates things somewhat) Maybe a cove bit like this could work? http://www.leevalley.com/US/Wood/page.aspx?p=30187&cat=1,46168,69435,62157&ap=1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted March 13, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 If you have any spare shank bearings and stop collars you could retrofit one to a bullnose bit and make it a template-following bit instead of using a pattern ring. There probably are bullnose bits out there that have the bearings already fitted. On a pre-carved top you'd have to devise some way of positioning the template above the body on spacer blocks to keep it level over the carved parts. Tricky but not impossible. I know a few people do use the drill press with a cove bit on the highest RPM setting like you describe, but i feel more comfortble using a high speed bit for what it was designed for in the proper tool. YMMV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted March 13, 2013 Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 I know a few people do use the drill press with a cove bit on the highest RPM setting like you describe, but i feel more comfortble using a high speed bit for what it was designed for in the proper tool. YMMV. Yeah, I know what you mean. Using a router bit in a drill press is a recipe for disaster (tear out). Nice work so far on the guitar! I'll be following this one for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted March 23, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2013 First couple of coats of clear: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 25, 2013 Report Share Posted March 25, 2013 Woke that top right up didn't it? You always find the tasiest woods for your builds. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted March 26, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2013 Thanks Scott. The fluro lighting in the shed does weird things with my camera. The colours in that top are much darker and less yellow than how that looks. In the last shot you can see the cavity covers sitting on the workbench - that's probably closer to how it looks in person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 26, 2013 Report Share Posted March 26, 2013 Ha! Oddly enough flourescent lighting usually makes things look worse.....but you may have to make a point to only play that one under floros. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verhoevenc Posted March 28, 2013 Report Share Posted March 28, 2013 I hope you're happy curtisa! Because of you (and admittedly some others... but your thread was the final straw) this arrived today: Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted March 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2013 That's awesome, Chris. I actually saw some of those pieces when I was at their store a few months back. Hope you enjoy them. Got anything in mind for them yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verhoevenc Posted March 29, 2013 Report Share Posted March 29, 2013 Given how they're quartered... As many acoustic sets as I can pull from them. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted April 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2013 First go at using an arbor press to do frets. Much prefer this over hammering, easier to get a nice consistent result on each fret: Haven't been happy with the ends of the fret tangs being visible after dressing on my last couple of necks, so tried undercutting each fret so that only the fret end itself will be visible. Takes a little bit longer than to prep each fret before pressing, but will be neater looking in the end: Getting down to the minor/cosmetic stuff now: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted April 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2013 Over and out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 25, 2013 Report Share Posted April 25, 2013 Stunning! How do you like the stacked humbucker? SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted April 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2013 Thanks Scott. Really digging the stacked pickup. Probably won't satisfy a diehard Strat purist, but pretty damn close nonetheless. Having a lot of fun with it at the moment. And no more hum than a regular humbucker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verhoevenc Posted April 25, 2013 Report Share Posted April 25, 2013 I'm thinking about putting one of the VS100s on a build I have in progress right now. Since I'm not generally a trem guy, haven't built before with a Fender-style trem, and specs seem to be hard to find online, I was hoping you could help me out with some measurements? - How high off the body did you sit the bottom of the base plate? I've heard this can affect playability but I'm not a trem guy enough to really know much about how. - What's the height to the bottom of your strings on the Es? - Lastly, you seem to have a different sized "block cavity" for the trem block from the front then you do from the back? From the back it appears bigger as you see a "lip" of the top left? What was the reason for this? Also, the routing templates I have found for these online have this extra bit cut out so that they're not a perfect rectangle (with rounded corners). Your's doesn't have this, your's appears to be a standard rectangle with rounded corners. Did this work fine for you? What dimensions were your cavity? Thanks, Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob123 Posted April 25, 2013 Report Share Posted April 25, 2013 Words aren't necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted April 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2013 I'm thinking about putting one of the VS100s on a build I have in progress right now. Since I'm not generally a trem guy, haven't built before with a Fender-style trem, and specs seem to be hard to find online, I was hoping you could help me out with some measurements? - How high off the body did you sit the bottom of the base plate? I've heard this can affect playability but I'm not a trem guy enough to really know much about how. - What's the height to the bottom of your strings on the Es? - Lastly, you seem to have a different sized "block cavity" for the trem block from the front then you do from the back? From the back it appears bigger as you see a "lip" of the top left? What was the reason for this? Also, the routing templates I have found for these online have this extra bit cut out so that they're not a perfect rectangle (with rounded corners). Your's doesn't have this, your's appears to be a standard rectangle with rounded corners. Did this work fine for you? What dimensions were your cavity? Thanks, Chris I'll get back to you with some more concrete measurements soon, but off the top of my head I set the underside of the baseplate to 1/8" above the top of the body to allow a little bit of upwards pull on the arm, and the gap at the rear of the block cavity is bigger so that the block has room to swing backwards when the arm is depressed. The lip at the top is only to minimise the size of the route on the body top where the block passes through, otherwise you'd see a big hole all the way through the body at the back of the trem when viewed front-on. Any Strat-style trem will be similar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted April 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2013 Words aren't necessary. Wow. President Obama looks pretty sharp in those aviators! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verhoevenc Posted April 26, 2013 Report Share Posted April 26, 2013 No rush! Thanks in advance! Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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