pan_kara Posted December 19, 2013 Report Share Posted December 19, 2013 Nice! Do I see a subtle carve where the arm rest would be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted December 19, 2013 Report Share Posted December 19, 2013 sweet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sancho Marino Posted December 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2013 Thanks for the encouragement guys! Nice! Do I see a subtle carve where the arm rest would be? Yes you do see a little carve, I only took it down about 3/8"... It was a little uncomfortable, but I didn't want to lose much of the top either... It's just enough to make it comfortable... I got everything drilled out and ready for finishing. I'm just doing a light tung oil/varnish finish. I really like the way it looks bare so I don't want to change it very much... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pan_kara Posted December 20, 2013 Report Share Posted December 20, 2013 Its gonna look great with an oil finish! So this light contour is enough to make a difference? I forsee a few drop-top (or veneered) guitars coming up and I'm trying to figure out how to approach them.. that upper edge rubbing against the forearm always annoys me.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sancho Marino Posted December 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2013 (edited) Its gonna look great with an oil finish! So this light contour is enough to make a difference? I forsee a few drop-top (or veneered) guitars coming up and I'm trying to figure out how to approach them.. that upper edge rubbing against the forearm always annoys me.. Thanks man it's starting to look really nice after a few coats on... That little bit of contour makes a world of difference IMO. It's just enough so your arm is resting mostly on the curve and not the straight 90 degree edge. It was one of the things I was worried about when I started building this one, but it worked out good... Edited December 20, 2013 by Sancho Marino Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sancho Marino Posted December 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 25, 2013 I finished up the neck today except for the truss cover. Leveled, crowned, and buffed the frets, installed the tuners, and glued in the nut. Just waiting for the last coat of oil to dry all the way on the body and it will be ready to go also...Hopefully I'll be playing it tomorrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killemall8 Posted December 25, 2013 Report Share Posted December 25, 2013 looked at those side profiles of the volute, i really think you need to knock more of it down on the first fret side. It is half way down the first fret. A volute should be pointed to directly behind the nut. That is really going to limit your hand on the first fret. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willliam_q Posted December 25, 2013 Report Share Posted December 25, 2013 Looks good! It will be nice to have it as a Christmas pressie to yourself, good timing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sancho Marino Posted December 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 25, 2013 (edited) looked at those side profiles of the volute, i really think you need to knock more of it down on the first fret side. It is half way down the first fret. A volute should be pointed to directly behind the nut. That is really going to limit your hand on the first fret. I know what you mean. I thought I might have to knock it back a bit, but it's really comfortable the way it is. I play with my thumb over the side so it actually fits my hand perfect the way it is. If I was building it for anyone except me I'd take it back like you suggested though. It's also a pretty thin neck 20mm at the 1st and 22mm at the 12th, so the volute is about normal Fender neck thickness Looks good! It will be nice to have it as a Christmas pressie to yourself, good timing! Thanks man I'm hoping to be playing it tonight Edited December 25, 2013 by Sancho Marino Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 25, 2013 Report Share Posted December 25, 2013 looked at those side profiles of the volute, i really think you need to knock more of it down on the first fret side. It is half way down the first fret. A volute should be pointed to directly behind the nut. That is really going to limit your hand on the first fret I disagree.the volute should correspond to the thick part of the truss rod underneath or what's the point.Most volutes end at about 1/4 to 1/2 down the first fret and interfere with nothing. Power chord first fret G maj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killemall8 Posted December 25, 2013 Report Share Posted December 25, 2013 Yours looks a lot further towards the nut than his does. The point of his is like mid fret. The point of yours looks like it is behind the nut, just tapering up to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sancho Marino Posted December 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 Well the volute is a moot point now... Got it strung up last night, plays great as it sits, but with a little more tweaking it should be real nice...and the volute isn't in the way of anything... Just need to make a truss rod cover, control cavity cover, and get a switch tip to finish it up... Lousy pics, but here it is close enough to finished... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wisdom727 Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 That's an amazing top -- doesn't get much better. As for the volute: experimentation is good, just what we like on PG. Great work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 Volutes are just one of those things that draw the eye and may look "in the way" even when they are not....Like a neck heel.Took me a bit of experimentation to find a truss rod placement that gives control over the entire neck while leaving the volute in a good spot. My personal volutes could be much smaller and still be effective,but I like the look of a strong volute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killemall8 Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 Volutes are just one of those things that draw the eye and may look "in the way" even when they are not....Like a neck heel.Took me a bit of experimentation to find a truss rod placement that gives control over the entire neck while leaving the volute in a good spot. My personal volutes could be much smaller and still be effective,but I like the look of a strong volute. Yeah, i agree. I used to barley put them on my necks. but now i kinda of go overkill on it. I am going to go back to a slightly smaller and different shape volute on my next few. Not so round, but more triangle shape. I only made one that got in the way. I just made the taper to it too large. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sancho Marino Posted December 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2013 Been playing this one a lot the past few days and it's a shredder.It even intonates spot on I love everything about it except for the stainless steel saddles on the Hipshot bridge. I really dont like the way they color the tone, they make the high strings sound thin, plinky, and dead... I had some saddles from an old MIJ RG420 laying around so I swapped them out on the high strings and it's like night and day. I'm sure they are just some kind of cast pot metal, but they sound 10x better than the Hipshots... So I have a set of brass saddles on the way for this one... I had the same experience with a 7-string Hipshot on my first build, but I thought it was just something I did wrong in the building process until I got this one together.... No more Hipshots for me... I do like their locking tuners though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted December 28, 2013 Report Share Posted December 28, 2013 absolutely the best looking wenge top I have ever seen. Interesting observation on the saddles. who would have thought. thanks for sharing. Great job on the guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sancho Marino Posted December 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2013 absolutely the best looking wenge top I have ever seen. Interesting observation on the saddles. who would have thought. thanks for sharing. Great job on the guitar. Thank you man... I appreciate it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 absolutely the best looking wenge top I have ever seen. Interesting observation on the saddles. who would have thought. thanks for sharing. Great job on the guitar. Yeah, it's like staring eyeball to eyeball with an owl. Very cool. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sancho Marino Posted January 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2014 (edited) absolutely the best looking wenge top I have ever seen. Interesting observation on the saddles. who would have thought. thanks for sharing. Great job on the guitar. Yeah, it's like staring eyeball to eyeball with an owl. Very cool. SR HAHA! That's funny man...Thanks now everytime I look at it all I can see is a damn owl I swapped out the stainless saddles for brass and it makes a big difference. The guitar sounds very full, the high strings especially are much more full and alive sounding compared to the brittleness of the stainless... It's also much louder acoustically... I finally got everything done on her and got some pics in better lighting.... this is as close to how it looks in person as I can get. The colors in these pics are what it actually looks like. Got bored today and made a better cavity cover for the controls too... the fake light makes it look lousy though... Edited January 2, 2014 by Sancho Marino Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted January 2, 2014 Report Share Posted January 2, 2014 Nice touch. I like cavity covers that match the top wood, it helps the visual balance. It can't always be done, but it's sweet when it can. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sancho Marino Posted January 3, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2014 (edited) Nice touch. I like cavity covers that match the top wood, it helps the visual balance. It can't always be done, but it's sweet when it can. SR Yeah I do too... I got lucky I had a piece left over that was just barely big enough... I didn't cut anything off the length of the piece So when are you starting your next one Scott? Im looking forward to watching the show! Edited January 3, 2014 by Sancho Marino Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted January 3, 2014 Report Share Posted January 3, 2014 I hope to get started on a build for my son in a couple of months, after the garage has warmed up a bit. We'll need the time to iron out a few details as well. The show huh? Are you saying my build threads get a bit far afield sometimes? SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sancho Marino Posted January 3, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2014 I hope to get started on a build for my son in a couple of months, after the garage has warmed up a bit. We'll need the time to iron out a few details as well. The show huh? Are you saying my build threads get a bit far afield sometimes? SR If "a bit far afield" means lots of pics, cool ideas, sweet guitars being built, and maybe a little strangeness going on... then yes :croudwaits Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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