Jump to content

Knightro's Next: Nova


Recommended Posts

Hey friends! I'm excited to announce my next build, a design I've named Nova. This is sort of an odd bird, as it's a mashup of Tele and SC JR, but with a lightly extended scale.

Specs: 26" scale
Walnut body/neck
Katalox fretboard
Hipshot Tele bridge
Mojotone Broadcaster Clone bridge pickup
Mojotone Classic Minihumbucker neck pickup

Here's my CAD rendering:
Screen%20Shot%202015-05-14%20at%205.15.2

And some of the wood involved:
21597485-4176-4D13-833B-199EC5A2AF70_zps

I'm hoping to get some of the initial rough work done next weekend, but we'll see what the future holds. Thanks for taking a look!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

My templates have finally arrived! I love the smell of freshly lasered acrylic in the afternoon.

124D9A9A-54D0-4325-9F67-B4E82C54319C_zps

Here's hoping this means I'll be able to get some real work done soon!

I don't get it. It looks like you're already done. Just slap some string on it and you are ready to rock out.... :P

On a more serious note, were do you get your templates cut and how much do you have to shell out with for a full set like that. As I already draw everything out in CAD it seems I can save a lot of time by getting the actual templates done for me if the cost isn't too high.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use a company called Pololu. They charge per minute of laser time, material cost, and shipping. I don't like to post prices publicly, but if you shoot me a PM, I'll gladly give you any info you want. I will say that it's decently pricey, but well worth it based on time savings and pretty much guaranteed accuracy.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Hey friends! I've finally gotten some of my ducks in a row and have made a bit of progress on this guitar.

The body has been cut out and routed to shape. Next weekend, I'll be able to visit a buddy and use his drum sander to bring this down to my intended thickness (1.625"). In the meantime, I hope to get the neck blank going.

07812CB3-4529-4015-9906-AE9E81CDC4C6_zps

F3C3E172-1727-4A02-8FF0-CAFB913AC875_zps

68F2809F-9D79-4BE1-8532-131F76A574CD_zps

7268CEBD-0779-4F79-86E8-EF0359C6DEA3_zps

The grain on this board ended up being even tastier than I had anticipated. Thanks for looking!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Knightro, the design is excellent. Both the body and the headstock, very elegant. At the first sight I would make the lower horn a tad wider, the even narrower pickguard makes it looks tiny, fragile. Looking forward to the neck-body joint.

You will have to cope with ballance. I don't mind this fixture (by Hamer), with your body shape it might even look decent.golub-0011.jpg?w=450&h=299

The templates are a piece of art themselves. If you don't scratch them too much, hang them above a fireplace.

Edited by kmensik
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you very much! I can definitely understand your thoughts on my design, but I can assure you that the treble horn is not as fragile as it may seem. As for balance, I'm hoping that the longer neck (and very dense woods chosen) will offset the weight of the walnut body. The neck/body join is at the 16 1/2 fret mark, so at worst it'll be Les Paul-esque in that regard. Still though, if this design turns out to be inherently unbalanced, I can always chalk it up as a lesson learned and revise for the future.

That strap button extension is interesting! I do hope I don't need to try it out though....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

It's neck time! I'm using a nice piece of walnut I found at a local Woodcraft. The headstock will be angled back 12 degrees via scarf joint, and I'm including a purpleheart lamination just for the hell of it.

Pics!
B32B99E4-E9F8-43E0-B5C4-DCF7C0991F03_zps
Cutting off the end that will become the headstock.

Now I have to sand the angled faces.
D25439E3-B464-45D9-BFB7-6777536AB0A2_zps
45582A4D-343A-481B-8CFA-1FF480CFF88F_zps
7BB94798-4E20-486B-B5EF-FFDC5652E7E2_zps
5D728CEA-BFE0-4D3D-B4A4-ADA08CD4D942_zps

Now that everything is nice and straight, it's time to clamp.
0DC383C5-C7C0-48C7-B61B-22A8CCB10CB7_zps
BE0B45EB-87BF-4AD0-98A9-9371579015FB_zps
6FFBD7F5-9CA3-4CC9-A5BB-782B5BDA6E2B_zps
Not the best photo angles, but hey, they work.

So that's where I am at the moment. I might be able to get the truss rod routing done this weekend, which would be nice.

Thanks for looking!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Time for an update, with probably too many pics.

Now that everything is nice and solid, I set about removing the excess from the scarf area.
8B8769D2-6668-422A-A22E-6B00CFB3BB48_zps
F7EDAA2D-D8FE-44BC-80FD-88DE8FC55D10_zps

Now for the truss rod route. All I have at the moment is a Dremel Trio with an edge guide, so that's what I'm using.
9F1F19F2-EF8E-4836-B9A8-D82153397680_zps
22E3A1B9-D288-43CB-9F65-6D0E40FF8A74_zps

226C074C-FE0A-4993-9581-40AADE53DD34_zps

Next, I made a little purpleheart filler strip.
839E82A2-9CF8-4C24-B890-B33B13F9E6CB_zps
B606E158-DC4F-4100-9CFA-366D03155BF1_zps
45F67B3F-4990-4B76-B2A5-7376BC96130A_zps

Finally, I brought it home and arranged it in a lightly guitarish format.
0ED4A3E1-7A6D-49A1-B310-B891ABA7FCCA_zps
FCBC320C-0B0B-497A-9BB8-B4F7475A4181_zps

Thanks for looking!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Big post today! I decided to make a stacked heel with yet another purpleheart laminate.

Sawing apart the excess.
2853212C-BAA6-4F15-AC08-32E140AE5603_zps

If it weren't for this junk along the edges, I'd have used this blank for something much wider.
4039AAE5-CABA-438B-89E2-81E662FD7E37_zps

Cutting and gluing some 1/8" purpleheart
FA4FDE7A-A8D7-4F52-A599-26433346A990_zps
97278465-D3DC-4D4D-BD8B-3E43AF173165_zps

The whole stack
81341793-CCBB-4544-A0C0-DDFA83AA0652_zps

Next, there was a lot of cutting and routing and so forth, but I got absorbed in my work, so pics didn't happen. This pile of dust and scrap happened, though.
00B6F8F1-E804-45A9-8B63-46282FAC995E_zps

Results!
523DF694-BE95-4AEC-B2B4-D8C94F962A7E_zps
F59249EC-CD1A-40E8-8110-ADF0DC7FB1F1_zps
04C2F434-3576-4BF6-A079-B38868A96629_zps
08DCFB0F-E4E9-4E1B-8AA3-6508F375EAF3_zps
48ADFAA2-E2F3-4F89-B0CC-839B5C724A53_zps
8113E003-8DA5-4688-B79C-A4D34CB1A797_zps
EE1F5EE9-882B-45E2-8CCA-32CA1CAA9B91_zps
1DDFF13C-3662-4E82-B847-6F5EA5AD4309_zps
CB94370D-C8F9-4E16-A022-EA9CAD7A5B11_zps
EACF3A8F-C6F0-44A0-B7E3-972FC196FF04_zps

So that's it for now. I might try to cut the neck pocket over the weekend, we shall see.

Thanks for checking it out!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...