103801061982 Posted June 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 I've put the craziness aside for a day at least and started working on the body. I did put shell side dots into the neck. As I thought they would they do snake up in a wibbley wobbly line. Peeved and only myself to blame, but on the up, they are a damned sight straighter than those on a custom neck I had made (and paid a small fortune for) a couple of years ago, So the body.... channel routed for the ebony stripe before the top goes on Ebony binding strips bent on the iron glued with watered wood glue, and held in place with tape. Not massively fussed on the fit as only the bottom join with ever be visible. Bindings scraped level with the mahogany top, maple glued. Excess maple trimmed on the bandsaw and smoothed out on the bobbin sander. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted June 23, 2016 Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 My interest is piqued. This is a different routine.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
103801061982 Posted June 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 The thinking was to run a black run around the body to ebony neck heel. This was the only way I could think of doing it without gluing the top and cutting by hand around the curves. As it is I've left myself with cutting channels on the inside of the horns,but in ok with that as they would have needed to flair out a bit. for so e reason I really like the process of heat bending and binding. Maybe its because its nice and quiet..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted June 23, 2016 Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 Spoken like a true shed owner. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
103801061982 Posted June 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 damn straight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
103801061982 Posted June 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2016 neck pocket routed and the customary fit test. Look mom, no glue. Starting to feel a bit less like a lump of wood. bottom horn channel cut and filled. I was a bit out on the channel and the slither of mahogany on top makes it look a bit further off still Having a brew before cutting the other channel. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
103801061982 Posted June 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2016 couple of bits of clean up, but I think I'm OK with how this turned out. Brew time 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted June 24, 2016 Report Share Posted June 24, 2016 Damn straight it's time for a brew. Happy midsummer! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
103801061982 Posted June 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2016 haha summer? Whats that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted June 24, 2016 Report Share Posted June 24, 2016 Nice concept and solution. I like the idea and the creative thinking involved. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted June 24, 2016 Report Share Posted June 24, 2016 6 hours ago, ScottR said: Nice concept and solution. I like the idea and the creative thinking involved. Are we still talking about the UK summer? In all seriousness, that's going to be a fine-looking instrument. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
103801061982 Posted June 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2016 (edited) Test fitted the neck this morning. Small bit of sanding on the heel to tweak the angle but all seems OK. Treble side looks much better I think Also got the neck pickup cavity and a shelf for the top carve routed. I'm holding off on the bridge pickup until I've got the bridges in hand. I've finally worked out why the cavity measurements were a bit off from the centre line. Ive taken the D string as a centre line, but have allowed an extra mm on the low b side to the edge of the fretboard. That extra mm was knocking things off a bit so pickups are aligned to the neck not centreline. Thought I was going mad for a few minutes looking at this. The recess for the volume looks a bit horrific, but the carve will take a lot of the depth out of it. Edited June 27, 2016 by 103801061982 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted June 27, 2016 Report Share Posted June 27, 2016 It certainly will. I love that transition around the body and the heel! I see what you were working on now....well played. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
103801061982 Posted June 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2016 cheers. I'm quite surprised it came out. After seeing the neck on, I don't think I'll leave the neck natural. here's a question though on something that's unnerving me a bit. What's the trick to installing hipshot solo bridges? Looking at the trem saddles on my 7 the low b and e are just about as far back as they'll go and the high b and e quite far forward. Is it best to install with the intonation mid point at the scale length, or would it be an idea to set the low e and b a bit further back? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted June 27, 2016 Report Share Posted June 27, 2016 It's looking great. I actually can't see what the issue is with the bass horn even when I look for something... I like the slightly unorthodox method ref the middle binding. It really works! In terms of bridge placement, wiser folk than me will give you advice, but I don't think the saddle will ever be placed shorter than scale length, so I would have thought wind them all fully forward, then place them with saddles at scale length. If there is less than 3mm backward movement available, the bass strings may need to go a touch further back even than that. Any views, wise folk? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted June 27, 2016 Report Share Posted June 27, 2016 That's it in one. Intonation backwards from the theoretical placement is compensation by flattening/lengthening the strings slightly in order to balance off the sharpening that bending a string during fretting causes. Like Andy said; wind them all forward. I think the Solos have quite a reasonable adjustment range so I doubt the bass side will need additional offset. The Hipshot bridges I have used all possess excellent ranges of adjustment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
103801061982 Posted June 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2016 Thanks gents. Appreciated. A bit of carving today. By the cringe this is harder than I thought it was going to be. Knackered already 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted June 29, 2016 Report Share Posted June 29, 2016 If you have an angle-poise lamp, inspect the carve using raking light (low angle). It looks like there are some soft ripples in the top half, but overall that looks fantastic! I bet you that @komodo would be super digging this one man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
103801061982 Posted June 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2016 ripples galore. I sanded it back to try and get a handle on where all the lumps are but I think we're getting there. As Always, time for a brew.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted June 29, 2016 Report Share Posted June 29, 2016 Huh. Half two in the afternoon and midday there?? At least 3PM pur-lease! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
komodo Posted June 29, 2016 Report Share Posted June 29, 2016 54 minutes ago, Prostheta said: If you have an angle-poise lamp, inspect the carve using raking light (low angle). It looks like there are some soft ripples in the top half, but overall that looks fantastic! I bet you that @komodo would be super digging this one man. Superdug! I had to go back to square one and read the whole thread. This is quickly becoming my mantra - try an angle grinder and a flap sander disc for doing carves. It's the bomb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted June 29, 2016 Report Share Posted June 29, 2016 They are if you can keep on top of them. Fast aggressive action is useful for satisfying a need for immediate results, but you can't put the wood back on! The dust those kick off is as bad for your lungs as a smoking habit. It's good to remember that as a comparison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
103801061982 Posted June 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2016 I'd be too worried about taking too much off with an angle grinder. I can barely keep it together working at this pace. Tea breaks are currently rostered on the British Leyland model - every 20 minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightroExpress Posted June 29, 2016 Report Share Posted June 29, 2016 Your carve is looking fantastic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted June 29, 2016 Report Share Posted June 29, 2016 The carve is looking great I invested a whole £10 on one of those most unlikely shaped but wholly traditional wooden carpenters mallets recently. Revelation! Takes all the effort out and, against all of my expectation, added significant control. Do you use something similar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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