Bizman62 Posted February 3, 2022 Report Share Posted February 3, 2022 5 hours ago, ADFinlayson said: I might try drilling tiny holes for pins and use a few pin nails to hold the boards in place while I clamp them down instead. Instead of nails, how about using side dot plastic? I recently bought some longer plastic rods, about 20 cm, in various thicknesses starting from 1 mm. They were quite inexpensive. Then again, the shorter (5 cm) ones bought in larger quantities like 200 pcs/colour didn't cost much either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted February 3, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2022 1 hour ago, Bizman62 said: Instead of nails, how about using side dot plastic? I recently bought some longer plastic rods, about 20 cm, in various thicknesses starting from 1 mm. They were quite inexpensive. Then again, the shorter (5 cm) ones bought in larger quantities like 200 pcs/colour didn't cost much either. While I'm sure side dot material might work,I have a bag of nail pins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted February 3, 2022 Report Share Posted February 3, 2022 Nail pins are fine, the point is that you have to remove them. Cocktail sticks and side dots can be sawed off while cleaning the fret slots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted February 3, 2022 Report Share Posted February 3, 2022 I bought a travel Ker-Plunk set purely for the coloured ABS sticks Much cheaper than buying actual side inlay dot sticks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted February 3, 2022 Report Share Posted February 3, 2022 25 minutes ago, Prostheta said: Much cheaper than buying actual side inlay dot sticks! Huh? I paid $6.78 for 200 including shipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted February 8, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2022 So the pins worked quite nicely. They're 1.45mm and the closest I could get to that was 1.5mm so there was a tiny bit of play. but with 3 or 4 pins the fretboards were nicely secure. A little bit of tape at each end of the board when it was dry fitted meant the glue squeeze out would just peel off, smug. Once I got the board clamp down I then pulled the pins with a pair of pliers. Fretboards on and routed flush The necks do not fit in the pockets at this point because the neck and pocket templates I made are a tight fit, and I also added a bit of tape to the inside of the pocket template to make it a hair tighter still, So I sand the neck taper until it just squeezes into the pocket and removes the router marks from the necks. This is a bit of 120 stuck to a straight bit of marble. Now the necks just barely fit, they're way too tight at the moment but that's how I want it for now. When I come to actually fit the necks, I'll do this again with 220. Now I need to remove a bit of meat of the bottom of the heels to bring fretboard heigh down to the desired break angle. But that can wait until I've radiused the fretboards and installed the frets 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie H 72 Posted February 8, 2022 Report Share Posted February 8, 2022 These are looking awesome - especially love the all ebony one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted February 9, 2022 Report Share Posted February 9, 2022 Yeah, the ebony fretboard running onto the ebony top is very tasty. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted February 9, 2022 Report Share Posted February 9, 2022 I'm surprised that the fingerboard and headstock aren't bound themselves. The dust in the slots from sanding the edges make it look self bound in that last photo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiKro Posted February 9, 2022 Report Share Posted February 9, 2022 Looking good. mk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted February 10, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2022 Thanks guys, while I am looking forward to see what that bit of maple does with stain, the ebony is definitely my favourite. I was contemplating binding the fretboard and headstock and I am interested in having a go at nibs, but I wrote off one of the 2 lengths of binding I had when I had to take to attempts at binding the body, so that decision was made for me. I will definitely be getting some more ebony for another go at this. No more progress sadly, too much work on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted February 10, 2022 Report Share Posted February 10, 2022 What sort of colour scheme are you aiming for with this Maple? If you're aiming for another sandback sort of approach with black, I would consider testing brown as it produces a much more natural result. Black pigments are stronger (they aren't really black, just super potent blue/purples for example) than shades such as tobacco, and that strength drives pigment into fibres producing a blotchy, spotty look which doesn't sand back evenly and kills the chatoyance. I've never done nibs myself. I don't know how easy it would be to go down this road binding the fingerboard on the neck, as I believe it's the sort of approach that suits sanding the fingerboard and fret ends as a separate part? They're a weird hangover, and I don't even know why Gibson established this as a thing in the first place! I wonder what the deeper history is on that.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted February 10, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2022 42 minutes ago, Prostheta said: What sort of colour scheme are you aiming for with this Maple? If you're aiming for another sandback sort of approach with black, I would consider testing brown as it produces a much more natural result. Black pigments are stronger (they aren't really black, just super potent blue/purples for example) than shades such as tobacco, and that strength drives pigment into fibres producing a blotchy, spotty look which doesn't sand back evenly and kills the chatoyance. I've never done nibs myself. I don't know how easy it would be to go down this road binding the fingerboard on the neck, as I believe it's the sort of approach that suits sanding the fingerboard and fret ends as a separate part? They're a weird hangover, and I don't even know why Gibson established this as a thing in the first place! I wonder what the deeper history is on that.... I haven't decided yet but I was thinking a cream p90s against the ebony then nickel humbuckers with black surrounds and red with black burst on the maple - My fav colour and I haven't done a red guitar since 2018. If I was to do nibbed binding then I would be using the same method Freddy Gabrsek uses in his Les Paul series. - Doing all the operations with the fretboard on the neck suits my way of working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted February 11, 2022 Report Share Posted February 11, 2022 Red is hard, or at least my own personal preference in that direction. I've always wanted a deep black cherry guitar, possibly one with depth from a candy toner. I'm hardly a finishing guy, so that one will have to stay in the mindbank! I'll have to check out Freddy's approach. As I see it, flushing up the fretwork to the edge of the fingerboard is the greatest challenge unless that is done off the neck. I'll have to see what his solution is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted February 11, 2022 Report Share Posted February 11, 2022 Ah yes, he's made a safe edge on a (double cut?) file and grinds them flush. That's pretty much what I though would be the right approach for doing it on the neck, and I can understand the positives over fretting a fingerboard off the neck....which I've never actually liked (or the idea of) for several reasons. It all looks like an excellent process except that I am not so sure about using cyanoacrylate for attaching binding any more. It's convenient for the speed, but there's so much more that can go wrong compared to cements and/or acetone. For example, when I bound the body of one of my recent guitars the interface between the binding and the body softens to the point that it can be pressured into the channel by the tape's natural tension when stretched (5% I think the 3M spec is) which creates very clean and adhered binding that scrapes back as though you're a god. CA, not so much since it is neither the same as the wood nor the binding, plus it contaminates porous woods readily. I think a nice set of Swiss Vallorbe needle files are in your near future! I like the quietness of his workshop. Not entirely Tom Fidgens, but miles from Adam Booth! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted February 14, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2022 My friend Danny popped over last weekend and had a play on the orange one and I took a few short clips. I shared it on my fb page and put it up on reverb. Then had a Call from Dreiers yesterday, who is an acquaintance of mine and good friend of my bass player. He came over to the workshop this morning and had a go, he's a big Gibson fan and mostly plays Les Pauls but absolutely loved the P90 and the extra frets. Then he picked it up from the studio this evening. So we're both happy campers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted February 19, 2022 Report Share Posted February 19, 2022 That was lovely. Easy to see er' hear why he loved the P-90s. SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted February 19, 2022 Report Share Posted February 19, 2022 Yep, its got the tones that you want from the type of guitar. If it sounded like a Dano, I'd be withdrawing any GOTM support forthwith. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted March 6, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2022 Little bit of progress on these, I've got pickup routes done Made some progress on the necks, headstocks shaped and inlayed. The ebony headstock is getting some gotoh locking tuners I already had with the thumb screws and they rosewood is getting top locking klusons with the top bushings so that is why the holes are not the same on both, I was low on fret wire so I thought I'd try the stewmac medium/tall wire which I have mixed feelings about, first thing I noticed is that tang on it is really short compared to Jescar wire and I don't know if it's the wire or the table saw blade but the slots were not wide enough to take the wire and I had to run my hand fret slotting saw through all of the slots to widen them slightly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted March 6, 2022 Report Share Posted March 6, 2022 wowwy wow wow... that ebony one... drool. that is a ladykiller right there. smiling ear to ear looking at that. beautiful! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 6, 2022 Report Share Posted March 6, 2022 Yeah, I'm hoping you get some nice dark tones out of that one! SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted March 10, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2022 I've got these korina blanks that I've had since 2020, I got them very cheap and they've got a couple of imperfections but I thought it would be cool to make something out of them. the body blank is nice and flamey, although weighs a ton So I decided to slice a slither of each side before glueing them together so I could make another chambered build The top is now glued on to the back and I've mostly routed the shape out, it now weighs about 3/4 of a ton. and the neck blank has had a week or so after roughing out to settle so I've plane the headstock angle in and it's ready for a truss rod channel. I've used black limba on a couple of builds but never the white stuff. Really nice to work! I'm planning to use some tortoise shell binding on the body and I'm hoping a natural finish with some black grain filler will make it look good. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted March 11, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2022 Got the routing done and my binding on. I found celluloid binding behaves a bit differently to ABS, it came coiled up like the ABS I used on the ebony build but did not want to come uncoiled easily, I did however find that warming it up and bending it around the lower horn was much easier, especially as it was .5mm thicker than the other stuff. I trimmed it flush with a little block plane and mixed the shavings in some acetone to fill a couple of gaps I had around by the horn. I was surprised how red it went, looks like I had an argument with some sharp tools. and tidied up with the orbital sander 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 11, 2022 Report Share Posted March 11, 2022 Celluloid is very delicate by comparison, yes. Careful of contaminating wood with celluloid in acetone. It gets where you don't want it to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted March 24, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2022 I've been doing a bit of work on the ebony special while the lacquer is curing on Tom's singlecut. Got the neck carved. This time I used a knife to carve the transitions, very enjoyable way to carve. still quite sharp where the neck meets the body, but that will all be softened after glue up, Speaking of glue up I always drill bridge holes prior to gluing the neck on just in case there is any side to side movement, which is fortunate because the centre line was about a mm off after gluing. Luckily the centre seam is good and the wood is so dark, I don't think the bridge being 1mm off centre will be noticeable. I got the bridge studs installed and put the two outer strings on to check alignment with the fretboard, all good. Everything is sanded up to 320, taped up and ready for some lacquer. Hard to show on camera but this ebony is fairly open grained so I think it's going to need some grain filler. I think I'm going to give it a thin maybe 60/40 coat of lacquer then do a grain fill. Normally I'd wipe sanding sealer all over the back and sides of the body and neck before filling but as I need to fill the top as well, I figured I might as well just spray a flash coat. I've also made some more progress on the korina one. The rosewood blank is the most horrible sticky wood I've ever dealt with, ruined a brand new roll on the sander Got the control cover routes done and some neck progress 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.