ShatnersBassoon Posted November 28, 2022 Report Share Posted November 28, 2022 Was messing around with ideas a couple of years back. Been wanting to attempt something that is more my own body design. Current plan is to extend the bout on the bass side so that it looks more balanced. It will also be a single pickup design and unlike the guitar it is inspired by (you can probably guess) it’s going to have a headstock. Going to try and use what I already have...so it’s going to be either 3x3 or 6 inline. Got some really cool spalted beech for the top. Suggestions welcome of course! Noticed if you click on the image it’s better quality, worth doing so so that you get a better view of that wood 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henrim Posted November 28, 2022 Report Share Posted November 28, 2022 That is some wild looking wood! Is that top flat? It looks like there is huge impact craters on it If it’s flat that is an amazing 3D effect. If it’s not that’s cool too. Either way it will be a nice fit with the body shape! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShatnersBassoon Posted November 28, 2022 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2022 22 minutes ago, henrim said: That is some wild looking wood! Is that top flat? It looks like there is huge impact craters on it If it’s flat that is an amazing 3D effect. If it’s not that’s cool too. Either way it will be a nice fit with the body shape! Yes, it’s flat Needs a bit of time to acclimatise mind you. I think the cold journey to my house during the delivery has messed about with the moisture content slightly. Hopefully it will be within the right levels over the next couple of weeks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted November 29, 2022 Report Share Posted November 29, 2022 Really cool wood! Just as a reminder: When acclimatising wood, make sure there's good airflow also under the piece. A friend just had a body blank cupped just because he had stored it on the table instead of having a couple of slats underneath. If possible, having slats on both sides and a weighted board on top will ensure straightness. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShatnersBassoon Posted November 29, 2022 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2022 It’s only 7mm thick, so maybe if it did cup slightly it would stay on the top anyway with the titebond holding it? Or am I being a bit silly? I will go ahead with your suggestion anyway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted November 29, 2022 Report Share Posted November 29, 2022 9 minutes ago, ShatnersBassoon said: maybe if it did cup slightly it would stay on the top anyway with the titebond holding it? If you can close the gap by pinching between your thumb and just one finger the glue should hold it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henrim Posted November 29, 2022 Report Share Posted November 29, 2022 (edited) I had 7mm maple boards that I had stored carelessly and they were pretty badly warped. I put them under weight for a long time. Months, maybe a year. That didn't make them perfectly straight. So I moistened the boards from one side and used hot clothing iron to press them straight. As I followed the progress I sprayed more water and heated again. It's pretty amazing how easily they leveled. Then I stored them under weight for a couple of months and now they have kept straight. In the attached photo there is the other one of the concave boards before ironing. Not the best shot but shows that the board was warped to more than one direction. Edited November 29, 2022 by henrim 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShatnersBassoon Posted November 29, 2022 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2022 I don’t think they are warped, but it’s great to know this information as a pre empting kind of thing. Thanks Henrim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShatnersBassoon Posted November 29, 2022 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2022 Just out of interest Henrim, how long had you stored it before it warped? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henrim Posted November 29, 2022 Report Share Posted November 29, 2022 (edited) 20 minutes ago, ShatnersBassoon said: Just out of interest Henrim, how long had you stored it before it warped? Those boards are at least 10 years old so I don't really know when that happened. Although I believe it must have happened shortly after I got them, tossed in the shelf and forgot there. No proper care was taken to let them acclimatise. Edited November 29, 2022 by henrim 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted November 29, 2022 Report Share Posted November 29, 2022 2 hours ago, henrim said: tossed in the shelf and forgot there. Exactly that. If you lay wood on a flat surface the bottom side is isolated from the humidity changes of the room. More often than not it means that there's some moisture at least on the surface of the wood. If the wood is colder than the room it's brought in - which often is the case here in wintertime if we've had it in the car for transport - any moisture in the room will accumulate on both surfaces and if it's then tossed on a flat surface the moisture can't evaporate from the bottom side. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted November 30, 2022 Report Share Posted November 30, 2022 a top around 7mm with some cupping will probably conform anyway then the glue joint will hold it flat, but you can do the heat gun trick something I used with success the day before yesterday. Place the wood hump side up and go over it with a heat gun for a few mins, focussing on the middle where the hump is, get it hot but don't scorch it and you will see if start to flatten itself out after a few mins, then leave it under heavy weight for a couple of weeks and it will remain flat or close to flat. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShatnersBassoon Posted December 4, 2022 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2022 The wood has settled in perfectly now. Did a bit of work this weekend. Drew up a plan and I found out that the design did not quite work visually with a standard hard tail design and also didn’t give me masses of room for adjustment, based on the small scale length I’m using (23.5). I also figured that due to the short scale length I may as well make the body more parlour sized. Will be sanding a gradient in the forearm section so that it goes down to the walnut underneath. Will probably finesse the shape slightly as I’m working on it. Not glued up yet, just roughly lining things up so I have a general idea. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShatnersBassoon Posted December 4, 2022 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2022 Slightly tempted to use a carbon fibre neck I made a while back, only issue is that it’s a longer scale length (around 24.5 iirc), so is a question on whether it would work with the small body. 6 in line headstock too, so aesthetics to bare in mind too. ...decisions decisions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted December 5, 2022 Report Share Posted December 5, 2022 That's a stunning piece of wood. Goes great with that shape too. SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShatnersBassoon Posted December 5, 2022 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2022 Indeed Scott! It’s amazing how inspiring it is to work from beautiful materials from the outset. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted December 5, 2022 Report Share Posted December 5, 2022 1 hour ago, ShatnersBassoon said: Indeed Scott! It’s amazing how inspiring it is to work from beautiful materials from the outset. Truer words were never spoken. SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShatnersBassoon Posted December 8, 2022 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2022 So I’ve done a rough contouring on the body (still a couple of very minor alterations to do). Also took off the ziricote board from an earlier build. Repurposing that haha. Laid everything out for a rough idea. Will be continuing the spalted theme on the cap of the headstock, the veneer is just there for show. For some reason everything looks Amber in the living room. Must be the lights. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShatnersBassoon Posted December 8, 2022 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2022 Having issues sourcing suitable fretwire. Would probably be a bad idea to reuse the stainless steel frets from the old build, even though that was for the same radius as this build (flat). Im guessing regular nickel 16 radius fretwire would be just fine though, so may go with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted December 9, 2022 Report Share Posted December 9, 2022 17 hours ago, ShatnersBassoon said: So I’ve done a rough contouring on the body (still a couple of very minor alterations to do). Also took off the ziricote board from an earlier build. Repurposing that haha. Laid everything out for a rough idea. Will be continuing the spalted theme on the cap of the headstock, the veneer is just there for show. For some reason everything looks Amber in the living room. Must be the lights. I like this very much 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShatnersBassoon Posted December 9, 2022 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2022 Incidentally, one thing that has interested me so far is that this spalted beech isn’t anywhere near as punky/soft as the poplar burl I used a while back. It’s reasonably tolerant to the fingernail test. Still on the soft side ofcourse, but it seems reasonably strong. Certainly stronger than I expected it to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShatnersBassoon Posted December 12, 2022 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2022 The last couple of days have been spent routing the oversized control cavity (a tiny bit of weight relief), angle grinding a belly cut and installing some inlays. Yes, it’s the spalted beech in there Still need to do up the 21st fret ofcourse. Will probably put some superglue on top of them, although it’s really not too bad in terms of hardness to be honest. Looking like this build will be around 6.5 to 7 lbs when complete. Not bad. The headstock is going to have a spalted beech cap on it too, completing the look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted December 13, 2022 Report Share Posted December 13, 2022 a lovely piece of wood and the shape is coming together nicely. keep doing what cher doing lol! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShatnersBassoon Posted December 21, 2022 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2022 Slight dilemma about the output jack. I’m considering putting it on the top of the guitar. Because when I put the body in my playing position sat down, due to the smaller size of the body I can imagine the lead getting in the way if it was in the standard location. Seems a good a reason as any, although I know that some people turn their noses up at the top mounted jacks. My personal opinion is that it looks fine if one uses a right angled lead. Not sure if the strat style output plate would suit it to be honest; so would probably just be a basic SG type affair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted December 21, 2022 Report Share Posted December 21, 2022 1 minute ago, ShatnersBassoon said: I know that some people turn their noses up at the top mounted jacks. Way back when I didn't know much about guitars at all I thought that most electric guitars have a top mounted jack. Was it because of Strats? I can't remember. Anyhow it's an option among others. And even on full size bodies the jack is in the way if you play in the classical position with the guitar between your legs (like I do) What other options do we have? Well, if you can mount a jack on the top, you can as well mount it on the rear. A Strat type boat will work in the rear as well as on the topo and it can even be put upside down. Or just carve a slanted hole in the style of the S-boat. Someone did that not too long ago. Similarly you can insert the jack into the side, even the S-boat if thickness allows - and it most often does. A jack facing upwards on the side would put the plug more comfortably and the cable would continue naturally behind the strap which a common way to prevent accidental pull-offs. Through the strap button is yet another option but that would have required a channel being carved before gluing the top. Other than these? My imagination/experience doesn't tell but that doesn't mean there aren't more. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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