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The Makita RT0700C (recently updated to RT701C) occupies a nice position in the router market alongside its most visible competitors from Bosch and DeWalt. Originally, compact routers such as these were exclusively designed for trimming and shaping the borders of laminates such as kitchen worktops. More recently, the accessories and design of these tools have made them viable alternatives to larger-format hand routers, plus they are a common feature as the spindle in homebrew CNC routers. For guitar work, compact routers are light and nimble enough to work around headstocks and powerful enough to do all but the heaviest shaping around a solidbody. ----==---- Part 1 - Product Rundown Part 2 - Technical Teardown Part 3 - The Router In Use Part 4 - Modifications/Upgrades Part 5 - Review Discussion ----==---- The motor is available in a number of different packages. The smallest comes with the motor, a fixed base, light edge guide and edge trimmer guide. The fuller kit forms consist of a variety of bases, accessories and storage solutions. Many of these have parts that can be interchanged to suit the task at hand resulting in a smart and flexible package. Purchasers can either pick up a very complete kit at a good price, or buy the minimal kit and supplement it only with the parts they need potentially making a small saving. Underneath the hood, the Makita has soft start to reduce torque spin when powering up the router and constant speed electronics to maintain cutter speed even when labouring in heavier cuts. Speed adjustment from 10k-30k allows cutters to be run only as fast as the jobs requires them to. Capacity-wise, the Makita can be supplemented with a range of collets from 1/4" and 3/8" Imperial, or 6mm and 8mm Metric. The motor is rated as 710W giving it a fair amount of go in a very compact unit compared to the Bosch Colt at 600W but falling a little short of the heavier DeWalt at 900W. On paper the Makita hits the target points that some routers miss by a mile. How much rubber does the Makita really put to the road and how far can we take it? Example of a RT070xCX3 kit ----==---- Gear Rundown CM: I opted for a barebones RT0700C motor body which came supplied with a 1/4" collet cone, the fixed base and trimming edge guide. I added the plunge base, dust collection connectors and an 8mm collet cone to suit my personal needs. Short of the guide bushings this seems like the best combination for me. I guess you snagged a full kit, Andrew? AK: Actually, my kit was pretty barebones as well. In my box was the motor with 1/4" collet, fixed base, and a straight edge guide. I wish mine had come with the edge trimming attachment, that looks like a genuinely nice piece to have. For my own usage habits, I haven't felt the need to pick up any additional bases. I will end up buying the dust collection accessories at some point later, likely when I can set up my own dedicated work space with good collection. CM: Oh right....well to be fair a lot of the things are a bit pointless for our needs really so that makes sense. I'd see if you can pick up that edge trimming guide if you can....you'll see why when I reveal the mod I did to it! You've had a lot more hands-on time with this router that I have, whereas I went for it because of the modification potential. I think I spend more time making/modifying tools and jigs than I do making guitars....then again, that's the name of the game.... AK: I agree, this router definitely has great potential for modification and use in various jigs and fixtures. Actually, one of the main reasons I picked this model was the compatibility with standard Porter-Cable style guide bushings. This is a huge boon for me personally, as I like to use guide bushings for a variety of tasks. CM: I decided not to pull the trigger on the standard Makita bushings too. I know a bunch of people like yourself use third-party bushings, so I definitely think a good set of them is in my future. I guess that being Porter-Cable style, then the Whiteside router inlay bushing set would be compatible too....definitely useful for things like flush-fit control plates. Okay, well let's get this on the road....firstly, I'll void my warranty for the greater good! ----==---- Go to Part 2 - Technical Teardown

----==---- Part 1 - Product Rundown Part 2 - Technical Teardown Part 3 - The Router In Use Part 4 - Modifications/Upgrades Part 5 - Review Discussion ----==---- CM: Okay, let's do this. A bit of a teardown. Right off the bat you can see on the motor that Makita haven't tried to cut every corner possible, unlike some manufacturers where this is now commonplace. Material codes are visible on a lot of the parts which makes the assessment of suitability easier. The flyout is invaluable reference material.... (click to embiggen) The two halves of the top shell (1, 13) are a reinforced polymer; polyamide/nylon 6 with 30% glass fibre (PA6-GF30); a tough high quality temp resistant composite which takes a beating. This is a good "standard choice". I've seen routers where the plastics gets cheaped out on, which is a big mistake since they house the top spindle bearing. They could have gone one better with PA66 or something really crazy and overspecified, but we just wouldn't see the difference in anything but the ticket price. By the temps that PA6 starts to turn to spaghetti, you've got bigger problems than spindle runout from a wobbly bearing. This all checks out. Inside the casing, there's a setup very typical of simple modern electronically-controlled routers. All of the components are compactly seated in an intricately-designed enclosure where everything has its place. An unexpected observation is that the cable strain relief (5) is also PA6-GF30! The "black box" contains the electronic brain of the router potted into a small plastic box. This manages the soft start, speed control and houses the spindle speed sensor also. The white box is a line noise suppression capacitor to prevent the harshness of a brush commutated motor pushing electromagnetic dirt back up into your local mains supply. Absolutely nothing unexpected here. Everything was assembled well until I ran in, screwdrivers blazing.... The power switch is a little cheesy, however it's not expected to be a heavy duty cycle trigger switch or anything like that. Interestingly, the contact rating is being run pretty much on the mark if the tool amperage rating (3.1A@240VAC) is anything to go by. I don't think this is a specific symptom of cutting any corners, but it seems run pretty close to its rating. Not a concern in real terms, especially since these can be swapped out on the dollar. That and the maximum consumption of a tool this size will only ever be at startup or stall. The electronic management will no doubt prevent the tool from getting too greedy on the amps at any one point. This IS interesting! The end of the router spindle hiding under that blue nub in the centre is probably keyed and fitted with a magnet. As that spins (up to 30,000RPM!) that magnet will induce a current in the small copper coil. These "variable reluctance sensors" aren't a million miles from how a guitar pickup does its thing. The electronics will be monitoring the frequency of this signal in order to know how fast the spindle is moving at any given time. Primarily this will be for the "constant speed electronics"; if the spindle bogs down mid-cut and isn't spinning as fast as the router is set to run, the electronics will push the spindle harder until it reaches the required speed. The electronics can then back off on the juice. Variable reluctance sensors are an interesting alternative to Hall effect sensors, however they do the same thing. Just one for the electronics geeks. Easing up the sleeve from the main housing reveals the rotor. All of the commutator bars and field windings are epoxied up, plus that magnet at the top of the spindle is revealed. The work that goes into the details of a rotor are usually very telling as to how well the machine will last over time. Cheap out here and everything else sucks also. The main bearings top and bottom are NSK rubber-sealed bearings. Very standard components with known performance in applications such as this. The armature is ground both fore and aft, similar to how weights are added to car wheels for balance to eliminate vibration at high speeds. Clean good-looking work. The spindle-mounted fan pulls air through the body of the router. Given the large open porting in the base however, I can see this not preventing debris from entering the motor. Definitely a good reason not to use this router inverted, and let's face it....that would be a bit of a high expectation for a palm router! The bearings are easily replaceable should they get a bit worn and noisy from the constant side-load that routers subject them to. Most Makita spares dealers carry these items, however being standard NSK bearings, any good bearing dealer will have them or direct equivalents such as SKF, etc. If the motor gets a bit noisy, this is good place to look and often the culprit; the nature of ball bearings rather than a product issue. The area were you really need to be seeing quality is in the rotor and its mounts. These seem adequate enough for a router at this price point, and the router runs smoothly in testament. It sounds fantastic....saying that sounds weird, but it does. The aluminium casing is cast from high quality Chinesium which seems to be moulded a sintered powder alloy. The castings are machined nicely at the point where components mate (motor housing to the inside of bases, for example). I wouldn't expect any casting to survive heavy abuse (being thrown onto concrete?) and certainly this seems a better quality of casting than most. The metal parts only seem to have been made down to a price where its appropriate, rather than to make them as cheap as feasible. That's definitely the theme around this router. ----==---- The overall impression one gets from the teardown is that this is not overbuilt, but certainly hasn't had corners cut here and there simply to provide better return for the shareholders. Everything seems to be as good as it needs to be in order to provide reliable performance, but nothing more. This wasn't a throwaway product designed by committee to bang into a product lineup niche. The fit and finish is precise, and is what you would expect from a tool representing the good side of the Makita brand. In good hands with occasional maintenance, this should go a good distance. The only significant negatives I could support are that airflow through the well-packed upper housing into the motor casing may be a little restrictive. Heat may be an issue with constant use, and like most tools heat is the killer. The other being the light-duty power switch and speed control. Time will tell as to whether those crap out or simply do the job as expected. ----==---- Go to Part 3 - The Router In Use

Sushkov Guitars #0003 Zebra Ash "The third build in my new workshop in Prague - 7 string custom guitar. Of course not the third in general. I built over 100 guitars during my work in most known Russian guitar custom shop. But here is the third guitar of my own brand and third since I leave Moscow... Construction: set-neck Scale: 25.5" Neck material: 3 piece Maple with Walnut stripes and Ash headstock veneer Fingerboard: Ebony Body: European Ash Tuners: HipShot GripLocks Bridge: HipShot hardtail Nut: black TUSQ Pickups: matching Sushkov Custom pair with AlNiCo-V rod magnets & ebony covers Frets: SINTOMS NiSilBer extra hard 2.5 mm Controls: Volume, Tone, 3-way p/u selector switch, push-pull series/paralel coils for neck pickup Finish: clearcoat polyester http://sushkov.net/ https://www.facebook.com/sushkovguitars/

@mattharris75 - "Kensley & Ellie's First Guitar" This build was in the works for a long, long time. I started procuring wood when my wife and I were talking about having our first child. Fast forward a little and that child is 6 years old, and has a 2 1/2 year old little sister. I built this guitar to a scale that little hands could handle. Something for my girls to hopefully help start a life long love of playing music. Plus, little guitars are just cool! It may have taken a long time, but just like my girls, it was worth the wait! Here is the link to the build thread over on the forums: New 2/3 Scale Guitar Here are the specs: Scale Length: 17" Tuned: ADGCEA (Up a fourth from standard tuning) Top: Flamed Maple, "IPA Burst" Back: Pau Ferro Neck: 5 Piece Laminate of Wenge/Pau Ferro/Flamed Maple/Pau Ferro/Wenge Fretboard: Cocobolo w/Bloodwood binding & B/W/B purfling Neck Radius: 16" Finish: Tru Oil over Z-Poxy Finishing Resin Tuners: Grover Mini Locking Rotomatics Bridge: Gotoh Hardtail Pickup: Seymour Duncan Powered By Lace, Bridge

@KnightroExpress, Knightro Guitars "Voyager MS6 Project Balrog" Hello PG friends! The red guitar is all wrapped up and ready to rock, so here she is for your viewing pleasure. Specs: 25"-26" multiscale, 9th parallel Padauk body (one piece) Padauk neck with pau ferro laminate accents Pau ferro fretboard with ebony binding, 16" radius, Jescar 47095 fretwire DiMarzio Air Norton (neck), Air Zone (bridge) Hipshot Solo bridges Hipshot open-gear locking tuners- staggered Graphtech TUSQ XL nut CTS pots, Gotoh 3 way toggle ----==---- The build diary (along with many others!) can be found in Andrew's forum posts HERE. ----==---- All of this month's entries can be found HERE.

Afterimage Guitars - MSR6 "Catalyst" After completing my first multiscale build aroung a year ago I was hooked with the concept and decided I needed a 6-string equivalent to complement the original 7-string build. Again, sticking to my theory that each build should be an excuse to try new ideas, I decided to throw in a few extra features and construction methods to the mix. The chambered body reduces the total weight to a bantam 3.5 kilos. The bound body and neck, along with the brushed chrome covered pickups give off an aged edge, while the use of fan frets, active electronics and an ultra-slim neck mean that this is anything but a vintage rocker. Body - Chambered Tasmanian Blackwood Top - Figured Eucalyptus with cream binding Neck - 5-piece Tas Blackwood and Celery Top Pine with Jarrah accents, carbon fibre reinforcement Headstock - 3x3 configuration, with matching figured Eucalyptus headplate, cream binding Fretboard - Gidgee with Cheesewood "ring" fret markers, cream binding Scale length - 26" - 25", 9th fret perpendicular Radius - 16" Trussrod - Allied Lutherie Tuners - Hipshot Open Gear Grip Lock in chrome Frets - Medium nickel silver Nut - Bone, artificially aged to match binding Pickups - EMG 57 bridge, EMG 66 neck in brushed chrome Bridge - ABM independent saddles in chrome, through-body strung Electronics - 1x vol, 1 x 3-way toggle Finish - Danish Oil Build thread located here

We are very happy to welcome Curtisa as part of our team; the role of Forum Manager will help to fill the void we've had for some time. Behind the scenes, Curtisa has poured countless hours into fixing almost fourteen years of content across multiple forums. His organisational capabilities, technical site knowledge and hands-on community involvement will undoubtedly make a positive impact as ProjectGuitar.com continues to develop through 2016 and beyond. The role of Forum Manager is distinct from that of the Moderating team; rather than being a "top mod", the role reflects the specific need for technical and structural management of the ProjectGuitar.com forums. The Forum Manager works with the engineering tools in the background; the Moderators work on the frontlines wielding the large hammer!

Guitars and basses using compound scale lengths have exploded in popularity over the last two decades. Originally the province of boutique luthiers such as Ralph Novak, Ormsby Guitars, Conklin Guitars & Basses, blackmachine, Dingwall, .strandberg* (plus too many others to list) with several luthiers here on ProjectGuitar.com having designed and built their own, the last few years have seen compound scale length instruments become a mainstream feature. How and why would we incorporate more than one scale into an instrument? What advantages or differences do they actually offer? What are the most common misunderstandings or misconceptions? Why are terms being used incorrectly or interchangably? We'll cover a brief history of compound scale instruments, explore the theory and demonstrate how they're designed including their strengths/flaws.... ----==---- Obligatory boring history lesson The concept of a strung instrument utilising different lengths per string is not a new one, the most obvious and recognisable example being a grand piano or instruments such as harps, lyres, psalterys, hammered dulcimers, etc. Grand pianos commonly have over 200 strings with similar length/tension/pitch relationships This arrangement of using longer strings for the lower notes and shorter ones in the upper range is part of a greater relationship; the fundamental frequency of a vibrating string is a function of the free vibrating length, the tension within the string and physical mass by length ("gauge"). We don't need to go into the exact mathematics behind this relationship (more can be found through the virtues of Google, however this is very good, as is this) it can be summarised as: Higher pitches require.... short vibrating string length higher string tension lighter string gauge Lower pitches require.... long vibrating string length lower string tension heavier string gauge This is true for the most part. As this is simply a relationship, not all of these have to be true at the same time, however the other components of the relationship need to compensate. Okay, this has probably lost a few people already who just want to see the weird-looking instruments. At least we're not looking at the math! Simply, a lower pitch can still be produced by a lighter string gauge, however an even lower tension and/or longer string length will be required to make up. Harps, et alia. leveraged the parts of the relationship the best that they could given the limited string material engineering capabilities of the times; high tensions and gauges simply weren't possible. This placed greater emphasis on long string lengths for lower string tunings with the reverse for higher ones; a naturally-evolved solution for instruments covering a wide range of octaves. The Spanish guitar - the blueprint for what we might recognise as guitars - covered barely 3-1/2 octaves. String-making was such that it could meet the relatively modest demands of six strings over such a small range; string tension and mass by length were more than sufficient in the relationship to produce required tunings; a simple single scale across the entire instrument worked perfectly well. The model established by the Spanish guitar carried itself through to steel-strung acoustics, Hawaiian steel guitars, archtops, solidbody guitars, basses, etc. without the underlying single-scale architecture altering. Hold a Les Paul next to an original Torres (good luck with that) and the DNA is clearly apparent. Disadvantages of single scale instruments Standard guitars and basses sit on the cusp of practicality when it comes to the string pitch/mass/length/tension relationship. Many modern solidbody guitar/bass designs feature more than the "normal" number of strings and utilise tunings significantly beyond standard. Such "extended range" guitars and basses fly beyond the limits of our calm island of 6/4-string standard-E safety. This fundamental shift highlighted the inadequacies of a single-scale arrangement; adding strings to a standard scale produces flabby lower strings with insufficient string tension, requiring excessively-heavy gauges to compensate. Increasing scale length to compensate increases string tension over the higher strings requiring super-low gauges for playability! Accompanying alterations in the number of string courses and scale lengths is a shift in timbre around the instrument; baritone scale lengths with longer strings tensioned higher than usual emphasises the fundamental, lower and uppermost harmonic overtones becoming (appropriately) "piano-like" in timbre. Much of the softer tonality generally preferred in the upper ranges easily becomes strident, harsh and less "musical". It was only a matter of time before these limitations in single scale lengths had to evolve in the same direction as other wide octave range instruments. Enter the compound scale instrument At its simplest, a compound scale instrument features two or more scales. This can be as simple as having a hybrid extension beyond the nut (not entirely unrelated to a plectrum banjo).... Amfisound Hellbass .... or more commonly, non-parallel frets.... Ormsby Guitars GTR TX Production Model Advantages of compound scale instruments Having full access to the relationship between pitch/length/tension/gauge opens up design possibilities both as a luthier and as a musician. Single scale instruments only allow us to leverage gauge and tension within a limited range before playability, tonality and practicality become too significant to ignore. We don't want cheesecutter high strings simply because we extended scale length for the benefit of the lower notes. We don't want flubby nu-metal low notes simply to keep expressive bendier high ones. Compound scales allow us to pick and choose what works best for us. A 24" 1st string and 27" 6th string? Do-able. A 16" 1st string and 30" 22nd string? Strange, but theoretically workable. A welcome (but not strictly deliberate) side effect of introducing non-parallel frets in compound scales is a more ergonomic feel; as a 5-string bassist I can attest strongly that parallel frets require a degree of compromise and automatic playing adjustment....potentially with painful hand/wrist problems. That the architecture of your instrument starts affecting how easily you play the thing is a Big Thing. In the playing position, the wrist and elbow (even the shoulder) have mutually comfortable ranges of movement. Parallel frets on a single-scale instrument (especially those with longer, wider necks and many high frets or for players that barre like crazy) can often pretzel your arm out of an optimally relaxed playing position. Some say that Hendrix himself played behind his head thanks to the limitations of single scale guitars and that Eddie Van Halen jumped around simply to get himself into a playing positions. All we know is.... ....compound scales tend to angle the fretting hand more naturally from the lowest notes to the highest. Even designing in an additional 1" to the lowest scale of a standard 6-string guitar produces a more organic feel with non-parallel frets. In addition to this natural arc, instrument designers commonly specify a "perpendicular" fret or position; a single point on the fingerboard where the fret (or proportional relation between scales if not actually a fret) is perpendicular to the centreline between outer scales. This aspect of a compound scale is highly personal, being affected by playing style, personal physical differences and also those of the instrument. What is comfortable for one person may be different for another. This point is most commonly found anywhere from the 5th fret to the 9th, however in theory it can exist anywhere on the neck; even between frets or beyond the nut or saddles! The advantages of compound scales to instruments are distinct; they unlock design aspects which are otherwise constrained through habit and tradition, plus they allowing instruments to be voiced more fairly from the lowest to the highest registers. The Novax® Fanned-Fret® System In spite of a fretted compound scale instruments existing hundreds of years ago, Ralph Novak patented the idea (more accurately, the process) for a compound scale guitar in 1989: the Fanned-Fret® system. The patent itself has expired, however Ralph continues to enforce intellectual property rights over the system and its trademark, licencing its use to luthiers selling their instruments within the US. Unlike a single-scale instrument where frets are parallel to each other, the Fanned-Fret® system arranges frets according to a geometric pattern whereby the straight line paths of each fret (plus the nut and theoretical bridge witness line) converge on a single point in 2D space, not entirely dissimilar to representing depth within single-point perspective. As a simple method of producing compound scales across several strings, it is elegant and very easy to implement: Generalised layout of a Fanned-Fret® system It does however possess one crucial flaw; the system only truly works if all of the strings are parallel to the reference scale. As with most things, taking an idea to a logical extreme serves to highlight fundamental issues. Consider a convergence point way off to one side with respect to the centre of the reference scale: (zoom to embiggenate) Theoretical extreme of a Fanned-Fret® system on a seven-string instrument As can be seen from the (nth root of 2) reference scales transposed onto outer string paths, a Fanned-Fret® system fret placement would leave bass strings progressively flatter further up the fingerboard and treble strings progressively sharper; so much so, that the 24th fret is approximately one semitone sharp! Plotting true nth root of 2 fret locations along each string path demonstrates that the usefulness of fret placement from a single convergent point in space is poor at best unless one wants to work with no string taper. Whilst discrepancies in a real-world Fanned-Fret® system implementation will be in the order of a few cents, the theoretical basis of the system is not truly a sound one; those cent errors add up. A reliable system for producing compound scales should be fit for purpose as opposed to being merely simplistic, clever-sounding, approximate and trademarked. Extending out true nth root of 2 fret placements disproves the convergent point idea Regardless of these yawning chasms, the Fanned-Fret® system introduced compound scale instruments into the consciousness of guitarists and luthiers, and is an important milestone to recognise in compound scale instrument design. Languagewise, it is important not to confuse the term "fanned frets" with anything but the Novax® Fanned-Fret® System. Not all non-parallel/compound scale instruments are "fanned frets". The Fanned-Fret® System is a distinctive and specific enough method that the term is not a catch-all for non-parallel fret design. Whenever you hear the term "fanned fret" used, ask if it's actually Fanned-Fret® or not. Interpolated Dual Scale Fret Placement Okay, I just made that name up. It does however describe a better way of producing a working multiscale fret placement for any range of equally-spaced strings. Referring back to the previous diagram showing why a single point in space does not work demonstrates that by subdividing the two outer string paths and "joining the dots", each intermediate string's placement is perfectly in line. Theoretical 22-string instrument. joining the dots from an nth root of 2 scale placed over the outer strings This system is more or less the basis behind how FretFind2D works when plotting multiple scales, and produces fine instruments that intonate well. If like myself, you prefer to design your instruments by hand in CAD then it is sufficient to test your multiscale layout by stretching a scale template over each string path as in the diagram above. If the points between string paths and the interpolated frets coincide, the design is proven to be good. In Closing.... Compound scales in guitars and basses have represented a significant evolution in our instruments, and one that would be ridiculous to ignore. Amongst the many fundamental compromises and imperfections baked into our perceptions as what constitutes a guitar, continuing to maintain a single scale length is one we can happily grow out of, and continue evolving. -------- All trademarks, service marks, trade names, product names and logos appearing in this article are the property of their respective owners and used under the doctrine of Fair Use for educational purposes.

@ScottR, "Lester T" "To date my favorite guitar I've built was "Justin's Guitar" that I built for my son. He wanted a Les Paul body shape with my own headstock and carves and he wanted a set of Klein Epic Broadcaster pickups in it. That led to what has been dubbed a Les Tele-ish guitar build, that I just loved........but it lives a 1000 miles away. So I had to make me one. " Lester T. Body--Chambered Sapele Top--Quilted maple Neck--Sapele-Macassar Ebony-Sapele Headstock cap--Gaboon Ebony Frets--Jumbo SS Tuners--Gotoh 510 Delta 21:1 Bridge--Gotoh Tele Bridge Pickup--Klein Fatman tele bridge Neck--Klein Epic Series 1957 P-90 neck Check out Scott's build thread over on the ProjectGuitar.com forums! click for larger click for larger click for larger click for larger click for larger click for larger click for larger click for larger click for larger

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