Blackdog

EDIT: I just went and checked with my digi calipers and the measurements I listed are pretty close to what I found. I found something just over 14mm overall, but including the washer they come with which is about 1mm, you get something very close to .520". Did yours come with washers, did you include these with your measurements. With them on your headstock should be thick enough for the tuners, I would imagine. Well best of luck. J

Thanks for the link.

I went and measured again today. I obviously did something wrong when measuring yesterday. The figures in that site are about right (the minimum thickness is around 13.2mm) and I do not need more thickness, 14mm (confirmed now by measuring) will fit OK.

Sorry for the confusion.

I ordered a set of 3+3 satin chrome Sperzels from SMD for my current build. By looking at the diagram from SMD's website I decided to make my headstock about 14mm thick.

Now that I have received the Sperzels and have them in hand, I find out that with the collar completely screwed on I will need at least 15mm of headstock thickness for hem to fit. So it seems I'll have to get creative with some veneers...

What headstock thickness have you successfully used or would recommend for these fine tuners ??

TIA

Hey, looks good.....

If its going to be blue i'll pass you the same link i passed INISHEER

Blue PRS finish

Good luck!!!

RjY

Thanks for the link !!

I think it's pretty much what I will end up doing, that tutorial is still quite useful for any color.

Sorry to beat you to making a blue guitar, although you'll probably finish this long before I finish my project No matter what color you decide to use, I'm sure it will look great. Since you like those bird inlays but want something a little more elaborate, perhaps you could try their the newer version, "modern eagles" I think they call them...or you could come up with your own design, which would make the guitar even more personal. Could you tell me more about the piezo system you are using? I would love to be able to make a more acoustic tone, but I have never been able a piezo bridge that didn't cost well over $100. And by the way, that truss rod cover looks great!

Well, I wouldn't count on finishing it before yours. But it's not a race anyway. Now Killemall has started a "PRS-ish" doublecut, and he'll surely beat us all !!! The kid works fast !!

The design for the inlays will definitely not be the birds. Great design, but already taken unfortunately. We were planning on progressing the feathers concept for this one at least, but I have to admit that DePaule designs are awesome (thanks jmrentis, for that link) !!

I have a more jazzy oriented build planned for the future and some of his vine designs are now in my wish list.

I have had the wilkinson/Fishman bridge for ages now. I had it installed in a parts-strat for a short time, then the guitar got sold with a normal Wilkinson tremolo (at the time it was not Gotoh). I think I paid for this one something like $250 to $300 at the time. It's been gathering dust in a drawer since then, it's time to do something useful with it. Even though I'm not a tremolo player myself, the piezo will be cool.

nice one blackdog,

I wish I had access to a rosewood neck like that.

keep up the good work

Hey !! You should be using "brazilian" rosewood !!!

Sorry, that's an easy joke I couldn't resist. I'm originally from Argentina (now in The Netherlands) and even though I only got into this hobby 4 months ago, I know it's not the case. Traditional guitar building timbers are not easy or cheap to come by there, but at least there are domestic alternatives.

Nice work blackdog !

Maybe the Dutch PRS Clone Builders Association can be founded.

Some other dutch guys are into prs building. More info at www.gitaarnet.nl

Hmmmm, not a bad idea. Maybe Mattia wants to join, he was bashing Gibson in another thread, he must be a PRS guy then !!!

But I might stop the PRS cloning after this one, I'm going to start a LP-ish singlecut for my son soon, and I might build me one too. I like LPs very much, but I have a few ideas on changes I would like to try on a LP platform.

Progress Report: well, there hasn't been much progress... I just bent and glued the two missing pieces of binding to the headplate, but couldn't even get to sand them flush yet...

It's going to be a great project !!! I'm looking forward to seeing it finished.....

And you really work amazingly fast, so I'm sure we will not have to wait too long for that.

The template looks fine to me. The basic shape is there (more than enough), who cares if it's not exact, you're obviously not going for a clone anyway.

What kind of headstock are you planning to use on this one ?? The 3-D concept you used on the explorer with a different shape, perhaps ??

Regarding the inlays, I wanted to use this very cool design, but I think I've seen it used somewhere else. So the current baseline is to go for slightly more elaborate designs but to keep the feathers theme to maintain a "visual connexion" with my previous build. Will we put an inlay on the top ??

PRS use Bird Inlay themselves. Is that where you saw them

Frankly, I really like the bird inlays, but Idon't know about everyone else...

It was meant as a joke,just forgot the

I really like the birds !!! But they belong in a PRS.

Unfortunately the 2 PRS I own are bird-less, that's why I made this TRC for one of them:

Looks great so far. What kind of finish are you planning, and are you doing any inlays again? Your neck looks great so far, I love the look of everything being the same except for the binding. And let us know how you like using all that indian rosewood....the only time I've worked with EIR (a fingerboard) it made me sick....it smells AWFUL!

I was thinking about making it blue, but you beat me to that...

Seriously, I'd love to make a blue PRS one of these days. But for this one I'm thinking some kind of amber or some deep cherry for the top, I might try some kind of double staining. It will have faux binding and the back will be left natural.

The original idea was to have just a glossy top, and the back oil finished, but the honduras mahogany is quite softer than the sipo I used before, so it will need the protection of a thicker finish. So the whole body will be finished glossy, something I will have to work out when the time comes...

the only time I've worked with EIR (a fingerboard) it made me sick....it smells AWFUL!

Aw, I like the smell! Poor you.

Dude, that neck is beautiful. I want to try a rosewood neck some time. Now couldn't you leave the neck "unfinished" except for fingerboard oil? Or is that a bad idea? I think the unfinished neck might feel really cool.

The neck on the other hand will be left pretty much bare. I think I'll use some Danish Oil for wood protection, very sparingly on the FB and a little more on the neck back and headstock. This should darken the wood and keep a good feel of polished bare wood. I think this is what PRS does on their IRW necks.

Brazilian RW is supposed to smell to roses, the only thing I'm sure is that IRW does not. But I don't really mind the smell too much, which is fortunate because I'll be breathing RW for a while...

Regarding the inlays, I wanted to use this very cool design, but I think I've seen it used somewhere else. So the current baseline is to go for slightly more elaborate designs but to keep the feathers theme to maintain a "visual connexion" with my previous build. Will we put an inlay on the top ?? Possibly. It looked nice on the first one and is something not seen very often.

Thanks for the comments.

My second Project has officially started. No big innovations here (yet), I’m still sticking with proven designs of guitars I actually want to own. These are the specs:

Solidbody, carved top doublecut in the shape of the PRS Santana (or LPDC).

The back is 31mm honduras mahogany and the top is 19mm flamed maple.

Long neck: 24 frets joining the body at the 23th. One piece Indian RW, with CF reinforcement and a Hot Rod.

The 13° tilted-back headstock is an adjusted version of the one I used on my 1st build, now with a maple bound rosewood headplate.

The fingerboard is maple bound rosewood, 25"scale with 12” radius.

I will use the Wilkinson/Fishman tremolo bridge on this one.

Two humbuckers, mag volume, piezo volume, mag tone and 3-way toggle.

So this is what I can show at the moment:

And some progress pictures:

A template

Body w/wiring channel

Top jointed

Top rough cut

Glueing top to body

Neck blank w/TR and CF

Bound FB

Bending maple for headplate

Glueing the maple to headplate

Neck tapered

Lot's of rosewood and a hint of maple

The one for the controls though will go completely through the body though. (This has been done before right? I think I saw that method used on Maiden's SC).

Yes, the control cavity should go all the way through in a maple topped guitar.

In fact you'll probably have to route a little of the maple top too when you finally deepen the cavity to fit the pots.

i have a question directed to anyone.... why are relics only on fender guitars? (well practically all are) I havent seen any gibson or prs relics ever. although i usually dislike relicing, these look so natural i originally thought they really were from the 60's! nice work, keep posting.

Google Gibson + Tom Murphy and you shall find....

PRS is not in the business of the relics, and I kinda respect that a lot (I'm not a relic concept supporter myself).

That said, the Fenders shown here look incredibly authentic !!! Amazing job !!

Looking great !!!!

Are you going for 24 frets or will you cut down the FB to 22 ??

Will the neck tenon be exposed, then ??

hey blackdog, I will cut down to 22 frets, there's actually 23 frets slotted on that FB.

the neck tenon will be exposed, maybe I'll glue a piece of mahogany that matches the top to make it less obvious,

or maybe I could highlight it like the santana model does.

The way I see it: If you're gonna do it, do it right !! Definitely do the Santana thing. Or the early PRS thing:

Same one

Another

If uncle Paul was proud enough to show off the deep tenon, then why shouldn't you ??

The veneer you mention cutting produced approx. 1/4" wide by .06" binding, and that is all fine(pretty close to normal binding- .08" being kinda standard, but .06 is used also). I am wondering though if you actually used regular sheet veneer which would not be that thick or possibly paper backed. Maple will be Maple either way(high figure can pose issues but that aside) you cut or major supplier cuts. I have used maple at .06" and it is not unstable because of thickness. Maple sheet veneer is much thinner and can be more fragile. Also if the wood is highly figured it can be prone to tear out, but that is not usually an issue when scraping or sanding.

Peace,Rich

Thanks fryovanni for the reply,

To clarify your points: it is definitely not paper backed, just pure maple 1.6mm thick. And there's no significant figure to speak about, pretty much plain maple.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'tear off'. There's no end-grain facing up, the way I read it (be a very wide tree if there were!), and maple works just fine as binding. I use it all the time. I brush on shellac (a few coats) with an artists brush for the fingerboard, because it'll tend to get kinda of manky/grungy/dirty otherwise. I do glue binding down with superglue, though, particularly to end-grain on fingerboards and headstocks, because I've had titebond glued wood come loose. I use medium to thick superglue for this. Never had a failure.

Thanks Mattia for the quick reply,

Not sure how to explain this any better... And unfortunately I don't have any pictures.

But the problem is that the grain will never run perfectly parallel to the edge, and the "ends" tend to get caught at the edge e.g. with the sandpaper and sometimes they splinter. I think that in correct english I mean that the grain "runs out" at the edges, and there it sometimes splinter.

I have this happened in a couple of places along the top edge of the binding. Since I will eventually bevel the edge a little I don't really care much. But was wondering if this is a common effect that will eventually keep on happening through normal play of the guitar. In the end I will have a few coats of Danish Oil applied on them anyway, so maybe that will hold the wood together better.

I hope that even in my bad english the explanation makes sense...

For my next build I'm binding the fingerboard and headplate with maple.

This is my very first time at this and just finished the FB.

I trimmed the FB to the proper dimensions, glued (titebond) a 6mm-wide strip of maple to the sides of the FB and clamped tight. Then scraped/sanded flush and the results are really good.

However I found that the top edges of the maple are very prone to tear off. The maple strips I used came from a sheet of maple veneer 1.6mm thick, cut along the grain.

Is it the maple I used that's prone to tear off ?? Would proper maple binding material bought from any of the major suppliers be any better in this sense ?? Or is it just the nature of the beast ??

Any experienced builder here that might provide info on the subject ??

Thanks in advance.

started carving the top

more pics here

Looking great !!!!

Are you going for 24 frets or will you cut down the FB to 22 ??

Will the neck tenon be exposed, then ??

Soldering irons are pretty cheap. If you buy one, you can fix it yourself AND you can do mods to guitars, amps, etc!

Hmmmm, I'd be just a little more careful with that statement, Geo. There's a long way from getting a soldering iron to being able to mod a guitar or an amp.

Besides, without enough knowledge modding a guitar can maybe ruin it, but modding an amp can potentially ruin your health....

I'm speechless.... That guitar is simply gorgeous !!

OK, I have just placed my order with SMD for a few things, and the tang nipper among them.

Should be here in a few days, and with my workload should easily outlast me.

Thanks for the feedback.

You've got your ground unsoldered at the jack.

The braid of the wire "A", barely visible in your picture, needs to be soldered to the lug "B" of the jack:

Thanks so much for the feedback.

So the consensus is that I should have one of these.

Now an additional question. I have found This One on ebay.

The price difference is unimportant, but this one seems to work on all the usual wire sizes (for guitar), while the SMD comes in two versions.

Any experience with these ?? Should I stick with the SMD one ??

Thanks again.

no, but its a LOT easier than using a dremel like I did. 2 minutes per fret equals about 50 minutes of fret tang cutting.

Thank you guys for all the feedback.

So this is one of the things that is actually good to have. I'll have to get it then.... Is not that I didn't want to spend the $, it's only that I don't want to buy somthing if it is close to unnecessary.

For my second (and third) builds I plan to bind the fingerboards with maple.

I see the obvious need to clip the tangs at the ends of the frets, but how was this done before SMD came up with the Nipper tool ??

Do I REALLY need to buy this $43 thing ?? How do YOU do it ??

Thanks !!!

I was excited about carving the neck, so I got up and finished it this morning. It still needs some sanding to smooth it all out, though. Sorry for the bad picture.

That neck of yours is looking really nice !!!

Do you use a profile gauge (I think it's called) to check for simmetry ??

I found about it when I thought my neck was basically done, and found that I still needed to correct quite a few things. Also a must if you want to copy an existing neck profile. If you don't have one, go get one and give it a try !! Inexpensive too.

Can you show / tell me more about that band saw that shows partially in your picture ?? If that's what it is I could use something like it myself.

Clotilde: A mahogany/maple sopabar PRS style solidbody.

Well, this is my first build ever. It all started in July 27th when I knew I could commission a neck for a set-neck guitar. You see, I didn’t want to build a bolt-on, so the (highly tempting) Warmoth route was out. But making a neck myself with the carving, slotting, fretting challenges felt too daunting at the time. So having the neck problem solved gave me the confidence to start a build. I set out to build this body as an exercise. This was in fact the prototype of a “proper build”, which is now becoming Build #2.

The idea of the 3 P90s was there from the start. The hardtail was a necessity, as this body was too thin for the tremolo of the original design. The commissioned neck was rather uninspiring but functional: plain maple with a rosewood board and Fender scale. But fate dictated it was not to be. The guys that were supposed to build it never even started. Fortunately, as I was feeling ready for the challenge of making one myself, this blank of flamed maple and bridseye came my way.

So ever since this new neck was chosen for the now completely in-house build, it was obvious that the theme of this guitar was going to be the nicely contrasting timbers.

While the woods involved are fairly conventional (good old maple and mahogany), the actual implementation is not: Having the flashy looking maple on the neck/board and not on the top.

From the beginning I wanted to add some cosmetic embellishments to this instrument, but again, I didn’t want to betray the minimalist spirit of the design. So we decided to use pearl inlays in a not too traditional way: hence the theme of the feathers, on the TRC, the 12th fret and the body.

I’m not setup for normal spraying yet, so I had to resort to some rubbed-on or rattle-can finish, and a natural satin finish was almost a must for the style of this instrument anyway. Rubbed-on, thinned Plastic Coating did the trick really well.

So, all in all, I think it is a well balanced instrument, with a defined personality in an earthy, understated way.

Ever since it ceased to be just-a-piece-of-wood to become a guitar-in-the-making (you know when), it’s been around the house when not being worked on in the attic. So it became affectionately known as Clotilde.

While not a highly regarded female name in Spanish (more like a joke), the name stuck and I wouldn’t dare to call her anything else now.

Just one line about the hardware: Grover Locking Rotomatics, GraphTech nut, SMD wide-medium fretwire, Gibson Original P90 (x2), Zhangbuckers Hot P90, Wilkinson Wraparound bridge.

And one about specs: 13° headstock angle, 25" scale, 2° neck angle, Gibson P90: 8K/A5, Zhang's P90: 10K/A5, vol CTS 500KA, tone CTS 500KA/.02u.

So please forgive the long introduction. Here you have Clotilde in all its understated glory:

Full Front

Backside

Flamed neck

Headstock

Body inlay

I2th fret Inlay

Probably the easiest way to make a template in this situation is to use masking tape. Get a roll of 1" wide masking tape and tape it along the edge. You now have a line that is consistently 1" inside of the edge.

Something I don't get here: The width of the bevel on the SG is NOT constant in any of the two dimensions... I would resort to the cardboard template from the full size plans to mark on the body, and definitely use a manual method for the carving. Like rasps, scrapers, and the like.