Davo

Well I never thought I would be entering my first build for GOTM - but here goes;

Meet the S P A R 7 A N...

7-string semi-baritone (26.5 inch scale) for drop tuning

Mahogany body

Queensland maple carved cap

Rock Maple / Wenge neck with carbon fibre reinforcement

Ebony fretboard

Nitro finish

Tonepros bridge

Graphtech Nut

Gotoh tuners

Bridge pickup - EMG 707

Neck pickup - EMG 81-7

2 x volume / no tone

3-way blade switch

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Cheers, Davo

Hi All,

It is an interesting process getting enough breakover clearance on the TOM with a string through and a neck angle - even with lots of full scale plans drawn at the start (Perry would be proud of me...) it was a case of finessing the TOM height and the ferrule placement after the glue up. I basically had the bridge recessed as much as I wanted without dropping more than the posts into the body. I do like the look of the longer strings however, they add some drama to the overall design with the longer scale length.

Always interesting when you receive the "black" knobs in the post - and they are actually "black chrome" An easy one to fix down the track if they don't grow on me!

The pickup rings are from Fretsonthenet - really great customer service and as you say a classy match to the EMG's

It is a solid guitar - weight feels around 9 pounds, identical to a vintage Les Paul Custom we have here (I'll find some scales and weigh the beast soon...). She has some good low end - I'm sure the guitarist will get some clips happening now he has some time on his hands - not to mention some new recording gear!

I did have a few gaps here and there with the binding joints - but the biggest issue was having a very "sharp" joint on the heel just where your hand hits working the higher frets. This join ended up intentional, I kept sanding it round until it felt OK - doesn't look great but I figured I would only make things worse trying to inlay extra binding into the gap! ;

And a few more pics while I'm at it.....

Here you go for the high res....

Cheers,

Davo

Hey thanks for the kind words guys - she buffed up really well after 4 weeks curing and only a little wet sanding required

I'm relying on the binding and the neck for some contrast and I'm particularly happy with the neck (I haven't had to touch the truss rod - it hasn't moved at all after the final string up last weekend).

Here is some heel and neck detail;

and the all important hardware specs;

Tonepros bridge

Graphtech Nut

Gotoh tuners

Bridge pickup - EMG 707

Neck pickup - EMG 81-7

2 x volume / no tone

3-way blade switch

She fired up first go and sounds great - no buzzing or dead spots - the neighbours are no doubt less happy to hear a new addition to the guitar family (i.e. the Framus has been cranked a few times all in the name of serious testing of course....) I'll let "the client" (Mikebot) fill you in on the playability and tone.

Glamour shots to follow......

I know how you feel - the low dollar has certainly stopped the "fun" imports lately I think I have surprised myself with this project - the only timber things I have build in 30 years have been a couple of amp headcases and a speaker cab! It shows you the power of forums like this and the generosity of all the experienced guys that share their knowledge so freely.

I'm Sydney based so the mahogany blank and ebony fingerboard was from Gillet in Botany, wenge from Trend Timbers near Windsor and the rock maple and Qld maple from Anagote in Marrickville.

Sorry Jeff - definitely going black here - the "client" (number one son and metal guitarist) is calling the design shots... I'm using nitro to finish because it is forgiving for a beginner with their first compressor and gun. I'm trying black stain to get maximum depth in the clearcoat;

First of the clearcoats;

Hey Kenny - the back is all "square" but the cap has a medium carve to show off the horns and the body - here was the first dry test fit;

I was looking to create a flow over the cap - i.e. not a high flat top with a carve down to the edges but to have the strings sitting in a gentle valley with the TOM posts recessed slightly to keep the height down - fretted and glued up now with binding;

No decent figure in the cap, but it's going to be a deep black solid colour anyway....

I carved the cap and epoxied the fingerboard then bound, inlaid and radiused it prior to the final glue up (hands up who loves Micromesh!) ;

Sure its been done before, but for a first time build why not stick to the classics? This is a 26.5 inch scale semi-baritone to handle lower tuning and keep some tension in the strings - set neck with an angled heel joint for maximum access to the 24 frets. The plan is for a good deep carve but with restrained and smooth Super Strat lines plus some Les Paul touches (no body contouring, lots of binding, solid heel joint etc). 12 degree Ibanez-ish headstock with the tuners in-line.

Mahogany body, Queensland maple carve top (simlar characteristics to mahogany - just wanted to have some Aussie wood in there!), wenge/rock maple neck, ebony fingerboard;

3.5 degree angle cut into the neck to keep the fingerboard close to the body and allow a TOM with string through - deep and long tenon so the string through hits the neck maple, quarter sawn and carbon fibre in the neck to keep the long and wide Ibanez Wizard thickness neck stable;

....and to cover off another alternative I'm trying black epoxy on a Qld maple top this weekend.....

Lots of work since this pic - and stained black!!

I'm using this truss rod in my current build and it is pretty straight forward - the "open" part of the U channel (with the tape covering) faces away from the fretboard (i.e. towards the back of the neck). This leaves the flat metal surface to glue against the fretboard.

Slowly rout the channel at the correct depth so the channel sits just flush with the surface that will take the fretboard and does not have any movement from side to side (i.e. no rattles then when it is all glued). I glued the sides into the neck first (just to be sure) - no need to glue the side covered with tape. Then level the surface that will take the fretboard and you will be ready to go with the fretboard gluing. I used epoxy as well for my fretboard.

You are right that the rod doesn't need any sort of heal or anchor - it simply curves one way or the other when adjusted on way or the other. Feel free to repair the tape with anything you have - it isn't critical.

Hi Guys - I have a new ebony fretboard; slotted, tapered, glued to the neck, bound, radiused, sanded and ready for fretting. My question is whether to give it some oil now or if there is a reason to leave this until after fretting? i.e. is a heavy layer of oil in the slots a good thing or does this mess with potential glueing of the frets to tighten up the tone in the future?

Hey thanks Mattia - your explanation makes alot of sense, as you say I need to view the trussrod as adding a small force in just the right place within a structure that is really more flexible than it seems!

Many thanks

Hi People,

I'm getting the necessary gear for a first build and spending many hours (weeks) researching all the variables involved in guitar building but there is one small bit of theory that I don't understand to do with the trussrod;

Assuming you have a "standard" dual action trussrod mounted right under the fingerboard, when adjusted how does that tiny 1/4 inch of ebony or rosewood resist the bending pressure of that relatively big lump of metal being bent into a bow underneath it that forces the whole neck to bend???

My brain can accept the older "compression" trussrods or even the fender style rods mouned in the back of the neck - I'm just interested in some theory to explain how large the forces are that the truss rods are exerting?

Cheers....