johnsilver

Fookgub, thanks for looking. I had found that one. I haven't checked with AllParts but that looks like a bridge I could to a string through but not a wraparound. Right?

I've looked at a lot of places and contacted a few manufacturers. Anyone know of a source for a quality wraparound style bridge for a 7 string? Thanks.

No, not a replica. I'm just looking for a reference as a starting point. Anyone?

I have some information that says a PRS is 1 3/4" thick in the middle and 1 1/2" thick at the edge, indicating the depth of the carve is only 1/4". Assuming a maple top with a mahogany body, and with "faux binding" of 1/4" maple showing on the edge, that would imply the maple top is 1/2" thick and the mahogany is 1 1/4" thick. Can anyone verify the depth of carve and relative thicknesses of the maple and mahogany? Many Thanks.

Congrats Mikro! My oldest son and daughter in law are expecting our first grandchild in March. Its a girl! You'll have to give me the secrets of being a grandpa to a girl. We had nothing but boys.

I also used the StewMac foam pads in my hand held drill to apply buffing compound. However, on my last guitar, after buffing out with the foam pads, I used a random orbital sander to apply the swirl remover for the final gloss. I think it worked well for that.

Cud, I have the StewMac touch up gun. I bought it to do a burst on the LP I am working on now. It worked fine. It was easy to adjust the spray pattern and held plenty of material for a burst. I use a different gun - toploading Grizzly (about $50) to spray clear. The more I use it, the better "it" gets.

You might try a search in this part of the forum. I've seen it mentioned by some here that rosewood dust will show up darker than the surrounding fretboard, so they mix rosewood dust with maple dust to lighten it a bit. +1 with Southpa on testing on scrap.

The manufacturer of your humbuckers should be able to provide a wiring diagram. For example, here is a diagram provided by Seymour Duncan for wiring two humbuckers with two volumes, one tone and a three way switch. They have lots of diagrams to choose from. wiring

System Three brand of epoxy also makes pigment for epoxy in several colors that makes it suitable for inlay in either ebony or rosewood for example. I bought some black pigment at my local Woodcraft store but you could check anywhere that sells System Three products.

+1

Thanks Wes. Helpful. Part of my original question was around templates. I can get templates for a 6 string model of the guitar on which I will base my next build (PRS single cut). PRS doesn't make a 7 string single cut, which is what I want to build (or rather base my build). I was contemplating buying the 6 string templates anyway to give me the correct body shape, etc. and then scaling up the body to fit the neck dimensions I want to use. That would maintain the body/neck relationships and increase weight in the body to help maintain balance. Thoughts? I think I will still use the carbon rods though. Good suggestion!

+1 on the fault finding skills. And a serious reminder to self to test components prior to installing. And at least I now have some desoldering braid - works a treat. And a new multimeter that has a continuity tester. Not sure how satisfying you will find this, but after I replaced the volume pot, all is well. I find that very satisfying. Thanks again.

I am interested in a low power, Class A, all tube amp. Anyone have any thoughts on these? Crate Palomino

I finally got to play around a bit. I tested continuity - from the tailpiece stud to the pot, pot to pot, jack ground to pot, volume pot ground, etc. I found no problems. I've also double checked the wiring vs the Seymour Duncan diagram. Didn't see any discrepancies. I checked the solder joints and didn't see any obvious dry joints. I tested the pots with my multimeter and got acceptable values for total resistance. I also checked the center lug to an outside lug to check for zero value. Funny thing, my simple digital multimeter read zero. My autoranging multimeter didn't read zero - read a small value but not zero. I cleaned the pots with contact cleaner and tried everything again. No difference. I think I'll change the pots out and see if that helps. I tested some other pots I bought at the same time as those installed and got some funny readings on some of them. Thanks for the help.

Thanks guys. Helpful ideas. I will sit down soon and draw up a plan taking into account some of these thoughts. I can't use the upper horn to help since the plan is for a singlecut design. I may creep the neck/body join up the neck a bit though. The carbon rods are a good idea. In addition to stiffness, I guess they will reduce neck weight somewhat vs a solid neck. I'll also plan to use an LMI double action truss rod vs a Stewmac Hot Rod - not sure of a weight difference but LMI's will allow a thinner neck. I guess I could make my neck tenon a bit bigger - seems that would add some weight near the balance point. I did plan a 4x3 headstock design vs 7 in line. I looked around a bit for lightweight tuners but didn't see anything specifically referenced. Do you have a source? Also, Stewmac was the only place I looked that sold tuners individually so I could get 7. Any other sources?

I am considering building a 7 string guitar but the only templates available are for the 6 string model. This will be a single cut style. I can adjust the neck and head dimensions e.g. width at the nut, etc to accommodate for 7 strings. Of course, the neck will now be larger and thus heavier. I don't want the guitar to be neck heavy. How would you adjust to maintain balance? Change the neck/body join e.g. at 16th fret vs 17th fret? Make the body dimensions slightly bigger e.g. scale up the body shape a little to maintain scale with the new wider neck? Make the body a bit thicker? How do you go about ensuring good balance in a custom design?

Thanks guys. Biliousfrog, I am attached to the guitar but basically as a project. But since I don't play and my son does, its easy for me to give it to him because that is the only way I can hear it and I know he will use it everyday. Ben, more photos soon - when I finish it. I'll try to get some that show it as brown rather than black - maybe outside. In the meantime, here is a quick pic of my son with the guitar. He and his wife came in for a couple of days for Christmas. I'm not finished with it - still chasing an electronics problem (faulty pot I think). Also, I put in a plastic pre-slotted nut just so I could string it up and test the electronics and so he could play it a bit. When they leave, I'll sort out the electronics, make and fit a proper bone nut and then set it up. Anyway, he was very happy. He loved the overall look, loved the feel of the neck (good thing, huh? ) and he really liked the pickups especially the SD Pearly Gates in the neck. The thing that made it all worthwhile for me, besides listening to him play it, was something he said. He said the guitar was one of those guitars that if he saw it for sale in a shop, he would keep walking because he would know that there was no way that he could afford it or hope to own it.

Paul, I did have one leg of the pot wired to ground (grounded to the back of the pot - ultimately grounded to the tailpiece stud). I'm assuming my ground to the stud is effective. How do I test that? Thanks.

Prostheta, thanks. I'll check that when I get back in a couple of days. I'm about to take a short pre-Christmas trip. I suspected the pots. They are new, as in never been installed before, but I've had them for about 18 months. I probably should have checked them with the multimeter and cleaned them if necessary before installing them.

Anyone know why I would still get some volume through an amp with the volume pot on my guitar turned all the way down?

Thanks guys. Today I did the fret leveling, recrowning, etc. I also installed some of the hardware such as strap locks, jack plate, pickup rings and so on. Tomorrow, I hope to complete the hardware and install the electronics, fit the nut and begin the setup process. The other day, I bought a case for the guitar. Its a Gator case, made for Les Pauls, so it fit great on the guitar. I like the case. Heres a pic. The flash makes the edge look black and the rest look lighter than it is. "In person", the edge looks more dark brown and the rest more warm. Oh well, my photography skills are no better than my luthiery skills.

With the colors, the f hole, the pickups, its got a cool vintage vibe to it. I like it.

Davee5, I like it. Lovely Koa. Glad to hear how you have planned it out and thanks for sharing the "challenges" and solutions. Plans for the neck?

Exactly what I was thinking - harder to control and easier to screw up. As you say though, the burst is a continual gradual transition as you described vs a more defined transition. Looks great.