Nicko_Lps

I agree with ihocky's notes about the waist, but I actually really like the headstock, even though it's not really my style.

Looks really nice though. Cool inlays, too!

How's it sound?

Extreme dynamics,sparky-bright sound and lots of low end bass.Playing with the tone pot open is how i described it,closing it a bit sounds more like an LP but with a more wider directional sound.Tryied gibson pickups..No match with those pearly gates in that guitar,the tend to get a very dirty sound without giving you the impression of thruss metal muddy tone.

I dont have the equipment but i will try to make some clips along with a friend that he has the ways.

Thanks

Here is the fretboard and the inlays:

That is the body inlay detail i thought i lost those pics just found them!

(Edit:) Floyd rose and pickup pockets are curved exactly as much as they need,no wood is waisted.

^Probably because its his last name or something.

I think you did a great job. The finish looks nicely done and overall it just looks like you did nice clean work. Great inlays!

Yes this is my last name so i did black it out a bit.

Hello guys,

The guitar took me about 5 months to finish,tell me what you think.

Specs:

1-piece mahogany body

Flammed Maple top

Flammed Maple 0,5mm on headstock top

Neck through mahogany/bubinga/birch/bubinga/mahogany

24 fret, 25.5" fretboard African ebony

Black M.O.P. 3 piece inlay gibson custom pattern

18% nickel-silver medium/high frets

Gibson style trussrod

Floyd rose pro nickel bridge

Floyd rose nickel locking nut 41mm

Mahogany back covers

2x Pearly Gates humbuckers

Kinman middle pickup

Bubinga pots with aluminium indicator,same wood on pickup rings and truss rod cover

Sperzel nickel locking tuners

3 x volume 1 master tone

1 x coil tap switch

1 x middle pickup on/off

1 x 3 way LP pickup toggle switch

Ebony-white M.O.P.body inlay

White binding in body fretboard and headstock

Stained with water based stain directly on the wood

2 part Carpenters poly sealer

2 part Auto cleartop finish

The body shape is strat looking but a lot smaller

Back body contour for belly like the one that strats have

The 24th fret is not so accesible .

Frets are pressed and before pressing frets fret slot was filled with clear super-glue(logo).

The neck back shape from 1 to 3 is U-shape then goes from soft v and ends up in hard V.

The Headstock back has a contour instead of being flat has a thick curve,ive heard from a classic guitar luthier that alot of mass there is good thing for sustain and prevents from breaking the guitar as you play and move...

The electronics stuff is something that i hate,i did not do that myself.

Cab head box are my build as well,the head amp was a fender hot rod deluxe more for that there: http://s392.photobucket.com/albums/pp3/Nic...20modded%20amp/

It looks like a baby guitar next to the huge LP body

Allmost all the pictures i have are there: http://s392.photobucket.com/albums/pp3/Nic...-made%20guitar/

All the pictures are from a Nokia cell phone and as you see poor quality sorry for that but is the best i got right now.

To be fair,he said strange,not disturbed...sometimes a lack of social skills can be interpreted as strange,in which case the router bit,lacking social skills,just worked on the ash's nerves until it cracked....

Who is Mr.smart?I have not seen this dude....

But seriously,lighten up,soap's just making a funny-ish comment...laughter is the best medicine...for stuff...like maybe anger issues or something...but not for a cough,in which case dimetapp is pretty good....maybe not the best...44D?

Its supposed to exchange different points of view or conversating about something and share to each other what we know.Now some may say something that i would not understand or mybe stupid by my judjement.I wont start shooting ironies to play the "Mr.smart" just because i have nothing more to say.

Now youve seen the Mr.Smart westhemann?

also when you route ash with strange router bits that make a big removal to wood ash seems unable to hold one piece and makes some cracks,oak does not do that..

Oh So it was the strange router bit that threw me off . Should have first asked that router bit about his childhood, his likes/dislikes, all the typical "get to know him" stuff so that he won't want to lie to me.

Instead of playing the smart one,that youre not..You could wonder what i mean cause i cant be accurate explaining what i mean.

In that case Mr.Smart i mean big router bits not the regular small ones.You know what i mean now or perhaps i sould send you a drawing,it could be handy to your case..

http://www.hardwoodinstaller.com/hardwoodi...er/hardness.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_tree

http://www.articlesender.com/Life-Style/Ho...od-Flooring.htm

Every article I find puts white oak(what we have here)and european oak as all but the same thing...and nothing I read indicates significant hardness differences between them...ash is also listed as very similar in hardness to white oak,but harder than red oak...so I have to say I have no idea on what your assertion is based....

Ok,maybe US oak is proccesed with a better way thats way it seems softer to me.Im a carpenter in proffesion,i bought in 2003 2,5 cubic meters of US quartersawn oak for 3400 euro(each c.m.),usualy i get that amount of eu(bulgarian or whatever)for 1.600 euro(each c.m.) but not quarter sawn.That EU oak seems to be a lot denser,HEAVYER and hard to work with in the machines..Also,i wood that i bought about a year ago was filled with small cracks,and when i picked it up it seemed JUST fine..My bandsaw that is a bit biig you can feel that its loosing RPM when slicing that EU wood(5cm[2"]cut),unforunately have to work with because noone is paying for US oak..I mean that this US oak that i worked with was walking so fast in the bandsaw as almost as mahogany...Now the euro one i give you small very possibilities to see that...

Sure i dont doubt the facts that you read and i read about how dense or hard a wood is,but when it comes to bandsaw plane wrasp etc tones of wood(aka in action) i think that you will notice what i say.

It seems odd but still reality,please dont think that i try to say something diff. to play the "smart" one,its just what i see when i work with them,and ive worked tones of those wood species.

Peace

Northern ash is very hard...that's what they use in alot of baseball bats.Southern ash is different...that was already mentioned though,don't know how you missed it.

Because its used in baseball bats it does not mean that its as hard as oak...Actually there was a documentary about the baseball bats that ive seen and it said:That i does not break so easy as other woods because it has the ability to bend(slightly) and resonate after the hit...

Oak is way harder than ash,also when you route ash with strange router bits that make a big removal to wood ash seems unable to hold one piece and makes some cracks,oak does not do that..

I still like a lot more ash than oak,if you compare it with US oak that i unfortunately used only one time,i think that the only diff is that oak has a lot more tight grain and it does not break small corners as ash do,EU oak is a lot harder than the us one but not good quality wood to work with..

Peace

That you say,i wanted to make something different is up to you.

As about the varnish,if you scratch with a sharp object as knife the varnish and the line that will appear is white-gray is poly varnish,now if you scratch nitrocell the line will be crystal clear.

Thats a way to find out but not so handy for refinish.

Peace

Dude...?

Thats a sick detail of work...Awsome wonderfull amazing!!!Crazy detail awsome stuffVery good work keep it up!

(dont tell me that you used coloured wax..pls dont,did you?)

Peace

I would say that ash is lighter and ist better for staining it because of that pale colour,grain filling also is easyer on ash as someone said before.

Anyways,someone mentioned that ash and oak are have the same hardness..Dont think so...No way...

Red oak is not that good compared to white US oak...I bought some US quartersawn white oak for a work i had to do and it was simply awsome,easy to work with and hard rock!Ash is not that rock solid,but its lighter..

If youre thinking to use oak try to avoid the european oak,its a bit harder than the us one,but not so stable and a lot heavyer..

Good for doors,chairs,furnitures i would not use that EU oak for guitars..

Peace

Erlewine did some kind of "sound transmission" test which showed that non-glued frets tended to have a poorer transmission than glued frets.

I always use glue. I spend way too much time going the extra mile to get the frets seated and leveled as perfectly as I can, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let humidity (or an increased lack of humidity) go into that end grain on both sides of the frets and change things.

I think you also get better seated frets if they remained clamped down for a while, instead of pressing them down and then releasing the clamp right away (as in a typical arbor press fretting). Those barbs on the fret tangs push/compress end grain wood and if given a little time, some if it will spring back, helping to keep those barbs from raising back up. But I still like super-glue added to really freeze everything up in there.

Plus 1 vote to soapbarstrat reply.

Yeap, i've seen that as well,i did that as well.

I filled the fret-channel with super glue then place the fret,hammer it and press tight and fast because it dryes fast...Super glue its messy to clean at the end if you fill the channel with it,but if you have a cloth with acetone and clean at the time you press down the fret its easyer after to remove excess glue.

Peace

I sand ebony with lemon oil in just to take that satin look and clean too.As cherokee6 said dont do anything on ebony the fretboard if it has not that big grayish lines..If it does not fast fret turns the ebony fretboard to coal black plastic-like looking as well as the gibson luthiers choice bottle for non finished fretboards(i just placed a lot of gibson fluid in the beggining...)

Also most epiphone guitars have nitro varnish as well.

As about the head stock i would say that is better to finish it with varnish and if you want a jet black colour go find some fretboard stain to add to it.I would varnish even the black side of the ebony,just like the strats and more guitars in the market,that the side is varnished but not the top surface.

peace

Kinman pickups are not just good,lets say godlike..You maintain the noiseless sound and the classic sound that you wish to have without loosing that "alive sound" that fender noiseless and lace sensors loose..I find them a bit fake sounding and muddy.(personal opinion as always)

I dont think that you will have similar sound charachteristics as the mahogany because padauk is harder than that..

Now if your guitar will be made from padauk you must test the pickups before buying them,i thing that ordinary pickups ment to be placed on ash bodys will sound a bit over the edge to your ax,very sparky lots of treble etc..I cant be so sure about that but before spending money to buy,try to find a classic tele and remove its pickups to see what differance will it make to your body wood in sound and then buy what you want to buy.

Kinman's are simply perfect,also the same style as kinman does(another bobbin at the bottom to remove hum)so does seymour duncan does,never played one of SD but i think that it will be quite awsome too as kinman.

(I love AlNiCo magnets)

Peace.

All the ideas above are respectable,but then again an air-dryied wood is much better...

When you force wood to dry fast some of the fluids contained are vapored but some crystalise and stay inside,that cause the wood to be heavyer not that stable comparing to air-dryed and if you use water-alcohol dyes directly to the wood it could not stain some pores of the wood that are filled with the crystalised tree juice whatever its called,it happens to happen rarely,but its a bit more expectable with to happen with ash.

A hard wood as cocolobo will dry a lot slower than others,as fryovanni said.

But then again it takes looong,cant be sure how much but 4 years at least are disirable(air-drying),if you can leave it and find something else it would be better for you since that project youre gonna built is not a chair...

You can do as you wish,but i would not even think to start a guitar project with a wood piece that im not so sure if its dryed or not.It could be a total disaster if wood is not dryed well or dryed correctly,they have ways to do that im not aware of..

Peace

Dunno what woods your guitar have,but that seymour duncan pearly gates really rocks...

Its a pickup with a unique sound comparing to others,i have tested also the gibson 490R & 498T,the 498T is a pure rock pickup but nothing soo importand,the 490R is just,nothing so importand but still good.

Depeds to the guitar you want to fit them in too,pearly gates is used both in fenders and LP's.

You can go check the seymour duncan website,there are some extended information there about their pickups,and some sound clips.

Edit:I woudnt consider again to buy a fender or gibson pickup...Since seymour duncan and dimarzio are still on.(my personal opinion always)

Peace!

Hey dude,

In the last post you were a bit...offensive?

Personaly i said that do what you want to do,BUT i think that smaller bodies like my own are more comfortable.I didnt judje you your skills your tallent or whatever.

As about that Mickguard guy he was not harsh he just did what you've asked for,he just gave an opinion that he has because you asked for that opinion,so did i...

My idea is,read everything that is written then you improvise.Follow your ideas only,but still have in mind the info or help or suggestions that youve asked for and from all that you see posted in that forum.

Well do what shape you like but have in mind:the freatboard sould have comple access,that was a mistake that i did.In a 24 fret fretboard you cannot play the 24th fret easyly..A strat is about 32cm wide at the wider part of the body,you can reduse that wide body a bit and it will make your guitar a lot more comfortable,i made mine 29,5cm and its like heaven.

I think that if you try to reduse that wider part of your guitar will result a more tight curve and will be more beautifull.

Try it and if you like Do It.

Gotcha. Thanks a lot.

It's a 1/4" laminate. I'll be using it for a top.

I think I'll be good.

Pick-up selection is on my mind now.

Walnut Body blanks are about ready to rough cut to shape. Stuck on the neck (walnut) until I get parts.

I have been rethinking my design. I want to be sure about it all before I cut.

If you use 1/4" top on a 1,5+" walnut body i dont think that you could have a problem with birch at the bend curve whatever its called part.

Im a carpenter,i work very often with birch.Its a hard wood,depends from were it is though,but i dont like that wood enough so i will use it for a guitar.Birch looks as structure a lot like maple and cherry.Also please have in mind that birch is not a very good wood to work with delicate projects as guitars because its not so stable...

European birch is not so stable at all,stiff heavy and when you cut that wood it bends a lot.Be sure to plane the wood,leave it 1 week and see if it bends or whatever you guys call it.If what you have is euro birch,you better not use it at all for solid neck top body or whatever.I used it for 1 neck laminate no prob with that.If you wanna use birch for neck,do a laminated neck 3 or more pieces,plane the wood leave it for 2-3 days,when and if the planned wood make a curve be sure to glue opposite curves,i hope you understand me...

I have over 3 cubic meters of birch stored at my workshop but still i wouldnt use that wood for nothing more than laminates.European woods are harder than the US ones,but they are not stable as US woods.If you have US birch and if it exist i dont know much,i used balkan birch that is awfull and Austria birch that is quite stable but still not what i would like...

When you buy a piece of wood if you lift 2 same logs slabs or whatever at aprox. the same dimentions and you notice that one is a lot heavyer than the other(same wood species)avoid the heavy wood like hell.Heavyer woods are the most dangerous ones for bending after a while curve or whatever its called.

Carbon rods will what? You mean fold up?

Wood bends and deforms over time, inherent to the beast. May be minimal, may be more. CF does not and springs right back to the shape it was in before. Yes, a neck can be made so stiff you need a dual action rod (only happened to me once, though), but I'll keep using them.

I would like to see a pic of how work with these CF rods Mattia if possible.I have a gibson style truss rod but instead of 4-5mm curve below the 7th fret i have 1cm curve,that way it bends the neck easy.The thing i was telling you is that when the guitar is in tune the strings do not pull up the neck,without tension at the truss rod it gives me 1mm curve in the 7th,when pressing down 1st and 24th fret.The frets are ok installed and i have no rattle.In 4th and 5th fret if i use a split coil i notice some buzz small but noticeable,with humbuckers is not noticeable.Im planning to leave the neck and see if it finally curve from the weight of the strings and then level the frets because i havent had done any leveling yet.You guys agree with that?The fact that the neck does not bend with the weight of the strings is considered good or bad?

I dont really know if that i was true but someone told me that after years carbon fiber rods will fed up?something like that.

Also in my first build i used a mahogany bubinga birch bubinga mahogany neck(each laminate is 6mm) and on top of it 5mm ebony fretboard 25.5" scale.

The thickness is 2,5cm at 1st fret and 2,4cm at 18th fret.From 1 to 5 fret is C shape and then goes from soft V to hard V.

That fretboard with absolutly no tension on the trussrod does not bend when in tune and does not detunes.

Wood seems to hold well at that thickness with those hardwood laminates.

You are using that fiber rods for thinner fretboards?

Guys,i really wonder why you use carbon fiber rods..

Can anybody explain the reason please?

I dont know about the tonal difference,but as a wood its structure looks a lot like maple and cerry.I dont think that there would be a great differane between these 3.

Thank you for the instructions. However the rod they have at the hardware store is threaded all the way.

Does that matter? It shouldn't right?

Don't use the stuff at the hardware store (allthread) it is fairly low grade metal, and has coarse threading.

Yeap,he is right.

Also a 5mm rod that is all the way threated is not 5 mm its actually 4,2mm(M5 x 0,8),so except what orgmorg said the rod is actually weaker than a solid rod that has only 1cm threat at the top and the end. Avoid it like hell.:

As about that stew mac truss rod,i have one..I think that they say that the rod material is stainless steel,all i know of stainless steel is that its very hard...That one seems to me more like an INOX material than a stailess steel.Ive found a stainless steel rod but the threat cutting tool was not working cause it is very hard,even files do not work on that piece i have.

As about that truss rod,i think the best way is the curved slot because it gives a smaller tension to the rod and that way you are a bit more sure and safe.If you use a straight slot be sure that the rod will be lower than the half of the neck thickness as Setch said.That means if your neck is total thickness with the fretboard is 2,5 cm,i would put that rod 1cm from the back of the neck.

As about the curved slot,just make a curved template of your neck and get 5-7mm deeper below the 7nth fret.

It might sound or seem a bit stupid to someone,but i must say that:in the point that the anchor nut and the screw will seat and tight on the wood you must go as the curve follows,otherwise you will be a bit unsafe or it will weaken the rod's strenght.

The deeper the rod is located,the easyer it bends the neck and it will have less tension.

In my opinion,go curved.