TGwaH

Biggest head-on image I could find. Hope this helps.

Number 2 out of the ones shown - 4 is good but looks like the tip would snap off easily.

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Agreed. Two would look best on that one.

I'm craving nachos now.

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With some dancing banana peppers?

I figured you were going to say that's where they got the inspiration for that guitar

Not only did Kay have ugly headstocks, they had guitars to match. Behold the Kay Solo King in all it's um... glory.

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

You'll have to play "We are the Champignons" on it in tribute when it's complete.

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Very punny

The big question now is, how ugly should I make the headstock?

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Make it like a Kay

You might mention that you're a member of a 4500-person guitar building forum whose denizens are watching the outcome with anticipation.

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Oo, good idea.

Not to harp on you, but it is generally considered bad form to post the same thread twice in two different sections. Especially considering neither are in the proper section.

You might find some answers a little more quickly if you tried the search function. Some pictures might even provide inspiration.

Cheers

This can absolutely be done. I'm actually hoping to be starting this in a month or so on my first build. I just need to locate some good cow bone.

Once you've found this cowbone you'll need to clean out it's marrow. You can do this either via the dog method, or with a straightened coat hanger. Once this bit is done you need to immerse it in some water. You have three options here you can mix in some ammonia, dishwashing detergent or leave the water au naturel. The ammonia method works best, and fastest but in order to do it you'll need a good exhaust hood above your stove.

Once you've decided which method to use bring the liquid to a boil, and then reduce the heat and simmer. 30-40 minutes if you're using the ammonia/water mixture, 50-90 minutes soap/water mixture or up to two hours if you're using plain old water -- the benefit to this method is you'll end up with a nice soup stock once you're done. The point of the boiling process is to cook away the soft tissue and begin the degreasing process.

Once the amount of time neccessary for your chosen method passes, you'll need to cool the bone to room temperature and then under a stream of running water remove the remaining soft tissue. You can use finger nails, a stiff brush, a child you don't particularly like etc. You can always throw the bone back into the pot and simmer it for a bit if this part is causing a few problems. Once the bone is nice and clean let it dry for a couple days, and then using a band saw cut it up into pieces slightly larger than the nut you intend to use. Then allow this to try for another 48-72 hours longer if you live in a particularly humid area.

Once this is done you must finish degreasing the bone. This step is absolutely crucial and must be done 100% correctly or over time grease will leech from the nut into the wood ruining your guitar.

To properly degrese the bone immerse your oversized blanks into ten volumes of white gas (naptha) for 1-3 weeks. You have to keep in mind that white gas is really flammable (and fun when you're at camp) so the degreasign process should take place outside, in an enclosed glass container in the shade and away from buildings. A greasy bone will discolour the gas in a day or two so you'll have to be changing the gas every few days during the 1-3 weeks. For project guitarists, who are only doing this as a hobby making 1-2 guitars a year, the safest (and easiest) way to get rid of the gas is to let it dissapate into the atmosphere. If you plan on going into full scale production you should contact local athorities to find out the best way to dispose of large amounts of gas.

If after 3 weeks you're still seeing translucent spots on the bone, throw it back into some more gas for a few days till they are all gone. But once you're satisfied the blanks are all good to go, rinse them in some clean white gas and air dry. These bones will dry quite quickly, in under an hour. If it doesn't, there is still some grease in there so back into the bath with it.

You now have a natural bone nut to play with. Enjoy.

Oh no no no, I had no intentions of bringing politics into this. I only meant elegance in the sense that all the measurements flow so perfectly into one another i.e. 1 dm x 1 dm of water at sea level = 1 kg = 1 litre.

Metric is far more precise on a smaller scale and Imperial is far more economical on a larger scale.  Just the thoughts of a guitar builder/contractor. 

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I think for elegance alone, the metric system should be adopted world wide. On a side note, aside from the US the only two countries that haven't oficially adopted the metric system are Liberia and Myanmar.

Two offtopic bits: First, nothing would make me happier than if the US changed over to metric. Second:

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Fight the power man --> U.S. Metric Association

I don't mean to be the barer of bad news, just the realist.

EDIT:

Now if by custom you mean you've created some sort of 3 way truss rod(assuming there could ever be a third way the neck would need to move), then...I will be quite impressed.

peace,

russ

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No worries about being a bummer. It's not partiularly complex, but I can post some pictures when I make my next one. If people want more info, cool, if not it's all good.

I made my own truss rod tonight. It's not particularly fantastic, but it's functional. Would anyone be interested in a tutorial on it?

Great, now I also want to go about building a Gretsch. *shakes my fist* Curse you Jellyman!

I was seriously considering ordering from Brian's site. But then I had to consider in the exchange rates etc. A 12 string TOM for $71.25USD versus Ric 12 string for $80CDN. Then I'd have duty and international shipping on top of that, plus I'd have to pay GST for whatever reason. That last one always baffles me.

Maybe they include the plate and they're just not showing it?

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I don't think so, because when my bridge came it was just a bridge no plate included. I suppose any old piece of metal would suffice. I'll have to see what I've got kicking around.

It was a toss up between the Zipper and the Odd Boy. It literally came down to a coin toss.

I nixed the idea of sinking the pups...decided that it would ruin the look of the guitar.

As for color...the body's going to be a one piece --don't know exactly what the species is, but it's perty. So I'm going to want to do a transparent color --probably black...but maybe red...I've got some scrap to test the finishes on.

Rickenbacker's parts are actually pretty reasonably priced compared to other sources...although three toasters will set you back $300!

I've got my own logo though --anyone know where I can get it printed onto plastic?

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I don't know if you want to take this route, but Long and McQuade in Canada carries the Ric toasters for $80CDN. Don't know if it'll be worth your while with shipping, but the exchange rate is on your side.

A transparent black would be a cool little finish. So would red. I'm actually going to be attemping a stained burst finish from white to red. Knowing my luck I'll end up with a pink guitar.

It looks like this thread is starting to become the unofficial Ricenbacker question thread. I do have a question about bridges. I ended up settling on the 12 string Ric bridge because I couldn't find any reasonably priced 12 string TOM's and I didn't wanna go with the stew mac hardtail. The bridge seen here has 4 screws, and two holes on either side of the saddles. Now, to me it looks like the two holes are to mount the bridge to the body, while the four screws are to adjust for height etc. However, what gets me to scratching the old noodle is this -- if those 4 screws adjust against the wood, wouldn't the screws dig into the body at some point? Is there supposed to be a plate of somesort under the bridge? Or am I just looking at this all wrong?

I think this may be his 80W soldering iron. Huh, stained glass eh?

I also plan on sinking the toasters into the face of the body a bit, so the neck doesn't have to be THAT high above the body. Just a wee little bit, enough to sink the base plates.

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If you did that, you'd need to put a ring around the pickup. Otherwise it have a godawful look to it. It'd also have to be a bi-level route to account for those massive pole pieces. Have you seen them? Compared to other pole pieces they're huge!

Idch, please tell me you're going to paint it black. I don't think John would allow it any other way.

If its a route you're interested in taking... I have a liscense to kill...

http://ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/sameoldso...405.jpg&.src=ph

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Does this make you Spencer for Hire?

I dont know why but i seem to think that guitar is calling for a matching headstock..!

Killer finish on the body though!

~~ Slain Angel ~~

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I dunno, personally I like the natural maple look of the headstock on that one.

It might be 18 3/4 inches from the longest point on the guitar body. However, it looks like it would be 15 inches from where the fret board meets the body. But, that doesn't take into account the length of the headstock. I had figured this out, using the 360/12 I'll see if I still have my original calculations laying about. They won't be the same numbers, but pretty close.

If you wanted to make an exact Ric clone you'll probably have some trouble. Rickenbacker is getting pretty sticky when it comes to selling certain parts. Pups can be found with relative ease (if you're in Canada Long and McQuade in the US music123.com) and most Ric parts can be found on Rickenbacker's own website. However, to prevent forgery they will no longer sell a Ric name plate or the 'R' tailpiece unless you've got an old one or piece of an old one you can send in to prove that you own a Ric.

Hope this helps, eh?

Cheers

Jonathan