ooten2

"CHIEFS! That's big coming from a guy in Texan country. Well, I guess the Chiefs were the original Houston Texans, come to think of it."

I now live in Houston, but I spent my first 25 years in western KS. That explains why I like the Chiefs, and why I had time for both sports and music. NOTHING else to do except watch the wheat grow!!

Also, in the little town I came from, EVERYONE had to go out for sports to have enough players to make a team. How else could a guy 5'4" make the basketball team?!

Do darts count as a sport? With a sore elbow for 2 days and an aching head after a night of darts and beer, I say YES! Sports injuries, you know.

I've always been into sports. I played basketball in high school, and played all kinds of stuff just for fun. Tennis, raquetball, softball, football, go-cart racing, etc. I also enjoy NFL, NBA, and in the last few years MLB.

Big Houston Astros, Houston Rockets, and KC Chiefs fan.

Wow, looks really nice! I like the design alot.

That is some fine-looking wood.

Great thread!

http://www.kbguitars.com/gallery/

http://www.gwbasses.com/projects/archive/index.shtml

Another + for Myka.

Great work, Godin. That Myka jig makes the neck pockets easy. I built a similar one as well, although not as nice as yours, but the neck routes still come out fantastic.

Can't wait to see more on this guitar. Great job!

Another one here for the natural wood look. Great project!!

The site looks great! Everything worked fine for me and the pics are good quality.

+1 on Setch's comment. I've placed a few orders with Rich and Darci and both product and service is excellent. Plus, they're really cool people and a pleasure to deal with.

Wow!!

Excellent work and great color. That top really looks nice.

Ward,

Wow, thanks for that info on how you build your knobs.

I used a 3/4" plug cutter from rockler for mine; part # 36898 for about $20. It will cut a plug up to 3" long, and the plugs come out very smooth.

I glued together a 1/4" thick piece of wood for the base, and a 1/2" thick piece of top wood for the knob top, to come up with a total thickness of 3/4". After the glue was dry, I used the plug cutter to cut out the knobs. That piece of wood was big enough to get 5 or 6 knobs so I would have extra. Anyway, the knobs come out of the cutter very smooth so it doesn't require major sanding.

Then I measured out the center of the knob and drilled a small pilot hole where the pot shaft will be. I have this weird little bit thing in my dremel kit that has a small wood screw on the end, and I chuck that into the drill press and run the screw end into the knob. This holds the knob while sanding it in the drill press.

I start with 150 grit and go up until it gets to whatever smoothness I want. I sanded the edge of the top of the knob at roughly 45 degrees to taper it and get rid of the sharp edge. This all went really quick.

After sanding, I countersunk the base of the pot with a forstner bit that was big enough to cover the pot nut, just as you mentioned. Then I drilled out the hole for the pot shaft. The only thing is, the shafts on my pots were all smooth and not knurled. I think I may have had better luck with the knurled ones.

After this, I got some small set screws from Lowe's, (the smallest that they had, don't remember the size), and drilled a small pilot hole through the side of the knob. Then I just threaded the set screw through the wood until it hit the pot shaft. My problem comes in right here, because the force of the set screw causes the knob to go crooked on the shaft. I think the shaft hole is drilled slightly too big in diameter, and there is too much play between the pot shaft and the hole in the wood knob.

Anyway, when I get time, I plan to work with my extra knobs and try drilling the shaft hole a little smaller. I'll see how it goes.

Thanks again for the great info!

Thanks guys.

I really like the natural wood look, and I'm not really big on painted or colored finishes. That could all change one day, but for now that's what I'm into.

Hey, I never claimed to be photographer! I have this fear of cropping off the edge of the subject, so I zoom out, then I'm too far away.

That ziricote and black limba go SO WELL together, I had to find a place for each on this guitar. Also, the body is right at 2" thick, and the neck "tenon" plus the top is about 1.75", so the ziricote strip fit nicely in that gap. It made the heel of the neck thicker also, which might be a problem for some but I have long monkey fingers so it's not a problem for me.

The thicker body allowed me to chamber a bit deeper, and the guitar has a good amount of acoustical volume when not plugged in. So when Mama says "turn it down!", I can still play unplugged.

Thanks for the comments.

The Carvin catalog lists the carved top headstock option at $40. I like the 3 on a side tuner set up better than 6 in line for some reason.

Thanks for the ideas on the wood knobs. I may try that out if the new knobs still have problems. I used a 3/4" plug cutter and the drill press/sandpaper thing to make them. That part turned out to be quite fast and easy, but getting the shaft hole centered, straight, and tight has turned out to be the most difficult part.

I have enough myrtle left over to make a head plate, and I've been kicking that idea around alot. But I went ahead and finished it, and now I don't want to take the tuners off and not be able to play it!!

Here's my latest project. It was strung up for the first time in February on the same day that my nephew's son was born, so it has special value.

The Specs:

Carvin neck-through neck with the carved top headstock option. Myrtle top, chambered black limba body wings, ziricote trim and control plate. Carvin C22B and C22N pickups, phase switches, 1 volume, 1 tone. Carvin FT6B bridge and tuners. Limba and myrtle control knobs and pickup switch. Tru-oil finish.

The Curses:

Control cavity plate has a slight gap and could be a tighter fit, but it's the best one I've done so far.

Those bright brass wood screws holding the cavity plate on will be replaced with black ones.

The shaft holes in the wood knobs are a bit too big, causing the knobs to fit too loose and be a bit crooked when the set screw is tightened. New knobs are waiting for a finish in the garage, and will be done in a week or so.

The Praises:

The limba and myrtle are BEAUTIFUL!! The pics don't show it as well as seeing it in person.

The tone is fantastic. It's brighter than a Les Paul, and it has a sweet spot when backing the tone knob down to about 50 or 60%. The phase switches add alot of tonal options; I particularly like the sound with both pickups selected, with the neck switched to single coil and bridge to humbucker.

I tweaked the truss rod to take away some of the neck relief, and this thing plays with very low action. It's almost too easy to play, need more string resistance. (Never thought I would ever say that!)

This is my first time working with myrtle, and I must say that I really like it. It works easily, has a great spicy smell, and the colors and figuring is really incredible. The black limba is really great, too. HUGE thanks to Fryovanni, who sold me all of the wood for this guitar, (except the Carvin maple neck, of course). Thanks Rich!!

And thanks to everyone on this forum for such great advice!!

http://photobucket.com/albums/y207/summell/Neckthru3%20DC1/?

I did a yahoo search and here are a couple of results:

http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/thirdproducts....ing+Guitar+Kits

http://www.midwestguitar.com/kits.htm

Can't speak for the quality, as I have never bought a kit before. But at least these are classical guitar kits. Good luck, and when you get one, keep us posted on the build!

Yeah, but one man's crap can be another man's treasure!

Especially when it comes to tone, everyone's ears are different.

The pickups are good? What C22 model is it?

I'm considering ordering from them to change my HSS guitar's pickups someday...

I have a C22B in the bridge position, and C22N in the neck position.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. That black hardware is definitely my favorite, has a tough look to it.

That is an FT6 bridge from Carvin. I don't have any recordings of that guitar at this time, I loaned my recorder (Roland VS880) to my nephew. That reminds me, I need to get it back!

The pickups are Carvin C22's. To my ears, they are alot brighter than most humbuckers, but in a good way. There is a clear bell-ish tone in there, along with the power of a humbucker. I've used these pickups on 3 guitars now, and for each of them, the tone I like best comes from backing the tone knob down to about 70 or 80%. I want to try the Holdsworth pickups sometime, maybe on the next project.

I really like the Carvin stuff, sorry if it sounds like I'm preaching, cuz I'm always hyping on it. But it is great stuff, especially for the price.

Wow... very nice build! I'm seriously considering using the same type of finish for my neck-thru V...

Thanks, much appreciated. This guitar is coming up on its first birthday, and it's all settled in. It stays in tune very well, sounds great, and has become one of my favorites to play. People seem to be fascinated by the spalted maple, I get comments on it all the time.

Wow! That guitar is amazing!

I REALLY like the beauty of the wood, and the clean look without the controls on the top. The control location could take some getting used to for someone who wants to make alot of quick adjustments, but for someone who doesn't change the knobs much, (like me), it wouldn't be an issue.

Just when you think it can't get any better, Myka raises the bar again. Great stuff, as usual!

This is so sad. Just a week or so ago BP and I were PM'ing about our jobs. We were both in similar careers and both about the same age (I'm 42). He was mentioning that he was on a break from work because he was tired of all the long hours, and wanted to spend more time at home.

I have been planning all week to take off work tomorrow because of family, and it certainly has alot more meaning for me now. We should all spend some time with family, or the ones we care about, because life really is too short.

Peace, my friend.

One you didn't mention is Carvin. I've used 4 Carvin necks and all were excellent quality. Nut is already installed and intonation was perfect on all 4.

I used a tung oil finish on all of them. Easy to apply-wipe on and wipe off. The feel is smooth and natural, no sticky.

Thanks for this link! Very informative. Watch some of the performance videos, too. Equally cool.

Totally incredible.

I have always liked the Dragonflies, but after seeing the clear on that walnut top....

It's a tough one for me to choose which I like the best. The bearclaw spruce DF is pretty hot, too. For that matter, every Myka guitar is jaw-dropping.

How about this site:

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0093p.pgm?C=QDD

Add another one to the Carvin "bang for the buck" factor.

Wow, very nice. What are your plans for hardware?