SJE-Guitars

Looks great . . but that headstock - for me just doesn't suit the body.

Well in flurry of sawdust, sweat, snot and tears* - it's starting to take form:

* those who have worked rosewood with the kind of nasty sawdust that Siam Rosewood has (much akin to Cocobolo I think) you'll understand the snot and tears thing! It's bloody horrible stuff even with masks and glasses on.

The shaping of the back of the neck was certainly a challenge - as I discovered Siam rosewood is incredibly tough - I normally rough shape an Afzelia Xylee neck in about 30-45 minutes this however took the best part of 2 hours and it's still but no means perfect.

i like this build, always like an aussie build

Did you get the body blank from luthier supplies?

SJE Guitars: African Blackwood is more black...

I know . . . that's my point! Blackwood is usually . . well black in someway or another.

I use Burmese Blackwood (well it's actually also called Laos rosewood and is from the Dalbergia family) for fretboards and it has a very black grain. Some cuts of it are have large black spots as well.

Finished!

With a nice straight pull on the strings . . . CAD is good for something! :

Oh and no it didn't take me 8 days to string it up and do the nut! It's monsoon season here and photo opportunities have been limited.

Something else - the APH-1 with an Alnico 5 magnet is pretty darn sweet - a far clearer and punchier sound than the Alnico2.

I ain't a stopbar man myself . . . I like my ferrules! But I can imagine in ebony it will look rather smart! I have to say I am liking that body shaping and that ebony centre strip.

On the veneer thing my one of my timber merchants is supposed to do it but I keep forgetting to ask him . . but that said it's probably something he used to do before and ain't take the sign down! I'll have remember ask him when I next call in for coffee.

Some black and white ebony smells STRONGLY like a combination of flowers and armpit. It's confusing (it's also toxic and will fry your nostrils ).

Never noticed the toxicness . . . then again I've never sniffed it close enough to find out!

It's does have a very BO type of smell when worked!

Ok . . . I give up . . I've seen many pieces of Tassie Blackwood on here . . . but it's is neither remotely black and neither is the grain!

So why is it called blackwood?!?!

Some nice looking timber though and definately the first design - though I'd make the top back curve smoother so it flows into middle cut slight more (much like the bottom one does)

Like them! Pity you could never get any spalt over this way of the world as the termites would devour it long before it spalted!

Looking great! Look forward to see it all together.

I know it's a restoral and the yellow tint is all part of the look but I reckon it'd look great in a gleaming black as new gloss!

Also is it just the pictures or is there green tinge to that black?

Cheers people . .. . now tomorrow I can actually start making the neck as the string spacing will be exact to the design.

It shouldn't take long now to finish really since the body is essentially done.

Holy crap that is sexy

But those intonation screws look screwed up. (Yea I know they're not right ones)

-Juze aka Ghroath

Nothing is screwed up. I have photos of side showing the radius of the screws . . . they were just put in to test the saddle threads.

I cannot wait get my grubby hands on it!

I am very excited! I'll tell everyone the full details of it once I've got it but lets just say it not just a copy of a six string there is several differences and improvements . .

I do believe it's the first and only 8 string Tune-o-Matic .. . in the world . . . unless someone can prove my wrong?

DA DA DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

After a long wait and several hold up I can present the first picture of my 8 String Tune-o-Matic bridge . . 16" radius, complete with locking down nuts in solid stainless steel!

The picture is from the company who is making it as they haven't quite finished it yet - the correct screws are arriving at there place tomorrow.

This picture is the first time I've seen my design in the flesh and I think it looks pretty damn good!

Bump - for the attention of the people who have placed orders - all being well I shall have the bits tomorrow.

I'll obviously confirm this once they have been received.

Cheers . . this just save me doing multiple PM's!

As with many things . . . a scale drawing and using CAD makes it even easier.

I just got off of the phone with gilmer, and I have to admit, his explanation was pretty good. Although the piece was 3/4" thick, it was made for a 1/2" carved top.

did it say anything about this on the item description? if not, i would not accept that explanation... afterall, if it was made for a 1/2" top it should be a lot closer to 1/2" thick, and usable at those dimensions

Completely agree - if it's supposed by 1/2" thick that's what it should be leaving at 3/4" also cost you more in shipping! That piece is shocking! It's got nothing to do with the wood - if there thickness/jointer blades were sharp and took only light passes it would finish perfect regardless of the grain.

I can usually go from 80 to 2k in like 30 minutes on a whole body and neck.

Well that is just wierd...it takes me at least a couple of hours to do a body and another hour on a neck...and that is on soft woods...but I am very thorough...

Agree!

I could go from 80 to 2k in 30 minutes but it'd look like crap!

I think in general some of the body woods I use are denser and harder than many woods used in the west - take Burmese Ironwood - it's a lovely timber with a great fully bodied tone and sustain however it's like sanding granite (and blunts carbide router bits double quick!)! It's takes nearly 2 days of sanding on the body to get it to a mirror finish graduating from 80, 120, 180, 240, 320, 400, 600, 1000, 1200, 1500, 2000 . . . in total approx 20 sheets of paper per body! Where possible I avoid 80 grit with it due to the deep scratches being a bitch to get rid of.

In comparison an Afzelia Xylee or Red Padouk body would only take a day to get to 2000.

The old saying repeated ad nasum by wood work teachers is "when you think you've finished sanding, you've only just begun!".

Basically my aim at a 2000 grit finish is for it to be mirror finish and under whatever scrutiny of angling into light no scratching should be visible.

I've with Erik on the cleaning up wood!

The Burmese Ironwood I mean the Strat-style and 2 cut from was from one large log I purchased it from a timber merchant - it was weathered and near black on the outside only to be cut in half to reveal partly flamed and figured grain. Very satisfying!

Otherwise I also enjoy lining up all the pockets and controls and drilling and routing them.

I guess I'm also a bit of a sanding fool as well . . I've spent entire days gradually sanding down a body to 2000 grit - you guys finishing with laquer just going to 240 or 320 before spraying it don't know what your missing out on!

Boys, boys! I've already said it will be shaped more during carving and shaping time! What I meant by the you like it not comment is the cut out in general. If you look at my 2 cut shape you'll see the cut away on that is wider and rounder.

The V shape was originally intended to mimic my pocket shape however it has now become more of a wide v . . . however I still make initial templates based on the original CAD mock up then modified or shape to the required look afterward . . .

The 2 cut shape I redid the template due to the use of the centre 'laminates' so it ensured the cut was spread across all of the woods.

incredible craftsmanship!!! ...love this guitar

Many thanks!

anderekel - don't worry about being mean! As you will notice on the back and mid-air picture the front ferrule holes do remove the edge of the pocket however since the pocket is rounded what actually happens is the ferrule follows the curve and the end result (same with the strat style) is you do not notice it. The neck at that point also is wider than the pocket so your hand rests on the neck opposed to the pocket.

I gotta say I think you might want to refine the looks of that cutaway you do on the bottom of your bodies...it really messes with the overall look of the guitar...keeps reminding me of a fat lady with bad skin and dimples in her butt.

Before you carve you may want to get out the sandpaper and make the outer body lines flow better...they are a bit lumpy.

I have often considered amboyna or camphor burl as a top...but I am not so sure now seeing it cut into a guitar shape...I guess I will have to see how it grows on me...

All will be done - It just been trimmed to the template with the router - the edges haven't been touched with sandpaper yet.

The scribbling were just that any carving is a while away as the top ain't even attached to the body yet!

I think the cutaway is a personal taste thing . . some like, some not .. .. as with most things!

Possibly because the market for teak is for furniture so the importers ship in the heavy/harder end of the spectrum?

Tectona grandis is Tectona grandis . . . there is no difference between the trees in any SE Asia country - as I said I can't fathom it out!

A few more pics for good measure!

Righty - well with the words of PSW in my head I looked the pocket numerous times and thought . . hmmm you might just be right on the neck pocket. So I considered my options and in a eureka moment the other day this came to me:

5mm steel studs in the neck pocket to ensure the neck is completely stable and look no screws:

So I am still trying to find a good supplier of magnet wire in this part of the world all being well tomorrow I will receieve and email from one I've been speaking to last week. So hopefully in the coming week I can finally get the pickups wound and this guitar finished.

Just waiting for pickups! :

Well got a fair bit done today - but not much picture worth other than this:

The headstock now has it's burl cap, the neck is all shaped up and the fretboard just need it's finishing sanding and the slots re- cutting.

AND

I tried the chrome parts and shock horror . . . I think gold will look better (don't believe I actually think it really!)!

Think I'll go for a lie down in a dark room!

As you might gather from the scrawlings on the top I was also considering the carving to be done!

I've read these kind of comments about teak a few times and to be honest I find them kind of confusing!

Living where teak is a native tree and can be bought for a fraction of the price compared to the rest of the world I see it around everywhere but the facts about teak is it's only a medium to heavy density timber, weighing in around 620 - 750kg/cu.m much the same as the dense Maples. Also it's Janka rating is just over 1000 which softer than any oak, compared to Rosewood or Ebony it's positively a softwood!

The main thing with Teak is it has a very high oil content which is why it's so durable to water exposure and which if you want a good joint with it you need to clean off the oil with acetone and use an epoxy rather than a wood glue to get a good joint.

It's favoured with the hand carvers over here due to is being good for handworking - but it seems to have some strange reputation for being super heavy and hard something I cannot fathom out!