Helldunkel

Here is my new creation

The Firedroid H!

- premius grade quatersawn sapelli mahogany body, one piece!

- premium grade quatersawn sipo mahogany neck!

- west african premium grade quatersawn ebony fingerboard, 24 frets, 25.5'' scale, compound radius!

- custom handwound hufschmid pickups by my friend Kent Armstrong, I designed the external appearence.

(expertly cast dark flame maple finish)

- schaller hannes bridge!

- planet wave auto trim tuning machines 18:1 gear ratio, steinberger patent

- natural oil finish

- the red button is an awesome killswitch haha

enjoy!

more picture and more into here: The Hufschmid Firedroid H

video 1: sapelli video

video 2: The sound of the Firedroid

Patrick that is a good way and its exactly what I do with mine only my work piece isn't marble but a nice piece of kitchen worktop that is as flat as you are gonna get and its served me well. Isn't it strange that some simple ideas are always the ones that work perfect and with outstanding results.

Actually thinking about it, its pretty similar to the technique I was using when building my acoustic guitars, using wood blocks and a flat surface to glue the bracing on the top...

Its very efficient...

Previoussly I was using spoke clamps for the job and placed a flat metal bar on the beck of the neck which I then clamped again so that the neck rests flat on it during the gluing...

Now you dont need any metal bar and you dont need any spoke clamps

Gluing the fretboard against a straightedge or something like it is something I'm going to start doing from now on. Gluing a fretboard with clamps and wood blocks just doesn't cut it IMO.

oh you can inlay some gold in the blocks? Maybe it would cut it better?

Why is it that maple necks have protective coating but other necks don't seem to need the same treatment?

which ''other necks'' are you talking about?

I got this idea after purchasing a solid marble table in a pound shop...

The cool thing about marble is that its perfectly flat!

So the thing to do first is to drill 2 holes in the fingerboard and neck in which you will put two removable nails, this is to prevent the fingerboard from shifting...

Apply glue and clamp just like on the pictures, you dont need more clamps, the 2 straight bars will evenly spread the pressure and not only will the glue joint be perfect but the neck will be gluing flat!

If your headstock is angled, that's not a problem, simply move the headstock to the edge of the table...

Enjoy

edit

+1 It would be great if we could have that feature back. I used it a lot.

looks like there is an html problem when you quote somebody in some forum sections (not all, here its ok)...

Let me know, I can help you if you wish, this seams to me a PHPBB forum and I am currently helping set up a new forum for a friend of mine using the same system.

edit

Here's a pic for reference.

Here comes the ultimate cheap solution as seen in cheap guitar factories!

Shim it all up then spray a really nice solid finish all over the guitar to make it all invisible.....

Chances are if you spray 3'000'000 coats, you wont need to shim it up, the lacquer will do the job

JK of course

**** happens man, the best is to use it as a template and build another body. The problem is that if you repair it, one day the instrument is sold and a customer takes a look at the hidden problem, it may bring bad reputation to your side even if the neck joint is perfect after shimming...

So forget and start all over gain

Is the "Nelsonite" really a durable sealer? I found an old post on Google where a Warmoth employee says they mainly use it to ensure that it helps get a neck through shipping, but it wears off quickly after you start playing on it.

Its written on their website:

http://www.warmoth.com/ordering/Warranty.aspx

Necks:

Our necks are warranted to be free of defective materials and workmanship for up to two years from the date of purchase. Necks that require a hard finish, and that are finished by the purchaser will be covered for one year providing the application and type of finish used is deemed satisfactory by Warmoth Guitar Products, Inc. The warranty will be void if the neck does not get a hard shell finish in 30 days of delivery. We do not consider oil finishes or poorly applied wipe-on finishes adequate protection.

Hey guys, i bought a nice looking piece of bloodwood for a future fretboard the other day. It started off laser straight so gooped shellac all over it to seal it and put it away. that was about two weeks ago and already the piece is starting to warp! its got a very slight propeller to it and its getting bent as well. is there a way to stop it? should i clamp it to something flat for a while maybe?

PS Its already roughly fretboard sized, not a big chunk.

Basic knowledge about wood expansion and contraction:

You bought it last day....

The wood is simply reacting to the ambiant environnement moisture content of your workshop...

Is your workshop under control and if so what is the moisture content?

Most guys who buy fingerboards from wood suppliers seam to totally forget this major important detail in which the dealer says that you must leave the board at least temper for a good week or two.

Sealing the fingerboard will not really help because you are putting a brake to the natural process, instead, just leave it alone and clamp it flat. Sealing must be done at the very end of the guitar building, I use superglue for the job.

When I buy a fingerboard it usually never moves because my workshop ''room'' is under control.

Proper climat in which a guitar must be built is 40-50%, the wood suppliers usually store their woods at similar conditions unless you are dealing with a private who does not control the athmosphere of his workshop...

And PLEASE don't pretend that it's not a variation of the Strat shape, just like the JEM is. To go into it a bit more....

All of the wood is dark, the hardware is dark, pup covers are dark, and no fretboard inlays (another thing I don't like). From a design standpoint, the body shape is a modification of a 50+ year old design that I'm generally sick of, and the color palate offers nothing of artistic interest to draw the eye. My art teacher used to emphasice "variety creates interest", and there just isn't any substantial variety in the piece.

Seriously - don't take it personal. I clearly have different aesthetic sensibilities than you. In fact, if you go back through my entries and read the comments left for them, you'll find that my aesthetics are disliked by around 50% of the commenting voters. It's nothing unusual.

I'm not taking anything personal, I just think that there are ways to be elegant when posting a comment especially when somebody spent hours building an instrument.

I dont think its elegant to throw out

hufchmid: I have no use for 7 & 8-stringers. Beyond that... it's just another strat-body with natural wood.

Secondly this guitar is a custom order built according to the customers preferences... Should I go against his wishes and tell him that black hardware and black pickups suck? People order my instruments because they enjoy these designs which are part of my style - period

There is nothing constructive in your comment... I thought that this was a place where members gladly share, give feedback and comment on others builds by staying kind and respectful.

Speaking about a variation of an old design, I disagree, this is the first basic comment that anybody who does not like strat shapes would say.

BTW the Les Paul is a variation of a classical guitar, the fender strat headstock is a variation of a violin headstock....

Your avatar is a variation of Albert Einstein....

If you dont like these designs, again that's cool man, its your life.

I am all up to constructive comments, some members have posted comments and I enjoy reading them, sometimes it gives me new ideas. But these people did not comment in an abrasive way.

Hoping that this is not a cultural barrier and that we can all start to enjoy the work of others, there is already enough nonsens in regular forums when people dont like guitar makers for their design, so if this must happen between makers it would be like the world fell upside down...

So I'm making my first guitar and was well under way, then decided my body design was too small after making the jigs (better now than scraping a good sapelli blank). So now that i have to redesign the body slightly i was wondering how the body affects tone.

I've heard a few different things, like bottom is bass related and the horns are treble, or that there's a treble and a bass horn, or that it matters very little and its mostly in the materials. So i figured id ask this before i go back to the drawing board. I'm making a double cutaway due to preference too.

You wont trully know what is the final tone of your guitar until you finish building it

The tone of an instrument is produced by hundereds of various factors which includes:

- scale

- your hands

- thickness of the body, neck, fingerboard

- hardware

- nut material

- finish

- pickups

- strings

- wood selection

etc etc etc....

Now based on your question, there is something to keep in mind, the acoustic tone of an instrument is produced by the stiffness to weight ratio or specific stiffness if you prefer...

The more weight and mass you take off, logically the more acoustically appealing the instrument will become right away.

However you will never be able to trully know the impact of this on the final instrument...

You could of course create an over sized instrument, play it for a week or two to get a feel and then cut off some of the body to make it smaller and compare it again...

The only thing this will do is having the acoustics drop in pitch (tap tone) but most probably that once plugged into your amp, you wont hear any difference at all....

I've seen a few new bridge designs in the past months which all look very interesting...

Well the features of these ones are of course totally different...

http://www.tremking.com/prod2.html

There is also this design...

http://www.ksmguitars.com/bridgespecs.html

This game sucks

+1

+2

I've tested that because I wanted to see for myself!

After installation and a little turn to make it snug, the braking point of the stew mac double way hot rod (which is my favourite truss rod) brakes after a full turn (I mean you must really force it)...

I've tested this twice on 2 necks (one flamed maple - one sipo mahogany) on which I made mistakes and I then used them as dummy necks for the test

Looking for some suggestions for binding fingerboards. I tried to glue up some maple binding on a maple Finger board and it didn't go so well. I tried using some binding tape and a few clamps but I ended up some very small gaps. I could have probably let them go, but the perfectionist in me couldn't live with it so I cut it off. There have got to be some better techniques out there or some kind of jigs . I'm interested in hearing what you have to say!

Thank!

I always use superglue, the one which has thicker viscositie...

What I do is that I place masking tape on a marble table (garantee flat)...

Then I spread the superglue on one side of the fingerboard (not too much, just enough to make a good bond)

Then I place the fingerboard on top of the tape I previoussly placed, I place the binding and while pressing everything down, I draw the tape back and use it as a clamp...

Then I leave it dry entirely (dont use accelerator) and then start working on the other side of the board...

I prefer to waist an entire masking tape roll for the job, I dont care but at least there is good pressure...

off topic I guess: I also discovered a trick for white binding, I use white superglue, you end up with totally invisible glue joints

No, and it's not really that uncommon for an exotic. It just doesn't normally look this nice. it's nice enough, but not normally known for figure.

SR

ok, I know...

You are a lucky bastard if this is what I am thinking about...

Is this quilt Pink Ivory?

This game sucks

This type of wood is not known for having any figure.

SR

It could be basswood, I have already seen basswood with similar looks, not sure that it suits neck construction...

Or it could be some ''quilt ScottR'' which is a new specie from the project guitar family? Must check the wood encyclopedia 2011

Not sapele, but who'd care to hazard a guess as to what it is?

SR

quilt redwood?

quilt pearwood?

looks gorgeous!

Here is my new creation!

I work in a very very small workshop and I use basic tools, small router, small bandsaw, most of the shaping is done with a file.

The H8 Baritone...

specifications:

- one piece sapelli mahogany body

- european walnut top

- claro walnut neck

- pauo ferro fingerboard

- exclusive hufschmid nut and string retiner material

- custom made hufschmid guitars pickups handmade by kent armstrong

- custom made mounting rings

- hipshot bridge and tuning machines

enjoy

Hufschmid Guitars

edit

You know its a very cool idea and I really would like to possibly try this system but a guitar can NOT be perfectly intonated, its virtually impossible unless you install a true temperament neck, stick to the same guages and tuning...

http://www.truetemperament.com

Unless this system actually moves and tunes the strings when you play chords for compensation.....

Indeed! Thats some BIG slab o' wood too. whats the moisture content?

I checked before, its at 10%

Not too hard to find wood where they have pallets of it stacked up and ready for consumption , eh??

Well its always better then to go down to Cameroon and cut it down by hand with an axe

epic, I may give this a try!