Our Souls inc.

and my guess is that it would be fine. Set up a small practice piece and try taping the two spots that the bit will cut through. Practice on scrap first. You may have found a cleaner way to skin the cat.

screaming acoustic qualities, indeed !! Oh my. I took some of the finish off of the pink-ish boards today and woo-hoo ! The ring is incredible on those. Here's some moar pics of the boards -

That's the ( possible) neck wood

and this is a view of the grain on the flat-sawn side

This is two of the body boards that are ringy-singy

... and here you can see the color difference between the boards

There were 3 doors - two of which were panels ( they'll be boxy - slide guitars ) and one was a 12 window french door.

Some of the wood is decidedly yellow and soft so I'm going with pine on those boards. Some of it is orangey- brown and some is pinkish. I'm certain there is no one type of wood in the pile at this point, so I'm going with "body" or "neck" judging each board on its own.

Pics as they happen....

Awesome find! I'm guessing a 'skip' is a construction dumpster?

Regardless, thats a sweet score!

Out of curiosity, why wouldn't you use the wood for necks? - I'm certainly going to ( 1 at least )

You didn't list a reason for not, so I'm curious.

Headed out to do some paint removal now- I'll have better pics of the wood later.

Your carves are excellent.

Oh, I was playin for the most part. 4 by 8 huh? I'd be tempted ! lol.

I wouldn't take a door that was being used, but these were one step shy of the dump. I'm a sucker for some cheap material- 'specially if it's got potential.

Very cool idea. Have you considered doing an otherwise identical bolt neck so as to be able to do an A/B comparison?

thanks! i hadn't considered any A/B comparisons since the new neck joint had nothing to do with seeking improved sustain or tone. Just another option in the arsenal. To be honest, it doesnt sound any better or worse than my other guitars. Every build is unique, but at the end of the day, they make notes. This guitar plays and sounds like any other. It just got built funny.

.......

My only concern would be the transfer of vibrations to the body and thus the bridge for sustain.

I am with you, but want to point out my theory on this.

The strings vibrate the bridge and neck first . Then the body. To me sustain is in how well the strings can send the vibration through the bridge, into the body, through the body into the neck and back through the strings again, like a big loop. Energy transfer or loss between the group will dictate how fast the energy disapates/ ends.

This version of a neck 'join' gets tighter as the strings come to tension, plus the neck heel vibrates dead center in the body, not from one end.

Thats my story and I'm sticking to it.

Sweet Jesus tacos! I need to find an old door.

Old houses are everywhere up here.......

Awesome!

Keep in mind that is lead paint on it, though.

I had, and I will, and I thank you for posting it.

......... The vibrations of the body are important as that is where the opposite end of the strings are anchored. I see guitars as a system, so the transfer of energy affects the way the strings are vibrate. Not voodoo, but pragmatic analysis of the instrument.

Exactly! -

this version has all the string tension pulling the neck against the body, Vs pulling them 'apart' like a bolt on. Transfer of vibrations *should* be better than a bolt-on in theory.

I like new concepts in design like that.

I would think some adjustment screws on the neck near the heel to allow for some action adjustment would be beneficial.

Have any pics of the action with it strung?

I do have some...

I tried to get a shot of the action, but.....

Now, don't get me wrong- this could be executed way better than this. but as a working proto, it did what I wanted it to do.

"Advantages" over conventional methods are opinion related only.

A set neck or neck through require major surgery for a neck replacement. I just have to take the strings off. Advantage goes to my method for that.

a bolt on has the string tension ( +/- 100 Lbs. ) pulling it apart. Mine has the tension pulling it together. Together. I like that. Extra tight neck join, even. A single pup version is in the plans, along with a 'hidden' join that can't be seen from the front.

I'll say now that the pocket is snug and does not move at all. Vibration is transferred without a problem between the neck and body - this version probably has more surface contact than a bolt-on does.

I have one on a bass ( version one ) and its holding up fine. This guitar has been strung up and played for the last 8 months. I wanted to test it a bit before declaring success.

Although I find no need to change bridges or adjust the action via the neck, they would be do-able if desired. The angle of the neck is adjustable by the heel/pocket carve.

Version 3 is still under construction, but 1 and 2 are good to go.

this guitar has a neck pickup and a high toggle location - done on a single pup guitar, it would be much simpler/easier to execute.

I would seriously consider replacing that door with a modern one. 100+ year old mahogany aint easy or cheap to find. Just sayin......

O.K. .... back when I was building this:

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=44857&st=15

I was working on the energy that is contained in the string tension.

It warps necks, causes us to screw or glue our builds together, or go with a neck through.

I wanted to utilize the tension to my advantage, so I came up with a few working versions of screw-less yet removeable necks and this is version 2 :

Here you can see the cavity between the pups and the side view of how the neck heel looks.

and there is a shot from the back.

....and here's the money-shot, broken down like a 12 gauge.

..........

Thats what it looks like once its settled into the pocket

and there's the back.

The string tension pulls the neck into place and holds it there.

any thoughts ??

Despite sealing the top a bit the 1st clear coats bleed the dye into the maple so scraped the whole thing off and started again,

My , oh my.

Here's some pics of the mystery wood....

QS - 35 rings in a 29MM span.

.. and here's the color variation in the pile - some is a rich brown, some is pink-ish. Some is white/ pale yellow.

and for the cost of a trip into town ? Well worth the investment.

why they're DOOR wood, of course !

I honestly couldn't tell just from cutting it ( ie; the smell or color ) I suspect some of it is pine. I'm sure, given the year , that it's all local timber, either Oak, Hickory, Pine,or Cherry but it could be Birch, Maple, Walnut, etc. too .

I'll strip the finish on the pieces I'll be using and really dig into it better than what I have so far, which was slice n stack. The grain on some of the pieces is tight tight and I'm stoked to get one of the boxy- ones going. I'm feelin a real boxcar-hobo vibe comin on for those.

I scored a killer lookin Ash mirror frame from the same attic thats gettin the re-birth treatment too.

A friend of mine was recently remodeling her house after inheriting it. She found 3 doors in the attic which were original to the house ( 1876 ) , but she was going to THROW THEM AWAY !!!!!!

So I took em off of her hands wth the intent to re-purpose them into something. Well, I think it'll be guitars n basses !! The bottom panels of the doors had thin cutaways that I was able to rescue and I'll be making 'chambered' electrics out of them, possibly a cool slide guitar. The glass panes will be made into picture frames, two of which will be returned to the wood donor for hanging in the house that the doors came from.

The *perfectly* quatersawn 1.5" thick pieces ( three of them ) will be neck blanks. The wood has been seasoning for 135 years, so I don't expect too much settling.

Pics later, possibly some progress , depends on the weather today.

I guess your elm has been getting some more seasoning.

Man, that is one nice fretboard.

SR

Thanks Scott. I will work it up to 600 grit or so. I like it a lot - the guitar has potential too, thats why I'm trying to salvage it despite my errors in the build.......

...and here's the guitar.

and

.

So - here's the issues I have to deal with in order to continue the twins thru........

The neck heel is too wide and the neck will look funny. If I remove the heel to follow the neck taper, there will be a gap in the pocket. If I dont, the neck will bulge out too far on the bass side near the pocket..... (see pic above )

Also - the FB has to be reclaimed since I laid it out for a 25.5" scale and actually started CUTTING it into the board. Got to about the 12th fret before I snapped out of whatever planet I was on and realized my boo-boo. I had a thick FB to begin with so I am taking this one down past the slots and trying again. Its going to make a flatter radius than planned, along with a thinner FB now.

The guits are for me, so I can live with a boo-boo, and I would love to get these finished. For now, I'm forging ahead. Too much more and this'll be fire-wood though.....

So here's the bass so far :

The fretboard:

and a closer shot of the body.

The board is only done up to 80 grit right now. Body is wearing a coat of CA, but needs sanding/ finish. No real issues on this one so far.

I love the way that looks. Just love it.

+1 for the tape method.

Well, that certainly isn't your average 'first build' ! Congrats - Looks like a great player.

Sorry for being dense. It all looked good to me from what I could see. Nice save though ! Thats a real clean neck removal.

I think I misunderstood you... From the pics, I see equal amounts of neck lam in the pup pockets.... I see a crooked looking TR rout at the headstock..... its hard to see just what is 'wrong' though. In the initial mock-ups with the fretboard, it looks fine.