FireFly

Good Job, John!

I'm really glad you went with gold hardware on this one

You can't replace a TOM with a "strat style" bridge without altering the neck angle of the guitar.Stick with a TOM.

Good point! (unless he shims the bridge... which won't look pretty)

No problem! There's a lot of information here, as well as informative people. Don't be a stranger!

Your frets are spaced apart for a certain scale length. So you should try to place your bridge as close as you can to the same position where the strings break over the LP style bridge. If you move the bridge forward or backword at all, you'll have problems with intonation, and everything you play will sound wrong.

I really like that Mockingbird. It was a close call between Avengers and SweedishLuthier. In the end, a Mockingbird with a Kahler took my vote!

Wow...

On one hand:

On the other hand, the concept of a separate piece to hold the string tension, thereby negating almost all the stress on the neck, aside from the backward pressure from the break angle over the nut is very interesting. So its not all bad!

I'd clip those string dangles if you want it to look less ugly though

I've tried the black strings on my guitars. The ones I tried had a coating that made them black, kind of like Elixers. They lasted about as long as normal strings, and costed twice as much.

They really match this bass though!

everything seems to fit together better - literally fit together better and also work well aesthetically

still very much your style, but the style is working - like the inlays which are very much your style, also done well and match well with the body colour

sorry avenger - hope it doesn't cause offence but usually there is something that turns me off - like the visable backplate mistake on the dragon or the neck alignment issues on cherry blossom, spam headstock on the mirror iceman. 1 or 2 things on each one that took away from it

the one thing i have spotted on this is the ghost of 12th fret dots - not really off putting on an ebony board... but the first thing i spotted was how well everything seemed to fit together (as shown in the shiny shot)

+1 to everything Wez said, except for the 12th fret dots comment... I don't see it...

I would be very proud of this build, Avengers! I don't know if you're hiding anything in it (You mention that you hide your mistakes) but this looks like professional work. I would buy this.

-Amiee

You are welcome sir

Sir?

hey Firefly..grow something new lately?

Ummm... did I just have one of those moments?

s'all good!

Oh, and if you want criticism, then I think the heal looks more like an AANJ than a set. When looking at it, it looks like the jointed area is rounded over on both sides, rather than a smooth transition. Also, I think black tuning machines would have looked better... it could be the lighting though. Either that or black tuning machines with chromed keys. I just don't like the chromed posts.

I love your pic intense builds! It makes it so much easier for me to learn this stuff. You're very thorough, and I appreciate it

Hey Clovis! Getcher BEEhind out nya and cut da grayass!

When i do my violin ribs, i use carpet tape on a flat slab, stick my sides on it next to each other, and plane them both at the same time via block plane.

I normally go through a bag of dunlops every two years. One bag holds about 10 picks. $2 at the shop!

Oh, and i don't lose them. They wear out. I make it a habit to weave my pick between the strings near the headstock, or in a pickup cavity on my bass. This does look like a fun novelty item though

Love it!

These are nice! I really like the quilting on the single cut!

That's such a pretty top!

And +1 on "What's with the giant neck hole?"

That looks nice and straight! Beautiful fingerboard too!

Good Job!

while doing our deductive reasoning, let us consider that a truss rod doesn't do a thing about twisting in a neck , strictly forward and backward bow, unless we are double-trussing, which we're not. So if its gonna twist, a rod aint gonna help it.

also...

oily wood that will resist finishes will also resist the elements to the same degree.

lol

:popcorn:

Lets do some deductive reasoning:

While ebony is a strong wood, it is very oily and doesn't accept many finishes. So sealing the wood will be a problem. If you can't seal the wood, then that is going to expose it to the elements. Ebony is also expensive. So if you bow or twist the neck, and it becomes perminant, then you're out a pretty large piece of expensive exotic wood.

I personally would add a truss rod.

I read the blerb on your website, Wreck. As far as the pyramids canceling out any unwanted noise from the backwood, I would like to see this process implimented on an acoustic guitar with figured back and side woods, as the top of an accoustic is what vibrates and gives you most of the sound. Same with violins and other stringed top instruments.

The only problem I see is that this could reduce the amount of sound that resonates from the sound hole.

Either way, I do like your work

Did you recieve your free gift with the Burl?

I hear they come with scorpions!

The strings should be parallel to the fretboard, or have a slight angle away from the fretboard from the nut. The reason for the slight angle away is that it'll lesson the chance of fret buzz. If you were to angle toward the fretboard, you'd get buzz.

While that could all be true, you should never stand on a customers instrument. As for testing your own glue joints on your builds/commissions, i have no problem with that practice.

Stand on the neck for 1 min. If it breaks, the repair is no good. As long you you don't weigh too much (over 175lbs), it should be a good test.

One thing you could do to add strength, is fill the nut bolts with epoxy and use top mount screws instead.

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