SwedishLuthier

Cut away for better upper fret access all access style neck joint Back routs head thinned and shelf for locking nut

Fretboard glued Neck pocket routed (sorry, no in action pics...) Hey Bo Diddley style! body shaped Routed for Floyd and pickup

Its unusal that I keep track of a build buy taking photos all the way, but this customer realy wanted me to do that. The customer comissioned a telecaster metal style, no frills, simple finish, Floyd Rose and he was dead set on using a DiMarzion Crunchlab as he really whant to have Petruchis sound. After a few emails back and forth I managed to convince him that I schould have a shot at winding him a pickup to nail that sound. Here we go: Parts parts parts routing for truss rod head shaped and neck tapered Gluing fretboard

dito

Here is a Selmer style guitar with a Floyd attached. Fake or not? I'll leave that up to you. However I *think* that a Kahler might have an even better chanse to work as it hase a big contact area instead of the two studs used for the Floyd. EDIT: Oups lost the link somewere, but YetzerHaran made sure it was posted, thanks!

I love this build more and more. I think I have found a local suplier. They got the stuff in 6mm (.236") and 4 mm as well. I will try to get samples and if I get more than I need for one test fretboard I can send you some.

Great to see you back Scott. I just love that guitar, the look, the concept, everything. The paperstone got me really intrigued. Looks like a good ebony substitute. I have not been able to get jet black ebony for some time now. How well does it machine? Whats the prize? And what sizes are availible? I have already contacted the company to see if there is a suplier in europe. I guess that this: would take care of the lack of compression in the material

I had a look at your bridge from the "lower the TOM" tread. The saddles on for the bass strings are angled toward the string holder. Most TOMs allow you to flip the saddles and position them in the other direction, allowing for even further adjustment of intonation. Have you tried that. Also, intonation is the adjustment of scale length caused by he strings stretching while being pushed toward the frets. With lower string action, the need for intonation is lesser. Thought experiment: Imagine a guitar with 0mm action (yeah no sound, but please have imagination). With that guitar there would not be any need to adjust intonation at the bridge because of the strings stretching. When getting a low or super low action the need for adjustment isn't as big and it might be possible (I'm only thinking out loud here) that with thin strings and low action that the adjustment needs will be out of range for that specific TOM.

There are a lot more to be learned from Frank Ford: http://frets.com/FRETSPages/pagelist.html#Luthier

http://frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier/Technique/Finish/CelebSig/celebsigsig.html

If the frets are located in the right position you never need to shorten the string to intonate, only to ingcrease length. As a very general rule of thumb I place the bridge in exactly that position, with maxed out saddles the scale length is the theoretically correct, allowing me to back the saddles to compensate for the rise in pitch that occur when the strings are stretched down to the frets.

Sorry to hear. He hasn't been active here from April. Could he has some accident or gotten sick or something? Is he still alive? Did you pay the complete sum of money up front? Or just a part as down payment. When I build commissioned guitars I have the customers pay 50% up front to cover for parts and design if the customer bails out on me. That way the builder (not applicable on myself of cause) have a good reason to actually finish the build, ie getting paid for the labor he/she puts in. If he has started to build at all that is.

Judging from what you have showed us earlier this will be a very interesting build to follow. Good luck

Done it. It ripped the binding from the body on one side (think about the rotating g direction of the bit). As suggested you can cut the binding with a small saw or blade but then you can just as well install the binding after you rout for the binding.

Thanks orgmorg. That means the blank stumac right now can provide is slightly heavier than average black ash. That is interesting numbers.

ITs a good idea, but the time needed for making and finishing two bodies are IMO a waste of time. I will need to discuss the options with the client but I'd rahter se that I make a job only once Thanks for your idea about asking them for a discount on a new blank instead. That way I can save the heavier blank for one of my own NorthStar bodies as those are thinner and smaller and I cut out the delay of sending the blank back and have to wait for a replacement. Maybe they are open for that suggestion. Good input Carl

He he, it was I who wrote that review... The review is more or less take word by word from the e-mail I sent them to complain. And yeah, as long as they offer to take the stuff back they can get away with it. In the usual "ask no question" policy they have already offered to take the item back and pay for return shipping. Problem is I have customer waiting for an instrument and even thou a week or two wouldn't bother him it will bust my production time schedule. As I still run my business on a nights and weekend base I cannot afford this delay as I have more builds coming in all the time. When discussing replacement items they clearly stated that they don't have any other qualities to offer and cant guarantee that a replacement will be any different Anyway I appreciate all input in the matter.

I just got a "swamp ash" body blank from stumac (yeah I tend to order the wood from them together with the parts as I don't have to spend time planing raw timber and I can charge my customer for either expensive wood or labour...). Anyway I received a 500x365x45mm or 19.68"14.37"x1.77" body blank. What I'm disappointed with is that it is way heavier than I would have expected. Its the first time I ever actually weight a body blank so I don't have any numbers to compare with so I would really appreciate some input from you guys whether this is acceptable as "swamp ash". Anyway the body blank weighted in at 4.6 kg or 10.14 lb. The question is: is this acceptable as "swamp ash". As there is no specific specie I think weight is the only thing that distinct swamp ash from normal ash and I'm in a discussion with stumac right now about if there is a actual flaw with this blank and therefore I need a bit of input on the subject. On a side note I have received ash body blanks from them before that has been waaayy lighter.

I really like that top carve. Very nice! On the other hand a router and some templates will make the pickup and control cavities look much better and it will reduce the probabilities of goofing things up. AT least on this side of the border you can rent a router if you don't have access to one (often the biggest hurdle when starting out, the lack of specialized tools). Re the rout depth: Even if I don't have a PRS HB to measure I would assume that if they are "short legged" (5-6-7 mm long legs) they will need a rout in the 20mm range, and if they have longer legs you just need to add depth

I've built a semi-solid body electric mandolin. Fun project for sure: http://peternaglitschluthier.com/guitars/mandolin.htm I also built a electric steel-string ukulele (essentially a four string mandolin with the bottom string tuned one octave higher): http://peternaglitschluthier.com/guitars/elukulele.htm However the way I did that last one I had to manufacture some of the parts myself (ie only the bridge). However mandolin bridges are available as well as all the other parts if you would like to use a more standardized setup. So if you have the urge for a build and think that the smaller size will make it easier to handle, I think you are on the right track. Go ahead and good luck

Actually that is not the first time I've seen that notion. However I have used KTM-9 for the last five-six-seven years of so and I have never had the need for doing that. I have read somewere (no facts, just some note on some forum) that KTM-9 were re-formulated some years ago and that made that process obsolete.

You should never ever spray a solvent based finish over a water based. It will never end up good. The other way around works OK. My advise? bite the bullet, sand the body smooth. Scrutinize what went wrong the first place (lots of info here and elsewhere, but if you get orange peel it is most likely due to spraying to dry) and make it good. Is this your first try? First tries very seldom turn out very good. You need to practice, practice and practice. Best is of cause to practice on scraps...

Nice work. However I see one or possibly two small areas that are not completely perfect on the first guitar

Hitone plexi archtop

I suggest that you check out the Dan Armstrong Plexglass guitars first (if you haven't done that yet of cause). That whay you have a rough idea how a solid plexi body will sound and it might give you an ide of how a balsa core body with plexi shell will sound. Or PM Hitone as he has built a archtop with a plexi body (it was Hitone, wasn't it????) And then you need to just go ahead and build the guitar.