Canuck Brian

I turn 30 this year. I look back at the complete jerk/moron/descriptive word that I was about 7 years ago and wanna punch that guy out. Things make a lot more sense these days.

I don't think i would have had the patience to do this when I was younger, so i'm kinda happy I started when I was 27.

I was thinking about using either an ebony or purpleheart nut. Anyone had experience with that? I'm kinda curious if it would do anything to the sound.

I went with vintage 59 les paul spec for my 7 string Lp you must keep everything on treble side the same ( so normal pickguards & knob locations are the same ) move extra pickup & neck width to the bass side . You must relocate the toggle switch

I'm not understanding that at all. Why not just make it even on both sides and modify the standard pickguard? Or make another one? If you add all the additional width to one side it'll look totally uneven. You could probably get away with using the exact same size body as a normal 6 and just having a 7 string neck. Ibanez does that with their 7 strings.....

I basically read almost every single thread on PG's forum and almost all the tutorials before i even bought the wood.

As for the order of things, check out some of the more established guys on here like Perry Ormsby and check out his works. He keeps a pretty detailed diary of pictures.

I've learned a few things here but there are two reaaaaally important ones.

1) Don't rush. Take your time.

2) Measure at least twice, cut only once.

I have an RG7620 neck. What V are you talking about?

My 8 is actually that thick and it's a bolt on.

I love purpleheart! I did the entire neck of my 8 string out of one solid piece of it. It hasn't shifted, twisted or done anything to knock the guitar out of tune. I think I dig it because it's not maple and it's cheap.

Hey guys!

i routed out the truss rod channel today using the Stewmac hot rod bit along with this jig that I put together. I made the opening in the headstock wider to accomodate allenkeys. I also made the thinner route go a tad deeper than the large one so the adjuster sits properly and the two ends of the rod sit flush.

The jig is a 12 inch wide piece of MDF with the midpoints marked at each end at 6 inches. Since my router base is 6 1/4, i put the two oak fences at 3 1/8's from the midpoint. I had to make a very slight movement of about 1/4 mm on each one to allow the base to travel, but with the board in place, all you have to do is pull the router towards you. I hate using edgeguides because the bit sometimes catches and travels somewhere you dont' want it to. This way, ya can't screw up.

Title says it all, I have hipshot 8 string bridge that I have no intention of using, black finish, $70 takes it OBO

I'll take it if you're offering.

ibanez doesn't even use alder

Aren't the JemVWH (the white/gold one) all alder body construction? I might be rethinking a purchase otherwise....

The zirocote is definitely for the fretboard. the slab's thick enough to get about 4 bass fretboards out of it so i can see a few zirocote boards in my future...or even maybe neck lams? Anyone had experience with it as a neck laminate?

The other 7 string just wasn't going my way anymore and was generally causing me grief. I'll go back to it later, but right now, it's a suspended project.

I'll be using very light, if any, inlays on this one. I want the fretboard to show as much of the grain as possible.

What about using liquid silicone? The guy that teaches classes in stringed instrument construction here in Toronto does that on his guitars for almost 15 years with none of them rattling..

It might look cool in the pics, but there enough little imperfections on the guitar now that just drive me absolutely f'n crazy when i look at it. the construction itself went thru better than I hoped, the headstock turned out awesome, but the holes for the string thrus aren't lined up, the humbucker cavities don't look right to me, the recess for the tuneomatic bothers me....just so many things that I'll know are there. I might just cut the neck off the guitar as i think it turned out pretty good though.

Well, since my last 7 string didn't turn out the way I wanted, nothing like breaking out more wood and gettin to it.

I'm making a neck thru 7 string with a body shape like my 8 string on here. I have a bolt on 7 string also going as well, but this one just has my attention more.

25.5 inch scale 24 frets

2 Dimarzio Evolutions

7 string hipshot (black)

Grover mini locking tuners (love these things)

Body wings - Mahogany w/zebrawood cap

Neck - mahogany/zebrawood/purpleheart/zebrawood/mahogany

Zirocote fretboard

At some point with this build, i'm planning on putting in a 7 string GHOST system, so there will be a larger cavity.

The blank, headstock planed

closeup of laminates

slab of zirocote

Well guys, I think i'm going to follow the teachings of Master Drak on this one and feed it to a wall of destruction. There are too many flaws on the guitar for me to be remotely satisfied with it and just looking at it irritates me.

I'm going to get a template of the body and headstock and pretty much destroy it after that. I'm happy that I got the experience from the build (fretting, gluing, shaping...NOT USING TEMPLATES...) but the book is officially closed on this.

hey thanks guys!

It's on the hood of the car, but no fret ends are touching the paint. I'll have those guys clipped off, filed and beveled by tomorrow night.

Sadly, it's not a dent. There's a good hunk of wood taken out of it.

Nick - I have a paper template the rest was done with a bandsaw and a lot of sanding. I didn't do MDF templates, but after this guy, i'm doing them before I do ANYTHING. If you want me to make a PDF or mail you a photocopy of the templates, i can.

Annnnnd with spending a few days at the parents house where the workshop is.....

Back shot

I dropped a hammer on it by accident if you look at the neck pickup upper right corner. Much sadness.

I think Ibanez is taking a big risk releasing a production 8 string. It's going to be a niche market for the players that are interested but they're going ahead with it anyways.

As for having small fingers and using an 8, I have pretty small hands - the wide neck of an 8 isn't that bad!

I'll probably buy one of these new Ibanez 8's, just because i'm an Ibanez slut.

I'm in if that's cool. I just received the templates to what I want to build.

1) 1 PRS ish Doublecutaway

2 Explorer

3 Strat/superstrat

2) I'll put a brand new gold lisc floyd rose with all parts into the pot. Anyone needs it, let me know.

3) The people up for judges already would give the best critical assessment.

My only concern is if you wanted to use a part that would take longer than January 15th to arrive. I plan to order them almost immediately if i'm good to be in this, but the pickups that I would use would take longer than that date to arrive. Can i show proof of the parts using the receipt or something?

What kind of timeframe are we talking? I'd be interested as I'm actually able to use my shop again (surgery sucks.)

Mahogany is plenty strong enough for the job. Headless guitar, thats like a headless chicken, just plain ugly.

lies!

(and mahogany is fine)

....not to sound stupid, but who made this, where did the hardware come from and ....damn. I have no other words. Much respect to whoever built that.

Myka's Neck Pocket Jig

The search function yields tons of info!

I do have a question in regards to stainless steel strings... wouldn't they wear down your frets faster? I honestly have no clue.

When i was gigging for 9 years in a metal band, whatever brand broke on stage for me was no longer used. Markelys never broke once on me in the 150-200 shows i played.

Well i know that there are a few SYL fans out there on PG, and I just came across this live Strapping Young Lad video from teh Download festival website!

SYL

I use either Dean Markely Blue Steels or the regular Markleys. I've been playing the two brands (depends if they have my gauge in Blue Steel) for 15 years.

If all you want are cheap, heavy strings though, just buy cheap heavy strings.