Andyjr1515

It would be...but as you say, probably not the right properties or dims

I've been watching this @2.5itim as its been progressing but just realised I've never added any comments. It's looking like a great build to me - the back looks beautiful - love the contrasting colours As for the 'extra' humbucker position, there is no question in my mind....it's just shouting out to have magnets coils and poles in there rather than a lump of wood. If it was me, I'd go for three humbuckers and would be very, very excited what the combinations were going to sound like - and with choosable split coils...hmmmmm, there's an idea

Major envy going on here @Norris . I was looking at the Axminster extractor in one of their stores last week...and a decent bandsaw is so high on my wish list....almost as high as having somewhere to put one

About 12.5 In truth, it's not perfect. There are bits where I am still thinking 'should I do that bit again' and others where I am kicking myself for basic errors that are largely hidden, but I know they are there. But in the primary target - for this particular player, it had to sound good strummed and it had to be able to operate at a very low action - it is fully there and with knobs on. Still got to fully set it up, but the action on the upper strings is about half the height that I personally play and not a buzz in sight. Mind you...there's still time for me to completely c**k it up

And here's the fingerpicking sample. Again - old strings, not set up, straight into a mic: Chris Dreadnought Fingerpicking MP3.mp3

The last photo was a direct download (I know it's the preferred method so I thought I'd better give it a try) so, spurred on with success, thought I'd try and download a direct soundfile rather than go through Soundcloud or similar. So if nothing happens, you'll know it didn't work The longer clip of fingerpicking has failed. Probably the file size, so I'll convert it to MP3 and try again, but this below is the first brief strum with some very, very old strings on. Haven't do the set up yet or fitted the electronics so this is straight into a mic, no effects or EQ of the strumming tone Chris Dreadnought Strumming WAV.wav Well pleased. It sounds like a dreadnought to me

Thanks folks! Two more jobs off the finish list. I raised the nut a touch and filed the slots down until they were below the zero fret. This gives proper and secure positioning of the two middle strings where the angle off to the tuners. I also added an ebony trussrod cover with a routed 'swift'. I also added a sliver of maple veneer to reflect the white line demarcation of the fretboard. Having said that, not entirely sure whether ebony is right for the cover - if I get a bit of spare time, I might do a mahogany one and a lacewood one and see which looks best.

I have a surprising amount still to do, but I now know that it can take the tension of the strings without clapping hands and actually sounds like a dreadnought acoustic! I am a bit weird (generally, I suppose, but also specifically...) because I do the final neck shaping when the guitar is fully strung. I have all of the critical dimensions now at their final position (eg overall depth and width) but have left the profile a teeny bit clubby. Personally, I can't judge when the profile is just right until I'm playing, so that's what I do. I will get the scrapers out and fine tune the shape - probably creating a soft 'V' profile from what is presently halfway between a 'C' and a 'D'. Here it is at the first stringing up trial: Still to do, as a minimum: Finish profile the neck and re-slurry/oil Polish the top Reset the nut - I am using a zero fret but the nut behind it needs to be higher with deeper slots to keep the G and D strings in position better Sort a truss rod cover Take the sharp edges off the fretboard Install the fretboard side dots Install the electrics Final set-up In the meantime, I'm well chuffed how it sounds. The comparison with my OM is just as it should be - this is for strumming and has volume, balance, sustain and a bassy smoothness. OK too for fingerpicking. The OM has the edge on fingerpicking but is much rougher with the strumming. I'm a happy chappy who is hoping this will be complete by the end of this weekend

I think the colours and figuring of the fretboard and body coordinate beautifully. I can't wait to see it when it's had its finish applied.

The various usual burdens and tasks of life has got a bit in the way of progress, but there really isn't a whole lot more to do and things are being ticked off each time I get the odd hour or so to work on it. I've drilled and taper reamed the bridge pin holes: I've levelled the frets - call me uncannily perceptive, but I reckon a few of the upper frets and some more down the bottom end are a bit high.... The once they were level, a bit of crowning: I rough them out with the Hosco fret file, but then wrap micro web of decreasing grit round the file to do a progressive polish. The edges of the ebony fretboard still has to be rounded so I should lose the rough and chipped edges in this shot. That and a bit of slurried and buffed tru-oil on the fretboard: The gap in the rosette will be covered by the pretty invisible black fretboard shaped magnetic pickup of the Shadow Doubleplay system. This is fully blendable with a standard peizo strip under the bridge saddle. I'm hoping the tuners will arrive in the next couple of days so I can string it up before the weekend to do the final adjusting.

They're nice finishes, samples or not. Really brings out the beauty in the wood.

Yup....the oversize trick did occur to me.....after I'd done the job

Can't believe how neat that scroll sawing work is on the f holes. Love the shape of this top. The flossing reference in my dreadnought thread (for the neck heel fit) is where the two parts remain static and the sandpaper itself is pulled through the lightly closed joint. It's a term I picked up along the way and seems a reasonable descriptive term ref dental floss. As a process for closing the joint on a variable plane it's quite effective, except I find it hard to prevent an 'exit curve' at the point of the sandpaper from the joint. Long thin strip of cloth-backed has the best chance to be able to give a strong pull without it tearing.

Thanks, Scott. I can't remember where I saw this but realised immediately it would solve one of the challenges of fixing acoustic bridges firmly to the top. If I do another acoustic , however, I'll use a stiff hardwood for the block itself....this maple did the job but was bending a bit too much. It's a clever idea, though

They say the best solutions are the simple ones....great tip - thanks

Yes indeed. I have a great thicknesser (Makita) but it still snipes at the infeed

I've started using tru-oil slurried with fine grit sandpaper nowadays both as a grain-fill/sanding seal/final finish or as a grain-fill/sanding seal/base for final poly-finish. I'm sure nitro reacts like crazy on tru-oil, but I've never had a problem personally with polyurethane over it. This has had the tru-oil-slurry-then-buffed-off as a final finish ...and this has had exactly the same treatment, followed by a few coats of polyurethane varnish:

Very neat work, @Prostheta Blast! Another project to add to the increasing list...

I was interested in your trials with the router plane for the neck pocket, @aidlook I keep wondering about those. Certainly that's a very nice and neat job

Hi Dave. Welcome! Ask anything you want...I'm sure there is someone on the forum who can answer any query you may have. Great bunch of knowledgeable folks

Another lovely 'clean lines' build. Excellent.

Onto fixing the bridge. I have used a fairly standard approach for this. The only variation from when I did the OM is that I had bad floating issues with the OM when I was trying to clamp the glued bridge, so this time, after checking and checking and rechecking the bridge position, I drilled a couple of undersized holes in the two E string positions to put some temporary positioning pegs in: Then scored round the perimeter: Then scraped off the varnish: Added some masking tape: Then added the titebond and positioned it using the pegs for an initial clamping and glue squeeze out: Then pulled out the pegs, popped a larger caul underneath and a top caul I made last time to clamp the main area, using the captive screws to push the sides fully down: Last job was cleaning up the final squeeze-out and removing the masking tape. I'll be leaving this clamped up overnight...just to be sure

Temporarily returning to the wenge project, almost every aspect (in both the visual as well as design sense) makes you go 'wow'. A truly inspiring build. Ref the side topic of cocobolo, I've never had any reaction to it (but as Prostheta says, it is a sensitiser and, as such, a reaction can happen at any time and once you are sensitised that's it for life...) but it's a truly horrible wood to work with. On 'Tom's African Build' fretless I ended up using epoxy for almost all of the gluing jobs (in spite of trying acetone, etc, etc, to get normal wood glues to work) and it was truly dreadful to sand to shape. Once done, though, as ScottR says, it looks and feels beautiful!

Hi, Scott No - I bought it as bonded multi-section. The purfling on the top was bought as bwb: And then the binding itself was bought as rosewood with a boxwood and black/boxwood/black stripe already bonded: