KnightroExpress

The pale moon fretboard arrived on schedule, so let's get into gluing it up.

Quick preview before glue prep, I think it's going to be gnarly:

So. on to work. As you guys know, I'm a big fan of preplanning and simplifying various construction processes with acrylic templates. My neck templates include a set of holes that are transfer-punched into the neck face and underside of the fretboard, which are then drilled to accept 1/8" steel pins. This allows me to simply apply glue, drop the fretboard in place, and move through the clamping procedure without worrying about the fretboard sliding out of place.

Neck-side alignment holes:

Stainless pins secured in matching holes under fretboard:

Glue, clip, clamp. EZPZ:

Nice joint, no worries:

Luminlay Super Blue dots:

Radius smoothed out, slots cleaned, ready for frets:

Knightro Guitars- Exploder MS8

My first big (in many ways) and serious commission! I had a blast designing and building this beast. The mission here was pretty straightforward: take inspiration from classic rock icons, chuck it in a blender with modern extended range and multiscale amenities, render results in the most dramatic limba I could get my dusty little hands on. Without further ado, here's the Exploder!

-Specs-

26.5-28" multiscale 8 string
Figured black limba body
Katalox neck with carbon reinforcement
Ebony fretboard with super jumbo stainless wire
Instrumental Electromagnetics SFTY3-8 pickup set
Hipshot hardware, nickel plated
Odie's Oil finish

Finally, here's a pretty comprehensive demo video done by the owner:

Thanks @Jdogg! The oil definitely helps, but that wenge was pretty dark to begin with. And the neck profile is a really soft asymmetrical trapezoid, so you're pretty close in your estimation!

@StratsRdivine haha well shoot, I've been hoping I don't go up against one of yours! I'm going to submit one of the recent 8 strings, depends on which person gets me a sound clip first.

Congrats! 

Finally went out and took pics of my other recent multi-8!

Voyager MS8
26.5-28" multiscale 8 string
Padauk body with wenge top
Wenge neck with padauk accent lam
Ebony fretboard, 20" radius
Jescar 47095SS fretwire
Bare Knuckle Nailbomb set with ceramic bridge
5-way rotary switch (bridge series, outer coils parallel, outer coils series, inner coils parallel, neck series)
Hipshot hardware

Bummer! Sorry I couldn't be more helpful here.

@Prostheta Ah, you're too kind, Carl! It means a lot, given that your work is the definition of 'clean and controlled'

@psikoT Thank you! (hopefully haha)

@pan_kara The Hipshot multi bridges are very nicely made, I'd love to see one featured in one of your builds!

@ScottR Thanks Scott! The limba/ziricote guitar is going to be in a bunch of promo material for a fairly well-known band, so a bit of flash won't be unwelcome. I think it'll look good, but I can always cut up something more subtle if it ends up being clashy. 

I tried to get an OEM account through them, but no dice. I can't even get the guy to respond to my emails or pick up the phone. I've got a DiMarzio account, if I can lend any assistance that way.

Awesome, I dig that crazy neck joint.

We're done here.

Exploder MS8

26.5-28" multiscale 8 string
Figured black limba body
Katalox neck with carbon reinforcement
Ebony fretboard with super jumbo stainless wire
Instrumental Electromagnetics SFTY3-8 pickup set
Hipshot hardware, nickel plated
Odie's Oil finish

Back to the neck!

Rough cut the scarf joint and run it through the compound scarf-o-matic:

Temporary clamp, drill alignment pins, real clamp with glue:

Unclamp, de-pin, adhere face veneer, do a bit of routing and drilling:

So now I've gotta get the top on there. 

This ziricote is fairly thin and I want to make sure the centerline stays where it should, so I'm making a new top clamping rig for this guitar.

Enter a melamine cabinet door (thanks grandpa):

The 1/4" holes are in the middle of the pickup routs and match corresponding holes I've drilled in the body core and top. I'll use short sections of steel rod as pins to keep everything aligned.

Now I make a sandwich- bottom caul, body core, top, top caul. Easy!

Simply add glue, clamp, wait, and presto!

Nice clean joint all around. 

Some glamour shots of the body and chosen fretboard:

Haha, that one was just for the obnoxious factor. 

So, on to the last thing. I've had some requests for a somewhat normal superstrat, so I'll give it a whirl.

Black limba body blank and ziricote top:

Wenge and maple neck blank:

Routing the body core to shape:

3 hours ago, Prostheta said:

On the other hand, some woods affect the instrument and how the strings strapped over them vibrate

Exactly! I'm sure we've all picked up a guitar that feels dead in your hands, it's not the experience I want when (poorly) playing music. My aim is to maximize the opportunity for connection and promote some sort of emotional synergy between player and instrument. Bonus points if it looks good too!

....I'm taking art and business classes concurrently, can you tell?

@psikoT Thank you! I've never been an Explorer guy, but I'm actually really happy with the Exploder. 

The padauk Pulsar took about 2 weeks to get to this point, on hold 'til I ship the Exploder.

@Prostheta- thanks for posting that!

@Jdogg- I don't really buy into the 'tonewood' thing for electric guitars. It's not that don't I think there's some sort of effect from using different woods, but between your pickups and the rest of your signal chain (with who knows how many reconfigurable parameters), you've got endless options to dial out things you don't like or punch up things you do.

However, I do look for woods with strength, stability, and the ability to resonate in a musical fashion. Padauk is ridiculously resonant, you can knock on it and get a very clear and loud 'bonggg' (technical term) that carries for a long time. For me that translates to a guitar that'll feel lively in your hands, which is a key part of feeling connected to the instrument. 

To compare padauk to other woods, it's harder than maple and similarly stiff, but cuts smoothly and fairly easily. Working with it is quite nice, aside from the buckets of neon orange dust.

On to the neck set and heel blend process:

This guitar is down to the final sanding stages, so I'll hop back on this next week once the Exploder has been shipped to its new home. 

I've got one more to add , but for now, thanks for looking!

On to catch-up for another current build! I redesigned the Pulsar (my Flying V analogue) and decided to go semi-ridiculous on the spec.

Full padauk body with sapwood stripe, padauk neck with cocobolo fretboard and accent lams.

Here's the body from board to shaped:

Neck stuff:

Holes for various wires:

Next post will catch us up!

@pan_kara- getting the chosen scales (26.5-28" in this case) to line up with a readily available bridge and retain a comfortable angle at the nut end was my main design concern, I don't mind the tiny bit at the fretboard's end that isn't parallel. Also, the owner can swap out the pickups (Instrumental SFTY3-8 here) for any of Bare Knuckle's range in 10 degrees or have something made to fit that semi-common template. It's just a lot easier than switching when a super custom set has been made.

I've definitely considered lasering my own bases and flatwork, but you've nailed my issue exactly: I don't have a winder yet. I've wound a few pickups and would definitely like to add that to my arsenal of in-house capabilities, especially for extended range and angled applications. Plus, I think it would be fun to experiment and play around with oddball magnets and patterns.

I just started reading your web-enabled winder thread and I am super interested in seeing how that little beastie develops!

Thanks Scott! Not much of a process for the pickup angles, to be perfectly honest. I made the routs for 10 degree baseplates because 10 degree pickups are fairly easy to come across in the ERG sphere.

My next project uses a similar 18 degree bridge (only a sixer though) and will get a custom 18 degree pickup for a better visual match.

Wizardry. 

That swirl turned out great!

Very belatedly- thanks everyone! And @pan_kara- that bridge is a Hipshot 18 degree 8-string bridge, finished in nickel.

Expecting to have the Exploder finished by the end of the day on Friday, here's where it is as of today:

I have a couple more current projects to show, will write a proper update soon. 

Whoa! I'm really interested to see how you pull this together.