Norris

How are you planning to fit the truss rod?

Edit: I ask this, as the fretboard would usually cover the truss rod, unless it is fitted from the rear - Strat-style with a skunk stripe

Not much to update this weekend, as I had a couple of gigs that left me too knackered to do much. I did however want to get the cable channel cut for the neck pickup. As I haven't acquired any fine chisels yet, I asked my father in law if he had any. What he came up with were these:

These chisels are about 90 years old, and were used by his father in his business making horse collars - those chunky leather collars worn by draught horses to pull carts & ploughs. Apparently it was a family business going back several generations.

I thought you might like a little bit of history

The lighter grain of the ash is quite soft in comparison to the darker parts.

I'll PM you to save de-railing this thread any more

14 minutes ago, Prostheta said:

Huh, it shouldn't be too hot by a long way. That +9v/-9v supply should handle anything thrown at it. I'll send you a new preamp if we can't figure out what's going on. That would at the very least identify if it is (or isn't) the problem.

 

It does exactly the same whichever of the two pre-amps I use. It's got to be the pickup - it's the only component that has changed. Unfortunately the original pickup has gone open circuit, although does make a very, very quiet sound

The "course" I am doing is more of a night school "club". basically keep paying your subs every term & build whatever you like. Some of the members have been going for years. They have built everything from intricately inlaid mandolins, through acoustic guitars, into rawking rock beasts of doom

21 hours ago, Prostheta said:

Man, I still can't believe how awesome that looks after the refurb....especially given the deathly state it was in prior! Even the brass bridge seems to have come out of the other side looking like a champ.

We replaced the preamp in there too, didn't we? There were some fun issues with distorting and I've temporarily forgotten how those came about....

I've been... erm... letting the nitro-cellulose cure a bit . I was actually thinking about it the other day.

At the moment the replacement Rautia Guitars MB-1E pickup seems to be too hot for the pre-amp (both the original & the Prostheta repro), causing distortion if I do anything but tickle the strings. I need to fit some in-line resistors to calm it down a bit, but that would be a long trial-and-error process to get the right values. It's about time I got it sorted though, as I'd like to gig it again (just for special occasions though!)

2 hours ago, gpcustomguitars said:

He also wants me to spray the top to solid black, but that would sort of hide first binding lam (black). Thinking of ways to keep it visible, other than adding cream purfling Any ideas?

Painted pinstripe "faux purfling"?

There are some great instruments on this thread - keep them coming.

Although barely vintage, here's my 1980 "batwing" SB-1000 for @Prostheta - I know you've seen it on basschat, but here's my bass that was re-finished by one of the instructors on my guitar building course.

Your guitars just get better and better - this one looks fantastic & I love the finish

If you want a tiny bit of criticism, the alignment & spacing of the rear ferrules is upsetting my OCD - something for you to work on

9 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

Good progress, Norris 

Not nearly as good as your progress on your camphor bass - that thing is motoring along! Still, I never started this as a sprint and I'm doing a lot of thinking before doing in the hope of getting a decent guitar at the end of it . In fact I had a good idea for the fret markers last night, which I will share in due course

I am no good at identifying wood except for the obvious ones, but could this be teak?

That thing is going to be pure pornography when it's polished up

More little fiddly things last night. I cut the truss rod anchor slot and the adjuster nut slot, then did the head cut. I'm hoping that I can use an offcut of the body top to veneer the head face.

On 20/11/2015, 16:23:33, mattharris75 said:

Alright, alright! I pulled the trigger last night and ordered all gold hardware.

If you hadn't, you would have regretted it afterwards 

Yay - I got some stuff done over the weekend.

Made the neck pocket template, tweaked the neck template to suit and cleaned up round the edges - mostly with a top bearing router bit, switched to a bottom bearing bit on the sections most likely to tear out.

So the neck is now ready for the head cut & drilling for the truss rod top nut at tonight's "lesson".

I also tweaked my thin chamber rout template to add the neck pickup cable rout, marked it out on the top & bottom body part and got busy with the graphite conductive paint.

I'll cut the pickup cable channel tonight so I can slap some graphite paint in it when I do a second (& third?) coat.

The graphite paint I used is a water-based product from catmussic99.co.uk - Guitar Shielding Paint. It goes on quite well, although dries pretty quickly, but it does cover well - that's about 1/3 of a 30ml bottle.

I have got my sample on a south facing window sill now, although quite how much light it's likely to get in these winter months is debatable. A chap I know was going to lend me a sunlight-simulation lamp - I don't know what he usually uses it for but it certainly doesn't help his short term memory (  ). You can only ask/remind so many times before you give up!

4 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

I actually don't use blacks very often, but do I remember the paper chromatography experiments in school where you put a drop of ink on some filter paper and then dip the end in water and the rising moisture separates the dyes?  Might be fun to try it  

Oh yes - school science lessons using alcohol on mashed up grass to separate out the chlorophyll

For a first build I think you've done a cracking job and produced a very good take on the explorer shape. I'm sure there are a few aesthetic changes you would probably make with hindsight, but that's for your next build .

I must crack on with my first build, which is really still in the "heap of wood" stage, but getting there slowly

It's a small but vital piece of the guitar and at least it's made now & the matching slot cut in the neck. I should hopefully get a bit more done on it this week - last week was a bit busy to leave any time to make progress.

Homework for this week: make a neck pocket template, cut my neck template to suit then rout around the neck to tidy it up, ready to do the head cut & drill for the truss rod adjuster.

Buy the gold hardware, save the chrome for your next build

I love the way that you're using flamed maple for a clamping board. Very decadent!

Two hours. One truss rod washer. Not worth photos. That is all.

Wow - what a fantastic finish

This is going to look amazing

2 hours ago, Prostheta said:

In terms of application or whether it is appropriate? It certainly works, but it's not my personal preference. I guess I enjoy applying copper foil for some strange psychological reason/dysfunction.

I was thinking of using paint so that I could cover the appropriate area of the top before gluing, then paint over the join line to connect them up. It's quite a big chamber and might prove awkward to connect up otherwise. I was thinking of doing the pick-up cable routes too.

Welcome Andy - and hijack away

I'm hoping to get the loan of a daylight simulation lamp soon, so I'll be able to start a controlled fade test on my sample.

I'm contemplating using conductive paint to shield the lower chamber. Any recommendations?