mistermikev

looks good.  that abalone really pops against the black... fb and headstock.

38 minutes ago, ADFinlayson said:

For the record, I am not saying that I think multi lam maple necks are cheap, I really like them (esp with go faster stripes)  but I am saying that a lot of cheaper guitar necks are made that way. I'm thinking about the hondo bass I refretted last year and maple PRS SEs etc. So the persona of cheapness is probably there for a lot of players. In a lot of cases it has nothing to do with appearance or stability, but that 3x 1" maple boards are much cheaper than 1x 3" maple boards in material terms.

no, I didn't take it that way.  it is just your impression of the style - nothing wrong or right about that... just is.  wait, did you just say you think hondo is cheap?  I am offensiveded.

36 minutes ago, ScottR said:

I personally like the look and feel of one piece necks the best. But I've made two and three piece necks as well. For me it's about the wood choice I've made first, and the size I can get it in next. Then I use as many pieces as it takes to fit my neck profile.

SR

right on.  I love one piece (well two piece w a fretboard right) but for some things multi-lam just seems "more righter", like some of the high end ken smith and warwick basses.

def does not look right to me on a strat or tele.

57 minutes ago, Bizman62 said:

Don't get me wrong, for everyday furniture I appreciate the ikea philosophy a lot. For our kitchen table the finger jointed slat top is perfect. It's mostly hidden under the tablecloth and unlike a veneered or laminated top it can be sanded and relacquered in case it wears out. And it saves a LOT of wood which I like! But I wouldn't build a natural finish guitar out of it under normal circumstances.

Then again, IKEA guitars made of finger joined bits and pieces might be the next green craze! Now what's their phone number and should I call directly their headquarters in Sweden? My Swedish isn't that rusty, guess I could negotiate a percentage for the idea if they buy it...

funny, was just involved in a thread on facebook regarding a finger jointed headstock.  I said it looks cheap because it reminds me a lot of two things: flooring and moudings.  I also think it just doesn't seem like it would be that stable due to the short grain... but what do I know.  I guess they did this on taylors for a while... wonder why they stopped because according to the expert on facebook it was a super strong joint and the only reason luthiers don't use it is because it's difficult to do. 

IKEA... hmmm... wonder where our resident fine furniture expert is?  @Prostheta what say ye?  IKEA =  good or bad?

3 minutes ago, Bizman62 said:

A friend who's a trained luthier and has worked for a while in a bespoke guitar factory had learned the same during his studies. Just stacking similar woods without an idea doesn't require creativity, it's just plain carpentry. Strong, yes. Interesting looking? Not so much. Bookmatching is an example of a planned seam without accentuation, so is making the seam invisible by choosing a similar grain pattern.

One reason for it looking cheap is the widely used inexpensive boards made out of slats. Suffice to say "IKEA"...

how dare thee speak ill of the great ikea.  you just don't "GET" fine cabinetry.

cheap - I could see that... but then again... I look at the early slip matched les pauls and think whao... spendy.  I don't really agree with the historical accurate crazy-ness like some of the maniacs over at mylespaul... but have to admit... there is something to that whole not bookmatched thing that looks great on a les paul. 

I spose we all have to choose our own line between what is generally accepted as 'hi faluten luthery' and 'simple beauty'.  I love the look of my hamer's neck, but had a dean bass with veneer strips that looked cheap to me... guess I'm doing it wrong!  admittedly this whole conversation has its origin in my plans to build a spector like bass... and I fully intend to put some veneer between the 4 strips of maple ns4 be damned!  Guess I'll have to admit that I'm doing it because it looks, well... fancier?

I just received some brazillian rosewood strips from b and b rare woods.  not black but I think 'close nuff'.  also got some beautiful flamed ash... be a shame to use it for accent but only 5 or 6" wide so... think that'll be it's fate on the other bass I'm planning.

19 minutes ago, ADFinlayson said:

I don't really pay much attention to the properties of something I'm only using as a veneer. I'm sure there is a valid argument for a veneer between laminates providing strength, but I expect it is probably negligible, in fact it is probably the extra glue that provides said strength, the veneer is .5mm thick so I can't see it has a real impact, I just use it for the visual aspect - 3 pieces of maple stuck together looks like a "cheap" neck, but 3 pieces of maple with something contrasting between looks cool while only adding about £2 to the material cost.

I wasn't saying the oak as a veneer would add strength... but more considering it's use as say a 1/4" strip - in place of wenge - to add rigidity.  I agree the most one can hope for from a veneer is to not take away any strength but yeah... it's really just decoration.

interesting that you think a multi piece neck looks cheap... I wonder if that's a commonly held thought (not necc disagreeing) never occurred to me.  the spector basses are all done this way.  4 pieces of flamed maple w o any accent.  my hamer steve stevens and a few others.  veneer does look nice tho.

7 hours ago, ADFinlayson said:

I posted this on instagram a couple of days ago. I laminated 3 flamed maple offcuts with bog oak veneer for accent strips. It's black naturally so no dye needed. I don't know what sourcing it on your side of the pond will be like, but it was pretty cheap for me to get off ebay, something like £20 for a long sheet. I've also used it between the top and body on the Billy Bongo bass.
 

 

missed your post before.  Right on.  I actually was looking at some 'fumed' oak that is supposed to look like actual bog oak... as I understand bog oak itself is uber spensive.  I guess they just take oak and put it in a sealed container with vinegar and the tannin in it turns it all black.  Pretty much the sm process as ebonizing.  I saw over at 'certainly wood' they have some rather reasonable and long rolls of it so... will likely go with that too.

oak strikes me as a LOT like wenge.  very brittle, very ridgid, very prone to blowouts.  a bit heavier in general and a lot harder on the knives.  I like it a lot for guitar wood altho I don't think I'd want to see a whole neck made of it (zero spring)or body for that matter(heavy).  it seems like it would be ideal for reinforcement in the sm capacity as wenge.  given it's readily available and cheap here... I might have to try turning some of it black to see how that works.

thanks for the suggestion.

1 hour ago, killemall8 said:

Thanks! I post there every now and then. Seems like that crowd is more interested in BC rich guitars.

 

they are a little funny over there.  cracks me up guys with a whole room full of warlocks!  Still it went over pretty well and a few people oogled and ahed at it so... alls well.

54 minutes ago, ScottR said:

Think of it this way.

Way back when, I started carving for the fun of it. That lead to the discovery of what figure is. About that time Santana was all over the place playing his crazy figured PRS. And I was/am a huge lover of music and particularly well played guitar. With these disparate concepts percolating in my head I met what became a good friend and he happened to be a musician. After being shown new carvings as I finished them, he said man, as much as you like music, you ought to carve a guitar. And the light bulb went off.

So bottom line, I'm just carving guitars, and carving is still a buttload of fun, so no, it's not a lotta work, it's a lotta fun!

SR

that's a great way of looking at it... but for me... I guess I just don't like the parts that are physically hard.  I don't mind 32 tedious steps... but yeah... the physical part seems like "less fun" anyway!

49 minutes ago, Bizman62 said:

Had. WW2 snipers wounded twice rarely live past 90... That trick must've been some trench warfare pastime activities, or even a kids' joke from the time when allowing matches to underaged people was still legal!

oh, I bet the stories he had were awesome.  my grandfather was in ww2... he's passed now.  I wish I'd asked more when I had the chance.

19 minutes ago, ScottR said:

I carve it close to a line I marked and then sand it flat with a small hard sanding block.

SR

dang... I bet that's a lotta work... and it looks SO flat.  nice job.

that's pretty cool.  I'm gonna have to try one of those next time.  I just ordered a few reg flex strong for current/future builds and am always thrilled with how easy they turn/welds.  not much more than anywhere else and just awesome.  I love the idea of something lighter... but it seems like it would require either a special bit or multiple passes with a 1/8".

neck is looking awesome btw.  how do you keep your backside surface flat like that w just hand tools?

41 minutes ago, Bizman62 said:

As I said, the sandwich construction is significantly stronger than the sum of the blanks and veneers used. A two part neck is more stabile than a single blank because there's opposite tensions. Adding a single 0.5 mm veneer of any type also adds two extra layers of glue which is harder than wood. More brittle but stiffer. If you're worried about disintegration, just think about how wood splits: You can bend and crack to the thinnest direction of it, both length and width wise, both prevented by the thicker parts of the sandwich. No wood will split into bookmatched halves just by pulling apart! You'd need a blade of sorts for that, be it a knife, a chisel or a saw. Another example: Take a plastic coated playing card, glue handles on both sides. There's no way you could separate the plastic from the paper/cardboard just by pulling, you'd have to twist it the best you can and still struggle. And any veneer is stronger than paper or cardboard which actually are just thin veneers of fibreboard.

Oh, and I lied about splitting wood into halves along the length! My uncle taught me how to split a burned match: Burn the match up to the very end by grabbing the burned end and letting the other end burn as well. Lick your palms wet and place the match on one, then press the other against it. The match now burned into coal will disintegrate into two equal looking stripes on your palms!

right I'm aware of that... but I would wonder why not just use bulsa wood then?  you did say "any type" hehe.  I admit I'm getting hung up on a detail that probably isn't going to amount to a big dif.  sounds like tulip and/or poplar are fine.

you have a very strange uncle to have figured that out!  lol

17 minutes ago, Bizman62 said:

Some more food for thought: If the double sticking combination of masking tape and super glue is strong enough for routers, planer thicknessers and other power tools despite being so easy to deattach, shouldn't a piece of veneer soaked in solid drying wood glue be much stronger? Masking tape can be ripped by bare hands any direction, 0.5 mm veneer splits easily only length wise. Sanwiched between thicker blanks most anything will add to stability more than the strength of the veneer. Even a piece of cloth soaked in glue would do that, just think about fiberglass!

good to know afa dying.  I was aware that most are pressure dyed... but thought perhaps it might work ok given the thin nature of veneer.

welp... to be sure I have no doubts that it isn't going to blow up in your hands... but more concerns that it would be less strong/rigid/stable as a result of adding something that is purely cosmetic.  Not losing sleep over the idea... but just want to make an informed choice. 

I see that woodtoworks and b and b rare woods have dyed tulipwood/poplar... and I spose I could use that... and I'm sure it would be fine... but then perhaps I should spring the $45 to get a couple strips of actual ebony.

thanks for the reply biz.  I had considered glue saturation too and I def think you are on to something there... yet in a little research on this and other forums (see above thread) I'm finding some less and positive remarks.  (not the part about fibre, but later the part about using any store bought veneer in a neck.  Ideally I'd really like to use wood that matches the quality of wood of the rest of the neck but for black - problematic ie spensive.

So... this leads me to my next guess... what if you take some raw wood veneer - say ash, that has grain direction right... and you dye it black.  i'm assuming being so thin the black would be soaked completely thru the wood... and it thus would retain the black after cutting?

32 minutes ago, ShatnersBassoon said:

Yes I was scratching my head trying to figure the thing out. I did get a Chinese bridge recently on Ebay which seems to be OK, although it was too wide for my neck so had to do some modifying. To be honest my experience is that most of the bridges I have found have been Chinese... It seems that the ones that aren't are prohibitively expensive, the Hipshots being an example. There doesn't seem to be a huge amount of options out there. 

if I'm not mistaken gotoh is all japanese and is quite reasonable.  some of the chinese stuff is good, some not.  it just depends... I don't think it's "all bad" or anything.  I believe the wilkinson stuff is all chinese and some of that is pretty good... just on aliexpress you will find a lot of things that say wilkinson but are probably neither wilkinson nor good.  ymmv. 

use tulipwood in a neck lam?  I know folks freq use black dyed veneer as accent on lam necks but everywhere I find it it seems to be tulipwood or poplar and while we are probably only talking about 1/42" of that type of wood... it would be the thing holding on to the wood on either side of it so... kind of gives me pause. 

so my q: if you do lam necks... what would you use for a nice black accent line?

sources for dyed veneer specificaly for lam necks?

as tempting as it may be... not sure I'd snag any hardware from aliexpress or china in general... their precision machining is well... not. 

also their descriptions tend to be anything that will sell.  This does not look like any sort of headless design to me at all... unless you ran the strings out the back and to some tuners, but they clearly have insets for string balls.  makes me think they just thought 'headless ought to sell it'.

I have seen other actual headless bridges from china that appear to be based on the k&m design... and have thought about it... but again... my experience with chinese hardware is that it is problematic.  esp under high tension.  just one a-holes o so ymmv.

looks like the black is a start of one and finish of another... so one red wire is pos and one red wire is black and if it has an additional black wire it should be ground... but the best way to tell is using a multimeter.

as always... top notch. 

I bet the guys on the 'pointy guitars' fb group would eat this stuff up.  I posted yer pic over there - hope you don't mind.  spread the guitar porn I figure.

looking good.  kind of surprised you didn't put the rangemaster inside your build... then again GE - maybe not a great idea inside a guitar.  Pedal will be a nice combo w those pickups.

just trying to help... but if you are doing a channel... you could use a big square plexi base and that will deflect 99.5% of everything back into the channel.  just a thought.

1 hour ago, Bizman62 said:

You may be right. Then again, guitar pickups don't have too many wires so they look like soldering extension spots. Plus they look like the copper is on top of the brass with some insulation in between.

Oh and by the way, it looks more like a Jolana Diamant Spektrum humbucker as the Iris seems to be a single coil for their Tele-ish model.

I would posit that anything other than testing with a multimeter is going to be "just a guess". 

4 minutes ago, Bizman62 said:

The wooden clamps with a similar off-centered circle work just fine, it's proven hi-tech from the past - and still alive!

right on.  I'm told the holdfast is as old as workbenches.  I'm not aware if cam clamps are as old... but I love the low profile/tech nature. 

On 2/28/2020 at 2:38 PM, Aaaaaaaaaaaa said:

Hey I bought this Jolana Iris pickup a month or so ago and I was just curious if anyone knew which black wire would be my ground and perhaps what the other one would go to??

while it would make sense that the four blocks represent the four ends of the  coil wire... and the big block should be ground... any number of things coul be happening on the other side of that plate.  I do not recommend you just start desoldering things because more than likely there is a fine wire under those globs of solder that are in fact the coil wires.  If you disconnect them: no worky no more. 

best place to start is a multimeter and confirm that on the other side the inner two coils are connected in series.