Xanthus

@Thoughtless7: Man, thinking outside of the box is so hard. Going along with the crowd is so easy! @Rich and Curtis: Thanks for the quick info on condenser vs dynamic. That's basically the gist of what I already knew; condensers are fragile things. Luckily I've got phantom power, so supplying the mic isn't much of a concern. Because my gear seems to never come off scot-free during a move, gig, organizing, what-have-you (I swear, it's not me!) the condensers might be out of the picture. If I get some free time this week, I'll go down to the GC and sound test some mics. I think they have most of the ones I listed.

Here's some $.02! The pickups are too close together for me, personally. And I'd vote against the red stain, because the mahogany is a nice color as-is. I don't know how well that nut clamp will work for ya, seeing as the Bigsby doesn't have fine-tuners. You do have the roller bridge, though, so that is going to help. What kind of pickups are those, and why white, if I might ask? I don't see the need for a pickguard, especially a white one, on a shape that is already cramped for space.

Sweet! The neck looks nice from the back, too. I hope Dave Myka doesn't come after you for the dragonfly logo

Hey all, another question. I'd put this in the Vote section, but honestly, I don't feel like it gets enough attention. Who wants to be bothered to scroll allllll the way down there anyways? I'm looking to pick up a mic with the money my buddy owes me for a music project, as well as a bit of my own, if need be. I'm looking to pick up a mic with the following specs: -under $200 -good for inst and vocals (mainly inst) -i really don't know the difference between dynamic and condenser, so it doesn't matter much I play jazz and metal, and a bit of jazzmetal, so a mic that can handle some gain would be nice. I'd like to use it for vocals too, if and when I get around to recording anything, but my main concern is a good instrument mid. I made a list based on my own opinions and others I've talked to: *Electrovoice N/D967 (a brand I've never heard of) *Audio-Technica AT2041SP 2-pack *Audix i5 (their vocal mics are awesome) *AKG Perception 220 *Shure SM57 (clearly) The Shure is the old standby for most of the world. I'm a big fan of not using whatever equipment the "others" are using, so I'd like to shy away from this if at all possible. I've picked a mic from a few of the big names, trying to cover all my bases. All are under $200, with the EV being the most expensive. The AT 2-pack is pretty cool, seeing as 2 mics are better than one. The EV was recommended to me by a guy at GC. I don't know how much water that holds, but still, thought I'd throw it out there. Any thoughts, anyone?

I like the "scene" inlays as well, though every time I see them, it just kills me that it's not on a fretless board

Dowels, definitely. As much wood and as little glue as possible. It would even be better to get a dowel that is slightly oversized, and sand it down to ensure a very snug fit.

Thanks for the link, Joel! And at iHocky, the tung oil I'm using is from Minwax, and it's basically a wipe-on finish with a bit of tung oil on it. The can says it cures for handling in 24 hours, and from what I've used of it, it gets hard pretty fast after that. So I'm not too worried. But definitely the wipe on/off idea, I don't want cloudy spots! I might use micromesh for sanding, seeing as I have a set of pads handy.

I have used the blue masking tape, but I've had better results with pinstriping tape for the edge, and masking tape over it for more protection. You're going to inevitably get a tape ridge where the finish builds up against it, though. Unless you're really really good

Hey all. I'm in the process of planning out a Warmoth assembly for one of my brother's friends. Regarding the neck, I've come up with a simple question that I'm surprised I haven't been able to find on the boards already. Most people do a hard lacquer finish on their one-piece maple necks. Well, I'm looking to finish the body and neck in Minwax tung oil, and was wondering how, if at all, to go about doing the fretboard. I've never worked with a maple fretboard before, but since I've read lots of literature requiring the fretboard to be sealed, I was wondering if tung oil would work. Also, because it's a Warmoth neck it's going to have the frets already in. Would the oil interfere at all with the frets? I know it'll definitely make sanding more difficult but I can't think of any other reasons.

Blegh. The raised C portions make it look so boxy. Side note....... Did I miss what happened to the Vampyre, Pro?

Hooray for you! And hooray for J, for being a cool dude. I like the body shape, it looks very round and comfortable. I'd just say to keep in mind, though, that carving a top will add three-dimensionality (duh ) to the grain of the wood, and will make even the plainer side look more lively. But I definitely see how you're thinking, that the left side is one-upping the right side. It's the same thing on my V build, one of the wings is so much prettier than the other. Have you wet the grain with anything? It'll give you a better idea of how the wood will look once it's cleared over.

Eh, it's a little on the pinker side to me. I thought that purpleheart leaned more to the darker. But to each his own I'm a bit confused, even after reading through the post a couple times, where exactly each type of wood is going.... Specifically the spalted maple. And with such a low budget, you're expected to spend the rest of it on Bareknuckle pickups!!! :D

Wow, that's a great shape! The horns are balanced, the curves are perfect! Do you have any other specs?

WOW. I totally dig! Especially the acoustic. +1 to the coolest acoustic I've seen in a while. So, how is this 14 string working out, 7 string double-coursed? The headstock should be an interesting endeavor, especially because it's an acoustic with all the weight on the headstock. For the electric, I personally would have kept the lower horn the same and brought in the rest of the design by maybe a half inch all around. Something about it looks a tad too "thick" to me. But otherwise, it's a great looking design! ::EDIT:: Aaaactually, looking again, I think it's more because the lower horn is carved, making it look smaller. I'd need a full-frontal shot to be sure, but I think it would look more balanced with the front shot.

Nice looking! Is that going to be a tele output jack? And what was the purpose of the circles on the bench, just to hold it in place?

I find it a bit hard to be metal with an acorn inlay on your fretboard I, however, really like the shape, and the smooth top carve adds something good to it. In fact, I don't think it should NOT have a carved top, now that I see a picture of a flat top to compare it to. I'm glad you ended up using the gold/silver inlayed board, Doug. The design is killer. So what's next in line for this build? Any finishing ideas?

+1 And bancika, as far as I know, all of the bridges you posted require neck angles, or a bridge recess

Hmm..... In need of answers again, guys ... The tung oil I bought says that cleanup should involve mineral spirits. Well, I had a can of mineral spirits and was 1 second away from using it to wetsand the guitar, when I remembered how easily it took the oil off the foam brush I used to apply it (which worked like a charm, much better than a bristle brush). Am I missing something here? It seems to me that using the spirits as a medium would eat right through the oil, no?

I shudder. I see that guitar every so often, and I just... shudder. Happily awaiting more progress pics!

All the way up to 12000? I should've done it to my board before fretting. I might tape it off after I'm done, polish the frets, then tape the frets and hit the board with some mesh, before lemon oiling it. Looking good, Rick!

I meant that the longer scale emphasizes the lower end frequencies, making the tone darker. To me i.e. bass scales. Longer scales make for a deeper sound.

The first thing that jumps to my mind is price. But I was playing my amp before a gig last night, and just kept thinking how much EASIER it would be to get a good tone out of an amp if you weren't limited to a 3-knob setup for tone shaping. Add to that the fact that a lot of people EQ their sound anyways, before the amp with a pedal, or after it with a rack. It just seems like such a better option. BASS, MID, and TREBLE are all pretty vague, and the same setting on one amp can be (and usually is) much different on another. However, a 6db boost at 1k is always the same. Give me a 15 band EQ, gain, and presence, and I'd be in business. Any thoughts? I don't know about amp production, so I don't know if there is anything elementary about it that I'm missing.

I found the best way to do a volute and thickness the headstock at the same time is with a drum sander, if you have one. Using a fence, or better yet, putting the press horizontal (I lucked out; I have a lathe), will give you a smooooooooth volute and a properly thicknessed headstock. check it.

It's a bit of a side point, but a 25.5" scale is a "darker" quality... But I agree with what's been said before. Quality over quantity. I don't see how 1.75" became standard thickness for electrics, and I don't think amount of wood/body depth has nearly as much to do with sound quality on an electric, as it does on an acoustic.

I dig. I feel the shape is a bit electronics-cavity-heavy, but it's pretty snazzy otherwise. I'm also finding out that Tru-Oil is great for bringing out "hidden figure" in the woods. How many coats of oil did you put on? Did you end up doing a final buffing?