Prostheta

Now the prototype has been completed, the "themed" instrument is good to go. Simple spec as per prev: - 30" scale - flame maple neck - 54mm brass nut - cocobolo "biohazard" fretboard with 16" radius - jumbo fretwire - black binding on fretboard sides only - yellow side dot markers - four-over-four tuner arrangement on my modified "slender" Ken Lawrence headstock shape - two-piece sapele body - one EMG45-DC bridge pickup, possibly with the addition of an EMG45-CS in the neck position - Hipshot string-through hardtail bridge - GLOSS BLACK body and headstock face (i knew someone would look for that considering the RG2228's disappointing cosmo finish) - biohazard truss rod cover The design was drafted in CAD (as always, given it's my job) and i'm going to transfer this lot to template tomorrow night. The fingerboard is all thanks to Huntindoug, and a nifty piece of workmanship it is. The body should be around 40-42mm thick depending on how much planing I have to do to the blank after jointing. This should work nicely with the big ol' 19.1mm roundover bit due on my doorstep any day to leave a nice "Soundgear-ish" round edged body with a bit of care. A nice hefty arm contour should set this off. Here's something to whet your appetite:

Surprisingly well considering I have only given it a basic fret levelling. The gauge of the F# string (currently 0.064, soon to be trying out a 0.066 and 0.068) isn't too heavy to play and the string spacing is surprisingly easy to fret and to pick on. In fact, I would go as far as to say it's very easy! I was practicing four-string skipping and broken arpeggiation and after a short honeymoon period it was down top a tee. Anyway - as mentioned, i'm going to spend more time finessing the frets and actions etc. once we move house at the end of this month as I won't have a woodshop then. It'll be a case of a large fluffy towel, files, wire wool and masking tape on the dining table etc. In the meantime, I have the biohazard eight-string to build as this was technically just the prototype....that's going to be a speed build! :-D

It does run a little close to the fret bevelling when you get to the upper registers, but not enough to create playability problems.

Structure and geometry complete. String path straight and true and action good. Very pleased! Going to disassemble and finish sand the body before a nice thick sealing coat of Tru-oil goes on, and a few thin coats get wooled in afterwards.....

Anyone heard of Planet Waves? They're great leads.

As a combination it works really well, and gives a very solid tight low end tone. Very pleasing. Keep us updated.

Ugh. Too true....I went out of my way to figure out how to align the zebrawood and wenge in my eight-string build so I didn't drive myself crazy when using a spokeshave to carve the neck :-/

Do bear in mind that when you cut lumber, stresses within the wood which were balanced out whilst it was "in it's previous shape" may be released. Cut your laminates and let them acclimatise for a few days in case they decide to warp a little. It's not happened to me (thankfully) but as I recall, it's not unknown. PTU7s: This wouldn't prevent warp per se, it would just balance out two (hopefully) equal movement forces within the wood if it did decide to warp. Patience is best when cutting up wood and laminating it. Best to let it do it's own thing before you make it into something you want to stay in one shape! Cut it up, leave it, check it again for straightness and if it hasn't moved, glue 'er up! Somebody more experienced please corroborate this.

As a rule, no natural material is warp-proof although using the right cut and orientation of the wood will allay the warping to a degree. You could slice the neck wood in half and laminate a stiffer wood in there such as wenge, bubinga, ebony (spectacular but expensive) and it'll be a lot more stable.

It definitely has nothing to do with luck - this is basic electricity safety and not trying to kill yourself!

Is that template your own, or bought? It looks nice and thick (two bearings on your router bit for safety?) plus very well made. Shame the pickup routs are already in there as thats a great place to drive some screws into the body wood to secure the template when shaping :-D

Well, it's not a shade on an actual acoustic but it's as good as it'll get short of Variax modellers etc. I think opinions are that the Graphtec GHOST system (with the preamp system) sounds a lot better than the LR Baggs offering.

Uhhh...you have a deathwish by the sounds of it, man! I had a bad tone day today at practice, but then I realised I wasn't chunking into the strings hard enough - after that realisation I was growling back up on top :-D Your mood changes the way you play, or at least it does me. I wasn't concentrating and the mood just wasn't there.

I'm planning doing a sacrilegious Dimebag video next....just got to choose the right video....

After sorting the intonation out and playing for a while at pitch, I think the F# string could do with being a .066, but the B string seems fine. I'll probably try a slightly heavier gauge for the B anyway so-I-know but it holds pitch extremely well, intonates fine and overall it's a damn fine fixed bridge instrument! I was worried about the tension being too low over a 30" scale, after all the F# string is pretty much a D on a standard bass set tuned one step up from the E on a bass....it works though! It's a different feel to a bass for sure.

It's a Hipshot bridge. Not overly expensive and good quality for the price! The only option is string-through body however but that's no big deal. The D'Addario EXLs i've strung it up with had enough length for the 30" scale even on the A and D strings. http://www.hipshotproducts.com/cart.php?m=...t_list&c=19

I'm kind of wondering what material to use for the nut however....i'm not looking forward to machining a lump of brass to fit as I don't have the gear to do so :-( or is that patience? A black CA grainfill should close up the pores nicely and should save on the Tru-oil, Zyon! Again, patience might be my enemy on that one as it's pain to sand back....

Thanks :-D It's just an RG with more "organically flowing" contouring really so no credit can be taken for the design aspect other than a bit of math and modification. The contouring was inspired by Batfink's Nocturne NC1-KD. The flash on my camera really makes it look rough as hell though :-\ The body colour should darken nicely with a good Tru-oiling.

Update, jumalauta!! Temporary nut for the moment, I need to do a lot more finish sanding on the body, level and dress the frets and fret ends, but everything lines up perfectly. Need to pop springs under the pickup screws as it's currently locked down to the body with a gap of 6mm-8mm which i'm sure I can reduce! Jack socket needs routing in (side jack, Strat-style bent to the edge contour). If I feel saucy enough, I reckon I can drop in a couple of extra frets too :-D The string gauges are .065, .054, .042, .032, .024, .016, .011, .009 however I may increase the F# and B string gauges to .66/.68 and .56 respectively to maintain tension and tonality, or just go the whole hog and increase the "standard 6" to a .010 set and go for the .68 and .56 on the lower register....best get the instrument dressed and polished first before I go there!

Hahahahaha.... I managed to slip knight rider and the flintstones theme tune in there, plus some farts :-D

Worked out really well for me too. Definitely not an easy wood to work with, but it does teach you to constantly clean and hone your planes and spokeshaves during construction! I backstrapped the back of the headstock scarf also. Wouldn't have it any other way. Full shot of the back of the neck (larger than 640 x 480....)

Whew. I have to re-iterate that beer and fretting are mutually exclusive pastimes, both of which can cause headaches if you rush headlong into them without prior planning :-D Maybe. The boards I have had from LMII haven't had uber-deep slots, perhaps from the standpoint of a fresh unradiused board they *look* deep, but they soon become shallower when you radius and level for sure. Also, slots that are too narrow are better than too wide of course! That's just common sense. I've never had to bevel in the slots myself, but then again I used my drill press and the StewMac press cauls to do my fretting. Hammering throughout is a good art, but one I have no immediate or long term reason to learn unless I build tons more guitars/basses! I just hammer the edges slightly to overbend them :-D

hah. the fdiifference between four and eight beeers is all to obbviosu

Ummm....i've too addled from watching the 2-0th anincary frediidie maecut viedeo. Trying noet o make too many sware words here/ ahh So yah. Compromise btween benwding fretat. and then makign then ebei n holes and sots etc. make then be in thersuifiosiomg ha,,er and ca. i would say So beykdonf confisdecen ion my abulat uito make insutmnr.ts. tomotrwowe i make the 98-string work. marye

The point was made that he isn't combining fretting with picking which makes it baseless. Like saying you can win the Tour De France just because you're a whizz on a static exercise bike, etc. Fast music isn't about the number of notes you can play. That's boooring. It's about applying technique, melody, style and moreover *restraint*! The best "fast" solos are the thoughtful ones. Listen to Extreme's "Play With Me" or indeed loads of Nuno for thoughful playing! Speed IS an important colour in my palette, but not by any means the only one which is all these "it's not fast enough" geeks hammer on (partial joke intended) about.