biliousfrog Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 Right then...Here's the second attempt at my blue single cut. I feel confident enough now to make my own neck for this & almost everything is ready to go so I figured, it must be time for a proper WIP. The specs have changed a little from when I first started work on this but it will look almost identical... Body: 2" hollowed sapele, 3/4" rippled sycamore top (possibly 1/8" flamed maple back?), curvey dot soundholes. Neck: 3 piece sonokeling (rosewood), rosewood fingerboard with matching rosewood binding in a Myka stylee. 25" scale. Electronics: 2x Lace P90's, Ghost Piezo preamp & quick switch. Hardware: Tonepros/Graphtech wrapover bridge with Piezo saddles, Graphtech nut, schaller straplocks, jumbo fretwire. So far I've got the sycamore & sapele joined & ready to thickness & the body & neck jigs cut out. I'm still a little unsure what to do with the back of the body. Originally I had some very nicely figured maple that I was going to use for the front but it is too shallow for a carve top which is why I got some sycamore instead (plus I wanted to be a little different). So I now don't know whether to: A. have the back just flat with a rounded over edge B. have a tummy cut which will need to be copied into the inside of the hollowed body C. hollow out the entire body leaving just a rim round the edge & using the flamed maple on the back which would look quite similar to the front a'la 335. Any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim_ado Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 do A and then have it jet black i think that would look cool of do B then have it jet black just have it jet black lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biliousfrog Posted April 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 hey, black wasn't on the list! Although I don't mind the PRS guitars with black backs I wanted to leave the sapele quite natural. I've got some brown-black & red-brown stain to enhance the ribbon figure but other than that I wanted it natural. I'm also using Rustin's plastic so I don't think that it can go over other paints. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim_ado Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 mmm then id go with C and put a nice inlay strip up the middle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bygde Posted April 19, 2007 Report Share Posted April 19, 2007 mmm then id go with C and put a nice inlay strip up the middle Looks kinda PRS:ish...nice looking guitar! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biliousfrog Posted April 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2007 I've been slogging away at this over the past few weeks. I've got a blister between my thumb & finger from planing so much but at least everything is nice & flat now. I spent today chambering the body & double/triple checking that everything is as it should be. The pic shows the progress so far & the wood selection, rippled sycamore, flame maple & sapele. The body is only roughly cut so that I could get deeper into the body with my drill press & forstner bit...damn that shallow throat depth! I also managed to forstner my thumb when some quick-grip clamps broke, the bit decided that it would grab the nearest piece of wood & pull my hand towards it...didn't do much damage but hurt like hell. Luckily I had the template screwed to the body so it only chewed that a bit, I would have been seriously p!$$£d if it damaged the wood after planing it so much! The triangle hole thingy along the centre line is from a cock-up when I was testing out my router before the edges were glued. It will be cleared out when the deep neck mortice is cut so I didn't worry about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myka Guitars Posted April 22, 2007 Report Share Posted April 22, 2007 (edited) Looks really nice. I love your idea for the soundholes. I also like your chamber shapes! This will be a nice guitar when you are done. If it were me I would keep the back natural and roundover and tummy cut it. Although the flamed maple on the back would look sweet I love the way the sapele looks. Now if you had a matching piece of sycamore I might try that. I am sure it will look great whatever you decide. ~David Edited April 22, 2007 by Myka Guitars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted April 22, 2007 Report Share Posted April 22, 2007 I'm TOTALLY just projecting my own fears out there-- after "quieting the beast" and taking other precautions on my p90 guitar, I still hate the hum levels I get. It's really just my crap apartment, but if you have a less than ideal environment, you might be in the same boat as me. So, anyhow, what I'm wondering is if you've considered the Lace 900 or 905, or something like the Wilkinson stacked p90's, or even a Gibson P100. I think P90s rule, but I can't handle true single-coils anymore. Speaking to the guitar itself: I love your design. It's got enough tips of the hat to classic design that you're not creating something wonky; however, it's got its own distinct flavour to it that I really like. As others have stated, your soundhole thingies are cool, too. I like the almost "folk" vibe they impart. It keeps the design new yet somehow rootsy... had to describe. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted April 22, 2007 Report Share Posted April 22, 2007 Very cool guitar. To my eyes, it looks better than a PRS. As to single coils... it really is a crapshoot. I rehearse in a house where I can't use my humbuckers in single-coil mode--it hums so loud, it sounds like something is wrong. But then we play in a room on campus and single-coil mode is DEAD QUIET! I should add, the guitar I'm talking about has no special shielding of the control cavity, and no shielded wire beyond the pickup leads. But so far, to my ears, single coils in general have more character (especially for clean sounds), so I think it's worth the troubles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biliousfrog Posted April 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2007 Body: 2" hollowed sapele, 3/4" rippled sycamore top (possibly 1/8" flamed maple back?), curvey dot soundholes. Neck: 3 piece sonokeling (rosewood), rosewood fingerboard with matching rosewood binding in a Myka stylee. 25" scale. Electronics: 2x Lace P90's, Ghost Piezo preamp & quick switch. Hardware: Tonepros/Graphtech wrapover bridge with Piezo saddles, Graphtech nut, schaller straplocks, jumbo fretwire. Yes, I've considered the Lace P90's I've got a set of original fender gold's in my strat & they're almost 100% hum free, even when sitting in front of my PC. I've no idea what they're going to sound like compared to original P90's but I don't really care as long as they sound good & I've heard good things. Thanks for all the compliments. I came up with the design about a year ago & it's been my work PC's wallpaper ever since. After a few weeks I tweaked it a little but it's basically the same design, I see it every day & I'm still happy with it so I must have done something right . I've always like PRS guitars but I'm not very impressed with the single cut's, they don't seem unique enough compared to the double cut's. I wanted to make something a little PRS'ish, a little bit like the EVH guitars by Peavey & Music Man & a bit like some of the Aria single cut's. I wanted something versatile but uncomplicated & sufficiently different to anything else I own. I'm most likely going to use the flame maple on the back of the guitar or, as David suggested, some matching sycamore. I would have liked to keep the back all sapele but I found a knot when planing the body, it falls in the middle of the lower chamber so I could remove/cover it easily. I can also try my hand at cutting out a matching cavity cover & maybe a heel cap for the neck. The maple is more tightly figured than the sycamore but I think that they could be a good match, especially if I bleach the maple a little. I might even be able to add a little curve to the back...I might make a mockup later to see what it could look like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted April 23, 2007 Report Share Posted April 23, 2007 How the heck didn't I see that? <laff> A sure sign of the times (even though I'm not a young dude) that the attention span wasn't even such that I read such a short post letter-by-letter. And yet, I foist epic-lengthed drivel on people. Shame on me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biliousfrog Posted April 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2007 just a quickie....haven't had a chance to do any more work yet but just got off the phone to Timberline/Exotic Hardwoods & they've got some true Indian Rosewood at 36"x3"x3", quarter sawn & very straight grained apparently. Costs more than sonokeling but will enable me to make a one-piece neck & is much nicer than any of their indonesian rosewood. Should be here tomorrow...woot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted April 24, 2007 Report Share Posted April 24, 2007 How are you finishing that rosewood neck? I'm curious... could you leave a rosewood neck "unfinished" and apply the same stuff you wipe onto the fingerboard? A "raw" neck like this could be super cool, if it would hold up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biliousfrog Posted April 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2007 you don't normally need to finish rosewood although lemon oil or similar is recommended for fingerboards to stop it drying out. I've applied a tiny bit of teak oil to my rosewood fingerboards, I found that it deepens the colours & gives a slightly glossier feel. I might try something similar but I would like to keep it as natural as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted April 25, 2007 Report Share Posted April 25, 2007 That sounds cool. I think an "unfinished" rosewood neck would feel amazing. PRS does a guitar with a rosewood neck: http://prsguitars.com/moderneagle/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biliousfrog Posted April 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2007 Neck profile is cut after several attempts at working out the neck/carve top angles. I've got enough leftover rosewood to make a bolt-on/standard set neck...the question is, do I make one or sell it?...I guess if I make a neck I'd need to make a body to go with it The wood is great, lovely figure, deep colours & is an absolute dream to plane. It's amazing to watch when working with it, it goes a deep purply-redy-brown when cut or planed & then slowely mellows to a more chocolatey brown over a day or so. I picked up the blank this afternoon to work on it & was amazed at the change in colour. The only problem with it is the dust. It's very nice to plane but when putting it through the bandsaw it left a thick coating of dust everywhere even with extraction fitted. I'm unable to find anywhere in the UK or europe that sells spoke-wheel trussrods so I'll probably go with a normal hex style at the headstock end. It will give me a chance to make a nice matching trussrod cover out of the rosewood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattharris75 Posted April 30, 2007 Report Share Posted April 30, 2007 Love the rosewood. If I was in the UK i'd be buying it off you in a heartbeat. Looking forward to watching this build as it progresses. Looks like it's going to be a really hot guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted April 30, 2007 Report Share Posted April 30, 2007 So, it looks like you're doing a scarf joint? This is going to be one sweet guitar. I'm keeping my eyes on this one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ledzendrix1128 Posted April 30, 2007 Report Share Posted April 30, 2007 I like your eraser Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biliousfrog Posted April 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2007 I like your eraser Thanks I thought about going with a one piece neck/headstock but I would have wasted so much wood & they're not considered as strong. As it is, I managed to get a blank out of it suitable for another neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted April 30, 2007 Report Share Posted April 30, 2007 Sonokeling == Indian rosewood. Same thing, although it's generally uglier/worse quality stuff. Out of curiosity, how much was the 36" x 3 x 3 chunk? Because I'm always looking for a good source for reasonably priced, high quality rosewood in billet-ish form...have a trio of cocobolo blanks I'll be building with, though! Looking good, though, very much liking the overall vibe! As for P-90s, well, they're supposed to be noisy, right? Right Mattia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biliousfrog Posted May 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2007 From talking to varius timber suppliers Sonokeling is Indonesian rosewood rather than Indian which you could argue is the same but as you mentioned Indian is generally better quality. Sonokeling is usually a substitute for true Indian rosewood & seems to be more readily available. The billet (or rather fence post complete with decorative knob) cost around £65 with next day UK delivery. Any ideas on glueing up the scarf & fingerboard? Will Titebond be ok or should I go with epoxy & what is the concensus with cleaning the joints with naptha, I seem to recall that this is is no longer recommended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted May 2, 2007 Report Share Posted May 2, 2007 For gluing the scarf joint... remember that the headstock piece will want to slide "up" the head, i.e. away from the nut. It can also rotate. So, you will want to provide a stop both at the body end of the neck and at the end of the headstock. I don't know about titebond... someone else will have to answer that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted May 2, 2007 Report Share Posted May 2, 2007 It's all the same stuff, but the quality can vary immensley. Not all indian rosewood is from india, and there's no such thing as índonsian rosewood, at least taxonomically. It's all dalbergia latifolia. Just, as you say, some better quality (Indian, more old growth) some worse (Sonokeling, often plantation grown, maybe just different climate issues). For the scarf, use the Setch Method; check his blog, basically it's about holding it in place with a few strips of masking tape and then applying clamps. No slipping, works perfectly, and I'm never, ever going back to any other way of gluing scarfs. Ever. As for glue, I've never had problems gluing EIR with titebond, and I never wipe anything prior to gluing. Freshly planed is best, otherwise a quick scrape with a sharp scraper, but I tend to joint and glue in one setting wherever feasible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setch Posted May 2, 2007 Report Share Posted May 2, 2007 +1 Plane and glueup within minutes or hours, use regular titebond, and don't worry about wiping, I'm also a fan of the Setch mothod of scarf gluing, but that shouldn't really be surprising Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.