darren orr Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 I had enough wood lying around so I decided to make myself a guitar, since I dont have one (I play bass). Body : Spalted maple front and back, Sapelle core with pinstripe. Neck : Sapelle/maple. Spalted headstock, mahogany backstrap. Kwilla fingerboard. Have yet to make the pickup for it. Leaning towards a p-90 type and if that doesnt sound good Ill make a humbucker (if that doesnt sound good, Ill cry...) All black hardware, gotoh tune-o-matic bridge, Gotoh tuners, black knobs. Will have one tone, one volume Basically its identical to the bass im gonna make in appearance body is ready for neck route, then the cutaways can be cleaned up. More pics here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattharris75 Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 Looks great, going to be really sharp when it's done. I especially like the headstock shape and the spalted veneer on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren orr Posted January 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2008 Cheers. Got alot more done today. Neck pocket and control cavity routed, control cavity cover made(mahogany), bridge/stop tail holes drilled, knob holes drilled and started cleaning up the cutaways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scab Posted January 11, 2008 Report Share Posted January 11, 2008 Wow that looks great! I love the contrasting woods on the fingerboard and the neck (compared to the spalted maple). Cool looking headstock design w/ great bookmatching on the top, back, & headcap. Looking forward to seeing some finish on this baby! Cheers! Scab Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren orr Posted March 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2008 Finally getting more done on this. Made pickup covers. Routed pickup cavities, drilled jack hole and all wiring holes. Now i just need to finish it. I have however realised a screw up..... When i measured the tuners i didnt double check the string layout.. So i think im gonna have to use a string tree or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 2, 2008 Report Share Posted March 2, 2008 It looks very borderline as to whether you'll need a string tree or not. You may be able to get away with it if you use a slightly longer-than-normal nut, but you risk the strings binding in the slots so this isn't satisfactory. If the fingerboard hadn't been attached, you could have either added a zero fret (brings the guiding nut position back a bit, changing the string break angles) or reveneered the headstock (if you had more spalt) after dowelling and redrilling the tuner positions. Personally (and this is in no way a recommendation) I like the straight string pull of your 1st, 2nd, 5th and 6th strings, and some kind of tree to break the angles of the 3rd and 4th out halfway down the headstock would look cool. In my head anyway. It would probably be impractical really. Realistically, the 1st and 6th should have been 1/4-1/3" closer to the nut, and the 2nd and 5th slightly closer also, or something along those lines. I really hope that you get this hurdle overcome because this looks like a very very nice build otherwise! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren orr Posted March 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2008 The definition of frustrating..... Having enough fretwire for all but 1/2 a fret. First coats of oil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted March 15, 2008 Report Share Posted March 15, 2008 Where are you located? I could send you a little piece of fretwire to finish that neck, if you pay for the shipping. Of course, I don't know if I have the same size as you would want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren orr Posted March 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2008 Dude, thanks for the offer. But i have more on the way for my bass anyway. just has to wait a few days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 No prob. It would be a pain if that was all you needed to order. The project looks great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 The tops of those frets look pretty flat. Your still doing more leveling/crowning than in that picture right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheIRS Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 To fix the headstock problem, I'd do something like they have on the Moderne where there are pegs that the strings are rerouted with to get to the tuners properly. Not really a great picture but if you look closely you can see where the string hits a peg and gets redirected evenly. Moderne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnRossitter Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 Beautiful build...keep it up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren orr Posted March 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 The tops of those frets look pretty flat. Your still doing more leveling/crowning than in that picture right? Yeah i just did a quick level as I still needed to install the last fret. Seemed pointless dressing them if theres a chance I'd need to do it again. I now have all the frets in and dressed. To get by the string issue I'm just gonna use a string tree Thanks for the comments guys. Leveling the body when it has cracks in the top wood is a pain.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 (edited) To fix the headstock problem, I'd do something like they have on the Moderne where there are pegs that the strings are rerouted with to get to the tuners properly. Not really a great picture but if you look closely you can see where the string hits a peg and gets redirected evenly. Moderne I would not use a headstock like that. Unless those pegs have some kind of roller, I think that's going to cause tuning problems. I think it's best to let the strings get to the tuners in straight and almost-straight lines. It just looks better too, having the headstock slightly weighted (visually) towards the nut. The "Moderne" headstock in the link is heavily visually weighted towards the free end, which works for that particular design but doesn't usually look good to me. Edited March 20, 2008 by Geo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 the modern headstock is an awfull design and the guides do little to save it. It never should have made it onto a guitar... i would do it as a last resort only if you have to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshvegas Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 (edited) It wouldn't be as bad as the moderne though would it? because it would be a tiny angle and would be better than trees because they work in the wrong plane I'm off to go and check my headstock design just to make sure that it is not going to foul. to be fair it never did make it onto the guitar first time round did it? how many of the reissues were baught by players? Edited March 20, 2008 by joshvegas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren orr Posted March 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 I'm going to use it how it is. The angle isnt going to be that great, and i can slightly reshape the tree to provide better angles. This guitar is for me to screw round on, Im a bass player and i cant actually play guitar to save myself. I just needed practice on making a neck before i start my bass. If this guitar was for someone else there is no way I'd use this neck. The neck part itself is fine, just made a couple of mistakes on the headstock. But thanks for your input. I just got ahead of myself when it came to the tuners. Maybe in future i will make a new neck. But its all practice really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 Heh. You've hit the nail square! ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 Personally, I would rather avoid the tuning problems... so I might try filling those holes, trimming the headstock, and redrilling the top two holes. You might even be able to hide it under the washers and backs of the tuners. But I would rather have a guitar with a small visual flaw that doesn't have tuning problems. Just something to consider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren orr Posted March 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 I just put the tuners on and a slotted nut, tested with a straight edge. The string paths (surprisingly) dont interrupt each other, theres just under 1 mm clearance. So it will work (mostly)without a retainer. " so I might try filling those holes, trimming the headstock, and redrilling the top two holes. You might even be able to hide it under the washers and backs of the tuners. " Yeah i thought about that alot when i realised. Only thing that stopped me was tha fact that the headstock have front and back laminates. So that was gonna be a pain. "But I would rather have a guitar with a small visual flaw....." Trust me, it has many of those........... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted March 23, 2008 Report Share Posted March 23, 2008 "But I would rather have a guitar with a small visual flaw....." Trust me, it has many of those........... Not as many as my guitars have! If the clearance is actually okay, I say just go for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren orr Posted July 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 Finally at a playable stage! Havent done anything for months due to doing ligament damage to my finger, havent played bass in 2 1/2 months. Havent fully finished it. The neck finish needs to be finished. Put it together for a test fit. Plays really well, sounds better than I'd hoped. Kinda between Lp junior and a jazzmaster. once again more pics at photobucket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bygde Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 Beautiful guitar! I'll PM my adress so you know where to send it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X1TX Posted July 27, 2008 Report Share Posted July 27, 2008 That is seriously sweet! Great work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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