Project S9 Continued...

[RestorationAD]

Holds A pretty well, huh? I'll keep that in mind. I have been meaning to make a bari in my new explorer shape. That is actually what i designed it for.

You think 27 over 27.5 would be any more beneficial?

I would probably not do a 7 in 27.5" after the 8 string I built last year. The stretch is more annoying than impossible. I can reach pretty far on a normal 25.5 an always feel cramped on a 24.75. But I do most of my work before the 12th fret so the 3rd to 9th fret is the sore spot for me.

Also it is a bit weird tension wise as the low B and low E do not bend like they would on a 25.5". I can pull a step and a half without thinking on a regular 6s low E. I had to work to get the E to move on the Multi. This is not like a string gauge jump either it feels more taut than a regular scale.

All this is to be expected I just wanted to put it into words. As a player of 25 years who only uses standard tunings I am not sure there is a tremendous leap in functionality. The low B is tighter...

Tone wise I was hoping for more ring and piano like quality to the low B. I think it did get a better ring but it would be hard for an average person to notice it. I notice it and I think it makes it better. But honestly I would rather just extend the scale for the B string and not bother slanting all the frets... Kubicki Factor Bass style.

That's why I don't worry about cleaning my garage.......that wife hates to come in after me.

SR

Ha. I do the same thing.

Hehe. . My wife had some minor surgery on Thursday so she has pretty much been sleeping about 80% of the time since. I kinda like the quiet to do what I want to do. That might sound worse than I mean it but I find it hard to get "me" time very often.

Me time. \m/

[Prostheta]

Maybe given that I come from a bassist's perspective, a longer scale is not that much of a hassle for me. That said, I find sevens better at 680mm (~26-3/4"). For an eight I think 720mm (~28-1/3") to 760mm (~30") is more appropriate. Whilst the tension is definitely a user-taste issue I find that the longer scales help with the clarity of the notes and better intonation. I hated the original Ibanez sevens because of that floppy imprecise note definition/stability hence why I made my first eight-string a full 30" back in mid-2007. Depends on what you want. I would rather extend the scale than buff up the string gauges.

[RestorationAD]

Day 2 with the Multiscale.

My bandsaw injury is limiting the amount of bending I can do but I am feeling more comfortable on the Multi.

The guitar let up last night. It was very tight the first few days and now has settled a little. I am getting a much bigger piano sound from the low strings. The G feels tighter than a normal 25.5 though and with the wounded finger it is tough to bend.

Tone wise it let up as well. I still need to adjust the intonation and set the pickup height. The mounting tabs on this one suck as they are too small and hard to get to. I have already addressed it on the next 2.

I think it has its uses. But I am just not a real 7 string guy. Give me my 6 any day.

[SwedishLuthier]

I recently made a multi 8-string for myself, just because I wanted one and it was the perfect oportunity to try both multiscale and 8-strings. I didn't want the scale to be that different to a standard guitar (and I use 25" on all my personal guitars....) so I made it 25-26". The low B was really OK, but the F# was too rubbery. I found a company that makes custom strings and I have a special set on its way to me with a B and F# string that is designed to have a considerably stiffer feel to compensate for this. Not that expensive either, 18$ a set. The strings were made this friday and are on their way to me right now. I'm very curious how it will work out.

[RestorationAD]

I would say for an 8 you need 27.5"+ on the low F#. Pro put measurements that would work.

Circle K strings do all kinds of gauges. They are slow and forget getting special treatment for luthiers/resellers but I got my sets last week.

[RestorationAD]

Redstar II

S9 Express Multiscale

25.5" - 27" Scale
One Piece Honduran Mahogany Body
Padauk Neck with Cocobolo Fingerboard
T4M Bridges
Locking Tuners
Custom Blade Multiscale Humbuckers (Jazz)
3-Way/Volume with Push/Pull tap
Black Cherry Dye with Teak Oil and Poly finish

[RestorationAD]

[RestorationAD]

[RestorationAD]

[Prostheta]

Nice to see completed instruments. The recent swathe of injuries (both hardware and wetware) has become a little bothersome.

hat's a suitably elegant guitar. The only thing I am not sure about is the top hat knob. The gold/bronze colour just doesn't tie in with the rest of the chrome/nickel. Whilst I would recommend tearing out all of the hardware and replacing them with GOLD stuff to match that knob, it might be easier to change the knob. Not sure if that is an option at this stage however.

[RestorationAD]

Nice to see completed instruments. The recent swathe of injuries (both hardware and wetware) has become a little bothersome.

hat's a suitably elegant guitar. The only thing I am not sure about is the top hat knob. The gold/bronze colour just doesn't tie in with the rest of the chrome/nickel. Whilst I would recommend tearing out all of the hardware and replacing them with GOLD stuff to match that knob, it might be easier to change the knob. Not sure if that is an option at this stage however.

How dare you question my sense of style. Plus I don't do gold hardware. But how about nickel? I could tear all the hardware off and replace it with nickel. Then I will do a new photo shoot with an uglier guitar beside it. Now that is an idea.

The knob looks way better than you think as the guitar is much redder in person and the saddles are brass so it has a tie in. It has a nice LP vibe to it. I am going to try and get some sunlight pictures of this thing if it will stop raining for a day here.

I have a chrome knob for it but I couldn't find it last night... jeez tough crowd.

[SwedishLuthier]

I would say for an 8 you need 27.5"+ on the low F#. Pro put measurements that would work.

Circle K strings do all kinds of gauges. They are slow and forget getting special treatment for luthiers/resellers but I got my sets last week.

YEah, I know that 27"-ish is usually considered minimum for 8-stringers. I have pretty short fingers and a 27-28" scale would be too much of a streach for it to be comfy for me. And this is a test guitar that I will probably keep for myself so if it turns out only half decent I', OK with that. I have ordered special string to see it that can help a bit. However what this company does ins't going up in gauge. They produce a standard gauge 7 and 8 string but with a much stiffer feel to them. I think this will fix the problem and also maybee change the way we look at minimum required length for low range guitars. Or it will only be a half-decent solution and I need to step up in scale for the next test. If anyone is interested I'll report back

[RestorationAD]

I would say for an 8 you need 27.5"+ on the low F#. Pro put measurements that would work.

Circle K strings do all kinds of gauges. They are slow and forget getting special treatment for luthiers/resellers but I got my sets last week.

YEah, I know that 27"-ish is usually considered minimum for 8-stringers. I have pretty short fingers and a 27-28" scale would be too much of a streach for it to be comfy for me. And this is a test guitar that I will probably keep for myself so if it turns out only half decent I', OK with that. I have ordered special string to see it that can help a bit. However what this company does ins't going up in gauge. They produce a standard gauge 7 and 8 string but with a much stiffer feel to them. I think this will fix the problem and also maybee change the way we look at minimum required length for low range guitars. Or it will only be a half-decent solution and I need to step up in scale for the next test. If anyone is interested I'll report back

Got it now... let us know how they go. I know I have a couple of 7 string 25.5" scales in the wild that spend a lot of time tuned to A that would benefit from a higher tension string.

[pan_kara]

I'm interested in all this, including the string gauges thay you all find that work ok. I have a 25.4 scale 7-string and while being an awesome guitar it doesn't quite handle the drop-A I tried a few times. So my next build will be a 27 scale 6 string wenge-padouk baritone aimed at using this tuning. I'm not quite confident enough to attempt multiscale at this point.

[Prostheta]

It's not to say that the scales I mentioned are the "correct" way to go about adding lower tuned strings to an instrument. Quite the opposite. The compromise is purely down to the string gauges you are willing to play with. A 25,5" scale instrument is fine however to get a good sounding B1 (for example) you have to really beef up that gauge to achieve a reasonable sounding tension. Ultimately the final figures should come down to the player preference, or better still what they need. Preference is not an accurate guide. ;-)

I am happy with these longer scales and am considering moving permanently to 680mm. I must be the only metal guitar player who uses a capo!

[SwedishLuthier]

I would say for an 8 you need 27.5"+ on the low F#. Pro put measurements that would work.

Circle K strings do all kinds of gauges. They are slow and forget getting special treatment for luthiers/resellers but I got my sets last week.

YEah, I know that 27"-ish is usually considered minimum for 8-stringers. I have pretty short fingers and a 27-28" scale would be too much of a streach for it to be comfy for me. And this is a test guitar that I will probably keep for myself so if it turns out only half decent I', OK with that. I have ordered special string to see it that can help a bit. However what this company does ins't going up in gauge. They produce a standard gauge 7 and 8 string but with a much stiffer feel to them. I think this will fix the problem and also maybee change the way we look at minimum required length for low range guitars. Or it will only be a half-decent solution and I need to step up in scale for the next test. If anyone is interested I'll report back

Got it now... let us know how they go. I know I have a couple of 7 string 25.5" scales in the wild that spend a lot of time tuned to A that would benefit from a higher tension string.

Got the strings today. 5 weeks to get the produced, 4 days to get them to my door.

First impression, definitely a stiffer feel to them. Maybe not to make up for the slightly short scale of this guitar but really not as rubbery as the standard Ernie Ball 8-string set I used initially. Need to evaluate this further before I can give a final verdict.

[RestorationAD]

So a lot of the old threads are lost... or don't show in search

Watching finish cure and winding pickups is pretty boring in photos so here is some fun stuff.

So this project got hung up because the guitar didn't balance right. Rather than try and fix it I just left it laying around until I could figure out what to do with it.

I am so tired of looking at this that it is time to get it out of my sight.

I am going to salvage the neck and scrap the body. Maybe I will figure something out for it later...

[verhoevenc]

These kind of choices are hard to make but you can often feel they were the right one with the cathartic release bravo sir.

Chris

[RestorationAD]

These kind of choices are hard to make but you can often feel they were the right one with the cathartic release bravo sir.

Chris

Luckily it was nothing but scrap mahogany for the body. I always end up with 3 or 4 builds a year that make no sense but they are a good place to experiment and learn.

Here I learned that a Marilyn body shape is hard to balance. Strap button placement is sometimes the trickiest of things. Also as a metal guitar it deserves paint and carbon fiber not Gibson style mahogany and rosewoods.

[Prostheta]

That looks very much like an Aria Pro II "Urchin". An interesting thing! I think they did it before Vigier but the top and bottom horns seem to have been exchanged.

[RestorationAD]

Few updates...

Decals are no fun. I can not wait to figure out a better way to do this.

As I was cleaning up some trash in the finish I managed to mangle this decal. Now I have to print another one... the sheets are 8x11.5 so I have to carefully print it at the top, cut it out, clear it, so I do not waste another expensive sheet of decal paper. Then I have to put finish over it.

[RestorationAD]

Working on installing nuts and control plates. One thing I hate is when I forget to put the nut in before finishing a guitar. Working on already finished instruments is tedious. Of course I got in a rush and now I have to install the nut without hurting the finish.

I have the Stew Mac nut files and they are fine for repair work, like reseating a nut on a LP or Strat. They are really annoying for new work. I use a really wide nut in a Strat style slot this means I have to cut the nut slots by hand. This also means it has to fit perfect. On a LP there is no back to the slot so it is much easier to seat. On a Strat the nut is only 1/8" again much easier to work with.

Sometimes you have to sacrifice new tools for the sake of efficiency. This brand new very sharp 1/4" square bastard file had no idea what was coming. The belt sander made quick work of the teeth.

[RestorationAD]

As you can see here the side I removed all the teeth from goes towards the frets. This makes it easy to cut the bed and back without ruining the intonation. Also helps keep everything square.

The results are amazing. I have made several tools for doing this over the years (including a chisel the exact size of the slot) but this one is the best.

[RestorationAD]

Control plates never get done until the end. It always seems like I forget to get them done and have to hustle to finish.

I am doing a set of P90 HBs and the kit from Mojo doesn't come with centers. Word to the wise don't assume the P90 is 50mm... it was 49.2mm so I had to cut them twice.

[ScottR]

P90 HBs?

SR