SerpentineGtars Posted April 3, 2014 Report Share Posted April 3, 2014 Already revealed the beginnings of this latest commission, but for those who haven't seen it, here's a reminder... Mahogany body, five-piece Mahogany/Wenge neck, Ebony fretboard, Original Floyd Rose, EMG 81-7 (bridge), Schaller machine heads and natural (Tru-Oil) finish. Started work on the neck today - the laminates are sized up and glued... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted April 4, 2014 Report Share Posted April 4, 2014 Khaya and Wengé is one of my favourite wood combos. The other being Maple and Bubinga. I've never had a bad-sounding neck combining those. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SerpentineGtars Posted April 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2014 A little further progress, including 12 degree scarf joint... Close-up of planed scarf joint gluing surfaces... Headstock shaped (my client's own design)... Headstock veneer... Scarf joint has been glued up, more to follow soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SerpentineGtars Posted April 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2014 Cleaned up the scarf joint (glue squeeze-out on the neck face) and installed the truss rod this afternoon... Also cut the rough body shape on the bandsaw... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted April 13, 2014 Report Share Posted April 13, 2014 Interesting headstock. Reminds me of the warrior bugs in Starship Troopers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SerpentineGtars Posted April 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2014 Interesting headstock. Reminds me of the warrior bugs in Starship Troopers. No idea what these warrior bugs look like, but also resembles a Stag Beetle's pinchers to a degree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SerpentineGtars Posted April 14, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2014 Body (routed to final shape) paired up with Ebony fretboard blank and neck... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SerpentineGtars Posted May 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 Moving on with the 7-string custom build for Ophicracy guitarist, Ali Kingravi, we have the fretboard slotted and glued on, neck tapered and 12th fret inlay cut... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SerpentineGtars Posted May 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 Picking up where we left off yesterday, the 12th fret Ophicracy "O" was inlayed before a 17" radius sanded into the Ebony fretboard... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 17" radius. Controversial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SerpentineGtars Posted May 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 17" radius. Controversial. Controversial? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 10, 2014 Report Share Posted May 10, 2014 Wrong choice of word; odd would be more appropriate. 17" is a strange value considering that you'll normally see 16" and 20" either side of that. Perhaps it is a Metric equivalent?Wondering how you're dialling that radius in....do you CNC your own radius blocks or are they off-the-shelf? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SerpentineGtars Posted May 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2014 Wrong choice of word; odd would be more appropriate. 17" is a strange value considering that you'll normally see 16" and 20" either side of that. Perhaps it is a Metric equivalent?Wondering how you're dialling that radius in....do you CNC your own radius blocks or are they off-the-shelf? I got ya, no problem. My client wanted a neck that closely resembles an Ibanez Wizard (430mm radius). This is the closest I have, just 0.1" out. I sanded the radius in using off-the-shelf blocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 10, 2014 Report Share Posted May 10, 2014 Makes sense. I couldn't recall Ibanez' specs off the top of my head although I did convert 17" out to Metric to see if it looked "familiar". Perhaps you should have pushed a 26-1/4" scale on the guy. That's my favourite Metric scale of the beast and the same one I used on my favourite 7-string. I would consider it "a trademark" of sorts if only I weren't groovy and a believer in propagating ideas instead of hoarding them. :-) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SerpentineGtars Posted May 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2014 Makes sense. I couldn't recall Ibanez' specs off the top of my head although I did convert 17" out to Metric to see if it looked "familiar". Perhaps you should have pushed a 26-1/4" scale on the guy. That's my favourite Metric scale of the beast and the same one I used on my favourite 7-string. I would consider it "a trademark" of sorts if only I weren't groovy and a believer in propagating ideas instead of hoarding them. :-) 26.25", that's a new one. I did suggest using a longer scale length, up to 27". The customer initially requested 26" before taking it back down to 25.5". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 10, 2014 Report Share Posted May 10, 2014 26,25" * 2,54 = 666mm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SerpentineGtars Posted May 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2014 26,25" * 2,54 = 666mm "Metric scale of the beast" There we are, I get it now. I didn't convert it myself. Nice one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arriereitor Posted May 12, 2014 Report Share Posted May 12, 2014 The ebony annd wenge looks very nice, I love wenge. I find, its one of the most ellegant woods in guitar building. Great job 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SerpentineGtars Posted May 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2014 A new week in the workshop and some new progress photos for the Kingravi build; Frets hammered in... Marking carve-top and drilling out recess for volume and tone knobs... Work to begin on the body (carve-top, etc) this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
demonx Posted May 12, 2014 Report Share Posted May 12, 2014 26,25" * 2,54 = 666mm That is my default scale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
demonx Posted May 12, 2014 Report Share Posted May 12, 2014 Serpentine - nice clean work. Not sure of the "customer design" headstock myself, but I guess we've all done the odd "customer request" that was questionable! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SerpentineGtars Posted May 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2014 What a week! Serpentine Guitars will be relocating in the very near future and that's been keeping me busy, along with the start of a couple of new builds... and this one, of course! The carve-top is complete... Dry-fit and checking heel depth... Set-neck glued and clamped... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SerpentineGtars Posted June 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2014 Ok, some time has passed and due to lack of camera for the past week, I've been unable to update my online threads with any progress shots. Therefore, we jump straight on to the current state of this particular build. Nearing completion, all routing work is now complete and I just have to finish off the neck/join carve which is at a rough stage at the moment. All bar some inlay work on the headstock, this build is almost ready for final sanding and some oil. Front hardware cavities routed... Rear cavities... With covers... Original Floyd 7-string and EMG 81-7 test fitting the routs... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.neckel013 Posted June 2, 2014 Report Share Posted June 2, 2014 very nice! Routing the perfect cavities, covers fit perfectly, great job so far. Congratulations! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Menapia Posted June 2, 2014 Report Share Posted June 2, 2014 Very clean , love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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