Guitar Logistics

Marilyn with strings

2012-02-14T00:16:00.002-05:00

Strings and things...

Fixed the Headstock as well...

S907_Express neck blanks

2012-02-14T00:14:00.000-05:00

Doing at least 2 of the new 7 string Express model. Reverse headstock padauk necked mahogany monsters. Starting with the neck blanks. I am not going to explain as much with these as they are meant to be built quick but to the same standards as a regular S9.

S907_5 neck blank

2012-02-14T00:13:00.003-05:00

Fretboard, scarf, neck lams, and control plates.

The body is the second one in the pile. Awesome quartersawn piece of Sapele.

Laminating the neck blank. The blank is quartersawn sapele from the same board as the body with maple/bocote/maple stripes.

New saw blade makes a much nicer scarf.

S907_4 starts

2012-02-14T00:13:00.000-05:00

Undecided on a few parts of this one but we are starting with a beautiful piece of quartersawn Sapele for the body and neck. I am using Bloodwood laminates in the neck again.
Already glued the neck blank up so starting on the headstock and the scarf. Saw blade is a little dull time to dig out the new one.

After cleaning up the scarf joints on the cast iron router table with sandpaper attached it is time to glue it up. I use pins on the outside of the blank to stop things from sliding during glue up. My pins of choice? 12 gauge copper wire... soft enough to cut with a saw if accidentally found and plentiful.

Decisions...

Ok this is ridiculous... decisions.

Ok this is the neck blank.

S906_5 time for parts

2012-02-06T20:24:00.002-05:00

Heel carved.

Neck pickup cleaned up.

Sanded and cleaned up. Still needs a lot of wet sanding but that will happen after test run with hardware.

Marilyn almost done...

2012-02-06T20:23:00.002-05:00

Added second pickup. Decided the set I made for this is too good together to split up.

Nut installed

Sanded and cleaned up.

Have to deepen the pickup routes by 1/8" then I will install hardware one night this week.

S906_5 carve and then set the neck

2012-01-29T20:18:00.002-05:00

Carve is almost done... this was a lot of work. I have to find a better way to do this in the future. Using a french curve scraper is very time consuming.

Heavy mineral oil after spending another hour removing scratches. Oil finishes require a lot of attention to detail.

Another look. I really like the brown streaks on each side. Keeps the whole thing from looking like black plastic.

Another look

Getting close to gluing the neck and need to clean up the edges of the pocket.

Starting on the neck. Using the Japanese saw rasp. Then moving to the dragon rasps. Finished out with long sanding blocks.

Almost finished. For some reason I didn't get any photos of the finished neck.

Ready for glue up. Tape everything off to prevent epoxy from getting into the grain.

Marilyn top and routing...

2012-01-29T20:17:00.000-05:00

Time to fit the top to the neck. Take a few measurements to map the neck onto the top. It is a parallelogram so we use a center line and the distance from the face of the neck to the 19th fret. Measure the width at the base of the neck and the 19th fret. Then at the start point and end point we mark the width of the neck and connect the lines.

This is too delicate a procedure for saws or routers. The dragon rasp will work fine for the rough in then use a sanding block to fine tune the fit.

Almost there. Took a few more minutes than I thought to fine tune the fit.

The top fits pretty well but I have to trim it down so it can get clamped.

Now that it is trim lets see were we are. We need to make sure that we keep the top as tight to the neck as we can.

Gluing up the top using my clamping bars to apply pressure cross the middle of the top. As you can see they are curved on the bottome and flex when clamped on the edges.

After cutting as much excess I can with the scroll saw I use the dragon rasp to remove the rest of the excess.

Finishing up the body outline with dragon rasps as the spindle sander left all kinds of little uneven spots.

Fitting the bridge. This is my favorite ABM bridge. It is a lot more expensive than the Hipshot I normally use and only comes in chrome and gold. It is built like a tank.

I am still trying to decide on one or two pickups. I really want to do two humbuckers right next to each other but I am going to leave it with one until I play it.

OK this is pretty close. I still need to decide on bevels or 3/16" radius on the edges.

And electronics.

S906_5 still working on carve

2012-01-23T00:14:00.002-05:00

Carves in the great hardwoods take forever...ebony is no different. After roughing in with the disk sander I sharpened up the french curve scraper and got to work.

I didn't manage to finish today as I got tired before the wood did.

Set the neck and time for tops on Marilyn

2012-01-23T00:11:00.001-05:00

This thing is going to take forever... There are so many steps to building a set neck with a hidden neck joint. I used 2 pieces of MDF to create a platform to level the neck joint out. The template bit keeps me from accidentally gouging something important.

So we are ready to get the top done.

Not sure about this neck joint but all access is an understatement.

I am not sure I can explain how precarious this neck joint is without just showing pictures.

Tired of looking at the neck joint it is time to get the top ready. The top is cut from the same board as the body.

Main thing to remember is to line up the marks so that I have enough wood in important spots. Up next what everyone is waiting for... fitting the top to the neck.

S906_5 everything up to the carve

2012-01-21T21:42:00.002-05:00

Fret time. Board straight and polished.

I am going to hit the side markers before fretting. I am using cream colored fret markers as white always seem too bright.

Camfer the slots.

Fretted.

Filling the sides of the frets with ebony dust. I use the tape to keep the super glue of the polished board. Also I do this before carving the neck so I do not have to worry about ebony dust staining the maple neck.

Lets lay out the tuners. I use the template to get the general placement. Then I follow up with my digital calipers and make sure everything is perfect. Like this.

Electronics cavity using my new CNCd templates.Cleanest cavity ever...

Laying out the the carve and putting the radius on the edges. Also an excuse to admire the ebony.

Almost forgot to do the bridge stuff while it was still square. Hard to do all this after the top is carved.

Time to cut the tenon for the neck HB.

Next stop carve.

Starting the rough carve. It seems a shame to cut all this ebony. At least I will have several years supply of ebony dust.

Working on the new Marilyn

2012-01-21T21:37:00.002-05:00

Before gluing the neck in on this one I need to finish as much as I can on it. So time to fret.
Cleaning out the frets after radiusing is a pain. Usually I use an exacto and the shop vac. Then I follow up with 90psi of compressed air. Wear a mask...

Check to see how true it is.

I follow the path of the strings as I check the straightness of the sanded board.

My latest trick. I make sanding blocks from MDF and use spray adhesive to attach 220 wet/dry paper to them. When the paper wears out I throw them away. Better than spending several hours pealing paper off hardwood blocks with lacquer thinner.

Checking the depth of the slots.

Some side dots then polish the board.

After I cut all the fret wire to fit I realized I forgot to camfer the slots. So I had to pick each fret up individually

Neck fretted.

Laying out the tuners.

Looking at the tuners and the weight of the headstock I decided to thin it rather than just recess the tuners. Of course I taper my heeadstocks so I use the neck monster and a slightly tapered plate under the headstock to do this. I know seems like a lot of work but it is just how I do things.

After roughing it in I use a grinding disk to put a nice concave to the headstock near the volute that continues to a flat surface were the tuners go. A little scraping and DA action and it is ready. I may reduce more weight from the headstock later so stay tuned.

Tuners laid out.

Electronics cavity

Taping up to glue the neck in. Glad the weather is cooperating.

S906_5 Pickup Routes

2012-01-15T17:53:00.003-05:00

Layout pickups and bridge. Start by extending the neck lines to the end of the body.

Now mark the scale, rear pickup, and neck pickup routes along the old centerline.

Using the new neck guide lines figure the new center line. I know you are wondering how it moved... trust me templates drift and pencil lines are .05 wide. The new line is actually about .05 off the old center. You will need at least 2 points to lat out the new center.

I then use a square to draw the scale mark, and the back line for the pickup routes. Use a straight edge to continue the lines to the edges. Then check the marks to make sure they are square.

Next is to mark the outside of the pickups. Using the same methods measure out equal distances from the center line and make guidelines for the outer tabs of the pickup route template. We will use these lines to line up the pickup template.

A quick check of the new neck template made on the CNC.

After continuing the scale and center marks around to the back of the guitar it is time to lay out the electronics cavity.

Attach the new pickup template to the body and use the drill press with a forstner bit to clean out the excess wood before routing.

After cleaning out the pockets with a template bit it is time to check the fit of the pickup. On the first pass the expected results. The routes are designed for a 1/4 bit not a 3/8. Rather than risk making a mess of the very expensive ebony top a trip to the grinder takes the edges off the pickup base. This is a tight fit.

Here is the template specifically for cleaning up the front pickup route after installing the neck.

A look at how it works.

Control cavity and cover templates.

CNC work

2012-01-15T17:51:00.002-05:00

Last day with RoboRAD out in the open. Tomorrow I am moving it into its own closed off section of the shop. It is loud and dusty...

Lets start cutting some templates. Not what everyone wants to see but better to figure this stuff out here than in expensive wood. First cuts are positioning markers used to figure out exactly where this monster is going to cut.

After figuring out were to position everything we start with pup routes.

Control cavity.

Cutting the body outline. I used very small tabs to hold the body until it is finished. So initially I had the feed rate at about 45 with a plunge speed of 10. This worked nice but I left the depth increment at .015. This was a bad idea trying to cut through .75 in of material. After about an hour I had maybe .25 in cut. Time to change up. I set the depth increment to .125 and tried again. This was fast cutting through in about 8 passes... but it left the edge rougher than I wanted. On the next pieces I am going to go with .0625.

Body clear of the tabs.

Check the new template against the original. It is very very close. The places it misses are intentional changes. I cleaned the tabs up with sanding block and used a sanding sponge to knock off the frizz.

Cut out the neck template. The main disadvantage of a 25x25 envelope is that I will not be able to cut a full neck on the machine. I am not worried about it as I will probably use 2 operations for necks anyway. After checking the neck template against the neck pocket I might need to adjust the template a hair as it came out a hair under my intended measurements.

Headstock template done.

Some other templates that are going to save several hours in the future.

S906_5 Set the neck

2012-01-08T20:45:00.002-05:00

Time to set this neck. I need some of my favorite tools. Calculator, Calipers, Mechanical Pencil, Ruler. Work off the center-line. Measure width of the neck at the 24th fret and at the 17th fret.
Measure the distance between the frets.

Use the calculator to half the measurements and mark them from the center line. Use this to line up the neck.

Set the template on the edges of the pencil marks. We only mark the neck at this point. Once the neck is set we can make sure the pickups and bridge are in the right place based on the neck. This helps in case the neck is off a hair (I am only human). After the template is set use a forstner bit to clear out material then route away.

Use a chisel and hammer to square up the neck pocket corners. Then test fit.

Fits well enough.

Excessive photos.

Time for the headplate.

Headplate on... now where is my headstock template?

Ok found my headstock template finally. Trimmed up headstock using rasps, sanding blocks and a scraper. It is hard to use power tools on these headstocks, especially with the exotic headplate that loves to chip out.

Enough for today.

Again... Marilyn

2012-01-08T20:40:00.002-05:00

Marilyn 2 Guitar-

Vigier Marilyn copy Flame Maple/Cocobolo scrap neck attached to a super thin Khaya/Exotic Top body with hipshot parts and custom pickups.

Neck :Flame Maple/Cocobolo
Fretboard : Cocobolo
Scale : 24.75
Frets : 24
Trussrod : ALLPARTS

Body : Khaya (33mm)
Tuners : Lockers
Pickups : Custom
Bridge : Hipshot
Electronics : 1 Push/pull

What to do with a neck blank I can not use for customers? Well I am going to try another Marilyn. Last time I used a 25.5" scale and a big headstock. Bad idea. The first one was not balanced at all. This one we are usuing a 24.75 scale and a much smaller headstock. Also moving to a deep set neck instead of a neck through. Start with an African Mohogany core.

Using a longer tenon on this one so I need a different routing strategy. Since the top is going on after the neck is glued in we will screw the rails right to the core.

Have to trim up the tenon so we can glue the top on later.

This is why I can not sell this neck. Horrible worm hole and stain in the side of the neck.

Luckily the hole angles away from the fretboard making it much less of a structural concern. I am going to fill it with dust and CA.

Headstock finished. The design took a long time to figure out and I am not sure it is right but this is how it goes.

Headstock plate.

Quick CNC Video

2012-01-01T11:17:00.006-05:00

So its mechanical

2011-12-31T18:32:00.003-05:00

So we are going to be mechanized this year.

We bought this.

Probotix Fireball Comet.

Then we built this for it.

First order of business is to learn how to cut pickup routes. And learn gcode...

This was taking too long so time to adjust feed rates and plunge depths. Speed this thing up a bit.
Also have to stop this thing from returning to zero after every pass.

Now that we can cut at a better speed we can check the fit. Very tight. Almost too tight as a pickup with cover is not going to fit at all.

A check against the old templates... much better. No more slop.

Running a test headstock template cut. Scale was off a little bit but I think this will work. Now back to the computer.

Updated website

2011-11-18T15:26:00.002-05:00

Website updated galleries and some tweaks.

guitar-logistics.com

S906_5 top on and edges cleaned

2011-11-15T22:45:00.001-05:00

So this is the overhang that I bandsaw off. I could have done a better job trimming it to begin with and maybe saved enough for a single piece headplate but I did not want to cut this too small with the expensive top.

Edges sanded and worked the 80 grit scratches out of the center of the top. No need to clean up anymore as I still have to carve it.

This is why I use so many clamps. I am amazed at how clean the line is on this top using epoxy.

I really want to stay up all night and finish fitting this thing together... not sure when I will get more time to work on it. Ebony is amazing to work with. It sands and scrapes like a dream and doesn't clog the paper on sanders. Awesome stuff.

S906_5 top going on...

2011-11-13T19:52:00.002-05:00

Probably won't get back to this one until after T-day.

So a little T-88 and we have a top... A very decadent top. An 8.5mm decadent top. And a nice slab of Limba to use as a back.

After sanding them up we lay on some T-88 epoxy and clamp it up. I used the T-88 instead of the titebond on this one do to the wood types.

1972 Kenmore Sewing Machine

2011-11-06T16:05:00.003-05:00

Sorry mom... The 1972 Kenmore is being sacrificed for the good of pickup winding. So the great things to come out of this is the motor and the gearing. Pluses include a variable speed footswitch, a socket to plug the footswitch into and a switchable light.

More 8 string single coils

2011-11-06T16:05:00.001-05:00

More 8 string single coils built from BKP HBs. I think this is the last batch of these I am doing. I am going to get some flatwork laser cut and go from there from now on.

Prototypes for sale.

2011-11-05T18:54:00.002-04:00

If anyone is interested send me an email at guitarlogistics at gmail dot com.

Degollador

2011-10-23T20:27:00.002-04:00

Finally...

--Degollador--

There are two others in this series Deguello (<-mine) and Degollina. Three telecasters for three brothers. Tres Telecasters Part 2Neck : MapleFretboard : MapleScale : 25.5Frets : 22Trussrod : Double Expanding Truss RodBody : AshTuners : Tone-ProsPickups : Custom Hand Wound Vintage TelecastersBridge : Gotoh TelecasterElectronics : Vol/Tone/3-way

--T-Rex--

2011-10-23T10:16:00.002-04:00

--T-Rex--

Neck : Maple
Fretboard : Cocobolo
Scale : 25.5
Frets : 22
Trussrod : Double Expanding Truss Rod

Body : Padauk/Ambrosia Maple Top and Back
Tuners : Gotoh
Pickups : Custom Diablo Soap Bar P90s
Bridge : Nashville TOM
Electronics : Vol/3-way

Carnage live...

2011-10-19T11:30:00.002-04:00

Sensory Amusia live at Oh Snap from stephen miles on Vimeo.

S906_4 --Banshee--

2011-10-16T23:21:00.001-04:00

S906 #4 --Banshee--

Flame maple/Bloodwood neck attached to a super thin Kaya/Figured Burl Maple topped body with hipshot parts and Diablo pickups.

Neck : Flame maple/Bloodwood
Fretboard : Bloodwood
Scale : 25.5
Frets : 24
Trussrod : ALLPARTS

Body : Khaya/Figured Burl Maple
Tuners : Hipshot
Pickups : Diablo HBs
Bridge : Hipshot
Electronics : Volume 3-way

S906_3 --Spazmatron--

2011-10-14T00:17:00.003-04:00

S906 #3 -- Spazmatron --

Korina/Cocobolo neck attached to a super thin Korina/Figured Myrtle topped body with Hipshot parts and Diablo pickups.

Neck : Korina/Cocobolo
Fretboard : Cocobolo
Scale : 25.5
Frets : 24
Trussrod : ALLPARTS

Body : Korina/Flamed Myrtle(33mm)
Tuners : Hipshot
Pickups : Diablo Humbuckers
Bridge : Hipshot
Electronics : 1 Push/Push

Carnage at work down under

2011-10-10T21:15:00.000-04:00

Always good to see a guitar at work. Carnage shredding with Sensory Amusia guitarist Shaun.

V706_1 --Thorn--

2011-10-07T08:14:00.003-04:00

V706_1 --Thorn--

Padauk/Maple neck attached to a super thin Padauk/Maple topped V body with tonepros parts and custom prototype blade pickups.

Neck : Padauk/Maple
Fretboard : Ziricote
Scale : 24.75
Frets : 24
Trussrod : ALLPARTS

Body : Padauk/Maple (31mm)
Tuners : Sperzel Open
Pickups : New prototype blades
Bridge : Tone Pros
Electronics : 1 Push/Pull Volume

D506_1 --Nemesis--

2011-10-04T20:24:00.004-04:00

--Nemesis--

D506_1 (aka Nemesis) Claro/Maple neck with a Ziricote Fretboard attached to a Walnut/Flamed Maple topped body with Kahler and Destroyer pickups.

Neck : Claro Walnut/Maple
Fretboard : Ziricote
Scale : 24.75
Frets : 24
Trussrod : ALLPARTS

Body : Walnut/Flamed Maple (33mm)
Tuners : Locking
Pickups : Destroyer Humbuckers
Bridge : Kahler
Electronics : 1 Vol Push/Pull

S908_1 -- Chronos --

2011-10-03T23:47:00.005-04:00

-- Chronos --

This is the first 8 string prototype of the S9 series.

S908 #1 (Chronos) is a Peruvian Walnut/Maple neck with Bloodwood fretboard attached to a super thin Peruvian Walnut body topped with figured Claro Walnut with hipshot parts and Hand Built Diablo 8 string pickups with Bloodwood bobbins.

Neck : Peruvian Walnut/Maple
Fretboard : Bloodwood
Scale : 27.5
Frets : 24

Body : Peruvian Walnut/Claro Walnut
Tuners : Locking
Pickups : Diablo 8 string Humbuckers w/Bloodwood bobbins
Bridge : Hipshot
Electronics : 1 Push/Pull Volume

D506_1 finishing touches...

2011-09-30T08:10:00.002-04:00

Guitar is done. I am cleaning out the camera...So these are the shots after I finished buffing.

Headstock shot and this is were I oiled the neck after everything was done.

Next shots will be of it assembled.

SEGAS Southeastern Guitar and Amp Show

2011-09-25T22:12:00.003-04:00

SEGAS 2011

http://guitarandampshow.com/

Great show. Met a lot of great people. Had a good time. Made some new friends (Bourns pots, Edwards amps). Had some people shred on the guitars. Can not wait till next year.

We did ok.
Best in Show.

SEGAS Southeastern Guitar and Amp Show

2011-09-08T20:06:00.002-04:00

Not dead yet....

2011-09-08T20:02:00.000-04:00

Not dead.

I have been assembling all the guitars I built this year. Not much in the way of photos though...

I might find some updates but it will be quiet until the guitar show is over.

SEGAS The Southeastern Guitar and Amp Show.

S908_1 Strings and things...

2011-08-13T19:30:00.005-04:00

I think this thing has too many strings... The long scale makes tuning low easy.

The pickups are a bit different than I wanted. Getting A8 magnets long enough for 8 string pups is too expensive so I used C8s. The pickups have a seymour duncan distortion sound to them instead of the diablo sound I wanted. I still have work to do on them though so hopefully I can tame some of the ceramic overtones before we are done.

D506_1 Stain

2011-08-07T18:15:00.002-04:00

And now for something completely different. Black sand back and Orange destroyer... I am aiming for the Bengal tiger look.

S906_4 Clear...

2011-08-07T18:14:00.002-04:00

More shots of a guitar getting clear... final buff coats went on today. After it cures we oiled the neck, buff, fret dress, and assemble.

S906_3 Finishing despite the weather

2011-08-01T22:45:00.002-04:00

First coats of lacquer.

S906_4 Headed to finish

2011-08-01T22:45:00.000-04:00

Knots sealed and clear is going on. The constant thunderstorms have been a real pain as it makes it too humid to paint.

S908_1 Pickups started...

2011-08-01T22:44:00.001-04:00

Pickups started. Going with bloodwood bobbins.

Random Telecaster update...

2011-08-01T22:43:00.001-04:00

Couple of coats of clear.

V706_1 First coat

2011-08-01T22:42:00.002-04:00

One coat.

D506_1 On its way

2011-08-01T22:39:00.001-04:00

Ended up recessing the Kahler. I have no idea why I put a kahler on my guitar... I just never use tremolos. Everything is installed and set up now. Time to take it apart and get ready for finishing.

S906_3 Together for now...

2011-07-17T22:13:00.001-04:00

Almost...

S906_4 together

2011-07-17T22:12:00.003-04:00

Together... soon to be apart.

V706_1 ready to be be put together

2011-07-17T22:12:00.001-04:00

V706_1 tuners and neck set

2011-07-14T23:59:00.000-04:00

Recess for the tuners.

5/16" hole for the insert.

Drilled the larger area from the back. I know these are chrome... they will eventually be black. The shop tuning keys (as well as the other parts) are always chrome. You can see the step in the holes in the last picture.

Neck set.

V706_1 neck frets and headplate

2011-07-10T18:23:00.000-04:00

Working on the fretboard... 9:30 am and it is already hot today. Getting the board completely true before fretting makes leveling easy later.

Sanded and cleaned up.

Sometimes ziricote is a real pain to work on. As I was drilling out for the side dots the board after the fourteenth fret started to pop up. I caught it before it really popped and stopped drilling. Wicked in some super glue and clamped it tight. Crisis averted... or so I thought. As I got to the 24th fret markers I managed to pop a hole chunk from the board. More dust/CA and some stuck fingers later it was all fixed.

Frets in.

Neck shaping.

The heal is going to need work on the next one. I might make the indentions in the body smaller on the next V to get more area for glue. I think this one is going to be fine but I would like a bit more contact and wood.

A look at the scarf joint.

Cutting the notch for the front pickup in the neck.

And done.

Before and after with the headplate. I am not sure this was the best idea for the headplate but it was worth a shot. Might be ok after I get the tuners in.

It is too dark in here to get a good look at it.

Outside.

Back inside.

V706_1 trying to finish everything ...

2011-07-09T19:48:00.004-04:00

Setting the neck...after laying the neck pocket out it goes to the neck angle jig. Use the neck to adjust the guides. Add a stop block for the end of the neck.

Remove some stock so the router doesn't have to work so hard.

I have started squaring up the corners of the neck pockets rather than round the corners of the neck. It is hard to sand a 3/8" rounded corner on a neck blank. It is easy to make a 90 degree corner in the neck pocket with a sharp chisel.

I am ok with tight enough to lift the body.

From behind and a look at the front.

This guitar gets the new blade humbuckers I designed. Basically they are blade style Diablos in an EMG cover. Add to the mix a tone pros bridge and stop tailpiece and we have a pretty straight forward rock machine.

Bridge set. I can't drive the bushings in until later as they will be hard to get out.

Time to start on the pickups. Again remove stock so the router doesn't work to hard. I plan the depth by using a long straight edge run the length of the fretboard to the bridge. Then measure down to the top... subtract that from the height of the pickup and you get the depth of the route. No that is not complicated at all...

Electronics cavity cleaned up and plate added.

A look at the wire channels. These things are huge... have to remember to be careful while routing. Tear out can be an issue. Another thing to watch out for is if the router bearing hits the opening there is a chance for bad things to happen.

Remember the cavity on the top horn. It is for the input jack. I made it large enough to house a battery if I want later (not that I will).

I need a jig for drilling the recess jack in the top horn.

The block is your friend. When doing 3/16" roundovers without a router table you should not try to route out on the edges. The router will always bite and destroy your edge. I try to stop a few inches short and follow up with a sanding block. The other advantage of the sanding block is that I can true up the edges at the same time I am finishing up the roundovers.

Always sand the body to at least 120 grit before attaching the neck. It is a lot easier to sand without the neck getting in the way. Be careful on the edges as the orbital will ruin a straight edge fairly quick.

This one might be ok when it is done.

Starting on neck work.

Random Telecaster update...

2011-07-09T19:29:00.003-04:00

Finally put this together. I have a few updates for it before it goes to finishing. The real nashville bridge is going to get a brass baseplate. Like all traditional nashville bridges this one decided to lean. The answer is going to be a solid brass insert for the recess. It will still be below the top in the recess and practically invisible. It should stabilize the posts, give a solid place to ground, and add to the mojo (I call voodoo).

Still have a lot of tweaking to do, dress frets, add control plates, and sand clean. I am also going to add a brass string stop to the back and remove the traditional ferrules (more mojo).

V706_1 top attached

2011-07-08T18:11:00.000-04:00

After much debate I decided to get into my good stock for the top on this thing. I didn't really want to but I needed a top and do not have time for some other ideas I had. So here it is.

This is how you join a seriously flamed top. Sandpaper. Anytime you use a blade on figured wood there is the chance things go bad. This is a pretty simple setup. 120 grit paper on the cast iron router table with a square block as a guide.

Worked well enough. I can close the gap with hand pressure.

Routing the wire channels. I will make a template for this later but for now it is a hand operation. It is important to do these early on Vs as they are almost impossible to drill later.

Electronics cavities routed before the top goes on.

Cover all my new channels/cavities with tape to keep the glue out when the top is attached. Then of course every clamp in the shop.

Cleaning up the sides. This is a pretty good joint.

And done. Next step setting the neck.

S906_4 neck set...

2011-06-26T19:12:00.003-04:00

Back of the neck profiled.

Scarf joint close up and headstock.

Electronics cavity routed and laid out.

Time to carve. Burl is relatively soft so I am using a 100 grit paper on the sander for the carve.

Finishing up the carve.

Belly cut.

I trimmed up the heal area so that it is more comfortable... now I need to adjust the neck to it.

Adjusted heal.

Better.

About ready for the neck glue in. Just need to look it over a few more times before committing to it.

Carve turned out well. The burl causes optical illusions and make it seem rougher than it is in places.

I am going to have to deal with the knots and inclusion at some point. I have new System Three epoxy to try on these.

Gratuitous even.

Grass.

Last shots before glue up.

P90 Tele continued...

2011-06-26T19:09:00.002-04:00

Finishing up the project. Belly carve, top sanded to 120 grit, neck fitted.

Switches, volume, bridge, ferrels laid out.

A look at the back. Next time we see this it will be roughed with electronics and hardware.

999 Emergency... 999 Emergency...

2011-06-18T17:47:00.000-04:00

I need an emergency tele I can put some P90s in. Time to look on the shelf.. Oh look a neck (needs frets) and a body (needs a makeover).... Rustle through the parts drawer and find some stuff. Ok neck fretted (that took 30 minutes).

Working on the body. I found a nashville bridge so it needs a neck angle. Into the jig with you!!!

Neck angle done. I am not sure about the tele headstock... might get modified tomorrow.

Recess the nashville and the ferrels. Finish up the electronics cavity.

Route for the P90s and layout the carve...

Rough carve done. Time for beer.

S906_3 Rough stages

2011-06-13T21:47:00.003-04:00

Neck glued up.

Laying out the nut blank.

Ready for parts

D506_1 Cleaning up heal

2011-06-13T21:46:00.004-04:00

So you can see how I left the heal area to carve. Not my favorite thing but it is completely necessary on the D506.

And shaped. The recess on the horn allows better access to the 24th fret.

Installing the nut

Time for test fits on the hardware. Also haven't placed the strap locks yet.

S906_3 neck set...

2011-06-11T20:08:00.002-04:00

Inner horns carved. So far I am not a fan of myrtle. It is a very hard wood to work precisely. It cuts like butter with a sander and scrapes horribly. I know...I know... If it cuts like butter what is the issue? Well it is very easy to cut too deep too fast. Bad things... I ended up doing a lot of this by hand (not the belly carve). Lastly myrtle is prone to tear out when using the scraper. Not a fan...

Neck roughed in with a C shape.

Neck cleaned up to 220 grit. This guitar gets a more traditional heal so I shape the neck to it.

Test fit.

Let glue this thing up.

D506_1 Neck set

2011-06-11T20:07:00.003-04:00

Shaping the neck. This one gets a trapezoidal shape so we start by laying out the flat sides.

Shape roughed in. I did not finish the heel as it will all be blended together.

Neck glued in.

D506_1 Carved

2011-06-07T07:16:00.002-04:00

Finished the electronics cavity route.

Initial radius.

Radius for the carve.

Carve. The carve is soft and hard to see but it is there.

A look at the flame...

S906_3 partial carve....

2011-06-06T23:59:00.001-04:00

Electronics cavity.

Rear humbucker route finished.

Initial 3/16" radius.

Radius route for the carve.

Outside carves done.

Tired now... I will get to the inside of the horns later.

S908_1 Neck set....

2011-06-06T23:58:00.000-04:00

Humbucker routes finished. Rear humbucker chipped in 2 places... I will have to fix it.

Radius for the carve.

Lets get to work... always start on the arm rest (not sure why).

The upper horn takes patience. Work down to the edge not up from it.

Outside carve roughed in.

The inside horn carves are considerably more complicated. Carefully rough them in with the sander. Then proceed with curve sanders and files to rough it in closer.

In order to make them concave I use the gooseneck scraper to finish the curves up. Follow up by hand with 220 and a 220 foam sanding block.

Spend some time sanding through the grits with the palm sander.

A little mineral spirits to see where it is.

I need to see it outside I think.

Trimmed up the necck tenon.

And the accent strip.

Carving the neck.

I am leaving the heal as this one is getting blended into the body. It allows me to have more neck support but still comfortably reach the upper frets.

Tape up everything before gluing the neck in. I am using T-88 epoxy for this one.

Shaping the heal.

Done.

Sides

S906_4 ready to carve...

2011-06-06T23:55:00.003-04:00

Rear humbucker route finished.

Initial 3/16" radius

Radius for the carve.

Pickups

2011-06-06T23:49:00.004-04:00

Wired, potted, done.

How do you test an 8 string single coil without an 8 string guitar? You slap it in the pickup horse.

--Punisher--

2011-06-01T20:19:00.000-04:00

--Punisher--

Wenge and Flamed Maple Gibson Style V
Neck through 7 piece Wenge/Maple neck. The body is 1/4" Wenge top and 1/4" Wenge Back, Wenge center w/Maple Accent lines.

Neck : Wenge/Flame Maple
Fretboard : Ebony
Scale : 24.75
Frets : 24
Trussrod : ALLPARTS

Body : Wenge/Maple/Wenge
Tuners : Hipshot Classic
Pickups : Diablo Humbuckers
Bridge : Tone Pros TOM
Electronics : Volume Push/Pull Tapped and 3-way Selector Switch

D506_1 Neck angle

2011-05-30T09:00:00.002-04:00

Time to fire up the angle neck pocket jig. After a slight modification to the front of the tracks attachments and adding runners to the bottom it is ready to use. I setup the clamping system with toggle clamps.As it stands the D5 and the V7 will both have neck angles so I need the jig to work with strange shapes. All the blocks are movable as the D5 requires a much larger area than the S9.

And here we have the Kahler for the first D5. First thing to do is remove the trem block from the frame so we can position the bridge and plan the route. I am sure there are premade templates for all this but I want it done this weekend so I am going to just do it by hand.

I take the block out so that it will sit flush while we are measuring the scale and angle.

Checking the angle of the neck. I plan on slightly recessing the Kahler so after all the calculations this looks right. This is not an exact measurement I just want to verify that my calculations look right.

After checking the angle against the base plate it is time to setup the dust collection. And get started. I drilled a couple of holes to give the router a place to start (because I don't use a plunge router). I take a lot of really small passes and try not to load the router.

I want the bottom of the fretboard to be flush with the top of the body at the 24th fret. Take a measurement on the neck and lock the calipers so that I can check the depth easily (no reading the output).

That is all for the routing. Turned out pretty well. Now it is time to square the edges of the tenon. I started doing this a few builds ago and love the simplicity. Putting a 3/8" radius on the neck tenon is a lot less precise than just squaring the corners on the body mortis.

I start with a very sharp wide chisel. The first cuts are important as they act as guides for the next few cuts. After the first cuts I back off and take much smaller cuts. Once the corner starts to take shape you can put down the hammer and just use the chisel to finish shaping it.

I had a little tear out but that doesn't matter too much as the neck pickup route will remove almost all of this wood. I finish cleaning up with a little sandpaper on a block.

Ummm... yeah I missed a hair. So the neck pocket is not deep enough. Back to the jig and drop the neck pocket a few and return.

Now that it is better.

And like this.

Neck pocket is really tight. I had to clamp the neck in. But I can lift a full Destroyer sized body with no glue. I will sand the pocket a bit and make the joint press together by hand.

A look at the front.

A look at the neck angle.

A look at the back.

Finding the center of the Kahler was a chore as everything is offset and asymetrical. I ended up using the center of the saddles spread to there farthest point.

After making a template for the Kahler it is time to route.

Finito.

S908_1 Bridge and such

2011-05-24T22:51:00.001-04:00

Installing the bridge. After marking the centerline, scale, and neck planes it is time to mount the bridge to drill the holes.

Check the alignment and the neck height.

Another look at the alignment.

Setting the scale length (27.5) to the saddles in the forward most position.

Drill the holes for the strings and mounting screws.

After holes are marked and outside holes are drilled through mount the bridge on the back and mark the ferrel holes.

Like this.

Recessed strap jacks.

Neck fretted.

Electronics cavity routed.

S906_3 bridge work...

2011-05-24T22:49:00.000-04:00

Time to fret the neck. First chamfer the slots with a small triangle file. This gives the spot where the tang meets the fret a place to sit and makes it easier to start. Next up press them in and dress the edges.

To get the bridge placement right takes a few minutes. This is a time for precision and accuracy. I use a set of calipers to check all my measurements twice before continuing to the next step. Make sure you allow for the size of the lead in the pencil (I use a .05 for stuff like this). First I continue the plane of the neck sides past the scale mark. Next I recalculate the centerline from the neck plane. Hopefully I am not far off the original centerline (on this one I was the width of the pencil lead off... .05). Finally I mark the scale length from each side of the neck and make a mark.

Using the scale mark, neck plane, and the new centerline I position the bridge. I then measure the scale to the most forward point on the bridge saddles. Next I verify the E string placement with a straight edge.

And finally check the scale length one last time before double-sided tape the bridge to the top of the body.

I use a hinge bit in the drill press to drill very shallow marks for all bridge the holes.

Next I remove the bridge and carefully drill the outside holes all the way through the body. I make sure I only cut a 1/4" or so with the bit before pulling it up to clear the shavings. This keeps the bit from wandering in the grain and leaves me with properly aligned holes on the back of the guitar.

Flip the guitar and use the 2 holes to align the bridge on the back. Then self-centering hinge bit to mark the holes.

I make a mark 0.156 on each side of the centerline of the holes and use it as a guide to drill the ferrel holes straight. Finally I use the stew mac tuner bit to make the recesses for the ferrels.

Recessed strap locks installed.

Recess for the electronics cover. I am still working on making a new template for the inner cavities.

Project 8 String Single Coil -- part 1

2011-05-24T21:33:00.000-04:00

Project 8 string humbucker...

I have to make a single coil pickup to match a set of green BKP 8 string humbuckers for a custom guitar. I had the customer ship a sacrificial humbucker that matches the set. My plan is to extend the height of the slug side bobbin, install some A5 rod magnets, wind it to about 8-9k and make a new baseplate.

I was not impressed with my first look at a Bare Knuckle pickup. Honestly they are not built any better than any other major manufacturer pickup. The parts are not better than what you can get from Mojotone in my opinion. The sacrificial humbucker has several tool marks and digs in the top. The bobbins have a satin look to them. And of course there is a visible seam in each of the bobbins.

The baseplate has the name engraved in it.

Enough looks lets take this thing apart. You can see the #2 brass screws are really long compared to normal PAFs (makes sense to hold everything together.. vibration == microphonics).

The rough cast A5 looks like a sensmag (nice quality regardless). The bobbins have a visible seam. It looks like they cut down 2 six string bobbins and glued them together. You can even see the seam from the top (I am not a fan).

The baseplate looks like a plain piece of stainless steel. The tabs have serious rough edges, one have thought they would have cleaned them up with a file or something. I was surprised to see that they used what looks like scraps as the wood filler.

Last look at the top of the bobbin and its defects.

Looks like a normal PAF so far.

I strapped it to the winder to try and count the winds to try and get a better guesstimate on what it would take to get to 8 or 9k. The coil read about 4 ohms or so. I would say that the coil was wound a bit messy but the wax potting was exceptional and went all the way to the center of the bobbin.

In the end I got tired of trying to unwind it and cut the coil off. The wax potting was so good it made the wire break as I tried to unwind it.

A look at the clean bobbin.

Here is the test bobbin. I cut it in half with a razor saw and glued a piece of pickgaurd material in the middle with pvc glue. You can see it next to a standard HB bobbin in the second picture.

Time to cut the green bobbin. I need to cut this as square as possible with minimal material loss. So I squared the top of my wood vise before hand to give a good surface to work from. Then I clamp my favorite razor saw in the vice were the teeth just kiss the middle of the bobbin. Gradually I raise the saw a little each time until I am done. Resting the bobbin on the square surface keeps the cut square and clamping the saw keeps it from flexing providing a straight cut.

Here we glue the thing back together with the pickguard extension in the middle. I use 2 .187 drill bits to align the bobbin while the glue dries. Clamp and wait.

Out of the clamps. I used a small triangle file with safe edges to clean up the middle of the pickup.

Baseplate finished.

S906_4 setting the bridge

2011-05-24T21:30:00.000-04:00

Neck fretted and ready to go along with some others.

Setting the bridge. I check the string alignment with a yard stick, some guys like to use old guitar strings for alignment but find the yard stick to be more reliable and easy to use. Plus I can check the scale length while I am at it.

I set the saddles on the bridge to the most forward point then give the adjustment screw a 1/4 turn back. I then measure the scale to the break point on the saddle. This gives me full range of motion for compensation. In reality you shouldn't ever need to shorten the scale if everything else (meaning fret placement) is right.

Next up I tape the bridge to the body and use a self-centering hinge drill bit to drill very shallow pilot holes. Using the drill press I drill the inside holes half way through and the 2 outside holes all the way through.

Mount the bridge to the back of the guitar using some drywall srews as guide pins. Then drill out the holes for the ferrels.

Recessed strap jacks installed.

D506_1 fretboards this and that

2011-05-15T19:28:00.000-04:00

Attaching the headplate.

Headstock shaped and beginning of tuner holes.

Radius and leveling the fretboard.

And this is why I charge extra for ziricote. After about three passes with a sanding block you have to clean the paper. I even made a tool for it... a heavy straight pin mounted in a dowel rod.

Finally a few hours later I have a radiused and polished fretboard.

Spent the rest of the day making the angled neck pocket jig.It still has a bit of tweaking before it is ready. I have to remove the knobs from the front because they are blocking router access.

S908_1 side dots and tuners

2011-05-15T19:25:00.000-04:00

Finishing up the side dots. I did something different with the 12th fret side dot. It is supposed to look like a white planet with a red moon... I might add rings to it later.

Headstock tuners recessed and drilled.

S906_4 tuner recess and holes

2011-05-15T19:23:00.002-04:00

Tuners recessed and drilled.

Latest Dozuki fret saw cuts much cleaner than the old English backsaw.

D506_1 shaping the body

2011-05-09T13:54:00.001-04:00

Time to work on the shape. I wanted to get real feel for the weight, balance, and look of the D5. The drawing on the computer looked perfect. However in reality it was large. Working out a prototype sometimes has to be done on the move. My first concerne was weight and size. I really like the Destroyer II but it is a very large instrument. I like the Jackson Kelly but it is really small for an explorer style guitar. The new Destroyers are too small and look disproportionate. So I went with my usual extreme styling... make the angles a little more intense, remove some size (not too much), and add something to make it stand out. Here is where I left off.

The top horn still needs some adjusting. I like it but I am unsure of it. I also need to work on access to the upper frets. Right now 23 and 24 might be a bit of a stretch. Once I position the bridge I will make some decisions on the neck placement.

Feel free to comment and let em know how you feel about the horn

S906_4 radius and polish

2011-05-09T11:27:00.006-04:00

Radiusing the fretboard. I spend a lot of time getting the board as perfect as I can as this saves time/metal later when dressing the frets. After roughing in the radius on the new belt sander I use the 16" stew mac beam with 120 grit to get it really close. Next up is the stew mac leveler bar with 120 grit. Once the daylight is gone from under the straight edge I switch grits to 220 then 320.

I finish it off with a 320 flex pad that leaves this finish.

Headstock final shape and sanding.

Time for side dots. This explains itself.

S906_3 more fretboard work...

2011-05-09T11:27:00.005-04:00

Almost finished with the fretboard radiused and polish. I was really in the zone and forgot to get pictures of the initial rough sanding.

After I get to this point I like to check it one last time. So I use 320 grit on the sanding beam over the polished surface. Each stroke should scuff the board all the way along the path of the string. After a single pass shiny spots are bad and would need to be addressed. I also make sure there is not light under the straight edge. Watch the glare though as it will sometimes trick you.

And polish it again...

Side dots installed. I almost used creme side dots... but the pickups are going to be aged white so I will age these a bit with some amber stain when I am done.

S908_1 Radius

2011-05-09T11:26:00.003-04:00

Time to radius the fretboard. For a spread this wide I am going to use a 20" radius. I had to do this by hand because the neck is too wide for the stewmac blocks. I am ordering LMI blocks this week (wider and 12" long).

The bloodwood polishes up nice.

S908_1 setting the neck

2011-05-02T09:35:00.002-04:00

Clean up the inside of the horns.

Time to make a template for the tenon. I use 3/16 hardboard and thick CA with accelerator to put this together quick. Start with a large square and cut two pieces the same length and 1/3 the width of the larger square. Mark a centerline. Then measure out from center and put marks for the outside edges of the neck tenon. These are just guides to make sure the neck tenon is centered on the template. Spray the accelerator on the large plate, put the CA on the smaller piece and glue it right on the line, clamp it and let it dry. After it is dry set the tenon tight against the edge and repeat the process for the other side. Remove the tenon quickly or it will get stuck permanent. After all is dry glue a piece to act as the end of the route. Drill out the center and clean up with a flush cut router.

Mark the neck placement. Attach the template and rough in the pocket with a forstner.

Test fit the neck.

Stopping here until I get parts.

S906_4 top to neck

2011-05-02T09:34:00.002-04:00

After taking the top out of the clamps I need to glue the top to the body as soon as possible to prevent any warping do to humidity. The burl I have for the top has been very reactive to changes in humidity.

After taping the edges of the body to protect from glue runs and make it easier to clean up I clean up my clamping bars. The best way to put tops on is with a vacuum system. I haven't bought one yet so I use a lot of clamps. One thing that helps put pressure in the middle of the top are maple clamping bars. I use two, one at the waist and one across the bridge. They are easy to make. Take a 1" x 1/2" x (7" - 12") piece of maple and curve the bottom of it. The curve side goes against the top and you clamp each end. The bow in the maple puts pressure in the middle of the blank. A lot more pressure than you can put with a bag of sand or a cinder-block.

Time for the glue up. It is hard to get pictures because titebond has a short open time. Cover both pieces and stick them together. This step is important and should be done quickly as titebond will skin over if exposed to the air to long. Use quick clamps to go around the outside edges and hole the top down while getting the big clamps together. Then remove quick clamps as needed to position heavier clamps and bars.

Out of the clamps.

One on the bench then out in the sun to get a look at the grain.

Clean up the inside of the horns. I now sand these to 220 grit with the spindle sander early in the build. Removing scratches from inside the horns later is a chore.

Setting the neck. Setup my guide lines.

Attach the template and hollow out with a forstner. Follow up with the router and a chisel to square the ends.

I went ahead and routed the neck humbucker because the pocket was so tight I needed to sand a bit... and well having less material to sand makes it easier. Then we do the fit test. You should be able to pick the guitar up (hold it over the bench so if it falls it is a short distance).

This one turned out really clean.

Here is where it is. Waiting on parts for several guitars so this is where I am stopping.

Ok I will stop after I clean up the tenon.

A look at the back

S906_3 waiting on parts

2011-05-02T09:32:00.003-04:00

Really small update. Cleaned up around the neck joint.

D506_1 top joined

2011-05-02T09:32:00.001-04:00

Joining a top this big is a real pain. Once it is done you get to enjoy it.

S906_3 setting the neck

2011-04-27T23:22:00.004-04:00

Time to set the neck. Get a .05mm mechanical pencil. Mark a centerline in the body. Decide where the 24th fret is going to be on the body (I have a set distance from the back of the body that works for the S9). Mark the 24th fret 90degrees to the centerline. Next measure the neck width at the 24th fret. Divide by 2 and mark the results on each side of the centerline. Now measure to the end of the tenon. For the S9 that is 43mm from the 24th fret. Mark that measurement 90 degrees to the centerline. Measure the width of the neck at that spot and divide by 2. Mark that distance on each side of the centerline. Connect the marks taking in to mind the width of the lead of the mechanical pencil. Normally for precision marks I use a razor but for this a pencil line works if you plan ahead.

On the sides of the neck mark the center of the 24th fret using a machinists square from the heal side (because you know it is square). Then mark the end of the tenon (43mm from the center of the 24th fret for the S9).

Now set the neck on the body and test your results. If it was done right everything should line up perfect. I had a bit of deviation on the 43mm mark but I was able to shoot the gap and get it where I wanted it.

Satisfied with the lines it is time to set the template. When you lay the template on the body "take the line". This is a carpenters term for cut to the inside of your pencil line (don't leave anything). I know this seems extreme but .05mm is the difference between a tight fit and a lose fit. The neck pocket needs to be tight. When you look at the template you should not be able to see pencil lines without moving your head.

Next up neck depth. I set my necks according to bridge height. Since I know the hipshot so well I know that I like to be able to see a paper thin line of neck wood under the fretboard when the neck is fully set in the body (Yes I know my measurements but they don't help you). Measure the depth that you want on the neck blank. Transfer that to the body so you can set the forstner bit depth.

Jump to the drill press and set the stop on the forstner bit so that the point is shy of your line. Don't go too deep. You do not want any marks in the final cut of the neck pocket. Once you are sure all is well drill out the neck pocket. Stay off the edges and protect your template. Clean out your shavings as you proceed to give you better visibility and protect your bit.

Start shallow (1/8") for the first cut as it should be razor sharp (provides a nice glue line). Then take small cuts to hollow out the neck pocket with the router. Small cuts allow you control. Patience is the key.

Once you approach the final depth work to your depth measurement calculated earlier by making your first cut at the top of the template in an area that will be cut away. This allows you to check your router setting and not accidentally cut to deep.

For this project I cleaned out the corners with a very sharp chisel instead of rounding the corners of the tenon as I feel I would get hair more gluing surface (voodoo structural advantage). Then the fit test. Does it fit tight enough to lift the body but not need a hammer to set the joint?

Now we get a bit excited...

Check the depth.

This guitar is getting a blended heal (ugh...) so I left a little extra wood.

Scary part... recessing the tuners.

Got ahead of myself and finished the tuners. This one gets black hardware the chrome is just my test set. Way too many photos of something...

One last look.

Ok these are just to see where we are.

Neck humbucker laid out and routed.

Time to trim up the tenon. Set the neck and mark the sides of the humbucker route. Transfer the line and use a radius block as a square to make the cut. Once it is all cut free check the depths. Make sure you have enough room for the neck pickup.

That is it for today.

V706_1 body blank part 2

2011-04-27T23:20:00.006-04:00

Roughed in the body blank.

S906_4 top joining

2011-04-27T23:20:00.005-04:00

Joining the top plate. Use a square fence and sandpaper attached to a flat surface. Carefully sand the joint while holding the top tight to the fence.

These 4 pictures speak for themselves. Holding a burl top stable while gluing is a real task.

S906_5 fretboard

2011-04-17T23:14:00.002-04:00

I feel like I have been gluing fretboards for weeks now...

Align the board and use clamps to hold it in place. Pin the fretboard with 1/16" pins made from broken drill bits. I pin in the nut as I use a 3/16" nut and it covers the hole. I pin the other end in the cuttoff.

Prep both surfaces by freshly sanding them. Blow off dust and wipe with lacquer thinner. Use scotch tape to protect the trussrod from epoxy. I cut the scotch tape within a 1/16" of the trussrod channel (to maximize gluing surface). Then clamp away.

8 String covers finished

2011-04-17T23:13:00.001-04:00

More EMG style ebony 8 string covers. After carefully routing the cavities in the ebony I cut the covers free and proceed to square them up. I also stabilize them as best I can with thin CA on the inside leaving the outside as they get an oil finish. As you can see this was dirty business.

Sanded and ready for finishing.

And Behlens Teak Oil to finish them up. It will take a few days to dry.

Zero day....

2011-04-17T23:11:00.004-04:00

Zero

Kamikaze inspired pickup horse.

Neck :Allparts Maple
Fretboard : Ebony
Scale : 25.5
Frets : 22
Trussrod : ALLPARTS

Body : Allparts Ash
Tuners : Locking
Pickups : TBD
Bridge : TRS Floyd
Electronics : 1 Push/pull

I have been chasing vintage Kamikazes on eBay for a few years but just do not want to spend that kind of money on that simple a guitar. It is time to make one. I am going to use an ash body instead of the soft maple. Maybe later down the road I will build a soft maple body but for now this will do.
Allparts reverse hockey stick and single humbucker ash strat body. Both pieces are very high quality parts.

After bolting the neck on it is time to line everything up. Using a long straight edge I mark the taper of the neck past the bridge. Next I use the centering ruler to make a center mark near the neck then near the bridge. I then draw the centerline. I am using a .5 lead pencil for this with a very light touch (not pushing on the pencil) allowing for the offset of the thickness of the lead.

Digging through my templates I realize I do not have a Floyd Recess template. I am not waiting around on Stew Mac. I use a square 6x8" piece of hardboard with the rough side up. Mark center lines on it and start laying out the floyd recess. I leave a 1/8" on each side of the tremolo.

Next up I cut several strips of hardboard on the radial arm saw. I know they are straight and square. Using accelerator on the template (only on template) I put a large line of thick CA on the straight piece and lay it on the first line. Clamp it for about 30 seconds and let the accelerator harden the CA. After following the lines around the template I drill a few large holes in the middle of the template then clean up the inside using a laminate trim bit in the router table. Hit all the edges with thin CA and let it dry for 15 minutes or so.

Double sided tape and a very shallow template bit produces a very clean tremolo recess.

S908_1 Body...

2011-04-17T23:11:00.001-04:00

NTD leads to finishing some bodies. I have been putting this off until I got the 16-32 performax. Makes leveling a body for a top easy.

S906_4 catching up to everyone else

2011-04-10T22:16:00.002-04:00

Finally put the headstock wings on this one.

Headstock shaped and trussrod installed.

And fretboard glued on.

Of course every clamp in the shop (I bought more recently).

Cleaned up fretboard.

And lets get a look at the color.

Pickup covers

2011-04-10T22:11:00.005-04:00

Ok step one. Template. Step two test your routes. Clean up and get ready for the real thing. EMG style ebony covers.

S906_3 towards the goal.

2011-04-10T22:11:00.004-04:00

Edges of fretboard cleaned up.

Close up of the fretboard.

S906_5 headstock wings

2011-04-10T22:10:00.002-04:00

Wings for headstock

V706_1 body blank

2011-04-10T22:09:00.002-04:00

Body Blank.

S908_1 headplate finished

2011-04-07T23:09:00.001-04:00

Headplate time. Time to clean up the mess. The epoxy came through the pores in the walnut and stuck to the caul. Also filled up the trussrod access. This is why I put tape over the trussrod access area before gluing headplates on. It could have ruined the neck by immobilizing the trussrod instead it was a simple clean up with a razor...

Headstock shape roughed in.

Results. I think it is going to be ok.

I am starting to like the look of this 8 string... Next up the body.

Carnage S907_3

2011-04-05T22:29:00.010-04:00

-- Carnage --

The second seven string prototype of the S9 series.

S907 #3 (Carnage) is a Sapele/Bloodwood neck attached to a super thin Sapele/Bloodwood topped body with Hipshot parts and Destroyer pickups.

Neck : Sapele/Bloodwood
Fretboard : Ziricote
Scale : 25.5
Frets : 24

Body : Sapele/Bloodwood (33mm)
Tuners : Hipshot
Pickups : Destroyer 7 Strings
Bridge : Hipshot
Electronics : 1 Push/Pull Volume