Looking great as always Robin. Watching with rapt interest.
cheers,
Gav.
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Looking great as always Robin. Watching with rapt interest.
cheers,
Gav.
Thanks Gav, but as you will see I am finally running out of talent. lol.
Next job was the side fret markers. As with my fretless bass I have gone with bamboo kebab skewers. They are the right size for side markers and I like that you can see the fibres of bamboo. It gives it a rather organic look.
It was a tight fit so I just pushed it in as far as I could…….
Attachment 18899
Then roughly trimmed it off………
Attachment 18900
Tapped it home with a mallet, a final sand and they are done.
Attachment 18901
Next job was to drill the holes for the tuners.
What's this lack of talent that you're talking about??!!
Unfortunately this is where I started to run out of talent.
A lesson for the less talented among us, I think I should have drilled the post holes before cutting out the slots for the strings. As the central core of the neck is plywood as I drilled though the headstock I had several bad tear outs of the thin layers of ply. If I had drilled first and cut the slots later I think I would have avoided this. Ah well, we live and learn.
Drilling the post holes.
Attachment 18902
This is one of the bad tear-outs
Attachment 18903
This is it after some Timbermate repairs. I have made no effort to colour match the repair, so it will be quite obvious when finished.
Attachment 18904
Another blunder is that my depth marker on my bit (some painters tape) was set up for the widest part of the headstock, but as I moved up the headstock I managed to drill right though the central core. If the sides had been parallel it would not have mattered but as it is tapered it did not align with the other side and it has made a bit of a mess of the inner holes.
Attachment 18905
Again, if I had taken more care I should have avoid this. The lesson for today kiddies is, DON’T RUSH!!!
I lost count of this one, but after about 40 hours I think I have finally finished the neck.
Attachment 18906
Attachment 18907
Attachment 18908
Now to start on the body. I still haven’t decided exactly how I will do this body. All I know is it will be another laminate of pine and plywood.
Cheer guys
rob
You were too quick of the mark Zandy. Now all has been revealed. lolQuote:
Originally Posted by Zandit75
Meh, that's recoverable!!
Unfortunately, my test run on my headstock did not come in quick enough for you. I had already thought far enough ahead that I drilled my tuning holes before looking at drill out the center core.
I'd suggest painting the inside of the cavities in black. That will at least disguise the issue, and it could provide some nice contrast to the rest of the headstock.
That's one option, or you could try and use some watercolours and try to match the surrounding wood colour on the timbermate. Or fit some veneer strips on the inside of the slots.
I've always felt that the post going straight into a wooden hole without any decent support is a weak point of classical headstock design. It would be nice if they could sit in say a Teflon bushing. but that would mean drilling a bigger hole on the inside of the cutaway than the outside edge, which would be very difficult unless you came up with a special tool to do it.
You could I suppose, reduce the diameter of the last couple of mm of the plastic spindle to make it thinner and so fit a bush pressed into the normal-sized hole. But then you'd have problems where the sides of the slot weren't parallel, so that the tuner entered the hole at an angle.
Thanks Zandy and Simon, but it doesn't worry me that much. I've tried to colour match Timbermate in the past and failed miserably, so I'm not even going to try to hide it.
All my guitars stand or fall on how they play and how they sound not on how they look. I know its a cop-out but I look at their imperfections as character. lol.
You are right Simon about the design fault of classical guitar headstocks, and I would be more concerned if the strings were steel, but being nylon strings I think that tolerances are a little more flexible.
Cheers guys.
It's just on my Yamaha classical, the posts can squeal a bit when turned. Keep meaning to dab some grease into the holes!
Now it’s time to turn my attention to the body.
This will again be a laminate body, but this time it will be 3 layers of pine and 1 of marine ply. I decided to make this one a bit deeper than the steel string “acoustic” as I wanted to put the Piezo controls in the more standard position for acoustics, i.e. on the upper bout.
You take 1 sheet of 600x1800 laminated pine and a sheet of ply, grab a hand saw and a coping saw, and 2 hours later you end up with this.
Attachment 19167
Then you put them together and get this.
Attachment 19168
Then you grab a rasp and a Shinto Saw Rasp and you start taking away everything that doesn’t look like your guitar.
About 5 hours later all finished.
Attachment 19169
Now that the body has been cut out and roughly shaped and sanded I decided that I would have a go at making this a chambered guitar. It was for weight reduction mainly and not for any acoustic value. Plus I thought that I would like to give it a go, and seeing as this yet another of my “test-bed” guitars, no better time to try it.
Calling it chambered is a bit grandiose as I will not actually be chambering it, but simply cutting out the middle section of the inner layers.
So out with the trusty coping saw again and hack away.
Attachment 19170
Couple of hours later you end up with a sore wrist and this
Attachment 19171
Stack them together (minus the top) and you get this.
Attachment 19172
That's what I'd call chambered. :D
Looking good Robin!
I just got my body squared off, and will start getting ready to do my Neck pocket soon.
Starting to get nervous on how this will be coming out!
@Simon,
Thanks mate.
@Zandy
Thanks mate.
I've been keeping up to date with your build. She's going to be a beauty. Yeah, getting the neck pocket right is so important. Not having any experience with routers I guess my best advice would be the same as with most things, take your time, measure a dozen times, and cut once. It's always easier to take a bit more away than put some back.
I know with mine the pocket could be a little more snug but it is what it is. If I think it is bad enough to affect tone or sustain I might add a shim of veneer. I'll have to wait until she is finished and see how she sounds.
Cheers guys.
Update time again.
Just when I thought that I was nearly done with the body I decided that I might route out the top and the bottom layers of the guitar and make it even more chambered.
There was method in my madness, as at some stage I want to build a guitar out of a solid piece of timber, but cutting the neck pocket was always going to be the challenge for me with hand tools. Router planes can run anything up to $400 for a good one so it was back to the DIY tools again.
I got the idea from a “poor man’s router plane” video on the web and used that as my basic design. After several prototypes this is what I came up with. The blade started as an old unused chisel but with my over enthusiastic adjustment method (belting it with a hammer) I now just have the blade.
Here it is with the complete chisel before my adjustment mishap
Attachment 19390
Attachment 19391
This is how it ended up, sans handle and with a wedge for adjusting the depth of the cut.
Attachment 19392
Attachment 19393
Attachment 19394
The idea is to chisel out the bulk of the waste and then level off with the router plane. It is not yet good enough to do a neck pocket but I am sure that I can improve it with the next prototype.
good stuff Westie07, you are the guru at innovating and creating new tools with what you have. That is pine you are routing ?
Keep up the good work mate !
You should patent the poor mans router plane haha
First off I drill some “guide” holes to a depth of about 12mm.
Attachment 19400
Then I start chiselling away keeping an eye on the guide holes
Attachment 19401
Until I am nearly at the depth of the pre-drilled holes
Attachment 19402
Nearly there
Attachment 19403
love the drill hole depth gauge Westie07, what a cool idea not to chisel too much material out !
Then out with the “router plane”
Attachment 19404
The finished job
Attachment 19405
Attachment 19406
It is still rougher than I would have liked but as this is only my first attempt and will be unseen inside the guitar it’s good enough for now.
Next job is to make sure that I have all the internal routing for the wiring figured out and the cut-away for the piezo control unit sorted. The piezo is for an acoustic guitar so it is a bit tricky to mount into the solid part of the body. Once the body is glued together it will be hard to work on, so I have to make sure I have not forgotten anything.
It doesn’t look like much but I have spent nearly 30 hours just on the body so far so now I am thinking of adding an “f” hole. I’m not going to spend that much time on it and have nobody notice that it’s hollow. Lol.
Now to think up a good original “f” hole design that suits the guitar.
awesome work Westie07, think an F hole will be a nice touch
Thanks Warren, can't take any credit for the idea, there are a lot of people smarter than me out there.Quote:
Originally Posted by wokkaboy
Yeah it's only pine. So I think I need to improve a lot before I start on some "real" wood.
Yeah but I would rather like to have something that looks a bit different than the traditional "f" hole. Scouring the internet as we speak lol.
Dayum Robin!!! I'm stealing your drill bit depth guide idea!!
I may even get into the shed this weekend and do something about the neck pocket!
Thanks Zandy, I used a hand drill with a bit of tape wrapped around the bit to give me the depth guide. By the time I had drilled the last holes it had compressed the tape so some of the holes went a little bit deeper than I had planned. If I wasn't so stubborn and bought myself a drill press they would have been perfect. Ahh the joys of hand tools. I love it .lol.
You could always go with a 'Z' a la Ziltoid, or echo the classic Dobro guitars and just have a mesh screened round hole.Quote:
Originally Posted by robin
Or combine the two and do something really unique, would you consider an asymmetrical series of holes like the Ovations?
Thanks for the ideas Frankie.
The "Z" doesn't do it for me unfortunately.
I will shelve the classic Dobro idea until I can make one. It's really weird, I am not into country music, but I love the sound of Dobros and Resonator guitars. One day I would like to have a crack at building one of those.
I really like the asymmetrical series of holes idea. But unfortunately not only used by Ovation but used to stunning effect by our very own D.B. I don't mind ripping off Ovation but never DB. lol.
Thanks for the ideas mate. They have given me something to think about.
You're more than welcome, as far as giving people ideas goes, there's a Fishman unit sitting here in a box that is the first tangible piece of an idea I got from you. 😋😃Quote:
Originally Posted by robin
I too would love to build a Reso/Electric, I have a modern Dobro sitting here that gets hammered with some slide Blues occasionally. If PBG ever did that kit I'm definitely throwing money down.
Count me in too, just love those things.Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankenWashie
Awesome thread Robin. Some great stuff here from the home made tools to the actual guitar.
I was going to suggest Ovation Adamas type holes as well. Especially as F-holes (or more correctly, their placement) were designed to reduce note sustain to allow very short notes to be heard more precisely.
Very nice work on the body cavities.
@Gav
Thanks mate. I've learnt a lot during this build but I've still got lots of opportunities for stuff ups. lol.
@Simon
Thanks mate. I didn't realise that Ovation had an "Adamas" range, which I am sure has been designed to enhance the quality of their guitars. But I doubt that any hole/holes are going to make much acoustic difference to my beastie, so they will be purely decorative. I just want it to look purdy. ;)
Thanks guys.
I think I have got the innards sorted. I hope so because once the body is glued together access to the insides is going to be a bit of a problem.
I have the mounting hole for the piezo controller all routed out
Attachment 19568
Sorted out where the wiring is going
Attachment 19569
And I’ve carved out a hole in the back so hopefully it will give me access to feed the Peizo through to the bridge.
Attachment 19570
Attachment 19571
Attachment 19572
And I’ve even carved out an “f” hole, of sorts.
First rough cut
Attachment 19573
After a bit of a tidy up.
Attachment 19574
Attachment 19575
I will probably spend a bit more time on it, but that’s the general idea.
It is finally time to glue the body parts together. If I have forgotten anything after tomorrow it will to too bad. Lol.
Noice. Very Noice.
Thanks Fanky
Wow Robin, just finally caught up with reading all 8 pages of this build and totally awe struck with your ingenious workmanship and use of home made hand tools too.
Looks great and really like the original F hole.
Cheers, Waz
Thanks Waz. Its been a lot of fun to date. I am still not convinced that its all going to work, but hey, I'm learning heaps along the way.
Cheers mate.
Keeps you out of getting up to any other mischief.
I admire your craft!