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I don't exactly know how old this bit of wood i, I don't know if it is Honduran or Brazilian.
What I do know is when I drill it it smells like heaven, that beautiful heady smell of Fresh cut mahogany.
This piece of wood is so dark it makes African and Fijian Mahogany look like rock maple.
I bought htis piece a couple of years ago. when it turned up it looked beautiful until I put a level on it it had about a 5mm warp right across the centre line.
It was a shame, the guy I bouoght it off sent me a new piece and I used that to build an Eagle ii.
I looked at this bit and thought it would be a shame to waste it so I sized it up and worked out if I used a lute shape the warp would be down to only a couple of mm.
So I cut it out in the shape of a lute.
From there Pitbul appeared and I started building Kits.
So today I got this piece of wood which has been sitting under my Computer desk in a Cardboard box for the last year.
I went out in the shed and started to measure up.
Then I put it on the drill press and using my 25mm Forsner bit drilled the neck route to a 17mm depth.
I love the semll of this mahogany
The reason for that is it leaves me a couple of mm to create an angle for the neck to ramp up to the bridge.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...Lute004sml.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...Lute002sml.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...Lute003sml.jpg
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wow, nice chunk of tree!
You could have run it through a thicknesser and then used it for a guitar...
Very cool project though
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Hi Stan,
it's been through a thicknesser. it is down to 38mm, so not enough room to get rid of the warp.
Cheers PK
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ahhh, very good then, looks amazing
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This is a bit different, Paul. It's cool to watch these offside builds develop. Carry on.
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The easiest part of this build has to be the binding route. just a constant curve all the way around.
:D
PK
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So is it going to stay that shape? Is it a lute or a guitar? Looks enormous!
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Hi Nick
yeah there's just about enough room for a condo with a double garage on the back. Well maybe a Bigsby.
I won't change much from this.a little bit of sanding on the sides maybe. It's only 38mm thick.
I had thought of running the router around the edge and putting a 30deg champher on it about 30-40 mm wide.
At the moment I am going with simplicity in the body. yeah I know it's just a slab of Mahogany.
:D PK
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Hahaha :P hilarious
Sounds good mate. Reminds me of those old Matons
http://axewar.com/uploaded_files/121...opy%201964.jpg
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Sweet looking build PK. Should come out a treat. Will watch this with interest
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Tks Nick.
I nearly bought one of those Maton's Lute's when they were new. But I was put off by the F-hole sticker. I bought a Maton Wedgtail instead for $230 back then and wish I still had it.
The Lute shape was big in the late 60's. The Late Brian Jones of the Strolling Bones played a Vox one.
Cheers PK
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Very interesting scratchy PK! How did that neck pocket come out? More pictures please! I am watching your build with keeninterest!
cheers,
Gav.
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This is a very long neck route at 90mm deep. I did think about going 100mm but it would stuff up my planned pickup alignmnets, I'd already drilled some locating pilot holes for them.. DOH. The up shot is that this body will take this will take a B3 or B6 Bigsby.
The edges of the route have come out perfectly with no edge chips.
PK
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Neck pocket route finished with a 2mm taper to set the neck height at the bridge.
Should be about 15-16mm at bridge so pretty happy with that as that's with a rule set on the top of the frets. Some might say why didn't I just taper the neck heal, well the heal on this neck only has about 2mm above the actual neck D shape. the neck is about 23mm deep at the front of the heal.
There is the tinyest of gaps between the neck and the route. I expect this will disappear with just a touch more sanding, and when the neck screws pull it in.
Now I am trying to decide whether to put mini humbuckers in this or full sized.
If I go with Mini's then I will need to make a routing template for it. as I only have full sized Humbucker and a P90 route template. But.. making a mini humbucker template isn't hard it's just time and effort.
PK
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...ute-015sml.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...ute-014sml.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...ute-016sml.jpg
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Hey Stan have you been reading my mind.
What's your pref Dog ears or soap bars
Thing is I have two mini's that I can't use on the Doubles as they have pre routed pickup pockets While the Mini Hums would cover the routes, the pup ring screw holes are actually inside the route. My thought htere was If I have to route em I can route em the right size
:D
PK
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hi PK,
Tough choice between soapbars or dogears. I personally would go soapbars if you can get the route perfect.
A really nice job with the neck pocket. Can you explain how you routed the 2mm taper into the pocket? Did you simply jack up your routing template at one end?
cheers,
Gav.
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Hi Gav,
Yes I did jack up the routing template about 3mm witha Bunnings Paint Stirer. I put it back far enough that the clamps were over it. so that at the gap between my route template at the back of the neck slot was about 2-3 mm.
I then put the router into it's big a$$ed plunge jig and set the depth to the back of the pocket. so that it was hard down on the depth stop. I then released the brake and moved the router to the middle of the neck slot, started it up and plunged it into the heart of the neck slot. Then rotating clockwise around the neck slot till all the excess is removed. It is important to rotate clockwise other wise the bit will rip lumps out if you go the wrong way. Same goes for pickup routes.
Cheers PK
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Hi Gav,
I should also mention the depth is the rear of the existing route I had + what it needed to get to max depth, ie 4mm
this gave me a route depth of 18mm at the rear of the neck route, and 20mm at the front of the route.
I've done some fine filing and sanding on the route and it is pretty damn close to a perfect fit. just the tiny bit of force neded to push the neck home.
The front of the union is now quite flush with that little 1/4mm gap reduced to about.1mm almost thiner than the gap a secret fart can slip through.
Now working on a route template for some chrome mini Hums, the ones that were supposed to go on a Double cut. but didn't because the routes are too big.
On the subject of mini hums. I am thinking about a four pick up guitar along the lines of the one John Mayall is holding on the cover of Diary of a Band. Now that to me is a pretty cool Axe. #6 to the first one on this forum that build one..
#6 is rule Six in 4x4's and aptly applies almost any where
Rule #6 is every one gets a #6 or in easy terms a beer.
Cheers PK
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after a considerable bit of thought I have worked out how to use the P90 routing template to get a better fit for the Mini Hums. The issue is the mini hums are only 70mm long compared to about 85mm for a P90.
If I tape the template down and just route one end at a time I can make a shorter route cut, or I could stop being lazy and make a proper template..
:) PK
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Thanks for the info PK. Let me know how you go with the mini-hum template, as I'm faced with making one too - for both the body and the scratchplate.
cheers,
Gav.
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Hi Gav.
Because the two mini Humbuckers I have came with metal humbucker rings I'll use them as a template to make an mdf routing template. Basically I screw the two mini plates together onto the 6mm mdf and route out the middle.
PK
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I should note, the outer line that intersects the pickup ring screw holes is off the P90 route template.
I don't know how StewMac can claim that the P90 template is also for mini humbuckers. they certainly are not suited to Belcat Mini's. Yes I realise you could use longer pickup ring screws and screw into the bottom of the route, but to me that's just plain sloppy.
PK
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Ok Guys a Question for all. or DB.
Setting up the bridge.
I've measured a line at 643mm along the centre of the body and marked the line off using a square from the body to the straight edge sitting directly down the centre of the neck.
Should the bridge post be centred on this line for the High 'E' or should it be set at the mid point of the bridge. ie; the high E bridge post is 1.5 mm forward, while the low E would be 1.5mm behind this line.
How should it be done.
PK
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...bridge-sml.jpg
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Both Pickup routes done, now just need to think about the bridge.
If I use a wrap around bridge, that will make it easier to put a bigsby on lateron.
If I usea tune-o-matic or similar roller bridge then I need to drill tailpiece holes which will be harder to hide later on if I put a bigsby on it.
PK
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...-route-sml.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...cc-pickups.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...-tunomatic.jpg
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I really like the aesthetics of this build and that wood is superb. Glad to see you went the extra yards & fitted mini hums, I reckon they complement the clean lines . . .
Personally, I would scrub the Bigsby - simply because it could look rather clunky on your otherwise elegant guitar.
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Thanx Max.
I spent a lot of time looking through FleaBay at Bigby's and at $130-140 for a B6 I don't think it's gunna happen.
With the bridge either way I need to buy one wherther it's a wraparound or a Roller bridge and tailpiece.
I think the wrap around is going to be too tight on the pickup rings as they project a long way forward. That and I really like the look of the roller bridges smoothe and elegant so to speak.
I am putting a bit of thought into the controls and at this point an tossing up between simple LP Junior style through the body, but with a toggle for pickup control, verses a Tele style chrome plate and switch, rewired of course to deal with the mini Hums.
the pickguard will be a simple plate following the shape of the bottom half and straddling the pickups.
Also hides the scratch I pickup along the way. oops.
I will try and fix that as this body is already coated in Tung Oil about 30 layers deep so a little bit of Tung oil application will fix it.
Cheers PK
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wow lots of work here
for what it's worth i think the roller bridge and tail piece will complement what you have already done, and go with the simple LP controls.
The tele stuff would look good, but i like the other way more - gives chrome visuals through the centre of the guitar, and a smoother symmetrical look
Either way, this is a ripper build
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Thanks Stan, I was aiming for somewhere between ripper and Bloddy amazing. ;P
PK
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Hmmm. I think you may end up overshooting said 'mark', Paul.
That's a fair amount of toil you're throwing into this build and it seems to me you'll definitely end up with a stunner!
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Thanx Lawry,
I am spending a lot of time thinking through each step and the consequesces of each alternative.
I've been toiling with the idea of just putting in a 1 Vol and 1 Tone, but with push pulls to separate the pickups to output. I think though 2 pots and 1 switch is the way to go. all in a line, drilled up through the timber, with silver top hats with black pearl inserts and a silver 3 Way toggle
With the pickguard, I am leaning to Black Pearloid or something like that. They look quite silvery when all said and done. I think plain Black would be too harsh, white would be to boring.
Cheers PK
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A bit of Routing a round done. two pot spots. No toggle switch.
decided to use the push pulls. both swithes down, both pickups. front switch out one pick up, bck switch out other pick up. and yeah both switches out both pick ups again.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...Lute007sml.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...Lute008sml.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...Lute009sml.jpg
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I like the idea of just using switchpots, it makes the lines much cleaner.
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Tks Lawry,
One of the reasons for doing this is to keep it kleen.
The alternate to this is a stacked pair of concentric pots and a single switch.
The fall back is of course drill another hole and put a three pos in front. but if I did that I may as well have used a tele control panel.
Cheers PK
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Double push pull set up to do away with toggle switch
Both pickups when down, 1 pickup when both up
PK
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...-dblpshpll.jpg
