# Black Palmira 7 AKA The Devils Finger-board build.



## pondman (Feb 3, 2014)

The title more or less explains this one.



It started with this piece of Black Palmira.







Thicknessed down and jaw dropping tasty.

Kevazinga ( Waterfall Bubinga veneer ready to be glued to some thin Maple boards.




Chambered Walnut back.



And top glued.




This is where the fun started 

















Don't ever use this stuff !!!


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## pondman (Feb 3, 2014)

Pickup template.


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## Socal6 (Feb 3, 2014)

Dude, I've never even heard of Black Palmira but now I really want a B.P fretboard! My anticipation is going to be killing me until the next update! Nice work like always!


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## Eliguy666 (Feb 3, 2014)

That board looks kind of waxy, what's the texture like physically?

The walnut body just made me realize that it would be really cool to use a very heavy, bright-sounding body wood and then chamber it so that you can have a lot of acoustic noise and a lot of bite without much weight.


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## pondman (Feb 4, 2014)

Eliguy666 said:


> That board looks kind of waxy, what's the texture like physically?
> 
> The walnut body just made me realize that it would be really cool to use a very heavy, bright-sounding body wood and then chamber it so that you can have a lot of acoustic noise and a lot of bite without much weight.


This is weirdest and most lethal timber I've ever worked with .
Visually it looks light and fragile but its incredibly heavy and hard on inspection. I pondered  for a while before using it , I couldn't find any reference for it being used on musical instruments and knew It would probably be a pain to work with.
With it looking like it had no real grain structure I thought it would disintegrate when I put it through the thicknesser but it came out super smooth with no tear-out. As soon as I handled it I got lethal barbed glass like splinters so I CA'd the whole piece to work with and kept all the edges sanded smooth.

So I radius-ed and smoothed and took a deep breath as I started to knock the frets in ... this is where it all went shit shaped  Every fret I put in caused splinter damage no matter how I did it. I was going to rip the frets out , plane the whole thing off and use another wood but decide to have a go at salvaging it. Anyone who's tried to work on a fretted board will no what a pain this is. It took a full day to get it sorted and half a day to dig the barbed splinters out of my hands with a needle.


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## skeels (Feb 4, 2014)

pondman said:


> Anyone who's tried to work on a fretted board will no what a pain this is.


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## Necromagnon (Feb 4, 2014)

What family of tree is that wood? Looks pretty strange, but damn cool (visually).
Good luck with that one, I know what it is to work on rearanging fretboard (I've one I'll move down from 7 to 6 strings to remove some errors...)


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## cwhitey2 (Feb 4, 2014)

pondman said:


> So I radius-ed and smoothed and took a deep breath as I started to knock the frets in ... this is where it all went shit shaped  Every fret I put in caused splinter damage no matter how I did it. I was going to rip the frets out , plane the whole thing off and use another wood but decide to have a go at salvaging it. Anyone who's tried to work on a fretted board will no what a pain this is. It took a full day to get it sorted and half a day to dig the barbed splinters out of my hands with a needle.



 

Sorry to hear.


That wood though


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## pondman (Feb 4, 2014)

Necromagnon said:


> What family of tree is that wood? Looks pretty strange, but damn cool (visually).
> Good luck with that one, I know what it is to work on rearanging fretboard (I've one I'll move down from 7 to 6 strings to remove some errors...)



Its a Palm wood and more related to bamboo. 1 large palm only yields around an inch of timber on the outside.

v A few links v

Exotic Hard Woods | Specialist Timber - Black Palmira

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=b...wCsuUhQfCgoCYBQ&ved=0CDwQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=667

Exotic Timbers - TG Timbercraft Jersey


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## ormsby guitars (Feb 4, 2014)

I have some of this stuff. Amazing tap tone. The splinters are extremely hazardous.


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## pondman (Feb 4, 2014)

Had a bit of help from my buddy tonight.



Then he got bored and watched the rain.


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## CaptainLuckeyBeard (Feb 4, 2014)

Goddamn this build looks as amazing as it was dangerous! Yet another winner!


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## XxJoshxX (Feb 4, 2014)

I was going to buy some black palm a while back for a neck, but it was just so heavy ( and expensive)


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## pondman (Feb 6, 2014)

First coat of popping oil before final sanding finish


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## Necromagnon (Feb 7, 2014)

Yeah, this purple holed stick looks really cool. What a pity there's an horrible guitar stuck on it.


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## pondman (Feb 7, 2014)

Necromagnon said:


> Yeah, this purple holed stick looks really cool. What a pity there's an horrible guitar stuck on it.


I'll send you the stick


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## Necromagnon (Feb 7, 2014)

pondman said:


> I'll send you the stick


That's too much honor. And I'll be very embarassed to take it from you. But if you want, you can send me that body to free that wonderfull stick.  _(PS: don't take this sentence out of its contexte)_


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## Bretton (Feb 8, 2014)

should leave those fretboards untreated to train players to only push the string down so it hits the fret, not all the way down to the fretboard. otherwise they get the ridiculous splinters.

mwa-ha-ha-haaaaa


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## pondman (Feb 8, 2014)

Made a bridge plate tonight , nothing too fancy. Just waiting for some Wilkinson saddles and a kill switch then assemble , dismantle and put an oil finish to it.


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## Socal6 (Feb 8, 2014)

Once again, just simply amazing!


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## Necromagnon (Feb 8, 2014)

Just out of curiosity (maybe you've already said it): you cut this steel plate by hand? Or do you have some routing machine to help you? (Bonus question: how thick is it? 12/10? 15/10?)

PS: I prefer 5 pups:


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## pondman (Feb 8, 2014)

By hand , its only steel plate  about 3mm thick.
Thats a bass so it doesn't count


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## Eliguy666 (Feb 8, 2014)

Bretton said:


> should leave those fretboards untreated to train players to only push the string down so it hits the fret, not all the way down to the fretboard. otherwise they get the ridiculous splinters.
> 
> mwa-ha-ha-haaaaa



Hey, I like low frets and thick strings! It means lower action and less buzz!


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## VanDewart Guitars (Feb 8, 2014)

I was contemplating using black palm at some point, but am now having second thoughts. Thanks for being a guinea pig for us all!


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## BlackMastodon (Feb 9, 2014)

Do you do anything to finish the steel base plates that you make? Like they could be painted and/or cleared over without any issues right?


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## pondman (Feb 9, 2014)

VanDewart Guitars said:


> I was contemplating using black palm at some point, but am now having second thoughts. Thanks for being a guinea pig for us all!


 No probs.



BlackMastodon said:


> Do you do anything to finish the steel base plates that you make? Like they could be painted and/or cleared over without any issues right?


I tried candy coat and lacquer on the first ones I made but the height adjusting grub screws just tear into the finish so I use either chrome or powder-coat now.

I'm going to try a paint finish on this one then a piece of Tortoiseshell celluloid on top. It may just work  Pics to follow.


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## spn_phoenix_92 (Feb 10, 2014)

Necromagnon said:


>


That's a Traben, right? I freakin love those basses, especially the Phoenix in Blood Red Burst (has nothing to do with my username )





OK sorry, to be on topic, I've never heard of Black Palmira fretboards, sexy though  Sexy guitar as well


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## shikamaru (Feb 12, 2014)

wow the bookmatching on that bubinga is just perfect 

yet another epic build from you man !


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## pondman (Feb 12, 2014)

Made a bridge tonight.
Steel bridge plate and celluloid plate. I did a scratch test with a saddle with the screws fully extended and was surprised at how tough the celluloid is.












Just need to get these saddles black PC'd and Bingo.

Dobbed a bit of Danish Oil on the neck and body. Going for a Matt finish on this one. Keeping everything sleek.







Made a cav cover for the back.




This thing is so light which is usually not what I want but its another experiment  It has the vibe of my Jem 7VWH but without the trem.


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## pondman (Feb 12, 2014)

Time to file me nut.


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## JaeSwift (Feb 12, 2014)

Be careful with Danish oil on veneers; I found it to be very prone to dings. I ended up doing three layers of Danish and several layers of tru oil to get the protection I wanted on a guitar that I veneered before.

Also, that is one damn sexy fingerboard!


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## FIXXXER (Feb 12, 2014)

fingerboard looks insane!

that bridge is nice too, but as much as i like ABM (style) 
this type of bridge is a FAIL imho. 
i had this on my old regius 6 and could not set up the intonation properly.


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## Negav (Feb 12, 2014)

This is interesting. Not a fan of purple heart, but the axe is beauty. Keep us informed.


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## pondman (Feb 13, 2014)

FIXXXER said:


> fingerboard looks insane!
> 
> that bridge is nice too, but as much as i like ABM (style)
> this type of bridge is a FAIL imho.
> i had this on my old regius 6 and could not set up the intonation properly.


I've done a few bridges like this and had zero problems with intonation.


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## pondman (Feb 13, 2014)

So the cat decided he wanted to sleep on my heated padded work surface and pushed the guitar body onto the floor so he could lay his fat arse down while I was fixing up my truck outside in the cold 
I spent 2 hours sorting the damage.


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## Prophetable (Feb 13, 2014)

Sounds about right. Cats are Satan incarnate.


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## Necromagnon (Feb 14, 2014)

pondman said:


> So the cat decided he wanted to sleep on my heated padded work surface and pushed the guitar body onto the floor so he could lay his fat arse down while I was fixing up my truck outside in the cold
> I spent 2 hours sorting the damage.


Ask this guy, he might be of some help:


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## Lorcan Ward (Feb 14, 2014)

I think your cat is getting jealous.

That fretboard looks awesome but it sounds like a nightmare to work with.


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## pondman (Mar 1, 2014)

Nearly done .


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## XxJoshxX (Mar 1, 2014)




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## pondman (Mar 1, 2014)

Lorcan Ward said:


> I think your cat is getting jealous.
> 
> That fretboard looks awesome but it sounds like a nightmare to work with.


It was but I'm sat looking at it all now and  I love a challenge.
Pics up soon.


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## theo (Mar 1, 2014)

Great build so far! Looks schmick.


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## Prophetable (Mar 1, 2014)

wootsmitty said:


> *vomits pure sugar


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## rikomaru (Mar 2, 2014)

How did you make that bridge? I'd love something similar so I can rock a ghost system based on the Wilkinson saddles. They're so comfortable.


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## pondman (Mar 2, 2014)

rikomaru said:


> How did you make that bridge? I'd love something similar so I can rock a ghost system based on the Wilkinson saddles. They're so comfortable.


Lots of people have asked about these bridges so I'll do a detailed post soon.


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## pondman (Mar 2, 2014)

Getting close.


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## metaldoggie (Mar 4, 2014)

Tasty!


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## Purelojik (Mar 4, 2014)

jesus pondman, you are amazing


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## pondman (Mar 5, 2014)

Cheers folks. 
I've decided to move the bridge over a few millimeters and take the neck off for a few tweaks. 
My work schedule is getting a bit crazy now so I hope to take some finished pics at the weekend.


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## Jacobine (Mar 5, 2014)

dem horns... 

Well actually dat whole guitar


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## Necromagnon (Mar 6, 2014)

Too many pups and electronics, but that look amazing, like always... You rock, man!

Devin Townsend MTV Commercial - YouTube


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## skeels (Mar 6, 2014)

All I can say is... Cats. 

....and guitars. Cats and guitars.


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## Antiproduct (Mar 7, 2014)

Holy shit, that's awesome!


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## pondman (Mar 8, 2014)

Nearly done , just a few tweaks needed.




I'll take some more pics and do a NGD .


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## DredFul (Mar 8, 2014)

Have you been crowned as the master luthier of SSO yet?


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