# My Carvin Neck-through build



## mili9152 (Sep 16, 2012)

Hi guys, I'm really excited because this is my first custom build  Here we go!

A few sketches:
















I ordered Carvin's NT6 neck-through blank. 24 frets, Ebony fretboard, no inlays.

Mock-up. Hipshot bridge, SD '59 hot rail in the neck and SD Full Shred or Distortion in the bridge:







Sept 2nd Progress. Headstock carved and walnut wings glued and clamped:















Sept 9th Progress. Body carved and roughly sanded. Heel rasped:


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## mili9152 (Sep 16, 2012)

Here she sits today:


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## Jason Spell (Sep 16, 2012)

I think this is going to turn out nicely. Kudos on the original shape (and the no inlays).


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## bob123 (Sep 18, 2012)

keep at it, take your time, and it should come out really well


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## EpicFlail (Sep 18, 2012)

I actually went into a Carvin store the other day asking about neck through blanks. I was positive they sold them, but the guy working there was adamant that they only sold bolt on 6-string necks. No neck throughs, no 7 or 8-string options either. 

Back on topic: I love that body wood. I've always liked dark wings with a light-colored neck running through it.


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## Wrecklyss (Sep 18, 2012)

EpicFlail said:


> I actually went into a Carvin store the other day asking about neck through blanks. I was positive they sold them, but the guy working there was adamant that they only sold bolt on 6-string necks. No neck throughs, no 7 or 8-string options either.
> 
> Back on topic: I love that body wood. I've always liked dark wings with a light-colored neck running through it.



You can order them from the web site in 7 or 8 string (or bass) with your choice of woods. They even sell 5 piece through necks.


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## Pikka Bird (Sep 19, 2012)

^Yeah, and I _think_ they allow you to choose a bunch of the regular options as well. Sadly scale and radius are fixed at 25" and 12" radius, which will probably turn a lot of the 27"-and-above crowd off.


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## mili9152 (Sep 23, 2012)

Sept 23rd Progress. Lots of routing and some reaming:


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## mili9152 (Sep 23, 2012)




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## bob123 (Sep 23, 2012)

with a fuckin chisel... you got some balls man, good work


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## ovation22 (Sep 23, 2012)

Routers are your friend.


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## mili9152 (Sep 23, 2012)

Yes, routers are nice and so are drill presses. But I don't trust power tools and would prefer to do as much as possible by hand.


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## mili9152 (Sep 23, 2012)

Done for the day. Two more holes left; one for the input jack and one for the neck pickup leads.


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## bob123 (Sep 23, 2012)

VERY clean work for all hand!! lol


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## iRaiseTheDead (Sep 24, 2012)

Very impressive


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## Fluxx (Sep 24, 2012)

I'm gettin the itch lookin at your build, for sure. What brand is that cool sander setup? It looks like you could pretty much do an entire guitar on that sander, horn contours and all.


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## mili9152 (Sep 24, 2012)

Fluxx said:


> I'm gettin the itch lookin at your build, for sure. What brand is that cool sander setup? It looks like you could pretty much do an entire guitar on that sander, horn contours and all.



The orbital belt sander is made by Ridgid - unfortunately, it's not mine...


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## Jason Spell (Sep 26, 2012)

mili9152 said:


> Yes, routers are nice and so are drill presses. But I don't trust power tools and would prefer to do as much as possible by hand.



I saw this quote before the pics loaded in my browser, and I was expecting a nightmare. Your guitar is turning out great! You have a ton of patience, and your guitar will reflect the hours you put into it.


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## mili9152 (Oct 31, 2012)

Have been lazy with pictures and updates. But finished up this past weekend. Definitely has its imperfections, but I'm happy with it:






















Finally had some time to apply the Minwax. It's been getting dark here so early that I had very little daylight after returning home from work:


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## mili9152 (Oct 31, 2012)

And finally fully assembled and electronics soldered! Still needs strap knobs and a cavity cover though. Has a really interesting sound with the sh-10b and shr-1 combo. I'll try to upload some clips soon.


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## Rojne (Oct 31, 2012)

Looks cool.. is the neck shape any good? 
Could be a fun project ordering one of these necks myself
build something cool with it!


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## mili9152 (Nov 4, 2012)

Yes, I really like the neck shape so far! These are quality necks. This is my first Carvin and I was very excited to finally try one out. I tend to prefer chunkier necks, but this feels a bit on the thinner side, but not close to Ibanez wizards. Not as thick as my Steinberger Spirit, and I would say maybe slightly thicker than my Jackson.

It has a 25" scale length and 12" radius. I could see myself buying another in the near future!


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## DTSH (Nov 5, 2012)

Amazing work, especially considering the amount done with hand-tools. Kind of reminds me of a Soloway, shape-wise. Very cool and inspiring!


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## mili9152 (Nov 5, 2012)

DTSH said:


> Amazing work, especially considering the amount done with hand-tools. Kind of reminds me of a Soloway, shape-wise. Very cool and inspiring!



I haven't really heard of Soloway, but thanks for the kind words!


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## mili9152 (Mar 25, 2013)

Here's a short clip of how she sounds:

Hope I didn't butcher your tunes Sithu 

Sithu Aye - Skye | A quick guitar playthrough - YouTube


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## AwDeOh (Mar 26, 2013)

Playing: 10/10
Building that thing by hand (rather than _"by hand*"_): Over 9000/10


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## mili9152 (Mar 29, 2013)

^ Thank you for the kind words! Here are a couple more pictures:


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## mili9152 (Mar 29, 2013)

Here's how she sounds w/ some riffs from my upcoming solo album 

What do you think of her tone w/ the SD Full Shred?

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/16886096/Guitars old new.mp3


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## Gregori (Mar 29, 2013)

Whoa, nice dude! Very cool to see someone use chisels instead of a router.


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## BlackMastodon (Mar 30, 2013)

Sounds killer dude! Nice work.


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## skeels (Mar 30, 2013)

Dude. Chisels.

So awesome. 

You are now officially the honorary president of the cave-man guitar builders club. 

My sabre-tooth tiger skin hat, to you, sir, is off.


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## BillNephew (Mar 31, 2013)

I have a quick question. Where did you get the longer drill bit for routing the neck pickup leads? Also, that chisel work is godly.


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## mili9152 (Mar 31, 2013)

BillNephew said:


> I have a quick question. Where did you get the longer drill bit for routing the neck pickup leads? Also, that chisel work is godly.



I bought the long drill bit from a local ACE hardware store. I also bought an equally long one from a recycling center here called Urban Ore. I ended up using the 1/8" if I recall correctly.

Thanks for the encouragement everyone! Hope to start another build in the near future


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## Gregori (Mar 31, 2013)

mili9152 said:


> Here's how she sounds w/ some riffs from my upcoming solo album
> 
> What do you think of her tone w/ the SD Full Shred?
> 
> http://dl.dropbox.com/u/16886096/Guitars old new.mp3


No clips of the neck pickup?

You asked, so I'll give my opinion. I hate the tone of that sound clip. Too bright and not enough balls. To each his own though. 

The guitar looks pretty sweet though. I didn't even know Carvin sold neck-thru blanks. Seems like more people should be trying them out instead of buying used Ibby necks and strat replacement necks.


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## mili9152 (Mar 31, 2013)

Gregori said:


> No clips of the neck pickup?
> 
> You asked, so I'll give my opinion. I hate the tone of that sound clip. Too bright and not enough balls. To each his own though.
> 
> The guitar looks pretty sweet though. I didn't even know Carvin sold neck-thru blanks. Seems like more people should be trying them out instead of buying used Ibby necks and strat replacement necks.



I appreciate the honesty - I've never had much of an ear for guitar tones which is why I asked your opinions. I do generally prefer brighter tones though.

One thing to note about Carvin necks as a neck replacement is that they don't offer 24 fret bolt-ons. I went into their store in Hollywood and asked a rep about it.


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## AwDeOh (Mar 31, 2013)

I'm with Gregori a little on the tone, but that's just the Full Shred doing what it does. It's got that 5150 kinda fuzz that sounds good in a Killswitch Engage mix, but usually not by itself.

It's all about personal preference though


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## Jamone (May 17, 2013)

How did you find out where drill the string holes to install the bridge?


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## mili9152 (Jun 7, 2013)

Jamone said:


> How did you find out where drill the string holes to install the bridge?



I placed the hipshot bridge where I wanted it and penciled in the string holes.


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## Yimmj (Jun 7, 2013)

Wow! thats awesome! great work dude!


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