# Building one of those small guitars with only six strings



## flo (Jul 29, 2011)

Hey folks

I've got some serious gas for a sixstring for a while now. Don't know, sometimes I appreciate the simplicity of a six, one string less to worry about.

So yesterday I started building this baby.

Here are the basic specs:
6 strings
25.5"scale
singlecut design
neck through
5 piece maple/ padauk neck
padauk fretboard (22 or 24 frets, still undecided)
korina bodywings
two humbuckers, a bunch of switches and pots
maybe a painted finish 


The special thing about this build is that it's entirely made from wastewood. I got it for free from two different companies who otherwise would have thrown it away. So this should become a rather environmentally friendly guitar.

Enough talk, here are the first pics.

This is a piece of limba (korina), which will be the body wood. I simply love this plank, it resonates beautifully when you knock on it. Also in this picture there is the neck, it's a five piece neck made from padauk and maple which I made three years ago. But I somehow never used it... until now 











This is a padauk board, witch I'll be using as a fretboard.





Needs to be cut in half:






Cutting halfway through...





Ooh, the dust looks nice 





Cutting the last millimeters with a handsaw










There we go! 

Ok that's it for now, I'll upload some new pics very soon.

Stay tuned for the body shape.

Cheers, Flo


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## flo (Jul 29, 2011)

Some more pictures of the fretboard, I'm sanding it to get an even surface.





Cutting the korina bits to size





The mockup for the shape, how do you like it? (please ignore all the knobs and stuff, it will be different)


























And here I'm gluing the bodywings on. My daddy has borrowed almost all of my clamps (ok they are his to be dead honest) so I had to improvise a little. it worked 
Next day:





So I think that this was a rather productive first building day 
That said, it will take some time until I can proceed, since the "workshop" is at my parents house and it might take some time until I get there again. They really should have a workshop at the students dorm where I live, but noooo.


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## ibanezRG1527 (Jul 29, 2011)

pretty sexy/weird!!!


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## sk3ks1s (Jul 29, 2011)

Lovin' the body shape.
Would look amazing as fanned fret.


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## scherzo1928 (Jul 30, 2011)

Me rikey.

Best of luck with the build!


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## flo (Jul 30, 2011)

ibanezRG1527 said:


> pretty sexy/weird!!!



Thanks! What exactly seems weird to you?



sk3ks1s said:


> Lovin' the body shape.
> Would look amazing as fanned fret.



Happy you like it 
I originally designed the body with a fanned frets sevenstring in mind. But somehow I don't really feel the urge to make a fanned frets sixstrng. Not too late yet though...opinions?



scherzo1928 said:


> Me rikey.
> 
> Best of luck with the build!



Thanks bro


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## sytraxiplague (Jul 30, 2011)

flo said:


> I originally designed the body with a fanned frets sevenstring in mind. But somehow I don't really feel the urge to make a fanned frets sixstrng. Not too late yet though...opinions?



Definitely fan it. That body style would look strange if it wasn't fanned. Looking good so far!


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## johnythehero (Jul 30, 2011)

I would either fan it or go +24 and have it do something like this



EDIT:400th post


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## JamesM (Jul 30, 2011)

I like this.


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## IamSatai (Jul 30, 2011)

I love the shape, sort of reminds me of a Ritter bass, it has that kind of flowy feel to it. I cannot wait to see what it will look like when done.


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## Hyliannightmare (Jul 30, 2011)

that body...


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## Metal_Webb (Jul 31, 2011)

I like that body shape 
Nice improvisation of the ratchet strap there as well


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## flo (Jul 31, 2011)

The Armada said:


> I like this.





IamSatai said:


> I love the shape, sort of reminds me of a Ritter bass, it has that kind of flowy feel to it. I cannot wait to see what it will look like when done.





Hyliannightmare said:


> that body...





Metal_Webb said:


> I like that body shape
> Nice improvisation of the ratchet strap there as well





sytraxiplague said:


> Definitely fan it. That body style would look strange if it wasn't fanned. Looking good so far!





johnythehero said:


> I would either fan it or go +24 and have it do something like this




Thank you all for your comments and input! Glad you all like the shape 

@johny: I made a sevenstring a few years ago with 28 frets, and I never use that feature. So I kind of know from experience that I don't need it. Plus, it would mean not having a (real) neck-pickup, and I use them alot. But thanks for the idea, would make the guitar quite special 

Now, I've been thinking about this fanned frets idea a lot. I'm planning to have this guitar in standard tuning (mostly), so I don't really require a long scale for the low E string, say, not more than 26". On the treble strings, I love the Gibson scale sound-wise, but the frets are very close to each other. So 25" would be ideal for me. I really don't think that a one inch fan would really improve looks, ergonomics and sound enough to justify the amount of extra work...

EDIT: Just been to Ola Strandgerg's site http://guitarworks.thestrandbergs.com/gallery/?album=10, and apparently he makes guitars with fans from 25.5 - 25", and it does improve the looks, damn it!

I'm not allowed to be on his site for more than ten seconds, or the little daemons in my head tell me things like "make a trapezoid neck! Headless, you want it!"


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## stevo1 (Jul 31, 2011)

To me, The body kinda looks like a schecter solo body, that has had a stroke, and the right side of it slouched it looks nice! Definitely interesting shape


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## flo (Aug 2, 2011)

I used fretfind to make this plan. 25 - 25.6" fan, 6th fret is perpendicular. 
It looks very reasonable to me. I'll try to simply print this in original size, glue it to the fretboard and cut the slots.

But now I'll have to custom-make a bridge... does anyone know how to make a black finish on, say, normal saddles?


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## helferlain (Aug 2, 2011)

> ...
> But now I'll have to custom-make a bridge... does anyone know how to make a black finish on, say, normal saddles?



From my experience so far: Selfmade hardware will cost you much time, multiplel tries, materials and tools. Otherwise you won't be happy with it for long. This could be equal to a custom made bridge from companies like ETS, Just ask them...


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## flo (Aug 4, 2011)

By the way, inspired by Superwoodle's build, I'll try and make my own carbon fibre trussrod


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## flo (Aug 9, 2011)

Time for an update 

I've modified the body shape a little to make it super-comfy. And then I started to cut it out











Making the belly cut, by cutting 5000 cuts into the back of the guitar.






I decided that I could use some of the carbon fiber that I've got lying around anyway to reinforce the neck. So I cut two slots with my table saw for the rods. They are 3mm x 7mm each.






This is where the pickups want to go:






Routing thing for the bridge pickup:






I'll post more in a minute, stay tuned


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## flo (Aug 9, 2011)

Moar pics 

routing the trustroad, Scherzo-style (=using aluminium to guide the router)










From now on it's basically the shaping and contouring process. Not much to say really, I think the pictures tell enough 












As you see here, I always draw a million lines before shaping right onto the wood, to get an idea of what I will do. Then, I take a chisel and do it differently. 
















Massive use of the rasp here.








On the carefully tidied up table in the back you see the tools I'm using mostly for this:
Chisel, rasp, saw, blades, some power tools (router, jigsaw, planer, belt sander). And this little table in the front is just perfect, you can easily clamp things to it or carry it outside...











...like so.


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## Ninetyfour (Aug 9, 2011)

Looking good!


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## scherzo1928 (Aug 9, 2011)

dont even know where to start so ill just say it all in a bunch of text without dots or comas or ciptal letters Im lovin the shape more and more and i love the parkerish carve you are doing on the back but mostly i think im in love because of your use of aluminum to route the trussrod oh and the fact that you are using carbon fiber tio reinforce the neck.

Hey it ended up looking like half the posts in here.


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## JamesM (Aug 9, 2011)

Definitely, carbon fiber neck reinforcement was yes.


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## Superwoodle (Aug 9, 2011)

Progress!


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## flo (Aug 9, 2011)

When I took all these pictures yesterday I had two problems:
the batteries were almost completely flat, so I only could take one picture at a time and then wait for a couple of minutes until they decided they were prepared to do another one, and secondly I forgot the SD card, so I had to upload the pics to my computer every five pictures. Annoying. 


Aaaaaanyway. More carving and stuff.

































The neck heel is starting to take shape






One of my many employees holding the guitar to demo the smoothly accessible heel











I love this picture.






electric planer in, well, not in action, but shortly before and after I took this picture it was.





















Smoothening.







In this state, I can already say that I'm really happy how everything turns out. The guitar is incredibly light, just about 2.8 kilos in this condition, which is 6.2 pounds. It balances perfectly. The contours make it feel super comfortable. If I don't mess up anything seriously, this will become really nice. But I promise I will


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## flo (Aug 9, 2011)

Ninetyfour said:


> Looking good!



Thanks



scherzo1928 said:


> dont even know where to start so ill just say it all in a bunch of text without dots or comas or ciptal letters Im lovin the shape more and more and i love the parkerish carve you are doing on the back but mostly i think im in love because of your use of aluminum to route the trussrod oh and the fact that you are using carbon fiber tio reinforce the neck.
> 
> Hey it ended up looking like half the posts in here.



I love you too 



The Armada said:


> Definitely, carbon fiber neck reinforcement was yes.





Superwoodle said:


> Progress!



Thanks guys for your comments 

You see, I didn't really intend to make a serious guitar when I started this one . But then people on here started to get nerdy and demanded fanned frets and stuff. And I suck at saying no... besides, I'm a German, and you're breaking the law here if you don't take things seriously. 

Now I'll end up with a fanned frets guitar with carbon fiber in a trapezoid shaped neck, and some complicated switching. All your fault


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## BlackMastodon (Aug 9, 2011)

That is turning out really damn good man! Would be awesome if you could do like a Thumb bass style carve on the back of the body but I think your hands are full with the carving you have to do already


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## JamesM (Aug 9, 2011)

Fuck. I have one custom going, I might need to sell my body to get another. I love these "exaggerated single-cut" shapes so much.


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## flo (Aug 11, 2011)

BlackMastodon said:


> That is turning out really damn good man! Would be awesome if you could do like a Thumb bass style carve on the back of the body but I think your hands are full with the carving you have to do already



Thank you 
You mean the carve of the Warwick Thumb bass? Looks great indeed, I'll see if there is any wood left when I'm done carving 
If the wood was thicker, I would have tried to make a curved body like on the Teuffel Niwa.





The Armada said:


> Fuck. I have one custom going, I might need to sell my body to get another. I love these "exaggerated single-cut" shapes so much.


I've seen your Aura/Strandberg project, it looks awesome. 
Selling your body for gear sounds better than my idea (selling body parts like kidneys etc for gear).


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## Ruins (Aug 11, 2011)

i like that smooth carve on the back, it really does looks comfy.


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## wayward (Aug 11, 2011)

man it reminds me so much of a Decibel custom. Mainly bulb's. I love it.


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## JamesM (Aug 11, 2011)

God, I love "exaggerated" single-cut guitars more and more as the days go by. Very common for basses, but uncommon for electric guitars.


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## BlackMastodon (Aug 11, 2011)

*Googles "Teuffel Niwa guitar"*...


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## darren (Aug 11, 2011)

I'd love to do a fanned-fret six-string and tune it in fifths. Just because. 

Love the body shape! There are tons of basses with these organic type shapes, but very few guitarists (or guitar builders) seem interested in trying them for regular guitars. Looking forward to seeing how this comes out!


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## flo (Aug 14, 2011)

Ruins said:


> i like that smooth carve on the back, it really does looks comfy.





The Armada said:


> God, I love "exaggerated" single-cut guitars more and more as the days go by. Very common for basses, but uncommon for electric guitars.





darren said:


> I'd love to do a fanned-fret six-string and tune it in fifths. Just because.
> 
> Love the body shape! There are tons of basses with these organic type shapes, but very few guitarists (or guitar builders) seem interested in trying them for regular guitars. Looking forward to seeing how this comes out!






BlackMastodon said:


> *Googles "Teuffel Niwa guitar"*...




Thanks to all of you for your feedback and the nice compliments 

It's really great to have you all in this thread, I drew a lot of inspiration from many of you, especially from scherzo, superwoodle, helferlain and darren 



It's time for a small update 



I've cut the slots for the frets, using my manual CNC-machine:






I sanded the radius to 10". I made the sanding block using a cheap 20" bassdrum, taped sanding paper to it and sanded a block of wood with it so it's got the right radius.  
(No drums were harmed in this project).


The board is not glued on yet in the following pics.











Again, all the woods have been taken from a waste container, so someone thought they were rubbish 

That's it for now, hope you enjoy


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## flo (Aug 14, 2011)

wayward said:


> man it reminds me so much of a Decibel custom. Mainly bulb's. I love it.



Somehow your quote got lost.

Thank you! I'm a huge fan of this guitar, so it's a great compliment


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## SD83 (Aug 14, 2011)

Looks great so far. I see some lines on the headstock, what shape will it be? And, as I didn't find anything mentioned about it, what are your plans for the finish? Clear coat? Stain?


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## Erick Kroenen (Aug 14, 2011)

your guitar looks like a dream! really man.. fakkeen awesome!!!!!!!!

i would like an 8 with that shape


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## scherzo1928 (Aug 14, 2011)

This thread delivers!!

And yeah, much like Darren, I dream of a fan fretted 6er just to tune in fifths... BUT, I might go 1 step further (actually, I think it's 1 step back) and make it a 5 stringer!! I'm pretty sure that will be my next build.

Anywho, back to studying for my finals.


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## flo (Aug 15, 2011)

SD83 said:


> Looks great so far. I see some lines on the headstock, what shape will it be? And, as I didn't find anything mentioned about it, what are your plans for the finish? Clear coat? Stain?



Danke Stefan 

I haven't designed the headstock yet. It's gonna be a 3+3, that's all I know so far. 
I haven't decided fully on the finish either, but it's likely going to be white. I've got a friend who is an incredible artist, and if I'm lucky she might do a paintjob on it, something artistic. Maaaaaybe.





dirgesong said:


> your guitar looks like a dream! really man.. fakkeen awesome!!!!!!!!
> 
> i would like an 8 with that shape



Hehe thanks



scherzo1928 said:


> This thread delivers!!
> 
> And yeah, much like Darren, I dream of a fan fretted 6er just to tune in fifths... BUT, I might go 1 step further (actually, I think it's 1 step back) and make it a 5 stringer!! I'm pretty sure that will be my next build.
> 
> Anywho, back to studying for my finals.



Fivestring? Diminished range guitars FTW  (Actually the range would be more than on a normal six... who cares)

Good luck with your exams


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## flo (Aug 22, 2011)

I've made some progress today 


I've decided on a headstock shape. I made it quite small to keep the weight as low as possible. Here it is:






Here is the routing template for the electronics cavity.






I've also done a lot of sanding, but I don't think that one can really see the difference to the older pics. Close-ups might have helped. Still:






This picture doesn't fit into the post because one can't see the shoe of the employee who has taken the photos.












The weight of the whole thing is just below 2,5 kg right now (5 lbs), I guess it will be under 3 kilos with all the hardware, so this is going to be super-light! 

That's it for today


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## flo (Aug 22, 2011)

I forgot to mention this (I didn't forget it actually, I didn't dare to say it yet cause I might mess this up badly):

I'm planning to make some wooden pickup coves from the same wood as the fingerbord 

The bridge will be made from Wilkinson saddles on a metal plate. That's at least half-way paying attention to helferlains advice


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## daemon barbeque (Aug 22, 2011)

It looks already reall cool. I would be interested to hear the attack and bass control on this build. The neck/upper part connection is very long, and I would like to know the effect on the sound.
Cheers!


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## flo (Aug 23, 2011)

Happy you like it 

Yeah the connection between the body and neck is quite strong, witch should lead to a stiff overall construction with a well-defined bass, and an even sustain. But the woods on the other hand are rater light and resonant, which I think should open up the sound again. Let's see what wins!


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## daemon barbeque (Aug 23, 2011)

flo said:


> Happy you like it
> 
> Yeah the connection between the body and neck is quite strong, witch should lead to a stiff overall construction with a well-defined bass, and an even sustain. But the woods on the other hand are rater light and resonant, which I think should open up the sound again. Let's see what wins!



I am pumped. 
Mach ma hinne alda, wir warten alle hier  Hahahahahaha


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## flo (Aug 23, 2011)

daemon barbeque said:


> Mach ma hinne alda, wir warten alle hier  Hahahahahaha


Hetz' mich net 

Just went to the bank to transfer some money to thomann. Frets and switches and a lot of other things are on the way so I can continue


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## daemon barbeque (Aug 23, 2011)

flo said:


> Hetz' mich net
> 
> Just went to the bank to transfer some money to thomann. Frets and switches and a lot of other things are on the way so I can continue




Hehehehe. is ja gut 

Cool stuff! Hope the DHL doesn't torture you as they did last time with me!
Gutes Schaffen Mensch!
Cheers!


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## flo (Aug 25, 2011)

arrive, parts!!!! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!!


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## JamesM (Aug 27, 2011)

I love this.


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## flo (Aug 27, 2011)

The Armada said:


> I love this.



thank you!!


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## daemon barbeque (Aug 31, 2011)

So? Where are the Parts, still somewhere in a yellow truck, on the bench or on the guitar?


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## flo (Aug 31, 2011)

Well, some of the parts are sold out, they sad it should take 2-5 days to get them. A week ago 

I've done some minimal progress though with the trussrod, glued two stripes of carbon fiber together with some epoxy glue.




Feel free to add tags in the meantime if you are bored....


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## minorlive (Aug 31, 2011)

Looking great man! I'm sure I'll be back in this thread asking a few questions for my similar build haha


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## scherzo1928 (Aug 31, 2011)

And on the other side of the pond I'm ready to shoot myself from waiting for stuff to dry.


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## SD83 (Aug 31, 2011)

flo said:


> Well, some of the parts are sold out, they sad it should take 2-5 days to get them. A week ago


Thomann... last time I bought machine heads I waited for a months as they were sold out. Wrote them a mail & was told they might arrive a week or so later and would then be send immediately... they arrived three days later. I'm still sure they just lost the order somewhere in their system and didn't want to admit it. Fuck this, two of the most interesting projects with little to no progress (this includes scherzo's guitar... @scherzo: put that gun down  ).


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## Linny (Aug 31, 2011)

You have done a nice job but i think you should try a flap disc on a grinder to save a bit of time if you make another!


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## BlackMastodon (Sep 1, 2011)

Linny said:


> You have done a nice job but i think you should try a flap disc on a grinder to save a bit of time if you make another!


This. With some patience and practice, these things are a godsend.


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## flo (Sep 1, 2011)

Thank you all for the motivation 

I'll go to my workshop today and see what I can do without the missing parts. Stay tuned for an update within the next few days.

Scherzo, if you shoot yourself I'll be seriously angry at you!! You'll be in deep trouble, I promise


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## Frank_Domine (Sep 1, 2011)

Waiting news!


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## MF_Kitten (Sep 1, 2011)

hey man, did you know it's actually really hard to find bike boxes? 

commencing backup plan!


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## flo (Sep 1, 2011)

MF_Kitten said:


> hey man, did you know it's actually really hard to find bike boxes?
> 
> commencing backup plan!


 


I have never tried 

Do cars come in cardbord boxes?


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## MF_Kitten (Sep 1, 2011)

what i didn't take into account, is the fact that they get all the bikes right before summer, and then they keep that in stock, as that's the season for bike sales 

so basically, when summer nears the end, no more cardboard boxes!


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## flo (Sep 1, 2011)

MF_Kitten said:


> what i didn't take into account, is the fact that they get all the bikes right before summer, and then they keep that in stock, as that's the season for bike sales
> 
> so basically, when summer nears the end, no more cardboard boxes!


 

What size are snowboard boxes then? They should arrive soon ^^


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## flo (Sep 1, 2011)

Alright you greedy gang, here comes the promised update.

I have spent six hours in my shed, and all work went into the trussrod. 

Having nearly no experience in working with metal at all, I left the job of making some parts to my bravest employee.

Here he is, terrorizing the neighborhood with a grinder, which indeed saved years of time compared to a hand saw.







And, many hours later:












It certainly is not the finest piece of engineering, but it feels solid and I'm convinced it will do it's job. 

And the best thing is the weight, it is _exactly_ about 60 grams, not even half of the weight of a steel dual action trussrod, they are around 145 grams. Plus, half of the mass is the screw and the piece of metal it sits in, which is close to the body, so this should fight neckdive effectively.

I'm sorry, my parent's computer I'm sitting at right now is unbearably slow, and it's already past midnight, so I'll post more pics when I'm back at home.

Hope this will calm you guys for a few more days!


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## daemon barbeque (Sep 1, 2011)

Wow, so that is how carbon truss-rod looks like? It all looks good Flo! After you sand everything down to awesomeness, the awesomeness will appear to all of us LOL.
Kind a like in Blade.
If you look into awesomeness, the awesomeness also looks into you !


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## 7 strings of wonder (Sep 1, 2011)

You're an inspiration man, amazing work


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## AwakenNoMore (Sep 2, 2011)

Body looks great, shaping that neck from its current state looks like its going to be a nightmare.


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## Frank_Domine (Sep 3, 2011)

Waitin' for more news!


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## Kahless (Sep 3, 2011)

I know It's probably been said before but that body shape is fantastic! It has some of the positive aesthetic qualities of purely ergonomic designs that i've seen, but without the sacrafice of unexpected missing parts of guitar (though that can be very interesting too, but what I mean is that it still looks like a big ol' piece of body, which i like).


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## Bigfan (Sep 3, 2011)

flo said:


> it is exactly about 60 grams



_precision_


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## IamSatai (Sep 3, 2011)

&#8593; Ye I 'ed when I saw that. Cannot wait for progress on this guitar, definitely one of my favourite body shapes ever, and I'm sure it will look even better when done.


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## flo (Sep 4, 2011)

Bigfan said:


> _precision_




 the joke is borrowed from Top Gear


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## flo (Sep 5, 2011)

daemon barbeque said:


> Wow, so that is how carbon truss-rod looks like? It all looks good Flo! After you sand everything down to awesomeness, the awesomeness will appear to all of us LOL.
> Kind a like in Blade.
> If you look into awesomeness, the awesomeness also looks into you !





7 strings of wonder said:


> You're an inspiration man, amazing work





AwakenNoMore said:


> Body looks great, shaping that neck from its current state looks like its going to be a nightmare.





Frank_Domine said:


> Waitin' for more news!





Kahless said:


> I know It's probably been said before but that body shape is fantastic! It has some of the positive aesthetic qualities of purely ergonomic designs that i've seen, but without the sacrafice of unexpected missing parts of guitar (though that can be very interesting too, but what I mean is that it still looks like a big ol' piece of body, which i like).





IamSatai said:


> &#8593; Ye I 'ed when I saw that. Cannot wait for progress on this guitar, definitely one of my favourite body shapes ever, and I'm sure it will look even better when done.




Thank you everybody for the comments!! 
I'm quite busy this week, so you'll have to wait a little for more progress.


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## Hollowway (Sep 5, 2011)

Loving this! I don't know what it is about your curvy body shapes, but they always remind me of the beginning of Good Times:


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## aWoodenShip (Sep 8, 2011)

UGHHH IT'S SOOO PRETTY. And that fingerboard. Just incredible, especially if you're really going on with the pickup covers from the same wood. I've definitely been wanting to commission a friend of mine for a custom six with that very same wood color scheme, either with padauk board or bloodwood as I believe I've seen elsewhere. 

KEEP IT UP, I can't wait to see it finished.


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## flo (Sep 11, 2011)

Hollowway said:


> Loving this! I don't know what it is about your curvy body shapes, but they always remind me of the beginning of Good Times:



I guess I can see why 



aWoodenShip said:


> UGHHH IT'S SOOO PRETTY. And that fingerboard. Just incredible, especially if you're really going on with the pickup covers from the same wood. I've definitely been wanting to commission a friend of mine for a custom six with that very same wood color scheme, either with padauk board or bloodwood as I believe I've seen elsewhere.
> 
> KEEP IT UP, I can't wait to see it finished.



Thank you



I have been working on it yesterday, the frets are installed and sidedots are as well.


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## flo (Sep 18, 2011)

Hi,

just wanted to inform you that this thread isn't dead. 

The parts have arrived a week ago, thomann was awesome enough to send the parts they had in stock, and delivered the missing straplocks a few days later, with no added shipping costs.

But then I've been busy with a band project I joined as a bassist, and this weekend I wanted to continue with the guitar but I am sick 

Only positive thing is that the new Dream Theater album is out and I can listen to it all day long in bed, and god it's gooooood 

Aaaanyway, I can tell you one new thing about the guitar. I've bought replacement saddles for a wilkinson bridge, and they will be mounted on a ground plate. Think this is the best option for a semi-custom bridge, and it's still within the budget.

like this:


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## JamesM (Sep 18, 2011)




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## ThePhilosopher (Sep 18, 2011)

I'm in for updates this is shaping up to be quite tasty.


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## scherzo1928 (Sep 18, 2011)

Gonna be so shweet!

Get well man!


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## flo (Sep 19, 2011)

Thank you, I'm almost well again


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## daemon barbeque (Sep 19, 2011)

Gute Besserung!
Yeah the saddleslook cool. Now get well and put them on


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## flo (Sep 19, 2011)

Thanks


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## sytraxiplague (Sep 19, 2011)

That's looking amazing. Can't wait for the finished product.


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## flo (Oct 20, 2011)

I didn't take pics yet, but I can report that the frets are in, as are the sidedots, and the fretboard has been glued on. 

I'm busy moving atm, and uni has started again, that's why the progress is sloooooooooow right now.


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## flo (Nov 13, 2011)

Hey guys,

I had a couple of hours this weekend to spend in the shed, filing and sanding on the guitar. Here is the result 



























I went for the trapezoid neck shape, and I'm surprised by how comfy it is. Was great fun to make


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## scherzo1928 (Nov 13, 2011)

Hreat to know this build isn't forgotten.


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## kruneh (Nov 13, 2011)

Sweet curves!


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## BlackMastodon (Nov 13, 2011)

Damn, that is gonna be one incredibly comfortable guitar to play, and a beautiful one to look at.


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## UnderTheSign (Nov 13, 2011)

Reminds me of the curved back of a Parker Fly. Sweet job Flo!


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## flo (Nov 13, 2011)

UnderTheSign said:


> Reminds me of the curved back of a Parker Fly. Sweet job Flo!




Thanks! Of cause I've been staring of pictures of parker backs quite a lot until I started carving her. But also at Onis, Strandbergs, Ritters, Decibels, Rick Toone's stuff, Teuffels... just to name a few. And my previous builds of cause. You learn the most from your own mistakes


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## flo (Feb 17, 2012)

After a long break, I've been working on the guitar again today.

Almost done! Pics will follow tomorrow, stay tuned


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## MF_Kitten (Feb 17, 2012)

That... Is tasteful... As FUCK!


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## Superwoodle (Feb 17, 2012)

YESSS


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## flo (Feb 18, 2012)

She's finished, apart from some finetuning. Oh, and I need a saddle  
I did the finish yesterday, using a hot air gun, some sharp tools for the scratches and then oil. Guys, I'm happy. This is by far the most playable and comfy guitar I've ever made. The soldering isn't finished yet, but the bridge pickup sound is great. 

P I C S !


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## scherzo1928 (Feb 18, 2012)

Awesome work mate! 

I'll be honest and say that I'd have liked it better with a "clean" finish, as I feel it would work better with the super sexy lines and carving it's got. I also bet it looks better in person though... flashes tend to make things look different.

Having said that, I think you know this inspired me to do something along these lines... just not yet... I need to get other things out of my GAS list first.


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## MF_Kitten (Feb 19, 2012)

The only thing i would do, is to fine sand and smooth it out, rub some black wax all over it to fill the scratches and pores, etc, sand it off to expose the wood again, then apply some oil. It's what i used to do when i painted Warhammer figures as a kid, and it rally gives you a feeling of detail.

The fine sanding makes the surface of the guitar look like it's worn over time, and not recently scratched or freshly made.


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## flo (Mar 11, 2012)

MF_Kitten said:


> The only thing i would do, is to fine sand and smooth it out, rub some black wax all over it to fill the scratches and pores, etc, sand it off to expose the wood again, then apply some oil. It's what i used to do when i painted Warhammer figures as a kid, and it rally gives you a feeling of detail.
> 
> The fine sanding makes the surface of the guitar look like it's worn over time, and not recently scratched or freshly made.



Jep, that did the trick. Tryed it yesterday, and the result is really great. I blended some pure beewax with black acrylic paint, rubbed it all over the guitar and sanded it off the next day. The surface feels incredibly smooth, it reminds me of old wooden handrails that have been used by thousands of people over many years. I loved this as a child (and still do today)


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## HighPotency (Mar 11, 2012)

How are those saddles held down? Do the intonation screws secure into the baseplate? I've been considering using these (if I can find somewhere that will sell individually or as a set of 7 ) with a custom baseplate to make a bridge usable with fanned-fret instruments.


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## flo (Mar 11, 2012)

HighPotency said:


> How are those saddles held down? Do the intonation screws secure into the baseplate? I've been considering using these (if I can find somewhere that will sell individually or as a set of 7 ) with a custom baseplate to make a bridge usable with fanned-fret instruments.



I simply made a baseplate out of a piece of aluminium. There's one hole for the string to go through and one hole for a screw. I chose to use wood screws instead of the metal screws that come with the saddles, they go through the baseplate directly into the body, thus keeping the baseplate and saddle in place. There are extra intonation screws in the back of each saddle to adjust the distance between wood screw and the back of the saddle. You only have to loosen the wood screw slightly so the saddle can slide a bit, and then fasten it again. In my opinion this is a very simple and elegant solution for fanned frets instruments, and a lot cheaper than individual saddles.


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## MF_Kitten (Mar 11, 2012)

wow, you actually did it too! 

It looks great!

edit: also, i know exactly what you mean about old handrails, i love seeing really old wooden parts and things that have been worn over time


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## HighPotency (Mar 11, 2012)

flo said:


> I simply made a baseplate out of a piece of aluminium. There's one hole for the string to go through and one hole for a screw. I chose to use wood screws instead of the metal screws that come with the saddles, they go through the baseplate directly into the body, thus keeping the baseplate and saddle in place. There are extra intonation screws in the back of each saddle to adjust the distance between wood screw and the back of the saddle. You only have to loosen the wood screw slightly so the saddle can slide a bit, and then fasten it again. In my opinion this is a very simple and elegant solution for fanned frets instruments, and a lot cheaper than individual saddles.


Aha! So those little screws in the back are the intonation screws, and those push against the long screws holding the saddles and baseplate down? That makes it much easier than what I was under the impression of.

Thanks for clearing that up for me! I think I'll be using a similar method when I make a fanned fret guitar. 

EDIT: Also, where did you get those saddles? They look like the GraphTech ones.


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## flo (Mar 12, 2012)

HighPotency said:


> Aha! So those little screws in the back are the intonation screws, and those push against the long screws holding the saddles and baseplate down? That makes it much easier than what I was under the impression of.
> 
> Thanks for clearing that up for me! I think I'll be using a similar method when I make a fanned fret guitar.
> 
> EDIT: Also, where did you get those saddles? They look like the GraphTech ones.



They are replacement saddles for the Wilkinson bridge:
Gldo VS10B Single Saddle BK - Thomann UK Cyberstore
But of cause one could use the graphtech saddles as well.



Thank you Morten


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## jarnozz (Mar 12, 2012)

great! as always flo! love your builds


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## kostein (Mar 12, 2012)

This thread is full of win!


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## flo (Mar 12, 2012)

jarnozz said:


> great! as always flo! love your builds





kostein said:


> This thread is full of win!


 
Thank you for the kind words, guys


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## flo (May 3, 2012)

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/st...omic-guitar-finally-finished.html#post2992497


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