# Just completed! Blackmachine B7 clone build :-)



## Silence2-38554 (Dec 31, 2017)

This is my second Blackmachine clone build, third build from scratch. The first BM clone was a more basic B6, you can check the thread out HERE. The B6 build went great & I learned a lot from it, so I figured I'd step up my game and go for a 26.5" B7, with as accurate specs as possible to an authentic BM:

African Mahogany body, chambered.
3mm ebony top
Ivoroid binding
1-piece cocobolo neck w/ scarf joint headstock
Spalted maple fretboard & headstock veneer
Dunlop 6100 frets
BKP Impulse humbuckers w/ coil split
Gotoh-style Hipshot bridge (the Gotoh BM used to use has been discontinued)
Sperzel tuning machines
35mm thick body, total guitar weight: 7lbs

Let's start with some eye candy & I'll get to the build pics after-



fullsizeoutput_7394 by Kris Yates, on Flickr



fullsizeoutput_737a by Kris Yates, on Flickr



fullsizeoutput_7377 by Kris Yates, on Flickr



fullsizeoutput_7376 by Kris Yates, on Flickr



fullsizeoutput_739e by Kris Yates, on Flickr



fullsizeoutput_738d by Kris Yates, on Flickr



fullsizeoutput_7390 by Kris Yates, on Flickr



fullsizeoutput_738c by Kris Yates, on Flickr



fullsizeoutput_738a by Kris Yates, on Flickr



fullsizeoutput_7381 by Kris Yates, on Flickr



fullsizeoutput_7399 by Kris Yates, on Flickr



fullsizeoutput_739a by Kris Yates, on Flickr



fullsizeoutput_739b by Kris Yates, on Flickr



fullsizeoutput_739c by Kris Yates, on Flickr



fullsizeoutput_7398 by Kris Yates, on Flickr



fullsizeoutput_7389 by Kris Yates, on Flickr



fullsizeoutput_7393 by Kris Yates, on Flickr


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## Silence2-38554 (Dec 31, 2017)

And now the build!

African mahogany board from the lumber yard:


IMG_0054 by Kris Yates, on Flickr

Beautiful piece of spalted Maple:



IMG_0026 by Kris Yates, on Flickr

Body planed, glued & clamped!



58zYKhYWQISOYvk7GXyoew by Kris Yates, on Flickr

Top planed, glued & traced


IMG_0128 by Kris Yates, on Flickr

About to start chambering


rRFPXcllQ6uzGWzJz9+T0w by Kris Yates, on Flickr

Done & done


1GlkysrxSbyOF5Fw89X%xg by Kris Yates, on Flickr

pre-glue


IMG_0138 by Kris Yates, on Flickr

glued & clamped:


IMG_0144 by Kris Yates, on Flickr

gluing done, flush trimmed to template:


IMG_0235 by Kris Yates, on Flickr

rear 45º bevel routed:


IMG_0209 by Kris Yates, on Flickr

cavities routed:


fMAA%3EiQcS+LAYNFWgvwg by Kris Yates, on Flickr

scarf joint glued:


LBvpf2xqSXWRKtqpbC7KoA by Kris Yates, on Flickr

headstock veneer glued & clamped:


kKlgEW70R662n00Cvziq5Q by Kris Yates, on Flickr

headstock rough cut done & truss rod channel routed:


BDpNOKHmR1+hTP7q9Dj%fg by Kris Yates, on Flickr

headstock & neck flush-trimmed & test fit


IMG_0291 by Kris Yates, on Flickr

Time for binding!


IMG_0366 by Kris Yates, on Flickr

....and binding!


jKvpga3WRWaPjVr4oQjK5w by Kris Yates, on Flickr

aaaaannnnnndddddd binding!


0RJ3WAPITsusGgCoYF0w%w by Kris Yates, on Flickr

scraped & done:


rfiVGa6tQ06aBC%lrxDPUQ by Kris Yates, on Flickr


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## KR250 (Dec 31, 2017)

Wow, tasty! Well done. The only thing I would change is recessing the bolts on the rear plate, if you allow me to nit pick. Otherwise perfection. What kind of finish did you do? All the wood choices look great together.


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## Silence2-38554 (Dec 31, 2017)

carving the neck profile:


6ZJqU4EoSYaeZfF3eAUIGg by Kris Yates, on Flickr

test fitting:


0V066JblTpC+BbH2dzoDsw by Kris Yates, on Flickr

After oiling (OMG)


ljDjWduLR%uWBjBfVfPBmQ by Kris Yates, on Flickr

Fret leveling 


wsgcQHxSTjeL+mY2bDFjhw by Kris Yates, on Flickr

After that, it was just final assembly & setup! Still trying to dial in the 7th string gauge / intonation but other than that this thing turned out pretty amazing. The whole thing resonates like crazy, I suspect due to the hard(er) woods than the B6 and the chambering. 

The cocobolo neck has seriously ruined all other necks for me. Not only is it gorgeous to look at, the raw feel is perfect and it's solid as a rock. Doesn't even flinch under string tension! The only downside is that because it's so oily, it slowly stains the neck binding yellow in a very short period of time :-/

This will probably be the last BM clone I build (for a while at least.... may try to do a B8 some day). 2018 will be a year for my own designs


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## Silence2-38554 (Dec 31, 2017)

KR250 said:


> Wow, tasty! Well done. The only thing I would change is recessing the bolts on the rear plate, if you allow me to nit pick. Otherwise perfection. What kind of finish did you do? All the wood choices look great together.


For the rear plate bolts, I tried to mimic an authentic BM as closely as possible, which means using this style bolt. They don't get in the way at all when playing, so I don't mind. 

For the finish, I used Tru oil on the mahogany, Liberon finishing oil on the ebony, Formby's Tung on the maple fretboard / headstock and Music Nomad's fretboard oil on the back of the neck. All have about 4-5 coats, steel wooled between coats & finished with gunstock wax (except the cocobolo). I took the time to test about 5 different finishes on all of the different woods & chose what worked best with each one.


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## geoffstgermaine (Dec 31, 2017)

Very nice guitar and your build looks to be very well done. I’m partial to Cocobolo necks myself!

How punky was the spalted Maple you used on the fretboard? Was it treated with anything?


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## Mattykoda (Dec 31, 2017)

Looks really clean. Excellent wood choices and interesting to see spalted maple as a fretboard. Looks like a light figured pme, how's it play?


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## electriceye (Dec 31, 2017)

Have to say this is an amazing build. What glue did you use for the scarf joint? The cocobolo is so oily, I've read that epoxy or similar glue needs to be used


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## sezna (Dec 31, 2017)

Guitar looks great! I have a perhaps off topic question. What exactly _is _blackmachine? I have never heard of anyone getting a real one except Misha, and I have only seen people making clones of them. Was it a brand that shut down? They seem extremely loved for a brand that went under(?).


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## Silence2-38554 (Jan 1, 2018)

geoffstgermaine said:


> How punky was the spalted Maple you used on the fretboard? Was it treated with anything?


Not exactly sure what you mean by "punky", but I'll assume you're referring to the black figuring being fungus growth. Honestly, I just did a fingernail test, determined that all of the figuring in this particular piece was at least as hard as the rest of the maple (possibly harder, actually) and went about working it like a normal piece of maple.



Mattykoda said:


> Looks really clean. Excellent wood choices and interesting to see spalted maple as a fretboard. Looks like a light figured pme, how's it play?


If you're asking how the fretboard plays, it plays great! I forgot to mention in the spec thread, I did a 16" radius on the board. 



electriceye said:


> Have to say this is an amazing build. What glue did you use for the scarf joint? The cocobolo is so oily, I've read that epoxy or similar glue needs to be used


Titebond 1 and a LOT of pressure while curing. Two screws for alignment, about four clamps. Mating surfaces finished with a blade (scraper) and wiped down with alcohol before gluing. This was actually my first scarf joint so I did a lot of research before diving in. Looking into the science of how exactly wood glues work, etc. From what I could tell, this should hold up. I am also sharing a shop space with a very experienced luthier and he didn't see any reason to not use good 'ol Titebond 1. If it fails I'll update this thread on how I repaired it with epoxy lol.



sezna said:


> Guitar looks great! I have a perhaps off topic question. What exactly _is _blackmachine? I have never heard of anyone getting a real one except Misha, and I have only seen people making clones of them. Was it a brand that shut down? They seem extremely loved for a brand that went under(?).


Blackmachine is a small brand created by one dude, Doug Campbell, in London. From what I can tell, he is still active but he only builds a small handful of instruments per year and his waitlist is several years out. If you want to see why clone builds are so common, check out the asking price for THIS used one on Reverb!


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## Lemonbaby (Jan 1, 2018)

Really good work! Where did you get that Ebony top?


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## Mr_Mar10 (Jan 1, 2018)

Stunner!!!  top work dude


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## pondman (Jan 1, 2018)

Beautiful build and super clean work. Congrats.


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## crackout (Jan 1, 2018)

Very impressive! Is this chambering pattern now 'the magical real deal'? 
Now it's time for a B2?


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## MikeNeal (Jan 1, 2018)

really great build. love the spalted maple fretboard.


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## KnightBrolaire (Jan 1, 2018)

looks great, love the wood choices


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## hvdh (Jan 1, 2018)

Looks slick and sharp!
Very well crafted


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## Silence2-38554 (Jan 1, 2018)

Lemonbaby said:


> Really good work! Where did you get that Ebony top?



Snagged the ebony top from Gilmer Hardwoods. It wasn’t cheap but it was necessary!



crackout said:


> Very impressive! Is this chambering pattern now 'the magical real deal'?
> Now it's time for a B2?



Unfortunately the clambering pattern was simply a best guess. The only solid info I could find about the “real” BM clambering is that there were 5 chambers, so I just mapped out where they could logically go. If I were to do it again, I would maybe connect the two small routes on the treble side & add a 5th slim one on the outside of the control cavity.


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## geoffstgermaine (Jan 1, 2018)

Silence2-38554 said:


> Not exactly sure what you mean by "punky", but I'll assume you're referring to the black figuring being fungus growth. Honestly, I just did a fingernail test, determined that all of the figuring in this particular piece was at least as hard as the rest of the maple (possibly harder, actually) and went about working it like a normal piece of maple.



Punky, with spalted Maple is areas that are seriously structurally degraded due to the decay of the wood. I've handled some great looking spalted Maple that you could break apart with a pretty low amount of force. In this case some sort of stabilization is required and as fretboard material I've seen both cyanoacrylate and acrylic resin used and was wondering if this was something you needed to do. Obviously not - thanks for the response.


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## crackout (Jan 1, 2018)

Silence2-38554 said:


> Snagged the ebony top from Gilmer Hardwoods. It wasn’t cheap but it was necessary!



Is it a two-piece top? For the ebony top of my latest build, I joined 5 fretboards. 

Regarding chambering: I always wondered about neck dive with these thin guitars, especially with such heavy chambering.


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## Silence2-38554 (Jan 1, 2018)

crackout said:


> Is it a two-piece top? For the ebony top of my latest build, I joined 5 fretboards.
> 
> Regarding chambering: I always wondered about neck dive with these thin guitars, especially with such heavy chambering.


Yep! It’s a two piece top. I actually just checked the B7’s neck dive & it’s virtually non-existent. Even with the extended length of the neck, heavy-ish neck wood and heavy chambering, the body stays put when you let go. I’d guess strap button location has a lot to do with it. In playing position, I use the upper strap button on the back and the upper horn puts the strap button right around the 12th fret.


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## Bearitone (Jan 1, 2018)

Tell us about the Impulse set! pls


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## Silence2-38554 (Jan 1, 2018)

kindsage said:


> Tell us about the Impulse set! pls


dude, I love the Impulse set. I had them in a 25.5" scale 7 string before this & they were great in that too. In fact, in that guitar, I had tried Juggernauts, Painkillers, Black Hawks and Impulses. The Impulses were hands down the best. The bridge sounds very similar to a C-Hawk, except since it has an alnico magnet it doesn't have that abrasive high end on the high strings. From what I could perceive, the Impulse is just as tight as a C-Hawk despite the magnet difference. What I will say, however, is that the pick attack of the Impulse bridge benefits from not having a tone knob for sure. I experimented with that a lot in the previous guitar and sort of planned the controls of this guitar accordingly. No tone, 3-way switch with coil split to inner coils.

And that brings us to the neck pickup! The neck is really something unique. It's like a Black Hawk neck made a baby with a VHII. Considering those are my two favorite BKP neck pickups, this one is a clear winner. The split sound is fantastic as well. The coils are asymmetrically wound, so you can choose to split to the coil with higher or lower output.


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## electriceye (Jan 2, 2018)

crackout said:


> Is it a two-piece top? For the ebony top of my latest build, I joined 5 fretboards.
> 
> Regarding chambering: I always wondered about neck dive with these thin guitars, especially with such heavy chambering.



Gilmer is my second-favorite wood pr0n site. They frequently have 2-pic tops in every wood imaginable. Pretty sure I gave you a link when you were doing your build (yours turned out sweet anyway!).


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## BlackMastodon (Jan 3, 2018)

Damn that looks clean as hell, and awesome wood choices!


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## J_Mac (Jan 4, 2018)

Impressive! \m/


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## crackout (Jan 4, 2018)

Silence2-38554 said:


> I actually just checked the B7’s neck dive & it’s virtually non-existent. Even with the extended length of the neck, heavy-ish neck wood and heavy chambering, the body stays put when you let go.



A stable hanging position is desireable but not the whole story.
I also wonder about the angle between neck and ground.


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## MoonJelly (Jan 6, 2018)

Dead sexy


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## Silence2-38554 (Jan 8, 2018)

Thanks for all the kind words everyone! I realized I didn't post much about how this thing is set up / wired, so here's a shot of the control cavity-



WUifL5evT2KN8spHNGruqw by Kris Yates, on Flickr

I was originally planning to do this build with the standard vol / tone / 3-way setup, 'till I realized I really only like the Impulses with a no-load tone (i.e., no additional load at all beyond the 500k vol. pot.) So, I went with a single push / pull vol. pot & Switchcraft 3-way toggle. The push/pull splits the humbuckers to the inner coils, hum-cancelling in the middle position. It's great. 

Seeing that the pickups were developed by Josh from Northlane, it makes a lot of sense that these pickups are amazing in this guitar. He does not use tone pots in his Jacksons, which also happen to be 27" scale, so the voicing is literally dialed in for down-tuned extended scale guitars with no tone circuit. I was originally planning to swap in the new Ragnaroks at some point but I've never been this satisfied with a pickup choice first try in a guitar before!

I also got it out into some sunlight the other day & snapped some more shots. I love how the ebony figuring pops out with the right lighting  Enjoy!



fullsizeoutput_73cb by Kris Yates, on Flickr



IMG_5449 by Kris Yates, on Flickr



fullsizeoutput_73c9 by Kris Yates, on Flickr



fullsizeoutput_73c4 by Kris Yates, on Flickr



fullsizeoutput_73cd by Kris Yates, on Flickr



IMG_5462 by Kris Yates, on Flickr



IMG_5468 by Kris Yates, on Flickr



IMG_5474 by Kris Yates, on Flickr



IMG_5475 by Kris Yates, on Flickr


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## jwade (Jan 9, 2018)

Man, Doug should bring you onboard with Blackmachine, this looks perfect.


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## Mr_Mar10 (Jan 10, 2018)

Does he even make guitars anymore or has he given up after being done by all the guitar flippers? Hasn’t seen a new one for time


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## Lorcan Ward (Jan 10, 2018)

Incredible work dude! Everything looks clean! 



Mr_Mar10 said:


> Does he even make guitars anymore or has he given up after being done by all the guitar flippers? Hasn’t seen a new one for time



He doesn't build much anymore, maybe 1-3 guitars a year for friends, early waiting list customers and anyone who can sway him with the right amount of cash but he's not that interested in being a commercial builder anymore. Shame he's cut down to the odd build and never licensed out production builds like Strandberg. But on the bright side he opened up a whole market for boutique builds and guitar design that so many companies use as a basis.


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## Humbuck (Jan 10, 2018)

Great job! Looks amazing!


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## DistinguishedPapyrus (Jan 11, 2018)

Very nicely done. It'd be hard to tell apart from an original except it doesn't say "handmade in London" on the rear plate.


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## Grand Rabbit (Jan 13, 2018)

Really nice work here, I bet it plays and sounds amazing! 

I have a question: what fasteners did you use for the 'bolts' on the neck? They look great


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## Silence2-38554 (Jan 14, 2018)

Grand Rabbit said:


> Really nice work here, I bet it plays and sounds amazing!
> 
> I have a question: what fasteners did you use for the 'bolts' on the neck? They look great



Thanks! These took me quite a while to find. I’m still not 100% sure what Doug uses, but the closest I got was THESE
With regular machine-threaded hex head bolts from the hardware store. Oh, and the neck has stainless T-nuts for threads.


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## Grand Rabbit (Jan 14, 2018)

Thanks man, I'm probably going to do something identical on some of my current builds!


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## Phil-Centralia (Apr 18, 2019)

Nice dude, looks professional as hell!

Would you be so kind as to share the neck dimensions you've used? I'm currently making my own 7 string guitar which was drawn based on the blackmachine b7 26.5'', but i've only got 2d dimension of it.


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## The Lantern (Apr 19, 2019)

Excellent work, man

congrats! 

How does it play?


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## PeterPorker (Jun 24, 2019)

That is beautiful peace of craftsmanship! I’m actually starting my first build by hand actually modeled after a B6+1 in the coming weeks. I just got diagrams of it last night but I’ve got quick question. On the schematics it doesn’t show the metal cavity cover nor it’s dimensions. What are the dimensions of that particular cavity? Thanks in advance!


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