# New 7 Build - zebrawood/padouk



## canuck brian (Nov 19, 2007)

I've been working on this new project the past two weekends and I just finished slotting the trussrod channel (no pics...sorry.) I spent most of today making templates for the pickups (mabye EMG 707/81-7 or 2 JB-7's) and the bridge (hipshot 7 trem). It's a pretty thick zebrawood 2 piece cap over mahogany/flamed maple/mahogany backing. The neck padouk. I've got a flamed maple fretboard to use on this and I've a neat inlay idea going on...hope I can pull it off.

It's going to be 25.5 as I've got smaller hands.


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## ibznorange (Nov 19, 2007)

dude. badass. thats lookin awesome


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## yevetz (Nov 19, 2007)

That's looks awesome


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## robanomoly (Nov 19, 2007)

Looks good so far! That's going to be a bright sounding guitar.

Why are you using flamed maple, then covering it with zebrawood?

Is the neck flatsawn? Will padouk be stiff enough if used flatsawn?

Can flamed maple be used for fingerboards? It's not recommended by Warmoth.


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## Stitch (Nov 19, 2007)

Swaheet!

Any plans for body contours?


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## Piledriver (Nov 19, 2007)

flame maple is used by jackson in the phil collen sig as a fingerboard.
man this is gonna be a great guitar, put in some warm pickups such as the EMG or bare knuckles and it will scream!


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## angryman (Nov 19, 2007)

Lookin good bud.


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## Apophis (Nov 19, 2007)

Very nice


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## darren (Nov 19, 2007)

Mmm... zebrawood...


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## JJ Rodriguez (Nov 19, 2007)

That thing's giving me some serious (zebra)wood.... Shut up, I couldn't think of anything else perverted to say.


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## technomancer (Nov 19, 2007)

That going to be awesome


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## ohio_eric (Nov 19, 2007)

That will look sweet!


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## BigM555 (Nov 19, 2007)

Looks good.

Anxious to see further progress. Keep us posted.


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## Durero (Nov 19, 2007)

Nice!


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## canuck brian (Nov 19, 2007)

I've only got a stripe of flamed maple on the back, it's mostly a mahogany backing so the guitar isn't so bright. Warmoth also uses flatsawn padouk and I use carbon fiber rods. 

Updates will be sparse - whenever I get to the shop (1.5 hours travel) but i'll make sure there are pics. Next weekend I'm hoping to have the fretboard glued up and the headstock properly shaped. I've been trying to design a headstock, but so far i'm kinda stuck. I whipped up a template with the steinberger scepter headstock as a 7, but I'm not sure it will work. Thanks again for the words guys!  



robanomoly said:


> Looks good so far! That's going to be a bright sounding guitar.
> 
> Why are you using flamed maple, then covering it with zebrawood?
> 
> ...


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## Shawn (Nov 19, 2007)

Looks nice. Can't wait to see it when it's finished.


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## scott from _actual time_ (Nov 19, 2007)

very nice work! glad to see you and some of the other 7-string builders on projectguitar.com over here as well.


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## skinhead (Nov 19, 2007)

That padauk looks strange, I dig the color.

And the body has some nice woods on it.


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## budda (Nov 19, 2007)

that looks really nice! Toronto eh.. that'd be a sweet 7 to try!


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## ShawnFjellstad (Nov 19, 2007)

that's going to look great.


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## Leon (Nov 19, 2007)

keep us posted


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## canuck brian (Dec 18, 2007)

Okay! So the weather finally cooperated and let me actulaly GET to my wood shop this weekend. I was a day and a half late so my shop time got cut pretty severely.  

Here's what I got done though.

I wanted to get the neck tapered and get the fretboard attached. This is the template attached to the neck blank before routing. 

EDIT: Oops - There is a strip of ultra sticky two sided indoor carpet tape (super thin) between the template and the wood.







And here's the neck nice and flush tapered.






There wasn't a lot of material to be taking off, but check out the huge mess that padouk likes to make.






My trusty vacuum cleaner "George" will fix that shit up.






Here's a pic of my fret slotting blade. This thing probably chopped a solid 4 hours off my build time and the accuracy of the cuts is way beyond what I could originally do by hand.






And here's the finished fretboard with some naptha to bring out the flame.






Here's the fretboard all clamped up - next step will be to flush the board to the neckblank and route the neck pocket.


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## Randy (Dec 18, 2007)

Looking great Brian! Really looking forward to seeing it finished. How do you run the 'board across the sawblade? (setting distance, etc.)

BTW, do you have any complete build walkthroughs/tutorials?

EDIT: Also, I have that same router.


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## Eric (Dec 18, 2007)

Nice!


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## Apophis (Dec 18, 2007)

Great


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## ShawnFjellstad (Dec 18, 2007)

looks awesome.


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## Hellraizer (Dec 18, 2007)

Looks great man, keep up the good work.


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## skinhead (Dec 18, 2007)

It goes great, Brian.

The padauk has the same color than cheetos


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## canuck brian (Dec 18, 2007)

Thanks again guys - I should have more progress over the holidays as I'll be around the shop for 4 days or so. Why not EMG's though? My other option would be a pair of Duncan JB-7's. 

Levelhead - In the pic with the fretboard with the naptha on it, you can also see my "shooting board" (not sure why it's called that....). It rides on the slots on top of the tablesaw and has a slot cut thru it. You can see the teeth of the slotting saw peeking out. I put doublesided tape on the one of the panels so the fretboard would stick in the proper spot. 

I dig the nice cheap Black and Decker - no complaints at all so far! I also built an 8 string that you can check out here.


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## technomancer (Dec 19, 2007)

Lookin' good


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## ShawnFjellstad (Dec 19, 2007)

that eight string is made of win and god. 
how's it play?

also, about how much did it cost to make that one?

would you ever consider building for people other than yourself (i.e. me. )?


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## philkilla (Dec 19, 2007)

canuck brian said:


> Thanks again guys - I should have more progress over the holidays as I'll be around the shop for 4 days or so. Why not EMG's though? My other option would be a pair of Duncan JB-7's.
> 
> Levelhead - In the pic with the fretboard with the naptha on it, you can also see my "shooting board" (not sure why it's called that....). It rides on the slots on top of the tablesaw and has a slot cut thru it. You can see the teeth of the slotting saw peeking out. I put doublesided tape on the one of the panels so the fretboard would stick in the proper spot.
> 
> I dig the nice cheap Black and Decker - no complaints at all so far! I also built an 8 string that you can check out here.



I hate to be the guy beating on the proverbial horse deadhrse:...yah, I'm that guy) but I still believe with any guitar with woods of "higher" quality, EMG's just do not do justice for the said guitar. I'm not knocking em either, because they are great for certain things, but for a handmade guitar of that magnitude, passives would more than likely suit you much better IMHO.


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## Uber Mega (Dec 19, 2007)

+1 

Your using some uber mega fine tone-woods there, and like philkilla said, passives would be best suited to really bring out and compliment the natural tone of the woods you use.

EMGs will sound pretty much the same in any guitar you put them in regardless of wood.


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## yevetz (Dec 19, 2007)

want to see more


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## Apophis (Dec 19, 2007)




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## canuck brian (Dec 19, 2007)

ShawnFjellstad said:


> that eight string is made of win and god.
> how's it play?
> 
> also, about how much did it cost to make that one?
> ...



The eight plays ok, it's got it's flaws that I see now and wish I could correct though.... It cost me under 600 I believe for all the parts and wood though. 

I'd definitely consider building for other people when I feel my skills are good enough; I'm still learning. I'm signed up for a 3 month session with a really skilled luthier in January 2009(long waiting list).  

I have also decided to the use the Duncans on this build. I'll use the EMG's on the re-build of my 7 string kelley which I finally gave up on. More work will be done around the 27th when I get back to the shop.


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## canuck brian (Dec 28, 2007)

Hey guys, 

Got more work done on this build.

Heres the neck nice and flush trimmed.






Copied out the headstock outline. I drill out the holes for the tuners before actually cutting the headstock. I haven't shaped the back of the neck yet, there are more processes that are made easier with the flat square back like pressing frets and whatnot.






Headstock cut out.










Prepping for the neck pocket cut.






Here are the rails in place for the cut. I actually dont' have a pic of the neck pocket cut - more pics tomorrow.


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## ShawnFjellstad (Dec 29, 2007)

holy fuck.
that looks absolutaly amazing.

do you want to build me a guitar?


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## skinhead (Dec 29, 2007)

That going very nice, Brian.

I'm really diging padouk color


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## B Lopez (Dec 29, 2007)

It's gorgeous, dude.


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## Desecrated (Dec 29, 2007)

Looks good so far. 
I think there is room for an extra fret at the bottom, but thats just me-


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## canuck brian (Dec 29, 2007)

ShawnFjellstad said:


> holy fuck.
> that looks absolutaly amazing.
> 
> do you want to build me a guitar?



Hey man, thanks for the kudos! Gimme about 2 more years of building and I'll consider doing commission; I just don't feel my skills are at that point yet.

That being said, got bored at about 3 in the morning (just came off overnight shifts) and decided to work on my inlay work. Pretty simple inlay design but I've never tried patterns before - just dots. I managed to get fit pretty dead on - not a lot of epoxy is going to be showing when it's radiused.

Thanks again to everyone checking out this build! I'm hoping to have the neck fretted and possibly shaped. If I work on the body, i'll get the routing for the pickups and trem done (gotta make templates). If there's time after the body routing, I'll start the carved top.


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## Aled Smith (Dec 29, 2007)

cool ideas on wood useage, Get more pics up as you go dude, im sure i speak for everyone wanting to see this in progress


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## FortePenance (Dec 29, 2007)

thats pretty cool. What material did you use for that inlay?


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## yevetz (Dec 29, 2007)

canuck brian said:


> Hey man, thanks for the kudos! Gimme about 2 more years of building and I'll consider doing commission; I just don't feel my skills are at that point yet.
> 
> That being said, got bored at about 3 in the morning (just came off overnight shifts) and decided to work on my inlay work. Pretty simple inlay design but I've never tried patterns before - just dots. I managed to get fit pretty dead on - not a lot of epoxy is going to be showing when it's radiused.
> 
> Thanks again to everyone checking out this build! I'm hoping to have the neck fretted and possibly shaped. If I work on the body, i'll get the routing for the pickups and trem done (gotta make templates). If there's time after the body routing, I'll start the carved top.



Awesome


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## Apophis (Dec 29, 2007)

really nice


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## SnowfaLL (Dec 29, 2007)

2 years Brian? Darn, you said that like 2 years ago haha.

I cant find a luthier for bass neck/bodies. Looking for a simple bolt-on maple fretboard 24 fret 5 string neck with something other than the fender headstock, and the body I might attempt myself Im thinking unless They can do a Kelly shape.. Any ideas?


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## canuck brian (Dec 29, 2007)

NickCormier said:


> 2 years Brian? Darn, you said that like 2 years ago haha.
> 
> I cant find a luthier for bass neck/bodies. Looking for a simple bolt-on maple fretboard 24 fret 5 string neck with something other than the fender headstock, and the body I might attempt myself Im thinking unless They can do a Kelly shape.. Any ideas?



Yeah I know I said that....  I really didn't get enough work done on guitars to feel comfortable with having it go out the door yet.

I can definitely pick up teh wood for you - I'm not sure what kind of selections you've got in your neck of the woods. I totally think you should take a crack at building though!

FortePenance - the inlay material is acetate that I bought as a pen blank from Lee Valley. I was going to use abalone, but it didn't show up well on my 8 so i figured I needed something that would stand out on the maple board.


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## ShawnFjellstad (Dec 29, 2007)




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## SnowfaLL (Dec 29, 2007)

canuck brian said:


> Yeah I know I said that....  I really didn't get enough work done on guitars to feel comfortable with having it go out the door yet.
> 
> I can definitely pick up teh wood for you - I'm not sure what kind of selections you've got in your neck of the woods. I totally think you should take a crack at building though!
> 
> FortePenance - the inlay material is acetate that I bought as a pen blank from Lee Valley. I was going to use abalone, but it didn't show up well on my 8 so i figured I needed something that would stand out on the maple board.



I'll think about it.. I still dont even wanna take a crack at a neck, but maybe the body. Least with a body, routing can be filled and rerouted til it works. 

I dont even know what bass woods would give me a preferred tone though, as I have little bass experiance. I normally go all alder with guitars, but for bass the tone obviously has to be quite different. But how much would a kelly-sized blank of wood cost (lets say alder) and with winter here, any precautions to cutting/shaping of wood? I know spraying and finishing isnt possible til summer most likely lol


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## canuck brian (Dec 30, 2007)

I decided to focus on the neck today. I radiused the fretboard (16 in radius), slotted thru the inlays pressed the frets in and filed the edges. I'm taping the fretboard off after this and finishing the shaping - padouk dust on the fretboard now would defintely not be good.

Here's the board radiused to 120 grit. I've got two 16 inch blocks so i can quickly tradeoff grits. I finished at 1200.






Slotted thru the inlays






Now for fretting. The big cutters go thru the fret material a lot easier than most other wire snips. The wood block has 24 numbered slots for the frets and the pink handled thing is a fret tang nipper. 






You need to radius the fretwire to make things a lot easier when you're pressing the frets in and making sure the ends don't pop up.






Here are all frets done and hte first few that i cut without radiusing them. The thin file there is run along the frets to roundove the slots. It helps the frets sit snuggly against the board. I've got the fret press set up in the other photo.











Here's the neck to date - board is sanded to 1200 and the frets are pressed.


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## ShawnFjellstad (Dec 30, 2007)

so, you want to build me a guitar?


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## canuck brian (Dec 30, 2007)

(oops)


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## ShawnFjellstad (Dec 30, 2007)

holy doublepost batman!


build me a guitar!


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## SnowfaLL (Dec 30, 2007)

Yea geez. You definately could make a quick load of money off me, Without money even crossing the border.

In all seriousness though, about my project bass Im considering going with a Carvin neck.. so can you PM me how much you could get me a bodyblank big enough for a Kelly body.. in Alder.. Maybe also a trace of your modified kelly from the old project kelly 7 string, would be wonderful. Im sure you have better wood suppliers than I do.


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## Apophis (Dec 30, 2007)

nice job


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## ShawnFjellstad (Dec 30, 2007)

now build me one!


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## c4tze (Jan 1, 2008)

bolt it on and make a picture


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## ShawnFjellstad (Jan 1, 2008)

c4tze said:


> bolt it on and make a picture



and then build me one!


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## canuck brian (Jan 20, 2008)

Managed to get up to the shop again today for a few hours and got a lot of work done! 

Here's the neck pocket cut out...






And here's the neck bolted on. I didn't take a pic of hte recessed bolt on the back, but they'll be seen later. (thats not my arm)






Now that I've got the neck pocket done, onto shaping the neck. I took off a slice with the bandsaw






Took rasps, a spokeshave and a microplane to it...






Sanded up to 200






I mixed up some super fine padouk dust with clear epoxy for the position indicator.
I did the same with my 8 string using purpleheart - turned out pretty good.






Hopefully next weekend I'll complete a full body template for the pickups, bridge and bridge recess. 

If i get that done, it'll be onto doing the carved top.


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## Eric (Jan 20, 2008)

canuck brian said:


>



Looks like you clubbed someone with it 

Awesome work bro. That's gunna turn out amazing.


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## Ruins (Jan 20, 2008)

looks awesome so far! please make even more pictures of your progress of each step that you make


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## Apophis (Jan 20, 2008)

Great progress, keep us updated  nice job


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## All_¥our_Bass (Jan 20, 2008)

canuck brian said:


> My trusty vacuum cleaner "George" will fix that shit up.


 
 Where did you get that?


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## SnowfaLL (Jan 20, 2008)

so will it be like another year til you would build commission jobs??

Either way, PM me with where you get your wood, I might need some for this summer (some Alder probably) Might attempt a body.


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## Renz777 (Jan 20, 2008)

Oh my.. it looks great!

I agree, post more pics


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## skinhead (Jan 20, 2008)

Brian, that guitar is fucking awesome


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## ShawnFjellstad (Jan 20, 2008)

now build me one! 

but seriously, though, great job.
its going to look incredible.


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## Xaios (Jan 20, 2008)

Lovin the headstock shape. Looks to be an amazing instrument.


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## canuck brian (Jan 20, 2008)

All_¥our_Bass;831837 said:


> Where did you get that?



Numatic International Ltd - Home Page

George comes from these guys who make other equally odd looking vacuums. They've got some obsession with happy faces on almost everything they make... We bought the vacuum from a detailing company - works really well. 

Thanks again guys for checkin it out! I carved the headstock more (dont' have a shot) and it turned out quite good too.


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## JBroll (Jan 20, 2008)

NickCormier said:


> I'll think about it.. I still dont even wanna take a crack at a neck, but maybe the body. Least with a body, routing can be filled and rerouted til it works.
> 
> I dont even know what bass woods would give me a preferred tone though, as I have little bass experiance. I normally go all alder with guitars, but for bass the tone obviously has to be quite different. But how much would a kelly-sized blank of wood cost (lets say alder) and with winter here, any precautions to cutting/shaping of wood? I know spraying and finishing isnt possible til summer most likely lol



Alder makes a pretty tasty bass, gives it a nice growl - my Brice has an alder body and bubinga top, and it has a great roar to it.

Jeff


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## Alex-D33 (Jan 21, 2008)

Now thats going to be bitchin lookin


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## canuck brian (Jan 27, 2008)

Hey guys, I managed to get up to my shop again this weekend. Focusing the body this time and one of the most critical stages - the bridge position.

It took me a long time to get this template just right before I etched it. The hipshot 7 trem has this monstrous tone block on it - i put it beside a wilkinson for comparion.






Here's the final etch with the etchings highligted with perm marker.






So 4 hours into starting tonight, I'm finally 100% on the bridge placement. Measure as many times as you want - you only get to cut once! I drilled out the area first with a forstner bit so there's not a lot of routing to do. 






Now the router clean up - template fastened on with this heavy duty carpet tape.






Finished the cavity up







Here's the neck joint - super tight. I can pick the guitar up by the neck without putting the bolts in.






My buddy gave me this Charvel a while ago. Hadn't even touched it in over a year. I was considering taking the dimarzios out of it and throwing in an EMG 81/H combo that I've got around. I'm definitely going to scallop 12 and up on this.






Thanks for checkin out the build!


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## B Lopez (Jan 27, 2008)

Holy crap that trem block is big.


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## Ruins (Jan 27, 2008)

thank you for providing me with some good morning orgasm to start my day


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## ibznorange (Jan 27, 2008)

B Lopez said:


> Holy crap that trem block is big.



  
that shits straight large man

Zorro


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## FortePenance (Jan 27, 2008)

Dusty Charvel man.

Great stuff, that zebrawood is lookin mad bitchin'.


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## budda (Jan 27, 2008)

the build is lookin awesome!

bring that sucker out to london for me and aaron to play when she's done, eh? we'll make a jam of it


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## technomancer (Jan 27, 2008)

That's coming along nicely 

That's going to be killer when it's finished


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## Apophis (Jan 27, 2008)

Awesome progress, congrats


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## exafro (Jan 27, 2008)

Really nice work man.


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## Randy (Jan 28, 2008)

+1 on the scallop 

Nice work, as always.


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## Demanufacture (Feb 28, 2008)

damn man can you make a me a replica of a dino cazares rg7 body with the 1 bridge pickup route


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## supertruper1988 (Feb 29, 2008)

Any updates on the progress?


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## vansinn (Mar 1, 2008)

Yeah, I'm also very interested in how the project is going, Brian 
Especially what those beatyful wood combinations did to/for the tone.

Also very much how that TremKing works out WRT tone, sustain and tuning stability.
I'm always interested in how a non-locked-nut whammy arrangement works, and since you reinforced the neck with carbon inserts (i.e. it's a stiff neck), I guess tuning stablility is down to whammy and nut design/quality.


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## canuck brian (Mar 2, 2008)

Hey guys! I had no idea that this got bumped!

About 3 weeks ago I really injured both my of my wrists and I've been slooooowly getting better. Ulnar nerve damage takes a while to recover from unfortunately....  I was hoping to return to playing/building in about 2 or 3 weeks. 

As it stands right now, I'm having new routing templates made for the EMG's (decided to go back to them) and the hipshot trem recess on CNC so it should go a lot faster when I'm able to get back to it. 

Vansinn - Padouk on it's own is a pretty stiff wood and like you said, with the carbon reinforcements, it should be super stable. Hipshot's stuff is nothing but top notch and this bridge is built like a bloody tank. It pivots on bearings instead of a knife edge, so wearing it out ain't gonna happen. I'm still waiting for my graphtech nut blank for this, but I might just use some of the ebony i've got sitting around as a nut. 

DH - I won't be putting my work into people's hands until April 2009 when I've completed my work with Anthony Karol (Karol Guitars). After that, defintely. The first work that'll come out of my hands to people would probably end up being a guitar that I give away on here on SS.org. Can't really think of a better promotion than that.

Thanks again guys!


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## Ruins (Mar 2, 2008)

what a stupid waste of time you have to go through but it is important that you wont do anything until you are fully recovered so i wish you fast recovery man! 

why did you decide to go back to EMGs any way? with so beautiful woods it would be waste to arm this baby with some active pups in my opinion.

great idea for the promotion *dreams to be the lucky bastard* 

and last thing, we love pictures here as you already know it (just reminding you ) please provide us with more visual orgasms


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## vansinn (Mar 2, 2008)

Injuries never a nice thing, especialy on our hands. I wish you a speedy recovery.
FWIW, I've used accupuncture on several occations over many years with very goos results, including 1½ years ago, when I smashed my left hand into a solid metal girder.

I though you'd be using a TremKing whammy?

Took a brief look at Karol's; looks like you'll be in good hands. I envy you a bit  I'm into IT and often wish I was crafting things with my hands. Wouldn't mind building guitars later in life..


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## Demanufacture (Mar 6, 2008)

damn dude sorry about the injury hope you recover fast!!!!


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## tie my rope (Mar 7, 2008)

technomancer said:


> That's coming along nicely
> 
> That's going to be killer when it's finished



indeed it is.


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## FYP666 (Apr 29, 2008)

canuck brian said:


> My trusty vacuum cleaner "George" will fix that shit up.



Pure Win!!!

Sorry to hear about your injury, recover fast, o'matey!

So far what the guitar looks like, it's gonna be SHREDTASTIC


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## canuck brian (Apr 29, 2008)

FYP666 said:


> Pure Win!!!
> 
> Sorry to hear about your injury, recover fast, o'matey!
> 
> So far what the guitar looks like, it's gonna be SHREDTASTIC



Thanks for the support! I'm about 80% back to normal at this point but the docs are still not sure what the hell is happening in my arms. I've bought some shock dampening gloves that are designed for people with neuropathy issues in the arms.  So not this weekend but the following weekend I'll be cuttin wood again!

I'm pretty much 100% on using the EMG's for two reasons. I want EMG's for one in at least one of my 7's, but it's also going to be the tester for a pair of drop in custom Nordstrands. I'm talking to those guys about doing up EMG707/808/Blackout replacement 7 and 8 string passives so toss me a PM if you're interested so I can forward the interest to the guys. No pickup rings!


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## canuck brian (May 11, 2008)

So! I pretty much spent the whole day in the shop today working on this. I got clearance from my neuropathy specialist and with the gloves I picked up, I can barely feel anything from the router. It felt SO good to get back at it. 

So I fired up the mp3 list with a Testament discography and went to work.



Art (Velocity) had this busted Ibanez at home. Last time I saw him I took it with me and today I fixed up the fretboard and reglued the headstock. 






With the sustain block on the Hipshot being as huge as it is, I had to extend one side of the back spring route, knocking it off center.

Getting ready to drill out the cavity.






Cavity drilled out.






Onto the routing. Check out my new gloves, they're pretty close to my old MMA gloves!






For a few minutes, I'd been really craving some Hate Eternal.








Here's the cavity all milled out






I drilled out the post holes next and recessed the trem. 






EMG cavities drilled out.






And routed. I swapped between my B/D with a template bit and my Dremel with a 1/8 flatbottom woodbit to follow the template in the really tight corners.






I put some of the hardware in and threw the neck on before heading upstairs for the evening. 






That's it for today - I'll be heading back in tomorrow morning to do the control cavity and top carve. The output jack is going to be a deepdish (like fender) mounted on the back. I tried a Brian Moore out with a similar jack and loved it. 

I thought about refinishing the Charvel as well - I'm going to fill the neck pickup cavity and repaint it after recessing the neck and the tremolo a little more. I've got a spare EMG 81 here too so I'll have an axe a la Andreas Kisser from Sepultura's good ole days.


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## Mattmc74 (May 11, 2008)




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## Randy (May 11, 2008)

WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN!



I hope all is well with the nerve problems.


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## wannabguitarist (May 11, 2008)

I love how zebrawood looks. How thick is the guitar?


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## ibznorange (May 11, 2008)

Oh _hell_ yes 

Good to hear you can get back at it


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## daybean (May 11, 2008)

you give me hope...love it


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## Thrashmanzac (May 11, 2008)

that looks killer man! great job


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## FYP666 (May 11, 2008)

Lookin like win!

Nice to hear your recovering well!

We'll be waiting to see what the guitar will look like finished!


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## velocity (May 11, 2008)

brian! i'm so glad to see you're back "making some sawdust". cool gloves too!


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## Neil (May 11, 2008)

This is freaking sweet!


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## Apophis (May 11, 2008)

Looks really nice


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## Kotex (May 11, 2008)

I'm really looking forward to this. For awhile I didn't think I'd ever see it finished.


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## canuck brian (May 11, 2008)

Allo again! Made it back into the shop this afternoon for another hour...

Did the control cavity today. Unfortunately I didn't figure on the depth of the cavity when the carved top is applied so this guitar is unfortunately going to be a flat top. Live and learn!







And a pic of the control placement. 1 3 way near the pickups and a volume knob. I've always yanked the tone knob from all my guitars.






Thanks again guys for the support - I was really down about not being able to do this with my arms fucked up and just seein the posts cheered me up.

wannabguitarist - it's 1 3/4 thick with a 20 mm zebrawood cap. 

Kotex - no worries man, it's within a day or two of finishing before the oil finish gets applied.


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## Ruins (May 11, 2008)

i am so glad to see/hear your arm is fine now and you are able to work again. 
your guitar building threads have been inspiration for me for some time now
they gave me some answers to some questions i had.
your work is so clean, i love it! can't wait to see you finishing this beauty.


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## Kotex (May 12, 2008)

Sweet man. And when you finish, TONS of pics. Like 15 of them


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## -K4G- (May 13, 2008)

that zebrawood is hot!


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## Thrashmanzac (May 13, 2008)

shit that looks good!


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## supertruper1988 (May 13, 2008)

Dude that is sick 

Glad to hear you are getting better.


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## CentaurPorn (May 13, 2008)

Looking Good! Can't wait to see this beauty finished. I am sure I will be hitting you up for some tips when I decide to build my own in the future as it is something I have always wanted to do. I am inspired......and strangely aroused as well..


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## st2012 (May 13, 2008)

That thing looks fucking awesome, great work!


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## robanomoly (May 13, 2008)

I'm sorry to hear/read about the injury. Waiting to get back to work can be very frustrating, but, it's better to wait rather than hurrying and making things worse. Glad to see you're getting back to it. It looks great!


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## turmoil (May 13, 2008)

damn! this guitar looks absolutely disgusting man!! i cannot wait to see the finished product. those woods looks so amazing. great job so far man!!!!


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## Doddus (May 19, 2008)

Man, this things gonna be beast. I'm inspired as are many people who have seen your glorious efforts.

And i've definitely learnt a fair bit just reading your comments for when its my turn to start building!!


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## muffgoat (May 19, 2008)

Dude fickeneh! good work so far and i cant wait for it to be finished. you are really inspiring me to start pushing myself towards builing a guitar already..


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## Unknown Doodl3.2 (May 27, 2008)

I skimmed through the thread and couldn't find the information... but what kind of tonal properties are found in Padouk?

Nice guitar and awesome work btw!


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## LordGrendel (May 27, 2008)

From Warmoth.com:

Padouk, African (Pterocarpus soyauxii):
Bright vivid orange color which oxidizes to a warm brown with use. This waxy feeling wood has an open grain texture similar to rosewood and a tone similar to maple with great mids and attack. This is a heavy to medium weight wood that looks great with an oil finish or clear gloss! 

*Tone-O-Meter&#8482;*


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## buffa d (Jun 8, 2008)

Could you build me a similar one?


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## canuck brian (Jun 8, 2008)

Next year I definitely could!

I had a mistake rear it's ugly fucking head on this bugger though. One of the trem post holes was about 1 MM off which is unacceptable. I was going to black out the cavity anyways so I filled the holes and I'll be redrilling the posts sometime this coming weekend.

I've got about 4 other guitars on the go right now too, but I think I'll post progress pics of those when they're actually done.


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## buffa d (Jun 9, 2008)

Cool!
Just let me know and I'll see if I can afford one.


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## canuck brian (Jun 15, 2008)

Well! I went up to the shop yesterday and woke up this morning around 6 am. I just finished my work for the day and here's what I have done. This is the initial stringing up to make sure everything works properly and I can check for dead frets. The truss rod is just settling in so I've got a few more adjustments to be makin. I've also got to get a black knob for the 3 way switch as well.







I managed to nail the straight string pull over the nut as well.


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## Stitch (Jun 15, 2008)




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## DevinShidaker (Jun 15, 2008)

BEAUTIFUL!!!

I love it dude.


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## shredder777 (Jun 15, 2008)

wow, thats really nice


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## Durero (Jun 15, 2008)

Beautiful indeed!


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## Kotex (Jun 15, 2008)

Awesome man. I love it!


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## theshred201 (Jun 15, 2008)

Noice...In my opinion you should cut your string ends though. I can't stand long string ends....


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## canuck brian (Jun 15, 2008)

theshred201 said:


> Noice...In my opinion you should cut your string ends though. I can't stand long string ends....



Heh - I haven't cut them so I can remove them and reuse them. I've got locking hipshots so i don't have windings on the posts. I only strung it up to catch dead frets and make sure everything was in place. Trust me, I really wanted to see it with nice trimmed ends, but i figured why waste the pack. I've still got hours of sanding, cavity shielding (yes i know emgs are shielded), logo application and then finally the oil finish. In the two pics, I haven't applied any finish or naptha to the guitar.

I'm happy I did a trem equipped guitar because I learned a lot of do's and don'ts thru this entire build.

Once again - thanks everyone for checkin it out!


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## SnowfaLL (Jun 15, 2008)

Amazing Brian, Is that the hipshot 7 bridge? Im looking forward to picking up one of those someday soon.


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## ShawnFjellstad (Jun 15, 2008)

that looks gorgeous dude.
imo, a matching headstock veneer would really tie the whole look of the guitar togther.


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## Justin Bailey (Jun 15, 2008)

you did a great job man, I'm thinking you just won yourself a customer, provided I have the funds, haha


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## velocity (Jun 15, 2008)

that looks amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## 7slinger (Jun 15, 2008)

beautiful


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## Napalm (Jun 16, 2008)

Nice work man Love to hear some clips !!!


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## wintersun (Jun 16, 2008)

Nice work dude


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## Ruins (Jun 16, 2008)

it looks amazing!
and did you find anything wrong any dead frets/spots ?
i am looking forward to hear some sound clips.


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## Rhoadkiller (Jun 16, 2008)

[email protected]!!!!


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## Concerto412 (Jun 16, 2008)

beautiful wood combinations, that's hotter than 3 female mice in a shoebox.
I will wait eagerly for some reviews of the hipshot, Im getting VERY interested in that bridge.


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## awesomeaustin (Jun 16, 2008)

Awesome, Makes me want a guitar with a zebrawood top


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## Kotex (Jun 16, 2008)

Can you take some more pics man? Like of the back and different angles of the guitar? Pu Pu Please?haha


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## scott from _actual time_ (Jun 16, 2008)

very, very nice work.


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## wannabguitarist (Jun 22, 2008)

Beautiful 

Is that the same trem that's on the JP7?


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## canuck brian (Jun 22, 2008)

Thanks again guys!

wannabeguitarist - It's kinda similar to the one on the Petrucci, but I'm pretty sure that EB makes their own. 

So at this time, the body is currently drying up on it's 10th coat of oil and I just finished all the fretwork. I need to shield the control cavity, drill the screw holes for the tuners and sand the neck up to 1000. Next pic will be the geetur all finished.

I also came to find a flaw in the guitar that pisses me off pretty severely. Because of the original bridge misplacement, the pickups are slightly off. I was within minutes of giving the body away and making another one for the neck with a carved padouk top. 

Lesson for the day - make complete templates.


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## canuck brian (Jun 29, 2008)

So she's 100% done cept the wiring. I just haven't had time recently. Plays awesome and I love being able to carve my own neck profiles. I'm pretty sure that most would hate it, its pretty flat and has the same dimensions (converted to 7) as my 92 770's neck; thin as hell. 







Shot of the fancy new logo....






For a few minutes, I thought the woodgrain of the mahogany in the horns were actually scratches with all the dust... I didn't think mahogany did this....






Shot of the back











Here's the ebony cavity cover - i got sick of the mahogany ones splitting so I said screw it and used my stack of mun ebony. I really liked having the input jack on the back similar to a few Brian Moores that I tried. Don't mind the middle stains - I'm dropping a hipshot trem setter in there.






Da neck joint. Notice the nice ding in the neck which i've managed to get out for the most part. 











002# out the door. If i numbered the guitars I had at 90% completion before tearing them apart for parts and wood, it would be #7. These hipshots kick ass. They're so light and super smooth.

Well guys, that's the end of this one. Once she's wired up sometime next weekend, i'll subject my playing to your soon to be tortured ears with a vid.


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## Elysian (Jun 29, 2008)

what kind of mahogany is that? looks entirely different from the honduran i've used...


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## Ramsay777 (Jun 29, 2008)

That is fucking awesome dude!!

Lovin' the headstock 10/10!


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## Durero (Jun 29, 2008)

Nice work!


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## velocity (Jun 29, 2008)

the neck on this guitar feels amazing people. wicked profile...


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## Thrashmanzac (Jun 29, 2008)

holy god that looks killer


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## canuck brian (Jun 30, 2008)

Elysian said:


> what kind of mahogany is that? looks entirely different from the honduran i've used...



Tis quartersawn Honduran mahogany. That's why it's all ripply around the endgrain areas. I didn't expect it to pop like this and the back looks just like it too.

Thanks once again for checkin it out! I decided I'm going to be using this as a headstock from here in with the inline 6/7 headstock I already have templated.


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## canuck brian (Jun 30, 2008)

Got a good shot of the fretboard and the headstock finally.


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## darren (Jun 30, 2008)

Wow... that's just a stunning top! I would have liked to see a matching headstock cap... the padouk headstock face looks odd with the rest of the woods on the front (in my humble opinion).

And i'm loving the 4+3 Jackson SLS headstock... probably my favourite 7-string headstock shape.


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## canuck brian (Jun 30, 2008)

I guess it's very SLS headstock... I did draw it from scratch but the SLS headstock is nice.

I didn't have enough zebrawood to pull off the cap. I'll probably dupe the whole guitar at some point and do a padouk cap and a zebrawood headstock neck.

Oh - i actually built it in 25" instead of 25.5" to try it out. I really dig PRS's and I wanted that scale feel in a 7.


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## -K4G- (Jun 30, 2008)

Thats hot man. Awesome job.


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## robanomoly (Jun 30, 2008)

Congratulations on a great job!


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## metalfiend666 (Jun 30, 2008)

Looks damn fine Brian  Two questions:

1. Are you going to have a trem cavity cover?
2. What material is the nut?


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## Justin Bailey (Jun 30, 2008)

god, that looks amazing man,can't wait to see your next project! 

metalfeind: the nut looks like its the same material as the inlay, as to what that is, I dunno, haha/


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## SnowfaLL (Jun 30, 2008)

really badass, Brian.


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## canuck brian (Jun 30, 2008)

metalfiend666 said:


> Looks damn fine Brian  Two questions:
> 
> 1. Are you going to have a trem cavity cover?
> 2. What material is the nut?



Justin is correct - it's acetate. I've read up a few things about the uses of it and i'm trying it out on this for now. I've got a bunch of graphtech blanks if need be, but I did the multicolor thing.

I'm definitely not putting a trem cover on this. It's the first thing I remove from all of my other guitars. I can't stand the damn things. 

Next project in the can is a 4 string bass for my brother and another 7 with an inline reversed, RG style body. I've got the body blanks already prepared on both of the builds and I might get a 3rd one going at the same time. I'll whip up the appropriate threads as soon as I've got enough material to show you guys.

aaaaaand once again thanks for checkin it out.

Edit: i lost one of my little green bars.... sup wit dat?


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## ohio_eric (Jul 15, 2008)

That is one sweet looking beast.


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## olejason (Jul 15, 2008)

I think the wood choice is a little clownish looking but the build quality looks amazing


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## FYP666 (Aug 2, 2008)

I knew it, it is amazing, and beyond all, shredtastic!


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## buffa d (Aug 2, 2008)

Sori on pakko kysyy, mut missäpäin granii sä asut?
Oon ite pyöriny siel koko pienen ikäni. Kasavuoressa tuli käytyä ylä-astekki.


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## canuck brian (Aug 2, 2008)

buffa d said:


> Sori on pakko kysyy, mut missäpäin granii sä asut?
> Oon ite pyöriny siel koko pienen ikäni. Kasavuoressa tuli käytyä ylä-astekki.



Yep!

( I have no idea what you wrote! )


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## Ancestor (Aug 2, 2008)

Really nice. Looks good. I like the headstock a lot.


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## Mattmc74 (Aug 3, 2008)

Awesome job! Thats really sweet looking. I really like the differences in the wood tones.


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## Scootman1911 (Aug 3, 2008)

Man that's awesome! I wish I knew how to build guitars. I've thought about it before but reading through some of these threads makes me realize I could maybe do the body work but that's about it.


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## Sepultorture (Aug 27, 2008)

i'd probably suck the most at the neck contours


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