# Carillion Polaris Multiscale 7 Build Thread



## Lorcan Ward (Jan 27, 2016)

I got in contact with Chris Delia last year after seeing some of his guitars on FB just to say I really liked his work and ended up talking a lot about guitars and throwing around ideas for a build. I was already knee deep in builds at the time and like a lot of people I was wary of "new" luthiers" so I said I had to try his work first before committing to a build. Chris lives near Feline Guitars so I flew over to England with my Koa Ibanez to drop it off for a SS refret and check out the Carillion Guitars workshop. Chris put all my doubts to rest since his guitars were top notch and he is extremely knowledgable in guitar building, not to mention a really cool guy. He has quite an extensive wood stash so we spent a few hours picking out pieces and going over every millimetre of the guitar making sure everything was the way I wanted. 

After getting my Daemoness I know exactly what I want in a guitar nowadays but that means going custom. This build is very similar just with a few differences like the neck woods swapped, oil finish, slightly smaller fan for B standard tuning etc

So here is the beginnings of my Carillion Polaris Multiscale 7 string. 

I looked through about 20 Quilt Maple top, it was a very hard choice but I picked this one out because of the curving figure around the arm rest.






Flamed Black Limba Body





Clamped up





5 piece neck: Honduras Rosewood with flame maple inserts





I opted for the new REAVER headstock as soon as I saw the prototype, I've grown to like 4 over 3 headstocks more than inline. 





A set of Lundgren "The Ones", Alnico V pickups wound to about 15k and slanted at 14 degrees. They are the same set as in my Daemoness but with black allen screws for minor adjustments. This is my third set now.


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## mphsc (Jan 27, 2016)

Gonna be killer.


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## TamanShud (Jan 27, 2016)

Subbed cos this is gonna turn out tops! What kinda stain/finish are you going for?


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## zan2568 (Jan 27, 2016)

Looks awesome already! What scale are you going with?


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## BlackMastodon (Jan 27, 2016)

TamanShud said:


> Subbed cos this is gonna turn out tops! What kinda stain/finish are you going for?


Was just about to ask this, too. Great wood choices on this build.


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## Lorcan Ward (Jan 27, 2016)

TamanShud said:


> Subbed cos this is gonna turn out tops! What kinda stain/finish are you going for?



Not 100% sure yet but I looked through lots of NAMM pics over the weekend to get some ideas. I'd like to go with some kind of blue stain but I might experiment with a red stain. 



zan2568 said:


> Looks awesome already! What scale are you going with?



25.5 - 26.25, its a .75" fan so slightly smaller than my Daemoness but still offering the same tonal and tension benefits.


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## frahmans (Jan 27, 2016)

Lorcan Ward said:


> Not 100% sure yet but I looked through lots of NAMM pics over the weekend to get some ideas. I'd like to go with some kind of blue stain but I might experiment with a red stain.
> 
> 
> 
> 25.5 - 26.25, its a .75" fan so slightly smaller than my Daemoness but still offering the same tonal and tension benefits.



cool build. question. with a 0.75 fan, how did you calculate that the slant of the pickups had to be 14 degrees? I'd really like to know so I can move on from using soapbar pickups for my fanned guitars.


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## rockskate4x (Jan 28, 2016)

frahmans said:


> cool build. question. with a 0.75 fan, how did you calculate that the slant of the pickups had to be 14 degrees? I'd really like to know so I can move on from using soapbar pickups for my fanned guitars.



the slant of the pickups is determined by many other factors like the string width at the nut and the bridge and the perpendicular location on the fretboard. http://www.ekips.org/tools/guitar/fretfind2d/ Is where you need to go to work this out.


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## Lorcan Ward (Jan 28, 2016)

frahmans said:


> cool build. question. with a 0.75 fan, how did you calculate that the slant of the pickups had to be 14 degrees? I'd really like to know so I can move on from using soapbar pickups for my fanned guitars.



I think Lundgren only offer 14 and 20 degrees for their slanted humbuckers. 14 will mean the pickup will be closest to the lowest bass saddle and gradually getting further away as it goes down the strings, instead of it being the opposite on most multi scales. So its overcompensating when compared to a straight humbucker on a straight scale which will give some tonal improvements across the strings.


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## StevenC (Jan 29, 2016)

You should get a pink/purple stain.

Like a darker version of Strandberg #60.


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## Lorcan Ward (Feb 1, 2016)

Neck pocket and arm contour cut.





Second from the left, some crazy looking guitars in this batch. I was originally going to go for an African Blackwood fretboard again but the supplier I got mine off for my Daemoness wasn't replying so I had a look through about 50+ boards and settled on ebony. Chris then went through his stock looking for a really tight grain black board. I went for ivoroid binding to have more contrast between the rosewood neck and ebony board. Otherwise I'd go for the ebony binding with a thin maple strip.


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## feraledge (Feb 1, 2016)

Some nice looking work. I really dig that guitar on the left... errr, I mean the 8 in line headstock.
I shouldn't look at build threads while having a build under way, I keep thinking twice about not getting a PME board.


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## M3CHK1LLA (Feb 2, 2016)

its gonna look epic!


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## superash (Feb 3, 2016)

holy smokes.

chris is going in hard with these.

every update i see from carillion is making me jelly as f.


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## Lorcan Ward (Feb 8, 2016)

Neck profile is being carved. I tried out a few of his guitars with his D profile and settled on a slightly flatter back so its going to be similar to the Ultra Prestige profile on my old Rg1527 but a small bit thicker. Neck profiles are something thats never really given me trouble unless they're vintage Cs or super thin wizard necks. 





The quilt maple backplate has been glued on too. It and the front plate has a black veneer strip to separate the two.


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## Gango79 (Feb 8, 2016)

What a headstock!! Love it!!!!! Great choice Locarn!!


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## Heroooh (Feb 17, 2016)

Did you opt for inlays?


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## Lorcan Ward (Feb 17, 2016)

Yep. I have a lot of trouble playing on the higher frets without inlays. It must be the way I hold my guitar at an angle. I drew up a shield type inlay mockup and sent a picture on to Chris. Looking forward to seeing what he does.


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## Bearitone (Feb 18, 2016)

Tell me more about the "The One" pickups.
How do they compare to the M8?
What do you like about them?


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## Lorcan Ward (Feb 25, 2016)

There was actually a bit of a mistake with the pickup specs so they were sent back to Lundgren for a magnet swap and now they're back again in Carillion HQ. Everything was sorted super quick. Now I've got the first M17(MOneSeven) set, a combination of "The One" and M7 which should be very interesting. 



kindsage said:


> Tell me more about the "The One" pickups.
> How do they compare to the M8?
> What do you like about them?



I've never played any other Lundgrens so I can't say how they compare but the Ones are my favourite 7 string pickup. Very good for rhythm and leads which is hard to get right. They are Alnico V wound to about 15K, Very modern sounding, full across the board with no noticeable scoops or spikes, bridge is tight on the low B with a bouncy attack.

Its hard to describe pickups, they're something you need to try in person to feel how they respond to your playing and how notes sound across the board/strings. Personally I really like them.


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## pott (Feb 25, 2016)

Did you also consider Waghorn before going for Carillion? If I may ask, what swayed you?
I hadn't heard of Carillion when I got my Waghorn but at this point it'd be completely impossible for any guitar to fit me better than that Corax (and it's been way over 6 months, honeymoon period is long gone; enjoyment factor not at all!).


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## thrsher (Feb 26, 2016)

looks sick, whatever happened with your vik orders?


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## Lorcan Ward (Mar 10, 2016)

Sorry I missed your posts guys, only seeing them now. 



pott said:


> Did you also consider Waghorn before going for Carillion? If I may ask, what swayed you?
> I hadn't heard of Carillion when I got my Waghorn but at this point it'd be completely impossible for any guitar to fit me better than that Corax (and it's been way over 6 months, honeymoon period is long gone; enjoyment factor not at all!).



I did consider Waghorn aswell, I dropped into Tom's workshop and checked out his guitars when I picked up my Daemoness last year. We talked a good bit about yours actually and how well it turned out. I had been planning a build with Chris for a LONG time since I really wanted to work with him and his guitars are awesome too. I will order a Waghorn Corax in the future.



thrsher said:


> looks sick, whatever happened with your vik orders?



Cheers dude! I got it sometime last year but unfortunately I feel the same way about it as you did with yours. The circumstances and length of the build time just completely sucked the life out of the instrument.


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## Lorcan Ward (Mar 10, 2016)

Build update! Inlays are done. These took Chris ages since the point of the shield follows the angle of each fret. A lot of work but a really fine detail that adds to the instrument. I'm really happy how they turned out. Body carves are done. Frets and bolt-on contour next. 







Here is a bit of an optical illusion because of the angle of the end of the neck and bridge saddles, the neck pickup looks crooked but its sitting at 14 degrees, same as the bridge pickup, The pickups are made for a 1 inch fan so they sit slightly closer to the lower string saddles. One of the little things that further adds to the effect of a multiscale. 





You can see the difference the extra .25" makes on the lowest string on my Daemoness.


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## Lorcan Ward (Mar 14, 2016)

> *carillionguitars* First colour coat to scratch find after drum sanding the top. This'll get cleaned up then it'll get 'blacked' to pop the figure. That'll then get cleaned up to completely scratch free then it'll get blacked again to pop the figure one final time. That'll get cut back then colouring can start. This is private stock quilt so the prep work is everything when it comes to getting the most from the figure! Long, but very worth it!


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## Hywel (Mar 14, 2016)

Ooooh, sexy quilt. You're going to have a nice fire/ice or lava/water thing going on with this next to the blue Daemoness!


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## Lorcan Ward (Mar 15, 2016)

Chris was thinking of a fire finish but the red turned out so well that I might just go for it with slightly darker edges. I was originally going for a blue finish like the ones he's done recently but red works much better with the woods. I left it mostly up to him since I like to let a luthier have a lot of their own input on the aesthetics.


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## Gango79 (Mar 15, 2016)

Red is the best choice! Completely agree


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## narad (Mar 15, 2016)

That's a great color


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## Lorcan Ward (Mar 31, 2016)

Stain is done! Red to burgundy. I'm really happy how this turned out. 






The backplate was also stained aswell.


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## OmegaSlayer (Apr 1, 2016)

I saw this on FB, didn't think it was yours!
Great build you got there, and glad to know that the Carillion guitars guy is reliable.


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## narad (Apr 1, 2016)

Yea, well deserved that you finally hook up with a decent builder after all that Sabre fiasco. Maybe have to order the same thing with gloss finish...


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## Lorcan Ward (Apr 19, 2016)

Oil finish is done and assembly has started. Some really nice flame in the Black Limba.


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## Spicypickles (Apr 19, 2016)

....in Hawt!


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## OmegaSlayer (Apr 20, 2016)

Love the clean cavity


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## Prophetable (Apr 20, 2016)

OmegaSlayer said:


> Love the clean cavity



Who doesn't prefer a clean cavity?


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## Lorcan Ward (Apr 22, 2016)

AND we are done!!!! 


















I'm in awe how well this turned out. The whole process has been a very enjoyable experience so far. Next step is to let the guitar settle and some final tweaks before I pick it up in person.


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## pott (Apr 22, 2016)

Classy! Loving it.


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## Hywel (Apr 22, 2016)

Man that looks good. There's even a bit of flame in the black limba.


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## jerm (Apr 22, 2016)

holyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy


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## feraledge (Apr 22, 2016)

Wow! Really nice, that top is a beauty.


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## Gango79 (Apr 27, 2016)

Love that limba back!!!


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## Walterson (Apr 27, 2016)

Great work!


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## Simic (Apr 27, 2016)

Awesome! Looking forward to the ngd thread


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## OmegaSlayer (Apr 27, 2016)

I saw it finished on FB and was very happy for you Lorcan! 
Also...wow...less than 5 months to build...that's really cool.


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## Lorcan Ward (Apr 27, 2016)

Cheers guys, it took just under 4 months which is crazy seeing as he churned out several finished builds in-between and has a bunch more on final assembly. I'm really glad I pulled the trigger on this one. We are all a bit cautious of newish luthiers for good reason but this has been a very enjoyable experience.

One final pic before my NGD, 3 weeks until I get my hands on it.


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## VEGA CUSTOM (Apr 27, 2016)

Uauuuuuuuuuuh!!!!!!


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## MoonJelly (Apr 27, 2016)

Lorcan Ward said:


> Cheers guys, it took just under 4 months which is crazy seeing as he churned out several finished builds in-between and has a bunch more on final assembly.



That's some awesome turn-around time, dude! HNGD in advance


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## Lorcan Ward (May 18, 2016)

Picked up from Carillion HQ this morning. This guitar is insane! Fretwork, fret ends, fit, finish, setup, joinery, balance, tone, sustain, binding, nut, tuning stability etc etc is all top level. Full NGD review and demo video coming soon.


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## Deegatron (May 18, 2016)

I cant decide which is more magical... that beautiful guitar... or that shirt...



Lorcan Ward said:


>


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## thinkpad20 (May 18, 2016)

That shirt is epic. Anyone know what band that is? EDIT: possibly municipal waste? DOUBLE EDIT: yep


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## Splinterhead (May 19, 2016)

That guitar looks amazing, that quilt... Congrats!


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## BlackMastodon (May 20, 2016)

Guitar looks top notch. I also approve of your controls layout.


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