# KnightBrolaire's headless 8 string build



## KnightBrolaire (Aug 1, 2016)

Hey guys I'm about to start building my first 8 string, 1st multiscale, 1st headless. It's going to be pretty ambitious but if I pull it off it'll be awesome. 
I thought I'd update this thread with my progress from time to time.
Specs will be:
Walnut wings 
3 ply maple neck (neck through construction)
Maple or Ebony fretboard
quilted maple top with blood in the water finish (blue to red fade)
3 way switch, 1 vol, 1 tone (push pull pot)
Deathbucker/Xbar combo or EMG 808x pups
Technology for Musicians (H)S bridges/nuts in chrome
28.5-26.5" scale

here's the mockups so far:


----------



## jemfloral (Aug 1, 2016)

that is an incredible stain idea.

i'm finishing up my own (overly ambitious) build right now, and can't wait to see how yours comes out! :thumbsup:


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Aug 1, 2016)

jemfloral said:


> that is an incredible stain idea.
> 
> i'm finishing up my own (overly ambitious) build right now, and can't wait to see how yours comes out! :thumbsup:


 
Yeah it should be very unique if I can pull it off. here's a link to the thread where I talk about the inspiration for it.

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/showthread.php?t=312630


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Aug 2, 2016)

Got the maple today, even found a flamed piece for the fretboard 
The maple was pretty cheap (20$ for the regular, 15$ for the flamed)
too bad the walnut cost me 70$  (it's like 50$ for the board and then tacked on a 20$ "processing fee") 
.... YOU MENARDS.
Walnut should be in by the end of the week along with the TFM bridges/nuts and the Deathbar/Xbar pups. 
the Deathbar/Xbar are going to be CHROME  
Fretwire and other stuff should be here by thursday.





it's not a 5A board but it's still flamed 




another shot of the boards


----------



## ThePIGI King (Aug 2, 2016)

Love the stain idea, and everything about the build actually, but maybe it's just my nit-pickiness, but I think it'd look better if the purple was in the middle, since blue and red make purple, it'd make more sense (to me) to have purple in the middle, where the two colours meet.

Either way, awesome and I hope it turns out well!


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Aug 2, 2016)

Bought some stuff for the stain, watercolor paints and fabric dye. Testing the watercolor paint on some random scrap pieces. 








I'm going to play with the dye tomorrow and see if it looks better than the watercolor.




My cat wants to help me stain things.




should give you guys an idea of what the stain would look like




this is giving me ideas for the next guitar lol




Trying a more watered down version, gonna have to be real careful with my transitions when I do it on the maple.

I'm going to keep playing with the transitions between colors on scraps until I get it to where I want.


----------



## Kyle01 (Aug 2, 2016)

That test on the scrap actually looks pretty cool. Good luck with the rest of the build, im excited to see how this finish will turn out.


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Aug 2, 2016)

here's the fretfind info if anyone is curious: 
http://www.ekips.org/tools/guitar/fretfind2d/#len=25&lenF=673.1&lenL=723.9&pDist=.33258&ipDist=0.5&nutWidth=50&bridgeWidth=80&oE=5&oN=0.09375&oB=0.09375&oL=0.09375&oF=0.09375&oNL=0.09375&oNF=0.09375&oBL=0.09375&oBF=0.09375&root=12&scl=%0A!+12tet.scl%0A!%0A12+tone+equal+temperament%0A12%0A!%0A100.0%0A200.%0A300.%0A400.%0A500.%0A600.%0A700.%0A800.%0A900.%0A1000.%0A1100.%0A2%2F1%0A&numFrets=24&numStrings=8&t%5B%5D=0&t%5B%5D=0&t%5B%5D=0&t%5B%5D=0&t%5B%5D=0&t%5B%5D=0&t%5B%5D=0&t%5B%5D=0&il%5B%5D=25&il%5B%5D=25.5&il%5B%5D=26&il%5B%5D=26.5&il%5B%5D=27&il%5B%5D=27.5&il%5B%5D=28&il%5B%5D=28.5&u=mm&sl=multiple&scale=et&o=equal

*edit*- changed the link to the updated version of my measurements


----------



## dudeskin (Aug 3, 2016)

looks cool, i wondered about staining, how to do it etc. 

check your fretboard overhang, you have nearly nothing there at the moment.

Edit:
also, string width at bridge, measure the bridges when you get them, the if i remember right they are around 9.7mm each,so 77.6mm on paper is the minimum you can you width wise.


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Aug 3, 2016)

dudeskin said:


> looks cool, i wondered about staining, how to do it etc.
> 
> check your fretboard overhang, you have nearly nothing there at the moment.
> 
> ...



How much fretboard overhang should I have? 

I was using my strandberg for reference, I'll go remeasure, that or I just wait for the TFM bridges to show up and use those.


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Aug 3, 2016)

Another test stain with watercolor paints. I sanded it with 400 grit to see what it would look like. 




A different angle. in different lighting. 
Still haven't tested the fabric dye yet. Guess i'll do it tomorrow.


----------



## jwade (Aug 4, 2016)

Not trying to be a douche here, but that gigantic upper bout/shark fin part looks incredibly uncomfortable/potentially dangerous. Have you made a test version out of mdf or anything? I feel like you might want to lessen the point.


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Aug 4, 2016)

jwade said:


> Not trying to be a douche here, but that gigantic upper bout/shark fin part looks incredibly uncomfortable/potentially dangerous. Have you made a test version out of mdf or anything? I feel like you might want to lessen the point.



It won't be that pointy irl. I made a test version out of cardboard and it won't look so pointy/wonky when I make it out of wood. 





more test stains with watercolor.




Here's a physical model out of cardboard, gives a better idea of the size of the fin/the pointiness (ignore the colored in black parts on the fin, those were from my marker dying).




more refined mockup using the physical model


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Aug 4, 2016)

Deathbar and Xbar showed up a day early


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Aug 5, 2016)

waiting on the bridge and pots/3 way switch to show up. got the walnut today and tried a slightly different color blend for the stain.


----------



## CGrant109 (Aug 5, 2016)

Cool concept!


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Aug 5, 2016)

CGrant109 said:


> Cool concept!



thanks!


----------



## Grif (Aug 9, 2016)

I prefer the outline of the original mockup but this will be a cool build either way! Cool cat btw


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Aug 9, 2016)

just got notification that the bridge is shipping. should be here in a week or 2. gonna go buy some foam for a 3d mockup. also going to test the fabric dyes with alcohol.

EDIT: bridge should be here by friday. Decided to forgo the foam mockup. The fabric dyes did not play nice with the alcohol. Turned out pretty terrible. I might pick up some leather dyes or something and try those.


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Aug 11, 2016)

Got a hold of some quilted maple for staining. Ordered the leather dyes from angelus.
*Here's a test dye using watercolors on quilted maple :*


----------



## Dumple Stilzkin (Aug 11, 2016)

Looks really neat so far! Digging on the color fade.


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Aug 13, 2016)

I bought some Angelus leather dyes. Here's the first test. looks so good in person.





here's an updated fretfind link: http://www.ekips.org/tools/guitar/fretfind2d/#len=25&lenF=673.1&lenL=723.9&pDist=.33258&ipDist=0.5&nutWidth=50&bridgeWidth=70&oE=5&oN=0.09375&oB=0.09375&oL=0.09375&oF=0.09375&oNL=0.09375&oNF=0.09375&oBL=0.09375&oBF=0.09375&root=12&scl=%0A!+12tet.scl%0A!%0A12+tone+equal+temperament%0A12%0A!%0A100.0%0A200.%0A300.%0A400.%0A500.%0A600.%0A700.%0A800.%0A900.%0A1000.%0A1100.%0A2%2F1%0A&numFrets=24&numStrings=8&t%5B%5D=0&t%5B%5D=0&t%5B%5D=0&t%5B%5D=0&t%5B%5D=0&t%5B%5D=0&t%5B%5D=0&t%5B%5D=0&il%5B%5D=25&il%5B%5D=25.5&il%5B%5D=26&il%5B%5D=26.5&il%5B%5D=27&il%5B%5D=27.5&il%5B%5D=28&il%5B%5D=28.5&u=mm&sl=multiple&scale=et&o=equal


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Aug 22, 2016)

Spent some time working on the guitar over the last couple of days. I decided to make the neck a 5 ply with walnut as the outer layer and maple as the inner layer. 




gluing the maple.




gluing the walnut on. ignore my hobbit feet.




the top is roughly shaped, just need to glue it to the wings and put on the fretboard.




cutting the fretboard was a lot harder than I thought it would be.




Got the inlays and frets glued in.


----------



## Iamatlas (Aug 22, 2016)

KnightBrolaire said:


> Spent some time working on the guitar over the last couple of days. I decided to make the neck a 5 ply with walnut as the outer layer and maple as the inner layer.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Next time, glue (water based, non permanent) the actual fretfind template to ya board dude. It gets sanded off when ya re-radius/tidy up it after cutting the fret slots anyhow.


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Aug 22, 2016)

yeah taping it to the board was a huge pain. I mostly used the template to score the wood deep enough that my cuts with the fret saw lined right up. If I build another guitar I'll try gluing the template.


----------



## KnightroExpress (Aug 22, 2016)

Try this: layer of painter's tape on your board, spray adhesive (Super77 is my go-to), stick your template on. When you're done, just peel the tape. No residue, no problems.


----------



## Iamatlas (Aug 23, 2016)

KnightroExpress said:


> Try this: layer of painter's tape on your board, spray adhesive (Super77 is my go-to), stick your template on. When you're done, just peel the tape. No residue, no problems.



This.......
This is why you're a luthier and Im just an enthusiast! Hahaha.


----------



## KnightroExpress (Aug 24, 2016)

You're too kind! I just like helping


----------



## BlackMastodon (Aug 24, 2016)

Iamatlas said:


> This.......
> This is why you're a luthier and Im just an enthusiast! Hahaha.



It's one of those things where you never think of it until you see someone else do it and then you facepalm because it's such a simple and smart idea, at least that's what my reaction was when I saw Knightro do that. Impart us with more of your infinite wisdom Knightro!


----------



## Taylor (Aug 24, 2016)

BlackMastodon said:


> It's one of those things where you never think of it until you see someone else do it and then you facepalm because it's such a simple and smart idea, at least that's what my reaction was when I saw Knightro do that. Impart us with more of your infinite wisdom Knightro!



 

On topic: Build's looking good! However, bare feet in the workshop?


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Aug 24, 2016)

Taylor said:


> On topic: Build's looking good! However, bare feet in the workshop?



yeah I put on some shoes later on, that was at like 8 am when I wanted to see if the glue was nice and dry. I never hang around sharp stuff with bare feet. I would like to keep my toes.


----------



## KnightroExpress (Aug 24, 2016)

I actually grabbed that trick from another guy... HammerHed is his name on here, I think. I take no credit for that one, but I do like passing it around


----------



## MoonJelly (Aug 24, 2016)

That guy posts the sexiest builds. His taste in wood combinations is


----------



## KnightroExpress (Aug 24, 2016)

Yeah, he's pretty badass.


----------



## BlackMastodon (Aug 26, 2016)

That's why I love this forum. Some damned good builders on here that share lots of great ideas.


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Aug 27, 2016)

the neck and fretboard 




finally starting to glue the body/top


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Aug 30, 2016)

neck is glued to the body, now I'm working on cleaning up the body shape and all the contours/routing out the cavities.


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Sep 2, 2016)

thinking about using either flamed maple or lacewood for the control cavity. Thoughts?


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Sep 3, 2016)

practicing engraving for the backplate

So I'm not liking the way the fretboard turned out. The frets aren't seating properly, the wire is getting all dented, the inlays aren't exactly the way I want them. I might scrap this fretboard and get some rosewood or something to use as a fretboard. I need more practice before I feel comfortable using maple again.


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Sep 8, 2016)

been busy with school but here's a little bit of progress, including a gaping hole in the top   




need more clamps for gluing the fretboard down 




In-progress shot of applying the polycrylic.


----------



## Iamatlas (Sep 9, 2016)

KnightBrolaire said:


> In-progress shot of applying the polycrylic.



Probably should shape the neck before ya stain it dude, youre just gonna sand / carve all that colour back off anyhow!


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Sep 9, 2016)

Iamatlas said:


> Probably should shape the neck before ya stain it dude, youre just gonna sand / carve all that colour back off anyhow!



it actually is shaped, it's just a bad pic I took late last night. I'll throw some better pics up later :/


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Oct 13, 2016)

had to get another fretboard, didn't like the way the maple turned out. Now using macassar ebony. 




Probably shouldn't have done the finish until I route the cavities, oh well.


----------



## Backsnack (Oct 13, 2016)

Awesome post! Definitely creative color combo for the stain.

Not sure if it's intentional but the body shape sort of reminds me of the In Flames logo. Was that intentional? 

Subscribing to the thread.


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Oct 13, 2016)

Backsnack said:


> Awesome post! Definitely creative color combo for the stain.
> 
> Not sure if it's intentional but the body shape sort of reminds me of the In Flames logo. Was that intentional?
> 
> Subscribing to the thread.




lol no, it was suppose to be based off a shark fin. I posted the inspiration thread at the top of this one. Basically I watched the Shallows, the end credits inspired the stain, and I started doodling guitars with shark fins. I was originally going to have binding or something to clearly delineate the fin from the rest of the body but realized it would kill the flow of the stain. Maybe for my next build though.


----------



## dankarghh (Oct 15, 2016)

Top looks nice man! I think you will really regret your order of business when it comes to routing into that finished body though :S


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Oct 25, 2016)

practicing with the dremel some more. tentative idea is to do shark jaws like these and inlay turquoise.


----------



## Backsnack (Oct 31, 2016)

^ Did you practice on the actual fretboard or did you have extras? I really like this theme and design, never seen anything like it!


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Oct 31, 2016)

Backsnack said:


> ^ Did you practice on the actual fretboard or did you have extras? I really like this theme and design, never seen anything like it!


Thanks, glad you like it!
it was a scrap fretboard. I had some left over maple and wanted to see how hard it would be to engrave a design and then backfill it with colored woodfiller. Didn't really work out the way I wanted it to but it was good practice. I'll probably try a couple more times on scraps before I do it on the real fretboard for this guitar.


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Nov 1, 2016)

dicking around with the scrap piece


----------



## laxu (Nov 2, 2016)

What kind of tool did you use on the Dremel?

Is your username a Dark Souls reference?


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Nov 2, 2016)

laxu said:


> What kind of tool did you use on the Dremel?
> 
> Is your username a Dark Souls reference?



yup it's a Dark Souls reference 
I used an engraving bit. Works pretty well on maple and walnut, haven't tested it on other woods yet.


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Jan 18, 2017)

no real progress on this one. school is taking up a lot of time and I keep getting distracted by other builds. 




painted the sides black and redid the top, still haven't started the fretboard or decided if I should use the macassar ebony or not
pic quality is garbage but you get the idea.


EDIT: Just remeasured the neck width and it's not wide enough for an 8 string, I'd have to turn this into a 6 or 7 string and I really don't want to build one right now. The only way I can think to salvage this would be to lop off the neck and make it a bolt on, which I don't really want to do. :/ I'm kind of fixated on 8 strings so this body is gonna sit around for a while. 
I do plan to make another one with slightly different specs so I'll keep adding it into this thread instead of making a new thread.


----------



## Backsnack (Jan 27, 2017)

Brolaire,

How long have you been building guitars? Is it a business for you or a hobby?


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Jan 27, 2017)

Backsnack said:


> Brolaire,
> 
> How long have you been building guitars? Is it a business for you or a hobby?



Not very long like a year. It's just a hobby.


----------



## Hollowway (Jan 28, 2017)

You can buy a router plate for a Dremel. You should do that to have more control (if you're not already). 

Also, make a template for the frets and actually saw through it, rather than trying to draw them on the FB and then sawing that. You have to watch out for wonky frets, and that's the best way to get them all in line.


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Jan 28, 2017)

Hollowway said:


> You can buy a router plate for a Dremel. You should do that to have more control (if you're not already).
> 
> Also, make a template for the frets and actually saw through it, rather than trying to draw them on the FB and then sawing that. You have to watch out for wonky frets, and that's the best way to get them all in line.



I bought a router plate for the dremel a while ago, just haven't used it on a project yet.

I never drew a template on my fretboard, I taped one from fretfind and sawed through the template. The janky fretboard with the shark inlay was a scrap fretboard that I used to practice inlaying.


----------

