# KR250 Consolidated Build Thread



## KR250 (Nov 11, 2018)

Creating a consolidated thread for current/past/future builds. 

Past builds:
http://www.sevenstring.org/threads/second-guitar-black-limba-bb-multi-scale-7.302968/
http://www.sevenstring.org/threads/kr-build-3.307819/
http://www.sevenstring.org/threads/kr-build-4-7-string-maple-burl-ash-rosewood.319693/
http://www.sevenstring.org/threads/kr-build-5-evertune.321449/
http://www.sevenstring.org/threads/kr-build-6-neck-through-4-string-bass.325219/

Current work:

Calling this one "build #7", for a friend. Quite a few challenges, a few flaws, but turned out within expectation. 

Specs:

8 String neck through
Evertune Bridge
Hipshot tuners
Stainless frets
Bareknuckle Juggernaut pickups
3 way toggle, Seymour Duncan "Liberator" volume knob
27" scale
Buckeye Burl top
Ash wings
Wenge/Purpleheart Neck
Luminlay side dots
Black Tusq nut
Brite Tone gloss finish

Final pictures first, working back:


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## KR250 (Nov 11, 2018)

Painting the wiring channels with conductive paint to connect the cavities. 

Drilling out the Evertune saddle to accept up to a 90 gauge string.


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## Bunkatronic (Nov 11, 2018)

Wow, man these look incredible! Your 2nd build thread has been a great read for me just starting my first build.


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## LiveOVErdrive (Nov 11, 2018)

Holy wow that is beautiful. I don't know what kind of dye job you did on that wood but it looks amazing.


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## KR250 (Nov 11, 2018)

Probably left a lot of details out.... I used the Stew Mac water based dyes. Took a bit of trial and error, but I did a sealer coat first, then grain filler, then sealer, then dye, then top coats. I found it tough to get the color to blend perfectly on top of the sealer, so next time I'll probably do it directly on the wood instead. The top is very lightly colored, and the back is done much darker, including the neck.


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## KR250 (Nov 11, 2018)

Left this one out. I made the cavity plate a bit thicker, so I counter suck magnets on both the plate and the body. I had trouble with them adhering to the top of the plate of my last build. The liberator is the smoothest volume pot I've tried yet (CTS, Alpha).

For those wondering how the back plate comes off.... my buddy said there wasn't much need to get in there, so we decided that the toggle could be unscrewed from the top and pushed through to pop the plate off. Not the best way, but keeps the back cleaner which is what he wanted.


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## LiveOVErdrive (Nov 11, 2018)

Can you do a step by step of your finishing process? That looks amazing.

Sealing, spraying, sanding, buffing, etc


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## KR250 (Nov 11, 2018)

LiveOVErdrive said:


> Can you do a step by step of your finishing process? That looks amazing.
> 
> Sealing, spraying, sanding, buffing, etc


This one had a lot of mistakes and re-do's (3 times through - started with brushing then went to spraying), but this is what I'm going to do for the next build which should be more consistent using water based finishes (Crystalac). Some of this may be unnecessary and could be condensed down.

Zpoxy filler for any voids (mix in color or bits of sawdust as needed) - Use a heat gun to remove any bubbles. Usually have to do this step a few times.
Sand to 320 or 400 - keeping epoxy only in the voids
Spray 1-3 coats of sanding sealer - has an amber hue, not as much as oil based though
Sand with 400
Apply grain filler - brushed
Sand with 400
Spray 1-3 coats of sealer (step may be not necessary - top coat/dyes probably fine over the grain filler)
Sand with 400 - very lightly, but finish should be near perfect as posibble
Apply color/dyes - Going to do this between step 2-3 next time direct to the wood and skip steps 8-9 here
Spray a very light coat of top coat gloss - I found some of the colors bled when I did this step with a brush. Spraying should be better, just a light mist to lock it in.
Spray a new coat every 2-4 hours depending on temp. I used a hanger and went over every surface twice per "coat". Good amount of material but not enough to run
let it dry for 24 hours (beauty of water based finishes!) technically it only needs 4, but overnight just to be safe.
13 Start sanding at 800 grit, no coarser (I had a ton of scratches I couldn't get out when I did 400 with a not perfect surface). This is where I could have done this build beter, and make sure every surface is totally matte. I left a few glossy spots in a few sections fearing I would cut through without enough top coats)
Sand with 1000 grit, move to 1500 then 2000 (I had bad results with micro mesh - finish would build up under the pad and scratch the surface)
Use a medium polish/buffing wheel - I bought the cheap stew mac ones that fit a drill
Use fine polish/buffing wheel - Try and get all the scratches out with the polish
Automotive wax with a micro-fiber.
Put it under the light, sit back, have a beer and admire your work


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## Bunkatronic (Nov 11, 2018)

Amazing dude, thanks for the detail! That evertune looks crazy to install. I had no idea they were so big. Did it come with router templates?


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## KR250 (Nov 11, 2018)

Bunkatronic said:


> Amazing dude, thanks for the detail! That evertune looks crazy to install. I had no idea they were so big. Did it come with router templates?



I bought the templates from Evertune, way easier than trying to make one.


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## Defyantly (Nov 13, 2018)

It's builds like yours and all the other skilled luthiers on here that make me both terrified and excited to start my first build! Hell of a guitar man!


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## KR250 (Nov 17, 2018)

Ok, on to the next project. This one is a personal build so I'm pretty excited and motivated to get it done. I have all of the wood and hardware ready to go. 

Specs:

Style: 7 string Set neck
Scale: 27"
Bridge: Evertune F model
Tuners: Hipshot open tuners - 4 bass/3 treble
Pickups: Instrumental SFTY3 (I tried these in build #5 but swapped them out. Trying in this one to see if it's a better fit)
Electronics: 1 toggle, 1 volume
Body: Mahogany - 1.75" Same shape as last couple
Top: Amboyna Burl - some kind of blood burst (black outer, red inner)
Neck: 5 piece Wenge/Rosewood w/scarf joint
Fret board: Macassar Ebony - luminlay on side dots (I might try the DIY powder instead)
Head Stock: Amboyna laminate and black burst - logo?
Nut: Black Tusq XL
Frets: 24 Medium Jumbo SS
Truss Rod: Spoke wheel at neck pocket
Finish: Brite Tone gloss

Neck glued up. I had thought about using purpleheart, but decided on the Rosewood I had which was similar thickness and better color scheme I think. Saving the PH for more neck throughs.



New Jig for doing scarf joints on the band saw. Still had to do some cleanup after the cut, but not bad. I can tilt the table and cut a compound radius if I want to do multi-scale. I can dial in whatever neck angle I want on the miter thingamabob. Clamp it, then push it through. 



Cut and planed the headstock piece before gluing the scarf joint, using nails (drilled first) to locate it. I decided against adding more decorative laminates in the joint and tried to get the pieces as perfectly lined up as I could. We'll see how it comes out once I carve it. So far so good. 



Body and fretboard. Spent a while trying to get all the right woods to compliment each other.



And the top, it looks like the inside of a lung with more finish on it. Top right corner has a marked section for the head stock laminate.



This is how it was advertised with finish:


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## MikeNeal (Nov 17, 2018)

not a burl fan, but that one tickles my fancy


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## MoonJelly (Nov 18, 2018)

All burls are not created equal, but that is a good one.


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## KR250 (Nov 22, 2018)

Made a bit of progress on the neck and slotted/shaped the fret board. Still debating if carbon rods are even needed on this one. Neck is super stiff, but not yet shaped.


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## Bunkatronic (Nov 30, 2018)

Looking great dude! can't wait to see how this one pans out


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## KR250 (Dec 2, 2018)

Got ahead of myself and did a step out of order, routed the neck pocket before gluing on the top. Oops. I went a little deep, so now I'm going to try and turn my mistake into a "feature" by laying some of the top wood as an exposed shim when carving the neck heel. Top is glued on now, and center lines are really close. 

Hoping to move to the finish line quickly on this one. Still to do is figure out how to do a proper "blood burst" finish on the top. The Mahogany back looks great as is, probably will leave it as is or slight gray wash.

I did manage to save a piece of the top for the rear cavity plate, pictured below next to the head stock laminate. 






Deciding on how much material to show, then will glue in and trim. 



I painted the channels with conductive paint again before gluing up the top to ground all the cavities. 



Added some rubbing alcohol.


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## MikeNeal (Dec 2, 2018)

looks great as always.


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## Defyantly (Dec 3, 2018)

That headstock plate is rather tasty!!!


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## KR250 (Dec 8, 2018)

It's coming along now. Hoping to get more done on the neck tomorrow. 

Shim glued in, neck pocket routed. Got it about where I want it. Need to do a mock up and double check neck angle before I glue it in.



Started the bevels on the top. I use a 45 router bit to get a clean line for the depth, then use shinto rasp to bring it further in to the body. 



Rounded over the back side, and did the beer gut cut. Really digging the Mahogany grain. Slight hump near the back I need to sand out, not sure if I planed the back side or just the top. Could have been an artifact of planing though.



Fret board glue up. I also did luminlay side dots before this step. 



Using a piece of the top burl for the rear cavity plate. Mostly shaped, still need to route the body for it. Took a long time to figure out something that would complete the burl. Now the burl gets to compliment the back side.


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## KR250 (Dec 11, 2018)

Radiused the fret board, and started faceting the neck. Using blue tape so I can see the lines easier. 



Very rough shape, but super consistent in feel. Need to thin down the edges and fine tune where I do the faceting some more. The scarf joint lined up really nice though. Heel will get blended once glued up.



Going to bring the volute back a bit and make it look better. Made a slight goof on planning and didn't align the nut blank over the flat surface. Sanded some angles in to make it work. Head stock not yet glued on.


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## Defyantly (Dec 11, 2018)

That's is "shaping" up nicely!! But seriously. How do you get your necks to the desired shape? Do you have a set thickness your aiming for or do you file it down and then sand it down to what feel comfortable in the had?


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## KR250 (Dec 11, 2018)

Defyantly said:


> How do you get your necks to the desired shape? Do you have a set thickness your aiming for or do you file it down and then sand it down to what feel comfortable in the had?



I started off with an ESP neck that I liked, measured the thickness at each end, then used a contour gauge to measure the profile at those points. I put that onto paper in 2D, then figured out what angled cuts I had to make to get it close to the desired shape and made measurements where they needed to be. That is what the blue tape references. Then just blending the facets by sanding. It's not perfect but a good starting point. I know others make a template of a reverse profile and check periodically. I just use my contour gauge and check against my 2D sketch.


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## MikeNeal (Dec 11, 2018)

I always just wing it. When it feels good in my hands I'm done


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## Soya (Dec 11, 2018)

MikeNeal said:


> I always just wing it. When it feels good in my hands I'm done


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## KR250 (Dec 11, 2018)

I love the various approaches we all have. In the end, what feels good, is good.


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## LiveOVErdrive (Dec 11, 2018)

I really like your profile measuring tool method. That's a great idea. 

Shaping necks is so intimidating to me that it's one of the main reasons I invested in a cnc machine. Wanted that repeatability and uniformity.


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## MikeNeal (Dec 12, 2018)

Shaping the neck is my favorite part of the build, and basically the only part that isn't done on cnc. 

I usually set out with a general idea of what i want. (Thin d, fatter c, asymmetric). Carve the first fret and just before the heel. Then I blend them together. Generally you get a feel of what you like, so you can tell when you're there by holding it in your hand.


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## Soya (Dec 12, 2018)

Sounds crazy but I cut the back of the neck to the general thickness I want (20mm at 1st, 21mm at 12th) then form the majority of the shape with an angle grinder. Then blend with a scraper.


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## MoonJelly (Dec 12, 2018)

Soya said:


> Sounds crazy but I cut the back of the neck to the general thickness I want (20mm at 1st, 21mm at 12th) then form the majority of the shape with an angle grinder. Then blend with a scraper.


Not crazy, that's exactly how I do it. Thickness with a router, than 90% of the rounding part with a flap disc. Or maybe we're both nuts


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## LiveOVErdrive (Dec 12, 2018)

MoonJelly said:


> Not crazy, that's exactly how I do it. Thickness with a router, than 90% of the rounding part with a flap disc. Or maybe we're both nuts


You're both nuts  



But no that all makes a lot of sense. Shaping it until it feels right in your hand. I just have an addiction to making everything as consistent from build to build as possible.


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## MoonJelly (Dec 12, 2018)

LiveOVErdrive said:


> You're both nuts
> View attachment 65669
> 
> 
> But no that all makes a lot of sense. Shaping it until it feels right in your hand. I just have an addiction to making everything as consistent from build to build as possible.


If I _ever_ get into production on a large scale, I'll probably go to CNC at some point.
I plan to eventually; but right now my day job takes all my time, which is a point of current frustration. 

Right now I'd be more inclined to accomplish that consistency by hand, though. You can do it using forms, calipers and the like. When I get the chance, it's an incredibly zen-like feeling to dial it in by hand, so with necks and the rough shaping/sanding, I just prefer to do that way.

It's when I get to the finish stages that I bitch and moan like a man-baby.


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## Defyantly (Dec 12, 2018)

Wow. Lots of different ways to shape a neck. I will try some different variants so I can find my own way! Too bad CNC is WAYYY out of my budget...sandpaper it is!!


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## MikeNeal (Dec 12, 2018)

A good saw rasp makes neck carving a simple part of guitar building. Even with the hardest neck woods like katalox


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## LiveOVErdrive (Dec 12, 2018)

Oh God yes. Saw rasps are the business. I like the Shinto one. Used that until I went cnc.

Wear gloves though.


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## KnightBrolaire (Dec 13, 2018)

between the shinto rasp and the fine toothed dragon rasp I do like 80% of my carving.


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## KR250 (Dec 15, 2018)

Not much time this week so far, but got the head stock glued on and have mostly finished the neck profile. Going to do a bit more smoothing out but it's close and fret work is next. The red lines loosely indicate about where the top of the fret board is.




Scarf transition came out pretty decent despite the wood colors shifting slightly. Have some smoothing to do on the volute still.


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## KR250 (Dec 16, 2018)

Highly recommend this tool for trimming fret tangs. Takes about about about 15 seconds each side. I've used this for 3 builds so far, the last time that I did this by hand I swore it was my last. 






Once fretwork is done going to rout the bridge and double check string action height before gluing on the neck (see if I need to angle or shim it). Then route the pickup cavities. Next post will hopefully be in full mock up stage.


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## LiveOVErdrive (Dec 16, 2018)

What is it and where do I get it?


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## KR250 (Dec 16, 2018)

LiveOVErdrive said:


> What is it and where do I get it?



https://www.lmii.com/fretting-tools/2696-fret-tang-filer.html


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## MikeNeal (Dec 16, 2018)

I just use my fret cutters to cut the tang off.

Does a decent job in seconds. Would like to try the actual nippers stew Mac sells


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## LiveOVErdrive (Dec 16, 2018)

MikeNeal said:


> I just use my fret cutters to cut the tang off.
> 
> Does a decent job in seconds. Would like to try the actual nippers stew Mac sells


I tried that and bent the hell out of my frets. I want to try my bench grinder on this build. Worst case I'll use a dremel with a diamond cutter, but I hate using dremels.


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## Soya (Dec 17, 2018)

I just use a dremel with a cut off disc to grind off the tang. Fastest way I've found with using stainless frets.


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## KR250 (Dec 17, 2018)

Had thought about the stew mac tool for nipping, but figured I'd try the grinding method since files are cheap and easy to replace. It's also very repeatable, fast, and gives a perfect flat edge with no burs. I use only stainless frets now, and never had decent results with just the flush cutters, other than to rough cut the tangs off when I filed the rest by hand. I'm on the 7th guitar with stainless frets using the same Stew Mac cutters which have held up well. Dremel sounds like a good idea too, but quite happy with the LMI tool. 

Fretting is the point in the build I finally get to hear all the background music


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## KR250 (Dec 21, 2018)

Fretwork is about half way done, pressed and glued in, then beveled the sides. Still need to level, crown and do the edges. Neck angle is just about spot on so ready to glue in at some point. Starting to think about finish options, original thought was a blood burst with a fade out to black on the edges. Kinda really digging the natural wood look though so might nix the red and either keep it all natural or a black burst only on the edges. WWSSO do?








Roughing in the transition on the neck heel. I think it will be the most ergo guitar I have done yet once finished. Still a lot of meat to take out, monitoring to make sure I don't do too much.


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## KnightBrolaire (Dec 21, 2018)

I'd do the red and black burst personally. burl looks awesome with red on it. That's what I ended up doing for my superstrat build:


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## KR250 (Dec 21, 2018)

Right on, yeah that looks good and still preserves the look. Back to the original plan it is! I have just a few small scraps left to test on.


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## KR250 (Dec 24, 2018)

Had some time today. Bridge is routed and did a test fit. All good. Some lines could be cleaned up, but my router is on the fritz. I use the Foredom piece for the angled cut. Neck is glued on, will finish the heel tomorrow maybe. I also did the entire bevel but forgot to take a picture of the body, the line extends inward 1 inch now. 






Poly glue. Have been using this for the last few builds. Really like working with it. Spread it out with a brush, then lightly mist it to activate. Can't be undone like Titebond 1, but good for oily woods.


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## KR250 (Dec 25, 2018)

Missed one.... this is the Evertune with the new comb mocked up.


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## KR250 (Dec 28, 2018)

Cover plate done, except for adding magnets. Sanded it flush to the body. Heel transition finalized.


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## Defyantly (Dec 28, 2018)

That is one sexy heel!! Also like how clean that back plate looks! Gonna tie the from to the back!


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## KR250 (Jan 1, 2019)

Got all the little things out of the way finally, did a mock up and now on to finishing. I did a gray wash over the bare wood and sanded back. Not totally sure if I'm happy with how it looked, but seemed OK once some sealer went on. Didn't do anything on the back side, and sanded back most of what I did on the sides. Figure I'll do a few coats of sealer, then grain fill, then another sealer coat, then on to the colors. Thankfully none of the woods require major pore filling, just the two small knots near the bottom of the top piece. 

First pass was brushed on to see if I liked it, then a full pass with the HVLP gun.


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## Defyantly (Jan 2, 2019)

That top is gonna look so sexy!! Great work as always!


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## KR250 (Jan 11, 2019)

Well, almost done with sanding sealer/grain filling etc. I'll be honest it's my least favorite part, and the most time consuming. I've the top right where I want it and the back side is really close with just a few spots I likely need to touch up. I'll probably leave the back side a natural finish, but could do a translucent gray/black too. Going to work on the top dyes next then on to gloss top coats. Picked up some Brite Tone satin so I can do the last few passes on the neck with that.




Super smooth finish at 400 grit after multiple passes leveling everything almost perfect.



Makeshift spray booth - keeping the shop dust out of this area. Also swapping out the lights for LED versions so I can really see what's going on. Highly recommend the Hyperikon fluorescent replacement bulbs (removes the ballast). 




Started another project at the same time as this one, another friend build. Cool thing about this is that he's doing almost all the work with me just giving close guidance. It'll basically build itself! Neck through 7 string with Camphor Burl top, Ash wings, and a Maple/Purplheart neck. 




I bought flatsawn piece of hard maple, so cut and flipped it to be quarter sawn.


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## Defyantly (Jan 11, 2019)

Your work is so clean and inspiring! Keep it up! I love seeing the updates!


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## Bunkatronic (Jan 11, 2019)

wow. had a good old catch up as I haven't been around much the past week or two. Projects are all looking stunning!


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## KR250 (Jan 12, 2019)

Did the staining today over top of the sanding sealer. Still a bit of a learning process. I sanded everything with 800 which really helped the stains adhere. Also found they would not adhere anywhere grain filler was still present. 

Started with red, ended up not really diluting it much at all to get the strongest color out of it. This seemed to also create the most even coverage.



The black burst was a bit tricky. Started with a diluted bit along the edges, then went most straight black into a rag along the very outside edge. Took about an hour or so of touching up spots and re-blending to get it satisfactory. A little bit of bleed through the tape line, cleaned up most of it but some bled again from the first clear coat. I probably could have diluted the black a bit more on the edges to show more of the burl, but I like the contrast. 




Shot a few coats of clear and saw some flaws, so did some staining touch ups on top of the clear at the base of the upper horn (not pictured here). Home stretch now, and just counting up the number of top coats. Aiming for about 20 total. I used up almost an entire quart on the last guitar, expecting about the same here.


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## Defyantly (Jan 12, 2019)

Looks sick!!


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## Bunkatronic (Jan 13, 2019)

Looks so nice!


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## AirForbes1 (Jan 13, 2019)

Amazing work. I'm super jealous.


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## Soya (Jan 13, 2019)

Incredible patience, I just toss on a few coats of Tru oil and call it a day


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## KR250 (Jan 13, 2019)

I can see a few spots where the stain leaked over into the end grain. I guess I should have scraped it clean then re-taped and put clear just over the stain portion first, then blend in the sides with clear. Lessons learned for next time. Probably will do the same style of finish on my friends build. And yes, it's a total PITA doing all this prep work and still finding flaws....


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## KR250 (Jan 21, 2019)

Mini update before completion:

20 coats of clear finish. Not sure if I'm going to add satin to the neck yet or not. Will see how I like it once sanded/buffed out. Left some of the Wenge slightly porous, although I did use grain filler. To the left is the neck blank for my friends build. 



Shielding paint and wet sanding. A bit to go still. 



Rough sketching out for the next build, a multi-scale neck through V. I bought an angled bridge a while back, going to be single slanted bridge pickup(Instrumental) and likely 26.5-28" scale, 27 frets, cuz why not. Still playing with bridge position and upper access cutout. Will be simple satin black, no fancy woods.


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## Bunkatronic (Jan 21, 2019)

both projects looking super cool man!


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## KR250 (Jan 22, 2019)

Another teaser after wet sanding multiple times and finally buffing. I don't have a pro buffer, so have been using the SM ones for a drill but they seem to always scratch. I modified them with some micro fiber which gave much better results. Wasn't happy with the first result so I went back and wet sanded it again starting with 800 - 1000 - 1500 - 2000. Much better but I cut through in two small spots. 20 coats probably isn't enough, ugh. 



Close up. It ain't perfect, and still a couple voids that show up as white from polishing compound. All in all, pretty happy with the top though.



Bridge installed, pickups mocked up. 



Back side isn't as nice, I didn't wet sand it nearly as much as the top.



Neck feels good, normally I don't like gloss on it but it really brings out the streaks in the rosewood.


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## LiveOVErdrive (Jan 23, 2019)

Looks great!

What clear coat did you use?


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## Defyantly (Jan 23, 2019)

This is looking seeexxxyyy!!! That gloss really did liven up that top!


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## KR250 (Jan 23, 2019)

Went with BriteTone again, plus their sanding sealer/grain filler. Probably marginally better than the last guitar gloss attempt since I did more wet sanding, although I may just go back to satin or do an oil finish for the next bunch. It's a LOT of work and I'm still not able to get it perfect. Using epoxy then spray on satin poly so far has been the most consistent so far.


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## LiveOVErdrive (Jan 24, 2019)

I am loving epoxy myself too. Gotta get some of that Brite tone too.


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## KR250 (Jan 28, 2019)

Finally found some time to do all those last 5 minute jobs.... Had to fix one wiring issue, but it sounds and plays way better than I expected! The Instrumental pickups are a perfect fit in this axe and absolutely love them. I'm using a push/pull pot for coil splitting (kinda cool, not sure how much I'll use it but takes up no more real estate). Using a lighter gauge strings for the Evertune but still within the tension range for their standard saddles. Did a few passes of action/intonation, it's pretty much spot on and am able to get super low action as a result of getting all the frets really level with each other. 

I need to do some more cleanup/touch ups on the finish then will do proper pictures/NGD, but here it is. Overall super happy with it. 



Magnets make for a really easy access, although finding that the wood will bow slightly over time making the fit not as great as when I sanded it initially. I hate screws, but they do work better. 



Finalizing the nut and string height. I left some room to cut the slots deeper once I get the bridge totally dialed in.


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## Defyantly (Jan 28, 2019)

Build looks sick my dude! When you do the NGD post maybe post up some clips of how she sounds! But anyways great job and looking forward to the next one!


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## KR250 (Jan 28, 2019)

That's the plan, trying to get a video setup to show some play through's as well.


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## LiveOVErdrive (Jan 28, 2019)

Absolutely beautiful build man. HNGD!


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## KR250 (Feb 4, 2019)

NGD thread: http://www.sevenstring.org/threads/...une-w-instrumental-sfty3.334271/#post-4968365


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## KR250 (Feb 4, 2019)

Ash or Padauk for body wings? I've never worked with Padauk before. The piece of burl on the bottom will be the top. Most likely same color scheme as the previous guitar. Want to keep this one as clean as possible.


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## KnightBrolaire (Feb 4, 2019)

KR250 said:


> Ash or Padauk for body wings? I've never worked with Padauk before. The piece of burl on the bottom will be the top. Most likely same color scheme as the previous guitar. Want to keep this one as clean as possible.
> 
> View attachment 66810
> 
> ...


i hope you like orange dust getting into everything and everywhere if you use the padauk lol


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## IGC (Feb 4, 2019)

That orange padauk dust settles on everything, but really nice to work with.


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## KR250 (Feb 4, 2019)

By "clean" I meant the build, not the shop space! I have a good dust collection to take care of most of shavings.


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## KR250 (Feb 12, 2019)

I made another neck blank almost identical to my buddies (#9) for the V. I used some leftover bits as initially was just going to be all scrap wood. Blank isn't wide enough for the headstock without adding on a wing so dug through my scrap pile and will use some roasted maple with a scarf instead to get the compound angle needed for a 26.5"-28" multiscale. Everything will be painted black so woods won't really matter. 

Still truing things up but pretty close. The pencil line was to be the original nut location, but now have some extra length to work with.



Probably posted this before, but a simple jig mated to a miter gauge, with the band saw table angled to get the right compound cut. Went with 12 degree scarf, and really shallow angle for the nut. Took some trial and error. Parallel fret will be roughly on the 4th fret to match the angle of the Hipshot bridge I bought a while back (26 degrees).


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## Solodini (Feb 13, 2019)

KR250 said:


> Ash or Padauk for body wings? I've never worked with Padauk before. The piece of burl on the bottom will be the top. Most likely same color scheme as the previous guitar. Want to keep this one as clean as possible.
> 
> View attachment 66810
> 
> ...


I vote Paduak.


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## Omzig (Feb 13, 2019)

That BriteTone really does gloss up nice and great work on the builds very nice.

Just had a quick look and i cant seem to track BriteTone down in the UK,no doubt due to some EU rule or other !


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## Solodini (Feb 14, 2019)

Maybe once we have our blue passports and food shortages we can use BriteTone on our guitars.


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## KR250 (Feb 14, 2019)

I believe they ship world wide if you buy it direct:
https://thecrystalacstore.com/products/brite-tone-instrument-finish


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## Omzig (Feb 14, 2019)

Solodini said:


> Maybe once we have our blue passports and food shortages we can use BriteTone on our guitars.



LOL project fear in full swing north of the boarder i see.....well i can always use the brightone to swilldown the chlorine chicken & hormone beef i'll also be importing from the US after we leave the EU club...

I can only hope after we've left that you get another chance to vote for your own independence from the UK (maybe they should give everyone south of the boarder a vote on that independence as well ?) No Doubt if you do leave the UK your leaders will then sell you new found back "Freedom" back to the EU for a few bags of silver and retirement postions in the EU parliment....

Sorry to Thread SHIT KR250.



KR250 said:


> I believe they ship world wide if you buy it direct:
> https://thecrystalacstore.com/products/brite-tone-instrument-finish



Just took a quick look at shipping costs...$22 not to bad,i have a tin of Solarez to use up first but i'll add the Brightone the finishes to try out list.


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## KR250 (Feb 28, 2019)

Well not much progress on guitars other than getting the single angled bridge pickup ordered from Instrumental pickups for the V. Have been working multiple weekends trying to finish an Ipe deck. Not sure it would make good guitar wood... but maybe worth a shot as some of the boards look pretty awesome. 

Anyway, after playing the latest build for a while I'm definitely going to re-finish it again. Love the guitar, but some finish flaws are really bugging me. Also feel like some of the water based grain filler is shifting, or I didn't seal the wood well enough. 

You can see one of the cracks is opening up, I can feel it with my finger. I had it pretty well filled before the finish went on. 



Re-thinking my finishing process again after checking out a few past builds for durability. On build #2 I used Epoxy for the grain filler/sealer which has held up perfect over the last few years, in contrast the latest. Still want to stay water based, but use Solarez/epoxy as the base/grain filler.

Sand everything to 220/320
Apply dark stain to top if desired for extra contrast- then sand back
Seal/grain fill with Solarez (apparently doesn't yellow like Zpoxy does) 
Apply again and sand until finish is perfectly flush - maybe 3+ applications. I like burl woods and filling the voids has been really time consuming.
Spray several sanding sealer coats (water based)
Scuff sand
Spray or apply stains/dyes - mixed with some clear coat instead of water/alcohol
Spray several sanding sealer coats
Scuff sand
Spray 10 top coats
Level sand with 400
Spray 3 more top coats
Level sand with 800
Spray 3 more top coats
Let cure for a week (seems water based finish still needs some cure time)
Sand with 1000, 1500, 2000, 4000 (have read conflicting things whether to dry sand only, or to wet sand which could reactivate the finish). 
Buffing wheels - planning to upgrade to something nicer than the drill bits.


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## LiveOVErdrive (Mar 1, 2019)

That's really helpful. So you're basically doing dyes on the wood for grain/figure popping and then using candy paint (tinted clear) for your color? Nice.


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## Defyantly (Mar 1, 2019)

I always love reading your threads! They always contain such a detailed breakdown of what your doing and it helps out us noobs when we aren't really sure of how to do all of this luthier stuff!


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## KR250 (Mar 1, 2019)

LiveOVErdrive said:


> So you're basically doing dyes on the wood for grain/figure popping and then using candy paint (tinted clear) for your color? Nice.



Pretty close, I diluted black dye and applied directly on the wood to add contrast in the grain but it was more of a gray than black. Then I sealed it, and then rubbed in the color, then sealed it again before top coats. I've seen it done directly on the wood which may be easier to blend, but I think the color pops more on top of the sealer coat. Probably spray the color coats next go around for better consistency in application.


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## KR250 (Mar 1, 2019)

Defyantly said:


> helps out us noobs when we aren't really sure of how to do all of this luthier stuff!



I'm a noob still, lol. Lots of trial and error. I've been watching a lot of the Highline Guitars videos which have been mostly helpful, but he goes through so many different brands and changes technique constantly it can be confusing. I think that's just the nature of the game to come up what works best


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## KR250 (Mar 2, 2019)

Had 15 minutes in the shop today so glued up the compound scarf on the V (build #10). It's trailing behind #9 just by a little bit which had the truss rod slot routed and part of the neck and head stock cut to shape. Carbon rods should arrive any day so that's up next. 




Current state of build #9 on top.


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## KR250 (Mar 20, 2019)

Eh, finally got a few things done. Fretboard for #9 (V) is cut and slotted. Not radiused. It's 27 frets, #26 was off a bit so I re-did it and the epoxy filler will get covered by the fret overhang. I found enough scrap pieces of Ash (and 1 piece of maple) to do the body V shape. I lined it all up over my drawing and all fits, even if it looks rather rough at the moment. 

Going to do some kind of routed line for fret markers using epoxy or glow resin to fill. Not sure on color yet. Thinking black or with just a touch of luminescence will be the best color. Want it seen from side and the top over the corner edge.




Truss rod "jig". It's crude but it works. Still need to route out for the spoke wheel, but got hungry.


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## Solodini (Mar 21, 2019)

Always love a V.


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## KR250 (Apr 7, 2019)

Back from a work trip and first weekend to put some time back into the V project (#10), #9 sort of on hold at the moment. Routed the back side of the neck to approx thickness, finished truss rod routing, routed and glued in carbon rods, working on the fret board transition to body (more curve on the treble side?), and finally today working on the inlays. Also got a note from Ethan that my custom pickup is done and shipping out soon.




Still a little more sanding to do, one of the rods is slightly below the surface. Next time I'll just leave both proud by a small amount and sand back for a cleaner look. Glue kind of got everywhere too.



Bit of an experiment with the inlay idea, but going to fill it with an epoxy/phosphorous powder. I used my table router with a miter for the slots with a ton of measurements, marking, and swearing. Got a little router tear out in a few spots, but only one slot is slightly wonky. Super PITA, and I went full depth in 1 pass to avoid doubling up the time on the router. My table router has a really sloppy miter so I wanted to avoid the number of re-tries. I think that was a mistake. A CNC with multiple thin passes would ace this.

Decided on the inward depth based on string spacing, so ends in between strings 6-7.







Anyway, some clean up work to do but think it'll come out fine once all done. Just deciding on what color to go with. A straight black epoxy might be cool too, or go with the glow in the dark stuff.


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## KR250 (Apr 8, 2019)

Might give these guys a shot. Looking at a few different color options. 

https://www.technoglowproducts.com/ultra-glow/


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## KR250 (Apr 12, 2019)

I went ahead with the first of the glow options, shipped fast. I mixed it with epoxy and poured into the routes, curing now. It glows nicely, easily as good or better than Luminlay. More pics on that later. 

Ethan contacted me to let me know the pickup was done and shipping out. I asked about the new SFTY4's that he teased about on IG, and he said he went ahead and made this one a SFTY4. Super stoked! He even cut a template. Can't wait to get this one completed.

In his words:
The SFTY4 has as a design feature an asymmetry to the coils. The Bass side has a more aggressive attack and the top end has a smoother and more harmonically rich tone for lead playing.


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## Defyantly (Apr 12, 2019)

That is such a clean looking piece of gear!!


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## KR250 (Apr 17, 2019)

Some after work time in the shop. Neck is shaped, fret board radiused, and inlay stuff mostly done. Sanded to 400 grit. I'll take it to 800 then oil it. 



I seem to have some contamination in the inlay mixture. I think it's just on the surface still from sanding. I had let the mixture sit for 24 hours before touching it. 



Profile came out really nice. It's still slightly thick at 21 mm on the thin end, but it feels really nice. I did a 1 mm taper to the big end. The color mish mash will be solidified all in black.


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## LiveOVErdrive (Apr 17, 2019)

You're going to paint over those beautiful neck woods?? 

I mean you do you but I'd be proud as hell of that scarf joint, personally.


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## Defyantly (Apr 17, 2019)

That fretboard is stunning!! I wish I had access to that kind of timber where I'm at!


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## KR250 (Apr 17, 2019)

I'm going to stain it, but the idea has gotten into my head to do more of a translucent black to see some of the wood below. Will see how the body glue up looks.


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## Albake21 (Apr 17, 2019)

That fretboard and neck is so clean! Do you plan to also do side dots? I see that the inlays roll over to the side but only up until the 12th fret.


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## KR250 (Apr 17, 2019)

Albake21 said:


> Do you plan to also do side dots? I see that the inlays roll over to the side but only up until the 12th fret.



Good eye. The inlays do roll over from top to side, and at the 12th fret flip from bass to treble side. Not planning any additional side dots. What I learned on my previous multi-scales (at least for me) I need to have a visual indicator on the treble side as I go up for solo'y type stuff. If my reference dots were on the bass side, they were physically off quite a bit from the slant to the treble side that I would quickly lose my place. I'll pretty much never play that high on the low strings either. Now I tend to prefer no fan in most of my axes, and for those I don't really need top inlays. This whole build is a bit of a Frankenstein experiment with bits of wood and hardware I had laying around, so using it as a test bed to try out some new stuff at the same time. 

Total cost will be very reasonable, with the fret board costing more than all the other wood combined. Pickup probably being the most expensive component (still very reasonable for being a custom angle). 

Ok, off to the shop now to try and put some ferrets in the thing....


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## Solodini (Apr 18, 2019)

Thanks for the rationale. Makes a lot of sense.


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## Defyantly (Apr 18, 2019)

Clean work as always! Could you breakdown how you did the inlays? I like the idea of rollover inlays that glow so I wanted to hear your process!


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## LiveOVErdrive (Apr 18, 2019)

I'm deffo gonna have to try rollover inlays in the future. Those look great. And you don't have to do side dots!


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## KR250 (Apr 18, 2019)

I'll just say, the inlays will be WAY easier on a standard scale length. Can probably just setup the router on a simple sled with a stop. For the fanning I measured out a center line across the span at the highest fret, then carried that same distance from the fret down the fret board. Translated those lines to the back of the fret board, then setup my table router with a mitre to match the angle I drew on the back side, then a stop to get the length I wanted. A bit of a blind process doing it that way having to trust the pencil markings :O I got a little off on a few. I did do a lot of trial runs on scrap wood. 

Conversely, I could have switched the router plane 90 degrees and done square on the top and rounded on the side. Thought about drill bits but would need to do multiple holes to get the distance inward, then a bunch of cleanup. That probably would have been more work, but more precise.

For making the inlay I did two part Zpoxy and kept mixing in the inlay powder until it got to be a thick paste. Then just poured it in to the routes with tape on the sides to contain it. The ratio I made is slightly weak, so I may do the reverse and mix just enough epoxy into the powder that it has something to adhere with.


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## KR250 (Apr 26, 2019)

Fret work is all done. Had to level a little more than I wanted, but still plenty of meat on the frets. Micro mesh pads then final rub with some metal polish. Some lint or something in that photo. Even with my 3 sided file, I still seem to notch the area immediately around the fret end slightly. Still feels really nice, though still to do is fill for the blind fret ends. Sides are almost done gluing up, so once I test out bridge height the body should go together quickly.






Some more wood arrived today, and one about a week ago. Macassar ebony (left), Katalox (neck through blank -HEAVY!), and more Ziricote on the right. 



Also, bought a REALLY nice quilt maple top a few months ago. I might do a single cut body style with it, or maybe ergo headless?


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## Solodini (Apr 26, 2019)

Ooft! Nice wood!


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## KR250 (May 5, 2019)

Finally looking like a guitar! Partial mock up pictures. Not yet finished with the wings, final shaping then will do the cavity route and glue it up. The lower wing is about 5 pieces glued together and the top is 4 (maybe 5). 

Bridge and pickup template set in place. Plan to use a 1/2" gap between the two.



Might have to play with it a bit and see if I like the width of the wings. I based on a Jackson King V with a bit of variation, but should be same width.


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## electriceye (May 13, 2019)

Glad I'm not the only one who gets those damn notches using the crowing file.... So aggravating!


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## dmlinger (May 13, 2019)

Looks awesome! Is that a standard 1.75" body thickness? I've never played a V (I know, I know)...are they heavy?

Ever thought to taper the body thickness a la Ibanez S Series? Not saying you should, but might be a cool idea if weight was ever an issue.


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## KR250 (May 13, 2019)

Yeah, 1.75" to try and give it some weight. The Ash is really light already, but I'm working on some RAD bevels along the edges for comfort. Maybe binding too. Pics once I have a bit more progress, but the body is all glued up and cavity routed now. Should go together quick once I have some time.


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## Deegatron (May 14, 2019)

This looks 99% badass....
loose 1% for lacking volume knob.
Would still play it anyways.


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## KR250 (May 24, 2019)

Volume knob to be included! Just deciding if I want push/pull for coil split. Found out the bridge base plate is .175" vs the .125" I normally have used and didn't factor in any neck angle so had to make a new template and take out some depth for correct action on the bridge. Excuse all the burn marks, bits are due for cleaning/sharpening/replacing. 




Contouring the heel and final piece is the last template/route for the cover plate. Play ability is great from the mock up so far, but the transition looks a bit abrupt going from horizontal to vertical so I'm going to bring the transition line back further into the body. 



Front contours done prior, very much inspired by Solar:



Once the last bits are done it's on to finishing. I have some solarez sanding sealer to go over everything and grain fill, then going to spray coats of black dye over it until the grain is almost hidden, but not quite. I'm probably using about $20 in body/neck woods, while the fret board was around $60. It's almost sub $200 until I add the bridge and pickup!


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## KR250 (Jun 15, 2019)

I've been slacking on updates here, but mostly finished with 2 levels of Ipe decking, new front entry way in Ipe, and too many house projects. Finally dedicated some time back to the guitar building and also trying out the Solarez "I can't believe it's not laquer" grain filler product. I will most definitely be using it again for all future builds.

My patchwork Ash pieces had some major areas to fill. I used a foam brush to put it on, super easy and no major fumes.



Did a coat, cured, then sanded with 400 per the instructions. Once I had good sunlight (started about 60 degrees out - moving up to mid 70's) it really was less than 2 minutes to cure. I did thin coats, letting about 5 minutes or so to settle before moving outside. Color wise, it's perfect and no yellowing. I got the same from some water base grain fillers/sealers, but had issues over time with them shrinking under the finish.




Prior coat checking the temperatures for reported exothermic reaction "issues". It was basically the same as ambient temperature sitting in the sun. The kid table below it was showing higher from being outside the whole time.



Lots and lots of sanding. I only cut through it once in one small area amazingly. Dabbed some back on, moved in the sun for a few minutes then sanded it with the rest. Super easy. Here's 400 grit with pores pretty well filled after 4 coats.



And after all that work, here it is painted black. I left an area slightly transparent around the neck laminate on the back. I can now see all the areas where I didn't do a perfect level sand from the grain filler. It's really easy to miss with a cool wood popping from underneath, but satin black shows all.






Hopefully tomorrow I'll move on to finish coats and see how it goes. Will be using a water based satin top coat.


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## Albake21 (Jun 16, 2019)

Wait you painted over that beautiful neck laminate??


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## KR250 (Jun 16, 2019)

Yeah, that was the plan all along since the body and neck scarf were all made from bits in the scrap bin. With such a busy fret board I also wanted to keep the focus on it vs the body. I know, probably not a popular decision but I have another identical neck that I may re-create this as a non multi scale with nice 2 piece body wings and show the natural look off or use a top.


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## KR250 (Jun 16, 2019)

After a morning at Lowe's I spent today sanding everything back to grain filler and doing a few more Solarez filler coats, better finish sanding, then re-spraying it black again. Much much better, and back to the same point as pic above. I also left a slight reveal through the paint in the center around the neck through laminates. It will be very subtle, but cool I think.


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## KR250 (Jun 24, 2019)

Sigh..... finishing. Still the hardest part. I sprayed about 6 coats of satin with a quick sand about half way through. Let it all sit overnight and had a go at it today (I knew that wouldn't be enough). I started hand sanding with 800 grit which was leaving lots of scratches, so moved to 1000 which cleared most of it but still left all the "speckles". After 2 hours of that I decided to give the orbital a try. I only had 400 grit pads and did a quick few passes and it did a better job than 800 in not leaving marks. Downside is that I cut through a spot on an edge through the paint. Re-sprayed it black then let things sit and more careful sanding before going to do a bunch more satin clear coats. I also ordered 600-2000 grit pads for the orbital that I think will be "the money". 

Close up of the finish sanding (400 orbital), edges are by hand. 



I also decided to take apart build #5 to fix a few things and re-finish it. Plays great, but a list of issues I decided to go and fix finally. 

Before pictures: some major scratches and bad stain job. 



Rear side: removing the massive hump at the neck heel joint, making more room on the lower horn, and and rounding over the corners. Also needed to carve out a few spots for the Evertune bridge where I think I didn't leave enough room (the 45 deg angle of the tine spot between bridge and bridge pickup). 



Mid progress: decided I liked the black with a bit of roasted neck reveal. Spent more time removing all of the stain into the neck. Not totally successful. 



And all that said, while I love the feel of satin sanded perfectly back to 1500 grit, it's near impossible to make the entire guitar that consistent. In that spirit, I'm going to orbital sand to 400, then maybe 600/800 grit mid stride, then do one final blast and not even touch it. 
Where there was one, now there are two. Way more efficient spraying this way, and yes that is a garden shed in my basement (dexter room). 

Right before spraying. Adjusted the spray settings a bit to get a finer spray pattern.



Both now have a few solid coats on and looking very nice. Hopefully next post is with two guitars being re-assembled.


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## LiveOVErdrive (Jun 24, 2019)

Finishing is so friggin hard man. Looking good though.


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## Omzig (Jun 25, 2019)

Wow nice work,Love that maple top it really has some super swimming pool quliting,with a piece that nice id be tempted to build a bo diddly to show that whole thing off


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## KR250 (Jun 25, 2019)

Omzig said:


> Wow nice work,Love that maple top it really has some super swimming pool quliting,with a piece that nice id be tempted to build a bo diddly to show that whole thing off



Holding on to that one for a bit longer and thinking a nice tropical blue type of stain for it on an LP style clone down the road. Definitely don't want to mess that one up.


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## Defyantly (Jun 26, 2019)

KR250 said:


> Holding on to that one for a bit longer and thinking a nice tropical blue type of stain for it on an LP style clone down the road. Definitely don't want to mess that one up.


 Careful you don't want Gibson to drop the hammer on you like they are trying to do to Dean!  jk


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## KR250 (Jun 27, 2019)

Lol, I'd be totally flattered if Gibson filed a lawsuit. I do plan to address keeping the string pull more parallel in a way that stays true to the original head stock design. Down the road.... 


And this is where the V sits now, 3 more finish coats of satin and a light touch of 3M synthetic steel wool after an overnight. The 3M leaves some light scratches but none of the sanding artifacts... so slight orange peel it is, but with no risk of cutting through the finish. I touched on the neck a bit more which feels super smooth now and really what matters most to me. On to finalizing the nut and wiring and it'll be a NGD! 

Maybe on the parallel re-finish of build #5 I'll put enough finish coats on to be brave enough to do a full finish sand again. I think that'll be at least 20 thick coats or whatever I have left of the BriteTone left. Seems to be about 3/4 of a quart per build.


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## Albake21 (Jun 27, 2019)

That paint job looks really nice! I'm guessing you use a paint gun/sprayer?


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## KR250 (Jun 27, 2019)

Yeah, for this one I used these steps:

Finish sand with orbital at about 220
Solarez grain filler - about 5-6 coats sanding at 400 between each application
Final orbital pass at 400
Rattle can black enamel (taped off fretboard)
6-8 coats of BriteTone satin (HVLP)
Orbital pass at 400 (I do have finer pads now to try) - cut through
Paint touch up
4 more HVLP top coats
Let it sit overnight
3M synthetic steel wool light passes to take off any roughness and remove the slightly glossy finish.

See how I feel about it in a few days and if I decide to take the orbital to it again and commit to another few weeks of finishing "fun"


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## KR250 (Jun 30, 2019)

Incoming NGD soon. I need to finish up the cavity plate still but it's playable and sounds BAD ASS! The SFTY4 pickup is perfect for this tuning, Drop F. The only major issue is where I placed the output jack interferes with my leg when playing sitting down, otherwise plays awesome and really like the mutli-scale angle (similar to a past build). 




I'm running a 36 instead of the 35, and it feels pretty slinky (in a good way). 



Custom tusq nut cut from scratch. String pull tweaked a bit from past builds and much better. Finish game is still weak. I ran over the head stock a few times with micro mesh pads blending a spot I had to touch up when removing painters tape lifted a piece of finish near the nut. Being satin, I'm just going with it. Next build I'll try to perfect. 






Nut files getting the action in the ball park. Will re-check again after playing a bit and get action at the bridge dialed in. Right now is about .030" to .015" from low to high. 



Simple electronics. One pickup straight to volume pot, no coil split. The copper tape is holding a wire grounding to the pickup cavity which is also shielded with paint. Could have kept it cleaner if I had a way to paint between the cavities, but no route channel without a top. 



Applying some oil to the fret board prior to stringing up.


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## dmlinger (Jun 30, 2019)

Looks great, man! 

Have you shot nitro through your HVLP? It's much easier to get a flat, smooth finish. The coats melt into one another and level nicely if you apply a nice wet coat that is cut with thinner. Block sanding between every other coat helps keep the finish flat. 

Seriously, though...looks awesome


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## KR250 (Jun 30, 2019)

I've done nitro once from the can, but trying to stick with water based or low fumes for use at home. Maybe I'll try nitro (or 2K) again once I setup proper ventilation. I think with the solarez stuff I can get a finish coat thick enough to do a proper level sand without worry of cutting through for the next gloss attempt (didn't see any satin versions). I'll see how the current re-finish project turns out and decide about touching up this one again. I got too excited to put it together to commit to giving it the proper finish it deserves. I definitely got flatter results when using the minwax satin poly than the water based.


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## crackout (Jun 30, 2019)

That thing looks brutal!


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## KR250 (Jun 30, 2019)

Ok, I'm going to fix the finish on the V before calling a NGD. Did some testing on the next axe (re-finish project) today with some new orbital sanding pads (800, 1200, 1500, 2000). 

Straight off from spraying (BriteTone satin) roughly 12-15 coats. Minimal sanding in between. It's a red stain, with a gloss clear coat, then black spray enamel for the black burst effect. 



Close up of orange peel. basically where the V is at now after some light scuff sanding. 



Quick passes on the 800 grit, it works fast so was trying to be very careful.



After some 1200 grit, this felt much more comfortable to work with.



After running up through 2000. A few speckles still, but the finish feels super smooth. 



First pass with buffing compound from previous step. kept away from edges for now. 



A few more passes. Getting closer, but I'm polishing a satin which doesn't make the most sense. Maybe back to the 2000, or up to a 4000 grit instead of the polish? I'm open to suggestions. 






Going to play the V a bit more and figure out any other things that need touching up and send it through the same treatment as above to try and do it some justice.


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## dmlinger (Jun 30, 2019)

It's getting there! 

What HVLP setup do you have?


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## KR250 (Jun 30, 2019)

Thanks, not quite there but certainly better. Appreciate any and all feedback. I'm using one of the "higher end" Husky gun/compressor's from the Home Depot. The compressor is oil-less, and run a filter right before the regulator at the gun. Still playing with settings Otherwise nothing too special. I keep talking about doing a build with just oil.... 

And just for reference, here's build #2 which has epoxy grain filler and just 3 coats of Minwax oil based poly in a rattle can and no touch up at all after 2 years. Hmmm.....


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## KR250 (Jul 5, 2019)

I came back full circle to oil based satin poly after spending way too much time trying to sand the finish super smooth. I sprayed two coats of Minwax satin poly (oil based rattle can) and let it sit a day so far. I clearly have an HVLP gun settings issue with the water based finishes as this came out damn near perfect. Finishing is SOOO frustrating until it finally comes out right! 







Back to the V, I need to shift the bridge placement down slightly. I measured it to the correct location, but tuning/string gauge seems to have moved it the intonation point even further down than I thought. The low F1 using a 74 gauge string measures 28 1/8" on a 28" scale using the short hipshot saddle and almost intonated. So with that said I'll probably fill and re-route the bridge, or buy the shorter saddles from Hipshot for the rest of the bridge. Probably the former since I'd like to have more adjustable range without pinching the strings.

And since two projects aren't enough, I picked up my buddies guitar (build #4) to give it a quick check up, string change, fretboard clean, some tweaks to the nut, and swapping out the volume pot for a push/pull coil split. It's held up really well over 2 years.


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## KR250 (Jul 8, 2019)

My re-do on #5 is complete. Very happy with how it turned out. Strung it up with a fresh set of strings and everything is still perfectly in tune! Basically just moving the tuners up into zone 2 allowing the string to move up to the desired pitch where it stops until hitting zone 3, then back off a touch. Re-stringing couldn't be easier, no tuner required. Sounds and plays great, though I do think I prefer the Instrumental pickups over the Nazgul/Sentient. 

Routed the lower horn a little shallower
Thinner neck profile
Trimmed the neck heel way back
Similar color scheme but finished with satin oil based poly
New coil split push/pull volume knob
Slightly deeper pickup route to accommodate the pole screws going down further 
New cavity cover plate with proper shielding in all cavities.

I thought I got the top totally sanded flush removing all gouges, but after bringing it back outside it looks like I missed one spot, oops! This one is done, so on to the next re-finish project which is sitting under the guitar. Two and a half levels of new ipe decking needing to be sanded and oiled. Ugh.



















Will tackle the V again, and re-finish the previous amboyna burl build before moving on to new builds. Feels good to fix up the old builds and breathe new life into them.


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## Deegatron (Jul 9, 2019)

That looks great. for the satin, what grit did you sand that up to?


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## Defyantly (Jul 9, 2019)

Congrats man! always nice to see your builds on here! Amazing craftsmanship!


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## KR250 (Jul 9, 2019)

Deegatron said:


> for the satin, what grit did you sand that up to?


 The recommendation is up to 400 I think. I left it a bit higher than that at 800 since I was taking down the water based finish trying not to cut into the stain. Was worried about some adhesion issues but so far is fine.


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## KR250 (Jul 31, 2019)

The previous build in post #135 is absolutely what I always wanted it to be, and plays and sounds fantastic. Super happy with it, and pretty much ticks all the boxes I'd ever hope with a custom build. Feels like a bit of a milestone and I almost never touch my high end production guitars anymore. 

Anyway, back to to the V project. I moved the bridge route back and filled in the gap with some solarez. Had to do a few coats as some bubbles formed on the bottom. I've currently got it re-painted now and *almost* seamless around that fill transition. That was tricky. Last re-coat of black went on and then will re-spray with satin poly and re-assemble. In addition to the bridge re-route, also deepened the pickup route a bit to allow more room beneath the strings. Pole pieces where a little too close without much adjustment room. 

Left the pickup location the same so with the bridge moving back a bit it might fatten up the sound a touch, but no problem there. NGD pics incoming soon with this one.




Also working on the previous build #9 with the Camphor Burl, damn it almost smells like cinnamon! It's a ways into the build and will do some more detail on it soon.


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## Solodini (Jul 31, 2019)

It's great to hear that you've nailed it with a home build. Well done!


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## atracksler (Jul 31, 2019)

What tuners are you using?


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## Defyantly (Jul 31, 2019)

Very Nice!


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## KR250 (Aug 1, 2019)

atracksler said:


> What tuners are you using?



Hipshot Grip-Lok open gear tuners. I've been wanting to try the graphtech versions for comparison, but so far really like the Hipshot's.


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## KR250 (Aug 11, 2019)

Finally a day to work on guitar projects again! Back on the camphor burl build:

Cut a neck angle for 1.7mm extra height at the bridge on the neck
Thinned the headstock and top plate
Routed and glued in carbon fiber rods (I found a place that sells in 4' lengths for $16 each - search dragonplate) WAY less than SM prices. Not pretty, but they will be glued in very securely with the poly glue. 



Also, new table saw addition! Finally. This came from my friend and is super solid. I also got another table saw for free that left a bit to be desired so I took the universal roller plate from it. It has a carbide blade, but I'm not sure it's right for ripping hard wood. I need to research a bit and find the proper blade



Last coat of satin poly on the V. Had to go through quite a few re-do's trying to get the bridge filler seamless (it's close). Will put it back together in a few days and call it done.


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## KR250 (Aug 17, 2019)

Finished the V! The movement of the bridge was indeed worthwhile and intonation is right in the ball park, just need to spend some time setting everything up again. The new finish is miles better than before, but not as good as the previous axe where I sanded much finer before spraying the final satin coats. Not my favorite axe to play so far, but reasonably pleased, it sounds brutal in drop F! The Instrumental SFTY4 pickups will definitely go into future builds. 

A few pictures for informal NGD. 
















Tried to clean up the wiring a bit more this time. The cover plate is shielded with copper foil. 



Glow powder, mixed it a bit weak but it still works!






Also had some time to finish making an inlay routing jig for the Camphor Burl builds, nothing too fancy, but much better than how I did the V inlays. The drilled piece of pine holding the metal channel is movable, so I clamp it down where I want the router to stop. I tried using the locating pin for the fret slotting jig, but I couldn't get it to center to where I wanted the inlays, so just marked everything with pencil and used clamps. 






Slots are curing with epoxy/glow powder. Going to give it at least a day to cure, then on to gluing the fretboard, radiusing, then fretwork.


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## electriceye (Aug 18, 2019)

That’s a neat jig you made for the side inlays.


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## Albake21 (Aug 18, 2019)

Man... that V came out fantastic! Love the contrast from the fretboard and the satin black.


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## KR250 (Aug 19, 2019)

Made some progress on next builds today.

Finished inlays with the glow powder, came out pretty good. The padauk was a bit much for contrast though.



Ended up going with ash and all the colors work much better. Cut the wings to shape (not pictured).



Figured out what the padauk would work well with. It looks amazing, but super subjective to what it contrasts well with.

Katalox neck - will add two thin padauk accent laminates
Jarrah burl top
Ebony fretboard - keeping the focus on the body


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## Solodini (Aug 19, 2019)

These are looking great! Well done!


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## Defyantly (Aug 21, 2019)

Dude your builds are always inspiring! Keep it up!


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## KR250 (Aug 26, 2019)

Starting to shape up a bit. Neck has been profiled and radiused. Head stock is shaped up with a bit of change from my last few. Mostly the same design just rounded over into a single point. The Ash definitely fits the build better. I had a bit of a major fail though and miscalculated the thickness of the angled neck portion at the body by shaving off the bottom of it before factoring in the portion I had to route out for the top. Oops. Turning this "bug" into a "feature" though and glued up a cut off portion of the neck onto the back side of the body. It lines up pretty close, but I'll post some shots when I get it sanded better. That "feature" being opposing wood grains add strength right? Lol. Building is all about HOW you recover from mistakes..... amiright?

More to come soon and it's in the final stretches. The Padauk build is also making some small strides.


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## electriceye (Aug 28, 2019)

Oh, man, I would have stayed with the ash and laminated neck through and not covering it with a top. It's beautiful that way.


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## KR250 (Aug 28, 2019)

Yeah, I thought about it after the fact but had already committed with my depths. I'll just have to do another guitar with a similar combo without a top


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## KR250 (Sep 3, 2019)

Semi decent update. Fretwork is "done", tuners drilled out and body gluing up at the moment. 

NOTE: For the neck-through's I've done so far I do all of the fretwork before gluing on the body wings. I found it much easier to work with just the neck blank than the whole guitar, plus I think it's easier to get the 3 corner file in. Curious how other people approach this.

I re-pressed one fret but everything was almost completely dead even in every spot even before starting fret leveling, pretty happy with that. At that point just a few quick passes back and forth with the beam sander at 400, then crowning. Did the usual 400-800 sandpaper then micro mesh pads. Still see a few scratches through so likely make another pass at it, argh. 




Crowning mid progress.



I swear they were shinier before the picture, though I did turn it over to finish the volute. You can also see how the epoxy/glow powder for some reason is taking on some of the ebony dust from sanding. I can't quite figure that one out other than trying a different epoxy, using more heat, or switch to wood inlays.


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## KR250 (Sep 10, 2019)

Here comes the top. I'm starting to do some grain fill/finish sanding before gluing it on to make it a bit easier to get around the fret board part when I make the final passes. So far just Solarez ICBINL grain filler, and a few sanding passes.

Curing...... for 3-5 minutes.



Wiping it on thin and progressively moving up in my grits for level sanding. This was just after a cure and right before some 800 on the orbital.



Plan is to use the Odie's oil for the entire finish, but I'm also tempted for gloss on just the top piece since the wood has such a 3D effect.


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## Solodini (Sep 11, 2019)

Very cool piece of wood! Looking forward to seeing it all together!


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## KR250 (Sep 18, 2019)

Several major steps completed:

Bridge routing for another Evertune F7 bridge
Tummy cut carved out
Round over bit for the back side
Top glued on
Pickup routes loosely completed - using Bareknuckle Ragnarok's which have a wider base plate than all the previous pickups I've used so need to widen the route to accommodate them.







Undecided on doing top bevels or not. Maybe just a round over bit and done this time. Doesn't feel like it needs a lot.


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## Solodini (Sep 19, 2019)

Maybe just a subtle radius for the top, if you can?


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## KR250 (Sep 22, 2019)

Basically on to final finish sanding, sealing, oiling. Did a mock up with the bridge and strings to finalize the pickup route depth for direct mounting. 

Routed a 45 bevel along the edges of the top, meeting right at the body layer underneath. What say SSO, route further into the body wood to expose it, or route more angle into the top wood keeping the body layer hidden? Could be a pseudo binding as is. I had to sand the top down again from some scratches, so ti's a bit splotchy until i re-do the sealer.






Was hoping to start on final sealer, but it's super rainy here in Seattle so will have to wait for some sun or invest in some proper UV lights before I can progress further.


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## MoonJelly (Sep 23, 2019)

Looks fantastic as-is, I wouldn't do any deeper bevel


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## dmlinger (Oct 6, 2019)

Looks great! Camphor burl is super nice. 

I've been looking into the Solarez grain filler/sealer stuff. Would you recommend? Do you still need to use a sanding sealer afterwards, or is the Solarez stuff a filler and sealer all in one?


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## KR250 (Oct 6, 2019)

dmlinger said:


> I've been looking into the Solarez grain filler/sealer stuff. Would you recommend? Do you still need to use a sanding sealer afterwards, or is the Solarez stuff a filler and sealer all in one?



I've only used the "I can't believe it's not lacquer" grain filler, but just ordered the gloss finish version of it to play with. Couple things I've noticed:

Pros:

It applies nicely, and cures quickly in the sun. On a cloudy day it still works but takes about 5-10 min. I've used a few application methods, foam brush for thicker coats and an automotive polishing applicator. I think I like the brush the best, and as long as it stays out of the sun it doesn't need any cleaning. I've got the same one on a table for a few months that hasn't hardened yet.
It cures very hard, giving the wood a lot of protection regardless of the top coat. 
Sands great, and easily fills big voids or open grain, so no other sealer/grain filler is needed. Even a thin coat doesn't sand through easily, which is great.
No fumes, no spray equipment needed, and very minimal clean up. 

Cons:

It seems thin coats don't blend that well (or I'm doing something wrong), so where I've done level sanding after grain filling sometimes I can see where the layers meet as glossy lines or speckles. I'm going to try the gloss and see if it's any different, or try one big thick coat instead. I didn't notice any of these things though when spraying a final poly coat over it. 

My best finishes so far have been with the solarez and then spray on poly for the top coat (the V and the #5 refinish job both went that route). I did try an oil finish over the top of the solarez and didn't get it to work out that well as the oil would not adhere to the shiny speckle areas. FWIW, I'm likely abandoning water based finishes at this point and sticking with solarez, and/or oil based poly, or oil. 

Incoming NGD pics on the camphor build very soon... working out some wiring and setup then it's done.


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## KR250 (Oct 6, 2019)

Ok, NGD! I still need to intonate it, but did a string up, filed the nut slots roughly to height, action set, and really happy with it on first impression. The Ragnarok's sound awesome! 

Full specs:

*Style:* 7 string Neck through
*Scale:* 27"
*Bridge:* Evertune F7
*Tuners:* Hipshot open tuners - 4 bass/3 treble
*Pickups:* Bareknuckle Ragnaroks
*Electronics:* Gotoh 3 way toggle, Seymour Duncan Liberator volume pot
*Body:* Ash wings - burl cavity plate
*Top:* Camphor Burl
*Neck:* 5 piece Maple/Purpleheart neck through
*Fret board:* Ebony - glow powder rollover inlays centered
*Head Stock:* Custom 4x3 with camphor burl laminate
*Nut:* Black Tusq XL
*Frets:* Jesccar 51100 stainless
*Truss Rod:* Black dog Spoke wheel
*Finish:* Solarez grain filler (mostly sanded back), Odie's oil

Also finally got a cork finishing mat to keep the nicks down to a minimum. 















1mm neck angle + making the fret board too thing meant I had to route the neck pickup much deeper than I should have.






Glow resin turned out a nice bluish white. 



And..... the one big construction fail. I cut the neck to thickness before factoring in the top, so had to use scrap and re-glue it on the neck to make up for the lack of depth on the bottom. In retrospect, I should have just done a different piece of wood to make it more of a "feature".


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## Defyantly (Oct 7, 2019)

Beautiful work! You are really cranking these out now. Are you doing orders or are these personal builds?


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## KR250 (Oct 7, 2019)

All personal builds at this point. I've done a bass and two guitars for friends though. Next one is also a personal build, but I've got to time out parts purchases so I don't go broke 

As I get better I'll pair down the collection to just the top of the litter. That's the plan at least.


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## Walter W. (Oct 8, 2019)

KR250 said:


> All personal builds at this point. I've done a bass and two guitars for friends though. Next one is also a personal build, but I've got to time out parts purchases so I don't go broke
> 
> As I get better I'll pair down the collection to just the top of the litter. That's the plan at least.



The V and this last one were awesome, you've definitely got some skill


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## Defyantly (Oct 8, 2019)

On average how much does one of your completed builds cost with all materials included? (If you have time to tally this up)


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## KR250 (Oct 8, 2019)

Cost varies mostly depending on the woods. the V was probably one of the cheapest to date and the 8 string in the first post being the most expensive. Hardware/electronics seem to eat up at least half or most of the cost, and I haven't been able to get bulk/discounts on more than one major item (which does help immensely). Buying wood locally is been the most cost effective, but the best body woods/tops/finger boards have all been bought online.

The V was a lot of scrap wood, about $20 in neck material, $70 for the fret board, then add about $400 for hardware and electronics (single pickup), so total cost is probably sub $600.
The 8 string build was closer to $1200 in parts, the pickups being about $400 of that cost. 
The average build for me is probably about $800 in materials so far, but I've got some pricier woods stored away that will bump that up.


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## KR250 (Oct 13, 2019)

Got frustrated with the finish on build #8 so decided to take it all back to bare wood again. Everything including grain filler was water based. Some of the ridges were taking a noticeable shift that I could feel. Time to do this better. Also realized one of the magnets in the cavity plate were backwards causing it to warp ..... 







Back to bare wood again.



Fixed the magnet, re-profiled the neck a bit more.



Super tempted to just do the thing in oil with natural wood colors. Planning to re-do the original scheme but with solarez now instead, but leaving the neck just oiled instead of gloss.


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## KR250 (Oct 20, 2019)

Couldn't help but to apply oil and see how it would look with a natural finish. Pretty sure this is the route I'll go to re-do #8, the top amboyna burl is too awesome to cover up in dyes.


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## KR250 (Oct 20, 2019)

Oiled up the back side today, hot damn it really pops now and can actually really see the grain/holo effects. It took quite a bit of work getting the grain filler out (some water based stuff that turned white in all of the pores - one of the reasons for the re-finish). Neck turned out really nice as well, feels soooo much better than the gloss version it was. 



Realized there are still two spots I need to sand down further to get the oil to penetrate.


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## KR250 (Oct 25, 2019)

Finished re-assembly. NGD with higher resolution pictures posted here.


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## BlackMastodon (Oct 31, 2019)

1. That camphor burl top one is hawt. Everything about that guitar is classy. Beautiful clean work, man
2. #8 looks better natural instead of red, good call.


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## KR250 (Oct 31, 2019)

BlackMastodon said:


> 1. That camphor burl top one is hawt. Everything about that guitar is classy. Beautiful clean work, man
> 2. #8 looks better natural instead of red, good call.


Thanks man, the amboyna burl will be a forever guitar for sure. The last top I saw that was similar was crazy expensive, I got this one for a steal. Really really happy with those two in particular. As a result, I sold off a $2k ESP and never looked back.

And on that note, trying to do things super clean on the next one and not have any F ups.... I mean accidental features.

Padauk for the wings and neck accents (probably posted above somewhere), Katalox for the beef of the neck. It does kind of look like beef from the side shots. Mmmmmm
Scored on a few X pattern birdseye maple necks which is going to pair with a Jarrah burl top, which has a ton of cracks/open pores I'm trying to figure out how best to deal with.
Instrumental SFTY4-7's on the way soon.
Evertune once again.
Next few are going to go with some different body styles, but build #11 in full swing.


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## KR250 (Nov 24, 2019)

Some good progress finally. Neck assembled with carbon/truss rod, profiled (19.5mm - 21mm @ 1st to 12th fret), and fret work almost done.




Gave ball end frets a try finally, I got a few of the initial lengths on the high frets wonky but worked out a better process going down. Followed most of the steps from the HL tutorials on YT. I found using the disc sander to get length right (very subjective as the next steps take a bit more off), file the tang, use the belt sander for quick round over, then on to the silicone disc for the rounding followed by a polishing wheel worked fairly well.

Pressed in the frets almost all came out level, but pressed one too far and had to level sand above the 19th fret. Hopefully next time I won't have to level sand at all, just light even pressure for each fret. Light first coat of oil because I can't resist.



Going for the Jarrah Burl on this one, but it had a ton of open voids. I'd figure that would be fine except that when I glue it on all the voids will get pushed up with ugly glue. To counteract that, laid down a bunch of Solarez gloss. Still more to do, but worked reasonably well.



Planed it back down and most of the voids are filled, however any area that didn't get direct UV to cure is of course still wet.



Particularly challenging on a top like this. Probably back to regular epoxy for this type of job. Some areas still with gloss epoxy, some planed down, some back to wood, and highlighted is the still wet areas. I let it sit in the sun for about 30 minutes, but some voids just didn't get any UV exposure.



And next up, make sure to count all those strings


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## MikeNeal (Nov 24, 2019)

Katalox is my all time favorite neck wood. currently trying to get my hands on a huge stock pile.


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## Walter W. (Nov 24, 2019)

10 strings?! Holy shit!


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## KR250 (Dec 1, 2019)

Mini Sunday update. Body wings glued on, mostly now flush for the top to be joined. Working on the neck heel. Added a "feature" to the rear of the guitar that still needs final sanding. I'm also realizing that this wood combo is HEAVY. Thinking about chambering, but since all my playing is studio work I might just leave it as such and see how it sounds. 







Still sorting out the weeping Solarez. Small chance I finish it in gloss with like materials, but plan was to go oil based once all the voids were filled with epoxy.



AND... mostly full pine mockup of the 10 string monstrosity w/compound scarf joint. Roughly a 24-28" fan. The design is from another local SSO member. Building two of these, one for myself.


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## KR250 (Dec 8, 2019)

Not a lot to show for it, but this took a lot of my time over the weekend. Glued up the neck for the 10 string, about 4.5" wide at the tail end which used up a pretty good sized piece of wenge, and a bit of maple. Started with a jig on the table saw to do a compound cut over the single laminate body, rather than a compound scarf joint. 

It feels pretty good weight wise for how massive it is. Quite a bit more clean up work to do.



Started with this cut first to match the fan angle. Then clamped the angled side to a jig in the table saw to cut the complimentary side on the back side.


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## Walter W. (Dec 8, 2019)

Curious at what the string guage and tuning will be on that 10


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## KR250 (Dec 8, 2019)

Walter W. said:


> Curious at what the string guage and tuning will be on that 10


So full disclosure, this one is another local buddy build. Cost of parts plus a trade to make it happen. 

24-28" multi-scale with parallel at the 10th fret.
Standard tuning with an added high A string (.007), a low B, F#(.076) and C#(.100 or .105 bass string) on the bottom end. 

Have the supplied Hipshot tuners drilled out for the .105 to start checking intonation on my pine mockup. Theoretically it should all work with guitar hardware, but we'll see! Ethan @ Instrumental is building a custom set of pickups for this thing. Two sets in fact since I'll do one for myself at some point in the future too.

Next is figuring out if it's a dual truss rod sort of axe, likely so. Probably 2-3 carbon rods as well, although the width of the neck adds a lot of strength. Total tension will be around 160 lbs.


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## KR250 (Dec 22, 2019)

A day late and a dollar over, but here's my home depot challenge, lol. Using the mockup to test out intonation points. I made a pine fret board with the 16-20" compound radius (still needs better blending) and to figure out what I'll need for a bridge spacer plate. Not much. This one has a zero fret, and 12, and 24 pictured.



Going with a single carbon rod (actual will be full length) down the middle and two truss rods on the sides. Since the neck will be an asymmetric radius, have to make sure I leave enough room on the bass side for thinner profile. 



Hoping to get the neck completed over the next week.


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## KR250 (Dec 23, 2019)

Added a base plate extension to my LMI jig to slot multi-scale more precisely. Crude but effective, and cutting surfaces are within a hair of each other. The visibility is nice, and haven't had any issue with blade wobble. Bonus is that I get to use the only sharp part of the blade left!




Oversized roasted swamp ash arrived for the body wings. It's getting a flamed curly maple top with a blue burst finish.


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## KR250 (Dec 23, 2019)

And new compound angle scarf/cutting jig I used for the mock up and neck blank. I dial in the desired neck break angle on the miter, and the amount of slant to match the 0 fret with blade angle.


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## KR250 (Dec 31, 2019)

Small updates.

Carbon glued in and truss rod(s) routed.



Top dots drilled, and truss rod spoke wheel(s) exposed. Might take back the edge a bit for the pickup.


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## KR250 (Jan 11, 2020)

My first go at binding. Came out pretty well but I'll definitely attach it to the fretboard before gluing to the neck next time. It was a bit of a routing nightmare with a carved neck, but made it happen with some some extra guides. 




Luminlay side dots, going to use a glow powder and epoxy for top dots. 



Roasted swamp ash body wings cut to shape.



My previous build still making its way to completion. Top is glued on with another coat of epoxy filler. Pretty much ready for routing pickups and bridge, but also need to carve a lot of wood out of the back. It's HEAVY.


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## KR250 (Feb 10, 2020)

10 string progress:

Crop circles for wiring:



Top glued on with glow powder/luminlay:



Mocking up CAD designed custom pickups (need to angle fretboard a bit more)



Headstock with rear maple binding (It's a feature, not a F-up). Top channel will get glow binding. 



7 string progress:

Pearloid binding done for the body (headstock next). Pickup routes done. Still pore filling and finish sanding to do before final sanding sealer and gloss coat. 



Random mockup's for next builds:


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## Walter W. (Feb 10, 2020)

Nice fretboard material for the next builds


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## Solodini (Feb 11, 2020)

These are looking so good!


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## KR250 (Feb 23, 2020)

Mini-milestone reached, completed the inner glow-binding on the 10. I had major anxiety about this part, and though still not perfect I'm pretty happy with it. I still have to do the head stock and will try and get the resin mixture more consistent. 




Still have some touch ups with more resin to do. The top will be dyed blue.



The dremel "jig"


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## Taylor (Feb 24, 2020)

That's hot as _fuck!_


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## sevenstringer37 (Feb 24, 2020)

Sooo stoked at how this is coming along!


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## KR250 (Mar 19, 2020)

Still waiting on pickups for the 10, but started to do the fretwork and a few other things to keep progress moving. In the meantime, trying to get rid of distractions and finish up the Jarrah burl 7. Add to that finishing up doing my own de-coupled drywall as part of soundproofing one of our rooms. And now a new dishwasher....

Anyway. I had intended for a gloss top and tried quite a few methods with solarez which got really really close, but I just can't get it to layer and buff out well. Really like working with it though, especially as a sanding sealer. I considered Nitro and 2K, but don't have a proper ventilation system to justify those yet. So back to oil it is..... and it is glorious!

Some solarez trials..... I tried with a single super thick pour. Had major issues with fish eyes and bubbling, so sanded that back too.



Then tried really thin coats which worked really well when rubbed in with a cotton rag, let cure and then sand with 400 on the orbital. Problem is that I kept getting spots where I could see the layers. This picture is the most flattering, but when trying to buff it out I just couldn't get it to shine (or perhaps I just buffed back into the sealer). Decided to take it back to sealer with 400, and then apply oil. Really cool product, but I just haven't figured out how to make it work yet.




So the hybrid finish is where I landed. I would have gone all the way back to wood, but the Jarrah Burl is so porous it had to have some sort of hard sealer. The end result is much more consistent with a very similar look, and the added benefit of protection underneath the oil.




And then the padauk.... it takes oil very nicely. Pictures just don't do it justice. Still slightly wet in the pics. I used Odie's oil, two coats, then the wood butter which really gives a nice sheen. I think this is my default finish, it's just so satisfying to apply and looks so good.




For the observant, that is actually sun in Seattle.



And starting to install hardware/wiring. Hopefully finish it up tomorrow and NGD shortly.


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## Defyantly (Mar 19, 2020)

Jesus Dude!! You have made some amazing strides as a builder! These look top notch!!


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## Albake21 (Mar 19, 2020)

Seriously man, if these play as nice as they look, you could seriously start selling these. Hell I'd even consider one.


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## KR250 (Mar 19, 2020)

Defyantly said:


> Jesus Dude!! You have made some amazing strides as a builder! These look top notch!!


Appreciate it. Lots of trial and error, trying not to repeat mistakes, and trying out new things here and there. 



Albake21 said:


> Seriously man, if these play as nice as they look, you could seriously start selling these. Hell I'd even consider one.


Anyone near Seattle is welcome to check them out/critique. Once I get a bit more consistent with the little details (and logo) in my build process I might end up with a few on Reverb. I've done a few for locals that have been well received so far. The rest I'm hoarding for myself


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## KR250 (Mar 20, 2020)

NGD posted for build 11: https://www.sevenstring.org/threads/ngd-custom-jarrah-burl-7-string.340984/

At the moment, I don't have any follow up tasks for once! Plays and sounds awesome, now back to the 10.... pickups should arrive very soon.


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## Taylor (Mar 23, 2020)

How did you like working with Odie's Oil? Looks like it gives a really nice finish.


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## KR250 (Mar 23, 2020)

Taylor said:


> How did you like working with Odie's Oil? Looks like it gives a really nice finish.


I REALLY like working with it, brings out the natural wood colors better than any water based finish I've tried, and very forgiving to apply. My process goes: a good flood coat of oil, buff off, second coat (buff off sooner), then the wood butter (buff off) seems to really work well and only takes about 1-2 days for the whole process. If you see scratches sand back and re-apply to that specific section.


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## Taylor (Mar 23, 2020)

KR250 said:


> I REALLY like working with it, brings out the natural wood colors better than any water based finish I've tried, and very forgiving to apply. My process goes: a good flood coat of oil, buff off, second coat (buff off sooner), then the wood butter (buff off) seems to really work well and only takes about 1-2 days for the whole process. If you see scratches sand back and re-apply to that specific section.



Excellent. I love the finish you got from it. I know I've seen it at my local woodworking store. Will definitely pick some up when I get the chance.


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## KR250 (Apr 3, 2020)

Previous build is still playing great! On to the next few things. My SECOND set of Instrumental 10 string pickups arrived today, the white set goes with the current build and the black set is shelved for a future personal build. These suckers are MASSIVE. Angles are 22 and 29 degrees (neck/bridge). 




I test fitted the black set:






And finished cutting/shaping/pressing in the frets. 



Cracked my drill press in the process. Time to get the proper tool and figure out how to fix this.



And yet another top. Amboyna burl, nearly 1" thick book matched. I've purchased way too many at this point, so time to get busy on builds. 



Also finished up this reclaimed pallet table for a friend that had been taking up shop space:


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## Solodini (Apr 4, 2020)

Looking great, as usual!


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## KR250 (Apr 22, 2020)

Getting really close to finishing out the 10 string project. I figure it's close to 200 hours at this point. I did a mock-up sans electronics to check everything out. Had one issue with a fret that I had to do some re-leveling around. Getting the frets into this thing was a bit of an experiment and so required a bit of touch up work to get everything nearly perfect. 

Went through a few iterations of stain. Still a couple minor touch up spots left. I'm spending the bulk of my time now scraping back the glow binding carefully with a razor. Not quite done yet. Probably going to seal it with Solarez grain sealer to preserve the color (non yellowing) and since it lays down thick and sands so nicely. Then likely water based satin finish on top of that. Still playing with the test scraps. 




Some cool figuring in this piece. Trying to get the stain laid down evenly is the challenge.



Oil on the back side:



Here's the full mock up before staining



I had to give it a go for a hot minute.... 



Next pics when it's finished.


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## neun Arme (Apr 23, 2020)

This looks really awesome.


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## Deegatron (Apr 23, 2020)

MADD respect for anyone that can effectively play a neck that wide. Reaching the 1st fret on the low string must be a monster....


----------



## Deegatron (Apr 23, 2020)

Cracked my drill press in the process. Time to get the proper tool and figure out how to fix this.
View attachment 79185


A quick hack to stop this from happening again. cut a 2x4 to length and wedge it between the table and the foot of the drill press when you're pressing the frets. it takes the load off of that cast iron piece and prevents it from cracking.


----------



## KR250 (Apr 23, 2020)

Ahh yeah, good suggestion for pressing. I should have been doing that previously. I ended up finally buying the SM arbor for use on my larger table, which I think will reduce some of my anxiety of dropping the guitar when pressing on the drill press table. 



Deegatron said:


> MADD respect for anyone that can effectively play a neck that wide. Reaching the 1st fret on the low string must be a monster....


It's surprisingly playable, but does make an 8 string feel small afterwards. We went with an asymmetric neck profile (thinner on the bass side) to aid the thumb and finger reach. I'll try and get a quick video once it's done before it leaves.


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## dmlinger (Apr 25, 2020)

So much respect for this built!


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## Taylor (Apr 25, 2020)

That's going to look sick with some clear coat. Where'd you get the pearloid binding for the fretboard, if you don't mind me asking?


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## GraemeH (Apr 26, 2020)

Okay but I'm going to have to take a minute out from counting strings to ask if you've documented your fret end shaping process anywhere? Those ends look amazing!


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## dmlinger (Apr 26, 2020)

GraemeH said:


> Okay but I'm going to have to take a minute out from counting strings to ask if you've documented your fret end shaping process anywhere? Those ends look amazing!


 
+10000 would love to see this. I've only ever seen the Highline Guitars video where he uses a grinding wheel. Haven't been able to wrap my head around how to do it so that every fret length is spot on.


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## KR250 (Apr 27, 2020)

dmlinger said:


> +10000 would love to see this. I've only ever seen the Highline Guitars video where he uses a grinding wheel. Haven't been able to wrap my head around how to do it so that every fret length is spot on.



For the fret ends, I totally took it from the Highline guitar video as well. This is only the second build I've done with that, and it's getting much better but still not totally consistent. The hard part is getting the fret lengths perfect, and then pressing them in without any shifting. On this build the are all within .5mm which is acceptable, but not perfect. The bonus is that once they are in, no need to use a file to tame any sharp ends and screw up the fret board.

What seems to work for me so far is:

Radius the fret wire
Cut to rough length of the fret slot
Use the disc part of my belt sander to fine tune the length of the fret
Under cut the tang - but not TOO much, or you'll have a gap
Use a dremel with a highly abrasive wheel (same as the Highline video posted), round over the ends
Test fit - back track as needed
Once it looks as close to perfect as possible, hit it with a polishing wheel on the ends only
Press in (on the ten string this was rather difficult, so I used a combo of hammer/pressing) and use a touch of super glue



Taylor said:


> That's going to look sick with some clear coat. Where'd you get the pearloid binding for the fretboard, if you don't mind me asking?


Pretty sure it was this one, celluloid :
https://www.rothkoandfrost.com/guitar-making-c83/guitar-inlays-c30/guitar-binding-c31/incudo-celluloid-guitar-binding-p1126#attribute[3]=88

Here's a teaser pic. It's done. I'll let the owner do the full NGD.


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## dmlinger (Apr 28, 2020)

Thanks for that process! The back track until you fine tune the length makes sense. 

And dude...that thing is a beast! Congratulations on a successful build of this complexity. Really great work


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## KR250 (Apr 29, 2020)

Woops, that was the wrong link to the pearloid binding. Here it is: https://www.rothkoandfrost.com/guitar-making-c83/guitar-inlays-c30/guitar-binding-c31/incudo-celluloid-guitar-binding-p1126#attribute[3]=88


Edit: Ergh.... the link keeps changing the selection. 

The Code is: RP0049


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## neun Arme (Apr 29, 2020)

Simply gorgeous!


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## KR250 (May 11, 2020)

Making some progress on the next build:

This one is a six stringer for a friend of mine, who is quite a good player. Mahogany body and neck, PME fret board, and richlite for the body/headstock. Originally it was going to be all richlite, but looked better with some sort of transition. The neck also has richlite stringers instead of carbon. I bought a 24"x24" sheet of the richlite direct for pretty good deal, much cheaper than ordering individual fret boards. Should turn out to be a decent ebony top alternative, and the stuff is nearly indestructible.... not so easy on tooling though.


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## Walter W. (May 11, 2020)

That is going to be a beautiful fretboard


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## KR250 (May 16, 2020)

Mini update. Working with richlite has been interesting. I like how indestructibly hard it is, but is also not easy to work with. Only Katalox has been as difficult so far. Neck is mostly shaped, binding and inlays down. Went for full glow powder and wicking in thing CA glue, which is way more consistent than the epoxy method. Considerably brighter than luminlay being full 3mm.




Richlite headstock raw with oil, not yet buffed off. Some interesting variation, but you can see some layering going on.



Buffed:



Still TBD, whether the richlite is black metal enough to stand on it's own or need some additional dyes/paints. It's most definitely hard enough to withstand any abuse.


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## KR250 (May 26, 2020)

Fretwork is done on this one:



Working out the neck pocket angle for a TOM bridge:



Also, after a month, a few finish touch ups for the 10 string. The transition from poly finish on top to oil finish on the body had a few little issues and some stain bleed. This pic is mid progress of scrapping back the bleed and very light scuff sanding the top finish for a quick re-spray. Also to note, this guitar is in absolute perfection for intonation and action adjustments so I'm trying not to pull any of the hardware off.


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## Defyantly (May 26, 2020)

awesome build as always! those pickups look gnarly!


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## Omzig (May 26, 2020)

Man that 10 string is SICK...dam neck width looks like someone left the lid open on a piano


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## KR250 (Jun 14, 2020)

The sixxer is almost done, waiting for the top finish to cure, then oil, then hardware and electronics. I ordered a rumber stamp and used some gold ink for the inlay. Super easy, it almost feels like cheating.... but worked really well. 

I also tried out yet another finish (acrylic lacquer in a spray can). It came out better than my other water based finish attempts, and I love how quick it dries, but finished this with 2 coats of satin poly which brought back the consistency I was looking for. Pretty pleased. Used solarez as the grain sealer again (top only). 




Magnetic cavity plates again. Probably a touch oversized, but the last build I did had very little room for wiring. Tried to grain match and got kinda close. 




Trying to figure out my next build. It's either a 6 string strat style with single coils, a 5 string bass, an Evertune 7 string with EMG's, an 8 string multi-scale, or another 10 string since I have the pickups already. Going to seriously re-vamp all my designs and templates before the next builds though. 




Maybe with a top, or not? This is a seriously cool piece of quarter sawn Ziricote ready for a neck through.


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## Spicypickles (Jun 14, 2020)

That is sick!!!!


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## KR250 (Jun 20, 2020)

Sixxer is done! Plays and sounds great. I've never been a TOM fan, but the goal was to get a big neck break angle for better placement of the picking hand. I have to say that I'm agreeing with that philosophy. It's also very resonant, quite a bit more so than the typical hard wood necks I've done previously.

Let me know what you think on the design, I plan to make a few tweaks before I do another. 

Specs in case I forgot to list those:
Star shaped design inspired from other star guitars and gibson explorer style headstock
Richlite top
Mahogany body and neck w/richlite laminate
Pale Moon Ebony fretboard (one of the nicest I've ever had the option to buy)
24.75" scale
57/110 jesscar SS frets
Instrumental SFTY4 set with nickel covers
CTS push pull volume (needs a nickel knob still)
Bone nute
Switchcraft 3 way toggle
Oil on the backside, solarez and satin poly on the top.


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## LiveOVErdrive (Jun 20, 2020)

My God I love it.


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## Spicypickles (Jun 20, 2020)

That is fantastic. Great job.

not meaning to pop pop anything, but the only thing I’m not a fan of is the fretboard, but I think it’s literally just me on this board that isn’t a fan of pale moon


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## KR250 (Jun 21, 2020)

Spicypickles said:


> not meaning to pop pop anything, but the only thing I’m not a fan of is the fretboard, but I think it’s literally just me on this board that isn’t a fan of pale moon



Totally get it. I think PME is a love/hate kind of aesthetic. It is quite busy, and seems to work best when keeping the rest of the material selection relatively simple. The feel of it is hard to beat though, but I could easily do a nice birdseye maple fretboard to achieve a similar vibe and may be what I do on the next version. It's also REALLY hard to get pieces like this one, so was a bit of strategic choice where to use it.


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## Spicypickles (Jun 21, 2020)

Yea I think that’s exactly it, it’s just a bit too busy for me. I like plainish fretboards, flamed being the exception.


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## KR250 (Aug 18, 2020)

Haven't done a lot of guitar stuff lately, but getting back to it. Made a few final tweaks to the star guitar based on feedback prior to it moving overseas with its owner and the feedback is very positive. Perfect balance, and much better distinction of the side dots. The guitar has clearly had a lot of playing on it already as the pickup covers are already wearing. 

Pics:

Drilled out the existing side dots and went for brass/glow powder for better contrast. Drilling those out was super nerve wracking, and while not perfect I'm still happy with the result. some sanding marks on the binding still....doh. 



Re-located the strap locations, the rear turned out pretty transparent, the front one less so. This is more similar to the Gus G sig model strap locations which I'll use for future versions.



Also working on a mostly traditional strat for myself. 25.5" scale, 22 frets, Lollar pickups (made by my good friend that works there!), Hipshot tremolo, birdseye maple neck, quilited maple fretboard, and an ash body I'm likely going to stain blue/aqua. 



Same treatment as above with brass and glow powder:



Just starting to facet the neck, it'll be a set neck.


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## KR250 (Aug 18, 2020)

Also new fret slotting jig:


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## Strtsmthng (Aug 23, 2020)

That looks really tasty


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## KR250 (Sep 13, 2020)

Mocking up the strat build finally, but I'm sure whether to leave it natural or go with a stain. I've applied oil (not pictured) to the whole guitar, but sort of feels like too much of the same theme.... I could strip the oil off and stain just the body, seal it, and either wax/oil that or spray with satin poly. Dunno. 



Blue stain test on scrap:



Neck heel turned out pretty decent, but being a set neck makes dual finishing a bit more tricky. This is with oil. 



While I'm waiting for more copper tape, decided to hit a few punch list items on past builds. Routed the bridge a tad deeper so I wasn't maxing out the bridge saddles and finally added a ground to the bridge (oops). I forgot to do that originally and ended up just using my finger to ground to the knob. Anyway, all done and easily one of my best sounding axes. 




Posted in another thread, but also found a local Richlite distributor that deals in full sheets and was willing to cut up some neck blanks to my specs. Full 1' thick and 36" long.


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## Albake21 (Sep 13, 2020)

This world needs more strats with neck heels like that!


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## Zhysick (Sep 14, 2020)

Blue stain and satin poly. I'm sure we all think the same.

Yeah, I'm not the one doing it, sure...

Amazing builds and I agree totally with you about the TOM in the Star guitar: that's why I love TOM bridges...


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## KR250 (Sep 21, 2020)

NGD! Spent way more time than I wanted sanding back the black and re-applying a more diluted blue (more aqua or teal actually in different light). It's mostly setup, plays and sounds great, just a few minor touch ups I'll tackle later. Since I went with a dye, I sealed it with Solarez grain filler (3 coats), and finished with Mohawk satin acrylic lacquer that I had been wanting to try out for a while. Really big fan now, it dries super fast and sprayed out super flat from a rattle can. Totally dry after 1 day. 

I haven't played single coils in a long time, and wow the cleans are amazing! I need to figure out some better patches for lead tones though, all mine are tailored for humbuckers.

Specs:

Set-neck Strat clone, with horns and head stock slimmed a bit more like an ESP
25.5" scale, D standard
Jesscar stainless 51/100 frets with ball ends
2 piece Ash body
Quilted maple fretboard 
Birdseye maple neck w/ a slight angle to the headstock
Hipshot tremolo
Hipshot griplock tuners
Lollar "Dirty Blackface" combo single coils 
Odies oil for the neck
Solarez grain filler and Mohawk satin acrylic poly for the body
Black Tusq XL nut
Hollow brass tube with glow powder for side inlays only


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## Strtsmthng (Sep 22, 2020)

That turned out amazing, love the fretboard and color! There should be more Straits like this and I might play one again


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## Omzig (Sep 22, 2020)

Killer work dude,crazy birdseye and swimming pool maple combo! which sets off that blur prefecture,also really love the brass rod/powered dots,I did the same with plastic fuse caps but i think i'll give the rod a try as the plastics suffered a little with varying wall thickness.


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## KR250 (Sep 23, 2020)

TBH, I think the brass/glow powder works way better with darker fretboards. I'm struggling a little bit with the contrast on the maple vs. a black pipe/luminlay setup. The brass is quite cheap though and not too difficult to work with. I used a dremel cut off wheel after tapping in portions of the tubes, then filling with powder, CA glue, then sanding it flush. I tried to make full rods with glow powder infused, but couldn't get good penetration with CA glue, and working with epoxy was quite messy.

TLDR: Luminlay still looks great and is easier to work with


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## KR250 (Sep 26, 2020)

Ok, next up is a tele build for a long time friend and former band mate. Goal is to be classy with top notch woods, but slightly understated. Probably will be nickel/chrome hardware with a black pick guard. I think all of these woods perfectly compliment each other though. It'll be all oil finish.

Sapele
Claro Walnut
Malaysian ebony
roasted flame maple


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## Strtsmthng (Sep 26, 2020)

Sounds mouth watering


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## dmlinger (Sep 26, 2020)

Pic didn't load. How is the weight on your sapele board? I used it on a build last year and it was in Les Paul weight territory for a tele. Plan on chambering it under that walnut top?


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## KR250 (Sep 26, 2020)

Ah, looks like I accidentally pasted a link from Google photos..... sorry. Here's the shot...
Yeah the Sapele is heavy. The top is pretty light in contrast, but chambering might be worthwhile for this build.


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## Strtsmthng (Sep 26, 2020)

Yes, that's the stuff


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## Solodini (Sep 30, 2020)

Loving the blue strat. Great work!


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## dmlinger (Sep 30, 2020)

Good wood! Been tempted to pick up some roasted maple for neck builds, but I still have too much other lumber to use before I drop money on that.


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## KR250 (Oct 3, 2020)

Slowly learning Fusion360, trying to revise my templates.... also received an email from Autodesk stating that certain features would be restricted starting this month, including DXF output. Seems I can still do that with sketches though. I'd like to get these to a point where MDF or clear templates can be cut by someone with a CNC, not sure if I can do that with sketches though? Do I have to turn these into components?

Anyway, feedback welcome on the headstock designs below. Straight string pull, tuners mostly lined up, and not too ugly looking hopefully. I'm offsetting each tuner center by the amount of the string width to try and keep it ultra straight. 

#1



#2



Context:

Moved the toggle location into the smaller circular route and pushed the lower horn out to try and keep it from breaking off.


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## cip 123 (Oct 3, 2020)

KR250 said:


> Slowly learning Fusion360, trying to revise my templates.... also received an email from Autodesk stating that certain features would be restricted starting this month, including DXF output. Seems I can still do that with sketches though. I'd like to get these to a point where MDF or clear templates can be cut by someone with a CNC, not sure if I can do that with sketches though? Do I have to turn these into components?
> 
> Anyway, feedback welcome on the headstock designs below. Straight string pull, tuners mostly lined up, and not too ugly looking hopefully. I'm offsetting each tuner center by the amount of the string width to try and keep it ultra straight.
> 
> ...


For a template just extrude whatever part you want say 10mm. On Fusion just select whichever bit it is, the body etc and hit E and you can extrude it. Once it's extruded you can use that body in the CAM section of Fusion. Depends who you ask to cut the templates really.

If you haven't already check out what autodesk let you use for Fusion. I use it for free since i'm mainly a hobbyist, but I think even small businesses under a certain amount of profit can use it for free.


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## KR250 (Oct 3, 2020)

cip 123 said:


> For a template just extrude whatever part you want say 10mm. On Fusion just select whichever bit it is, the body etc and hit E and you can extrude it. Once it's extruded you can use that body in the CAM section of Fusion. Depends who you ask to cut the templates really.
> 
> If you haven't already check out what autodesk let you use for Fusion. I use it for free since i'm mainly a hobbyist, but I think even small businesses under a certain amount of profit can use it for free.



Ok cool, very helpful. Yeah I'm signed up as a hobbyist as well, but they just changed the terms of the free usage starting on October 1st.


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## BlackMastodon (Oct 4, 2020)

KR250 said:


> Ok cool, very helpful. Yeah I'm signed up as a hobbyist as well, but they just changed the terms of the free usage starting on October 1st.


Yeah I looked through the email and saw they were removing some features from free accounts. At the moment I'm only using it for 3D printing and none of those really affected me but I didn't think about DXF exports for CNC. 

Worst case you could pay for a short subscription when you have a lot of drawings ready and export them as needed/use the paid features you need? Or there may be work arounds like taking the sketch and turning it into a 3D object like cip mentioned.


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## Solodini (Oct 4, 2020)

KR250 said:


> Slowly learning Fusion360, trying to revise my templates.... also received an email from Autodesk stating that certain features would be restricted starting this month, including DXF output. Seems I can still do that with sketches though. I'd like to get these to a point where MDF or clear templates can be cut by someone with a CNC, not sure if I can do that with sketches though? Do I have to turn these into components?
> 
> Anyway, feedback welcome on the headstock designs below. Straight string pull, tuners mostly lined up, and not too ugly looking hopefully. I'm offsetting each tuner center by the amount of the string width to try and keep it ultra straight.
> 
> ...




I prefer #1, but perhaps you could add more of a hook at the end (Caparison-esque?) to mirror the curves of the body horns?


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## KR250 (Oct 5, 2020)

Appreciate the feedback! I'll spend a bit more time with the headstock shape, trying to marry function with form still. In the meantime making some progress on the tele body, and have a scarf joint for the Richlite neck for another build (now glued up). If I can actually carve the damn thing, it might turn out ok!


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## Omzig (Oct 6, 2020)

GL with the Richlite, ive used it twice myself just as fretboards and twice ive later removed it from both necks and replaced it with wood, thickness'ing it was pretty fun though as it came out the chip/dust port like a pencil being sharpen in long ribbons 

What are you using to glue with? i found titebond org (red label) was pretty useless like trying to glue to glue (maybe i needed to scuff it more?) and had to remove and re glue with epoxy on the first board i used.


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## KR250 (Oct 6, 2020)

I'm using Titebond poly glue which worked well with previous Richlite pieces. Yeah, this has not been a joy to work with and I haven't even started shaping it yet. Also smells terrible, and I'm sure isn't good to breathe so wearing my full 3M face mask when working with it.


----------



## KR250 (Oct 28, 2020)

made a bit more progress on the tele build. Body is done. Neck shots in progress, still have to do fret work.




Fine tuning the neck carve



light oil coat on the fretboard



Also had a buddy bring in a new GOC guitar for a pickup swap. Pretty awesome guitar for the price, plays pretty good, though a few little inconsistencies with the neck carve. Overall a stellar deal. The hardware is also quite good and well thought out. Only issue with the head piece is too much gap between the zero fret and hardware which allows some shift on the high strings. Interestingly, the GOC website shows some sort of nut in between that is not present on this guitar, so that's on the punchlist as well. Also putting in a freeway switch which required some carving in the cavity to fit. 

I slackened the strings before taking pics, doh! 






The G string was making squeaking sounds against the zero fret when doing any sort of bend



Mocking up the new Bareknuckle Ragnarok's to check alignment. In this pic the neck pickup is actually 180 off (I fixed it) as it was built with a flipped North/South configuration. 




Adding some additional cavity shielding as it measured pretty weak, and none of the cavities were connected to each other so will tie them together with a common ground. Should have it turned around pretty quick, but a fun detour from other projects!


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## KR250 (Nov 28, 2020)

Finished up the tele build last week. It was a bit of love/hate relationship with the design and build aspect, but got it to turn out to be a good player. Buddy is picking it up tomorrow, so will see. Not a huge fan of the flat headstock design, and also the one thing I don't feel I did well on this build, so back to angled/scarf joints for anything I do going forward. The guitar plays and sounds great though, perhaps my best neck yet and it actually chugs pretty decently!

Specs:

Claro Walnut top
Sapele body
Malaysian ebony fretboard w/ black binding
Pearloid dots
Roasted flame maple neck (I love working with roasted maple)
Lollar pickups (sound awesome!)
Gotoh bridge (intonation is spot on)
Hipshot locking tuners
Tusq XL nut
Stainless frets (hemispherical ends) Jescar 51/100
Finished with Odie's oil and wood butter
Black pickguard and chrome hardware
















And now back to metal axes. In the process of updating my templates and cut out the full Richlite neck. Going with a black limba body, salvaged redwood burl top, and likely a black richlite fretboard, with burl veneer for the headstock.




Here's the money shot of the top from the seller. Love it or hate, it's like the eye of Sauron. I think an all black neck will suite it well. Will you hate me if I put in EMG X series?


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## Omzig (Nov 29, 2020)

Wow so much Tele porn here in L&M at the moment  fantastic work love it , i can not seem to find anyone stocking Flame/roasted maple neck blanks here in the UK & shipping costs are killing any chance of ordering from that hades place...btw cant say i was thinkning eye Sauron when i saw that top, but your money shot statment kind sums up what i saw in there 

Forgot to ask are you adding carbon fiber rods to the richlet neck ? i found it a little to flexable when using it as just a fretboard


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## dmlinger (Nov 29, 2020)

Super clean work on that T. The Odies you used gives the wood a nice "glow." Hard to explain, but it looks really nice. I wish I could do scarf joints like you if it makes you feel any better! 

I'm impressed with that black limba body you have there. Are you buying those pre-made, or are you gluing blanks from lumber? I can't, for the life of me, find black limba lumber near me for sale. And all of the online blanks are so over priced.


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## KnightBrolaire (Nov 29, 2020)

dmlinger said:


> Super clean work on that T. The Odies you used gives the wood a nice "glow." Hard to explain, but it looks really nice. I wish I could do scarf joints like you if it makes you feel any better!
> 
> I'm impressed with that black limba body you have there. Are you buying those pre-made, or are you gluing blanks from lumber? I can't, for the life of me, find black limba lumber near me for sale. And all of the online blanks are so over priced.


rockler usually carries good black limba. same with Unique woods NW. I bought most of my limba from those two companies.


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## dmlinger (Nov 29, 2020)

Good to know about Rockler! I'll call my local shops to see what they have and will check out the other. Thanks!


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## KR250 (Nov 29, 2020)

Thanks for the comments. Buddy just picked up the tele and was super stoked. Plugged it into my Mesa cab with the Helix, and man, it's got a really versatile range of tones. I may need to do another one for myself in the future. 



Omzig said:


> Forgot to ask are you adding carbon fiber rods to the richlet neck ? i found it a little to flexable when using it as just a fretboard


I wasn't planning on using any carbon on the richlite neck, at the current moment I'm almost worried about it being TOO stiff. I guess we'll see after it gets a carve, if I can carve it. Really just a big experiment, but apparently others have used it before so we'll see.



dmlinger said:


> I'm impressed with that black limba body you have there. Are you buying those pre-made, or are you gluing blanks from lumber? I can't, for the life of me, find black limba lumber near me for sale. And all of the online blanks are so over priced.


I've been stocking up from online resellers any chance I see one, which isn't often anymore. And yes they've been pricey. This one I've been hanging on to for about 3 years, but I've 3 more that are at least equally good waiting for exactly the right build. Because it's so hard to find I've been starting to use Sapele a lot more, easy to find nice pieces.


----------



## BlackMastodon (Nov 30, 2020)

KR250 said:


> Will you hate me if I put in EMG X series?


Ew, EMGs are SoOoOo 2007. 

/s


----------



## KR250 (Dec 7, 2020)

Alright, EMG's aside (still going in ...) I started a new bass build as a trade for some go-fast car parts. "Turbo Bass!"

4 string bass
1 pc epic Black limba body
Claro walnut top
5pc wenge padauk neck
More details once it's completed











Thought about adding a cool laminate in the scarf, but decided to line it up best I could and came out pretty decent. 



I'm making coasters out of a bunch of scrap wood from past builds for gifts this year. Last year was cutting boards. No pieces go to waste!



Previous batch finished.


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## Omzig (Dec 8, 2020)

Super as always i love your labs and scarf work so dam clean!, i remember a post from the old talk bass build forums about making lambs scaf's with inter locking strips, i'll try and make up a diagram for it, i cant recall seeing it used anywere else but it seemed like a great method, also very cool idea on the coaster i think i'll do that with some of my scraps and some cork i have kicking about.


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## KnightBrolaire (Dec 9, 2020)

dmlinger said:


> Good to know about Rockler! I'll call my local shops to see what they have and will check out the other. Thanks!


my bad, it wasn't unique woods NW, it was Tropical Exotic Hardwoods out of california. They get some massive slabs of limba.


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## Omzig (Dec 13, 2020)

So this following image might explain what i was babbling on about with the inter locking lams and how to cut them 







I haven't gotten around to testing this out myself yet, but it should result in a much stronger joint as it doesn't just rely on the glue to hold everything together, let me know what you think


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Dec 13, 2020)

Omzig said:


> So this following image might explain what i was babbling on about with the inter locking lams and how to cut them
> 
> 
> 
> ...


slap some dovetails in there lol


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## Omzig (Dec 13, 2020)

KnightBrolaire said:


> slap some dovetails in there lol



Can't see how that would be relivent to this kind of angled joint,aren't dove tails just for face on side to side joins ? the above method has no more extra cuts than a standard scarf it's just that the wood is arranged in a different config to crate a physical lock, you can see how it works by interlocking your fingers in a similar manner...


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## KR250 (Dec 13, 2020)

Omzig said:


> So this following image might explain what i was babbling on about with the inter locking lams and how to cut them
> I haven't gotten around to testing this out myself yet, but it should result in a much stronger joint as it doesn't just rely on the glue to hold everything together, let me know what you think



Oh cool! Thanks for sharing. Trying to picture the sequence of cuts to make that happen, but it looks like a degree of extra precision and planning required. 

Made a little more progress on the bass today, might be the last bit until January as I've got a brutal last week at work before tackling a large room remodel during the holiday break. 




Ran out of time for the final spoke wheel cuts, almost there!



Fretboard slotted using the table saw jig at 34" scale. 21 frets. 



Finished another batch of guitar wood coasters:



Using all of the scraps I can find from previous builds, lol:


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## Omzig (Dec 14, 2020)

Super  as i recall the guy who posted the interlocking lams idea made up the neck sections and head/angled sections as different glue ups with over hangging intersections and once glued yogether it was trimmed and planned down flush, if i get chance over the holiday break im going to have a play alt ways to make it up and see which works out best.

Love the wenge maple coster kind of has a viper vibe to it.


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## electriceye (Dec 17, 2020)

I really like how that wenge/padauk looks! I just cut some padauk strips for that very purpose to go with all the wenge I bought several months ago for necks. Can't wait to see that bass finished. Everything about the body is awesome, too.


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## KR250 (Dec 17, 2020)

This build is going to go on hold slightly while I tackle a room demo/remodel over the break. One thing I need to try and figure out though is how to cleanly cut roughly .5" off the top of the Limba body so I can re-use (cover plates etc) it vs. just planing it down and wasting it. Unfortunately it's way too big for my bandsaw as a 1 pc body and I'm not going to split it. Would be a shame to waste so much of such a cool piece. 

Thoughts? Really thin handsaw?


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## Omzig (Dec 17, 2020)

Humm some thing alone the lines of a diy Frame saw, might be kinda hard on a pre - cut body though.


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## KR250 (Dec 17, 2020)

Oh snap! Looks like I know what to do with my extra ripping blade now! TY


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## electriceye (Dec 23, 2020)

KR, how big is the body blank? I'd be happy to resaw with mine, but I'm in CT. Doubt you'd want to pay to ship it back and forth, but I'll gladly help if you want. But I'm sure you can find someone closer to do it. I've done exactly that with a couple of body blanks before. I agree, it's an absolute waste to plane down more than 1/4".


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## KR250 (Dec 23, 2020)

electriceye said:


> KR, how big is the body blank? I'd be happy to resaw with mine, but I'm in CT. Doubt you'd want to pay to ship it back and forth, but I'll gladly help if you want. But I'm sure you can find someone closer to do it. I've done exactly that with a couple of body blanks before. I agree, it's an absolute waste to plane down more than 1/4".



Appreciate the offer! The blank is pretty big and heavy, about 13"x20"x2". Guessing shipping would likely make it prohibitively expensive. I'll search around locally first, but will keep your offer in mind. I won't be able to get to it for a few more weeks, gotta finish a room remodel first.


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## electriceye (Dec 23, 2020)

KR250 said:


> Appreciate the offer! The blank is pretty big and heavy, about 13"x20"x2". Guessing shipping would likely make it prohibitively expensive. I'll search around locally first, but will keep your offer in mind. I won't be able to get to it for a few more weeks, gotta finish a room remodel first.



Yeah, any 14" bandsaw can handle a blank that big.


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## KR250 (Feb 13, 2021)

Finally got around to tackling this body. I'm definitely upgrading my "14 inch" bandsaw for bigger re-sawing as soon as soon I can afford to, this sucked. 

Used the table saw to cut a guide around the whole body then used a hand saw for a long, long, long time to finish the cut and then planed it smooth.






Got a really nice 1 pc Black Limba top out of the process though so it was worth it.


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## KR250 (Mar 24, 2021)

Ok, well it's almost a completed bass now. Did some initial hardware mock up before gluing up and oiling. I'm quite pleased with how it's looking so far. Should be a good player too assuming all goes to plan. It's not for me so starting some separation anxiety already.

3 coats of oil this time to get some really good penetration, have yet to apply the final wax coat.






I'll probably put some foil in the pickup route.



Couple more clean-up spots I can see, but damn, look at that thing pop!



Also got a new rig to test completed guitars to see how they go chug chug.


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## neun Arme (Mar 25, 2021)

Simply gorgeous!!!!


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## Omzig (Mar 26, 2021)

Wow that walnut top! and with the other wood combo's...stunning


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## Spicypickles (Mar 29, 2021)

Damn that top is sick


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## KR250 (Mar 29, 2021)

Last shots of it essentially completed. Just waiting on a stacked nickel plated bass/treble knob and trying to find where I left the strap locks. I plugged it and played for a bit to start finalizing the action and the quad coil Nordstrand pickup sounds awesome! I got my measurements for bridge height close but I'm near bottom of the adjustment range. Plays better than my name brand basses. but sadly this one is not for me. Trading for some car parts so I dub this "Turbo bass"!

Build #16 
34" scale 4 string Stingray style bass
Top: Curly Claro Walnut
Body: Black Limba
Fretboard: Birdseye Maple
Neck: Wenge/Padauk w/scarf joint - black binding w/Luminlay side dots
Hardware: Hipshot A style bridge with ultralite tuners
Electronics: Nordstrand MM.4 quad coil pickup with push/pull vol for active/passive preamp, stacked bass/treble, DPDT for coil splitting, tone, and best of all.... a blend knob for the single pickup :/ 
Finish: Odies oil and Odies wood butter










Wiring it wasn't too bad, but a few wires broke off the pre-wired volume pot and had to chase a short from part of the hot lead on the pot lug that was apparently too close to the shielding. All good now and managed to cram the battery in too, though in retrospect it would have been nicer to have the knobs spaced further apart. 




Next build is partially in progress but I may divert and do a pointy guitar once I make some more design revisions on the star shape.


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## KR250 (Apr 22, 2021)

Well slight diversion.... checked in with buddy build #6 and it developed a slight bow in the neck since it was finished 3 years ago. I re-leveled the fretboard and installed new frets, almost there. Not sure if it was the wenge I used not being mature enough or issues with storage location. 




Just need to level/polish frets and fill the slot ends. 



Also, for the record I never accepted any money from this guy: https://www.sevenstring.org/threads/kyle-was-gonna-make-me-a-custom-and-then-ghosted.347162/

He tried to get me to build for him before under different names/handles/stories, but well..... yeah.... sometimes it's best to refuse a build.


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## DiezelMonster (May 2, 2021)

Killer builds! but man I want that boogie!

Is it a Dual or a Triple? Love the chrome chassis and the smooth blue jewel lens on those older Rectos!
Bet it sounds killer


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## KR250 (May 3, 2021)

DiezelMonster said:


> Is it a Dual or a Triple? Love the chrome chassis and the smooth blue jewel lens on those older Rectos!
> Bet it sounds killer



It's the Triple, been on my bucket list for a long time and sounds great with that cab.


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## KR250 (Jun 2, 2021)

Finally getting back into building again, had a diversion with car hobbies that I've mostly scratched for now. Slotted the Richlite fret board tonight to go along with the Richlite neck I did a while ago. Still need to route the truss rod and glue it all up. 

Trying to decide if I want to do binding on this thing. The top is pretty thin so could do binding with a forearm bevel only, or maybe just no binding and a very slight bevel all around. Not sure on the neck, probably keep it all jet black with white/luminlay or pearl inlays. Maybe a white/bone nut? I think I'm going to try for a gloss top (it's pretty soft), maybe satin or oil on the rest of it. Not totally decided on this one yet. 

Hardware is going to be pretty simple, EMG's and a Hipshot bridge/tuners. 26.378" scale this time. Trying a compromise from 27" where even a full step down I have to go really thin on the high strings for the tension I like.


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## JimF (Jun 3, 2021)

Gorgeous combination of woods, and a great headstock design.
I too have car hobbies and it can be very distracting!


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## KR250 (Sep 17, 2021)

Haven't been active here in a while, but nearly done with the latest 7 string build. Went back to BriteTone for the finish on this one and used a taklon brush to apply which worked out reasonably well. It was super easy to apply, though spraying would have been better. 10 coats total and letting it cure a few more weeks before level sanding and buffing out.

Some in progress shots:


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## RobDobble6S7 (Sep 20, 2021)

Unbelievable stuff, man. Just read through all these builds and it's crazy to see this really good progression in a builder.


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## Samark (Sep 20, 2021)

Really great work. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the Richlite neck - love the look of it


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## Taylor (Sep 20, 2021)

Samark said:


> Really great work. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the Richlite neck - love the look of it



I'll second that. Been thinking about trying richlite out.


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## KR250 (Sep 20, 2021)

Well, I'm putting EMG's in it so the tone wood debate is out.  

While it was some work to shape and cut it (don't even think about trying to plane or joint it - it just skips over the blades), there are some major benefits to using the Richlite already from a construction standpoint. Typically even with laminated wood necks there is a small amount of movement after carving out the neck profile, usually I'll wait a week or two and re-level before attaching the fret board. On this Richlite, it stayed dead flat throughout carving and shaping. I've got 4 more blanks and planning to use them again in future builds. I'll try and get a demo clip once it's completed.


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## KR250 (Nov 6, 2021)

Finally, NGD! 

This one took way too long, mostly getting the finish right (or the best I could). I had intentions of trying to recoup some cost for future builds by selling it, but I may keep it. As mentioned above, it has a full Richlite neck & fretboard which was a super PITA to work with, but I'm quite happy with it's stability. Did a quick setup on it and going to let it sit a few days and then fine tune the action a bit lower, but it plays really nicely. 

Build specs:

Style: 7 string set neck
Tuning: A standard
Scale: 670mm
Bridge: Hipshot fixed .175" base
Pickups: EMG 81X(b) 85X(n)
Hardware Color: Black, Dunlop recessed strap locks
Body: Black Limba with black pearl binding
Top: Salvaged Redwood Burl
Neck: Richlite w/scarf joint
Fret board: Richlite with black pearl binding and Luminlay side dots
Head Stock: 4x3
Tuners: Hipshot 19mm open griplock
Nut: Black Tusq XL
Frets: 24 Jescar 57/110 with ball ends
Truss Rod: Spoke wheel at neck pocket
Finish: Crystalac Britetone gloss poly on the top, Minwax satin poly on back and sides










Really need a proper buffing wheel, but came out pretty decent for using buffing pads in a hand drill.



Minwax satin poly never disappoints. I sprayed it over many layers of level sanded gloss.


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## RobDobble6S7 (Nov 6, 2021)

KR250 said:


> Finally, NGD!
> 
> This one took way too long, mostly getting the finish right (or the best I could). I had intentions of trying to recoup some cost for future builds by selling it, but I may keep it. As mentioned above, it has a full Richlite neck & fretboard which was a super PITA to work with, but I'm quite happy with it's stability. Did a quick setup on it and going to let it sit a few days and then fine tune the action a bit lower, but it plays really nicely.
> 
> ...


Pretty!


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## neun Arme (Nov 7, 2021)

Excellent! Good job, dude.


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## JimF (Nov 8, 2021)

That's stunning! Great work!


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## Jeffrey Bain (Nov 16, 2021)

This one came out great! Been loving keeping up with you on instagram


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## Solodini (Nov 17, 2021)

That looks great, good job. I love the contrast of gloss front and matt back. Limba just looks so good with a matt finish. Looks so comfy.


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## KR250 (Jun 23, 2022)

Haven't posted here in a while, but still somewhat active on builds in between house remodel projects, day job, and car projects. More active on IG now but will try and post completed builds here.

I finished up the 7 string Jem, it had a lot of challenges (parts build), and while not perfect, it ended up turning out pretty good and the sustaniac is really cool!




Also starting on a new 7 string multi-scale star body shape. I went over all of the existing shapes out there I could find and tried draw up what is hopefully something new, but in subtle ways. Pretty pleased with the direction it's headed and hoping to move a bit faster once I finish up the rest of the templating. 

It's getting another full richlite neck/fretboard, with a pretty insane coolibah burl top. 

Dubbing it the "blade star".


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## JimF (Jun 24, 2022)

I love that! That warrior-esque rear lower bout makes it!


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## Xaeldaren (Jun 24, 2022)

KR250 said:


> Finally, NGD!
> 
> This one took way too long, mostly getting the finish right (or the best I could). I had intentions of trying to recoup some cost for future builds by selling it, but I may keep it. As mentioned above, it has a full Richlite neck & fretboard which was a super PITA to work with, but I'm quite happy with it's stability. Did a quick setup on it and going to let it sit a few days and then fine tune the action a bit lower, but it plays really nicely.
> 
> ...



This is absolutely stunning! I'm curious, what do you think of the purely Richlite neck? Have you noticed anything in particular about it as opposed to wooden necks?


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## KR250 (Jun 24, 2022)

Xaeldaren said:


> This is absolutely stunning! I'm curious, what do you think of the purely Richlite neck? Have you noticed anything in particular about it as opposed to wooden necks?


I'm keeping that one for the moment, so have been able to play it a bit here and there. Here's some observations so far:

Putting it together and shaping it is the hard part. Dulls blades quickly. Have to run really low RPM for any cutting, drilling, or routing. No chipping or tear out which is nice. Poly glue worked well though. Dust is nasty, wear all the protection when cutting or sanding. 

It's cheap, got each neck blank for $20 from a local furniture/woodworking shop. 

The real advantages show in the fretwork. There is zero shifting of any sort when cutting or shaping it so the fretboard surface stays absolutely flat, and hence fretwork came out great. It's virtually indestructible, so no worries about it breaking or snapping, and hasn't shifted a bit since it was built. 

It's a touch heavy, but no more than using ebony for a neck. I went a bit thinner on the headstock to shave a bit off. 

So far it's holding a poly based finish really well. Super fast feeling neck.


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## Samark (Jun 27, 2022)

Thanks mate for the detailed breakdown. I am super keen to use richlite for necks and boards going forward.

Outstanding work and love the new shape. Looking forward to watching the progression


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## DistinguishedPapyrus (Jun 28, 2022)

KR250 said:


> Finally getting back into building again, had a diversion with car hobbies that I've mostly scratched for now. Slotted the Richlite fret board tonight to go along with the Richlite neck I did a while ago. Still need to route the truss rod and glue it all up.
> 
> Trying to decide if I want to do binding on this thing. The top is pretty thin so could do binding with a forearm bevel only, or maybe just no binding and a very slight bevel all around. Not sure on the neck, probably keep it all jet black with white/luminlay or pearl inlays. Maybe a white/bone nut? I think I'm going to try for a gloss top (it's pretty soft), maybe satin or oil on the rest of it. Not totally decided on this one yet.
> 
> ...


interesting, I've never seen a Richlite neck. How heavy is it? I've only worked with Richlite once for a fretboard but ultimately removed it because pulling the frets out caused major chipping, more than any wood I've worked with. I didnt wanna take on a refret job later on.


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## KR250 (Jun 30, 2022)

DistinguishedPapyrus said:


> interesting, I've never seen a Richlite neck. How heavy is it? I've only worked with Richlite once for a fretboard but ultimately removed it because pulling the frets out caused major chipping, more than any wood I've worked with. I didnt wanna take on a refret job later on.


Noted above, weight is similar to ebony. I haven't had any chipping issues with it, but also no reason to pull frets. Routing has been far nicer than woods such as wenge, cuts really clean but you have to go slow.


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## High Plains Drifter (Jun 30, 2022)

It's not just the impeccable craftsmanship that blows me away but the wood/ hardware choices and combinations as well. Exquisite aesthetics and everything so well thought out... designs, stains, colors, finishes, control cavity layouts, etc. And they each appear top-tier in comfort. Also love the subtle aggression of your head-stock design. Oh and that t-shape is just sexy af. Truly amazing talent.


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## KR250 (Dec 11, 2022)

Been a little while, but finally finished this one up this weekend and shipping out tomorrow.

Made a new template with this being the first prototype, and while not perfect, I'm pretty happy with it. Next one is probably going to be pretty similar to this, or possibly use a larger version of this shape for another 10 string, but headless. 

Specs:
7 string multiscale 25.5-27"
Sapele body wood
Coolibah burl top wood with a dye and gloss finish
Full Richlite neck and fretboard
Luminlay side dots
SS frets w/zero fret
Fishman Fluence modern pickups
Hipshot bridge/tuners


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## Samark (Dec 11, 2022)

Spectacular!


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## JimF (Dec 12, 2022)

Wow!
That is STUNNING! I love the symmetry in the bevel on the horns.
Great design!


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## Xaeldaren (Dec 12, 2022)

That's gorgeous! The all-richlite neck is intrguing. What's that like?


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## Lemonbaby (Dec 12, 2022)

@KR250 Dig your take on the Warrior shape. Body looks really thick though - how heavy is that guitar?


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## KR250 (Dec 12, 2022)

Lemonbaby said:


> @KR250 Dig your take on the Warrior shape. Body looks really thick though - how heavy is that guitar?


Pretty standard, 1.75". It's got some heft, but it resonates really nicely.


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## Shawn (Dec 12, 2022)

Nice work! Looks amazing.


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## KR250 (Dec 12, 2022)

Xaeldaren said:


> That's gorgeous! The all-richlite neck is intrguing. What's that like?


Some impressions in post #302 from previous build also using a Richlite neck.




__





KR250 Consolidated Build Thread


Finally, NGD! This one took way too long, mostly getting the finish right (or the best I could). I had intentions of trying to recoup some cost for future builds by selling it, but I may keep it. As mentioned above, it has a full Richlite neck & fretboard which was a super PITA to work with...




sevenstring.org


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## Xaeldaren (Dec 12, 2022)

KR250 said:


> Some impressions in post #302 from previous build also using a Richlite neck.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


My memory is so terrible I forgot that I already asked you about this on a previous build


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