Guitar - 7 String Build - P4

Finishing...

... ugh...

I initially dyed the guitar a vibrant red-orange but didn't like it so I resanded the entire guitar back down and gave it a coffee brown back, black top, and natural faux binding. I use Transtint dyes and have tried others but these are definetely the most concentrated. I have some quality water color pastes I will try for the next build...

Finish coats: Normally a super high-gloss lacquer finish would be called, but I wanted to try something else and I didn't feel like spending all the time a nice lacquer finish requires (call me lazy, yea, but I just want to play the dang thing already and have too many important projects going on right now). An oil'esque finish also is more 'ergonomic' in a sense. The finish wont hold a cold like lacquer does and high gloss necks are not fun to play on - sticky sticky! I also want to try some earth-friendly finishes now that I am old enough to care about my environment to some extent... Water-based it is! I'm giving Minwax's Polycrylic a whirl for a few reasons: 1) It's water-based. 2) It's cheap. 3) It's 100% clear (no tints like many oil-based products). You can also easily dilute it and use it as a wipe-on although, I would not recommend this for a 'gloss' finish. After a few wipe-on coats to soak in, I sanded with 220g and began the 4-5 top coats via spray. I am a firm believer that a wipe/brush-on finish is NOT suitable for anything other than satin or very 'light' coats which simulate an oil type finish. There's no way to avoid lines and for a semi-gloss finish you cannot colorsand and buff the finish to the final result. The last sprayed coat is the end of the road. Heck, in some sense it makes it a little less error-tolerant than something a lot of sanding could fix.

Phil

Guitar - 7 String Build - P3

The guitar is carved with nothing more than a 4 1/2" angle grinder, belt sander, and die grinder. This is a very sensitive procedure as one foul swoop with any of these tools can ruin the entire instrument! I don't like to use any 'guides' for the carving, instead testing the feel as I go along. 2 hours later:

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I wanted to do something neat with the string-thrus and figured a slight recess would match the bridge recess quite nicely. These pockets were done with a jig and router with a cove bit installed. The guide was angled so that the recesses actually appear as tear drops.

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After all of the carving is finished, it's time to get out the ol sanding block! After I've gotten the guitar up to 150g, I fill all open grains with McFaddens fillers (after raising the grain a few times!). I reduce the fillers so that they fill easier. You must be warned, however, that reducing a tinted filler too much will allow the pigment to seep into the wood, requiring heavier sanding to remove. The effect is exaggerated on darker fillers such as those for mahogany. After the entire body is filled, I resand back to 150 and raise the grain another 2-3 times and sand back out to 150g again. Time to stain (well, actally, 'dye')!

Guitar - 7 String Build - P2

The project is underway - I now have some direction with the project. I want a minimalistic/natural feel. Simple non-rigid lines and no clutter. The natural randomness of the top should be the main focus. To emphasize the top, I've decided to use a simple finish. I was thinking tung oil or Arm-R-Seal for additional protection. Color will likely be bright red/orange... although I really want a black guitar too... we'll see...

I've glued the top laminate to the bottom after first routing the body channels:




I don't have a bandsaw with a 30" throat so a standard ol jigsaw works just fine for rough cutting the outline:


The outside rout is done with a big 3/4" OD bit with 1" bushing. Using a large bit helps prevent chipout but you must still ensure you remove only a little material at a time. The direction you want to rout also changes depending on the curve/grain around the body. Another little tip I use when doing this rout is to manually put 'dips' in critical areas. Doing this prevents a massive chipout, instead limiting it to the next 'dip.'


By using a bit/bush combination, I have the option of creating a slightly smaller (or larger) outline depending on my mood by changing the bit-bush offset. Using the standard bearing doesn't permit this flexibility.

The inner routs are also done with the templates I made earlier (and yes, templates are the best way to do it!). This includes the recessed bridge, pickup routs, and string channel routs.


The back of this guitar also has some neat tricks. The electronics cover is actually a piece of thin steel with a veneer of ... overlaid. This allows the use of a few neo magnets to hold it in place. No ugly screws peeping through! Ideally (and if I didn't forget!) I would have drilled the magnet holes before gluing on the top - from the other side so that they are completely hidden... even with the cover off. This also ensures they won't fall out. That's where some decent epoxy comes in handy.




I don't like pickup rings and adjust the p/u height once - so why even have those ugly rings?! By simply cutting off the mounting tabs, one can use some type of high-quality double-sided tape, velcro, etc... Simplicity!

So for my lightening scheme is working out good. The guitar is pretty light already and I still have some more material to remove!

Next up: Carving!

- Phil

Guitar - New 7 String Build!

The wood's all dry and I'm ready to roll! This guitar is designed for all around playing. It will feature an erratic maple burl top, walnut edge stripe, cherry 'wing strips,' and mahogany back. The neck is a 5 piece mahogany/maple laminate which I had custom made by Soulmate (check him out - his necks are excellent!). The profile is somewhere between a Carvin and an Ibanez and is just right. The bridge is a good ol tune-o-matic for unobstructed rhythm playing and sustain. I will probalby only put one pickup in since I do not want to clutter this instrument. I hardly ever use the neck positions anyway.

Probably the most striking and radically new feature for this instrument is the introduction of what I have dubbed: "blind controls." This is an electronics project which is based on capacitive touch sensors to provide totally hidden controls. To operate you simply swipe your finger across an area of the body. This can be used to control anything - volume, pickup switching, tone, the lights in the house, etc... I am pretty sure (at least to my research) that I am the first to do this kinda thing for this application. I will offer the electronics and retrofits for other common guitars using this system shortly! There will also be another posting discussing the design. If you'd like a system for your project, drop me a line!

The past week I glued up the top and back/neck. The top is actually composed of a maple-walnut laminate which will appear as a walnut stripe around the guitar. Before the top is attached to the base, however, I've decided to do a few routs - for weight reduction and the wiring channels for the pickups (no more 12" long drill bits!)... This and all of the routs are made possible by the use of 3 separate Lexan templates which I've carefully drawn in CAD to provide all of the bushing offsets. Using a standard bit with a bushing set not only saves considerable money, but allows easier depth control and eliminates bearing marks.

Gluing the wings to the neck:

Milling the back half of the guitar with fly cutter to ensure a nice flat surface for gluing the top:

Maple and Walnut laminate for top:

Creating the neck pocket in the top billets:


- Phil