The world of Wez :)

WezV

Its actually been far too long since I made a neck from scratch.    

Just dug a block of flamed maple, carbon fiber rods and a dual action truss rod.  I also have a pre-cut fanned fret fretboard in maple that GSP sent me ( i really must get him to do me some ebony ones soon)

The maple is now all marked and measured and carbon fibre is installed ready to go.  It will be the neck for the thinline body peviously shown, all leading up to making that 9 string fanned fret acoustic I have been talking about for over a year ( i did actually bend some sides for it a few days ago)

WezV

okay, just bound the neck.   I am using flamed maple binding with black veneer above and behind.  You can buy flamed maple binding with a black strip already on the bottom, but for some reason i did not do that... same result, just a bit more work to get there

still need to clean it all up but this gives you an idea

plain maple board with black veneer /flamed maple double binding

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zps83efad61.jpg

you can see the black veneer underneath here - although it will be much sharper once cleaned up.  You can also see the flamed maple neck blank - much darker maple and a bit grimey from handling here

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zps04286339.jpg

Here it is with the body, shown previously, its a semi design

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zpsae8f2c55.jpg

and a quick mockup - gonna be a fat bottomed girl in more ways than one

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zpscda4748e.jpg

a few things to note:

* the combination of fanned frets, longer scales and quite thick binding makes the neck look narrow.  Its 58mm at the last fret and 45mm at the nut (measured across the neck from the treble side, no following the nut)- so actually quite a wide neck

*  i have not trimmed the end piece, normally you would extend the 2 side pieces of binding and put the end bit in between... but a small error in positioning meant i needed to do it differently.  this will be one of those small cosmetic flaws that i will never be able to unsee.  

* it will have f-holes, pickups and controls, and a handmade bridge... but i am not totally settled on the rest of the design.  I have not put the back on the guitar so am going to use this opportunity to put it together as a bolt-on neck and test a few things.  once happy  i will assemble properly and the bolt holes will be plugged and hidden by the back

* colours of wood.  i have 2 types of flamed maple, plain maple, flamed sycamore and spruce in this.  If i finished it natural all those pale looking woods would end up very different colours, still not sure what the finish will be, but its somethign to keep in mind.  So far i am loving the clean expanse of a flamed maple fretboard and probably won't inlay anything in it, but if I do it will be black

WezV

So at the moment I am having a bit of a sort out of some of my own guitars.   Before i moved some went in storage and have not faired brilliantly well from it.  time to get them sorted

First up is a tenor ukulele I made from a stew-mac kit I was given as a present.

I did an experimental finish on it which is worn red over worn copper leaf - a bit of a movie prop relic

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/P1030736_zps10cd2d30.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/P1030734_zps7bba0d3e.jpg

Its just had a full set-up and I also brought some felt plectrums.   it sounds great and I find myself playing this a lot at the moment

these are the next 3 to get treatment

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/P1030737_zps4af59e8c.jpg

The acoustic is another made from a stew-mac kit. Its just had a good clean and a new set of strings.  This acoustic always sounded a very dull to me. but it has opened up a lot as its aged and the oil finish has cured.   I am just trying some ernie ball aluminium/bronze  strings and I have gone down to 11's from the usual 12's or 13's.    Its really come to life after a bit of attention, sounds really full and lush.  better from strumming than finger picking.  Its always been one I have been a bit ashamed of, but its going to get a lot of playing now

The archtop has already had a neck reset, new fretboard, and graphite reinforcement added to the neck.  The neck has been recarved to slightly less of a boat.  Its had a new kent armstrong  pickup, aged to match.  just needs a pickguard now

The stratele in the middle is finished in aluminium, copper and bronze and distressed.  Its always been a finish to split the crowd, and i don't really like it anymore

so apart it comes

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/P1030741_zpscf7ea0d1.jpg

ad after a bit of time with the heat gun and sander we are back to idigbo.  done the back too but still need to do the sides - I won't look forward to that

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/P1030742_zpsa5ecf2ee.jpg

WezV

a bit of template making

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zpsd648836b.jpg

DrBob

That Superstrat one looks sharp, what's that going to be Wez ?

Gassage

@wezv

I have really noticed how much your builds have improved since the input of master luthier @mdphillips1956

You've learned a lot from the master- but there's still a long way to go before you can cut a nut like he can....

WezV

DrBob said:

That Superstrat one looks sharp, what's that going to be Wez ?

My cousin mentioned that he wanted to build a caparison. so I made the template based on this pic.

http://www.planet-musician.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/horus_m3_br_ef1.jpeg

WezV

that led to this (for me, not the one my cousin wants to build)

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zps23b7e3db.jpg

WezV

a bit more done this evening:

I have left extra wood on the side of the neck pocket just for some extra support whilst routing, it will come away at a later date

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zpsbe5fac1f.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zpsc1ce272f.jpg

the tele saddles are just to show where the bridge will be.  I will be using individual bridges

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zps36d9601d.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zpscf1c2526.jpg

DrBob

WezV;364226" said:

that led to this (for me, not the one my cousin wants to build)http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zps23b7e3db.jpg

Ooh, a fanned fret ! That's cool how much offset in scale is there between lowest & highest strings ?

WezV

its 25-27" with the perp at the 12th fret.  I got this neck from parable guitars a few years ago and once i had made the caparison template yesterday this seemed like a good use for it.

sinbaadi

Very nice, what happens with the bottom end of the neck there, where the section is protruding from underneath the fret board?

WezV

I misread that and typed a reply about the strip of wood on the treble side of the neck pocket - so i typed:

I made the template a bit oversized in this area as i feel a 7 string may need to be made at some point.    On this guitar its going to be trimmed back  and have the heel reshaped  

....

but i think you are actually talking about the extra bit of neck tenon.   Its shaped like a normal full width tenon for easy of fitting, i used a standard ibanez neck pocket template to route this.  It does mean you get a bit of extra neck wood showing, this will be routed flush with the body and probably left visible.   If i was putting a neck pickup in i would hide it under there, but i think for this i would rather show it off.

WezV

I have roughed in some contours, not really visible in the pics but its looking a lot sleeker

we have forearm, gut cut and a small scallop in each cutaway

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zpsbd95bccd.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zps548bdc63.jpg

sinbaadi

Yes, I meant the neck tenon, sorry.  Though the other part you mention, is that why the lower arm looks oh so slightly stubbier than the caparison, or is it?  Either way I'm always dead impressed by the quality you achieve.  What are you using for the contouring, out of interest?

WezV

Its not a dead on copy of a caparison, just heavily influenced by for the shape

for a start,  I have carved quite differently and the whole thing is larger.  This body is pretty much strat dimensions, rather than dinky or n4 size.  I also won't be using the headstock template, that was for my cousin so he can make himself one.  I hate the headstock, he loves it

contouring was all done with rasps followed by a sander.  I use a japanese saw rasp for most of it as its very quick ... 15 mins to get to the stage you see above... although that is partly because this idigbo carves so well

WezV

headstock has been cut

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zps4805af9b.jpg

WezV

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zps94c90e23.jpg

sinbaadi

Very snappy.

EdGrip

Oh, man.

Wow.

Starcasters.