NuAge Tonewood - Build thread

paulnb57

WezV said:

It's not too bad.  They have matched the end grain pretty well so it doesn't jump out in most areas.  Just a couple where it's more obvious.  Will get some pics at some point.

It will get a solid finish

Cheers!

WezV

Added some more chambers.   Also changed neck for a large headstock allparts one.



With more hardware and a bigger headstock than previous weigh ins


That will do.   On to finishing soon

PhilKing

You could recut that headstock for a bit more of a Bigsby look, given the pickup.  I think it would make a great statement.

WezV

Wouldn't take much at all, maybe I should

WezV

maybe???

ThePrettyDamned

Looks really good. I reckon your plan on the headstock will look great and shave an epic 5g off the weight.  

PhilKing

I really think it will look great like that.  It's just different enough in the headstock shape to be distinctive.

WezV

I did it.


Also got a coat of white primer on body and head. 

Corvus

Nice... the new head goes well with the p/g shape too I reckon.

WezV

It's now a creamy yellow,  somewhere between the two pics below



Needs buffing out properly.  But so far so good. 

The NuAge Rosewood took a finish pretty well, but it did drink up more lacquer than I expected... certainly not like the fully acrylised wood I have used before, which was more like plastic than wood.  This stuff behaves like alder or basswood when finishing with lacquer

WezV

its come together rather nicely.

I want to give it a bit of light ageing still, but its wired up and playable


the pickup seems pretty good, loads of clarity and more power than I expected... will see how it copes with a bit of gain soon

break angle over the bridge is a little low, but strings are staying in the saddles so no issue.  I am kinda tempted to put a screw through the middle of the diamond with a spring underneath so I can control  break angle a bit


I think the end result looks like a cheap 60's catalogue guitar, somewhere between  dano, supro, guyatone, teisco etc???  Funny how mixing fender, gibson and bigsby got me there? Thankfully it's a lot more playable and reliable than the looks suggest

SteveRobinson

Needs a fancy arm rest and your name inlaid in the pickguard

Rabs

Pickguards do funny things to the eyes in terms of how you perceive the rest of the body... Like a person with a completely different haircut like going long to short can look so different but still obviously be the same person..     

Nice

Winny_Pooh

It looks great! Now it just needs a B7 bigsby

WezV

Winny_Pooh said:

It looks great! Now it just needs a B7 bigsby

I actually checked with a bigsby copy I have here, position of the bridge is a little further back than a LP due to the extra scale length, so it sits too close.

If I had thought about it sooner I might have gone that way.   

Winny_Pooh

WezV said:

Winny_Pooh said:

It looks great! Now it just needs a B7 bigsby

I actually checked with a bigsby copy I have here, position of the bridge is a little further back than a LP due to the extra scale length, so it sits too close.

If I had thought about it sooner I might have gone that way.   

Yanuziello does a cool thing, he chops off the roller bar from a b5 and grinds and polishes the rest up till it looks like so:



He also recesses it very smartly

WezV

A b3 would fit too, just the B700 clone I have here touched the bridge posts.

I did try a vintage teisco  trem too, but couldn't bring myself to do it

PhilKing

Looks great Wez, very old looking, the pickup and the knobs help too.

WezV

PhilKing said:

Looks great Wez, very old looking, the pickup and the knobs help too.

Yeah, I'm going with it and adding a bit if ageing.  So far jutst a few chips, small bits of wear through and a little dirt

WezV

All done now. 

The NuAge body has worked well.    Its final weight is 8.9lb.  So weighty, but not crazy heavy 

The nitro finish has carried on shrinking into it, more than I expected... It even looks a little ridged in places now.   I had assumed the treatment on the wood would reduce this, but its actually behaved just like wood does.

I  added some more ageing to the neck.  Also put a screw though the tailpiece with a spring underneath so the break angle can be controlled.