Klein build

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A bit late to the lockdown build party, but here we go.

The next build was going to be an incremental improvement on the last one: a small, lightweight headless guitar, this time with Hipshot tuners and headpiece. Then @octatonic started a thread about Klein ergonomic guitars. Now I’ve always wondered what a Klein feels like to play. The only way to find out is to build one.

So the body outline is fixed. It will have a J Custom fixed bridge because a) I’ve got one, and b) I don’t use a trem. The headpiece I’m not sure about, I’ve ordered a couple of different types from the internet, and will see which is the most appropriate. With the weight of the J Custom the body is going to be relatively heavy, so I’ll give up the pretence of using light weight wood. I have a length of mahogany type wood which is left over from a window ledge. I was going to use for necks. Instead I’ll glue it up into a body blank.



Meanwhile I’ll think about pickups. Maybe tappable humbuckers
Tree recycler, and guitarist with  https://www.undercoversband.com/.
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Comments

  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    edited May 2020
    Looking forward to this.
    ABM is the best headpiece imho.

    https://abm-guitarpartsshop.com/ABM-GUITAR-PARTS/Headless-Systems/Guitar/Headpieces/ABM-7080b-Black::260.html
    You'd need to use a zero fret or a traditional nut with it.
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  • RolandRoland Frets: 8590
    I like that ABM design. Unfortunately it doesn’t allow truss rod adjustment. I’ll see what the Chinese options are like. If I don’t like them then I’ll buy some brass and make my own
    Tree recycler, and guitarist with  https://www.undercoversband.com/.
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    Roland said:
    I like that ABM design. Unfortunately it doesn’t allow truss rod adjustment. I’ll see what the Chinese options are like. If I don’t like them then I’ll buy some brass and make my own
    Do the truss rod adjustment at the other end, like a Musicman guitar/bass.
    It is what Chris Forshage does.
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  • althyalthy Frets: 92
    Great! can't wait to see it :)
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  • RolandRoland Frets: 8590
    Which neck? I’ve got a couple of part made necks cluttering up my workshop, and was thinking of using one of them for this build. Maple on Ovangkol, or Ebony on Maple.


    Tree recycler, and guitarist with  https://www.undercoversband.com/.
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    Klein spec would be a Rosewood neck.

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  • RolandRoland Frets: 8590
    This isn’t meant to be a particularly faithful copy. I will stick to Klein’s body profile rather than go Canton or Forshage. When it comes to hardware I’ll branch out. I’ll be using the J Custom bridge, and I haven’t decided which pickups yet. 
    Tree recycler, and guitarist with  https://www.undercoversband.com/.
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  • JGTayJGTay Frets: 210
    Ebony on maple would look very nice 
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  • paulnb57paulnb57 Frets: 3044
    Ebony on Maple gets my vote!
    Stranger from another planet welcome to our hole - Just strap on your guitar and we'll play some rock 'n' roll

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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    Agree, ebony board would look great.
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  • DrBobDrBob Frets: 2998
    Definitely Ebony on maple 
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  • RolandRoland Frets: 8590
    Decision made, and it’s ebony. Not for aesthetic reasons, but because it needs to be 24 fret, and the Ovangkol neck isn’t. We like mock ups don’t we? 



    Bright eyes will notice that the body blank has a straight line at the back, rather than a big cutaway. That’s because the J Custom is longer than other bridge/tuners, and I hadn’t decided how far I wanted it to project when I cut the outline. My scroll saw will sort it out later.

    Now to order some pickups, and get the cavities cut before i profile the body.
    Tree recycler, and guitarist with  https://www.undercoversband.com/.
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  • GuyBodenGuyBoden Frets: 733
    Excellent, it's looking promising, I think that the heavy Steinberger type bridges do help to balance a headless well, especially if they have a light weight body.
    "Music makes the rules, music is not made from the rules."
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  • RolandRoland Frets: 8590
    This is likely to be a heavy body. The blank is 50mm thick, and I decided not to hollow it out before glueing the two 25mm sections together so that cavities don’t compromise the severity of the chamfers I want to put on it.
    Tree recycler, and guitarist with  https://www.undercoversband.com/.
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  • RolandRoland Frets: 8590
    edited June 2020
    Well the first headpiece turned up, and proves how little you can trust ebay sellers:



    It’s designed for a fan fret neck. The chances are that the seller is not familiar with guitars, and didn’t know. I could make it work on the 22 fret neck, it fact it would be quite a feature.

    Before anyone asks, yes those nut slots look wrong. I’ve filled them with veneer and blue* prior to fitting a zero fret.

    * I hate auto-correct, but sometimes it’s amusing
    Tree recycler, and guitarist with  https://www.undercoversband.com/.
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  • PeteCPeteC Frets: 409
    A really interesting build @Roland    That mock up looks very promising.   I can almost hear some Bill Frisell coming from the screen. 
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  • GuyBodenGuyBoden Frets: 733
    Roland said:
    Well the first headpiece turned up, and proves how little you can trust ebay sellers:



    It’s designed for a fan fret neck. The chances are that the seller is not familiar with guitars, and didn’t know. I could make it work on the 22 fret neck, it fact it would be quite a feature.

    Before anyone asks, yes those nut slots look wrong. I’ve filled them with veneer and blue* prior to fitting a zero fret.

    * I hate auto-correct, but sometimes it’s amusing

    I looked at those string clamps, the double hex grub screws look a good idea, pity it's not straight.
    "Music makes the rules, music is not made from the rules."
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  • MLten80MLten80 Frets: 162
    edited June 2020
    Nightmare!! I have an 18° hipshot ish black baseplate going cheap if you did decide to go multiscale lol  
     Shame looks like it would have been the ideal part 
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  • RolandRoland Frets: 8590
    Today I’ve been in my happy place, hand carving a neck.



    Spokeshave and cabinet scraper to get to this stage. I’ve left the head end square until the other headpiece arrives, or until I get tired of waiting. Next stop side dots. I’ll let the neck settle before levelling the fretboard and putting in the frets.

    Tree recycler, and guitarist with  https://www.undercoversband.com/.
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  • PeteCPeteC Frets: 409
    Nice work.   That neck looks amazing 
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