I shouldn't really start a new build thread, as i have loads of stuff to do - but this is something i have been promising my cousin for a few years.
its going to be a through neck, vaguely Caparison inspired 6 string with fanned frets.. i have not designed it yet, but started on the wood prep
he has asked me to use a piece of old mahogany from his mothers fireplace - its been the mantle in an old farmhouse for a long time. Its nicely dry, very light and has a great tap tone. He won;t let me build a les paul out of it, so its getting used for the wings on this
neck is 5-piece
with some nice flame
and he has stolen a fretboard i was going to use on a headless for me, but that's okay
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*Never thought I'd say that to a chap!
nice amount of flame in it
made a template for the body and roughly cut the wings to shape
and cleaned the top up a bit
My cousin is a big fan of the Caparison shape and headstock so since this is a non-profit build for a family member i may go with it, The shape is slightly tweaked and downsized a bit, halfway between an N4 or dinky and full strat dimensions
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but its its the kind of wood I like. A lot more interesting
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Then i went to cut the neck blank out and it became apparent my 25+ year old little bandsaw wasn't going to cut it. I struggled to get decent blades for it last time i looked a few years back, but found Tuffsaws had some this time around.
I was thinking of scrapping the old thing, but the new blades and a good clean and service have worked wonders
you can see where i gave up with the old blades and started with the new
its one of these little things - apparently still capable of cutting through 4" laminated maple with the right blade. It was second hand and quite worn when i got it. its cut out every guitar i have ever made except the very first one. i am sure it will keep going a bit longer
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I got the bi metal ones i think
(formerly customkits)
top is joined and is currently being laminated with a wenge backing. Fretboard has been cut out and also laminated to some wenge, that is currently being stuck to the neck shaft.
i am liking the top. Its been a while since i did anything with quilt. This was a bit of a reject piece because the consistent figure is at the narrow end.
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it will get wiped down with water prior to finish sanding. It will get wiped with thinners prior to spraying.
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Given the maple/maple neck/fretboard combo i added a wenge accent line under the fretboard
and teh top has been roughly cut out to slot over the fretboard. don;t want to trim it too much at this stage.
we have agreed the top will be a trans black burst.. the rest will be natural
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this is the inspiration (it won't be a copy, there isn't room for that level of detail), so i need to practice my engraving. ....
If that doesn't work, i have a backup plan
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then i did some practice runs at some straight lines and curves with a new graver from smallwonder. The straight lines were not quite deep enough, and the curves are not quite smooth enough... but i think its a promising start and i am getting used to the graver
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