Unwrapped! Tom's African Build

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1432109817' post='2778136']
I am impressed that you are hoovering your patio as you go along, Mrs Vader would love me to do the same when I am breaking guitars in the garden.


Awesome job by the way
[/quote]

Yes - clearly MrsAndyjr1515 is significantly more frightening than MrsVader. She certainly scares the life out of me...

[alittlebitrobot]

flippin' heck, I can't wait to see how this thing ended up.

[Jonnyboy Rotten]

Great build - loving this!

Can't wait to see it progress!

[cheddatom]

yes, tell us more!

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1432118446' post='2778269']
yes, tell us more!
[/quote]
I will when I've finished dusting and polishing the patio...

[Andyjr1515]

The roughed out neck could at last be glued to the body!



It had a couple more clamps than this, but to be honest, it was such a good fit, that it just needed holding in position rather than forcing together. Because of the cocobolo gluing issue, this was again epoxy...in most 'normal' builds it would generally be Titebond I would use.

Once in place and epoxy set, I got the chisels out to start the final carves down to the body level:



It was now not going to fall to pieces and was actually starting to look like a bass!

Edited May 20, 2015 by Andyjr1515

[allighatt0r]

Amazing! I'm glad you managed to put some of that spare veneer to good use ;-)

This is such a cool build, and finally explains why you've been keeping it under wraps all this time!

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='allighatt0r' timestamp='1432194837' post='2778982']
Amazing! I'm glad you managed to put some of that spare veneer to good use ;-)

This is such a cool build, and finally explains why you've been keeping it under wraps all this time!
[/quote]
Yes - nice to have a bit of extra Thunder in the build

[Andyjr1515]

The next challenge was the jack. Tom and I had already agreed that there wouldn't be any room for potentiometers, so the pickup (EMG 40HZ) would be wired directly to Tom's preferred locking Neutrik jack. The trouble was, that a jack was about twice as long as the body was deep!

The only option would be to fix the Neutrik on a platform. I had some cocobolo left over so started with a spade drill to create the chamber for the neutrik to fit in:



Once I'd drilled right through, I hand-carved a simple pyramid platform (tried a tear-drop shape too but that didn't look quite right and so this was the preferred one)

I also cut the cocobolo fretboard to width so I could test out for sure that the bridge height - and thus the pickup height (of which more later) - was going to work. I also drew on the cocobolo a little feature stolen off the recent Cort Curbow project, the nice curved carve at the end of the fretboard, for Tom to consider:





As always, thanks for your encouraging feedback and patience!

Andy

Edited May 21, 2015 by Andyjr1515

[FuNkShUi]

A lesson in perseverance!
Amazing work Andy

Edited May 21, 2015 by FuNkShUi

[Matt P]

looking good! I think the curve on the fretboard will really add something to the overall look, is the jack going to be front mounted? could it not be hidden on the back to keep with the smooth minimalist look of the front? some kind of angled cover/ socket? like a strat jack plate but inside out and made of wood., I know I've seen something similar on a guitar or bass but I can't find a picture of it.

EDIT! I've just remembered where I've seen it, GUS guitars!

Matt

Edited May 21, 2015 by Matt P

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='Matt P' timestamp='1432217617' post='2779320']
looking good! I think the curve on the fretboard will really add something to the overall look, is the jack going to be front mounted? could it not be hidden on the back to keep with the smooth minimalist look of the front? some kind of angled cover/ socket? like a strat jack plate but inside out and made of wood., I know I've seen something similar on a guitar or bass but I can't find a picture of it.

EDIT! I've just remembered where I've seen it, GUS guitars!

Matt
[/quote]

Hi, Matt
Yeah - considered that but then, depending how you play, they can sometimes get in the way and the lie, position and sit of the body in relation to the player was at that time unpredictable. The expectation was, because of the lack of body weight, the sit would be unconventional and the neck would probably dive dreadfully. We worked on the basis of 'if you've got (to have) it, then flaunt it!'
I like the system, though...and GUS guitars are sublime

Andy

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='FuNkShUi' timestamp='1432217028' post='2779310']
A lesson in perseverance!
Amazing work Andy
[/quote]
Thanks, Kert - means a lot

[Andyjr1515]

Do you remember the neck pocket that, as originally carved, was wider than the neck?



Well, the intended cutaway curve at the bridge end of the fretboard gave me an idea. Rather than add an out-of-place fill-in fillet, how about continuing the curved lines seagull style?

I did a rough carve in cocobolo, set it in and dry-fitted it to see if it would work:



With a bit of luck, once it was sanded, it might even look like it was SUPPOSED to be there


The cocobolo fretboard wood that Kirk at www.exotichardwoodsukltd.com sent me was lovely - but again, it was a pig to use. Putting a 12" radius with a radius block took for ever with the need to wire brush the waxiness off every 30 seconds or so. The finished result was worth it though:




Next was gluing it to the neck. The carbon rods were put in place and trimmed, the truss rod was capped and tested...the cocobola was going to need to be epoxied on (yes - quite!) so no room for error:





So nothing for it but to commit it to the epoxy... as the old adage goes again, 'you can't have too many clamps!!!!'




Note also the addition of the two cocobolo strips either side of the headstock - needed for the width and matching the two strips running along the body either side of the neck.

Once glued, I could start firming up the final position of the bridge, start looking at the pickup position options, and I could carve the fretboard curve. Ignore the epoxy splashes on the fretboard - those would come right off in the final post-messing-about micro-sand:

Edited May 21, 2015 by Andyjr1515

[blablas]

[quote name='Andyjr1515' timestamp='1432235547' post='2779620']

[/quote]
Very elegant solution! Looks good.

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='blablas' timestamp='1432236714' post='2779638']
Very elegant solution! Looks good.
[/quote]

Thanks, blablas ! Very much appreciated

[Matt P]

I'm loving that little fillet. Really works.

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='Matt P' timestamp='1432242652' post='2779721']
I'm loving that little fillet. Really works.
[/quote]

Thanks, Matt

So the final strength worry was just how deep I was going to have to route the pickup slot. Think about it:[list]
[*]the whole premise is that everything has to be bolted to the neck
[*]it is the neck that connects the bridge to the tuners
[*]and now I'm going to cut a bloody great slot through it, to fit a (theoretically) 1" deep EMG pickup into a 1" deep body
[/list]
The chosen pickup was the passive EMG 40HZ. I spoke to the nice people at EMG to find out EXACTLY how deep the pickup was, including the bottom-placed connector.

I had also thought ahead ( yes, I know...yet another new skill for me...) and not carved the neck absolutely down to body level, but left a slight rise of a couple of mm.

I judged that a gap between the strings and the top of the pickup of 2-3mm would be about right.

If I'd got my measurements right, and with the pickup flat on the boards, it would leave 10mm of neck left. That's only 4mm thinner than most headstocks and it would be surrounded by body wood. I guessed that would be adequate.

So the deed was done! :



Yes....pretty scary if you didn't double check with calipers, but I did and, yes, there was 10mm of neck still there

Now I could flatten the bridge base and temporarily fit it. Here again (always with bridge positions) was double check, triple check before committing the drill - a short drill hole...yes, you guessed it...normal bridge fixing screws would have poked through the back - these had to be checked and sorted for length.

Here is the 'first fix' of the bridge. You can also see the hole that the Neutrik will fit in...even with the pyramid of cocobolo, this chamber is only 2mm short of breakthrough out of the back...




But now it really was starting to look more like a bass and less like a potential pyre:





So to the neck - this will be fitted specifically to Tom's ideal when he visits soon to pick up the bass - but I worked on getting a special volute carve at Tom's suggestion and a generic 'thick and chunky' profile that we will turn into the final shape when he has a chance to see how it feels to play.

Tom's idea on the volute is quite a clever one...with a fretless, you clearly have a datum. However, that is affected by the bass's 'sit' on the strap and Tom will be using this bass with a number of others. It is also a slightly unconventional scale - 34.5". So, reasoned Tom, what if the volute was extended to form a thumb rest position?

Actually, seemed a very good idea and quite easy to achieve. This is during the initial rough carving process:



Again, the exact position of the thumb dip will be sorted during Tom's final fitting.

Here's the generic neck carve:



Incidentally, the nut width is the wider traditional 44mm - luckily Warwick do a brass Just-a-nut (my preferred nut for a fretless) in this width

Then, before I could do the final carving of the volute, our thoughts needed to turn to headstocks....I'm away for a couple of days so it will be Sunday eve before that is revealed but even I'm excited by that bit and I know what's coming

As a taster, let's just say it's the bit in the story where I put a number of suggestions that countered Tom's thoughts and Tom stuck to his guns and - inevitably - Tom's vision was absolutely spot on ...best headstock I've ever done...

Thanks for looking
Andy

Edited May 22, 2015 by Andyjr1515

[lemmywinks]

A much less scary (although more espensive) pickup option might have been the Lace USAB:
http://www.lacemusic.com/USAB.php

Was considering one for my Sinsonido (have a friend from the USA who visits here regularly) but they're too wide.

[allighatt0r]

[quote name='Andyjr1515' timestamp='1432292850' post='2780067']
As a taster, let's just say it's the bit in the story where I put a number of suggestions that countered Tom's thoughts and Tom stuck to his guns and - inevitably - Tom's vision was absolutely spot on ...best headstock I've ever done...
[/quote]

I remember this part of the process! Your thoughts and suggestions were a great part of the Thunder Jet build for me such a fun/interesting process to work out these evolving changes.

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='lemmywinks' timestamp='1432296151' post='2780120']
A much less scary (although more espensive) pickup option might have been the Lace USAB:
[url="http://www.lacemusic.com/USAB.php"]http://www.lacemusic.com/USAB.php[/url]

Was considering one for my Sinsonido (have a friend from the USA who visits here regularly) but they're too wide.
[/quote]
Ooooh - that looks interesting for any future super-slim projects.....

.....what am I saying???? NOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooo

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='allighatt0r' timestamp='1432298179' post='2780157']
I remember this part of the process! Your thoughts and suggestions were a great part of the Thunder Jet build for me such a fun/interesting process to work out these evolving changes.
[/quote]
Which, ladies and gentlemen, is Bryan's very polite way of saying "Yes - and I knew MY idea would work too!"

[allighatt0r]

[quote name='Andyjr1515' timestamp='1432300449' post='2780194']
Which, ladies and gentlemen, is Bryan's very polite way of saying "Yes - and I knew MY idea would work too!"
[/quote]

[lemmywinks]

[quote name='Andyjr1515' timestamp='1432300352' post='2780190']
Ooooh - that looks interesting for any future super-slim projects.....

.....what am I saying???? NOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooo


[/quote]

You might be relieved to know they're amazingly expensive over here when you can get them. There was a supplier a while ago who had them up at £120 and wouldn't budge on price, looks like he sold them all too. You can buy import them for about £85 excluding duty etc, so after all fees you're looking at well over £100 for a single pickup which is a complete unknown.

I have a buddy who offered to buy it and bring it over in his suitcase so it would have cost me around £65 back then, the only reason I considered getting one!

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='lemmywinks' timestamp='1432315076' post='2780434']
You might be relieved to know they're amazingly expensive over here when you can get them. There was a supplier a while ago who had them up at £120 and wouldn't budge on price, looks like he sold them all too. You can buy import them for about £85 excluding duty etc, so after all fees you're looking at well over £100 for a single pickup which is a complete unknown.
[/quote]

Thank goodness for that!