Finished Pics! To the dark side Build One - Alembic-esque Electric

[Andyjr1515]

Been working out the area needed for the control chamber. There's a lot of real-estate taken up by Tim's chosen piezo/magnetic pre-amp (Schaller 'Flagship'):


Working that out has meant I could cut out the control chamber shape. Here are all the main wood components (it'll end up about 5 1/2 lbs wood content) with the back wings now ready to glue to the neck:


You can just see the quilting in the ebony of the fretboard in this shot...

[Andyjr1515]

Someone asked for a closer look at the quilting on the fretboard. I've certainly never seen it before and a very welcome bonus on a board I bought as standard ebony

[ezbass]

[quote name='Andyjr1515' timestamp='1504873683' post='3367936']
Someone asked for a closer look at the quilting on the fretboard. I've certainly never seen it before and a very welcome bonus on a board I bought as standard ebony


[/quote]Ooh, that's lovely. I wasn't even aware that there was such a thing as quilted ebony; every day's a school day.

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1504875601' post='3367958']
Ooh, that's lovely. I wasn't even aware that there was such a thing as quilted ebony; every day's a school day.
[/quote]
I wasn't aware either!

[TheGreek]

I can see a sudden rush for quilted ebony coming on....

Looks nice....

[SpondonBassed]

Nice. A bit like Nora Batty's stockings...

Um.

[LZD56]

Watched last night's Grand Designs & saw cabinet makers making a new set of kitchen cabinets in the style of New York freezer box design. Gorgeous work & to watch them distress the finish was anazing. Luthier must see I think.

[TheGreek]

I saw that...

[Andyjr1515]

Next task is preparing for the top to be put on.

My work with veneers has told me to always have some method of knowing exactly what and where things are under anything you're going to cover up. The easiest way is simply making an impression on a paper template:


The first job was preparing the mating surfaces for cable rout channels, demarcation veneer, top chamber routing, etc.. And the first task was measuring the flatness of the assembled back wings....and not happy.

Would the top 'ease' under clamping to give a good fit? Yes
Would that have niggled me like crazy for the rest of the build? Absolutely

So one of the wings had to come off. Quick wizz through the band saw:


Then a re-flatten and mating angle adjust with a jack plane and levelling beam, then back clamped onto the flattest surface I have in the house to re-set and glue:

[Andyjr1515]

It looks the same but it's properly flat now


So now the bench and flat plank are free, on goes the first length of wenge 2mm demarcation veneer, clamped down by some mahogany offcut acting as a caul:

[Andyjr1515]

Cable routing routed:



Wenge veneer trimmed:


...and top glued on, pending trimmer-routing of the back wings:

[Andyjr1515]

And trimmed:


It's only rough-trimmed and I will finish off with microplanes and sanding blocks. The couple of blobs, by the way, are not blemishes - it's just where the Titebond has squeezed up through a couple of the natural fissures in the top. They will sand out easily.


Why do I only rough-trim? Well, I find that sometimes the wood (particularly mahogany) bruises a little and if the template is absolutely spot on, there's really nowhere to go so I just find it easier to do the final smoothing by hand and that takes out any bruises or nicks easily.

By the way - as those who follow my build threads already know - I always try to stress that I only describe how [b]I myself[/b] do some of these things, [b]not 'this is how it should be done'[/b]. How I work is often quite different to how many good builders work ... so, please, NEVER assume I know what I'm doing!

The main difference here is that I use the top as the routing guide. Now pretty much every other experienced builder will say NEVER use the top as a routing template...and they are right. SO DON'T!!

In fact, the convenional wisdom - for VERY good reasons - is don't even use your master template as a template. Use the master template to cut yourself a working template and use that as the routing guide.

I do have a very logical reason for doing it the way I do it - and it works better and less risky based on previously tried methods for me...

The wenge demarcation veneer here is 2mm constructional veneer:


In case you're wondering, standard 0.6mm veneer works perfectly well, but when I do the carve, I want to emphasise the demarcation line and hence the thicker product.

The other thing I know one or two folks are interested in is the laurel camphor. You can see the natural fissures well in this shot - those are not damage cracks, they are holes in the wood. How stable is it? Very. It seems to have a similar stiffness and workability to figured walnut. Actually quite nice to work with and not at all impacted by the voids.

And just wait until I've put the finish on top!

[SpondonBassed]

[quote name='Andyjr1515' timestamp='1505838347' post='3374680']
...And just wait until I've put the finish on top!
[/quote]

Now you're just teasing.

Very nice.

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1505841290' post='3374704']
Now you're just teasing.

Very nice.
[/quote]

Thanks, SpondonBassed

And onto next steps...
This will be transformed once the carve is underway, but there are a few things that need to be done while I have a flat surface to work with. The most important is the pickup chambers...and because of the depth of the pickups vs the slenderness of the body itself, this will need a bit of time and care.

First job here is setting the positions. The scale is going to be standard Fender 25.5". Whilst the fretboard will be trimmed slightly shorter than this, this is where the relative components are going to be (suitably squared up, of course )


Again, ignore the PVA blobs at the top - they will disappear with the first sanding. Likewise, the outline will be 'fine-tuned' before the main body carve. Nevertheless, I'm quite excited how this is going to turn out visually...

The bridge is a Schaller Hamer piezo affair and will be thru-body strung. That angle IS intended with the bridge incorporating a basic intonation sweepback.

[Si600]

Why are you using a piezo bridge as well as magnetic pickups, is the sound noticeably different when playing?

[cheddatom]

beautiful!

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='Si600' timestamp='1505983574' post='3375590']
Why are you using a piezo bridge as well as magnetic pickups, is the sound noticeably different when playing?
[/quote]
It's Tim's request.

Piezo bridges can be used to act as 'normal' pickups or run through a synthesiser.

Tim's requirement is the former rather than the latter. And in this event, the answer to your question is yes - they sound very different. Piezo's tend to sound very very bright - which is why they are often used for acoustic emulation - and is quite different to any of the types of magnetic usually used. However, the real flexibility can come when you start mixing the two - for example, you can get the bass and power of, say, a humbucker, but with the top-end clarity and definition. There are many other possibilities, but this is broadly the benefit.

You can, of course, do the same on a bass - Mick's Psilos Bass has the same type of arrangement.

[SpondonBassed]

[quote name='Si600' timestamp='1505983574' post='3375590'] Why are you using a piezo bridge as well as magnetic pickups, is the sound noticeably different when playing? [/quote]

One of the advantages of piezo is that you can use non ferrous strings and still make noise.

[Andyjr1515]

To the pickup chambers.....

Again, this is simply the way I do it. Many builders use a forstner for rough bulk removal and then a template and router for the final shape. I use the same things but in, perhaps, a different order to most. The reason is simple - I simply haven't found the foolproof way of positioning and avoiding router disasters with the more conventional method.

I've also learnt how to sharpen a chisel...amazing what that can do when it doesn't have the sharpness of an old screwdriver...

Anyway, good or bad, this is how I do it nowadays.

The corners make all the difference to the professional look of the finished fit. So I drill them first on my little drill press:


I then use the Forstner to take out the bulk and also to nibble right to the very edge of the marked line (which is drawn 1/2 mm larger than the pickup covers all the way round)

If you ever try this, by the way, always clamp the body - nibbling hits the side of the forstner bit so, unsupported, it will shift the body however hard you might be holding it!

Then I use my very sharp chisel and mallet to straighten up the top ripples in between the original four drilled holes:


And only now do I get the router out to finish route the lower part of the chamber and the bottom to the specific depth I need - because now it is fully safe to use with a short top bearing trimmer bit:


Result is a neat and very accurate chamber:





So it's a slight shift from the conventional approach, but works for me

[Andyjr1515]

Next task while the top is still flat is the bridge.

It's a Schaller Hannes piezo bridge. And it's a complicated fit. And the none of the mass of information about it from Schaller refers in the slightest what to do with this spaghetti in terms of fitting it!:


There's even drilling and routing templates for the through-body string holes and slots and the back mounted fixing bolts. But NO mention of those wires!!!

Having said that, and having given it a lot of thought, I'm pretty happy what I'll do. I'll route a deep but narrow channel under the saddles themselves where the wires are going to be and then drill an intercepting hole (a bit like you do with an acoustic piezo element) into the control chamber. The individual connectors detach from the collector block so an 5mm hole should do it.

All the same, I'm going to sort the the bridge fitting screws and bolt holes and slots (there is a through-string block that needs slotting at the back also) before fitting the fretboard! There is, peversely, going to be more wiggle room on the fretboard positioning than on the bridge!

But I'm going to have a good long think about this before I start drilling holes and slotting slots....

[SpondonBassed]

Nicely nibbled that man! I know how tempting it is to rip through the roughing out and make a slip-up. Even your rough work is tidy.

What I am taking away from this is the notion that the router is more of a finishing tool than I used to think. I'd be inclined to use it to remove larger amounts than I should so you are a good example to keep in mind for getting the best from my router.

Chisels are still useful in these circumstances. Personally, I enjoy a bit of a whittle with a regularly sharpened chisel. I'm no good at it but it makes me feel more connected to the work.

That's a very nice bridge despite the vermicelli. Individual piezo for each saddle by the look of it. Does the preamp treat them as individual signals or are they summed before the tone is shaped?

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1506075319' post='3376255']

That's a very nice bridge despite the vermicelli. Individual piezo for each saddle by the look of it. Does the preamp treat them as individual signals or are they summed before the tone is shaped?
[/quote]
No - like many piezo saddle systems it's a common collector. Interestingly, the Hanes Bridge has caused a bit of a stir, on the other hand, because the individual saddles are physically separated from each other. Respected commentators have said that there is an audible difference of better balance across the strings. Well...we'll see, I suppose. Or - as there is nothing to compare it with, maybe we won't

[Andyjr1515]

Onto that pesky bridge. Much of what Schaller have provided here is not helpful - including some quite obscure router bit and drill sizes! But what IS helpful is the clear template they provide:


You position it and then use a sharp point to pierce through to the wood for the drilling positions. A drill press is essential for this task!

I did the drilling and routing (except two where I don't have the right sized drill!) and added my extra routed slot to accommodate the piezo wires:


Call me picky, but it wouldn't hurt Schaller to add this to the instructions and the template, surely??

Anyway, my drilling and routing is clearly getting more accurate because to my great surprise, it fits!


The two holes I don't have the drill for are for the two fixing bolt ferrules. I'll get hold of one from Axminster on my next order - it isn't going to hold anything up. Anyway, you can see broadly how it's going to fit:


One thing I am grateful for - if I understand the Crimson Youtube feature correctly (which also doesn't mention the piezo version), Schaller have stopped supplying a back block and now supply individual ferrules at the back...WHICH ALL HAVE TO BE INDIVIDUALLY EARTHED! Thank heavens for small mercies!

Anyway, the really exciting thing is that I can soon start the top carve.

[Andyjr1515]

And the carve begins

It's my favourite bit and I have to curb my enthusiasm so I don't overdo anything.

I tidied up the outline a touch to be able to incorporate a couple of passing respectful nods to the Alembic style and then started to add some of the other features, such as the 'sucked lozenge' ( Tim's very descriptive phrase) cutaway.


Over the next day or so, Tim and I will discuss exactly what curves want to be where

The time when I've got to start radiusing that pesky fretboard draws closer....

[Andyjr1515]

I've talked through with Tim and will probably scoop the upper waist a little and then extend the 'lozenge' line to reflect the shape of the lower bout. Something like this: