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

[tommorichards]

That looks fantastic as always Andy.

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='tommorichards' timestamp='1506381423' post='3378397']
That looks fantastic as always Andy.
[/quote]
Thanks!

[Andyjr1515]

I think the rough carve is now there or thereabouts for me to go to the final filling and shaping of the body.

Imagine the holes filled and dark rather than open and light, but this is where the front currently is:


Here's the back:


And here's the player's viewpoint:


And here's the "deranged fan getting uncomfortably close to the player" 's viewpoint:

[cheddatom]

wow!

[stearstree1304]

Wow!! This is looking superb Andy. Fabulous choice of timbers and I love the accent line between the top and core wood.

[Andyjr1515]

Thanks, folks

And to the fretboard. While body and neck carving are my favourite tasks in a build, radiusing a fretboard - especially an ebony one - is right at the top of my [b]least[/b] favourite ones.

In the end, of the multipicity of methods I've seen of the 'best way to do it' I've settled on the method below. Now - as always - I detail below what works for me. This is not necessarily the best way of doing it and I'm certainly not saying this is how you should do it.

However, if you are thinking of doing your first radiusing job, then I'll try and point out the problems I'm trying to avoid - there is nothing more disheartening than putting a shed load of effort into an expensive piece of wood and ending up with something you can't use

Things I found out the hard way:[list]
[*]You have to do certain basic things to ensure the sanding is even, side to side and along the length
[/list][list]
[*]The upper frets area, if it is a pre-tapered fretboard, is wider than the nut end and takes much more sanding to reach the same degree of radius
[*]You need some way of guiding the block to help maintain the evenness of the sanding and to allow you to be able to put your full effort into pushing the sanding block rather than pushing and positioning it
[*]There is a tendency to curve off the ends. If the fretboard blank comes with excess either end, leave it on until the board has been radiussed.
[/list]
This is how I personally try to avoid some of the above pitfalls:

I stick the fretboard to the bench with decent double-sided tape (Crimson Guitars' tip of two pieces of masking tape and cyano also works well) and, carefully positioned to ensure the fretboard at both ends is central to the sanding block, I clamp a guide straight edge for the block to run against.
I also mark the fretboard across the width and length with chalk:



When sanding, using my full effort on the block to sand, with the guide plank ensuring the block is always positioned OK, I check frequently to see if the sanding wear is even across the width and length - ideally the chalk remaining should be in the middle and of an equal width along the length of the board.

Here you can see two issues - I'm sanding harder on one side of the board and also I'm already starting to round off the end!:



My corrective action here will be to add a bit more pressure to the side nearest the guide and to ease off pressure of the whole block as I get to the ends. The nice thing about the chalk is that you can see exactly how much and where to make these adjustments.
The sanding pattern on the block is a second way of seeing this uneven pressure:


The other thing I do is collect the ebony dust - I will be using this mixed with resin to fill any gaps in inlay routs, etc.




This below is now later in the day:


The closer the sanding line gets to the middle, the more area you are actually sanding so, although there is only approx 1/3 of area still to do, this is less than 1/2 way done!

Now, hopefully, you can see why the chalk marks are important. The good news is that the sanding is pretty even over the width. Over the length, however, the middle is getting over sanded and there is a thinner 'flat spot' at the 2nd/3rd fret position. This will mean that, even when the basic radius is there, I will have to carry of sanding the whole board until the flat spot has gone...

So plenty more to do - I usually put aside a day for this and class it as my exercise sorted for the week

[Norris]

Excellent tips Andy. I've got an ebony board to do soon and can't say I'm looking forward to it. Ebony can vary in hardness in different parts of the board - which makes your chalking tip even more valuable. Checking with a decent long straight edge every now and again will also help keep it on track

[Andyjr1515]

And the fretboard is radiused!!! At last

While the radius block is still out and everything in the workshop - including me - is covered in ebony dust, this is a good time for me to sort the fretmarkers.

Tim I discussed doing some oval inlays like the original Alembics but the ovals are actually trade-marked!

Anyway, we've got a better plan even than that. Remember the couple of swifts on gelfin's Mouradian tribute? Just on the 12th?

It's actually easier, of course, if you inlaying shapes, to rout the fretboard while it's still flat. However, with the width of my swifts wings there is always a danger of the radiusing sanding away the tips, so I do it after radiusing.

Having cut out the shapes with a jewellers' saw, I carefully routed the curved fretboard:


And then added dots for the others - 5 mm for the 1st and 3rd and 6mm for the rest. These are in place before gluing and sanding:


They are in place now with epoxy mixed with the ebony dust waiting to cure and have the final sand.

[honza992]

Andy that looks amazing. Stylish but subtle.

I'm sure you've seen this idea before for sanding fretboards, but adding handles looks to be a great idea. I bet it helps with applying even pressure and hand cramps! I keep on meaning to do it but never get round to it.....



I stole the photo (I'll return it, honest) from the Simnett Guitars website.

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='honza992' timestamp='1506938443' post='3382056']
Andy that looks amazing. Stylish but subtle.

I'm sure you've seen this idea before for sanding fretboards, but adding handles looks to be a great idea. I bet it helps with applying even pressure and hand cramps! I keep on meaning to do it but never get round to it.....



I stole the photo (I'll return it, honest) from the Simnett Guitars website.
[/quote]
Actually, even though I've seen that in the past, I'd completely forgotten about it! Great idea...I might well fit something similar on one or two of my blocks. Thanks for the reminder

[Andyjr1515]

Couldn't resist doing a quick mock up after they have been glued and re-sanded. The fretboard will be slimmed down a couple of mm each side, but it gives a decent idea of how it's starting to look:

[rOB]

Thanks for sharing. I really enjoy watching your builds progress.

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='rOB' timestamp='1507019851' post='3382693']
Thanks for sharing. I really enjoy watching your builds progress.
[/quote]
Thanks rOB

[allighatt0r]

Is it common to use slightly smaller dots for 1st and 3rd fret marks? I can't say it's something I've noticed before but now I can't stop seeing it on this fretboard. Why have you gone for smaller dots? I assume it's just due to the neck being thinner down at the bottom end?

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='allighatt0r' timestamp='1507027176' post='3382778']
Is it common to use slightly smaller dots for 1st and 3rd fret marks? I can't say it's something I've noticed before but now I can't stop seeing it on this fretboard. Why have you gone for smaller dots? I assume it's just due to the neck being thinner down at the bottom end?
[/quote]
Just to add a tiny bit of extra styling, which hopefully works. Fret dots on the 1st and 3rd are often seen as superfluous - I've seen guitars without any dots earlier than the 5th.

Does it offend or just catch your eye and make you wonder?

[allighatt0r]

[quote name='Andyjr1515' timestamp='1507029409' post='3382805']
Just to add a tiny bit of extra styling, which hopefully works. Fret dots on the 1st and 3rd are often seen as superfluous - I've seen guitars without any dots earlier than the 5th.

Does it offend or just catch your eye and make you wonder?
[/quote]

Certainly doesn't offend! just catches the eye and makes me wonder. I'm not sure I would have noticed if you hadn't mentioned it. I think it will be even more subtle with the addition of strings.

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='allighatt0r' timestamp='1507029748' post='3382810']
Certainly doesn't offend! just catches the eye and makes me wonder. I'm not sure I would have noticed if you hadn't mentioned it. I think it will be even more subtle with the addition of strings.
[/quote]

Phew!

[TheGreek]

Coming on nicely...personally I'd take a bit more of the top veneer off to show the core woods. The top of the body where this has already been done looks really good.

[Andyjr1515]

Jabba has spotted what might have been throwing allighatt0r's eyes squiffy....the 5th fret is a teeny bit offset

Less than 1/2mm but enough. Luckily, at this stage, easy to fix... And I'm going to have to get my glasses changed for not spotting it myself

[Andyjr1515]

[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1507053024' post='3383066']
Coming on nicely...personally I'd take a bit more of the top veneer off to show the core woods. The top of the body where this has already been done looks really good.
[/quote]
I know where you're coming from, Mick, but Tim is after a particular 80's Alembic electirc vibe. Hence the more rounded straight approach in the other areas...

In terms of further progress, the process of filling those natural voids and holes has started:

[allighatt0r]

[quote name='Andyjr1515' timestamp='1507121554' post='3383448']
Jabba has spotted what might have been throwing allighatt0r's eyes squiffy....the 5th fret is a teeny bit offset

Less than 1/2mm but enough. Luckily, at this stage, easy to fix... And I'm going to have to get my glasses changed for not spotting it myself
[/quote]

Aaah yes, now I've looked again, that explains the uneasy feeling I was getting

[Andyjr1515]

TheGreek - who has an excellent eye for such things - pm'd me a question that I'd also been pondering about ref the final carving and sanding. That is, was there intended to be any further cut through to the wenge and mahogany?

I had some thoughts and Mick also put forward some useful ideas of options that might work. Having talked it through with Tim, who I'm building it for, we've gone for a subtle extension of the cut-through at the top, while retaining the more traditional round-over at the bottom.

Still ahead of the final shaping and sanding, this is broadly where we're heading:




Next stage is final sand and roundovers, including around the cutaways and body/neck transitions, but retaining the sharp edge of the top horn chamfer...

I'm hoping that the final body shaping will be complete by the end of tomorrow...then the fretboard can get stuck on

[Andyjr1515]

The final shaping for the top is pretty much done. The fretboard is still unattached but is now close to fitting stage. Just got to decide what to do at the end past the 22nd fret:


The figuring is already starting to show...but you should see it when the oil is still wet! I think this has to be finally finished in gloss...

This is a closer shot, still in early-oil matt form:



The back shaping isn't quite finished yet - I'm going to scoop out the horn cutouts for decent upper fret access. It won't change the front view at all but will make it much more comfortable to play, especially with the smooth neck heel transition I have planned. I've also managed to slice a sliver of offcut from the camphor laurel for the control chamber cover. This will end up with similar colouring to the top once it's been sanded and finished:


And yes - the string block IS supposed to have that angle on it

So after the final final carving and sanding of the back, the fretboard will go on - and then the neck and heel can be carved.

Tim has sent me the profile drawings of his favourite player which I will replicate as close as possible. Every guitar and bass has its own feel, but the aim is to provide at least a comforting familiarity on first play

Edited October 8, 2017 by Andyjr1515

[Andyjr1515]

Scoop for the lower horn done, which pretty much finishes the body carve:

[honza992]

[quote name='honza992' timestamp='1506938443' post='3382056']
Andy that looks amazing. Stylish but subtle.

I'm sure you've seen this idea before for sanding fretboards, but adding handles looks to be a great idea. I bet it helps with applying even pressure and hand cramps! I keep on meaning to do it but never get round to it.....



I stole the photo (I'll return it, honest) from the Simnett Guitars website.
[/quote]

Andy, rather than adopt the elegant approach that Simnett Guitars takes, I decided I would try sticking two lumps of mdf onto my radius block with double sided tape...et voila:
[url="https://ibb.co/hOWVJw"][/url]
Very ugly, but really made a huge difference.

Just in case you haven't come across them.....on the subject of radius blocks, the one I've got is from a site called G&W ([url="https://guitarsandwoods.com/"]https://guitarsandwoods.com/[/url]). To me it looks exactly the same as the stupidly, ridulously, outrageously expensive Stewmac ones, but is a third of the price - £41.10 against £113.54. I only ever use 12" radii, so buying one wasn't too much of a problem. I highly recommend them.