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She needs some small design revisions but then...most women do. I need to pay a little more attention to certain operations but it turned out pretty nice. Plays very well.

I'm going to build two more of them right away and try to make ten more in 2011.

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I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic

The remaining pics.

_________________
I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic

Pretty Freakin sick dude.

Dat so sick I love it!
Never seen anything like it.
Go, Zlurgh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Clap clap clap!

Sweet Jesus, Stuart. To say that guitar is visually striking doesn't even begin to do it justice! There are so many details that make clear how much thought and unity of design went into the whole thing. That's really a remarkably cool looking guitar.

Now for the questions that just have to be asked: how does it sound/feel? Could you give us a general rundown of the specs? Wood choices, finish type, electronic layout, etc.

Seriously, well done, Stuart. Just needs to be said again.

OMG!!!
That is so sweet!!!!

Totally gorgeous Stuart!

Thanks everyone for the nice comments.

The guitar plays very nicely. I worried about the action the most on this but it ended up totally free of buzz at an action height that I'd call medium low. I set it so it buzzes only with a hard attack...and it's silky low at that height.

Due to the Seymour Duncan P-rails and the very chambered body it has a nice warm tone when using the neck p/u in humbucker or P-90 mode. Using either of the rails alone, you get a clean Strat sound. I set up my amp so that when using both p/u's in humbucker mode (highest output combo) and then a hard pick attack, you get a great bite. So, all in all, it makes for a lot of versatility at your fingertips. I love to post an .mp3 but I'm not sure I can do that here.

The scale is 24.75" like a Les Paul. Unlike the 10 lb. Les Paul however, this guitar is just a tad over 6 lbs. and balances just a little bit body heavy at the top strap button. I worried it would neck heavy but that too worked out nicely.

The woods are toasted maple, hard rock maple, curly maple, and bloodwood. I love that toasted maple but I can't get a steady supply of it so on the two guitars I’ll substitute mahogany or maybe sappele in its place. All the art design on this was done two years ago. This guitar, although incorporating all of that art design, was basically an exercise in tool making. I’ll be much more free on the next two to think about a more coherent arrangement of woods. For instance, the whole guitar would look better if the headstock would have made with the same curly maple as the top body panel. And I don’t like the art on the headstock and fretboard as much now as I did two years ago. It needs to be thicker and less frilly to match the body…which I really like.

The finish is a Z-poxy pore fill covered with a few wash coasts thinned 50% with denatured alcohol. Then about 8 coats of Behlen nitrocellulose lacquer was sprayed on. I leveled with 600 wet, then 1200 wet, then took it to the StewMac wheel using medium and fine compounds. In hindsight, using 1500 wet, and 2000 wet would have resulted in a faster path to the glass finish.

The p/u’s are wired using this schematic:

http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wi ... _2t_3w_2mt

The only difference is that I don’t use tone knobs so they are omitted and their grounds are just bridged over to the volume pots. The switch layout is completely intuitive. Each switch throws left and right over to the p/u or coil it activates. It’s pretty cool not to have to think at all when you are switching. You want both single rails? You select the middle position on the three way and then pull the two dip switches inward. Both single p-90’s? spread both dip switches outward. Both p/u’s as humbuckers? Put the dip switches in their center positions. Real simple.

_________________
I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic

So let's say, given more experience, I can build these to withstand the scrutiny of a fairly picky buyer.

What's your first impression of a proper sales price?

_________________
I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic

Compliments on you craftsmanship.


blessings
Padma

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Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


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Real nice.

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Ken

Stuart,

Beautiful work! The only pic I'm not a huge fan of is the neck heel... why have one? With regard to price I would advise 2 to 4 times your cost. Your integration of CNC with craftsmanship is unique in my experience and I have cited it both at work and at an advanced joinery class I recently attended. I have experience at both ends of the spectrum, and I believe the skill to properly program cutting paths no less an accomplishment than doing so by hand.

Out of personal curiosity: Did you end up using Titebond or Epoxy? (I'm hoping for epoxy, it's the only major gap in our product line and I love examples of this deficiency to mention to our CEO.)

Why have a set neck vs. a neck through? or...why not just make a smooth transition from the body down the neck? I 've been thinking about making this into the neck through with a long smooth transition so I have both things covered. Wouldn't that be unique? I think it would play beautifully. As it is, I spent a lot of time on this tooling and I'm gunning to at least make some of this style but I'm so enamoured with the smooth neck idea that I will be doing it at some point soon.



For all edge joining I used Titebond II and for all flat panel gluing I used epoxy. When I used epoxy it was because of the long open time and because of its structural strength. I'll be using some oily woods at some point too so epoxy would be a better choice there too...I think. The epoxy I used was "toughened" which means it has anti-microcracking characteristics...not a big consideration on a guitar but it is quite a bit stronger than most over the counter stuff. But also, the tg on this epoxy is way out there so no typical temperature is going to affect those bonds that will never require service. Mostly it was the open time that I considered when choosing epoxy.

_________________
I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic

That sounds very appealing. Might I suggest a deep set neck with no heel? I would hate to lose the effect of your extensive chambering to a through neck design.

Epoxy is an easy way to go with oily tropical wood species for the same reason polyurethanes are often considered for the same task. Water based wood glues often take a long time to dry under similar circumstances, although their final bond strength, assuming good surface prep, will be superior. BTW, your use of Tg is one of the only legitimate applications of the property I have ever heard... 99% of the time it means a polymer chemist doesn't know why a formulation isn't working and wants to buy some time using a term none of the mid-level muckalucks understand.

I wouldn't necessarily have to lose the chambers in order to employ the neck through concept. Using cnc there are a number of ways to assemble the guitar. I don't think I can adequately illustrate what I'm thinking here but the basic thrust would be to create two chambered plates as before but the back, chambered plate now includes the raw neck. The top plate is also chambered and is glued into position. The final machining operation carves the top plate and surfaces the neck together so there is a flat plane on which to glue the fretboard.

ha...we would sell propellers to guys who would park their airplanes in the New Mexican summer sun. Figuring a possible 175 degree surface temperature, it became imperative to consider tg and hdt when choosing epoxy systems. I believe you could dunk my guitar in boiling water and those panels wouldn't seperate.

...though you would void the warranty.

_________________
I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic

As for pricing..it's pretty similar to a model that Joe Knaggs is doing. He's shooting for the PRS end of the market.

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http://www.PeakeGuitars.com

Now thats diffrent!!!! Very nice!!

Thanks.....and....nice "Trilogy of Terror" avatar.

Karen Black...screaming her brains out.

_________________
I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic

Over the top, Stuart!! Beautiful!

Ken

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http://www.casperguitar.com

Stuart

Nice to see the finished guitar, i saw the bridge you have on it over at the cnc zone site, looks impressive, well done..

I just looked at that bridge.
That is a nice hunk of brass.
Did you make that, Zlurgh?
If not, who did?

That guitar is so beautiful I almost threw up when I saw it. Quite a strange predicament as you might imagine. After a second glance, however, I don't like the white plastic knobs and pickup covers I'd go for gold if nothing else.

Yes...that's my design, Alan.

viewtopic.php?f=10106&t=29695

There's a few shots of it up close.

Thanks!!

_________________
I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic