The sides will have edging, they just aren't in place just yet cause I had to level the them before glying the side braces in. That pattern was just kinda the first brainfart sketch, gonna think it through more thoroughly before doing it. Was thinking about continuous pieces too but that could prove problematic because of the hole, making a proper X could be tricky, and to get one running from the far edge to the other it would have to go under the bridge. There isn't anything under it just yet, propably gonna glue a piece of plywood there and see if I can carve a notch into the brace at that spot to get it run under there. I agree the front vertical won't do much and propably ain gonna put it there cause the front solids are gonna brace enough there, that back one could be a good idea to prevent the edge of the hole from lifting up. Gonna think about it a bit more... Care to elaborate what U meant by blocking to screw the PUs? didn't quite catch that one...

 

Ah, just figured U musta ment the pickups? Well, i was planning to drill through holes in the lid under the 4 corners of the frame of the "humbucker" and fasten it with lil screws and nuts , the pickup itself floats in the frame by 2 screws and springs as U prolly know...

 

Still love your work, good to see you have had a bit time to do them again

I have drum sticks lmao went to drum school for a while but when my teacher moved to capital and there wasnt anymore good teachers left it there. But have my sticks to remember that once the time comes, I will continue

 

You could do that, probably have to glue the nuts in place. The PU (pickup ) is spring loaded to the PU mount so it typically needs to be assembled prior to dropping in. Unless you can get your hand in there somewhere to hold the nuts. ( Sound hole maybe) Probably add some locktite. Or you could just glue some wood strips on either side and use wood screws as most do.

Looking good all in all. Can't wait to see it come together.

 

Some weekend crafting here and there, slowly but it`s getting there. This kind of method is actually pretty educating for me cause I tend to dive in head first into every idea I have and curse afterwards when I figure out an about 4 times less labour and half the cost method, I already have had several moments of when I realise why some idea should not be done instead of should not have been done. I`m sure Missy`s familiar with the finnish saying to climb up a tree a$$ first... Well, that`s me all the way, sitting at the top, plucking splinters off my butt and wondering if there would have been an easier way...

Yep, I`m gonna put locktite into the threads and the fitting will be a snap through the echo hole since I can fit my whole hand in through there. Don`t want to glue any unnecessary sheet pieces of wood under the lid cause I fear they could hinder the resonance. After all, plywood isn`t exactly the professional`s choice as guitar sound box material...

 

If you note the last picture posted, the sides are 2 layers of veneer, with a solid fill of
vertical-grain blocks, sandwiched in between. That makes a really strong side,
that resists torsion forces. It's basically a lumber-core plywood, custom made in place.
The additional thickness also gives added gluing surface for the top.

Also note the little glue-blocks that chase around the entire join of side to floor/bottom.
A well designed hollow-body is basically a torsion box.

I was surprised that ya'll aren't adding the tension rod in the neck.
How do you adjust the curve of the fret-board to get proper string clearance
without it? Plus adjustment for humidity/age changes.

From my understanding (limited, I'll acknowledge), even nylon/gut exert a lot of force,
when you add the tension from all of the strings (when properly tuned).
The tension rod also reinforces against the strings distorting the neck.

Just thought I'd throw in my random thoughts on the subject.
Ern

 

Personally I would never build a neck without a truss rod, there's just no good reason not to put one in.

BUT....

If your wood is well seasoned and stable AND your very good and shaping and precisely setting the neck, figured for final tension and string gauges etc....then you can get away without one.

 

Well, there are a few reasons, not sure are they that GOOD reasons but:

1) The whole project was originally meant to be a three-string diddly bow with just a pine neck (visible in the first pic), but when I got the idea of making an explorer box for it I figured why not make a proper neck too. The fourth string was added into the plans later on.

2) There is a tunnel carved under the fretboard for the optic fibres going into the inlays in the side of the neck, so making them and the rod fit in there would have proved tricky.

3) The neck is constructed of several different woods making a sandwich structure with walnut strip in the bottom for rigidity and kind of acting as a rod. (visible in the second pic)

4) The surface where the fretboard is glued in is sanded to have a very subtle arc downwards to counter-effect for the string tension.

5) I don`t actually plan to play this thing too much, to quote myself from the early posts:

That`s why there`s gonna be all these lights and diamond plate pickguards and other things saying this project isn`t done with too many wrinkles on my forefead... It`s mostly to to see for myself what I can and cannot do with my skills so I won`t c**k up the first really serious project made from better, more expensive materials.

All the fine woods are bought from a professional hardwood retailer, they are dried, tested and rated as "musical instrument material". Pretty darn pricy too...

No, math involved, just shooting from the hip as I go

I actually had a dream last night that when I put the whole thing together firstly the bridge was too wide so the strings were not going over the neck in the other end, and when I started to tune it there was this loud bang when the whole neck snapped in two...

 

There's nothing wrong with stretching your woodworking muscles in an experimental
project. I definitely applaud your skill and effort, on this one. I did note your stated
motivations in starting your particular project, as I reviewed your posts.

My comments were more geared to bring insight into design aspects for
any viewers, inspired by your efforts, to apply to designing/building a "serious"
instrument.

Regardless of technique/methods, you're doing a great job.

Ern

 

Fortunately we're on the internet so everything you'd ever need to know can be had right at your finger tips also.