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Post by ssstonelover on Nov 28, 2021 17:05:11 GMT -5
A headless guitar build with left handed tremolo, 10-way pickup switching (the free-way switch), chambered body. After coming up with the basic design and drawings, the 2 big challenges were re-working a Chinese RH headless tremolo (and it's serious issues) and adapting it to left hand orientation (much simpler that the base issues) plus working with a thin (40 mm) piece of wood that was warped and coming up with a 45 mm thick body. I solved all the issues and the guitar plays fine. As the control cavity was cramped, and the GFS Lit' Killer pickups (6K, 6K, 10K) only allowed a limited amount of wiring options (stupid Quikplug design that precludes parallel or selecting which coil is possible in 'single coil' mode), I elected to use the Free-way 10-way Strat type switch and get something easily functional. I also used the Entwistle Smoothtrak Tone Pot with a uF.010 cap instead of the usual .022 or larger to limit the 'mud'. Finished instrument  Templates created to get these!  Steps along the way (control cavity)  Adding the thickness (slats cut from the mother board)  The chambering and cavities before adding the back  Plug (oak) to place the tremolo studs into. Plug grain set at 90 degrees to oppose splitting to the maximum extant. Thin veneer over that with the grain going the 'mormal' way.  alignment and design calculation drawings to get things spot on...  |
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Post by sumgai on Nov 29, 2021 0:04:36 GMT -5
Excuse me please, I have to go get a towel to wipe the drool off of my keyboard.... Seriously, nice job!!  |
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Post by frets on Nov 29, 2021 12:18:54 GMT -5
It’s simply gorgeous!!😺😺😺
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Post by gckelloch on Nov 29, 2021 17:40:25 GMT -5
The only criticism is that it might have been a good idea to plan things out b4 building...  Seriously, very smart work. It looks great. Is that Spruce? Say, I just wired a guitar for my brother with a 10k Lil' Killer in the neck. From what I can tell by running white noise on my mobile phone through an earbud touched to the pickup blades into an analyzer plugin (to see the freq peak), I think it's in the 4~4.5H range. The 6k version should be ~1.6H if they use the same wire gauge. I bet they use one gauge thicker so it's ~2.5H, like a Strat pickup. I also noticed that both of the pickup blades may not be grounded. The ground wire only appears to go to one of the blades. That could cause some audible hum with enough gain. My solution was to use a piece of copper tape to connect the blades without it touching any of the wire connection points. Again, awesome work! |
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Post by ssstonelover on Nov 29, 2021 19:23:54 GMT -5
Hi gckelloch
I bought the wood back in March 2019, and the seller did tell me what it was but I lost track of that over time, but based on the scent when freshly cut, what I remember, etc., it is some kind of cedar, and most likely Port Orford cedar at that, or a species brought in from Europe and grown here as an ornamental tree before being cut down.... who knows....
Thanks for the heads-up on the Lit' Killers. When I next do a string change I can run som adhesive copper tape over both blades (on the bottom side of course) to ensure proper blade grounding.
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Post by gckelloch on Nov 30, 2021 12:35:26 GMT -5
Hi gckelloch I bought the wood back in March 2019, and the seller did tell me what it was but I lost track of that over time, but based on the scent when freshly cut, what I remember, etc., it is some kind of cedar, and most likely Port Orford cedar at that, or a species brought in from Europe and grown here as an ornamental tree before being cut down.... who knows.... Thanks for the heads-up on the Lit' Killers. When I next do a string change I can run som adhesive copper tape over both blades (on the bottom side of course) to ensure proper blade grounding. Ah, Port Oxford Cedar is considered a great "tonewood" (as much as that matters in electric guitars). Must be a very lightweight guitar with the chambering. There's a company selling parts for the cigar box guitar market that has blade pickups very cheap. They do have copper tape connecting the coils. I also noticed that the high-end extension of the 10k Lil' Killer was very differnt with the earbud placed on either blade -- one coil having much more than the other. |
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Post by ssstonelover on Dec 1, 2021 17:06:47 GMT -5
Hi gckelloch,
Total weight is 5.8 lbs., so on the light side of things, though I do have Strat type guitar that weighs 6.2 lbs (Paulownia wood), also light but without the chambering....and with 'standard' single coils.
I guess the lightweight champion would be to make a chambered headless out of Paulownia and use titanium parts (screws) and an aluminum vibrato block, etc.... and with single coils to save on the pickup weight. Using Alder or poplar for the neck would also help.
Anyway just an idle though interesting thought.
I think I will make a baritone guitar next, I have someone interested. Lots of new drawings to plot out with parts and scale at 1:1, so it will be back to the drawing board for a few weeks getting the lines and critical dimensions right. As it turns out I have seen 27", 28-5/8" and 30" scale necks called baritone. I do have a 30" neck sitting around, so this first pass would be with that 30" scale, so similar to the Danelectro baritone.
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Post by gckelloch on Dec 1, 2021 19:27:00 GMT -5
Hi gckelloch, Total weight is 5.8 lbs., so on the light side of things, though I do have Strat type guitar that weighs 6.2 lbs (Paulownia wood), also light but without the chambering....and with 'standard' single coils. I guess the lightweight champion would be to make a chambered headless out of Paulownia and use titanium parts (screws) and an aluminum vibrato block, etc.... and with single coils to save on the pickup weight. Using Alder or poplar for the neck would also help. Anyway just an idle though interesting thought. I think I will make a baritone guitar next, I have someone interested. Lots of new drawings to plot out with parts and scale at 1:1, so it will be back to the drawing board for a few weeks getting the lines and critical dimensions right. As it turns out I have seen 27", 28-5/8" and 30" scale necks called baritone. I do have a 30" neck sitting around, so this first pass would be with that 30" scale, so similar to the Danelectro baritone. That is light. My brother built a GFS Paulownia body Tele with a nice custom neck that sounded great. Has a relatively "soft" high end character like a really lightweight Swamp Ash., so not like a hard Ash body Tele. Softer wood of course absorbs more high end via the neck. I got a roasted hard Ash body for an S-type and the guitar is 10 lbs! Sounds surprisingly good though. Lots of midrange resonance loss and an articulate "airy" high end. Has a Maple neck/ebony FB. My bro got a T-set of Wilde "Micro-Coils" for the Paulownia Tele. I got an S-set for the roasted Ash S-type, and a T-set for the 28" scale "Jagcaster" Baritone I happen to be building from a Black Limba body and a roasted-Maple w/Pau Ferru FB & Stainless fret neck I had made by BYOG guitars. I always recommend trying the Micro-Coils. They have very small/dense 46AWG wire coils and something like Permalloy pole screws, bushings, and a "moderator bar" in an Nd magnet circuit. The string pull is like AlNiCO II. They have very strong fundamental note response and the pole screws can adjust the individual note timbre without the high-end loss of Steel screws. Due to the efficiency of the design, they are very low hum and the S-set is only $150. I'm tuning the 28" scale to B with a 7-string set of Sfarzo "Touchtones" (slow Cryo-treated NiFe alloy wraps). Not using the high E, so the G is wound and it's now a 56-14 6-string set. The slow Cryo process aligns the alloy structure to increase strength, and produce a smoother surface feel. They have a really full harmonic sustain without sounding harsh like Stainless Steel. I expected they will last very long. You could tune to A with those strings and that 30" scale neck. |
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Post by cynical1 on Dec 2, 2021 13:08:23 GMT -5
Hi gckelloch, Total weight is 5.8 lbs... My 10-1/2 pound ATK bass said shut the Hell up... Allan Holdsworth went to headless guitars towards the end of his career strictly based on weight. Carvin made a chambered guitar signature line with his name on it for a while. Seriously, nice looking guitar. I would imagine that with all the hardware on the tail end you probably don't have an issue with neck dive...even at 5.8 pounds... HTC1 |
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Post by ssstonelover on Dec 5, 2021 2:56:51 GMT -5
Hi HTC1
No neck dive and the balance (on the knee or standing with a strap) is good. The tremolo is fairly heavy relative to the total weight and opposite the neck, so helps in that regard too I'm sure.
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Post by sumgai on Dec 5, 2021 11:27:13 GMT -5
Note to BH; HTC1 stands for "Happy Trails, cynical1" Happy Trails has been his sign-off for about as long as he's been a member here. Probably has as something to do with the fact that he has three horses. I met up with him several times while he lived close to Portland OR, and trust me, he's so cynical that he makes me look like Pollyanna!  HTH sumgai |
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Post by blademaster2 on Dec 5, 2021 14:44:22 GMT -5
Very nice, clean work! It is gorgeous. The body design seems to address all of the minimalism needs for a solidbody guitar and also look nicely balanced.
I am interested in how you think it sounds, and plays.
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Post by ssstonelover on Dec 13, 2021 16:34:05 GMT -5
Hi Blademaster,
I tell you it plays well, fits well, has tremendous (usable) sound variation, and checks virtually all the boxes on my list. I guess I should record a video.... LOL (I'm a bit lazy on the video stuff but starting to get the hang of it now, sigh).
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Post by blademaster2 on Dec 13, 2021 20:25:11 GMT -5
That is wonderful.
I can think of no greater satisfaction than getting a pleasing result from one of your own creations - especially if it is one of a kind. The enjoyment lasts for the rest of your life.
Congratulations!
I trust you will keep this guitar for your own enjoyment? I know that I would.
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Post by pyrroz on Dec 14, 2021 6:39:58 GMT -5
fantastic job.
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Seriously, very smart work. It looks great. Is that Spruce? Say, I just wired a guitar for my brother with a 10k Lil' Killer in the neck. From what I can tell by running white noise on my mobile phone through an earbud touched to the pickup blades into an analyzer plugin (to see the freq peak), I think it's in the 4~4.5H range. The 6k version should be ~1.6H if they use the same wire gauge. I bet they use one gauge thicker so it's ~2.5H, like a Strat pickup. I also noticed that both of the pickup blades may not be grounded. The ground wire only appears to go to one of the blades. That could cause some audible hum with enough gain. My solution was to use a piece of copper tape to connect the blades without it touching any of the wire connection points. Again, awesome work! 
