Thursday 12th February ’09
This week has been incredibly frustrating.. the amount of admin that suddenly needed doing precluded being in the workshop as much as I want to! .. nevertheless I begin on Steinar’s extended range bass neck.. last week the pearwood and flamed maple were glued together.,.
excess pearwood is removed
and the planer thicknesser creates a mess with some more flamed maple (I’ve disconnected the dust extractor.. I can clean up by hand without having to turn on a giant vacuum cleaner using masses of power….)
the neck is bookmatched (yay!!!)
the glueing surfaces prepared
and the final beast starts to come to light!!
this pearwood paf body is bandsawed out..
and the post arrives.. the idiots in the warehouse packed this very small box in the very massive one!!! what a waste of resources (this blog is in danger of turning into an eco rant!!)
out come the custom wound set of humbuckers that Andy at Wizard pickups wound for Andrew’s 8 string guitar..
the new template is cut out..
checked for fit
the fingerboard is accomodated
and the cavities are then routed.. I had previously routed her for slightly smaller pups, to use the words of a former US President I misunderestimated the width of magnet needed for the eight strings…
..ready for more.. the next day was spent mostly in getting lost on the way back from the local hospital (don’t ask!!) unfortunately for my bank balance we ended up near Axminster…
where a beautiful baby milling machine was purchased.. you are looking at the next generation of Crimson Guitars.. we’ll be able to manufacture a good quantity of our own bespoke hardware!!!
also I bought a set of plug cutters… we can now make timber control knobs without having to buy a lathe!
Steinar’s neck is unclamped and is now ready for next weeks work..
a new roll of paper (£5 plus postage on ebay for 90 meters!!)
and design work continues on 05Rics next Extended range bass… this beast obviously has fanned frets and eleven strings!!!!
I will also be making custom bridge pieces/tuners.. as she will be my first headless instrument!!!
here we go! Ergonomics at its best!
the milling machine is brought into service for the first time.. an aluminium rod is turned into the beginings of the custom bridge for 05Ric’s next instrument..
rough.. but not bad for the first go!
next up we start work on Andrews eight string bridge.. the carbon graphite saddles are brought out and designing begins..
followed by machining.. I’m turning into an engineer!!
the end result.. prior to polishing of course..
the saddles are put in place
and we see an almost finished eight string guitar.
Have a great weekend!
Ben – Crimson Guitars HQ
Leave a Reply
