Wednesday 25th February ’09

we begin, as ever, with some finishing.. the stock eight string (she could be yours!!) has more coats of wax applied

and polished by hand.. she’s starting to come into her own here..

it is then on to the production of some neck blanks!

the center bit of South African mahogany is cut to a wedge shape.. much more interesting than the standard flat board..

and then, after running everything over the planner/thicknesser, each fac is planed by hand to a perfectly flat surface..

..the veneers and clamps are added!

a blue stain is mixed up..

and applied to a maple veneer.. this is then hung up to dry.. next to the design of the ‘Wizard’ guitar.. (watch this space!)

speaking of wizard.. they’ve just designed a new pair of pickups!!

NOVATRON – Retro 50s styling compliment the scatterwound, handcrafted pickups perfectly. Clean these have a unique bright resonateresque characterful tone, but turn the gain to max and they really cut through where most humbuckers turn to mush. Great for lead and rhythm work these pickups excel when you turn the heat up.

INFINITY – A full sized rails type humbucker. A fabulous all round pickup, with great articulation and outstanding sustain. It dirties up very well making it a versatile loud pickup suitable for nearly all applications. If you want style and tone look no further!

 

These will probably be the stock pickups on Roberts signature guitars from now!

the veneer is glued between two mahogany planks which will later be bookmatched to create a neck for a PAF bass..

on to Steinar’s 8 string touch guitar neck.. the excess rosewood from the fretboard is bandsawed away.

and cleaned up with a sharp plane

after the face of the fretboard was planed flat the fret slots are carefully marked out

and cut.. a labourious job when you do it by hand.. but well worth it..

the position markers are marked out.. in custom positions specced by Steinar..

drilled..

whiled the abalone dots cure in the background a large abalone circle is cut out

the mini-router arrives and is used to route out the circles cavity..

..a messy glue job..

..and again with the 12th fret ‘c’ inlay..

everything is cleaned off, the fret slots are prepared and everything sanded through the grits..

Gypsy, Rosie and her two pups come for a visit and cram themselves in a small warm cupboard for a sleep..

they even sleep through the hammering in of the frets.. the glue is there to fill any gaps underneath the fret which solidifies the feel of the neck and gives just a little bit more tone..

the fret ends are snipped off and the side dots installed..

the fret ends are profiled over and polished before oiling the fretboard

..which is buffed up several times on the old grinder

and here is the end result.. ready for a body methinks??

All my best – Ben

Cimson Bespoke Guitars UK