Monday 18th June '07
Here we have the combined work from today and Sunday afternoon (between picking up dog doodoo and mowing the lawn!?!)
7 string bass with a very wide fingerboard, makes for a difficult design task, for one I don't want the whole thing to be top heavy, I also need straight string pull.. therefore the 4 and 3 design and the hollow headstock..
the truss rod channel and two tone chambers are routed out..
this will give us much more sustain and warmth, which on an extended range bass is a very good thing.. have you ever strummed your guitar and listened to the volume that comes from the back of the neck.. try it, you'll be amazed!
the new angle is cut on the maple before it is put over the thicknesser and another layer of mahogany is glued in place..
the final neck shape is cut once everything is dry..
the headstock angle is planed flat
then I start planning out the body using the amazingly precise design supplied by the customer..
Rock comes to visit...
but he's not very impressed by the dust!
the body wings are marked out on a chunk of light-weight cedar.
the cedar is planed ready for
glueing in place
at the same place I glue the two blanks for the acoustic together..
the lawn is now mowed and the ERB is officially an amost-guitar
the excess on the wings is bandsawed off
and rasped, filed and then sanded to shape..
a drop top is planed on to the front.. this is a small curve to give that little bit more comfort to the player..
the highly flamewd maple is cut to size..
and glued in place.. as you can see with this particular design the fingerboard is the last thing to be added.. the reason is that the frets need to be cut prior to glueing it in place .. you'll see..
the outline for the crafty acoustic is drawn in place on the blank
before it is cut roughly to size.. blunted the hell out of the bandsaw blade, the purple heart is very very hard wood!
the top is planed flat
and then a guide is routed round the template, this gives me something to carve to tomorrow.. I'm really looking forward to seeing my vision for this guitar come together!
the maple caps are now dry and the edges trimmed as close to the body as I can
and then she is filed and sanded flush..
the santos rosewood fingerboard is run over and then through the planer thicknesser until it is perfectly straight and the correct thickness
and looking pretty pretty.. all the neck dimensions are marked out
and then everything is marked out, recesed into the body...
and that's all for today.. tomorrow I cut the frets, glue the fingerboard in place and carve the body and neck.. at least that's the plan..
the headstock also needs doing so the wings are glued on ready for tomorrow...
All my best,
Ben
redefining custom - crimson guitars | 
