Thursday 5th April '07
21 days to the London Guitar Show - Stand 244
Well, another day done.. another day closer to the show.. and another day with less done than anticipated... still, headway is being made and we shall get there.. perhaps we'll even have all the guitars expected.. this remains to be seen... (the '...' signify my brain stopping momentarily to try and remember where I am and what I'm saying... not a good sign...)
I begin with this little beauty.. I originally made this as a prototype over a year ago, I love her and hve been using her as my personal guitar since then.. A little about her..
She is called the 'Scallop', for obvious reasons.. and as a chambered mahogany body with a rosewood back and a highly figured Quilted Redwood top, add a solid rosewood neck and a set of Wizard pickups and we're away! A lovely sounding and playing guitar! The neck was oiled but I've decided that I prefer the feel of the natural timber and am stripping off the old oil coating..
and after lots of sanding and some very fine wire wool she feels exceptionaly nice..
the front has been reoiled over the last week or so and here you see the ground wire inserted under the bridge ferrule.. not something you want to leave out!
and several hours later she has strings on as well as all the hardware she needs.. pretty huh? You can buy her at the show!!
the wizard pickups are rear mounted and fitted directly to the body for greater resonance and tonal transfer
amd the redwood back plates are now in place..
Onto SEAR.. this beast was original going to be a standardish LP type guitar.. I got very bored one day and took a large saw to it.. I'm happy with the way it's tuned out.. Again, solid (sustainably farmed) mahogany body with a figured maple cap and a deep-set-neck-tenon jointed multi-laminate neck. This means that the neck extends all the way past the bridge and gives phenominal sustain and stability.. all good things in my book.
the fingerboard has been cleaned up and it is time to round over the fret-ends.. ebony fingerboards tend to shrink accross its width over the first few months that it is on a guitar.. this leaves very sharp fret ends protruding into the softest parts of your hands.. not a good thing!
I waxed this board, this is not my usual method but I recently played a lovely 355 that hads been done this way.. I liked it, so I followed suit.. Here I polish it up to a lovely smooth sheen..
like so.. should be comfortable..
the back is matted down using the fine wire wool and more oil..
and then the tuners are added and a bone nut blank marked out..
I cut it to size carefully with a fret-saw..
and do my trademark shaping on it.. also you see the mesh truss rod cover..
which matches the back plate.. I like being able to see the wiring.. here it is part cut out..
and here complete! Opinions?
Two days work and four out of the 30 odd guitars are together and waiting for electrifying! Tomorrow they come to life!
Along with Archies PAF, the oil finish has seeped onto the fingerboard over the last few weeks and needs to be cleaned up.. using lighter fluid (no really!) and then lemon oil
and yet more wire wool!! Tomorrow she'll have strings and hardware and all things rockin'!!
Question of the Day
How much sustain do you lose by fitting a trem of some kind, compared to a solid, Badass-type bridge? And tone?
Difficult one.. as with anything on a guitar you lose some and you gain some.. A solid quality trem like the Kahler I use on Roberts guitars will give you as much sustain as a standard fixed bridge.. however a normal strat trem will obviously not be very good. A strat trem is connected to the body of the guitar by 6 small screws so there is direct transfer from the strings to the body though this is not the same as the large ferrules on most fixed bridges.. two other important factors, the materials used and the size of the cavity needed for the trem to operate both have an affect. A cheap strat bridge is made out of sub-standard metals and will deaden any tone yoe have to begin with, however if you buy a bridge with a brass or solid steel plate etc you will find you have great sustain.. The cavity for a strat/floyd rose etc is massive and takes away bulk from the guitar which again has a detrimental effect.. (the cavity for the Kahler system is much much smaller!) and add to all this the fact that you have three or four springs vibrating with the strings, and deadening furthur the energy being transmitted to the body, you have the prime problems with most trem systems.. At the end of the day, if you want masses of sustain and tone go with a fixed bridge.. if you have to have a trem then go and buy the best quality one you can find.. it's worth it in the end!
Have fun!
Ben | 
