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The Twins


Christine

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1 hour ago, Andyjr1515 said:

That's no surprise to me - the only time I've seen a chisel that worn before was in the days that my father used to use his long-suffering Draper 1/2" to straighten up brickwork prior to plastering...

A bit like me Andy, old and worn out :)

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This is the first time that I have seen an arch topped guitar being made.  I know it's not strictly an arch top because it's not hollow but the only other real example I could point to is @owen's recent acquisition.  My last two basses have had tops and backs with a convex profile.  I like them better than belly-cut forearm-carved bodies.

Can it still be called an arch top if it's not hollow?

I also found that I like a volute.  Did that come into consideration with your necks?

Thank you for sharing with such detail.  Much appreciated.

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1 hour ago, SpondonBassed said:

This is the first time that I have seen an arch topped guitar being made.  I know it's not strictly an arch top because it's not hollow but the only other real example I could point to is @owen's recent acquisition.  My last two basses have had tops and backs with a convex profile.  I like them better than belly-cut forearm-carved bodies.

Can it still be called an arch top if it's not hollow?

I also found that I like a volute.  Did that come into consideration with your necks?

Thank you for sharing with such detail.  Much appreciated.

Aren't they just called carved tops? Good question

Volutes, I did think about adding one but I'm not a lover and the scarf joint has a massive gluing area so it will be significantly stronger than a Gibson with no short grain on that neck/headstock transition where the breaks usually happen so I hope we'll be OK for a lifetimes use

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2 hours ago, Christine said:

Aren't they just called carved tops? Good question

Volutes, I did think about adding one but I'm not a lover and the scarf joint has a massive gluing area so it will be significantly stronger than a Gibson with no short grain on that neck/headstock transition where the breaks usually happen so I hope we'll be OK for a lifetimes use

I'll go with "carved top".

I remember reading about the Gibson volute addressing a weakness issue with some of the LP headstocks on guitars.  The removal of wood to accommodate a truss rod is partly responsible for such weakness.  That combined with inconsistencies in grain encountered in volume production would make the volute an insurance against breakages where QC on individual necks is not great.

Quite apart from that I found that I like it (the volute) as a tactile feature.  I am not sure but I think it is giving me more confidence in knowing on which side of a fret my fingertips are going to land in first position.

Edited by SpondonBassed
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21 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

I do like backs that are convex although I think it is only my ibanez prestige that has one of those. I am sure I had another one at some point!

You made me check.

My SR605 hasn't got a convex surface on the back after all.  It just feels as comfortable as if it had due to the shallow curve that takes the body shape out to a thin edge where the bass, my belly and my forearm all meet.  Similarly the front isn't as fully convex as some of the Warwicks but it is enough to loose the sensation that the body was cut from a slab.

For the LP body shape, I wonder whether the bass would hang in a way that makes the edge/forearm interface an issue for extended sessions.  It may be that the carved top takes care of that issue.

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Lovely work. Did you make two cuts on your scarf? The grain matches rather well - lovely attention to detail!

I'm rather jealous of your cabinet making background - although I'm sure it would be much different doing it for a living rather than a hobby. I would love to have done more woodwork in the past, but the school timetable clashed with music, and I never really did any until the last few years. Now my eyes are about shot for close work these days, so I'm constantly switching between glasses, magnifying goggles and naked eye. It would have been so much easier back when I could see :D

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8 hours ago, SpondonBassed said:

You made me check.

My SR605 hasn't got a convex surface on the back after all.  It just feels as comfortable as if it had due to the shallow curve that takes the body shape out to a thin edge where the bass, my belly and my forearm all meet.  Similarly the front isn't as fully convex as some of the Warwicks but it is enough to loose the sensation that the body was cut from a slab.

Yep, all my other ibanez are flat (well, actually convex), but the Sr1000, which is the oldest has a concave surface on the back which matches the curve on the front.

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3 hours ago, Norris said:

Lovely work. Did you make two cuts on your scarf? The grain matches rather well - lovely attention to detail!

I'm rather jealous of your cabinet making background - although I'm sure it would be much different doing it for a living rather than a hobby. I would love to have done more woodwork in the past, but the school timetable clashed with music, and I never really did any until the last few years. Now my eyes are about shot for close work these days, so I'm constantly switching between glasses, magnifying goggles and naked eye. It would have been so much easier back when I could see :D

Just one cut, the joint is flipped when you glue it but the laminates match up pretty well so I'm quite pleased with it

My eyes are like that these days too, I need glasses to see anything and the magnifier is a must if I do anything intricate but as long as no one can see who care :) I loved furniture making, everything about it from a making point of view, making a living was difficult though but we got by for long enough. I only got into it by accident when I showed interest in another makers work enough for him to offer me a placement, it seemed more fun than working in a shop

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Wow it's been hot today. Didn't get in the workshop yesterday, I think I slept most of the day.
Started the day by planing the scarf joint flat, I checked the necks for flat and they were both still good. The next step was routing the truss rod slot then making the template for the headstock then drew it onto the wood and bandsawed the shape out then used the offcuts to add on the missing bits on the wings. While the glue was drying I played around with the placement for the tuners as my initial drawings didn't look right. I made a test piece from some MDF just to be sure.

Once the glue had dried I again bandsawed the rest to shape and marked out the plan view of the neck and cut that slightly oversize. Now it looks more like a bass.

Tomorrow I will I think scribe in the neck joint to fit the body then make a start on the fret board, actually more accurately I'll make fret template for my home made mitre box.

Moving on from there, I'll leave the necks be until the fretboards are fully finished then I'll have a last check for flat, glue on the headstock veneer, cut the truss rod access slot and drill through before gluing on the fretboards. That I think will be the ongoing plan

IMG_4011.

IMG_4012.

IMG_4010.

IMG_4013.

IMG_4015.

IMG_4017.

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1 hour ago, fryer said:

In the 4th picture above, why are you clamping the headstock ? Isn't it from one piece of wood? How did you fix the headstock to the neck ?

The headstock is attached to the neck with a scarf joint at 14 degrees. The clamping show in the 4th picture is during the gluing on to the sides of the headstock the offcuts to widen it as the extremities of it are wider than the neck blank

Edited by Christine
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6 hours ago, fryer said:

ok, thanks. and the scarf joint is just glued ? 

Just glued, it is very strong, I can stand on the neck without it breaking, obviously not on these but I have on test pieces in the past. Even when jumping up and down on a test piece it was the neck that broke not the scarf joint

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On 08/06/2018 at 17:48, Andyjr1515 said:

That's no surprise to me - the only time I've seen a chisel that worn before was in the days that my father used to use his long-suffering Draper 1/2" to straighten up brickwork prior to plastering...

Hehehe that takes me back Andy...my old man was just the same :)

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As you may have guessed I've been away for a few days but this is what I've been doing since the last update.

Being a natural skinflint I made a fret template and started building a new mitre box as I treated myself to a new saw last week, a Pax instead of my old E.T. Roberts and Lee. The fret template is made from 5mm x 70mm aluminium bar, I used the method shown by Susie Gardner in this video



The mitre box is unambitious for now, I'm considering buying a decent one or possibly using the idea Susie also posted:



For now it is accurate enough and I can adjust the height by using shims

and this is it:

IMG_4028. IMG_4029.

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