I gotta try and make something a bit more conventional......

martinedwards · Post by **martinedwards** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 2:17 am

current project........

walnut/sitka 6/12 doubleneck. necks are maple/mahogany/maple
fretboards rosewood with fender scale

12th fret body join & as small a 12 head as possible to get it less head heavy........

There will be a built in tuner and a Les Paul style switch to switch between the two under saddle piezos.........

here's what I decided to do with the fretboard ends.......

I've now got the necks fitted, heel plates on & frets in. a bit more lacquer and we'll have strings on by hallowe'en

Hesh1956 · Post by **Hesh1956** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 3:54 am

Wow Martin your double neck is looking killer!

:serg

I really like the shape of the body and the fret board extension treatment too. Nice eye for design and a great guitar this will be I am sure.

Sam Price · Post by **Sam Price** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 4:06 am

I gotta try and make something a bit more conventional......

Oh Martin, please don't!! STAY outside the box!!

I've already commented on this fine, fine build. I don't know if I have already complimented you on the shape of this guitar and the fretboard treatment, but it doesn't hurt to say it again.

WELL DONE!!

martinedwards · Post by **martinedwards** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 4:14 am

Sam Price wrote:Oh Martin, please don't!! STAY outside the box!!

I can't even remember where the box is!!!!

Sam Price · Post by **Sam Price** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 4:24 am

martinedwards wrote:
I can't even remember where the box is!!!!

Phew....all is well, then.

Kim · Post by **Kim** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 5:27 am

Martin,

I realy like the styling also, what you have done with the fretboard ends fits very well.

Cheers

Kim

Bob Connor · Post by **Bob Connor** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 5:39 am

There's some really nice flow in that body shape Martin.

Don't tell me you got that Walnut from dumpster diving as per your usual practise.

Bob

BillyT · Post by **BillyT** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 5:56 am

I gotta try and make something a bit more conventional......

Don't even think about it! Even if you crash and burn BAD, your already way ahead just getting this far! Great work!

Gorgeous zoot BTW!

Ron Wisdom · Post by **Ron Wisdom** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 7:29 am

That's gonna be a really nice axe, Martin!! Very well thought out design, and I can't wait to see it finished.

Ron

martinedwards · Post by **martinedwards** » Sat Oct 06, 2007 1:02 am

Well, it's not ALL out of the dumpster!!!

I bought the top........

the fretboards.......

the maple on the necks is from a builders yard........

the back & sides are from the shopfitter's dumpster and the mahogany lams in the neck and the mahogany binding was too.......

The leopardwood in the rosette was salvaged from an offcut on a previous build.......

and the EIR bridges (not yet shown) used to be a shelf under a neighbour's coffee table!!

finish pics.......

Ron Wisdom · Post by **Ron Wisdom** » Sat Oct 06, 2007 3:55 am

Man, I like that!! Nobody throws walnut in the dumpster around here.

Ron

Craig · Post by **Craig** » Sat Oct 06, 2007 7:52 am

Man, that is so cool Martin . I mean REALLY COOL . I look forward to your progress

Dave Anderson · Post by **Dave Anderson** » Sat Oct 06, 2007 11:18 am

Great design , very cool and that will be fun to play !
That's some nice walnut fer free!

Really good job Martin.

Serge · Post by **Serge** » Sat Oct 06, 2007 2:23 pm

Very nice build Martin and glad to have you here mate!

Dennis Leahy · Post by **Dennis Leahy** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 12:23 am

Martin, that is a very cool guitar. I'd need to hire a musician to play it for me! Is this for yourself, for a customer/commission, or built "on spec"?

You mention a switch to switch between the undersaddle pickups - will the switch be 3-way, and allow both pickups simultaneously (in addition to one or the other)? Not that both necks could be played simultaneously, but you may want to strum the 12 and while that big fat chord is singing, jump to the 6 string neck and play on top of it. A two-way switch might be a bit abrupt.

Great project!

Dennis

martinedwards · Post by **martinedwards** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 3:58 am

Hi Dennis,

This beast is for me till I get bored of it and then I'll prolly bung it on ebay to get the Â£200 or so back out again.....

the switch is as you suggest, my last double (for a pal) had a blend pot and it just didn't really work right, (sounded muddy in the middle) so that's why I'm switching this one.

I've got the tuners in place, so a Hallowe'en string up is looking realistic.....

I was eperimenting today with two strings to an unslotted bridge pin for the 12 bridge to give two very similar LOOKING bridges.......

martinedwards · Post by **martinedwards** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 4:40 am

OK, the doubleneck progresses...

Double neck bridge.....

removing the varnish from the top so that the glue will hold the bridge in place.....

glued & clamped

SOME strings!!

now at this point the nut isn't glued in place. the screws which hold the tuners are still in the bag. the saddle isn't intonated (or even level) and the frets have been pressed into place but NOT filed or levelled in ANY way......

action's not TOO bad.....

and you know what's amazing?

it plays!!!

there is one high fret about #15 that need looked at, but below the 12th all the notes ring free!!

Stephen Kinnaird · Post by **Stephen Kinnaird** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 2:18 pm

Martin, that IS cool.
Any pics of your bracing pattern?
(That's probably cool, also.)

Steve

Serge · Post by **Serge** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 3:28 pm

Really lovely instrument Martin, i second Steve on the pics of the bracing pattern!

Hi Steve, great to see ya here too bro!

martinedwards · Post by **martinedwards** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 5:54 pm

here y'go then

this is before the carving is finished obviously

I'm not TOO concerned about being over braced as it'll be a plugged in kind of thing, and I'd rather deal with a EQ issue than a ripped off top issue......

the soundhole patch is a bit rough, but no-one will see in there, will they?

Oh yes, there's an extra X between the bridges & the tail block that went in after this pic....if you look closely you can see the pencil lines......

I'll let y'all know if the top has ripped off after being 1/3 strung over the weekend.......

Stephen Kinnaird · Post by **Stephen Kinnaird** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 10:19 pm

Thanks, Martin...it is indeed cool.
Looks good from Texas, by the way.
What's the size of the braces?

Steve

martinedwards · Post by **martinedwards** » Fri Oct 26, 2007 7:13 am

Ah to be 14 again!!

here's one of my pupils road testing the doubleneck.......

it's prize night tonight and he's playing guitar in a musical interlude and he BEGGED me.....

but it's still got as couple of dead frets so I had to be a meanie & say no!!

spose I could give y'all a link to a soundclick..........

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInf ... ID=5906376

I'm really chuffed with it, but realisticly, do I have a use for it?

not really!!

is it the sort of thing that I'd play in our church?

prolly not, don't want to scare the oldies, eh?

as to the sound, she's really coming out nicely.

When I first strung up the 6 neck I wasn't impressed AT ALL, and I was telling myself not to worry, the eq will sort it out.......

and now that I've fitted the USTs and spent two hours trying to make the eq/tuner work before I cut a barn door in the top edge, and having NO success, I've just wired them straight to the strapjack.

But now after a week or so I'm really getting to like it, and yes, a pure 12 will be my next personal build. Spruce on Walnut with an EIR fretboard..... now THERE's a suprise!!

there is a little resonant drone on the unplayed neck but nothing that can't be passed of as reverb!!

Once I get the frets tidied I'll prolly let her loose in church, at an evening service when I lead solo and can justify (lol!!) the extra neck.....

after that?

a little extra income round Christmas from the Ebay fairy?

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I gotta try and make something a bit more conventional......

I gotta try and make something a bit more conventional......

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