Trying some experiments
Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2021 10:32 pm
An alternative title for this thread would be “polishing a turd”.
Some of you might remember this episode from back in 2009. There was a chap named Vic who was into guitar building, but not known to us on ANZLF. He died and his wife was selling off the contents of his shed on EBay. We had a good chat about it here:
http://www.anzlf.com/viewtopic.php?f=1& ... dow#p17595
One of his things that I got was a cardboard box containing a half-built 12-string, and spare parts that looked like it was some sort of a kit. I paid about $50 for it – but it wasn’t a great buy. At first I couldn’t work out what type of wood it was, but pretty soon I realized it wasn’t wood at all. The back, sides and top were all HPL (high pressure laminate, i.e. Laminex, just like kitchen benchtops) with a faux-wood appearance. I put the kit together but it didn’t sound too good, and it wasn’t long before the top bellied up and then the bridge pulled off. It has hung on my workshop wall as a “decoration” for many years.
Recently I thought I would have a bit of fun rebuilding it, and using it as a test chassis for a few ideas I have been wanting to try. I put it together quick and dirty, with little regard for cosmetic appearance, and included every new idea that I could think of, just to try them out. The build included:
1. Internal flying-buttress bracing with CF rods
2. New redwood top with falcate bracing
3. Scoop cutaway
4. Fan-fret multiscale (about 26.4” bass, 24.7” treble)
5. Bent top arm bevel – like Mike Doolin used to do
6. Some funny looking features like a slanted oval soundhole, half-slotted headstock
7. And I thought why not make it a 7-string.
The HPL back and sides were really ugly so I just painted them black with some hard-wearing laminate paint designed for kitchen cupboards. The rosette, scoop and bindings are tiger myrtle and are not too perfect. I braced the top pretty lightly, deliberately not capping the falcate braces with CF, but instead I laminated CF into the braces. I wanted to make a box that was rigid because of the buttress rods – but a top that was pretty responsive. Here are some pictures. The falcate bracing is offset to account for the sloping bridge. I followed the pictures that Martin posted of his multiscale falcate. That worked out OK, but then I ran into trouble with the bridge. I made a pinned bridge with 7 pins and had to juggle the spacing in relation to the main falcate braces. I tried to put 3 pins between the main braces and 2 on either side. But I miscalculated the distance and ended up with the string spacing a bit too wide and the outside strings running too close to the edge of the fingerboard. Then I couldn't bring the pin holes any closer together because that would have them hitting a brace. So I ended up making a new pinless bridge, which is a bit rough looking but works. After I initially strung it up with 7 strings (a low B 7th string) I then decided I didn't like that. The string spacing was a bit too tight (neck width at the nut is 1 13/16") and I found I don't really know how to play a 7-string anyway. Made a new 6-string nut and that is how it is set up now, but it could easily go back to 7 strings if I wanted.
First impressions - It isn't pretty but it sounds pretty good. I quite like the arm bevel, I am less certain about the scoop. The multiscale is good with heavier strings (13-58 on it at present) and the bass sounds great tuned down to D or even C tunings. I will post some technical details about frequency responses, deflection testing and bridge rotation later. I wonder if Vic would have liked it?
Some of you might remember this episode from back in 2009. There was a chap named Vic who was into guitar building, but not known to us on ANZLF. He died and his wife was selling off the contents of his shed on EBay. We had a good chat about it here:
http://www.anzlf.com/viewtopic.php?f=1& ... dow#p17595
One of his things that I got was a cardboard box containing a half-built 12-string, and spare parts that looked like it was some sort of a kit. I paid about $50 for it – but it wasn’t a great buy. At first I couldn’t work out what type of wood it was, but pretty soon I realized it wasn’t wood at all. The back, sides and top were all HPL (high pressure laminate, i.e. Laminex, just like kitchen benchtops) with a faux-wood appearance. I put the kit together but it didn’t sound too good, and it wasn’t long before the top bellied up and then the bridge pulled off. It has hung on my workshop wall as a “decoration” for many years.
Recently I thought I would have a bit of fun rebuilding it, and using it as a test chassis for a few ideas I have been wanting to try. I put it together quick and dirty, with little regard for cosmetic appearance, and included every new idea that I could think of, just to try them out. The build included:
1. Internal flying-buttress bracing with CF rods
2. New redwood top with falcate bracing
3. Scoop cutaway
4. Fan-fret multiscale (about 26.4” bass, 24.7” treble)
5. Bent top arm bevel – like Mike Doolin used to do
6. Some funny looking features like a slanted oval soundhole, half-slotted headstock
7. And I thought why not make it a 7-string.
The HPL back and sides were really ugly so I just painted them black with some hard-wearing laminate paint designed for kitchen cupboards. The rosette, scoop and bindings are tiger myrtle and are not too perfect. I braced the top pretty lightly, deliberately not capping the falcate braces with CF, but instead I laminated CF into the braces. I wanted to make a box that was rigid because of the buttress rods – but a top that was pretty responsive. Here are some pictures. The falcate bracing is offset to account for the sloping bridge. I followed the pictures that Martin posted of his multiscale falcate. That worked out OK, but then I ran into trouble with the bridge. I made a pinned bridge with 7 pins and had to juggle the spacing in relation to the main falcate braces. I tried to put 3 pins between the main braces and 2 on either side. But I miscalculated the distance and ended up with the string spacing a bit too wide and the outside strings running too close to the edge of the fingerboard. Then I couldn't bring the pin holes any closer together because that would have them hitting a brace. So I ended up making a new pinless bridge, which is a bit rough looking but works. After I initially strung it up with 7 strings (a low B 7th string) I then decided I didn't like that. The string spacing was a bit too tight (neck width at the nut is 1 13/16") and I found I don't really know how to play a 7-string anyway. Made a new 6-string nut and that is how it is set up now, but it could easily go back to 7 strings if I wanted.
First impressions - It isn't pretty but it sounds pretty good. I quite like the arm bevel, I am less certain about the scoop. The multiscale is good with heavier strings (13-58 on it at present) and the bass sounds great tuned down to D or even C tunings. I will post some technical details about frequency responses, deflection testing and bridge rotation later. I wonder if Vic would have liked it?