Hollowbody electric

[rocket]

This one is nearing completion final coat of lacquer had just gone on,16 inch Florentine in Blackwood and Kauri, sides are a Blackwood/cf lamination and bracing is via Blackwood/cf laminated full depth beams integrated into the front and back plates.
Built one similar to this a few years back with P90s which sounded very nice but I’ve gone with humbuckers with this one.
25 scale, zero fret,Bubinga fretboard on Silky Oak neck blu wh blu wh purfling and ebony binding.
Apologies for the pics being out of order but I think you’ll get the idea

Cheers

Rod.

[WJ Guitars]

Beautiful crafted work and the guitar looks amazing.

Wayne
https://wjguitars.wixsite.com/mysite-1

[rocket]

Thanks Wayne, it hasn't been without its dramas but i'm pretty happy with it so far, 4 weeks away from strings.

Cheers

Rod.

[Crafty Fox]

Absolutely awesome!!!

[demonx]

Looks great, inside and out!

[lamanoditrento]

Beautiful looking instrument

[Woodsy23]

Very impressive work. Well done.

[Jim watts]

She's a beauty!

[rocket]

Update,just fitting the bridge and pup bases to the belly, the material used is offcuts of the Otways Blackwood back plate.

Rod.

[WJ Guitars]

Using the left over Otways Blackwood timber for the bridge mount and pickup bases is a great idea that adds beauty to this guitars finish.

Wayne
https://wjguitars.wixsite.com/mysite-1

[rocket]

Thanks Wayne,
Yes this timber exhibits some stunning figure so I couldn’t resist the opportunity to use it for these components!

Cheers
Rod.

[rocket]

Finished it

Rod

[Jim]

Absolutely stunning Rod!

[rocket]

Thanks very much Jim, like all my builds this one hasn't been without its little dramas but its done now and i'm very happy with the result, it'll be advertised for sale and if i still have it in early August will be exhibited at the Melbourne Guitar Show.
The unusual construction is designed to eliminate feedback which is a problem with carved arch top guitars,, without the problem of the added weight of a solid block in the centre of the instrument, second one of these i've built and so far no negative vibes!!
Planning on recording a promo Vid if this soon so, watch this space..

Cheers

Rod..

[rocket]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VZP6LC_8iM

Cheers
Rod.

[Lillian]

That turned out stunning. Well done Rod.

[rocket]

Thanks very much Lillian, nice to be noticed, how are things on your end?

Cheers

Rod.

[Lillian]

Life is getting better. I've got a bit more time on my hands and a tad bit more play money, so off into the shop I ran. Still shoveling out that "donkey's breakfast", but I can almost see the bench top now. Still trying to get some of the stuff that found a home in there a re-homed because they have nothing to do with wood or guitars. It'll take another week or so and a trip to the tips.

My son asked for a new neck for his cheap knock off strat for his birthday. He's already replaced the electronics, so he asked for a neck from his dear old mum. Well, he'll only turned 30 once and he's never asked for anything before, so I said okay. Picked up a couple of plans, one's a travel guitar, that I'll give a go before I commit to his neck. You know, just to get back into the feel of things.

Nothing majorly exciting, one way other, so life is good. Hope all is well for you and yours.

[rocket]

Glad to hear things a picking up for you Lillian, and I’ve noticed myself that even just a short layoff can play havoc with even the simplest of routines in the workshop and even your technique can suffer a setback as well.
Yep all good here, reduced my employment hours to four days a week from his year and will go down to three in 2020,amounts to a transition to retirement so will give me more time in the shop.
Doing two shows a year now but wouldn’t mind maybe doing one in the States or Europe I’m tjhe not too distant future.
Lol looks like I’ve hijacked my own thread hey? But I doubt if anyone will notice. Are you still making knife handles?

Cheers. Rod.

[rocket]

Latest pics before it goes off to the show

Rod

[GregL]

Hi Rod,

Geez that looks nice, Rod!
Are the blackwood pickup "surrounds" to raise the pickups to the right level?
What sort of bracing (under the top) does it have?

Thanks,
GregL.

[rocket]

Yes Greg, and if you go back to the beginning of this thread you’ll see the beam strut/bracing I’ve used.

Rod.

[TallDad71]

This is stunning work, very in keeping with what we expect to see on this forum. And it sounds absolutely lush. Well done.

I have two questions if you don't mind about the design.

Why did you use plastic pickup holders, why didn't you use the Blackwood for them instead?

The necks on archtop guitars sits very proud of the body but I don't know the reason why. Having built one is there a structural reason why they must be higher than a steel-string guitar or hard bodied electric.

On my second listen of your youtube video now, amazing.

[rocket]

This is stunning work, very in keeping with what we expect to see on this forum. And it sounds absolutely lush. Well done.

I have two questions if you don't mind about the design.

Why did you use plastic pickup holders, why didn't you use the Blackwood for them instead?

The necks on archtop guitars sits very proud of the body but I don't know the reason why. Having built one is there a structural reason why they must be higher than a steel-string guitar or hard bodied electric.

On my second listen of your youtube video now, amazing.

i used the black pup mounts on top of the blackwood because i really wanted to have the black to match the ebony around the gold pickups but they weren't tall enough on their own so i added the blackwood under them and then i matched them with the bridge base..
the neck extension on an arch top is totally independent of the soundboard after it extends past the neck block so has an extension piece of timber or around 15mm thick supporting the end of the fretboard, the neck is usually set at an angle of around 4 degrees so as to create a break angle of around 14 degrees at the bridge so to apply sufficient downforce on the belly to transmit the good vibes into the soundbox, similar to a cello, violin,double bass. Having said all that this instrument isn't an acoustic like most of my arch top builds but the construction method and style still brings worthwhile attributes to the aesthetics and performance of the instrument.

Rod.

[TallDad71]

Thanks for that. Of course you are right, the pup matches that stunning black blue finish perfectly.

I built a Gibson 356 type guitar with flamed maple recently. As soon as I put a plastic pup on, the guitar screamed out in horror at the mismatch in both colour and material, so I had to make two from walnut instead, to get the aesthetic right.