The Shop > Wood & Stuff
Scalloping the guitar fretboard - possibly also renovation of the instrument
sorveltaja:
Finally, the fixed tailpiece:
Other than that, not much progress today. When on a drawing board, I wondered how to make the new, longer linkages. If steel was used, it would be a very lengthy process, be it from solid, or discrete parts silver soldered together.
I have harder grade aluminum, than the already made ones were made of. It's just so much easier to form with a small mill, than steel. Brass sheet could be another option, but I wan't save it for the 'rainy day'.
Not sure yet, about how long they will be. It's again about the 'feeling' of the tremolo bar. When moving the tremolo further away from the string retainer, the bar hits it, or the bridge, when pressing it down, limiting the range. There is a fix: raise the bar, and see, how it goes.
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In the meantime, I have tested some diy-techniques from Youtube, considering finishing of the body. Most obvious is the crackling effect, using white glue and acrylic paint. But so far, the results are way too rough or exaggerated.
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Other than that, one idea is to laser print an image, or patterns to the black paper, then embed iron powder to them, by ironing. At first, there isn't much to see, but once the iron powder starts to react with the ambient air's moisture, it rusts.
I haven't tested that with black paper yet, but with white one, yes.
To get the patterns to absorb as much iron powder, as possible, the ironing process should probably be repeated.
I've done some tests using copper powder, but to get it more visible, it needs to be 'mangled'(don't know, if that's the right term), or maybe treated with an etchant, to 'open it up'.
sorveltaja:
About the body finishing: it seems to be a bottomless rabbit hole, to test all the ideas, that comes to mind. Latest being about using procedures like electroforming(or electrotyping), to make metal patterns.
I think it's not the right time to dig in that deep into it. So, back to the 'kiss' -principle.
sorveltaja:
New, longer linkages:
They are about twice as long as the previous ones. Infact, there was barely room in my lathe to bore the holes, so that's as long, as they'll get.
Action is smooth, although to stay in tune, it has use be used like a traditional Strat(and perhaps Bigsby) -style one.
The tremolo is more sensitive, than I expected, so that'll be the final mechanism(at least for now).
Next thing to do, is to shape the linkages. After that, if the ends, which hold the string retainer, are in the way, then move the whole system as far from the bridge, as possible(~10-20mm).
Then general rounding of the shapes of the bar. Its connecting point to the tremolo might need angled parts(printed ones in the above pic). Not sure about that yet.
When all that is done, it's time to move back to the neck. The nut needs to be centered to the 'zero fret' position, by removing wood from the end of the fretboard. I think I'll do some frequency measurements, while at it. To get any readings, obviously a pickup needs to be installed.
sorveltaja:
Tremolo bar, after some filing and wet sanding. Linkages are preshaped, and ready for smoothing:
sorveltaja:
When looking at it, there is http:// -prefix on my hosting server's address. I tried to access it by entering https, but for now, it doesn't seem to lead anywhere.
I'm generally using an older version of Firefox, as there are some plugins and options, that aren't compatible/don't exist in newer ones.
So, on the newer versions, maybe it's about 'site prefences', or security related browser settings.
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I think the idea for renovating this guitar has been brewing quite some time, as I found a preshaped pickguard for it:
Like on Strat-style guitars, the pickguard is used to hold the pickups, and also the volume- and tone control pots.
Only one small part of it has been snapped off, but it should be easy to fix.
It's made of clear 2mm plexiglass, and the plan is to bevel/smooth its edges, then lightly sand it to have a satin surface.
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