The Shop > Wood & Stuff
Scalloping the guitar fretboard - possibly also renovation of the instrument
sorveltaja:
Tremolo is now moved further away from the bridge:
Some work on the bar end:
It has a partially threaded nylon part inside the raising bush. Once the scews are shortened, then filing and sanding, to 'morph' the alu parts together.
As mentioned earlier, the linkages need to have some sort of 'liner', to keep the motion more linear. Some sort of roller/ball bearing based solution.
At this point I can see, how cleverly the Stetsbar tremolo(also mentioned earlier) is designed. Perhaps I'll try to approach that concept later.
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Again, another idea about finishing of the body. Maybe something, that contrasts its rather light weight. Something, that has a natural element in it. But we'll see.
sorveltaja:
Test version of the rollers for the linkages:
Printed one:
It has a 3mm lapped steel rod(might be from cd/dvd recorder), and 3x6x2.5mm ball bearings(from computer supply fans). They have nice press fit tightness, but do they stay in place in use, remains to be seen.
sorveltaja:
To put the tremolo aside, it's time to find out, how much the roller nut, in it's current position, causes deviation, when compared to 'correct frequencies'. Meaning, that the center of the rollers should ideally be at the zero-fret position.
So, before attempting to remove wood from the end of the fretboard, I'll measure the difference(s), just out of curiosity. I have another guitar, that has a locking nut, and it'll be used as well for comparison.
But yeah, for the measurements, at first, the pickup needs to be added:
It needs some kind of (possibly printed)supporting part under it, though.
sorveltaja:
Pickup is now added:
As can be seen, the end of the fretboard is, where I tested dyeing. Well not exactly dye, but a felt tip pen. Then wiped with acetone to remove all the rest, that didn't absorb in to the wood.
I might have to remake the maple fret markers, as they'll get their share of black colour too.
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In the meantime I have also done some testings, considering the body finishing. I decided to stick with either copper-, or iron powder. The latter one seems to give more shades, from dark brown to blood red to yellow-ish.
Chemicals found in my closets: vinegar, citric acid, phosphoric acid, and copper sulfate appear to give the most visible effects. If there are results worth mentioning, I'll post some sample pics.
Otherwise, I'll just use some plain color for the finishing, and then move on with the project.
sorveltaja:
I think I have a very likely candidate for the body finish:
In the picture it looks more like brownish, but actually it's closer to red. Subtle variations of the shades makes it look more vivid.
Procedure is simple; I applied thinned black paint with a brush, for the base layer, then sprinkled iron powder to cover all of it.
After that, excess powder was removed by knocking the steel sheet.
To embed the iron particles into the base paint, a soft rubber roll was used. When the paint has dried, remaining loose iron particles were removed with soft brush:
Then spraying phosphoric acid(not pure, but as a part of some sort of cleaner/rust remover), to 'activate' the iron particles. At that stage, when they react between each other, the rotten smell released is quite strong.
But anyways, to get over it, after 5-10 minutes, I rinsed the surface with water(not sure about giving the guitar body a shower, but who knows), to diminish the phosphoric acid's reaction.
Next the surface was dried using a warm air blower.
Then I sprayed copper sulfate to cover the iron powder layer. Again, after few minutes, the surface was rinsed with water, and let dry. That's when the colours starts to appear.
The result in the above pic is after repeating the treatment two or three times.
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