Building a guitar with what I've learned here. Walnut/Maple/Ash/Eastern Red Cedar

[lbridenstine]

Finally a little update.

Not the greatest pictures, but oh well. These are the wood combinations I chose.





The neck is being glued up right now.

I think it'll look really good after I get everything leveled and sand off the burn marks.

I ordered an Indian Rosewood fretboard from LMII and basically emailed them pictures I've found of fretboards I liked the figure on and the guy told me he would pick one out for me based on that, but I haven't actually seen it, so I'm just hoping that I'll like it when I see it.

So, I need to finish my bass up, then I'll do some leveling, template making, truss rod routing, etc on the guitar. I'm planning on doing the maple side markers on the fretboard before gluing it to the neck, since it would be maple on maple if it extended into the neck anyway and it seems like it'd be easiest to cut the slots before it's attached.

I'm also leaning pretty heavily towards doing a little bit of archtop carving on this. Probably a subtle archtop, because I want the front to still be mostly walnut and my laminate is only 1/4" thick, so that probably doesn't leave me much room.

[Mister Know Not]

Yep...looks good to me...
Very nice combo for the neck.....
Love the red cedar...looks very nice with the walnut...
Great to see another guitar build here on TB, I'm working on a guitar myself, so I will follow you closely.....

[lbridenstine]

Thanks!

I got the fretboard today.





It's a lot darker and a lot more purple than I was expecting, but I still like it. So, I think I've read that the figure tends to fade over time and the streaks will blend in, has that happened with any of yours? If I were to finish the fretboard, would that stop that from happening?

The neck is glued up now too. I'll probably get some better pictures after I get everything leveled and the chunks of glue off of everything.

[Smilodon]

I think that fretboard looks very nice. The purple-ish color go well with the pink-ish ceder.

[lbridenstine]

Originally Posted by Smilodon

I think that fretboard looks very nice. The purple-ish color go well with the pink-ish ceder.

I like it too. I think I'll like it more after it's tapered and on the neck so I can really see it.

[lbridenstine]

I didn't realize it's been a month since any updates. I haven't done much. I did cut the scarf joint and smooth out the neck blank, although that still needs to be leveled.

I need to redo the finish on my bass, so I'm thinking I'll do that before getting further into this, but I could use some opinions.

I keep changing my mind about inlays and I don't know which to use because I don't know how they'd look on this fretboard. I'm going with dots only on 12 and 24. I'm thinking about one of these two now:

Blood Basin Jasper Stone (?)


Gold Mother of Pearl


I think the first would match the fretboard pretty well and might look okay since there is also red cedar in the guitar a little bit.

The gold would match with the hardware, but I'm afraid it might be too much because it'll be between gold frets and everything.

Any opinions of other ideas?

[Smilodon]

I would go for the first ones, but maybe a "full" set of them.

I don't think the gold would match very well anyway. At least the red ones will be closer related to the wood on the color palette.

[lbridenstine]

Originally Posted by Smilodon

I would go for the first ones, but maybe a "full" set of them.

I don't think the gold would match very well anyway. At least the red ones will be closer related to the wood on the color palette.

Do you think I should do a full set with or without side markers? I was going to put strips of maple for side markers. I'm willing to re-think that since I haven't started cutting that yet.

[FBB Custom]

The jasper is nice but my guess is that it will blend in with the rosewood and won't be very noticeable.

If I were using gold hardware, EV0 fretwire, and indian rosewood, my choice would be full set of gold MOP and use 2mm matching dots on the side. But, different strokes for different folks.

[lbridenstine]

Originally Posted by FBB Custom

The jasper is nice but my guess is that it will blend in with the rosewood and won't be very noticeable.

I'm kind of wondering if I were to get a slightly bigger light colored dowel rod or something and inlay the red dots inside of that, if that would look okay? I kind of have a feeling it might not though.

If I were using gold hardware, EV0 fretwire, and indian rosewood, my choice would be full set of gold MOP and use 2mm matching dots on the side. But, different strokes for different folks.

Still considering this too. I might have to go with side dots. I just really like how wooden side markers look.

[MrArose13]

You could get a brass tube that the jasper would fit in. That would give it a gold ring around the red, but with the golden fret wire that might be a bit much. ( Although that's what I'd do). Keep in mind the purple color in the fingerboard will fade brown with finish (lemon oil etc.) on it.

[lbridenstine]

Originally Posted by MrArose13

You could get a brass tube that the jasper would fit in. That would give it a gold ring around the red, but with the golden fret wire that might be a bit much. ( Although that's what I'd do). Keep in mind the purple color in the fingerboard will fade brown with finish (lemon oil etc.) on it.

Ah, that's another thing I'm trying to figure out. Do I finish the fretboard or not... I know I don't have to, but I'm wondering if there's a clear finish that would be okay on oily wood that would somehow prevent the color from fading. I know I don't want to do Tru-oil on it because of how dark it is already and I'd like the figure to show.

[crazydave911]

Originally Posted by lbridenstine

Ah, that's another thing I'm trying to figure out. Do I finish the fretboard or not... I know I don't have to, but I'm wondering if there's a clear finish that would be okay on oily wood that would somehow prevent the color from fading. I know I don't want to do Tru-oil on it because of how dark it is already and I'd like the figure to show.

Lemon oil or Danish Oil "Natural" will be clear

[lbridenstine]

Originally Posted by crazydave911

Lemon oil or Danish Oil "Natural" will be clear

Have you tried Danish Oil on rosewood?

[lbridenstine]

What about Watco Teak Oil? Anybody use that? It says it's formulated for oily exotic hardwoods. I don't know if it has a tint to it or not though.

[Smilodon]

Originally Posted by lbridenstine

Do you think I should do a full set with or without side markers? I was going to put strips of maple for side markers. I'm willing to re-think that since I haven't started cutting that yet.

I have never thought of "front inlays" as a replacement for side markers. In my view side markers are indicators. Front dots or inlays are purely aesthetic. How often do you look at the inlays on the front for reference? I would do side markers regardless of what you choose for the front.

Do you plan on making the side markers visible from the front? If you do, the front inlays can (or should) be omitted IMO.

What about going a slightly more subtle route? Do simple side markers no dots and nickel frets on the 12th and 24th. (The rest of the frets in gold)

[lbridenstine]

Originally Posted by Smilodon

I have never thought of "front inlays" as a replacement for side markers. In my view side markers are indicators. Front dots or inlays are purely aesthetic. How often do you look at the inlays on the front for reference? I would do side markers regardless of what you choose for the front.

Do you plan on making the side markers visible from the front? If you do, the front inlays can (or should) be omitted IMO.

I was planning on them being visible from the front. I am also considering not using the dot inlays at all, but I kind of want to at the same time. I'm kind of thinking about putting them along the top instead of centered. I've seen that here and there and think it looks nice. BUT, if I do the side markers visible from the front, the inlays would be too close...

Maybe I'll just go with the dot inlays and dot side markers route, which seems like it would be easiest anyway, but the side markers wouldn't end up matching the front inlays if I get the Jasper inlays (which I'm leaning towards right now). Maybe white dots for the sides and red for the front?

I was also looking at abalone, but it seems like they vary a lot in looks, so I'm afraid I'd end up with something I didn't like the looks of.

[FBB Custom]

Top dots are for the guitar player (the bass player if you are making a guitar). Side dots are for you. Side dots or markers should be visible in dark conditions so contrast is very important. White or brass will work best on indian rosewood.

I like the brass tubing idea for the jasper if you can get the diameters to work. Dark pieces of abalone kind of get lost in rosewood but they'll be more visible than the reconstituted jasper.

[Smilodon]

There are so many ways of doing inlays. It may be best to keep it simple? You don't need all that much "garnish" since the wood will look good all by itself.

[lbridenstine]

Originally Posted by FBB Custom

White or brass will work best on indian rosewood.

I like the brass tubing idea for the jasper if you can get the diameters to work.

I'm searching around online and so far I can't find brass tubing that's bigger than 1/4" and I've only found 1/4" Jasper inlays. I found some white plastic tubing that's 5/16" but I don't know the inner diameter.




Edit: Should have looked on ebay earlier. I found a brass tube that has a 5/16" outer diameter and a 1/32" wall, which I believe would make the inner diameter 1/4" unless I'm adding wrong. Is 5/16" too big for an inlay?