- Apr 18, 2008
- 16,013
- 1
- 31,727
- Disclosures
- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
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Carl Factor 6 Fretless
- Thread starter Jisch
- Start date
A tuner in the side marker LEDs is a great idea ... maybe. I imagine the side marker LEDs as chaser lights. If you are flat, the direction the lights "chase" would be nut to bridge. The opposite if you are sharp, and no flash if you are in tune. As a technology application it would be cool. As a way to play fretless bass I think it would drive me nuts (unless you could set a plus/minus cents range to account for .... well ... it is fretless after all 
I'd end up having a seizure on stage from all the strobing.A tuner in the side marker LEDs is a great idea ... maybe. I imagine the side marker LEDs as chaser lights. If you are flat, the direction the lights "chase" would be nut to bridge. The opposite if you are sharp, and no flash if you are in tune. As a technology application it would be cool. As a way to play fretless bass I think it would drive me nuts (unless you could set a plus/minus cents range to account for .... well ... it is fretless after all
I got the neck taper routed.
and the bass side binding glued up.
Now that I have that done I can cut the top to fit the neck drop.
and the bass side binding glued up.
Now that I have that done I can cut the top to fit the neck drop.
You could incorporate a 700 lumens LED into the headstock, that way there will always be a spotlight on the lead guitarist 
Maybe, but just think about how much you could annoy the drummer... or keyboard player. Your choice.
Last night I got the other side of the binding applied.
Then I need to cut the top to match the bottom of the neck. This is not a square cut, so I take two pieces of paper, lay them against the two cuts and tape them together and mark the center line. Then I transfer it over to the top and cut it with the scroll saw.
Straight out of the saw it was pretty tight.
and it just gets tighter after I sanded it down.
Then it's on to cutting the holes for the pickups. I cleaned them up a bit after this pic.
I traced wing shapes onto the top and cut it closer.
I planed down the fingerboard just to clean it up. I couldn't help but taking a look at it all together.
I planed down the interface between the treble side wing and the neck blank, practiced with clamps and then glued up the treble side wing.
Once that is set I'll add the bass side wing. I'll probably wait to glue the fingerboard on until after I get the body carved, why risk damaging that while carving.
Straight out of the saw it was pretty tight.
Then it's on to cutting the holes for the pickups. I cleaned them up a bit after this pic.
I traced wing shapes onto the top and cut it closer.
I planed down the fingerboard just to clean it up. I couldn't help but taking a look at it all together.
I planed down the interface between the treble side wing and the neck blank, practiced with clamps and then glued up the treble side wing.
Once that is set I'll add the bass side wing. I'll probably wait to glue the fingerboard on until after I get the body carved, why risk damaging that while carving.
I trued up and glued on the bass side wing, it's almost a bass now.
I got the output jack recess cut out and cover holders installed this morning (not shown). This afternoon I got the top glued on. Business trip Monday and Tuesday, so this might be the last update for a bit.
I'm glad this is done, an hour or so of fiddly work. We decided to go with maple markers and abalone dots. I did black on mine and after the padauk was finished there's less contrast than I would like.
I got home from NYC late yesterday, but got an hour in the shop before deciding that being tired after two somewhat grueling days was not conducive to safe or good workmanship. It was a good call.
I really just pulled the body out of clamps and started straightening out the sides. My first step (which I did last night) was just to bring the sides down to the maximum taking out any saw marks, differences in top and wing sizes etc. I put a thin blade on the bandsaw and got everything close.
This morning I used a down spiral bit in the small router to free hand it to the line. Then used the oscillating drum sander to bring everything in - the router bit only went down about half of the body thickness. Once I got that done I pulled out the french curves and adjusted a few lines to make them flow better and kind of did that process over again until I got a final shape I'm happy with. I have a drawn shape, but as usual I've altered things a bit to accommodate wood, grain and just general "this would look better" type thoughts. At this point I'm very happy with the overall shape - the back end may need a little tweaking for the tuners (it's a bit big at this point). I also draw on the chambers so I know where to be careful. Based on my carving plan they won't be a problem at all, but it's an extra level of paranoia that I succumb to.
I sharpened up my gouge and started on the carving, it seems more intuitive than the last time around. With carving in circles like this you encounter every possible grain contortion, so it's not just "gouge away", in some places it's little cuts each direction to avoid any chip out. I have a low res pic of a Carl Thompson hanging on the wall, just due to the resolution/lighting in the picture the edges of the carving show up well, it's a good one to use as a guide.
I love carving though, so this is a fun part, once I get the top done I get to flip it over and do it all over again. As on the last one I'll do the top completely by hand. The back I'll do a roundover bit on the non-scrolly bits.
I really just pulled the body out of clamps and started straightening out the sides. My first step (which I did last night) was just to bring the sides down to the maximum taking out any saw marks, differences in top and wing sizes etc. I put a thin blade on the bandsaw and got everything close.
This morning I used a down spiral bit in the small router to free hand it to the line. Then used the oscillating drum sander to bring everything in - the router bit only went down about half of the body thickness. Once I got that done I pulled out the french curves and adjusted a few lines to make them flow better and kind of did that process over again until I got a final shape I'm happy with. I have a drawn shape, but as usual I've altered things a bit to accommodate wood, grain and just general "this would look better" type thoughts. At this point I'm very happy with the overall shape - the back end may need a little tweaking for the tuners (it's a bit big at this point). I also draw on the chambers so I know where to be careful. Based on my carving plan they won't be a problem at all, but it's an extra level of paranoia that I succumb to.
I sharpened up my gouge and started on the carving, it seems more intuitive than the last time around. With carving in circles like this you encounter every possible grain contortion, so it's not just "gouge away", in some places it's little cuts each direction to avoid any chip out. I have a low res pic of a Carl Thompson hanging on the wall, just due to the resolution/lighting in the picture the edges of the carving show up well, it's a good one to use as a guide.
I love carving though, so this is a fun part, once I get the top done I get to flip it over and do it all over again. As on the last one I'll do the top completely by hand. The back I'll do a roundover bit on the non-scrolly bits.
I got a little time at lunch and a little after work, it's coming along. It's so much easier having the other one here as a reference, I don't feel like I'm guessing like I did on the first one. The top on this one is a bit thicker, so the carving is not exactly the same.
I'm using the gouge on the scroll then finishing it off with a rat tail file. The rest I'm using the Shinto.
Almost ready for Tru Oil!
I'm using the gouge on the scroll then finishing it off with a rat tail file. The rest I'm using the Shinto.
Almost ready for Tru Oil!
How many different size gouges do you use?
When I first learned what a gouge was I decided to buy one. One! Ha ha. I didn't realize they came in a bunch of different sizes. Besides being individually expensive, having to get multiples made maters even worse. Are there key sizes on should start with?
When I first learned what a gouge was I decided to buy one. One! Ha ha. I didn't realize they came in a bunch of different sizes. Besides being individually expensive, having to get multiples made maters even worse. Are there key sizes on should start with?
I am a rank beginner with gouges, I think the ONE I have is a five? I don't know.
I put mine through my finger this morning, fun! Keep your hand behind the blade is what I learned. It went in pretty deep, but it's a small cut.
It's a very useful tool though, it takes off a lot but it's very controllable. Great tool.
I put mine through my finger this morning, fun! Keep your hand behind the blade is what I learned. It went in pretty deep, but it's a small cut.
It's a very useful tool though, it takes off a lot but it's very controllable. Great tool.
I verified, the gouge I have is a 5. Where I can see varying sizes would be good for different functions, for what I'm doing this size seems to be good. It feels so good to carve around a curve and get a perfect curl of wood, especially satisfying if the curl includes both walnut and anigre.
This morning I got another hour or so on body shaping, I am going to do all the roundover by hand. I'm pretty sure that's how I did the last one after digging into a bit. It's a lot of fun. I finished off the rough in on the front. There's obviously a lot of clean up, but I think this is a good process, rough in, fine tune, finish.
Then I flipped it over and started on the back. I only got the scroll and a bit of the bass side done before I ran out of time, but it's looking pretty good. I used the farrier's rasp to remove the belly cut, that thing removes some material when you use the rough side. Yowza.
and of course the scroll was fun to carve too.
And a little highlight of what will be a very cool looking spot on this instrument
I've got some lumps and inconsistencies between the front and back, once I get everything roughed in I'll go back and straighten all that out. Probably not much more progress before tomorrow morning though, full day ahead of me and a bike ride tonight.
This morning I got another hour or so on body shaping, I am going to do all the roundover by hand. I'm pretty sure that's how I did the last one after digging into a bit. It's a lot of fun. I finished off the rough in on the front. There's obviously a lot of clean up, but I think this is a good process, rough in, fine tune, finish.
Then I flipped it over and started on the back. I only got the scroll and a bit of the bass side done before I ran out of time, but it's looking pretty good. I used the farrier's rasp to remove the belly cut, that thing removes some material when you use the rough side. Yowza.
I've got some lumps and inconsistencies between the front and back, once I get everything roughed in I'll go back and straighten all that out. Probably not much more progress before tomorrow morning though, full day ahead of me and a bike ride tonight.
I worked on the scroll and the body, getting both sides the same, rounding off cleaning up some saw marks. It's probably close to final shape, but will obviously need a lot more sanding and probably a bit more shaping.
I used the angle grinder to rough in the neck heel. I won't be able to do much more here until I get the fingerboard glued on and the neck profile carved, but this worked out well.
And finally this morning I layed out the bridge and the shaping I have to do on the bottom (no pics). On the first one I kind of made that up as I went along, this time I can see exactly what it needs to look like, it should go a lot faster.
And finally this morning I layed out the bridge and the shaping I have to do on the bottom (no pics). On the first one I kind of made that up as I went along, this time I can see exactly what it needs to look like, it should go a lot faster.
Oh and wenge smells like burnt chocolate/coffee and padauk smells like sweet oranges when you cut them. My basement smells great/weird.
- Apr 18, 2008
- 16,013
- 1
- 31,727
- Disclosures
- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
New flavor from Godiva... "Carl Factor Truffle "
I think I didn't emphasize the "burned" aspect of the wenge smell enough, I doubt "Carl Factor Truffle" would sell if people smelled it first 
