Hreiðmarr - The Scowling Dwarf ... ( Bubingas Maximus Rex)

[Rôckhewer]

So after I designed this body & headstock shape, I pretty much decided that it would be more or less my "featured" model. Or at least figure prominently in my list of available offerings, were I to ever to realize the dream of having this hobby turn into something...more.
So I am building it again as a 4 string. This transmogrification of the first one will actually have frets (24), and what I am considering to be sort of a hybrid take on the neck-thru thing...(ill explain later).

Those of you who saw my last build thread know that this is the wood I am using for the top of the body. (See the scowling dwarf with a bird mask?)
The neck is a 9 piece laminated, in flame maple, bubinga & wenge. There will be extensive veneer lamination on the headstock, front & back (alá Alembic).
The body will be bubinga front and back with a core of wenge separated by flame maple veneers...(yes I know it will be heavy)... And I am going to attempt to compensate for the possibility of over-brightness of tone due to density of wood, by my selection of pickups & placement.
And I fully intend to do a many-coat nitro finish, wet sanded & buffed to a high gloss.
Stay tuned.

 

[Rôckhewer]

On the last neck I glued up I did it "freehand" by just slapping the boards together & putting clamps directly on the pieces. Well that didn't work out perfect enough for my taste because I wound up with a slight bow... Very slight , and you really can't tell cause I straightened the outside... But if you put a straightedge on the laminations it shows a 1/16" deflection.
In order to not repeat that mistake I made some really nice cauls using 3 boards each, laminated with the grain orientation to counteract warping.
I didn't get any pics in use but here is my groovy cauls...all sealed and taped together for storage.

 

[Rôckhewer]

In the first pictures I remembered to take off the neck I already had the channel routed for the truss rod.
I'm using a dual action rod from LMI

Rod fits & angle cut for headstock
I also at this stage already took a rough cut from the back of the neck...but that was kinda getting ahead of myself. It would have been easier to keep the neck flat whilst gluing on the fret board if I would have waited & left the blank solid.... Next time...

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

I am so going to enjoy this. Sub'd!

 

[Robert Canfield]

What are the dark woods? Cherry and walnut?

 

[Rôckhewer]

What are the dark woods? Cherry and walnut?

Bubinga and wenge

 

[Robert Canfield]

I was way off!

 

[Rôckhewer]

I don't know about you all... But I really like the look of Alembic basses. So I thought I would engage in a bit of emulation of the mighty (read, pricey) Alembic headstock & laminate some veneer!
I got my bandsaw setup perfect...table set up nice & square, new blade...nice & tight.... And re- sawed me some thin stuff.
I got wenge to come out at a silly thin 1/32" after sanding the cut side with just a ro palm sander.... The maple & bubinga I left a bit thicker.
.

I took on the back side first... Somewhat of a pain... I made a caul with the same radius as the top of my volute. Then I stuck the ends of the veneers in a shallow dish of water & kinda alternated dunking & heating with a heat gun. Probably not the right way to do it....whatever works eh?

All these big silly clamps ganging up on one little headstock...

The front was much easier. I glued the stack together first then made sure it was aligned by drilling a couple of pin holes in the waste area.

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

That maple is purrrrty!

 

[Marcury]

You might want to use a piezo pickup on this, it would be a shame to obscure
Hreiðmarr's Face with a pickup.

 

[PDX Rich]

Scowling dwarf-face is all kinds of awesome!

 

[callofcthulhu]

I think you should go all out and rivet some metal plates on top to give him a dwarf helmet:

 

[PDX Rich]

That helmet would be a badass headstock dressing.

 

[Rôckhewer]

Exactly!!
Covering up the eyes with the bridge... ( the left one is winking ...) has been bumming me out from the beginning. I was even considering using a tune-o-matic type bridge. I mean... I still can, but the ones I've seen are too high ...and I've already bought a Hipshot transtone.
But...something like the brass on that helmet would be perfect for a tailpiece like Alembic's "bird of prey" version.

 

[Jon Clegg]

This is gonna be another fun one to watch

 

[Rôckhewer]

Due to a wee bit o' poor planning on my part, and going crazy with 6 layers of veneer...the headstock wound up being a little bit too thick.
I figured it out after I already had the back veneer on, and I couldn't plane down the face any more cause if I did it would've pushed the nut position down too far. I already cut the relief out of the neck where the fret board stops so that would have made the fret board too short.
I came up with an idea that helps the situation somewhat, and looks kinda cool to boot...
When I drilled for the tuning machines I first took a 3/4" forstner bit (the exact diameter of the washer on the tuning peg) and drilled in just over 1/16". This had the effect of recessing the washer flush to the surface which allows the peg to stick out just enough!

 

[Fliptrique]

I clicked this thread simply due to the awesome title. Good luck with the build!

 

[KramerDon]

Good improv w/the tuners!! to me that'll look better than the normal washer sitting on top tuner install anyway,great idea!

 

[Jon Clegg]

Well played with the tuners! I agree, the countersink gives it a nice sleek look. I wonder how many classic features we see in various instruments started out as an "Oops, now what?... Oh I got it!" like this.

 

[Rôckhewer]

Thanks guys