New build - a quickie ;)

So, I decided that I needed to make some adjustments to my prototype singlecut design, based on the feedback from my other thread... shorten the upper horn a bit, *maybe* thicken the waist a hair, etc.

Also, rather than using a bunch of expensive woods to test the design, I decided to toss together something simple, just to see if it would work a little better.

I started with some Spanish cedar, and a nicely quartered bloodwood neck blank. I didn't take pictures of gluing the body blank, or of the blank before it met the bandsaw in a dark alley, but this was all the work of one day:



Then I made all of my measurements on the neck (in pencil), and determined where my headstock angle should be. I decided (based on another thread I've been watching) that instead of the usual scarf joint or "luthier's joint", I would instead glue up a matching "side grain" piece, then cut the angled headstock out of that:



Due to the nature of glue drying, and my day job work schedule (don't get home until almost 10pm each night) it will be a couple of days before I can route the truss rod channel, neck pocket, etc.

I'm trying a couple of things that are different for me, on this one... first off, I'm doing a completely flat fingerboard (Wilser, I'm trusting you on this one, man... ). Also, the afore-mentioned headstock joint, and I think I'm going to try Waterlox on this one, to see if it hardens up the cedrela enough.

Anyone have thoughts on what pickup and preamp options might be good for this? I'm a big Nordstrand fan (not tooled up for winding my own), but I'm also open to suggestions. Might even just go passive.

So, chime in, and let me know!

 

Wow... all those views, and no one tossing in their $0.02 worth!

What are the odds?

 

Scale will be 34", 4-strings, and probably fretless, at this point.

I have a *lot* of bloodwood to burh through, so this one is getting a bloodwood neck and fingerboard.

I'm going to use the truss rod that I built in my previous tutorial

 

Here's the thing... since this is a prototype, I'm not sure what preamp I will end up with. I've had great success with OBP-1 + passive tone, but I've also heard absolutely AMAZING things about Audere preamps.

Wilser, if you are watching, do you make your "flat fingerboards" thinner than if you were doing a radius?

 

The upper "horn/hump" is actually greatly reduced from my original design, seen here:



I reduced both the size and length of the upper "lobe", and thickened the waist (slightly, maybe .5", and only on the "bass" side of the body). Also, I lengthened the *lower* horn by about 5/8"

 

Thanks... the pic just above your post is not the new one, through... it's a prototype I was working on quite a while ago, and when I started the one on Sunday (see pics in 1st post), I decided not to go quite that fancy... using expensive woods on a prototype shape that may not work out could be a big waste...

 

The body is cedrela (Spanish cedar), the contrasting lamination is bloodwood, and the top is spalted mubanga (or so said the guy who traded it to me).

The neck is figured rock maple, and then fingerboard is bloodwood with birch lines

 

LOL... for the moment, at least, it's not for sale. So you don't have to worry