SBO 22 - Ziricote Dream

[TFM94]

woo hoo, SUPER HAPPY FUN TIME!

Here's my official Summer build-off 2022 build thread. This will go into the non-bass category.

Since I'm mostly a guitarist these days, I decided to build a guitar. I just started gigging with my new band where I use a Les Paul Junior DC that I built last year, but it would be great to have a second guitar for this purpose. It will be a Junior doublecut shape again, but I have a few improvements in mind. After having built guitars with all kinds of shapes, the LPJr DC shape has turned out to be my favorite. It's simple, compact, comfy and just screams RocknRoll!

Here's the "original" that I built last year:

The new build will have the following changes/improvements:
-Ziricote Top with flamed maple center strip, ziricote fretboard and headstock veneer (front and back)
-No pickguard, please don't suggest tort
-Mahogany body and mahogany multilaminate neck
-Belly carve and forearm contour with a bent top, I stole this idea from @Gary_M and his Ziricote strat build
-Thinner body, about 38mm or 1-1/2"
-Fully intonatable bridge
-Lindy Fralin Hum-canceling soapbar P-90 Pickup. I love P90s, but playing them live with high gain is super tricky. This is the main reason why I want to build another guitar.

Here is a simple concept drawing:

Let's move on to the wood pile. Here it is:

As you can see, the neck is already laminated. The non-bass build category doesn't distinguish between scratch or partial build. Call it what you want, I'm gonna use this blank anyways. It's a leftover piece from my Billy Bo build and it's not perfectly square (this was my first multilam attempt) but I can get it in shape. It's mahogany with maple and walnut veneers. Technically a 14-piece lam, but I rather think of it as a four-piece with veneers.

 

[Reedt2000]

Very cool! Sub'd

 

[Gary_M]

woo hoo, SUPER HAPPY FUN TIME!

Here's my official Summer build-off 2022 build thread. This will go into the non-bass category.

Since I'm mostly a guitarist these days, I decided to build a guitar. I just started gigging with my new band where I use a Les Paul Junior DC that I built last year, but it would be great to have a second guitar for this purpose. It will be a Junior doublecut shape again, but I have a few improvements in mind. After having built guitars with all kinds of shapes, the LPJr DC shape has turned out to be my favorite. It's simple, compact, comfy and just screams RocknRoll!

Here's the "original" that I built last year:
View attachment 4728133
The new build will have the following changes/improvements:
-Ziricote Top with flamed maple center strip, ziricote fretboard and headstock veneer (front and back)
-No pickguard, please don't suggest tort
-Mahogany body and mahogany multilaminate neck
-Belly carve and forearm contour with a bent top, I stole this idea from @Gary_M and his Ziricote strat build
-Thinner body, about 38mm or 1-1/2"
-Fully intonatable bridge
-Lindy Fralin Hum-canceling soapbar P-90 Pickup. I love P90s, but playing them live with high gain is super tricky. This is the main reason why I want to build another guitar.

Here is a simple concept drawing:
View attachment 4728170

Let's move on to the wood pile. Here it is:
View attachment 4728152
As you can see, the neck is already laminated. The non-bass build category doesn't distinguish between scratch or partial build. Call it what you want, I'm gonna use this blank anyways. It's a leftover piece from my Billy Bo build and it's not perfectly square (this was my first multilam attempt) but I can get it in shape. It's mahogany with maple and walnut veneers. Technically a 14-piece lam, but I rather think of it as a four-piece with veneers.
View attachment 4728151

Oh man, that's gonna be stunning! Can't wait to see the progress on this one, the DC Jr is one of my favs!!

 

[Snert]

Nice. Looking forward to this too. I was a fan of Gary's ziricote Strat build and want to do a ziricote faced build myself in the not too distant future, so I'll be learning all I can from this build as well.

 

[NKBassman]

Cool! A LPJrDC is on my "someday" list as well. Following .

 

[TFM94]

Oh man, that's gonna be stunning! Can't wait to see the progress on this one, the DC Jr is one of my favs!!

Thanks man! Do you remember what the final top thickness on your ziricote strat was? My top is currently 9mm, which is way too thick. I was thinking to plane it down to 5mm and see how it bends, but 3-4mm might be more realistic.

Maybe I'll throw in a maple veneer to create contrast between the mahogany back and ziricote top. Should look good with a roundover, right?

 

[BishopJP]

woo hoo, SUPER HAPPY FUN TIME!

Here's my official Summer build-off 2022 build thread. This will go into the non-bass category.

Since I'm mostly a guitarist these days, I decided to build a guitar. I just started gigging with my new band where I use a Les Paul Junior DC that I built last year, but it would be great to have a second guitar for this purpose. It will be a Junior doublecut shape again, but I have a few improvements in mind. After having built guitars with all kinds of shapes, the LPJr DC shape has turned out to be my favorite. It's simple, compact, comfy and just screams RocknRoll!

Here's the "original" that I built last year:
View attachment 4728133
The new build will have the following changes/improvements:
-Ziricote Top with flamed maple center strip, ziricote fretboard and headstock veneer (front and back)
-No pickguard, please don't suggest tort
-Mahogany body and mahogany multilaminate neck
-Belly carve and forearm contour with a bent top, I stole this idea from @Gary_M and his Ziricote strat build
-Thinner body, about 38mm or 1-1/2"
-Fully intonatable bridge
-Lindy Fralin Hum-canceling soapbar P-90 Pickup. I love P90s, but playing them live with high gain is super tricky. This is the main reason why I want to build another guitar.

Here is a simple concept drawing:
View attachment 4728170

Let's move on to the wood pile. Here it is:
View attachment 4728152
As you can see, the neck is already laminated. The non-bass build category doesn't distinguish between scratch or partial build. Call it what you want, I'm gonna use this blank anyways. It's a leftover piece from my Billy Bo build and it's not perfectly square (this was my first multilam attempt) but I can get it in shape. It's mahogany with maple and walnut veneers. Technically a 14-piece lam, but I rather think of it as a four-piece with veneers.
View attachment 4728151

The "original" looks amazing! With that ziricote top, the sequel will look amazing-er!

 

[Gary_M]

Thanks man! Do you remember what the final top thickness on your ziricote strat was? My top is currently 9mm, which is way too thick. I was thinking to plane it down to 5mm and see how it bends, but 3-4mm might be more realistic.

Maybe I'll throw in a maple veneer to create contrast between the mahogany back and ziricote top. Should look good with a roundover, right?

I believe it was right at 3/16", which would be just under 5mm. It was fairly stiff, even with routing relief cuts on the underside. I would definitely bring the thickness down on yours and go easy on the amount of contour that you carve into the body core. Also, if you use the relief cut method, be sure to keep those cuts further back from the edge than you think necessary so that you don't expose them when rounding over the edge.

 

[TFM94]

I believe it was right at 3/16", which would be just under 5mm. It was fairly stiff, even with routing relief cuts on the underside. I would definitely bring the thickness down on yours and go easy on the amount of contour that you carve into the body core. Also, if you use the relief cut method, be sure to keep those cuts further back from the edge than you think necessary so that you don't expose them when rounding over the edge.

Yes, 3/16 seems to be on the thicker side. I have no problems going thinner...also because this ziricote top is darn heavy.

How deep did your relief cuts go? I imagine the bending process largely depends on the contour shape, I am planning a rounded, continuous curve, not a sharp cut.

 

[Flamingo21]

Kudos for the cameo of the Grim Reaper.

 

[Gary_M]

Yes, 3/16 seems to be on the thicker side. I have no problems going thinner...also because this ziricote top is darn heavy.

How deep did your relief cuts go? I imagine the bending process largely depends on the contour shape, I am planning a rounded, continuous curve, not a sharp cut.

Yep, if you can go thinner, that would be great. I think that visually I was afraid of looking "cheap"... for lack of a better term? I wanted a fairly healthy looking thickness, but IDK if anyone else has the same mental hang-ups that I do about that sort of thing.

I do not precisely remember the depth of cut, but I would think that I went at least half way... so I would imagine about 3/32 in.

 

[ctmullins]

Niiiice. I’m a huge fan of the DC shape too.

 

[Deleted member 271037]

Great choice of wood! Zirocote is so beautiful. I can't wait to see the final result. Normally I would never even consider a guitar with just a bridge pickup but a P90-equipped DC Junior is the ONE exception. Very cool guitars and with the right choice of pots/cap they are far more versatile than one might think.

 

[TFM94]

Great choice of wood! Zirocote is so beautiful. I can't wait to see the final result. Normally I would never even consider a guitar with just a bridge pickup but a P90-equipped DC Junior is the ONE exception. Very cool guitars and with the right choice of pots/cap they are far more versatile than one might think.

They are super versatile. I used to be a "everything on 10" guy, but these single pickup guitars have really taught me to use the volume knob, it's very dynamic on a P90. I hope it will be the same with the hum-cancelling P90.

 

[TFM94]

I will use a Tatsuta Titanium dual-action trussrod again for this build, similar to the one I used for my twisted sister build. Over there, @Slidlow pointed out possible seizing issues, but at that point the rod was already installed. This time I want to get it right and properly lubricate the Ti threads before installation. Any recommendation what kind of lube/anti-seize I should use for Ti? Would copper anti-seize paste be a good choice?

 

[eottjake]

jealous of your fretboard piece. Ziricote's my favorite wood, so I'm excited to watch this unfurl!

 

[Microbass]

That design with the maple "plug" is beautiful!

Once I'm rich and famous and commissioning my own custom build I'll be copying that top in the shape of a Grabber..

 

[TFM94]

Ok, first update. I had to saw a lot of ziricote today. Tough, tough wood. I cut out the top and resawed two smaller pieces for the headstock veneers front and back. They're bookmatched, so I will include a narrow maple centerstripe on the headstock as well.

While working on the top I noticed how heavy and dense it was. As a scientist I was curious and conducted a quick experiment and found that it...

sinks! I read online that ziricote is about 800kg/m^3, but this one is well above 1000.

 

[Dean N]

If it sinks, don't you have to burn it? Or does it have to weigh more than a duck? Or was it very small rocks? God, I'm old. I can't remember important things any more.

(The build plan looks great!)

 

[Snert]

If it sinks

If it sinks, it's not a witch.

don't you have to burn it?

But burn it anyway just to be sure.