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The Hossenfeffer III Build
- Thread starter Gilmourisgod
- Start date
Here's how to cut out that pesky heart omega...
Here's how to cut out that pesky heart omega...
That makes me feel worthless and weak on a bandsaw, I get the impression he's done that a few times.....
Rôckhewer
Commercial User
- Feb 28, 2015
- 2,922
- 9,028
- Disclosures
- Owner/Builder- RockHewer Custom Guitars LLC
Here's a graphic pic of what's inside a ball-sa... heart omega... when transmogrified from a "pointy" Alembic series whatever bass.
Those are Mica's fingers holding it.
This was a mod my buddy had done at the factory.
Looks like they cut the whole thing out with a coping/ scroll/jewelers saw... ??
Here's the after shot... (again... graphic
)
Which brings to mind the obligatory selfie I would hope to see in this thread. Not sure why it's a thing.
Here's mine....
Those are Mica's fingers holding it.
This was a mod my buddy had done at the factory. Looks like they cut the whole thing out with a coping/ scroll/jewelers saw... ??
Here's the after shot... (again... graphic
)Which brings to mind the obligatory selfie I would hope to see in this thread. Not sure why it's a thing.
Here's mine....
I dunno. I think this design contributes to, rather than minimizes the nutsack references...
Well, that's why one would need some protection - right?I dunno. I think this design contributes to, rather than minimizes the nutsack references...
So it turns out that making perfect MOP ellipses by hand is.... Hard. This is about the best I can do, and they are not perfect. It's possible these just aren't good enough for how I hope the bass turns out, but having scoured the internet and been unable to find a source of pre-cut MOP ovals in the Alembic style, I'm a bit stumped. I found lots of faux MOP sticker ovals, but that's not happening on this bass. There are companies that will do custom laser-cut inlays, but they start at around $60/hour, and I'm not paying $120 for inlays. Suggestions appreciated!
On another slightly discouraging point, a knot that I had forgotten about is along one edge of one of my maple stringers. Given the ideal grain orientation for the three maple neck stringers, the knot will be on the bottom of the neck, and in a portion that will get cut away when I profile the neck, but I have no idea how deep it goes. Here's what the grain orientation "wants" to look like, "cup up". The center stringer will get planed down to 3/8" thick and be divided from the outer stringers by 1/4" purpleheart strips. the stringer with the knot is on the right side in this photo.
Here's the knot from the bottom side of the neck. There is no evidence of it on the faces, but if it goes more than around 3/4" deep, this stringer is unusable.
Here's the side view of the knot.
I suppose i could do a little exploratory bandsaw work to see how deep it goes. This lumber has some beautiful flame grain on the edge, but if I glue it all up and find the knot in my finish neck carve, I will weep Bitter Tears of Woe. I guess worst case, I have to order some lumber, which means at least a couple more weeks of waiting for the sluggish mail system.
On another slightly discouraging point, a knot that I had forgotten about is along one edge of one of my maple stringers. Given the ideal grain orientation for the three maple neck stringers, the knot will be on the bottom of the neck, and in a portion that will get cut away when I profile the neck, but I have no idea how deep it goes. Here's what the grain orientation "wants" to look like, "cup up". The center stringer will get planed down to 3/8" thick and be divided from the outer stringers by 1/4" purpleheart strips. the stringer with the knot is on the right side in this photo.
Here's the knot from the bottom side of the neck. There is no evidence of it on the faces, but if it goes more than around 3/4" deep, this stringer is unusable.
Here's the side view of the knot.
I suppose i could do a little exploratory bandsaw work to see how deep it goes. This lumber has some beautiful flame grain on the edge, but if I glue it all up and find the knot in my finish neck carve, I will weep Bitter Tears of Woe. I guess worst case, I have to order some lumber, which means at least a couple more weeks of waiting for the sluggish mail system.
Well, I spoke too soon, just stumbled on this set of oval inlays by a company called Precision Pearl. Hmmmmm.......
Fingerboard Designs – Precision Pearl Inc.
Fingerboard Designs – Precision Pearl Inc.
Have you checked with DePaule? They do a ton of stuff, some of which isn't on their website. And they do custom orders, I bet they'd be cheaper than the $120 you're mentioning:
DePaule Supply
DePaule Supply
Honestly the only fret marker that looks a bit wonky is that long one all the way to the right. Just cut out another one of those, you'd then have a very fine set of fret markers. But since you are a designer and love symmetry it seems that you won't be happy with what you have.
If Precision Pearl will sell you one set of their stock Ellipses (FB28) for a reasonable price, I think you'd be happier. Maybe I'm wrong??
As for the knot, could you flip it around so the knot would be "hidden" by the hippy sandwich? If not, yes, do some exploratory band-sawing or drilling to test the depth of the knot. For the same reasons above.. it would bug you too much.
Just look at this, would you be happy with that?
A small gouge is what I would use to see how deep it goes. But honestly the runout in that board would disqualify it for a neck for me.
So here's why I'm hoping to salvage this board, the Hossenfeffer II was cut from the same 8' length, and I was really hoping to get two necks out of it. What would you call this "curly" maple, or "flamed"? The figure only expresses along the board edges, it's more like rift-sawn at the face. If I'm looking for more of the same, what's the right search term? Most of the "curly" maple I see on line applies to a figured FACE, not EDGE. I pulled this board out of a pile at a local wood supply place that has now gone out of business, so I have very few local sources to search for instrument grade lumber, really only one on the Cape, and the next closest is either 1.5 or 3 hours drive respectively.
It's curly. I expressed opinion with the runout only because of the high level intent you expressed for this build. I too like to get as much as possible from each piece not just to save cost but also because the source is getting precious and waste is such a shame.
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No worries, I'd rather have people give me honest opinion based on experience and expertise I lack, rather than use wood that will go wonky on me later. The other issue I'm seeing is some slight bow on the pieces length-wise. Cutting the pieces to width seems to have released some inner stress that is bowing the two outer plies about 1/4" outward along the length end-to-end, and the bow is symetrical with this orientation. the wood is dead flat along its top and bottom edges. I can clamp the pieces to remove the bow, and it seems to cancel out to a straight beam, so I don't know if that's enough to scrap the board. I'll take a photo later and see what people think. I'm hoping the whole epoxy lamination with purpleheart stringers will cancel out any outward bow, but maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part.
It may probably be fine
. I'd still laminate it for a future build if you don't use it here
. Just seeing where you are going with this build I may have let my expectations run away a little
. But then I am a little (alot) OCD
. Just spent the morning cutting out these little arrowheads
.
My hands are aching just looking at those little buggers.It may probably be fine
Then you'll love the 12th fret marker complete with ebony center.My hands are aching just looking at those little buggers.
So I had a good day on this after all. With nothing to lose, I milled the cupped side of the center maple stringer off to my finish width of 3/8", so it's more or less quarter-sawn, and did a dry run with the purpleheart stringers. The two outer stringers had a slight outwards bow that I could cancel to dead straight with just hand pressure on three clamps, so I decided to go for it.
I got lucky on the knot too, it extended about 1/4" into the bottom of the stringer (which will eventually get cut off as waste on the bottom side of neck) and petered out to nothing. Hopefully there isn't some nasty little surprise buried deeper, but it looks good.
The Obligatory Neck Glueup shots, this time with West Sytem with 206 Slow Hardener. My inherited workbench reads as dead flat with a 6' level, so I used as my flat surface with some plastic sheet. I got a brand new pint of 206 and used the metering pumps, but epoxy always makes me nervous until it conclusively kicks. This stuff is 12-18 hour cure, so I'll check it in 24 hours. Fingers crossed!
I got lucky on the knot too, it extended about 1/4" into the bottom of the stringer (which will eventually get cut off as waste on the bottom side of neck) and petered out to nothing. Hopefully there isn't some nasty little surprise buried deeper, but it looks good.
The Obligatory Neck Glueup shots, this time with West Sytem with 206 Slow Hardener. My inherited workbench reads as dead flat with a 6' level, so I used as my flat surface with some plastic sheet. I got a brand new pint of 206 and used the metering pumps, but epoxy always makes me nervous until it conclusively kicks. This stuff is 12-18 hour cure, so I'll check it in 24 hours. Fingers crossed!
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