Winter 2017 Build Off - Speak of the Devil

[michaelwayneharwood]

those would be some of @michaelwayneharwood single string headless tuners.

I am beyond honored that @mapleglo is using my hardware in her build.

I lost track of how those tuners work, hex key? Can't wait to see the FB final buff and polish, should make the inlays glitter.

They come with a 10-32 hex head screw for tuning, but any 10-32 screw will work. There are options available on the market (such as this or this) for thumb screw knobs that have 10-32 threads, so if a hex key is less than attractive you could modify the design with very little effort. I have heard that thumb screw knobs are difficult to turn, but I have not done any testing on my own so I can't speak to how reasonable these options are from a practical perspective. It's on my list of things to experiment with.

 

[Indiedog]

Fascinating hardware, Michael!

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

Fascinating hardware, Michael!

Thank you! I don't want to derail this thread, so if you are interested in the tuner design you can see the original TB thread: Single String Headless Tuner Design

 

[Indiedog]

Thank you! I don't want to derail this thread, so if you are interested in the tuner design you can see the original TB thread: Single String Headless Tuner Design

Very cool! I am impressed with your work.
As someone on that thread said, it is "a smart person's thread."

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

Very cool! I am impressed with your work.
As someone on that thread said, it is "a smart person's thread."

Thank you - that's kind of you to say!

 

[Jon Clegg]

Very cool! I am impressed with your work.
As someone on that thread said, it is "a smart person's thread."

You should read his pickup design thread.

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

You should read his pickup design thread.

Technically that's not my thread, but I *did* kinda of take it over as of late.

 

[mapleglo]

I am beyond honored that @mapleglo is using my hardware in her build.

Thank you for the kind words, Michael. I apologize it took so long for me to try them. As I recall, you offered them to me to test for suitability, and here I had you hanging for 2 years. My initial impressions, after mounting and stringing them up for a short time, is very positive. They work as designed, at least so far. I look forward to putting them to a longer test.

The most stressful part of the build for me is drilling the access holes for the pickup and bridge ground. On a neck through, the pickup routing is easy. I rout a channel into the body wing before I glue it up to the neck beam. With a bolt-on, I just drill and hope for the best. Same with the ground wire. Both were successful in this case.

I slipped with the dremel, when I angled the bridge ground hole, but it's under the bridge, so I'm ok there. I went a little high with the pickup hole, but angled it down with the dremel, so I'm good to go there as well.

I also started the control cavity.

A bit more work to do, but a good amount of material is removed.

I also ordered an aluminum channel.

I can slice off a piece, and use the side walls to mount it to the control cavity walls.

I have the laser machine reserved tomorrow morning at the Tech Shop. I'll engrave the goat head truss rod cover, and try another attempt for the flame fretboard inlays for the neck through version. I've made it a little shorter, so I can lay the fretboard straight across the carriage of the machine (as opposed to diagonally). That should shorten the time to laser out the inlays significantly. It's only about an inch shorter, so it shouldn't disturb the look too much.

 

[Korladis]

How do you drill a hole all the way from the pickup cavity to under the bridge?

 

[mapleglo]

How do you drill a hole all the way from the pickup cavity to under the bridge?

By way of the control cavity.

 

[Korladis]

By way of the control cavity.

Like what tool do you use though?

 

[sissy kathy]

Like what tool do you use though?

Sears.com

Different diameters are available.

 

[Korladis]

Sears.com
View attachment 1053486

Ah, okay.

Always was a mystery to me how the really long holes for wires in basses were made. I was always like "how would the drill fit?" or "how do they make it so long?"

 

[Spectrum]

You should hide a coin inside it, for good luck to curse it. An old tradition on wooden sailing ships was to put a coin for good luck under the mast when the mast was installed. (Apparently, this is still done even on modern steel US Navy ships...learn something new every day I guess).

Or maybe burn a "666" in a discreet place.

 

[mapleglo]

The implements of destruction. 1/8", 3/16", and 1/4".

And yeah, I was thinking the serial number would be 666.

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

Thank you for the kind words, Michael. I apologize it took so long for me to try them. As I recall, you offered them to me to test for suitability, and here I had you hanging for 2 years. My initial impressions, after mounting and stringing them up for a short time, is very positive. They work as designed, at least so far. I look forward to putting them to a longer test.

There is no need to apologize - the wait was worth it. They are being featured in an amazing build, which is more than I could have hoped for! Thank for the feedback. I love the tuners and they work very well for me, but having feedback from respected luthiers such as yourself is very valuable.

 

[mapleglo]

I roughed out the control cavity.

And made the control panel.

And ready to fine tune and install.

Cutting and shaping that cavity through solid maple was pretty tough. I hope I can shape it relatively smooth. Good thing it's on the bottom

Now I have to get ready to drive down to the Tech Shop so I can engrave the goat head truss rod cover.

 

[sissy kathy]

You might want to swap holes for the controls, give yourself a little more finger room for the knob.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Can you make a secondary cover plate to cover the perimeter of the wood cutout and aluminum angle? Then you don't need to bother prettifying it up. Cool concept. You could just set volume and forget it most of the time.

 

[Novarocker]

Can you make a secondary cover plate to cover the perimeter of the wood cutout and aluminum angle? Then you don't need to bother prettifying it up. Cool concept. You could just set volume and forget it most of the time.

Genius!