Luthiery Laboratories

Mar 7, 2019

A Bit of Decoration?

While waiting for the string snafu to sort itself out, I decided that big dark gap between the pickup and the bridge needed something, so I hacked this out from a scrap of PG material. Yea or Nay? I haven't drilled the holes yet.

This was 90% handwork with files, rough cut on scroll saw, some belt sanding. NO ROUTER. A router just loves to sink its teeth into a job like this - it would have bit off one of those sharp corners and spat it across the room. Symmetry is your worst enemy when free-carving like this. That's why you see so little of it on guitars - every little discrepancy jumps at you.

I fooled around with variations of the headstock shape, but in the end I liked this the best. Gives it an old-timey look. Or a gate hinge. Or a big drip. I think it will look better under the strings. This should add just enough to make 12 pounds.

The drawer pull is also refinished, slightly yellow now.

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Mar 9, 2019

The new strings came today instead of Monday, so I put this beast back together. No more buzzing. I like the new trim piece, it fills a visual gap that was too big. The body and neck got a thin coat of linseed oil.

This body is not as minimal as most EUBs. It is just big enough to brace against your leg, hold between your knees, sit in your lap, or strap on, so there are lots of playing options. The controls are peeking out by the neck, where you can reach them from the upright or horizontal position.

I think the three different woods look great together, as long as the orange isn't touching the brown. Even if it plays awful and sounds worse, it is still a nice piece of art. Actually, I think it plays and sounds pretty good, I just don't know how to play it !!!

Here's a side shot of the geometry. I originally planned to do a surround-style mount for the magnetic pickup, but there wasn't room, so I just did this sort-of surface mount. I have seen magnetic pickups for double bass mounted right to the neck. They are curved to match the fingerboard. This one was a freebie taking up space in the parts bin, so I figured I'd add it. Sounds pretty good, and the strings balance better than I expected.

The piezo installation is almost invisible. The bridge adjusts for height and intonation. The body fixtures are all scrap wood. I like the 'pickguard'.

The headstock and new tuners. This is exactly the same size and shape as the rest of my Audiovoxen, just thicker with a big hole in the middle. The strings just barely clear the wood. I like it.

I really dig the acrylic string nut, and I have lots of this material. It's hard and tough, easy to work, glues well, and has a clear tone. Get it? Clear tone. Get it? Awww, never mind. The truss rod adjustment is just below the nut.

Here's a shot up from the bottom, under the drawer-pull tailpiece. The E and G are in thick material; I put steel washers under the A and D where the pot metal is thinner. The strings flare a bit going to the acrylic saddle, and the break-over angle is not too severe. You can see the now-working ground wire. The endpin is getting smoother with use as it reams out its channel.

I really love the big 1/4-20 height adjustment on the bridge. The radius is six inches, so you could probably bow it, although I'm not interested in that. The string spread at the bridge is about 85mm.

Note the neat edge banding - the result of using a 45-degree bevel rather than a round-over. How many uprights have strap buttons? And they work too.

A shot of the back, upside-down. The battery box is located to make it easier to pull the wires through the solid body. The oval is my smallest control cavity template. The end peg channel runs all the way up into the oversized heel. The eucalyptus veneer came out nice. The dark edge is the underlying masonite. Yes, this is a Danelectro !!!

Finally, the back of the headstock, showing the tuner installation. You can barely make out the glue joint. I wanted this end to be as lightweight as possible, so I could play it horizontally. I actually overdid it - it is a little tail-heavy. The steel endpin inside the body doesn't help. Next time I'll make the body a lot more hollow, this one is as solid as it can be.

So what does it sound like? These black strings do a fair approximation of acoustic, especially with the piezo alone. Lots of "Mwah". It is also capable of sounding like a regular electric fretless. More than that, I can't say. Right now, trying to play this thing really throws me for a loop. It's going to be a learning curve for sure.