Travis Posted October 11, 2020 Share Posted October 11, 2020 While my Esquire project is on hold until the body is routed and receives its final shaping & prep for finish, I went to work on my other project this weekend. It started life as a pink Carvin Bolt. I got a purple mirrored pick guard for it and put in a double cream Duncan custom shop Brobucker. It remained that way for years. Was incredibly snappy and responsive, but I never liked the Carvin neck. Wide, flat and thin, not what I wanted at all. Sold the neck, tuners and pickup a while back and let it sit for a few months. So.... I put together some plans including a FAT AllParts maple/maple strat head neck, had Josh wind me a lime green Mongoose. Converted the neck plate to ferrules and while we were at it, thought to myself, “what the hell: let’s shave down the back and make it a contoured neck joint. Who cares if the paint is sanded off? It’s an 80’s relic project... Rounded the fret ends, rolled the fretboard edges and applied several coats of TruOil on the neck; used a scotch brite pad to bring it down to a super smooth satin feel. Installed the tuners and contoured the heel yesterday. Found a pink tone knob in my brother’s parts drawer that I swiped because “your volume is your tone”... 😉 Today I installed the pickup, a graphite nut (mostly...) and strung it up. Plugged it in to make sure everything worked and got a feel for what final adjustments needed to be done. As it stands, will need to file down the nut a little bit before I glue it in. Cut the slots deeper for the high E and maybe B strings. Set the intonation and pickup height and it should be complete and ready to rawk... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutchman Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 Pink and blonde! I really like that neck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted October 12, 2020 Author Share Posted October 12, 2020 21 minutes ago, Dutchman said: Pink and blonde! I really like that neck! Thanks! It feels great so far. Vast improvement over the previous neck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGravelin Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 So cool!! Outrageous! I'm pleased to be part of this machine. Once you get 'er all set up to perfection, sound clips please! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew816 Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 Love it, pink neon the headstock to match the body. One of those guitar body sticker places can probably get you pretty darned close if you don't want to paint. Add a Charvel or Jackson logo and increase the value! 😉 I'm KIDDING, good grief. I would never put a logo on there that doesn't belong. Mostly... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtrdaddy Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 Great job on the ferrules and contour Travis! Looks fantastic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGravelin Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 9 minutes ago, Drew816 said: I'm KIDDING, good grief. I would never put a logo on there that doesn't belong. Mostly... Put a Gibson logo on it and wait for the goons to lose their shit when they see you play it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted October 12, 2020 Author Share Posted October 12, 2020 26 minutes ago, Drew816 said: Love it, pink neon the headstock to match the body. One of those guitar body sticker places can probably get you pretty darned close if you don't want to paint. Add a Charvel or Jackson logo and increase the value! 😉 I'm KIDDING, good grief. I would never put a logo on there that doesn't belong. Mostly... I was thinking about having a logo made for it. Something “custom” but non-serious. Unfortunately, “Scharter” is already taken... I’ll have to think on it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topekatj Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 19 minutes ago, Travis said: I’ll have to think on it... How about 'Jacksonsabich'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveL Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 Travis. Are you using anything in particular to roll/clean up the fret edges? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted October 12, 2020 Author Share Posted October 12, 2020 48 minutes ago, DaveL said: Travis. Are you using anything in particular to roll/clean up the fret edges? I used a few different files to round off the fret ends so they were less sharp. for the fretboard edges, I researched a few different methods people have used to “round” them and give them a more worn in feel. What I ended up doing was taking a small screwdriver and using the shaft of it to press the wood down a little bit, taking a few passes back and forth between the frets. Then the flat head to get closer to the frets themselves, being careful not to bump up against the fret too aggressively. Held the screwdriver like a pencil between my thumb and index finger for getting close to the frets Didn’t want to use a razor blade to shave them down. I literally just compressed the wood like it would’ve become over time. It’s a light roll but makes a huge difference in the feel. The raw neck had a very distinct edge on the fretboard which I didn’t much care for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtrdaddy Posted October 13, 2020 Share Posted October 13, 2020 6 hours ago, Travis said: for the fretboard edges, I researched a few different methods people have used to “round” them and give them a more worn in feel. What I ended up doing was taking a small screwdriver and using the shaft of it to press the wood down a little bit, taking a few passes back and forth between the frets. Then the flat head to get closer to the frets themselves, being careful not to bump up against the fret too aggressively. Held the screwdriver like a pencil between my thumb and index finger for getting close to the frets Next time, before the frets go on, try grabbing some PVC pipe, cut it to board length, then cut it in half dead center all the way down its length so you have two half circular pipes. Use adhesive sandpaper, apply to the inside, and roll the board edges with it. Start with a 180 and finish it off with 300, 600 and 800. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kizanski Posted October 13, 2020 Share Posted October 13, 2020 For your next Tele project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
it's me HHB Posted October 13, 2020 Share Posted October 13, 2020 I played those necks for 15 years! Still have 2 active and one on the shelf. Finished w tru oil. So awesome wish there was a 22 fret Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gorch Posted October 13, 2020 Share Posted October 13, 2020 Great project! Colors are nice! I like it very much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted October 13, 2020 Author Share Posted October 13, 2020 2 hours ago, it's me HHB said: I played those necks for 15 years! Still have 2 active and one on the shelf. Finished w tru oil. So awesome wish there was a 22 fret AllParts does have 22 fret Strat head necks in maple/maple with jumbo frets. I thought about grabbing one of those. But it’s not in the FAT profile which I wanted more than the extra fret... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
black magic Posted October 13, 2020 Share Posted October 13, 2020 1 humbucker is all ya need!! Luv it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
it's me HHB Posted October 15, 2020 Share Posted October 15, 2020 On 10/13/2020 at 12:09 PM, Travis said: AllParts does have 22 fret Strat head necks in maple/maple with jumbo frets. I thought about grabbing one of those. But it’s not in the FAT profile which I wanted more than the extra fret... Yeah the FAT is the selling point on these for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brooks Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 That kicks all sorts of ass! I esp like the purple mirror guard. A few months ago I replaced the relic MJT alder body on my partscaster w/ a super light weight paulownia wood Eden sparkle body. Its my best sounding guitar (DiMarzio Super Distortion-S bridge pup, Suhr middle & neck pups, Callaham bridge). The neck is Warmoth 16" radius thin but not too thin, jumbo SS frets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
it's me HHB Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 On 10/12/2020 at 3:33 PM, Travis said: I was thinking about having a logo made for it. Something “custom” but non-serious. Unfortunately, “Scharter” is already taken... I’ll have to think on it... Damn right it is! funny I was considering changing the Sharter to a single hum just today, Ed and all luv to Kiz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixesandsevens Posted October 20, 2020 Share Posted October 20, 2020 19 hours ago, Brooks said: That kicks all sorts of ass! I esp like the purple mirror guard. A few months ago I replaced the relic MJT alder body on my partscaster w/ a super light weight paulownia wood Eden sparkle body. Its my best sounding guitar (DiMarzio Super Distortion-S bridge pup, Suhr middle & neck pups, Callaham bridge). The neck is Warmoth 16" radius thin but not too thin, jumbo SS frets. I love to see that Paulownia is getting some traction. I remember when I first stumbled on a Brad Paisley telecaster at Atomic Music I thought it was so light it had to be a fluke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted November 14, 2020 Author Share Posted November 14, 2020 Finally got a chance to spend some time with this. Got the nut filed down, action set and ripped off a quick 30 second wank via the shitty iPad mic. Overall, I think this project turned out really well. coming up next will be the finishing of my Esquire project. Just gotta drill the holes for the bridge and finish the body then I can start slapping her together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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