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  #31  
Old 05-16-2022, 10:18 AM
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Originally Posted by TomB'sox View Post
Stunning, wonder what a guy like Thomas Leeb would think of this!
Thanks, Tom, I love Thomas Leeb's playing and he is exactly the type of player this is aimed at. I hear he's going to be in Texas this September?

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Originally Posted by MThomson View Post
Beautiful guitar regardless of the remarkable innovation. I am really interested to hear the end result.
Thank you, Martin, it should be a fine guitar whether the drums are used or not - that's the goal, anyway, but you never really know for sure until you string it up!
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  #32  
Old 05-16-2022, 12:03 PM
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Thanks, Tom, I love Thomas Leeb's playing and he is exactly the type of player this is aimed at. I hear he's going to be in Texas this September?
Yes for sure, that is what made me think of him. It would be awesome to see this in his hands! Maybe a trip is in order lol!
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  #33  
Old 05-29-2022, 04:23 PM
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In the home stretch now! I'm using the Jeff Elliott pinless bridge design, with some changes suggested by Alan Carruth that I found in a thread somewhere here on the AGF....

Here is the finished bridge:


In the original Elliott design, the pins hold the string roller balls, and go through the top and bridge plate to hold them in place. I've done it this way, and it works really well, the only drawback is it would be difficult for someone who didn't know what was going on to remove the bridge down the road if a repair was needed. Alan Carruth suggested using brass rings to hold the roller balls, and then just setting the pin into the bottom of the bridge since the ring now carries the load and not the pin. What the pin does in this scenario is keep the roller parallel to the brass ring so it doesn't twist when you remove the string. I'm not sure if this is how Alan does it, I only have his post describing it to go on.

Here I've ground a brass tube to create the moon shapes that will hold the roller balls. It's important to make sure the brass ring clears the string cores that wrap around the roller ball and not pinch them, but only pinches the roller itself.



The pieces get sawed off with a jewelers saw:



And then set into the bridge:



A couple of pins are now also in place, and you can see how a string is held securely. Note that the string windings fall short of the saddle. The holes the rings are seated in and the pins are also angled at 25 degrees to approximately match the break angle, and keep the string from slipping off the top of the ring and pin (the string roller ball is perpendicular to the ring and pin when the string is going over the saddle.)



You can see the 25 degree angle in this pic:



Here is the back of the bridge, you can see how the pins terminate in the bridge. They are seated in about 1/8" of material.



It's a little tricky to get everything right, but I really like this system a lot.

In other news, the body has gotten a few coats of dewaxed garnet shellac in preparation for varnish. I'd love to french polish it, but thats not a finish that is going to work for a percussive guitarist!

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  #34  
Old 05-29-2022, 10:50 PM
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Smile Beautiful Bridge!!!

Man, that snakewood bridge is a thing of beauty.

This is going to be a very interesting axe!!! Looking way forward to your demos…

Fun ahead for someone….

Paul
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Last edited by Guitars44me; 05-29-2022 at 10:58 PM.
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  #35  
Old 06-09-2022, 04:12 AM
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Originally Posted by Guitars44me View Post
Man, that snakewood bridge is a thing of beauty.

This is going to be a very interesting axe!!! Looking way forward to your demos…

Fun ahead for someone….

Paul
Thanks, Paul, watching the paint dry now! This one should be ready in a few weeks.

In the meantime I've started the next one, which I'm doing as part of the Great Guitar Build Off 2022. All guitars in the professional category get raffled off at the end, so someone could walk away with one of my guitars for a few bucks!

It's a very video centric contest, here is episode 1 of my build (this guitar we've been building here makes an appearance "in the white")

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  #36  
Old 06-13-2022, 07:21 PM
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Why did you go with a painless bridge? Aesthetics?
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  #37  
Old 06-14-2022, 07:34 PM
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Why did you go with a painless bridge? Aesthetics?
This one is a commission, and the client requested pinless.

The only pinless steel string I've ever owned that had a pinless was the Ovation I had for a short time as a lad. What a glorious day it was when I sold it - I bought a Guild dreadnought with the the proceeds which I wish I still had. Anyway, with the Ovation I found I was always scratching the top feeding the strings through the back. I really like this design here, and will be making it part of my standard offering. String changes are incredibly easy.
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  #38  
Old 06-30-2022, 11:13 AM
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In the home stretch now, time for a bridge!



On it goes! I'm using hot hide glue for this one.







Strung up with a temporary saddle, and getting used to being a guitar:

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  #39  
Old 07-01-2022, 06:54 PM
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Looks amazing, love the bridge
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  #40  
Old 07-02-2022, 09:31 AM
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Looks amazing, love the bridge
Thanks, Tom, the bridge works really well, string changes are very easy. I can't say enough about the client that commissioned this and has been so supportive of these adventurous elements (mostly the drums!). While I'm not a fan aesthetically of the K&K helix in the sound hole, this person is a player and this is the setup he wants - which is what is most important.

It's sounding very promising for only a few days old!
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  #41  
Old 07-03-2022, 11:28 PM
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It would be great if you could post a video of this unique guitar to get an idea of how the integral drums sound like in person...definitely a one of a kind guitar!
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  #42  
Old 07-12-2022, 05:53 AM
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Originally Posted by gitarro View Post
It would be great if you could post a video of this unique guitar to get an idea of how the integral drums sound like in person...definitely a one of a kind guitar!
Thanks, gitarro, videos coming soon! I did some recordings and have to go through them still and select the least embarrassing takes....
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  #43  
Old 07-12-2022, 06:03 AM
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Here are some pics I took of this guitar over the weekend:





















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  #44  
Old 07-12-2022, 07:44 AM
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What a beautiful piece of art/engineering/musical instrument. Congrats on having a vision and making it come true!
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  #45  
Old 07-12-2022, 08:35 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TomB'sox View Post
What a beautiful piece of art/engineering/musical instrument. Congrats on having a vision and making it come true!
Thanks so much, Tom, it actually works too! Videos coming soon!
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