Guitar #2. 00-12 Fret with Engelmann/Cherry

Take us through building your guitar step by step. Post pictures and tell us what you're doing.
Post Reply
johnnparchem
Posts: 2354
Joined: Sat Apr 10, 2010 10:50 pm
Location: Seattle
Contact:

Re: New Project. 00-12 Fret with Engelmann/Cherry

Post by johnnparchem »

The guitar will look great with the pommele mahogany bindings. I hope all is well.
Benjy
Posts: 156
Joined: Sun Jan 18, 2015 8:49 pm
Location: Irmo, SC

Re: New Project. 00-12 Fret with Engelmann/Cherry

Post by Benjy »

I hope everything went well with your surgery!

Can't wait to see you get this one done. I am still admiring your fret board scheme!
Diane Kauffmds
Posts: 3318
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Re: New Project. 00-12 Fret with Engelmann/Cherry

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

Benjy wrote:I hope everything went well with your surgery!

Can't wait to see you get this one done. I am still admiring your fret board scheme!
It went great. The VA put a dorsal spine stimulator in for me, which is a blessing.
Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
Benjy
Posts: 156
Joined: Sun Jan 18, 2015 8:49 pm
Location: Irmo, SC

Re: New Project. 00-12 Fret with Engelmann/Cherry

Post by Benjy »

Have you been able to make any progress? I can't wait to see the fret board completed!
Diane Kauffmds
Posts: 3318
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Re: New Project. 00-12 Fret with Engelmann/Cherry

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

Benjy wrote:Have you been able to make any progress? I can't wait to see the fret board completed!
Nothing yet. I'm thinking of trying to start the fretboard inlay though...and thinking...and thinking! LOL
Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
Diane Kauffmds
Posts: 3318
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Re: New Project. 00-12 Fret with Engelmann/Cherry

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

Well, you all are in trouble now!

I'm beginning today and as a lot of you know, I blog everything I do, along with photos. This way, I can look back and learn from past mistakes. It also makes for a very long blog.

So, without further adieu, I have to turn this puzzle/rubic's cube abalone, into a vine for the fretboard. Thankfully, I have a photo of the original vine, but I have to make changes to fit it properly to a short scale, 12 fret ebony fretboard. I'll lay out the vine and glue it to the board. After tracing around it with an X-Acto knife, I'll take the inlay off of the fretboard and rub white chalk around the "tracing".

Then, the fun really begins.

Image
Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
Diane Kauffmds
Posts: 3318
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Need Opinions

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

I need opinions.

The vine inlay that I bought was made for a long scale, 14 fret guitar. I had to do a little redesigning, to get things to fit this fretboard, which is a short scale, 12 fret at the body.

I need to know if it looks balanced and reasonably centered, before I etch around it. If something looks a bit off, please tell me.

Thanks!

Image
Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
MaineGeezer
Posts: 1825
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2014 12:14 pm

Re: New Project. 00-12 Fret with Engelmann/Cherry

Post by MaineGeezer »

Can you get more of a gradual sweeping curve at what appears to be fret #4? To me, the vine looks broken there instead of curving.
Don't believe everything you know.
Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.
When things are bad, try not to make them any worse, because it is quite likely they are bad enough already. - French Foreign Legion
Diane Kauffmds
Posts: 3318
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Re: New Project. 00-12 Fret with Engelmann/Cherry

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

MaineGeezer wrote:Can you get more of a gradual sweeping curve at what appears to be fret #4? To me, the vine looks broken there instead of curving.
Yes, I can! Thank you for pointing that out. After staring at the pieces for a couple of days, you don't see what needs correction.
Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
Diane Kauffmds
Posts: 3318
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Re: New Project. 00-12 Fret with Engelmann/Cherry

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

Well, I let the fretboard sit for a couple of days and came back to it with a fresh pair of eyes. I knew "something" was off. I decided that I put too much detail at the bottom and that I needed to make a couple of changes to balance it out.

This is the cleaned up design. I smoothed the curve on fret 4. It would probably look better with a more gradual curve, but I'm not sure how much more I can take off of it before the vine gets too thin.

The small "crimp" on the vine at fret 4 is part of the tape that's holding the small pieces together. Suggestions for improvement are welcome. Does the design seem in balance the length of the fretboard?:

Image
Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
Post Reply