1Q22 Challenge - Roland’s guitar build

Tannin · March 2022

Following this build with interest and wishing you a speedy recovery Roland.

Re the control cavity cracking, it might be worth considering the techniques people use to get high strength with little bulk or weight for things like aircraft and high performance yachts. Essentially, it would involve stretching a thin mat of something strong that does not stretch (kevlar, glass, carbon fibre - all are readily available from boat-building suppliers) and coating it in epoxy resin. Light and very strong, probably easy to do.

Roland · March 2022

In a bid to hit the deadline I went into the workshop and routed the control cavity. 10mm under the pots, and only 4mm of Yew where the switch will be. After cutting I flooded the bottom of the cavity with CA, and soaked it into the exposed surfaces of the Yew.

The nick on the right will go when the edge is routed for the cover. It shows that I wasn’t really fit to be out there in the first place. Next steps are to cut the slot for the switch, and insert the neck bolts. I’m definitely leaving those two for another day.

DartmoorHedgehog · March 2022

Nice. I hope the wood holds together for you this time.
And wishing you a speedy recovery from the lurgy - I had it again last week as well and it didn't make me at all ill this time (if I'd not done a test I'd have thought I just had a cold), just a pain in the arse because they didn't want me in the office once I knew what it was.

Roland · March 2022

No cracks overnight so I’ve cut the slot and screw holes for the five way superswitch, and made the cavity cover from reasonably matching wood.

Andyjr1515 · March 2022

Roland said:

No cracks overnight so I’ve cut the slot and screw holes for the five way superswitch, and made the cavity cover from reasonably matching wood.

Good sign. Glad you are an the road to recovery

Roland · March 2022

Yesterday was sanding down to 400 grit, wiping down with white spirit between grades. I’ve read that 240 is far enough. Not in my experience. I was amused by the label on a roll which read “The state of California has determined that using this product may expose you to wood dust, which has been shown to cause cancer”.

The control cover it held in place using @Andyjr1515’s magnet method. Reason is that I hate screws where the head has been torn by a screwdriver. Whilst sanding I added double sided tape to make sure that the cover stayed in place, and didn’t wobble. This raises the cover very slightly, which isn’t a bad thing. There will eventually be a layer of copper tape on the inside of the cover which will raise it by a similar amount. It stuck too well. I had to put a steel bar through one of the pot hole, and tap the cover off.

Then it was time for another mock-up before varnishing, which will darken the wood:

Yes, this time I’m going to try varnish rather than an oil finish. I want a harder finish which will protect the wood better than Osmo or TruOil, and I was intrigued by Andy’s experience that varnish might provide some UV protection, and reduce the darkening which happens over time. The neck hard a coat several weeks ago, and that’s stopped the problem I had with the Field Maple denting every time I looked at it.

This is what the body looks like with a coat of thinned down Rustin’s varnish:

DartmoorHedgehog · March 2022

Looking good. Looks like you're winning the battle against the wood.

Roland · March 2022

Dilemma: If I’m going to meet the 31st March deadline then there isn’t time for the varnish to harden off before being sanded flat, and a final coat applied.

I’ll give it another day or two so that the varnish is hard enough not to get damaged by contact, then do a trial assembly. I really want to know whether it’s going to be giggable, which is my criterion for a guitar, rather that ornamental.

Did I say that I don’t actually like shiny guitars?

Roland · March 2022

DartmoorHedgehog said:

Looks like you're winning the battle against the wood.

The body has been hanging up in the house for several days. There’s no visible movement, even around the control cavity. Fingers crossed.

Andyjr1515 said:
Glad you are on the road to recovery

Thanks. There’s a silver lining. Neither of us has the energy for more than an hour or so in the garden. So I don’t feel guilty about doing the odd job in the workshop.

DartmoorHedgehog · March 2022

Roland said:

The body has been hanging up in the house for several days. There’s no visible movement, even around the control cavity. Fingers crossed.

Sounds good

matt_sefton · March 2022

Absolutely stunning work - really enjoying the posts

Roland · March 2022

matt_sefton said:

Absolutely stunning work - really enjoying the posts

Thanks, but the camera lies. It’s just the one eyed man in the kingdom of the blind.

andy_k · March 2022

Can't wait to see the final assembly, remind us, what are the pickups? is that a neck P90?

Roland · March 2022

Everything is drilled, and cavities lined with copper tape, ready for assembly and wiring up.

Realised today that the varnish has a slight amber tint. It looks OK on the Yew, but the Cedar isn’t as blonde as I’d like it to be. I’ve levelled the surface with 1000 grit. The top has had a final coat of thinned varnish, cut 50:50 with white spirit, and left horizontal to avoid runs. I have to brush it whilst looking at reflections to make sure that it’s all covered with no dry spots. I’ll do the same on the back and sides before bedtime. Once it’s hard enough I’ll install the hardware. Then, at long last, I’ll know whether it’s a guitar I can gig with. There’s a big difference between merely playable and a guitar which inspires.

Roland · March 2022

@andy_k Pickups are my favourite combination: Oil City Californian in the neck, which is a Strat style pickup. Oil City Wapping Wharf in the bridge, which is a tapped single coil, a combination of bright 60s and overwound 50s broadcaster pickup. The five way switch will give me:
1. Bridge
2. Tapped bridge
3. Tapped bridge and neck in parallel (untapped the bridge would overpower the neck)
4. Neck
5. Neck and bridge in series

Roland · March 2022

Assembled, and awaiting wiring. The neck is held by M5 Allen bolts into threaded inserts, using Grainger ferrules. The pickups are bolted into M3 inserts, using cheese head Allen bolts rather than Phillips heads. The bridge will be screwed on when I string it up, which will make sure that the alignment is perfect.

I was tempted to make some knobs from Apple because it’s another wood from the village. Having spent half an hour turning a prototype I decided that I prefer the weight and knurling of the Grainger knobs.

Weight is 2.55 Kg, or 5lb 10oz in old money

Roland · March 2022

The Hipshot bridge is easy to set up. You can adjust the intonation by moving the saddles without drastically affecting the tuning. It’s manufactured to very tight tolerances. A bit too tight. After slackening off to reseat the neck three of the sliders which hold the string ball ends got stuck. Disassemble, clean, lubricate, re-assemble.

Despite having similar pickups it’s not as bright as my Telecaster, and the treble drops off too early. Part of the cause is the pots which are well below specified resistance. I’ve put a 180K resistor in series with the tone pot which has changed its operating range, and brightened things up a bit.

Flip · March 2022

Hope you're fully recovered now. I tried a budget (EART) headless guitar recently and although I didn't buy it due to the quality of the machine heads? tuners? and despite the beautiful frets, what struck me was how comfortable it was to play sitting down. I'm sure this will b e too. Lovely.

Andyjr1515 · March 2022

Looks great! And great weight

Roland · April 2022

Two days into playing, and I’m finding out about the design. I like the small body profile and the light weight. The guitar hangs nicely on its strap. Too high for many people no doubt, but just right for me. I am glad that I put the jack socket in a more conventional position than I’d planned. I was worried about the cable interfering with tuner access, but it’s not a problem.

There’s nothing I actively dislike, but there are a few niggles to sort out. I wish I hadn’t lined the switch up symmetrically with the tone and volume knobs. If the volume were one centimetre forward then the switch would be more visible whilst playing, and easier to grab in a hurry. The Parker Fly had a similar problem. The solution was a longer switch tip. If it continues to irritate me then I’ll make one.

The highest side marker is at the 15th fret. For unthinking access to the upper frets I could do with markers at the 17th and 19th. The neck is too far inset into the body to allow this. It has to be this low to line up with the bridge. In fact the bridge could do with being inset even lower. The saddles are almost at the bottom of their travel to get a low action, and this is making palm muting difficult. On a conventional Tele I use palm muting to shape notes, and for staccato chords. With the Hipshot bridge the saddles are buried into the bridge casting. The solution to all this is probably to shim the neck cavity to angle the neck against the body, and then raise the saddles.

The guitar has been in the house for about a week whilst I finished varnishing. The warmer, drier environment to causing fret sprout. Not difficult to deal with, but I’ll leave it a few weeks because I’m sure that sprouting hasn’t finished yet.

Roland · April 2022

The fret sprout got too much. The wood will probably shrink a bit more over then next few weeks, but the guitar was becoming painful to play. So the neck came off, and the fret ends have been reshaped. At the same time I added two more side dots, and shimmed the neck. Anoraks will like to know that I used a piece of Oil City’s wiring instruction card.

For the first time ever I’ve had to put negative turn on the truss rod to force a bow into the neck. This suggests that the Field Maple neck is shrinking more than the Sycamore fretboard. I expect this will cause more trouble in the future.

Of course the guitar feels different after the changes. Most importantly raising the saddles has made right hand muting easier.

Roland · July 2022

The guitar has settled a bit further since April. It needed another quarter turn anti-clockwise on the truss rod. I’m feeling the saddles are too low for my playing style, so I’ve raised them a few turns, re-shimmed the neck to compensate, and adjusted the pickups to match.

DartmoorHedgehog · July 2022

Cool. No more splits then?

Roland · July 2022

No more splits. I’m concerned about possible neck twist. For the moment it’s my number one, and will feature at our gig on Saturday.

Roland · August 2022

When I collected the parts for this build I was pleased to find a four track five way switch at a cheap price. IIRC it was £7.50. It’s now failed. Over the last two weeks a little play has developed in the lever. As a result the rotor no longer connects reliably. Not what you want when you’re changing pickups on your way into a solo.

Instead I’ve replaced it with an Oak Grigsby Double Wafer 5 Way from Axecaster, to the tune of £21. The fixing bolt thread and spacing are identical to the original. The new switch looks as if it was made in the same factory as the original, using some of the same parts, but with a stronger mechanism. It’s also narrower than the original.

Winny_Pooh · August 2022

Oak grigsby seems to be most reliable. I've used one two (one to replace a schaller) for 3 years now with no issues.

How's the finish holding up?

Roland · August 2022

@Winny_Pooh ;Lots of plectrum dents on the top. Colour unchanged, but it’s only had five months so far.

Roland · January 2023

The neck twist was interesting. It raised the bass side action whilst keeping the treble side level. So the guitar remained playable for months. Eventually it got too much. Today I’ve replaced the neck with the three ply Sycamore neck I was making for the Q4 22 challenge. The guitar feels the same, but has lost its woody sound. It now barks more like a traditional Tele, demonstrating how much a neck contributes to a guitar’s sound.

Roland · July 2023

Another update. Since I made the neck I’ve had to tighten the truss rod twice. This afternoon I tightened it by 1/4 turn, which I think is a lot. I’m not sure how much is seasonal adjustment, and how much is the new neck settling in. The neck is finished with CA glue, and the finish is exceedingly thin, so I’m guessing that humidity is playing a large part in the movement.

Roland · July 2023

The neck saga continues. I’m not happy with the second one. It moves more than I would like with humidity. That might simply be the thin CA finish letting moisture through as humidity changes.

This Sycamore neck is brighter than the original Field Maple. In itself that isn’t a problem, but I’m also noticing a clanking sound around 3kHz. Initially I thought a volume peak in this area would help the guitar sit in the band mix. Now it’s irritating me. The source of the problem might not be the neck but the Hipshot bridge, which is much lighter than traditional saddles, and the Sycamore isn’t absorbing those frequencies the way the Field Maple used to. Probably not a problem if you’re playing heavy metal, but I use a lot of cleanish sounds.

So I’m left with a dilemma. Make neck number three from a different wood, or make a new guitar with different tuners. I think the answer might be to do both. I’ve been seasoning a nice piece of Walnut for around six years. It fits the original criteria for this guitar of wood grown in my village. Then I’ll make a new body for the Sycamore neck, using the Nova tuners which I acquired for last year’s challenge.

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1Q22 Challenge - Roland’s guitar build

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