2023 Challenge: Crimson Guitars course - X Jr build Build diary added on pg.3

guitargeek62 · December 2022

*edit* Adapting this thread to track and blog my build planning and the course itself in Sep 2023.

**Daily build diaries added to page 3**

I've just spotted that these folks are only based about 30 minutes from me, so I'm probably going to book onto one of their courses as a skills and techniques refresher as it's been about ten years since I last attempted any builds. I'm planning on setting up a small workshop at my new place next summer anyway, so this might be a sensible option to help with planning that out!

Has anyone here had any experience with them? I saw @ThorpyFX's awesome build there from a few years back.

WeZ84 · December 2022

I don't have any direct experience of the course but on their YouTube channel, they used to do a weekly "What's on the Bench" series with videos showing what the students on the courses were doing.
Might be worth checking a few of those out.

davros · December 2022

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/208918/crimson-guitars-building-course

I went on one pre-pandemic. Loved it! Some comments and pics in this thread.

guitargeek62 · December 2022

Thanks for the pointer @WeZ84 ; ; - I hadn't seen those vids!

Cheers @Davros, that looks great - lots of good feedback on there from others too. I'll give them a call today and see what 2023 dates are available

WezV · December 2022

wrong Wez

guitargeek62 · December 2022

Oops!

guitargeek62 · December 2022

Just had a chat with the guys there and I'm now booked onto Crimson's June 15th course next year!

I intend to source my timbers and materials in advance, and come away with something vaguely like the bastard-child of these:

Image: https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fauctions.c.yimg.jp%2Fimages.auctions.yahoo.co.jp%2Fimage%2Fdr000%2Fauc0209%2Fusers%2Fa014e944b43a24d076dc72fb9075c9a3c9c27999%2Fi-img1200x799-1631697760r6ukxk94038.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=90917f3646b8ab9308e35987a2aa6c3322aeb8c92dea460536e8185ec043ffcf&ipo=images

Note: I don't expect to finish it in the six-days, but if the woodwork and fretting's done then I'll be happy.

Bod · December 2022

"Orf"

guitargeek62 · December 2022

Yup, it’s (possibly) going to be a 9-string, and configured as a baritone one too! Unlike @WezV though, mine won’t be a fanned fret - I’ll keep the scale at ~26.5 as I’m only going to CGCFAD, and a bit of muddiness for doom is useful.

This might make my Bridge selection somewhat interesting though, I expect I’ll have to use 12-string options - though a DIY tailpiece would be easy enough to produce.

Here’s a demo from Dunable of one of theirs:

https://youtu.be/QNprOCo-MhU

I’m currently leaning towards:

- 3 or 5-ply neck, likely bubinga/maple/bubinga sapele/maple/sapele
- 4x5 headstock, angled & bound
- Ebony fingerboard
- Set-neck, deep-tenon
- Figured maple carved-top
- Jescar 47104 fretwire
- Inlays tbc
- Neck binding tbc
- Stain and shellac finish (unless I send it off to Rich for an aged silverburst)
- Sapele body (top-bound)

Electronics will be a P90-HBish combo, tbc - I like the idea of putting WRHBs in this too, but haven't found any non-pickguard ways of mounting them yet besides direct-mount.

Buildwise it should be fairly similar to any other carvetop set-neck; the baritone and 9-string elements won’t change that too much, but I might reinforce the neck (not too much though!).

This should be fun.

guitargeek62 · December 2022

And another neat vid of these coursed 9-strings. I feel I might have to choose between baritone or 9-string, otherwise sourcing strings of the right gauge and length could be an absolute ballache - suggestions welcome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2E4YgbQBLc

I've reached out to a guy who used to make some hardware for me back when I was building under the 'Fusion Guitars' moniker. He machines all the stuff himself, and already makes some 12-string bridges. Hopefully it won't be too much trouble to adapt one of those designs for a 9-string option. I've found an off-the-shelf 12-string tailpiece too that would work, and seems to be very close to what Dunable use on their 9-strings already too.

downbytheriver · December 2022

Unless things have changed a lot since I did my Crimson course (a few years back and extremely useful) I think what you want to do will be more ambitious than they would want (carved top and binding were both not within the scope, and binding the headstock wouldn’t be either) so make sure you’ve OKed it with them beforehand. Things ( and people) might have changed but bear in mind that you will be sharing resources - especially the instructor.

Taking your own wood and parts is definitely recommended!

guitargeek62 · December 2022

@downbytheriver I thought they'd say the same too but they seem happy enough with my past experience, and that I'm comfortable walking away with a semi-finished guitar if needs be. I can do a lot at home, so I'm mostly buying their time and experience (in theory at least!). Still, I might well drop the binding on this one to be able to get more done there in the timeframe - I'm more interested in the carve-top techniques, and binding is something I've done before on a bunch of things.

I almost certainly will be taking my own timbers in in advance, and prepping most of them too to save a bit of time. If I do go through with a laminated neck then I'll get that done beforehand as well else that's quite a chunk of time lost on the first day. Similarly, if I'm going to try any fancy inlays at all then I'll prep the fingerboard beforehand too and get that inlaid and ready to go. That said, I probably won't slot it/buy a slotted one, as I've not tried that by hand in a loooooong time so it'll be good practice to apply their techniques.

downbytheriver · December 2022

@guitargeek62 sounds like you’re all over it - good luck and have fun!

davros · December 2022

FYI, for slotting fingerboards they have an overhead circular saw with a thin blade and notched metal templates for each scale length. They may accomodate you using a handsaw and jig if you want to learn how to do it, but they will encourage you to use the electric saw and jig because it takes a about 2 minutes, and most people want to leave with a finished guitar.

guitargeek62 · December 2022

davros said:

FYI, for slotting fingerboards they have an overhead circular saw with a thin blade and notched metal templates for each scale length. They may accomodate you using a handsaw and jig if you want to learn how to do it, but they will encourage you to use the electric saw and jig because it takes a about 2 minutes, and most people want to leave with a finished guitar.

Wis'd - thankyou! That's even better then as that's the approach I'd be setting up at home with some nice jigs

guitargeek62 · December 2022

@downbytheriver - Thankyou, I hope so! They were also happy to be flexible too given that I live so close, and said that I can book in additional days later if needed

guitargeek62 · February 2023

Minor updates:

I've recently found a glorious timber treasure-trove nearby that has some fantastic stuff in stock, albeit not always traditional timbers. I've chosen a nice plank of 2" sapele for the neck and body, and some book-matched flame maple for the carve-top.

I'll re-saw the sapele and thin it down to make a 2pc body, it's got some nice pattern throughout that will look great when grain-filled (leaning towards doghair for the back & sides). I'm also planning to chamber it, so it being reasonably dense isn't really an issue! The neck will become a 2/3-pc laminate, with the flat-sawn pieces rotated 90deg to become quartersawn, then glued up - potentially with a maple filler strip for contrast, a la Gretsch.

I'm probably going to stick with ebony / substitute for the fingerboard and headplate, as I generally prefer the look and feel of it.

I'll add some photos soon-ish when I get around to taking some decent ones.

Pickups & hardware still to be decided, as is the 9-string part of this build, as I'm still not convinced it'll actually add anything that I'm going to use!

My immediate focus for the next few weeks/months will be moving into my new place and scoping out the garage properly to convert into a small-ish workshop. It's a decent-sized single one, but only single-brick wall construction so damp would be a problem until I address that somehow - suggestions welcome!

Roland · February 2023

Insulated plasterboard?

Andyjr1515 · February 2023

guitargeek62 said:

And another neat vid of these coursed 9-strings. I feel I might have to choose between baritone or 9-string though, otherwise sourcing strings of the right gauge and length could be an absolute ballache - suggestions welcome.

Newtone strings in Matlock will make pretty much any gauge, length, core, windings you want

guitargeek62 · February 2023

Oooh, well that helps - cheers @Andyjr1515!

@Roland - possibly! I might well end up fitting DPC sheeting and a second skin of something like that internally to help keep the temperature in there a bit more stable anyways. Thankfully, as this is a hobby-shop more than a workshop it doesn't need to be perfectly climate-controlled for working in all year - some thermal stability would be nice, but I'm more concerned about humidity and damp.

Airmiles · March 2023

Another thing to look at is Marmox board - it's insulation and vapour barrier in one - I used it in our kitchen and bathroom when we refurbished.

Not the cheapest, but a lot simpler than 2 layers. It comes IIRC in 25/50/75 mm thickness so you can choose as needed - most of the benefit is in the first 25mm.

guitargeek62 · August 2023

Update time!

Not much has happened yet as I had to move the course back to September, BUT I’ve been building up parts and stocks of timbers and now have more than enough for my next ~6 builds sat here!

I’ve been rethinking my collection a bit as it had become very HH heavy, so with a bit of trading and selling that’s looking a bit more varied again. It does mean that I traded away my Gibson Explorer to Sound Affects a week ago, and I already really miss having an X around so I’m going to shift my build towards a Junior version of one as that’ll further separate it from my other guitars.

Parts list for the build:

- Amber dogear P90
- Faber compensated wraparound & studs
- Guyker 6IL locking open-gear tuners
- 2-pc Idigbo body *edit* scratch that, Black Limba now!
- Q’sawn Idigbo neck* (*edit* /Black limba laminated neck)
- Ebony fingerboard & headstock overlay
- Jescar fretwire
- MOP dots & brass ring surrounds
- BWBWB material for pickguard & backplate

*the neck blank is big enough for 1pc, but I think I’ll laminate it for added strength - perhaps with a contrasting filler strip

I’ve also roughly planned out my next few builds too, but as this thread shows that will inevitably change!

mrkb · August 2023

@darius did their 6 day course a few months ago. He did a post about it.

TTony · August 2023

I'd just say .... don't make your build anything too "specialised". Firstly, you may waste time making one-off templates, and secondly you might find that you don't like / play it as much as something else.

If you found yourself with a lot of HH configured guitars, that's a strong implication that your natural preference is for HH guitars.

So, I'd be making another one, but with something that clearly marks it out as a custom, one-off, build (eg some inlays or similar).

Roland · August 2023

guitargeek62 said:

… thermal stability would be nice, but I'm more concerned about humidity and damp.

We’ve got a chest freezer in the workshop. It seems to prevent condensation.

guitargeek62 · August 2023

TTony said:

I'd just say .... don't make your build anything too "specialised". Firstly, you may waste time making one-off templates, and secondly you might find that you don't like / play it as much as something else.

If you found yourself with a lot of HH configured guitars, that's a strong implication that your natural preference is for HH guitars.

So, I'd be making another one, but with something that clearly marks it out as a custom, one-off, build (eg some inlays or similar).

Haha exactly! I've dialled the ambition right back, so now it's a simple Junior build that happens to be Explorer-shaped

I've had a cheapy HB Jr around for a few months too as I do love P90s but it had been a while since I'd owned a single pickup guitar. This one is brilliant, and confirms that I like the recipe

Sporky · August 2023

TTony said:

I'd just say .... don't make your build anything too "specialised". Firstly, you may waste time making one-off templates, and secondly you might find that you don't like / play it as much as something else.

I resemble that comment!

TTony · August 2023

Sporky said:

TTony said:

I'd just say .... don't make your build anything too "specialised". Firstly, you may waste time making one-off templates, and secondly you might find that you don't like / play it as much as something else.

I resemble that comment!

Have you still got it, and do you ever play it?

Sporky · August 2023

Yes, and I've not picked up a guitar in several years. The 7er I made on the second course us in buts - the measurements on the Hipshot site were wrong so it would never intonate. I still intend to make a new body to take the neck and scratchplate with all the electronics.

TTony · August 2023

Sporky said:

Yes, and I've not picked up a guitar in several years.

Good - doesn't mean you won't want to pick up a guitar in several years' time.

Sporky · August 2023

Indeed. I kept all the ones I made myself. And the Talman.

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2023 Challenge: Crimson Guitars course - X Jr build Build diary added on pg.3

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2023 Challenge: Crimson Guitars course - X Jr build **Build diary added on pg.3**

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2023 Challenge: Crimson Guitars course - X Jr build Build diary added on pg.3