Guitar for Dane

[Planta Fantasma]

It's been a few years now since my friends band studio caught fire & mostly burned. The warehouse they played in was rented to multiple bands.
The fire marshals findings were inconclusive as to the cause of the fire & so the insurance company weaseled out of covering anything belonging to the bands.
My friend Dane had his Jackson soloist burn up. It was one of the many items that were unsalvageable from the top floor.

Another friend in a different band room downstairs had major extinguisher damage to his Fryette Two/Ninety/Two power amp. His gear was covered in the long run by his private insurance. He contacted Fryette directly for an insurance replacement quote, & they had him send in the amp to see if it could be salvaged.
These guys are great! They did a set of videos on YouTube going through the amp repair. There are 6 parts in total. Here's a link to where it starts:



A couple common friends who also knew Dane chipped in money for parts & a case. I collected the wood & built him a new guitar.
I found some excellent Swamp Ash for neck & body, 1960's Gaboon Ebony for a fretboard & some awesome (Flame) Red Gum Eucalyptus for the top, no pun intended.

Dane is a lefty, who grew up playing right handed guitars upside down. He never had upper access to the neck until this righty cut for a lefty.
It seems pretty straight forward, but I'm not use to building right handed lefties.........I had to constantly write notes so I wouldn't drill a wrong hole or put dots on the wrong side of the fretboard.
Here are some pictures of Dane's guitar & a link to some of his death metal.


Some folks would argue that the world is a better place without Dane's death metal; however, I know that the world is better for Dane because of his death metal.
Cheers!

 

[skolacki]

Wow that is nice curled ash! Perfect.
Edit: I see the top is Eucalyptus.

 

[State of Epicicity]

What bullshit that the insurance refused to pay; inconclusive means it could have been something covered. Assholes.

I love that you're using brass inserts for the neck screws. That should be a universal thing. Beautiful as always.

 

[Planta Fantasma]

What bullshit that the insurance refused to pay; inconclusive means it could have been something covered. Assholes.

I love that you're using brass inserts for the neck screws. That should be a universal thing. Beautiful as always.

Thanks man! I've never built a bolt on w/o the brass inserts, machine screws and at least a six bolt pattern in the neck pocket. It makes a huge difference. I'm using a larger insert for the bass necks too.

That's typical about insurance companies. I live in California & many companies have simply dropped homeowner policies & jacked auto premiums. A couple major insurance carriers have left the state all together & just left people hanging. It's always been a sham, but it got exponentially worse after a few seasons of heavy wildfires. I guess there wasn't enough profit for the investors since they actually had to payout massive claims.

The DMV still requires people to have auto insurance or a private bond that a lot of people can't afford either. It's just ridiculous.
Sorry for the rant.

 

[Planta Fantasma]

Wow that is nice curled ash! Perfect.
Edit: I see the top is Eucalyptus.

Wow that is nice curled ash! Perfect.
Edit: I see the top is Eucalyptus.

Yes, no worries. Thank you for the compliment. It's a really neat piece of Red Gum. They also call this pattern bees wing and sometimes angel wing.

 

[State of Epicicity]

Thanks man! I've never built a bolt on w/o the brass inserts, machine screws and at least a six bolt pattern in the neck pocket. It makes a huge difference. I'm using a larger insert for the bass necks too.

That's typical about insurance companies. I live in California & many companies have simply dropped homeowner policies & jacked auto premiums. A couple major insurance carriers have left the state all together & just left people hanging. It's always been a sham, but it got exponentially worse after a few seasons of heavy wildfires. I guess there wasn't enough profit for the investors since they actually had to payout massive claims.

The DMV still requires people to have auto insurance or a private bond that a lot of people can't afford either. It's just ridiculous.
Sorry for the rant.

Other than increased durability, have you found other advantages with the inserts, like a stronger tone? Speaking of which, what have you find to be the tonal difference between bolt on, set neck, and neck through?

With the home insurance, am I remembering right that there is some sort of state insurance for those who got dropped?

With the auto insurance, I can only imagine what you guys deal with. We moved from Colorado to Wisconsin because we wanted to buy a house and we're not millionaires, and one side effect was an insane drop in the price of auto insurance. I hadn't even realized how much we were paying out west. And in sure California is even worse.

Sorry for what you guys have to deal with. I thought for a long time living in northern California would be the best.

 

[Planta Fantasma]

As far as the neck inserts go, yes I do believe they make stronger coupling, especially w/ the added screws. The sustain is excellent.
I was discussing this w/ Ken Lawrence recently. He's making his version of a Jazz Bass & I recommended that he use machinist inserts.
The main reason is because you can actually torque them to a spec. That's pretty significant. All we have to go off of other than that is
tightening by muscle memory. I think specs are nice. I use them for fretboard relief, nut height, intonation & every other aspect of setup, so why not neck screw torque? There is a point of too much where you can smash the wood or break a screw & we've all had necks that weren't tight enough & they shift in the pocket.........

I can't tell you which one is better than the other because it's probably impossible. There are so many variables. Wood, building skill, type of clamps used to compress & glue the neck joint. So much of this comes down to personal preference.
You know the saying: "It's much easier to fool someone than to convince them that they've been fooled?" Everyone thinks they're right, & they are in their own mind.......

Set necks are my least favorite to build. They're more difficult when you're dealing w/ a guitar w/ three plains like a Les Paul. You have your Headstock angle from fretboard at about 13 degrees & then the body angle from fretboard is about 2.5-3 degrees. I prefer to build neck thru because it's much easier to get all of these angles sanded into the length of the entire neck. Not to mention when I build neck through I always laminate wood so It's much stronger in those troublesome areas like the nut in case an instrument falls over. Last neck thru I put together was 11 pieces of Wenge & Paduk. It's not breaking anytime soon.......
The downside to neck thru is the price of the lumber. I lay out my necks so they get the best pieces of wood from the board, not the most pieces of wood from the board. You'll notice from the butt of the neck endgrain photo how all pieces are bookmatched out from the center. That gives you the nicest look when the neck is shaped. Everything will have symmetry.
Most commercial builders just saw up the wood & then a grader will stack it into similar piles. That's one way to do it, but then none of the wood matches or is from the same board so it looks like random wood grabbed from a pile......

When I learned to build guitars I didn't learn to build bolt on necks. We didn't build any bolt on models. I've taught myself that end of things.
Anytime I'd worked on them I always hated wood screws used in a neck. It's just so barbaric. What next, flathead screws? lol
When you drive a wood screw into a hole there's always a bit of a lump that occurres around the screw. It's minor, but it distorts the flat surface you need for a good coupling. I always thought that the little mound of wood around each screw hole keeps the necks from truly tightening down in the pocket. When inserts are used, none of the wood screw mounding occurres & you can get a really nice compression.
Anyway, the first time I seen inserts while doing a repair I knew that I'd be using them in all of my bolt on necks.

I'm sure there are insurance programs available from the state. I'm still w/ Allstate. They're definitely not my first choice, but they're one of the only carriers to cover our house on pier & post & give a supposed discount for house & cars.

Living in Northern California isn't bad. It's really mellow here. 2 lane highway if that's any indication. Insurance & utilities have gone up, but so has everything else!

Cheers man!

 

[State of Epicicity]

Do you mean you actually use something like a torque wrench to measure as you're screwing in a neck? Dude, that's awesome. Science in pursuit of tone. What you're saying about having measurements across the board makes such sense. This way you can have as close to reproducible results as wood will allow. This is the kind of thing you'd wish all guitars had behind them.

It's interesting that the neck joint itself is not as determinative as the sum of the materials and the construction techniques. That's heartening too, that it seems like it comes down to overall quality, not one aspect of design determining tone.

Interesting point about lumber selection too; this explains why great bookmatching is reserved for the most expensive instruments. The acoustic properties of a piece of lumber seem like voodoo to me. The combined effect of the design and the materials landing on a particular type of tone are like magic; that's the practical effect anyway.

I think use of the inserts is rare, and I've always thought it odd that was the case. It makes especially for truss rods that can't be accessed without removing the neck.

 

[Planta Fantasma]

Do you mean you actually use something like a torque wrench to measure as you're screwing in a neck?

Yes. You can buy torque screwdrivers in a few different ranges of strength. They're not cheap, but then again no specialty tools are.
Lots of electronics have torque specs so that they don't vibrate apart during shipping. Torque specs are used everywhere but mostly associated w/ vehicles.

About lumber selection: This can go really deep.
I was watching a YouTube vid about these Japanese wood workers that have been doing the same family craft for centuries. They made these huge wooden blinds. They're so in tune w/ their surroundings that they only use wood harvested under the right moon. They had a reason for it. It had to do w/ sap content. Then when they mill it, the wood is always organized in a way so they always no which was up or down when the tree was alive.
It's a level of attention & detail that few can appreciate. I have always been amazed by the level of detail in the Japanese craftsman culture.

I know I've also read about violin & cello makers in Europe who only harvest trees under similar conditions. Pretty awesome!

 

[skolacki]

Do you mean you actually use something like a torque wrench to measure as you're screwing in a neck? Dude, that's awesome. Science in pursuit of tone. What you're saying about having measurements across the board makes such sense. This way you can have as close to reproducible results as wood will allow. This is the kind of thing you'd wish all guitars had behind them.

It's interesting that the neck joint itself is not as determinative as the sum of the materials and the construction techniques. That's heartening too, that it seems like it comes down to overall quality, not one aspect of design determining tone.

Interesting point about lumber selection too; this explains why great bookmatching is reserved for the most expensive instruments. The acoustic properties of a piece of lumber seem like voodoo to me. The combined effect of the design and the materials landing on a particular type of tone are like magic; that's the practical effect anyway.

I think use of the inserts is rare, and I've always thought it odd that was the case. It makes especially for truss rods that can't be accessed without removing the neck.

The lack of inserts probably comes down to reducing manufacturing costs. Maple necks and screws have a proven history so they’re not a bad design. I had a MIJ Fernandes Strat in the 80’s that needed an occasional whack to adjust the neck. My US Strat hasn’t moved on me yet. If the necks come off a lot or if the screws are over torqued then repairs will be needed. The best repair would be inserts but many would install plugs and use the same screws.

 

[Planta Fantasma]

The lack of inserts probably comes down to reducing manufacturing costs. Maple necks and screws have a proven history so they’re not a bad design. I had a MIJ Fernandes Strat in the 80’s that needed an occasional whack to adjust the neck. My US Strat hasn’t moved on me yet. If the necks come off a lot or if the screws are over torqued then repairs will be needed. The best repair would be inserts but many would install plugs and use the same screws.

I totally agree that brass inserts will never be a standard for most companies. It's extra material & labor for sure. Not to mention, they can be tricky to install. They can break & wear out just like anything else. If they're not aligned perfectly, they can strip. And if they're not inserted into the right neck grain they can blow out the sidewall of the neck itself. I've learned about these problems from having them happen at some point or another. Many reasons for a company to avoid them.

I still prefer using inserts when building from scratch. It definitely takes extra time & precision. I still make my necks one at a time by hand & I own a CNC. I take the necks on & off multiple times during a build & I can finger tighten these machine screws after they're oiled. There's just something nice about the way it all comes together.

When I'm talking about "torque specs" my interest is getting everything equally tightened. I'm not interest in gaining maximum torque, but a measurable one. It's just all nerd stuff in the end just like any other setup spec. I'm a total nerd.

 

[State of Epicicity]

All of engineering is nerdy, and every one of us in modern society depends heavily on the nerdery of those who take the time to inject rigor into their work. Every player depends on how well engineered their guitar is. Lutherie is as wide open as art; you just start doing it and you can sell guitars. But there are no objective standards people follow; it's just really nice when the rigor is introduced to the process, but it's still approached as a work of art on top of that.

I've talked to a couple of luthiers who seemed alarmingly incurious about important aspects of their own profession, so it's refreshing to see someone go the opposite route and actually try to raise the standards in it.

 

[Planta Fantasma]

All of engineering is nerdy, and every one of us in modern society depends heavily on the nerdery of those who take the time to inject rigor into their work. Every player depends on how well engineered their guitar is. Lutherie is as wide open as art; you just start doing it and you can sell guitars. But there are no objective standards people follow; it's just really nice when the rigor is introduced to the process, but it's still approached as a work of art on top of that.

I've talked to a couple of luthiers who seemed alarmingly incurious about important aspects of their own profession, so it's refreshing to see someone go the opposite route and actually try to raise the standards in it.

My favorite part of lutherie is the discovery through trial. Learning from mistakes is part of the process. Acquiring knowledge is very satisfying.
I was fortunate to have learned repair work before building. It turns out that I inevitably needed that knowledge to repair my own guitars at some point......

We were just starting to organize a local luthiers guild pre Covid & it kind of unraveled. Spring is quickly approaching, it would be nice to see the guild pick up some momentum again. There's so much great information to exchange.

 

[5th-Tuner]

Very nice work!
I have never built with Eucalyptus before.
Can you please tell me what it's properties are? Density? Tone? etc etc...
I believe the only Australian wood I've used is Tasmanian Myrtle Burl (you can see it on the top of my profile pic guitar).
Well, actually I've built a lot of Australian Lacewood guitars as well.

Anyway, very nice work.

 

[State of Epicicity]

Very nice work!
I have never built with Eucalyptus before.
Can you please tell me what it's properties are? Density? Tone? etc etc...
I believe the only Australian wood I've used is Tasmanian Myrtle Burl (you can see it on the top of my profile pic guitar).
Well, actually I've built a lot of Australian Lacewood guitars as well.

Anyway, very nice work.

Very cool one in your profile photo! What are the three mini switches for?

 

[5th-Tuner]

Very cool one in your profile photo! What are the three mini switches for?

Thanks man!
The two lower mini switches are 3 way coil taps, and the one upper mini switch is a 3 way Piezo, Magnetics, Mix switch for an LR Baggs Ctrl-X...
You can see more info & pics here if you want,

https://www.tkinstruments.com/st7.htm

 

[Dave Merrill]

Serious stuff man!

 

[Planta Fantasma]

Very nice work!
I have never built with Eucalyptus before.
Can you please tell me what it's properties are? Density? Tone? etc etc...
I believe the only Australian wood I've used is Tasmanian Myrtle Burl (you can see it on the top of my profile pic guitar).
Well, actually I've built a lot of Australian Lacewood guitars as well.

Anyway, very nice work.

This Red Gum Eucalyptus is an Australian hardwood & it's density is near that of a Rosewood. I'm taking an educated guess that the figured set I used on the posted guitar isn't quite as hard as a non curled variety. It's a really nice wood to work. It tools well w/ minimal tear out for such a highly figured wood. The tap tone is pretty consistent w/ a similar size Brazilian Tulipwood board that I just did a comparison w/. I can hear a little more low end in the Red Gum when I tap it. Once again I'm not tapping equal size boards, but the Eucalyptus seem to carry a nice bass tone along w/ a rich initial tap. If you can find some to build with you won't be disappointed.

I've had some really neat Eucalyptus Burl that was harvested from the Presidio of San Francisco. It was an old military base & I bought some wood from an arborist who cut the trees down in the 80's. Here's a picture of that burl.

 

[5th-Tuner]

This Red Gum Eucalyptus is an Australian hardwood & it's density is near that of a Rosewood. I'm taking an educated guess that the figured set I used on the posted guitar isn't quite as hard as a non curled variety. It's a really nice wood to work. It tools well w/ minimal tear out for such a highly figured wood. The tap tone is pretty consistent w/ a similar size Brazilian Tulipwood board that I just did a comparison w/. I can hear a little more low end in the Red Gum when I tap it. Once again I'm not tapping equal size boards, but the Eucalyptus seem to carry a nice bass tone along w/ a rich initial tap. If you can find some to build with you won't be disappointed.

I've had some really neat Eucalyptus Burl that was harvested from the Presidio of San Francisco. It was an old military base & I bought some wood from an arborist who cut the trees down in the 80's. Here's a picture of that burl.

Wow!
That burl top on that Explorer is AmAzInG!

It reminds me of a build I did 12 years ago that had a Spalted Ambrosia Maple Burl top on it: ST-29 MIDI

That Red Gum Eucalyptus sounds very interesting.
Hopefully, I'll get to try it on a build some time.

 

[State of Epicicity]

This is getting to be wood porn. Pun unavoidable.