Thread: BluesTone guitars in progress

very nice looking build. the makore is much lighter than the piece i have here, but looks nice amyway.

Jim, there is a small amount of figure in the Eucalyptus.I see it with my glasses on.
If you want to see magic fiddleback Eucalyptus Stu will give you a link to my website.
Cheers Bob,

Thanks Bob I would like that, you could P.M. it to me or just leave it here if you like.

Thanks for the correction Stu. That second to last pic still looks like Tassie oak to me though. I am not familiar with Makore but it says in the Bible that it has small movement in service which makes me think it may not be as good as the Tassie oak. Have you used this combination before, if so how long ago and do you still have the instrument as I would be curious to know how it is for movement. I have always been taught that when laminating to try to choose woods of similar movement but that does not mean you can't get out of the box.

Jim

I have been learning Joinery for 26 years, I still continue to learn.

Interesting thoughts about Stability issues and laminations.
You're spot on the money there, and these things usually rear their head fairly quickly when doing laminations, binding and the like.
Usually a telltale shifting glue join or shrinking of a top cap (example) where it joins the body's edge due to differing expansion rates. This build has had none of that.
The interesting thing is once the guitar has been sealed up, painted and assembled, most of these issues tend to disappear if your dryness percentage rates are equal across all your timbers used .
You'll still get minor fluctuations with your fingerboard expanding and contracting to the humidity levels.

I find Makore to be extremely workable, luuurves hand plane work and
seems alot more stable than the bible states. I get highs and lows in humidity
in the workshop and this stuff has moved the least out of alot of the native timbers
I stock. This is the first thru-neck with Makore.
The down-side is it's toxicity to the eyes and lungs when introducing airborne particles
to the air. Tightening of the lungs and eye-soreness. Mask, gogs and ventilation is preferred, although not always heeded.

I've found Tassie oak to have more humidity shift, but I'll continue to use it
on everything barring necks.

Figured Tassie oak below, Jim

O.K Back in time now (Makore /Quilt maple build), and I'll try to keep it in close chronological order.




Note the differences in chambering to the drawings and fingerboard end.

Originally Posted by oz tradie

I find Makore to be extremely workable, luuurves hand plane work and
seems alot more stable than the bible states. I get highs and lows in humidity
in the workshop and this stuff has moved the least out of alot of the native timbers
I stock.

Yummm I'll Have a bit of that old gum tree thanks, will get onto Bob about it as I get the impression he sells.

Firstly I am assuming you have much more experience laminating Electric Guitar bodies than I do. I have only just recently taken on the challenge of solid bodies and am finding it very enjoyable. I also find that designing a electric guitar is harder in some ways than a Acoustic.

Stability was what I was concerned about. The Makore I have listed is from West Africa and is in the very stable rage as you have described, that is why I was a bit concerned because the Maple has more movement in service. Maple and Tassie oak are both medium movers and so well matched.
I guess even if you get a little difference in the movement, provided you have a flexible finish it would never be large enough to worry about, unless you go mixing stuff from opposite ends of the scale.

Do you have a link to Bob's site please Stu.

Jim

May the Lyctid borer never find your wood stock

Read here, Jim.

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f98/tonewood-droptops-84681

Great workshop set up and a lovely piece of work Oz.

Hey Stu,
Keep the pix coming.
My timber was shipped yesterday from ALS, hopefully I'll
have something to do this weekend.
BBM

Jim,
Try this link.http://www.tonewoods.com.au
Cheers Bob

nice lookin guitar there stu - up to your usual high standard
two single coils and a bucker huh?
comin over to the dark side

any ideas on the pups at this stage?
like a souped up nashville style

Originally Posted by old_picker

nice lookin guitar there stu - up to your usual high standard
two single coils and a bucker huh?
comin over to the dark side

any ideas on the pups at this stage?
like a souped up nashville style

Thanks Ray.
Don't hold your breath just yet Ray
They may be single coil sized......................but stacked HB's

SD stacked '59 for middle and Neck
SD JB Trembucker for bridge.

silver Hipshot hardtail bridge and Gotoh 510 tuners
Two tone and one Vol. with 5-way selector Push pulls too.

Here's a few pics of the purfling process. This one was rebated onto the top cap
as it was easier than routing the body up and then running into complications where the neck and cutaways meet.

What you see here is the underside of the topcap.

That sure is sweet Stu, where do you get Makore from, does anyone use it for acoustics?

seen a heap of makore at mathews timber today
nice clean boards with plain grain but pretty dense and heavy the bits i looked over
you would needa sort through the rack to get the lighter pieces