I really wanted a seven-string guitar after building Karan’s 7. This urge was so bad that I designed a new body and headstock shape just to justify building myself a guitar. Weirdly enough, I build myself an instrument every 4-5 years. I challenge myself to make a milestone build as a personal benchmark to improve on each subsequent model. I named this guitar Vaalbara because the figuring of the redwood top looks topographical – like that of a supercontinent. The name is also a nod to the way I managed to design this shape (and my favorite ERRA song). I took a few of my favorite body shapes and traced them over each other, and left the design on the floor for a week. I’d add a line or curve occasionally, and eventually, a body shape appeared. I had to design a fitting headstock as well, and since there were only so many ways to design a paddle-type headstock, my options were limited.
The redwood top I’d saved for a few years and always loved how unique it looked. It’s not your typical redwood. This is a piece of sinker redwood, super light, fragile but also incredibly figured with a mixture of burl, flame, and quilt. The natural blackened areas set it apart from the other pieces of redwood in my stash. The body is a super streaky and colorful piece of Black Limba, and the fretboard is a special piece of leopard ebony. The neck is a solid, gorgeous, perfectly quartersawn piece of purple Indian rosewood. My favorite detail is the orange sapwood which appeared while carving. It looks like a beautiful sunset.
It’s finished in the usual fashion with Odies Super Duper Dark Oil, Wood Butter, and Wax and strung up with StringJoy 11-70, with the 56 replaced with a 52 due to the fundamental of the 6th string overpowering the dropped 7th. Tuned to Drop E and powered by McNelly Pickups Custom Stagger Swagger V2’s, a staple of many of my standard builds, only this set has tops made by myself, and the bridge has been maxed out on winds. Honestly, these pickups are INCREDIBLE for detuned metal. This is tuned LOW; the pickups are a P90/single-coil hybrid I believe and are just inspiring to play on.
Specs:
Body : Black Limba
Top : Sinker Redwood
Neck: QSawn Indian Rosewood
Fretboard: Leopard Ebony, 22 frets, 26.4in Scale length
Luminlay Dots
Jescar Frets
Finished with Odie’s oils and waxes
Graphtech TUSQ nut, custom progressive slots
StringJoy Strings 11-70
Hipshot Hardware
Knobs by 490 Manufacturing
Neck Ferrules from Lee Valley
Pickups: McNelly Stagger Swagger V2 Customs with Max wound Bridge and custom bobbin tops
Honestly, these pickups are INCREDIBLE for detuned metal. This thing is tuned LOW, and the pickups are sorta a P90/single-coil hybrid.
Lemme know what you think!
The redwood top I’d saved for a few years and always loved how unique it looked. It’s not your typical redwood. This is a piece of sinker redwood, super light, fragile but also incredibly figured with a mixture of burl, flame, and quilt. The natural blackened areas set it apart from the other pieces of redwood in my stash. The body is a super streaky and colorful piece of Black Limba, and the fretboard is a special piece of leopard ebony. The neck is a solid, gorgeous, perfectly quartersawn piece of purple Indian rosewood. My favorite detail is the orange sapwood which appeared while carving. It looks like a beautiful sunset.
It’s finished in the usual fashion with Odies Super Duper Dark Oil, Wood Butter, and Wax and strung up with StringJoy 11-70, with the 56 replaced with a 52 due to the fundamental of the 6th string overpowering the dropped 7th. Tuned to Drop E and powered by McNelly Pickups Custom Stagger Swagger V2’s, a staple of many of my standard builds, only this set has tops made by myself, and the bridge has been maxed out on winds. Honestly, these pickups are INCREDIBLE for detuned metal. This is tuned LOW; the pickups are a P90/single-coil hybrid I believe and are just inspiring to play on.
Specs:
Body : Black Limba
Top : Sinker Redwood
Neck: QSawn Indian Rosewood
Fretboard: Leopard Ebony, 22 frets, 26.4in Scale length
Luminlay Dots
Jescar Frets
Finished with Odie’s oils and waxes
Graphtech TUSQ nut, custom progressive slots
StringJoy Strings 11-70
Hipshot Hardware
Knobs by 490 Manufacturing
Neck Ferrules from Lee Valley
Pickups: McNelly Stagger Swagger V2 Customs with Max wound Bridge and custom bobbin tops
Honestly, these pickups are INCREDIBLE for detuned metal. This thing is tuned LOW, and the pickups are sorta a P90/single-coil hybrid.
Lemme know what you think!
