Avenger 7 Multi-Scale Build
- Thread starter JStraitiff
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links like Ebay, Amazon, and others.
This site may earn a commission from merchant links like Ebay, Amazon, and others.
JStraitiff
Melodic Mamma Jamma
ive worked out my finishing issues. It should be relatively straight forward to finish this guitar.
Now what color should i do? I really love eriza verde but i dont know if it will look too good. Give me some other suggestions. Im debating leaving the top natural color as another option.
On another note im determined to order the wood tomorrow. All except for the top for now. Then if i have any money left im going out to a hardwood dealer relatively close by to find some 1/2" strips of walnut and stopping back at lowes for another strip of maple.
Now what color should i do? I really love eriza verde but i dont know if it will look too good. Give me some other suggestions. Im debating leaving the top natural color as another option.
On another note im determined to order the wood tomorrow. All except for the top for now. Then if i have any money left im going out to a hardwood dealer relatively close by to find some 1/2" strips of walnut and stopping back at lowes for another strip of maple.
Are you planning to do the top and sides as the same color or different colors? One option would be to leave the sides and back natural and do a "faux" binding for the top, PRS style, which I did for a quilted maple project recently and it looks great. Depending on your color choice for the top, you might want to give it a two-part dye job to really pop the figure. The exposed end grain (all that nice, wavy stuff) will absorb more dye more deeply, so you can apply a darker color, sand back, then apply your main color to get a nice contrast. Do some testing on scrap and see what looks best to you. I like Behlen Solarlux dyes, which are available at Woodcraft if you have a store near you.
JStraitiff
Melodic Mamma Jamma
^ Thats actually exactly what i plan to do if i understand correctly. Im planning to seal the back and sides and then do a two part dye on the top masking off the center block. This will leave a strip of natural maple along all the edges. Im actually going a step further and im going to cut in an angle on the bottom horn so the mahogany meets the maple in the cetner of the cut exactly like on a custom 24.
I went to a local store today and bought a nice piece of black walnut for the stripes in the neck. it has very little run off in the neck portion. There are some really cool grains in the body section as well which will look nice. I had them plane it down to 1/2" for me right there so now i just have to get one more piece of maple for the center strip and ill start work on laminating them.
funny story, the guy who worked at the lumber place builds guitars as well and apparently work(s/ed) at a local guitar place where they built customs. After an hour of talking past closing time i got this bad boy home.
The guy gave me a lot of tips but there was one that i found particularly useful. He mentioned using a drill press as a fret press. I think im going to try it just for fun.
Edit: Just ordered the truss rod, router bit for truss rod and fretboard. Tomorrow im going back to the lumber yard for the mahogany wings and ill stop to get the last piece of maple too. Then i can begin work on the real deal!
I went to a local store today and bought a nice piece of black walnut for the stripes in the neck. it has very little run off in the neck portion. There are some really cool grains in the body section as well which will look nice. I had them plane it down to 1/2" for me right there so now i just have to get one more piece of maple for the center strip and ill start work on laminating them.
funny story, the guy who worked at the lumber place builds guitars as well and apparently work(s/ed) at a local guitar place where they built customs. After an hour of talking past closing time i got this bad boy home.
The guy gave me a lot of tips but there was one that i found particularly useful. He mentioned using a drill press as a fret press. I think im going to try it just for fun.
Edit: Just ordered the truss rod, router bit for truss rod and fretboard. Tomorrow im going back to the lumber yard for the mahogany wings and ill stop to get the last piece of maple too. Then i can begin work on the real deal!
Munch
Luthier
Dude! Looks like this is going to be awesome.
JStraitiff
Melodic Mamma Jamma
Picked up another piece of maple and laminated them all together. Clamped and curing for the night 
This neck is a little on the thick side but i didnt have access to thick enough maple to thin the strips of walnut so im just rolling this way. Should still be nice. The outside strips may also get a little thin once its tapered.
This neck is a little on the thick side but i didnt have access to thick enough maple to thin the strips of walnut so im just rolling this way. Should still be nice. The outside strips may also get a little thin once its tapered.
If you have access to a good bandsaw and a jointer (sorry if you've already posted about tools) you can probably get more than one neck blank out of this. Depending on your final thickness a blank only needs to be about 7/8ths thick (the stewmac blanks, I believe, are 13/16ths). I've done this a couple of times with pieces that weren't thick enough to be blanks on their own and ended up with at least two or three blanks from one glue-up.
JStraitiff
Melodic Mamma Jamma
Cleaned up the block and leveled all the sides. Tomorrow im going out to get some mahogany and new rasps and then im gonna go ahead and cut out the neck. Ill cut the practice piece first and then ill cut the real thing.
I agree with silent_k, it might not be a bad idea to cut that into 2 neck blanks. Just seems like a waste to me to only make it into one neck. Looking pretty nice though so far.
JStraitiff
Melodic Mamma Jamma
Thanks guys for the suggestion. ill try my best to get another neck out of it
JaeSwift
Of Blood and Sawdust
Nice slabs of wood there!
Regarding your questions about finishing (though you seem to have the answers already); if you want to leave parts natural and other parts dyed/stained, the best thing to do is to use one coat of sanding sealer on the part you want to leave natural (tape off the parts you want stained), then when it's dried tape off the part you used the sanding sealer on and stain the rest. No matter how awesome your tape is, some bleed through will always happen and having to very precisely sand one area is ridiculously annoying.
Regarding your questions about finishing (though you seem to have the answers already); if you want to leave parts natural and other parts dyed/stained, the best thing to do is to use one coat of sanding sealer on the part you want to leave natural (tape off the parts you want stained), then when it's dried tape off the part you used the sanding sealer on and stain the rest. No matter how awesome your tape is, some bleed through will always happen and having to very precisely sand one area is ridiculously annoying.
JStraitiff
Melodic Mamma Jamma
Roughly cut the neck shape on the practice neck with a rasp. I also cut out the headstock. Everything looks good so far. Im hoping to buy the mahogany tomorrow. I am undecided if im going to risk gluing the wings on before i have the maple top in case the dimensions are wrong.
JStraitiff
Melodic Mamma Jamma
Picked up 8' x 6" of 1 3/4" mahogany today. I also got a package from stewmac with a truss rod, router bit and a rosewood fretboard blank.
Whoops not long or wide enough...
I need advice on an angled headstock with the tilted nut. If anyone has done this how did you lay out the angle? Im not sure how i can do a headstock cap flush to the nut with that extra gap there. Unless i cut the angle so its starting point is the short side of the nut in which case i would have a difficult time seating the nut..
I was thinking about finishes again and curious what white would look like on quilted maple with a black undercoat sanded back. Anyone ever seen this?
Whoops not long or wide enough...
I need advice on an angled headstock with the tilted nut. If anyone has done this how did you lay out the angle? Im not sure how i can do a headstock cap flush to the nut with that extra gap there. Unless i cut the angle so its starting point is the short side of the nut in which case i would have a difficult time seating the nut..
I was thinking about finishes again and curious what white would look like on quilted maple with a black undercoat sanded back. Anyone ever seen this?
JStraitiff
Melodic Mamma Jamma
Im starting to have second thoughts on the multiscale portion of this. Im going in blind when it comes to positioning the pickups. I dont know how 707s will sound at that alignment or if they will even align at all. Im also concerned about the headstock and how i will cut it to fit the angled nut. Going with one scale length would eliminate the need for me to make a custom bridge too. Any experiences would be helpful.
Its mostly the headstock/nut im worried about. If i can resolve that issue ill be able to push through the rest.
Edit: Im looking at a few other multiscale guitars and noticing that they either cut the scarf joint at an angle so the headstock sits cocked or they recess the nut into the fretboard and leave it square then butt up the cap to the fretboard. I think ill do the recessed nut option
Now that i've got that figured out i need to address the pickup situation. I need to measure the string spacing and the angle to find how wide the spacing will actually be and then compare that to the EMG specs. Im starting to consider a smaller fan (26.5" - 27.5") in order to make it easier. Ill see how the pickups fit first.
Its mostly the headstock/nut im worried about. If i can resolve that issue ill be able to push through the rest.
Edit: Im looking at a few other multiscale guitars and noticing that they either cut the scarf joint at an angle so the headstock sits cocked or they recess the nut into the fretboard and leave it square then butt up the cap to the fretboard. I think ill do the recessed nut option
Now that i've got that figured out i need to address the pickup situation. I need to measure the string spacing and the angle to find how wide the spacing will actually be and then compare that to the EMG specs. Im starting to consider a smaller fan (26.5" - 27.5") in order to make it easier. Ill see how the pickups fit first.
There are a couple additional ways to approach the pickup situation: one is to simply mount the pickups straight, as in a normal guitar. I'm doing that for my 8-string because I can't afford custom angled pickups at this point, and also because I have, on this site and elsewhere, seen professional builders do this (like Ola Strandberg) and it doesn't seem to have been a huge problem. It's a different sound but an easier approach, and for my first multiscale the simplicity of that approach won the day.
Another option is to check out Lace pickups, which come in a variety of wider configurations and don't have pole pieces you have to align. Again, a different sound, but they're plenty hot if that's what you're looking for. They've recently come out with some new designs aimed at the ERG and multiscale markets: Lace Music Products | Since 1979 - Lace Sensor electric guitar pickups, Alumitone, bass pickups, California Acoustic pickups - A pickup for any style of music.
JStraitiff
Melodic Mamma Jamma
^ Yea this is the issue im facing. I dont know if im willing to sacrifice the tone for the multiscale. Id really like to keep the tone of the EMGs. Again im just hoping it works out lol. If not im gonna have to drop the ball on the fan
aaron_rose
more bigger
stay the course, if u planned on emg's then use emg's, lace deathbars are the same route as emg if not real real close to the same. The dimensions are similar and the way they do not have poles makes them ideal for ms designs.
as for the nut, i have a similar situation to overcome with my build. Mine is only a 1 inch diff from the 1st to the 7th string but it still similar. my plan for overcoming it is with a 5/16 fretwood which brings it up just a little higher from the neck plane than it normally would have been. I plan on just removing a tad of wood then maintain the same reveal under the strings and beef it back up with a diagonal volute or whatever it's called on the backside of the neck.
But I see no reason at all why you with a ff design cant use a emg slanted parallel with your bridge.
as for the nut, i have a similar situation to overcome with my build. Mine is only a 1 inch diff from the 1st to the 7th string but it still similar. my plan for overcoming it is with a 5/16 fretwood which brings it up just a little higher from the neck plane than it normally would have been. I plan on just removing a tad of wood then maintain the same reveal under the strings and beef it back up with a diagonal volute or whatever it's called on the backside of the neck.
But I see no reason at all why you with a ff design cant use a emg slanted parallel with your bridge.
JStraitiff
Melodic Mamma Jamma
^ Nice. Im probably going to take the conklin apporach something along these lines:
Im going to use a graphtech nut and mount it right at the edge of the rosewood and then maybe ill do an inlay or something on the excess piece of rosewood too.
Edit: Im still going back and forth on whether to do the multiscale or not. I got to thinking about the bridge itself. I want to use a hipshot style bridge rather than individual bridges which means that ill have to machine a custom baseplate to accommodate the fan. I guess if i can work out how to do this ill stick with the plan.
Im going to use a graphtech nut and mount it right at the edge of the rosewood and then maybe ill do an inlay or something on the excess piece of rosewood too.
Edit: Im still going back and forth on whether to do the multiscale or not. I got to thinking about the bridge itself. I want to use a hipshot style bridge rather than individual bridges which means that ill have to machine a custom baseplate to accommodate the fan. I guess if i can work out how to do this ill stick with the plan.
JStraitiff
Melodic Mamma Jamma
Alright i have a few ideas for what to do on the bridge. Obviously theres the ABM individual bridges but i dont want to use those.
Novax uses something like individually cut strat bridges or hipshot bridges. This is an option as i can just bend the base pieces and drill mounting holes.
I found one that had a flat metal plate mounted on the body and then the saddles were held in place by a wooden strip behind the plate. This looks like crap but ill hold it in reserve as a last resort
I could cut a plate and bend it and drill the holes at an angle to make a one piece strat style bridge
I saw a bridge that had a baseplate and then poles with holes in each for the saddles. This could be an option with a metal baseplate and wooden dowels. Again this looks like crap.
I could probably get long saddles and screw them down to a baseplate. The action screws would keep them elevated and the screws would have enough room to move to adjust intonation and then lock them down.
Im leaning towards either individual novax style or a bent strat style.
Edit: And now im back on my idea of carving one out of wood... lol (i told you im back and forth) It doesnt matter what the saddles are attached to, just whats under them. The reason i second guessed this is because i thought metal would transfer vibration to the body better. Im thinking im just going to go back to this plan and i could probably place a metal baseplate beneath the saddles if need be. Not sure if the difference would even be worth consideration.
Now you've all had the pleasure of witnessing my indecision haha.
Novax uses something like individually cut strat bridges or hipshot bridges. This is an option as i can just bend the base pieces and drill mounting holes.
I found one that had a flat metal plate mounted on the body and then the saddles were held in place by a wooden strip behind the plate. This looks like crap but ill hold it in reserve as a last resort
I could cut a plate and bend it and drill the holes at an angle to make a one piece strat style bridge
I saw a bridge that had a baseplate and then poles with holes in each for the saddles. This could be an option with a metal baseplate and wooden dowels. Again this looks like crap.
I could probably get long saddles and screw them down to a baseplate. The action screws would keep them elevated and the screws would have enough room to move to adjust intonation and then lock them down.
Im leaning towards either individual novax style or a bent strat style.
Edit: And now im back on my idea of carving one out of wood... lol (i told you im back and forth) It doesnt matter what the saddles are attached to, just whats under them. The reason i second guessed this is because i thought metal would transfer vibration to the body better. Im thinking im just going to go back to this plan and i could probably place a metal baseplate beneath the saddles if need be. Not sure if the difference would even be worth consideration.
Now you've all had the pleasure of witnessing my indecision haha.
I think making a wooden bridge would be the cheapest/best solution. You could get a piece of metal or plexiglass as a baseplate for the saddles to sit on.
