KnightBrolaire's headless 8 string build

[KnightBrolaire]

Hey guys I'm about to start building my first 8 string, 1st multiscale, 1st headless. It's going to be pretty ambitious but if I pull it off it'll be awesome.
I thought I'd update this thread with my progress from time to time.
Specs will be:
Walnut wings
3 ply maple neck (neck through construction)
Maple or Ebony fretboard
quilted maple top with blood in the water finish (blue to red fade)
3 way switch, 1 vol, 1 tone (push pull pot)
Deathbucker/Xbar combo or EMG 808x pups
Technology for Musicians (H)S bridges/nuts in chrome
28.5-26.5" scale

here's the mockups so far:

 

[jemfloral]

that is an incredible stain idea.

i'm finishing up my own (overly ambitious) build right now, and can't wait to see how yours comes out! :thumbsup:

 

[KnightBrolaire]

that is an incredible stain idea.

i'm finishing up my own (overly ambitious) build right now, and can't wait to see how yours comes out! :thumbsup:

Yeah it should be very unique if I can pull it off. here's a link to the thread where I talk about the inspiration for it.

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/showthread.php?t=312630

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Got the maple today, even found a flamed piece for the fretboard
The maple was pretty cheap (20$ for the regular, 15$ for the flamed)
too bad the walnut cost me 70$ (it's like 50$ for the board and then tacked on a 20$ "processing fee")
.... YOU MENARDS.
Walnut should be in by the end of the week along with the TFM bridges/nuts and the Deathbar/Xbar pups.
the Deathbar/Xbar are going to be CHROME
Fretwire and other stuff should be here by thursday.

it's not a 5A board but it's still flamed

another shot of the boards

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Bought some stuff for the stain, watercolor paints and fabric dye. Testing the watercolor paint on some random scrap pieces.

I'm going to play with the dye tomorrow and see if it looks better than the watercolor.

My cat wants to help me stain things.

should give you guys an idea of what the stain would look like

this is giving me ideas for the next guitar lol

Trying a more watered down version, gonna have to be real careful with my transitions when I do it on the maple.

I'm going to keep playing with the transitions between colors on scraps until I get it to where I want.

 

[Kyle01]

That test on the scrap actually looks pretty cool. Good luck with the rest of the build, im excited to see how this finish will turn out.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

here's the fretfind info if anyone is curious:
http://www.ekips.org/tools/guitar/fretfind2d/#len=25&lenF=673.1&lenL=723.9&pDist=.33258&ipDist=0.5&nutWidth=50&bridgeWidth=80&oE=5&oN=0.09375&oB=0.09375&oL=0.09375&oF=0.09375&oNL=0.09375&oNF=0.09375&oBL=0.09375&oBF=0.09375&root=12&scl=%0A!+12tet.scl%0A!%0A12+tone+equal+temperament%0A12%0A!%0A100.0%0A200.%0A300.%0A400.%0A500.%0A600.%0A700.%0A800.%0A900.%0A1000.%0A1100.%0A2%2F1%0A&numFrets=24&numStrings=8&t%5B%5D=0&t%5B%5D=0&t%5B%5D=0&t%5B%5D=0&t%5B%5D=0&t%5B%5D=0&t%5B%5D=0&t%5B%5D=0&il%5B%5D=25&il%5B%5D=25.5&il%5B%5D=26&il%5B%5D=26.5&il%5B%5D=27&il%5B%5D=27.5&il%5B%5D=28&il%5B%5D=28.5&u=mm&sl=multiple&scale=et&o=equal

*edit*- changed the link to the updated version of my measurements

 

[dudeskin]

looks cool, i wondered about staining, how to do it etc.

check your fretboard overhang, you have nearly nothing there at the moment.

Edit:
also, string width at bridge, measure the bridges when you get them, the if i remember right they are around 9.7mm each,so 77.6mm on paper is the minimum you can you width wise.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

looks cool, i wondered about staining, how to do it etc.

check your fretboard overhang, you have nearly nothing there at the moment.

Edit:
also, string width at bridge, measure the bridges when you get them, the if i remember right they are around 9.7mm each,so 77.6mm on paper is the minimum you can you width wise.

How much fretboard overhang should I have?

I was using my strandberg for reference, I'll go remeasure, that or I just wait for the TFM bridges to show up and use those.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Another test stain with watercolor paints. I sanded it with 400 grit to see what it would look like.

A different angle. in different lighting.
Still haven't tested the fabric dye yet. Guess i'll do it tomorrow.

 

[jwade]

Not trying to be a douche here, but that gigantic upper bout/shark fin part looks incredibly uncomfortable/potentially dangerous. Have you made a test version out of mdf or anything? I feel like you might want to lessen the point.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Not trying to be a douche here, but that gigantic upper bout/shark fin part looks incredibly uncomfortable/potentially dangerous. Have you made a test version out of mdf or anything? I feel like you might want to lessen the point.

It won't be that pointy irl. I made a test version out of cardboard and it won't look so pointy/wonky when I make it out of wood.

more test stains with watercolor.

Here's a physical model out of cardboard, gives a better idea of the size of the fin/the pointiness (ignore the colored in black parts on the fin, those were from my marker dying).

more refined mockup using the physical model

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Deathbar and Xbar showed up a day early

 

[KnightBrolaire]

waiting on the bridge and pots/3 way switch to show up. got the walnut today and tried a slightly different color blend for the stain.

 

[CGrant109]

Cool concept!

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Cool concept!

thanks!

 

[Grif]

I prefer the outline of the original mockup but this will be a cool build either way! Cool cat btw

 

[KnightBrolaire]

just got notification that the bridge is shipping. should be here in a week or 2. gonna go buy some foam for a 3d mockup. also going to test the fabric dyes with alcohol.

EDIT: bridge should be here by friday. Decided to forgo the foam mockup. The fabric dyes did not play nice with the alcohol. Turned out pretty terrible. I might pick up some leather dyes or something and try those.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Got a hold of some quilted maple for staining. Ordered the leather dyes from angelus.
Here's a test dye using watercolors on quilted maple :