Spalted Maple, Black Limba, Quilt 7-String

[pondman]

Really liking the look of this one and that spalted board looks amazing .
If the frets are pressed in with a caul and lots of glue I don't see a problem + the f-board could always be covered with CA .

BTW that quilt is unbelievable .

 

[LolloBlaskhyrt]

DAT FINGERBOARD.

 

[capoeiraesp]

I approve of your choice of woods.

 

[Omzig]

I wonder has this spalted maple been stabilized in some way? be that either resin pressure treated or bathed in water thin CA or some kind of wood hardener

I've only used SM once before and then i ended up bathing it in wood hardener because it was a little to soft in some places and sanded at odd rates,until it was stabilized i couldn't get a final sand i was happy to finish.

 

[skate]

Wow. Thanks everyone for the great compliments.

I was a little worried at first about using a spalted maple for a fretboard. I knew I had to get the wood stabilized for pressing in the frets and also for the truss rod tension on it. I knew you could use certain types of epoxy or like one of the other members said, bath it in super thin super glue. I used the super glue method.

Why use water thin super glue??? You want the thin glue to penetrate down into the wood as much as possible. Medium CA will penatrate only so far into the wood before curing. Thick CA will hardly get into the wood. If you want to try this method, make sure you do it in a well ventilated area and use a respirator if you got it.

I used a timesaver sanding machine to get the correct thickness and then saturated the wood with water thin super glue. After I cut the boards out, slotted and put 14-20 radius on it, I reapplied the super glue to get the surface as hard as I could. At this point, I was putting it on and then wiping it right off, that way i didn't get build ups of the super glue.

Now for some more pics!!!!

 

[scherzo1928]

Sounds like you know what you are doing with that spalt. I hope it ends up working well, because it looks bloody beautiful.

 

[Omzig]

Art in motion....looks fantastic great job cant wait to see it all come together.

 

[BlackMastodon]

Dat whole neck. Just beautiful.

 

[rg401]

the spalted fingerboard looks awesome man.

 

[RickSchneider]

Holy mother of maple

 

[skeels]

Holy freaking neck!

I would still like to get one of those fretboards from you.







No, seriously.



















Please?

 

[Xifter]

Ok guys, I am not going to spoil the goodies you are fixing to see... but I grew up as next-door neighbors to the OP and all I will say is ... you ain't seen NOTHING yet haha.

Wait for more pictures...

The cosmetics are obviously gorgeous... Now, let me say this. I own a very VERY sexy guitar myself... but the neck on this is the best neck I have ever felt. That is not a lie. You have no idea that it is a 7 string when holding it.

/end spoiler haha

 

[OfArtAndArsenal]

Man I hope against hope that this fretboard works out.
And I'll be honest, only about 75% of that is for your benefit. The rest is because, if it does, then we'll be seeing a lot more of this. And I for one need to see MOAR!!

 

[skate]

Lets fret, epoxy the neck in and do a little glue clean up and neck heel carve!! I like to call this an ultra access heel carve for nice upper register playing.

 

[bob123]

Rather unconventional build... let's hope it stands up man... looks great aesthetically!

 

[Metaloaf]

That looks awesome. It seems you know what you're doing, I'm hoping it works out.

 

[iRaiseTheDead]

Looking great

 

[skate]

Routing pickup, control cavities and bridge placement are done. I went with a mahogany alcohol based stain for the color. I rubbed it on, let it dry and then rubbed it back with some 220 sand paper so the quilt pops.

Next update will be a danish oil finish!!

 

[pondman]

That thing looks alive . Amazing !

 

[skate]