The official Sabre Guitars Thread

[sabreguitars]

Man those neck blanks are huge. I could easely build three necks out of one of those. Have you thought about scarf joints? Or maybe the way Warwick does it?

Yes, they're pretty big, and admittedly the only "wasteful" part of my process, however I do it for strength and continuity of grain through the neck/headstock transition. There are various schools of thought on scarf joints and I'm not convinced about the benefits of either scarf technique compared to non-jointed neck.

I am however in the process (mainly because I hate waste) of doing precisely what you're suggesting albeit using a table saw manually to make the cuts and basically creating a hybrid neck blank which would consist of a removable, re-useable backing "plate" made from a separate piece of wood or aluminium. This would allow me to make 2 necks from a single blank.

 

[sabreguitars]

Additionally, here's a quick few shots of some recent work:


Master Grade Quilt maple top for a customer's Ghost Custom Shop build.

Hellfire #2 is coming along nicely.

Before Binding:

Another Black-Ash Ghost in production:

And I've finally got a couple of play-through videos from Carl Johnston of ESO with his fanned-fret signature Wraith:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73lZvCdf2mE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ya5At74ffo

Enjoy.

 

[Baco]

See you at/around the MusikMesse

 

[sabreguitars]

Damn right mate - did you get my email??

 

[Nightside]

WOW

How did this get past me? Those are insane!

Can you do a recessed TOM with strings through on the Archangel?

 

[sabreguitars]

Hey Possumkiller,

Thanks man, really glad you like them! I try to steer clear of Tune-O-Matics (just a personal choice really - I don't think they're a very good solution to a problem which doesn't really exist anymore anyway - at least not with my guitars)

However if you're set on having one - then send me an e-mail to info@sabreguitars.co.uk
and I'd be delighted to discuss it with you!

 

[sabreguitars]

Quick update for the end of the month! Its been crazy, with more work than we've ever had before and 16 guitars on the go. We must be doing something right but it does mean that we haven't had much time to be taking photos!

Hellfire #3 is almost finished. I made a Lace burl truss-rod cover as she's a single pickup model.

Here's a quick shot of some recent inlay work on a multiscale wild birdseye maple fretboard. Its the Sabre Tiger logo in Ebony with pearl eyes.

 

[TheFashel12]

That is one AMAZING inlay

 

[sabreguitars]

another quick update.

Got 4 guitars in finish now, but this one is proving to be rather special.

She's the first Hollow-bodied Wraith and has a massive internal chamber leaving just the pickups and bridge mounted in a solid wood core. The top thickness is only 5mm and the cavity completely follows the carve.

This particular Wraith is also being fitted with a Ghost Acoustiphonic equipped Floyd Rose Original Tremolo with dual output, Push-Push Killswitch on the Volume pot and a completely custom designed TwinStomp boost circuit controlled by a Push-Pull tone pot.

She's also being finished in a blue/green/yellow fade which has come out rather beautifully and should compliment the custom fretboard inlays in pearl and Abalone!

 

[Baco]

Great work! Too bad I won't be seeing you at the MusikMesse

 

[C2J]

The neck on my Sabre is honestly the best neck I have ever played.
Nothing I have played before or since has come close to it's shape and playability!

 

[Danukenator]

Stunning finish. I love fades.

 

[Watty]

Now THAT is how you do a faded finish!

 

[Hollowway]

My God, you're stuff is literally more impressive post by post. This is just unbelievable.

 

[sabreguitars]

April Update!

This month has been crazy as I've moved into larger premises so the majority of my time has been spent on the move, which also annoyingly meant I had to lose out and not get to MusikMesse which sucked but hey - duty calls! There's still been a tonne of work to do and with the Ghost 6, Shadow Bass and a variety of other projects underway its never been so busy at Sabre HQ!

I've also invested in a new CNC machine which should allow me to increase my production capacity threefold at least, and improve my processes further so I'm really looking forward to getting her installed!

Along with the usual production run, the most special guitar finished this month was the Hellfire #3 Ghost. One of my favourite builds ever.

This one's also very special because she was treated to a setup from the genius hands of Dylan Humphries, owner of Daemoness Guitars during a quick get together in Bristol with Dylan and Nolly at the Daemoness workshop last week.

Here are a few photos of the final stages of production:

We didn't go with pickup rings in the end - opting for direct mounting the single BKP Black Hawk. I made 2 rings though so they'll be used on some other lucky bastard's guitar!

Swamp ash/Maple/Wenge/Walnut body and Wenge/Maple Neck!

Test Fitting hardware before the neck gets its final work.

I've been spending some time redeveloping my signature oil recipe and this month really perfected the finish. Got the best combination of a thin, tough coat which can be finished matte or more polished and protects whilst allowing the wood to breathe and not trapping sweat.

This is the first time I've laser-cut my rear control covers. The fit is excellent!!

Other than the Hellfire Its been almost entirely Wraiths this month, with my personal favourite being this awesome Claro walnut and Black Limba HB-102 which is going to be finished off with a phoenix inlaid fretboard...

What a Top!

Can't fake good joinery

Top Shot

And the Black Limba Back!

Also took some time out to have a jam with Morgan Sinclair of Architects for whom I'm very proud to say I'm going to be building some beasts! These will go well with the guitar (and bass) I'm about to start for Leo and Petey G of Red Seas Fire later in the year!

Finally here's a few other shots from the workshop this month!

An awesome 5A Cocobolo top gets laminated to a swamp ash body blank for the Ghost HBM-1 being made for Shreyas Skandan of Limit Zero.

A unique all-wenge Wraith TR-101 with Wilkinson VS-401 tremolo gets delivered to her new owner!

And that's about it!! More next month!!

 

[Lorcan Ward]

That is the smoothest finish I've ever seen on a wenge neck!

 

[sabreguitars]

Master Grade Quilted Maple and Walnut Ghost Body being prepped for binding after stain....

Due to a change of spec by the original customer, this one's for Sale if anyone's interested...... Ready for you to spec the neck and hardware......

Get a Sabre MUCH faster than the usual 4-5 month wait!! PM or e-mail me if interested info@sabreguitars.co.uk

 

[decoy205]

It is like a guitar building Renaissance in the UK right now. Very impressed with these instruments and designs. And these finishes. WOW

 

[sabreguitars]

May Update:

Its been a hell of a year so far in the Sabre workshop. I've moved premises, and increased production from an average of 3 guitars per month to 7. Doesn't sound like much but its a huge step for Sabre and has meant implementing and developing a whole raft of more efficient processes and techniques including having just invested in a new CNC machine.

I'm constantly trying to invest as much as possible in Sabre to improve our production in terms of both capacity and quality, and this quarter has been a real watershed for us.

I say "Us" because Sabre is now a team of 3! My awesome work-experience kid Hamish who worked for a few weeks last year has done a short luthiery course and asked to come back for the summer before he starts his degree at BIMM. The addition of Hamish to the team for almost 5 months will really allow Sabre to continue its growth as a brand and allow me to further develop every aspect of our production.

On to the interesting stuff!!

Here are a few production photos from the past month. There aren't a great deal primarily because our increased production has reduced the amount of time I have for photos, as has the massive increase in volume of e-mails which of course takes time.

Firstly, Here's a pic of an awesome Bastogne walnut and Black Limba Wraith 102 with a maple/walnut neck and matching walnut headstock veneer. She's going to be fitted with a macassar ebony fretboard and rising phoenix inlay in mother of pearl.

and the headstock inlaid with pearl:

Stabilising a gorgeous Black Line Spalted Maple top for what will become another Wraith 102. There's a three stage stabilisation process, Two stages of CA and Epoxy before the CNC carve and another CA stage after carving before finish sanding to ensure a consistent density across the whole top.

Another black ash Ghost HB-1 gets her first coat of oil:

 

[sabreguitars]

Mainly photos in this update. Just finished quite a special bastogne walnut and black limba Wraith 102 Custom Series and thought I'd share her with you guys.

First a few build shots from the past couple of weeks:

Getting ready for fret work:

Carving the headstock volutes. I still prefer this method to having these bits cut on the CNC.

Here's my fretboard lamination jig. Eventually the quick-clamps will be replaced with a row of toggle clamps but this is still a foolproof method of getting an awesome join.

Filing the heel flush before finish sanding.

Side Dots!

Getting a sealer coat of oil on to protect the neck before fret work

All masked up ready for fret dressing

The finished neck after 5 coats of my oil recipe and a protective application of beeswax. Before this, the neck is sanded with progressive grits up to P500.

Starting to get the shielding in. I solder the main seams around the cavity.

Finally getting there:

Aaaaand we're done: