Back Limba Neckthru LP build

[emoney]

Did this thread just go all Haiku on us?

That's it......Uncle.

 

[fatdaddypreacher]

luvin' it!

 

[H.E.L.Shane]

Ok.. lacquer cured, polished out and hooked up.

FREAKIN GORGEOUS.. This has got to be my favorite guitar to ever roll out the shop.

The action is STUPID low.. if it wasn't for the super sized frets, you wouldn't notice there were strings under your fingers it plays so easily.

The Fishman Peizo bridge works GREAT.. its set up with two jacks, one for the duncans with the ability to blend the Fishman into it and one for just the fishman. The neck tone control is actually the blend/volumecontrol for the Fishman powerchip preamp, When you plug into the second jack, it splits the signal and the "blend" control then becomes the volume for the fishman.. pretty neat system actually.

If you are installing a Fishman Power bridge, I HIGHLY suggest going with the power chip.. I've done 'em the cheap way by adding the buffer circuit to a standard pot.. but the end result is that there is a considerable drop in output from the piezo as compared to the mags. (Funny, one of the guys i contract to is far from poor,, ok hes loaded... but he wouldn't spring for the power chip until he actually heard the difference...)

I filled up the camer with some video.. i'll download it tonight and see if i got anything useable... but don't hold your breath!!

The Customer picked her up on Wed, and has a gig tonight, whish i could go, but its pretty far away.

these are cell phone pics... I gotta get the good pics of the real camera

 

[emoney]

Man I'm lovin' this build. I've always wanted to put the piezo in a Les Paul, because for
me, that would make it the perfect guitar! Your customer is one lucky fellow!!!!!

 

[H.E.L.Shane]

Man I'm lovin' this build. I've always wanted to put the piezo in a Les Paul, because for
me, that would make it the perfect guitar! Your customer is one lucky fellow!!!!!

Thanks.. and you have no idea how much i wanted to just give him his deposit back!!! LOL




one interesting thing... All of the piezo bridges i've looked at are 14" radius

WHY do they make a 14" radius bridge designed to retrofit a 12" guitar?????

Because you usuallyy jack the low E a little higher than the high E.. its not such a big deal but it does put your d and G strings a little lower to the board if you get the high E where it should be...

this guitar has a 14" radius board and thus, to me, feels better than a retrofitted guitar.

I wouldn't want to cut into the saddles as thats where the crystals are buried....

 

[SG Lou]

Shane is the real deal, folks.

 

[AxeBuilder]

Outstanding build! Thanks for sharing!

 

[tolm]

Stunning! Please tell me the limba neck/back/sides are still natural? The previous rear/side shots were amazing.

 

[BillB1960]

I really don't like trans-black guitars but that is one gorgeous work of art Shane! Kudos man!

 

[H.E.L.Shane]

allright.. here's the video i FINALLY made for this guitar..

Crappy playing and crappy quality, but.. the thing still sounds good..

the clean channel on that randal amp SUCKS, but this guitar sounds pretty good through it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RsvRohz1wjc

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsvRohz1wjc&context=C3a2dbfbADOEgsToPDskJNVYE8gx1p7V2IJrCLXcB0"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsvRohz1wjc&context=C3a2dbfbADOEgsToPDskJNVYE8gx1p7V2IJrCLXcB0[/ame]

 

[flah]

This is the first time I've seen this thread. Dayum Shane, that is awesome!!! I wanted to have an Axcess built for me since I love my Axcess but wanted a better top. Gibson wouldn't touch my 5A flame maple top (justifiably so) and I didn't know anyone who would build me an Axcess, so I went to Precision for a regular neck jointed LP.

Wish I had known you knew how to do it.....

 

[H.E.L.Shane]

This is the first time I've seen this thread. Dayum Shane, that is awesome!!! I wanted to have an Axcess built for me since I love my Axcess but wanted a better top. Gibson wouldn't touch my 5A flame maple top (justifiably so) and I didn't know anyone who would build me an Axcess, so I went to Precision for a regular neck jointed LP.

Wish I had known you knew how to do it.....

I'm building two more as we speak!!!

here's one

http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/lut...black-another-black-limba-neckthru-build.html

and the owner of the one in this thread just contracted yea another one, and wants a figured limba TOP as well this time!

 

[flah]

Dang bruthah, if only I didn't have money tied up in other things......

 

[H.E.L.Shane]

I hope to be in business for a while man

got some cheaper stuff for sale though.... havin a kid!!! (my Jr's have the same neck joint!)

 

[sgmike]

that guitar is SICK!!!! ... what's the toggle for? on/off?

 

[sgmike]

where do you find longer blanks for neckthru builds? i'm seeing 30" and max 36" neck blanks. i'm guesstimating i'll need 40"-42" for a neckthru ... unless i glue body blanks to the sides AND back.

 

[VictOr358]

where do you find longer blanks for neckthru builds? i'm seeing 30" and max 36" neck blanks. i'm guesstimating i'll need 40"-42" for a neckthru ... unless i glue body blanks to the sides AND back.

39,8" is the blank length suitable for a comfortable building of a neckthru LP.

 

[sgmike]

39,8" is the blank length suitable for a comfortable building of a neckthru LP.

so my guesstimate wasn't far off. i suppose in order to get 2 full neckthru necks, you'd need them to be 1"x6"x40" (x3 laminate, yield= 2x 3"x3"x40") ... is 3" enough for the neck angle + headstock angle? i'll attempt to do the math. hrm neck angle for length of fretboard+ headstock angle for length of headstock. lemme get good will hunting on the phone.

... am i hijacking? i posted here because shane seems to be the neck thru guru

 

[H.E.L.Shane]

so my guesstimate wasn't far off. i suppose in order to get 2 full neckthru necks, you'd need them to be 1"x6"x40" (x3 laminate, yield= 2x 3"x3"x40") ... is 3" enough for the neck angle + headstock angle? i'll attempt to do the math. hrm neck angle for length of fretboard+ headstock angle for length of headstock. lemme get good will hunting on the phone.

... am i hijacking? i posted here because shane seems to be the neck thru guru

I wouldn't say say Guru.. But, i'm one of the few guys building carved top neckthrus that conform to (for the most part) Lp specs..

OK....

as far as neck blank length.. at MINIMUM I leave 2" at the ends for waste.. this accounts for any wierdness that might happen at the end of the board..

I leave about 8 inches for the headstock, then there's 15 inches for the neck to the 16th , and then 18 inches from the 16th to the butt end. sooo with the 4 inches i leave for waste.. thats 45 inches

from the nut to the end of the body is 33 inches... then whatever headstock length your using adds on to that..

but.. I "play it safe"


now.. as to thickness..

to get two neck thru's out of one blank.. i use 5" wide boards in my laminations.. and then extend my boards to about 48 inches long..

the bodys are 2.25" thick, that leaves 1/2" of cutting waste between them.. because the length from the nut to the body is less than the length of the body, you cant "nest" them on the blank and use less than 5"

you can go 5" with no problem even though the neck angle and headstock will be below the line on the bottom (thus, we dont sit Les Pauls on their back on a flat surface!!)

If the boards are less than 4" wide.. you can still cut a set neck blank out of the scrap

 

[KJS82]

Shane:

1. Beautiful guitar. I would love to build one (ok, finish a Precision kit) in a very similar fashion and color. No doubt mine would not turn out so well, but you provide me inspiration. Seriously, its a stunning guitar.

2. The guitar color appears to me at least to have some brown tint to it, rather than purely black. Did you only use black dye and sand it back? If so, is it the wood that "browns" the black? Or am I just seeing things and in person it is purely black/very dark gray?

3. What type of finish did you use?

4. I see you live in Mifflintown. Did you grow up in the 'Burgh? I thought I heard a bit of the 'Burgh accent in your video, didn't I? If so, what part are you from? I spent three years there in law school from 92-95. Always been a Steeler and Pirate fan since my dad grew up there.