Cedar Baritone about to happen

[bagman67]

So my opening shot here is not of a Warmoth product, but this baby will be mated to a Warmoth Baritone neck (rosewood on maple) I picked up on eBay.


Appointments will be a traditional ashtray bridge (six saddle), TonePros Kluson-style tuners, nickel control plate and knobs.  I am ambivalent about pickups - I may install a single pup (GFS neo-vin) or a pair. 


FInish-wise, I'm thinking a brown toner burst edge into clear, with a tortoise-shell guard.  Should be fun!

 

[Cagey]

Oh, man! That is one pretty piece of wood! Be nice if you knew somebody who was interested in doing a multi-lam binding of a piece like that... then burst it out like you describe? What could possibly be wrong with that? Hmmm... front/rear binding... traditional design... guitar of the month and year... Nah. Nobody would look at it  :icon_biggrin:

I can highly recommend the Neo-vins, but if you want a more traditional single-coil sound, I'd look at the True-coils from them. Things are excellent. Possibly better still might be some of Bill (Lawrence) & Becky's offerings. Yeah, the site sucks, but there's some magical stuff there. Look at the micro-coils. I haven't tried any yet, but I'm fixin' to. Bill's responsible for a great many of the designs that have changed the world of pickups, so the stuff's worth considering. What's the worst thing that could happen? You don't like how they sound? They're not expensive. You replace them. It's highly unlikely it would come to that, though.

 

[Cagey]

Actually, the more I look at the thing, I'm not sure a multi-lam binding would look good. Vertical stripes with curved stripes would probably clash. Solid would be better.

 

[Cagey]

Solid binding probably wouldn't work out because of thickness issues. The body's edges have already been rounded over, so there's no easy way to route out a narrow channel that has square edges.

Never mind <sigh>

Damn pretty piece of wood, though. I'm envious. That's gonna be a great fiddle.

 

[bagman67]

I'll tell ya, Cagey, I saw it come up on the 'bay, and hoped it would be affordable - and it was.  The builder is the same one who made the mahogany body for my green Tele with the Roadhouse p90's - he does nice work, and at a reasonable price.  He goes by "mattswoodworking2008" and he always has a half-dozen or so bodies in walnut, mahogany, or ash.  This western red cedar job was out-of-the-ordinary, and at $95 it was purt near irresistible.


I actually was fantasizing about a herringbone binding enclosed by a cream or ivoroid strip, like a D28:

 

[Cagey]

I'll tell ya, Cagey, I saw it come up on the 'bay, and hoped it would be affordable - and it was.  The builder is the same one who made the mahogany body for my green Tele with the Roadhouse p90's - he does nice work, and at a reasonable price.  He goes by "mattswoodworking2008" and he always has a half-dozen or so bodies in walnut, mahogany, or ash.  This western red cedar job was out-of-the-ordinary, and at $95 it was purt near irresistible.

I actually was fantasizing about a herringbone binding enclosed by a cream or ivoroid strip, like a D28:

I'll have to look him up. Hate to let something like that get by me again.

I agree that herringbone treatment would look great, but that's not a trivial task. That's what they call "purfling" and requires that you route a shelf for that, then a channel for the binding. I'd love to try it one day, but I'm certainly not going to do it on someone else's fiddle first, and certainly not on as nice a piece as yours. Not that you asked, I'm just saying. As big as my balls are, I don't know how I'd replace the thing in the event of failure.

I'll just have to keep my eyes open. Something's gotta happen soon - I'm running out of painting season here.

Besides, I'm not sure that would look right on that body anyway, for the same reason I mentioned earlier - you got some serious striping going on there. I don't think any kind of pattern is going to look right around the edge. Solid, or nothing.

 

[Cagey]

Just went to Matt's woodworking site. He's got some nice pieces for pretty reasonable prices. I'm tempted by the Walnut parts, but they weigh a million pounds. Doubt I could handle them. Good work, though.

 

[bagman67]

I agree the herringbone is not a duffer's task - I shudder to think about rounding the horn and the cutaway.  I reckon that will remain a fantasy for now.  I think my initial plan - just the brown toner burst - will carry the day.


I picked up a can of Behlen's "Encore Brown" guitar toner lacquer on the cheapity-cheap at my local Woodcraft last time I was there - should do the trick.

 

[Cagey]

I think that any of those wood-based purflings/bindings require a specialized steamer to get them bendy, and even then it's gotta be nerve-wracking. I don't know if I'll ever get into that. I think it's more of an acoustic builder's thing to do. They get a million bucks an issue for their guitars, so they can afford to screw up.

Then Mayfly buys the end result and sends 'em off to be terrorized...  :icon_biggrin:

 

[alterbridgefan]

Tort binding with a burst or amber tint could be sweet...

 

[alterbridgefan]

Also, for tort, you could do a lot worse than to contact Marc Townsend. Check this out:

 

[bagman67]

You may be on to something there, Preston - I'll have to noodle on that one.

 

[Cagey]

While you're noodling, you may want to consider gluing some macaroni on the top. Something in the shape of an owl might good. Perhaps some glitter to make it pretty, and a My Little Pony inlay on the upper rear bout. It'll take away from the tortoiseshell as people stop to pick their jaws up off the floor, but in your heart you'll know you're right.

 

[bagman67]

Usually I spraypaint the macaroni with some gold Krylon, but I wouldn't want to overdo it.  It's all about subtlety.

 

[Cagey]

Right you are. Gold is for Unicorns. Owls look better with a clear to tobacco burst.

I really need to quit smoking...​

 

[TroubledTreble]

Aww. All the good comments are taken already.

I will just have to say how much I like that hunk of wood. I would love to see a tort binding all around. I had a very similar guitar pass across my bench. It was fantastic.

I think a nice golden clear finish would go best. Leave as much of that nice wood visible. Maybe a mock up would change my mind.

Great to see another Bari come to life!

 

[telecutie]

How does it smell?

 

[bagman67]

The thing smells kinda chemical-y, actually.  And in any case, it's not the aromatic cedar one sees used as chest liners or shoe trees.  I think the guy dunks the body in a sealer before he ships them, because the mahogany body I colored green smelled pretty much the same.  Maybe Fretless can report his experience.


I'm considering trying these guys:
http://www.guitarfetish.com/REDactives-Active-Pickup-System_c_445.html


They have a Tele pickup set that allows you to fool with the eq with some DIP switches, which might be handy for changing the response to better suit the baritone scale length.


Alternatively I may have a word with TroubledTreble...

 

[Perry Combover]

It looks a heck of a lot like western red cedar, which isnt the typical closet liner.  If it is, he must have treated it because western red has the best aroma of all cedar IMO.  I just built a sauna in my house out of western red and sometimes I go in there just to...well, never mind.

In any event, great looking peice there Bagman. 

 

[bagman67]

IT is indeed western red cedar, or at least that's how it was advertised, and I trust the guy.


The smell just ain't quite right - there's a hint of petroleum distillates to it.  I'm gonna wipe 'er down with naphtha tonight and see what I'm left with when that boils off.