Rick Toone's "Open Soundboard"

[ihavenothingprofoundtosay]

This and this look pretty amazing.

Rick Toone has done lots of things that are light years beyond amazing - trapezoid neck profile! - and if it weren't for 60 years of tradition, we'd see a lot more designs looking like his. This open soundboard is a really intriguing idea.  Has anyone else tried this?  I can't find anywhere that has sound samples of the Feather, but what would a guitar like that sound like?

I'm guessing that it wouldn't be terribly bassy since there'd be no chamber, but this could be a pretty kick-ass semi-acoustic guitar.

 

[Cagey]

I recently put together a Tele for another member here that used a Clapton profile neck, which is sorta "V" shaped. Never would have tried such a thing myself, but the angular back does make it easier to push against the strings when bending without committing the mortal sin of hanging your thumb over the neck.

 

[bagman67]

I definitely dig the Clapton profile, and I think the trapezoid would be pretty nifty to experiment with.  And easier to build, which is coming soon to my stable of projects to be pursued.

 

[Cagey]

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding, but it sounds like you're going to build a neck?

 

[bagman67]

Yep.


I'll 'speriment with maple for a while, then take the tools to some rosewood lumber I picked up cheap.

 

[Cagey]

Goodness. I'll look forward to seeing how that works out. I've never had the cojones to try it. Actually, never felt the need.

 

[ihavenothingprofoundtosay]

If I'm ever in a position to have the tools & time to practice, I'd probably give it a shot as well.  A normal neck contour is a relatively precise thing, and I'd guess rather tough to pull off with a hand planer, rasp, & sandpaper - unless you've had a few years of practice.  The trapezoid does seem a lot easier to pull off, since it employs straight cuts that can be done with even a regular table saw.  You'll have to keep us updated, Bagman.  :icon_thumright:

I'm more interested in the body, though.  I'm thinking a top & back of say, 3/8" maple or walnut, a few spars of the same in a pattern like the Skele, or maybe like this, except the spars would be about 1.5" thick.  Thus ending up with a body that has a flat top & back, open sides, about 2.25" thick.  There'd also have to be a larger spar (or two) at the neck pocket running through to the bridge, otherwise the tension would totally kill it.

I'm guessing that it wouldn't be terribly bassy since there'd be no chamber, but this could be a pretty kick-ass semi-acoustic guitar.

 

[stubhead]

Do you know about LMII's "shop services"? They will radius a fingerboard for $9 and cut the fret slots for another $9 - takes out some of the sting.

https://www.lmii.com/products/tools-services/shop-services

They have, like, thirty different scale lengths standard, and of course you can get one slotted to 27" or something and take a few frets off at the top to get some in-between measurement. I can think of a lot of reasons to want to build a neck - like have a Fender-style neck with the wide-neck overhang at the neck pocket, so strings don't fall off, but - with a regular 1 11/16" nut width. Too-narrow neck pockets or dimensions is a chronic failure of hot-rodding Fender-sized necks with big frets, but Warmoth & others "solve" the problem by making the nut too wide too. I guess you could try to narrow one with a belt sander, but you'd either be narrowing the mounted frets too, or starting with it fretless and fretting it yourself.

But one reason I wouldn't use to justify making one is that "I need to practice my thousandth-of-an-inch measuring skills..." :laughing11: :laughing3:

And the next question is: Why do humbucking pickups STILL only mount with two height screws, instead of three (or four!) so you don't have to cram foam or something underneath them to get them to sit straight?

Dozens have seen...  :-\

Dozens have tried...  :sad1:

Lo, the Inertia of Stupidity is a Vast & Mighty Force.

 

[bagman67]

And the next question is: Why do humbucking pickups STILL only mount with two height screws, instead of three (or four!) so you don't have to cram foam or something underneath them to get them to sit straight?

You may already know this, but Carvin, at least, is fighting this fight on their own terms, with three holes so they can tilt the pickup in the ring.  And they also have three holes per side so you can mount their pups in two-screw rings, as well.


See:


http://www.carvinguitars.com/products/MR1B