YEAH!!! At last! My first Warmoth!

[artnaz]

It had to take more than 10 weeks, but I'm very happy with the result:

Isn't it beautiful?  :headbang:

Specs:

- Extra light Black Korina Body with contoured heel
- Satine Neck with Macassar Ebony Fingerboard (large CBS headstock)
- Dark Red Burst
- Kinman Woodstock Plus Pickups (neck & bridge, middle = dummy)
- Sperzel Locking tuners (black)
- Tremking brug (chrome)
- Stainless Steel Medium Jumbo frets
- No face dots
- Flush Mount Straplocks
- GraphTech Nut
- White Pearl Pickguard
- Black Accessories (Knobs, Pickups, Tremolo Tip, Switch Tip)
- Assymetrical ("Blackmore") scalloping
- This one is "Rebecca" - from Rebecca Holden: Beautiful, red, charming... :icon_biggrin:
- Custom decal, custom neckplate, custom tremolo cover

Finally I can work on it!  ccasion14:

 

[kboman]

The more I see of macassar ebony, the more I like it! Hope to see this build finsished soon

 

[jackthehack]

How are you planning to do the dark red burst?

 

[stubhead]

That satine/ebony combination is downright Satanic, isn't it? (the good Satanic....) :evil4: I almost went with that on my upcoming project, but it didn't match the rest of the intent... maybe next time. :toothy10: Careful scalloping that ebony, huh? I personally wouldn't chance a toothy rasp, rather use an abrasive, like 50-grit wet/dry wrapped around a valve rod or something. Once it's scalloped, those fret ends are going to need attention - scalloping magnifies everything about the need for good fretwork, slice, slice, ouch ouch.

 

[NonsenseTele]

Niiiiiiiiiice build!!!  :cool01:

 

[artnaz]

Thanks guys!

I'm not doing the dark red burst myself, so frankly I have no idea how that will be done! :icon_biggrin:

Stubhead, don't worry about the scalloping! I'll do it very carefully, and first I'll practice on a cheapass neck...

 

[jimh]

Woh.....Check the grain in that fretboard.  Fantastic......
Body looks great too.
:glasses9: :headbang:

 

[jackthehack]

If you like the Macassar Ebony, you should order and stock up while you can. It's now considered "rare" and likely to be added to the next appendix of the CITES treaty.

 

[Orpheo]

If you like the Macassar Ebony, you should order and stock up while you can. It's now considered "rare" and likely to be added to the next appendix of the CITES treaty.

actually, macassar ebony is just coromandel, is is actually quite common in south-east asia (were it originates from). woods like bocote and pau ferro are much more rare. 

 

[TroubledTreble]

Nice pieces to get started with! Look forward to seeing her put together. Very nice choices!

Good luck with the scalloping. I guess you will have plenty of time to do it while the body gets finished. I would take it real slow. Is the scalloping on the whole neck? Hmmmm.... That neck is so nice as is....

Cheers to you of taking it on and getting what you want. Keep posting pics!

 

[artnaz]

Yup, full scallop! I'll try to do it Blackmore-style though: assymetrical and it gets deeper at the higher strings, and deeper as you get closer to the neck...

 

[stubhead]

That's a Wilkinson route, and you're just going to dick with it as needed to mash the TremKing in there?

 

[m4rk0]

I am not too sure about your tremking plan myself either..
yes, it seems to work well, but there have been so much new tremolos that came and went over the past years..is it not some kind of novelty thing? and what if you don't like it.. are you screwed?
anyway, personally I would just go for a wilkie or a hipshot..

 

[artnaz]

Yeah, it's risky off course... And maybe it's too much for a first project... :icon_scratch:

But I think I can try. If the bridge will turn out badly, I could fix it in one position...

I'm so in love with that neck by the way! That satine... Those masassar stripes...  :headbang1:

 

[SlingBass]

Truly rich! Great neck & body :icon_thumright:

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

I am not too sure about your tremking plan myself either..
yes, it seems to work well, but there have been so much new tremolos that came and went over the past years..is it not some kind of novelty thing? and what if you don't like it.. are you screwed?
anyway, personally I would just go for a wilkie or a hipshot..

I'd get one from www.mannmadeusa.com before I'd get a tremking, but that's just me.

 

[artnaz]

Ok, I had bad luck again. Some trouble with the local guitar tech, and I was on a long holiday too. Nevertheless, I'm on track again.

I filled the bridge holes (which are not right for the Tremking).

Now I need to drill three holes for the tremking before the body gets painted.

I was wondering if someone has some hints how to find the right position for the bridge? It has to be centered in the middle, and the length has to be right...

 

[stubhead]

I hope you have the bridge there? For the length, I put all the saddles at their furthest forward. The length of the high E should be just a bit more than 25 1/2" - sometimes they intonate at 1/16" more, usually it's just a hair more, like 1/32". On a six-string, I've never seen a low E string where the saddle had to be more than 1/4" further back, hopefully the TremKing has adequate adjustment room for that. You could screw the low E saddle all the way back, and if it's at 25 3/4" you'll be fine (obviously, make sure you're holding the bridge at the angle and height it's going to be at, see next->)->

By far the easiest way to get the side to-side spacing right is to hook up the high E and low E tuners, and run a couple of actual strings through the tuners and the outside bridge saddles. The tuners don't have to be installed with the little screws, just tightened enough so that you can pull the strings straight. Sacrificing a couple of strings now is a whole lot cheaper & easier than any other alternative, like getting it wrong.... I like to have a bit more clearance on the high E side if it's at all possible, but most people just center them. I tend to pull high E's off the top edge, other people push Low E's off the bottom.

This is all common-sense stuff, if you've got some, and don't rush it, it will work the way you plan it to. You know - mark it with a pencil, mark the pencil marks with a pen, check it about four gazillion times, worry about it , sleep on it, check it some more.... ask good questions if you need to! :cool01:

 

[artnaz]

Thanks Stubhead, that surely helps!

If everything goes right my next post will be a finished body! :hello2:

 

[stubhead]

I should just add (cause I don't know how far "common sense" stretches):

if you don't have the nut made or at least roughed out, you want to at least make sure your two test strings are going over the place where you'll want them, spaced relative to the fretboard edge. A capo is a big assist in this fumbly stage, or even the blue painter's masking tape that doesn't leave goo. Also, you'll want to get the neck seated on there for the first time, all lined up right. It doesn't have to tightened down, but you sure don't want to drill for the bridge then figure out the neck wasn't set straight... Do you know about putting wax on the neck screws?  If not, you should surely buy Dan Erlewine's book "Guitar Player Repair Guide" and read every part that might even pertain to what you're doing, cause there's a million little things that'll make it easier and most of them are in there. They're here, too, but you have to ask the right question... which means you have to know what the right question IS....