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Back to the CBG Shop for Something New

Hey friends. Been a long time since I've posted. I never stopped playing my guitars and have been a regular at Caffe Lena. Going back to the PA CBG Fest last weekend was a reawakening with seeing old friends and meeting some new ones. Most of all, listening to some inspired performers play their stuff on Friday night and Saturday before I had to make the drive back home.

Today I went out to the shop and started something. I mentioned to Shane trying to make a tricone Sawzall resonator so here's a possible start and maybe an alternate. Chime in with your thoughts.

Mock up of box with standard 6" tricone resonators. Not big enough to fit as compact as on a standard guitar, but I think workable.

This is a pie plate I got from The York Emporium then I hammered it into a resonator so what was the bottom of the plate is flush with the rim. Stretched a little too much near the original stamping so a few tears under where the biscuit would sit.

Last, I think this is the neck. It is a 100 year old fence post I was making knife-style slides out of, but decided to see if I could get a full neck ripped out of it. It is very hard to tell for sure, but a forester thinks it is American chestnut. Still a ton of work to do on it, but I think it's going to work. It's 48" long and plenty wide enough for 3 strings, but maybe even 5, because that's my thing.

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Permalink Reply by Bad Finger (Eric) on September 1, 2017 at 1:05pm

Mock up of the tricone with paint tin lids instead of standard cones. Looks much better.

I cut the scarf joint with a hand saw. No good glue in the shop since the old stuff went solid sometime in the last 3 years. The black line isn't a gap, but a shadow from the shop light.

If this works, I'm going to be very happy. If not, it is just a loss of free wood and time.

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Permalink Reply by Tom T on September 2, 2017 at 12:04am

Design is getting close to pulling the trigger. Will the Sawzall box hold up with that many holes close together?

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Permalink Reply by Bad Finger (Eric) on September 2, 2017 at 12:50am

Pretty heavy gauge steel. I'm sure it will be OK. I make neck-thru guitars so really the only thing I have to worry about is down pressure from the strings and I can dial that in with selection of gauge and tailpiece design.

I have a couple other ideas I'm kicking around based on what Ron posted earlier. We'll see where that goes.

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Permalink Reply by Bad Finger (Eric) on September 2, 2017 at 8:50am

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Permalink Reply by Tom T on September 2, 2017 at 10:07am

Wow! Let's make some progress why don't we......

I love commitment to a design.

BTW, it looks great. What did you use to cut the holes (a SawZall?).

Keep the photos coming.

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Permalink Reply by Bad Finger (Eric) on September 2, 2017 at 10:18am

I cut the holes with my Dremel and metal cutting abrasive discs. It takes patience. I had to finish up the last one drilling 1/16" holes to perforate the metal and then cut with a diamond disc. Burned up all the regular metal discs.

I have some sea salt and vinegar sitting on the bare metal of the paint lids and I got a lot of work done on the neck as well. Just waiting for the glue on the scarf joint to cure so I can mark a good center line and start carving. It's my favorite part of building a guitar.

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Permalink Reply by Bad Finger (Eric) on September 2, 2017 at 12:22pm

I couldn't help myself and had to make some shavings. Wife and kids will be home tonight instead of tomorrow afternoon, so I kept working. Time to clean up myself, and the house, I guess.

I'm thinking of putting the bridge/spider/T/whatever inside the box with a saddle on a post sticking up through the lid between the tricones. Maybe.

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on September 3, 2017 at 7:26am

Use a rotary arm sprinkler head:

http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1272982&...

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Permalink Reply by Bad Finger (Eric) on September 3, 2017 at 12:26pm

Interesting. I had a similar thought using aluminum bar stock to make three arms. I think I'm going to dig through my scrap pile. I'm on a budget these days, and I spent it already 3x over.

That is to say, my budget for guitars is pretty close to zero.

I think if I take this in to the Tech department at school I can get someone to work up something nice for me.

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Permalink Reply by Bad Finger (Eric) on September 4, 2017 at 7:56am

So here's where we are today on the neck. I'm really liking how this is coming out. Just enough live, well, dead edge to keep it looking real and the core is still nice and sturdy.