MIMF

Hello all.

Here is an "Equator" model build that I just finished up this past week.

25" scale rosewood fingerboard, 24 frets and 12" radius, maple/rosewood binding
MoP double-dot inlay at #12, pearloid side dot markers
Claro walnut body, "clamshell" style construction with curly maple "equator" binding inlaid, maple trimmed f-holes
3-piece curly maple neck with sculpted heel, walnut veneer between plys
3X3 headstock with walnut/maple/walnut veneer front overlay, walnut veneer rear overlay, unbleached bone nut
"AHG" logo truss rod cover plate with rare earth magnet at the bottom, small screw at the top
Seymour Duncan 59's with a coil cut toggle for the neck position
Turned walnut knobs for the master volume and tone controls
3-way selector switch and oval type 1/4" output jack
Grover midsize Rotomatic tuners
Gotoh tune-o-matic bridge and tailpiece

Thanks for looking, and as always, a great big THANK YOU to all who contribute to the MIMF!

Chad

And just a few more:

Nice work , lovely walnut

Excellent. I see you're still doing well with that clam-shell body construction. You just gave me a great idea for the massive walnut score I made a couple weeks ago.

Very nice work I still love the neck joint. It seems so smooth to the hand, On your first equator you did not take picks of how you joined the neck to the body do you have any this time around? Did you use a center block?

Looks good! If you would like a suggestion, I think your finish could benefit from some amber tint. With walnut, the amber really warms it up a bit, walnut looks rather cold without it and it can take away that grayish look and the maple likes it too. Good job!

Art Davila wrote:Very nice work I still love the neck joint. It seems so smooth to the hand, On your first equator you did not take picks of how you joined the neck to the body do you have any this time around? Did you use a center block?

Thanks, Art. I don't have any pics of the neck joint procedure on this one, but I did make a change this time around that will remain my way of doing things for now. Rather than rout a neck pocket with a 2.5ish degree slope, I'm routing the neck pocket square to the top of the body and putting the 2.5ish degree slope on the bottom of the heel of the neck prior to setting. As for a center block, there is no center block. Instead, the chamber is "H" shaped, with solid structure below the bridge and tailpiece extending down to the lower strap button location, and also up at the neck postion:

Mark Swanson wrote:Looks good! If you would like a suggestion, I think your finish could benefit from some amber tint. With walnut, the amber really warms it up a bit, walnut looks rather cold without it and it can take away that grayish look and the maple likes it too. Good job!

Thanks, Mark! I'll try some tint on scrap in the near future and see how I like it. This one has ebony grain filler (Timbermate) prior to EM6000 gloss and that's it. I've got one in the works right now that is Myrtlewood with a curly maple neck, and tint on that finish will definitely be considered. Would you shoot tinted lacquer for all coats, or just the early coats and finish with straight clear?

Tint the early coats, and not the straight clear topcoats. Amber really warms up walnut, and the waterbased stuff always looks a bit cold anyway. At least they seem to have gotten rid of the blue tint it used to produce, and the stuff seems to stay water-clear now.

I was wondering if you have tried the design in a higher gain situation.
Does is feed back without the center block?

I always thought unless you have a center block the guitar would be more prone to feedback, but I don't know that to be a hard fact, so I was just curious as to how it responds in higher volume situations.