Cliff's Guitar Collection - Enjoy!

Conti Equity Edition Purchased New 06/2011

On memorial Day of 2011, I had nothing to do so I went to browse at one of my favorite jazz guitar sites, RobertConti.com. I've purchased a lot of educational material on jazz guitar from this site and having nothing else to do, I thought I check out the site for new material. I had been planning on buying the Conti Equity Guitar but I was just waiting for the right opportunity. When I got to the guitar page, instead of the normal price of $1949.00, the guitar had been discounted more then $600.00 and was showing a price $1446.00. I knew the price had to be wrong so I started a chat session with Anne, the support rep and she informed me that the web master had discounted everything on the site 25% instead of just the education material. Anne said that if I wanted the guitar they would sell it to me at the posted price of $1446.00. I immediatly sent payment using Pay Pal. They had no hard shell cases in stock and I chose to wait 30 days for delivery or until the hard shell cases came in. I received the guitar on July 6, 2011 and I'm very impressed with everything about this instrument.

Carvin CM96 Built '76-78 Purchased 03/2011

Carvin AC-375 Acoustic Electric Guitar purchased 02/2011

Ibanez GB George Benson Hollow Body Purchased 11/2010

2006 Paul Reed Smith 22 Custom Anniverary Purchased 11/2011

Home Built Prototype 2009

Mahogany body and neck

Carvin Neck, M22 Pickups, Gold plated hardware

Caparison Angelus 22 Purchased 11/2010

Carvin CM 140 from 1979, Bought new that same year

Carvin 727 Purchased Purchased Summer 2009

D'angelico EXL-1 Purchased Spring 2010

Carvin AE185 Purchased Spring 2010

Drilling The Wiring Channels

I've completed drilling the holes for the wiring channels and the input jack. At this point of the build process I'd have to say that the guitar for my part, is completed. The drilling of the wiring channels is fairly straight forward but caution must be taken or you will have a guitar with drilled holes where you do not want them.

First hole I drilled was for the grounding wire that sits beneath the bridge. Don't think you are not going to ground the guitar and get away with it and you will know it's not grounded by the hum the guitar generates. Touch the bridge the hum goes away, that is because it is now grounded. For the ground wire, you can use the type of wiring used in jewelry making and I mention this because it is readily available at any craft store such as Jo Anne's or Michael's. My wife makes jewelry that's how I know this.

Here's a picture of the first hole drilled. Note that I used the hole pre-drilled by Carvin.

I don't like drilling larger then necessary holes for anything and guitar wiring is no exception. Some people recommend a 1/2 drill bit to that I say, I don't think so! I widen the hole enough to allow more then enough room for the grounding wire. Note that I went into the pickup cavity and not the control cavity. That is just my preference and it is just one less drill hole I have to worry about screwing up.

In the next picture I drill the wiring hole from the bridge pickup or rear pickup cavity into the control cavity. Take you time and line it up correctly. Place your free hand inside the control cavity and use that as your imaginary guideline. The second image is the placement of the wiring hole inside the control cavity.

For the front pickup or neck cavity I use a 24 inch 1/4 inch drill bit that allows me to get the right angle. Do not allow the drill bit to turn resting on the the fret board! Use a thin piece of plastic to allow the drill bit to rest upon. Here's the trick I use to line up the path. Using a pencil, I mark the direction I want the bit to travel and using this mark I align the bit. Stepping to the side and again using my hand as a point of reference inside the control cavity I mark the placement for the drill bit inside the pickup cavity.

The last hole to drill is the input jack. For this I have built a cradle using plywood and 1 inch dowels. the guitar has the front horn placed beneath the from dowel and the back of the guitar

rest on the two dowels in the rear.

For the placement of the jack input, I measure across the width of the guitar and place a pencil mark to indicate where the center is. Using a small drill bit, I drill a pilot hole for the next larger bit and so on. Not knowing if the buyers preference is a jack plate (7/8) or a self mounting input jack, I leave it a size that can be enlarged without to much difficulty. Note that the guitar's backside is flush against the one inside of the box. This is to ensure that the guitar is straight up and down when drilling. To drill out the hole larger, lay the guitar on its side and using a hand drill and a larger bit, drill away.

This concludes this project. Nothing to do but package it up and ship it out. Next project....not sure yet but Australia has from very nice wood that I am considering.

Routing Out the Pickup Cavities

Just finished routing out the pickup cavities for the 12 string project. It went very well and I very pleased with the end result. Allow me to elaborate on how I got the results I wanted.

First, setup my drill press with a router bit with a 1/4 inch cutting face. I then setup my pickup template for the neck pickup cavity. See picture for more detail.

With the router bit positioned in the middle of the template, and just about to touch the wood, I turn on the drill press and lower the drill about 1/8 or half of the cutting face. Note that the bit has a roller bearing located at the top. The bearing rides the inside of the template. Since the template is not thick enough for the bearing to hit the inside wall, I stack another template on top of it. I take any number of passes inside the template until the bearing begins to ride the wall of the cavity itself. I remove the templates and continue routing out the cavity 1/8 of an inch at a time until I have cut enough for the pickup bezel ring to lie flat with the top of he pickups flush with the ring.

Notice that I have routed out extra depth on the ends for the height adjustment screw on the pickups. This routing is to accommodate dual coil humbucker pickups. For this demonstration. I am using a set of Carvin M22 SD's.

The second pickup is positioned 1.75 inches from the inside of the first bezel to the inside of the second pickup bezel.

Carvin places a drilled hole to indicate the center of the neck and where the saddles of the bridge should align for intonation. If you measure the distance from the center of the 12 fret to the center of the drill hole, you should come up with exactly the same distance from the center of the nut to the center of the 12 fret. I don't trust anyone to do this math for me so I always check it and check it again for accuracy.

After I've lined up the template for the second pickup cavity, I like to put the bridge in place to check for clearance and placement. The pickup template is secured to the body using double stick tape. Be sure the template will not shift and do not push against it with the router bit. Let the bit do the work. If the drill press vibrates to much or begins to stall, back of the height and cut less wood. Let the bit do the work and do not get in a hurry.

If all goes well, you should have a guitar with the pickup cavities routed out and ready for drilling. Here is how the guitar looks with black Carvin M22 SD, and again with a set of Lace pickups with gold bezel rings. Next up is the last phase for me, which is drilling the passages for the wiring and the

input jack.

Rough Finishing the Guitar

It is now Oct the 10th and I have removed the guitar from the gluing rack and done some rough finishing of the guitar. Using a palm sander with 120 grit I worked on getting the seams and the contours to butt up as close as I can before the final finish. Once I have the high parts almost where I want them, I switch to a 220 grit and then to a 320 grit but that I do by hand. Just before the finish is applied I would plane the wood with a micro scraper and polish with #0000 steel wool. After that I would use a very fine jeweler's rouge and a buffing wheel to get the figure to pop. The 220 grit is where I'll stop but if I were to apply any finish, it would be about 10 coats of Tung Oil with a light buffing between each coat using #0000 steel wool. Buff just enough to take down any high spots or bubbles. Tung Oil applied in the manner gives the wood a deep luster and is easy to repair.

Figured wood is normally not finished with sand paper due to the fact the wood lacks consistancy and goes in and out depending on the figuring and that is why a micro planer is used. Since hard rock maple is so solid, you can actually buff it using a 10 or 12 in buffing wheel and be amazed at the luster it brings out in the wood. Using a lint free rag or cheese cloth, pour a small amount of tung oil on the rag and wipe in the direction of the wood grain. Use very thin coats and allow to dry over night before buffing and appling the next coat. I use Tung Oil on the neck and the head stock as well but not on the fret board. You can wipe mineral oil on the fret board to keep it happy.

The guitar looks great and I am liking the layout. I should begin routing out the pickup cavities and be able to complete the drilling early next week. Stay tuned.

More pictures:

Gluing it all together Phase II

It is Wednesday October the 7th and I have just the bodies to the neck. Here is how I did it. First get a couple of damp rags and have them ready. Take one of the damp rags and gently wipe the bodies clean of any dust or other material. Take the same rag and wipe down your work area. Give your work area plenty of free space. Have your clamps at the ready. Lay out the guitar sides along with the neck. You want the bodies flush with the top of the guitar so position the bodies with the neck upside down as see in this picture.

Remove the neck and take the Tightbond glue or what ever wood glue you use and spread onto the edges of the neck that will have the bodies attached. Spread it thick and use your fingers to spread it thickly over the entire area. Do this on both sides of the neck.

Place the neck back between the two body parts and bring the sided in contact with the glue. Slightly move each body half back and forth along the sides of the neck. In the above image I'm using glue press in the shape of the guitar that is being built. Note the neck is laying flat on the table with the fret board end butted up against the edge of the table. It is paramount the the top of the guitar bodies be flush as possible with the top of the neck when you are done.

You should have at least three clamps but four would be preferred. I had my wife hold the neck in place while I ensured that the butt and the top of the gguitar lined up as close I could get them. Use a rubber mallet to tap the guitar bodies into the right placement but hurry, you do not have a lot of time before the glue begins to set.

Next continue on with the tightening of the clamps. Again use your rubber mallet if the parts should shift. Keep tightenting until the clamps are all set and the glue is oozing out of the top the back, the front, and the bottom. check for gaps. Add glue to the gaps using your finger and keep tightening the clamps. Take your one good rag and remove the excess glue. Wipe it all away.

Check the clamp placement, move and relocate as necessary. Keep wiping and moving clamps until you have the best possible glue job your can. This is a one time deal so make it count.

For the next few hours I'll be going back and forth checking on the drying process ensuring that all is as I left it. This is turning out to be one my the best guitar builds I have done so far and once I get through the routing, I'll be home free.

Here is my end result for phase II:



The next phase is sanding the body and routing out the pickup cavities. Be back soon!

New 12 String Solid Body Guitar Build

I recently sold a very nice two piece guitar body on Ebay and the buyer asked if I could glue the wings to a neck and route out the pickup cavities. The buyer purchased a very nice 12 string through the body neck from Carvin and it did arrive this week while I was away working in Kansas. I do like Carvin necks and I've never really had any issues with them in the past. Carvin use to leave a lot more wood on the lower portion especially on the sides and the lower portion was much thicker. Still a great neck.

As you can see in the photo, there is nothing that can be planed or joined on the sides of the neck any longer and there is not a lot that can be removed from the bottom.

To see how they build these necks check out this YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA6IukKYymI

I got the body out from safe keeping and I thought it would be nice to show how I add the wings to the neck and prep the project. I like doing things in stages and this would be getting the getting the neck ready stage. Though the neck comes 85% finished there is a lot of work that has to be done to the neck before any gluing can begin. First I start by removing any excess wood from the neck. Carving leaves an extended heal that needs to be cut back two where the wings line up on the neck. The faint red circle is the part that must be trimmed downed

To remove the excess, I begin by lining up the wings with the neck upside down or the frets on the bottom. I extend the neck out so that the back or the end of the neck butts up to the edge of the work bench allowing the neck to lie flat.

I then place the bottom wing along side its corresponding edge and stop the front edge of the lower wing at the third to the last fret of the neck.

I do the same with the top part of the body stopping the front part of the wood at the forth to the last fret. Ensuring that the bodies are in the right place I draw a pencil line the length of the bodies on the wood that protrudes above the bodies. The bottom of the neck needs to be planed down to that line.

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The next step is to mark the area of the heel that need to be brought down to match the contouring of the horns of the two body sections. Using a pencil, I mark off the area for removal and being by using a hand drill to round off the marked section. Next I break out the chisels and carefully begin to remove as much of the wood as I can.

When I first began building guitar bodies, I used chisels to do the majority of the rough work so I'm comfortable using them but they may not be for everyone. The first rule of using a chisel is ensuring they are sharp and can hold an edge. Keep the flat side of the chisel up so that you do not dig down into the wood.

I take of about 1/2 to 3/4 of the excess wood with a chisel and then use a palm sander with 220 grit to remove and shape the remainder. Be sure to stop and recheck your placement with the two body parts. Once the wood is gone it is not coming back so take your time.

I'll keep working the wood down until I get the look and the contour as close as I can minus the final finish. This part is important as I need to leave some wood for the final sanding of the entire body. After I get to having just the finish phase left, I move on to removing the excess length. Again take your time. Measure twice, cut once.

This next part is very important because I'm getting very close to the next stage which is gluing it all together. You do not want to 'fix' the alignment once the guitar comes together so layout the guitar on a flat surface and check and recheck your alignment of the pieces, how the contours come together and if it needs 'fixing' this is time to do it. Do not think your going 'fix it' once it comes together. I'll take the guitar in and out of the gluing rack until I'm satisfied with how it comes together. I want the joints tight and as seamless as possible. Check and check it again!

Here is the guitar getting ready for the next phase which is gluing it together.

I like to let the guitar stew for day or two before I go on to the next phase.

I'll walk in and out of the shop taking it a part and putting it back together, doing some minor sanding or micro planing with a scraper. This first phase took close to 4.5 hours to complete.

Onto the next phase: Gluing.