The neck has been carved and fretboard bound and radiused on Prototype 2!

I’m very pleased with the results. I smoothed out the contours on the heel to flow more seamlessly into the neck. It’s now a little more “SR-71″ and less “F-117″… you aviation geeks will know what i mean.

I actually did some of the final shaping of the neck joint with the neck bolted up to the body. There’s a seamless flow from the neck into the body like i’ve never seen before on a bolt-on instrument.

Take a look at the Prototype 2 build page to see the whole evolution.

The weather was beautiful this weekend, so i carved the neck on Prototype 1.

On the second day of carving, i slimmed it down quite a bit and made it a lot less blocky. The contour i ended up with actually surprised me a little, because it’s almost exactly the opposite of what i had in mind when i started.

My original plan was to have a soft “V” at the nut end of the neck, and have it gradually flatten out into a thin even “C” toward the body. But theory and practice often yield different results, and as i sat and carved the neck, using nothing but my left hand as a guide for its shape, the neck profile took an unexpected turn.

At the nut, it’s a nice slim even “C” shape, nicely rounded across the whole profile. I’m not a big fan of the “flat in the middle” feel of most thinner “D” type shredder necks. I’ll have to throw the calipers on it to see exactly what the depth of the neck is after i sanded the radius into the fretboard, but my guess is it’s around 21 or 22 mm.

As you move up the neck, it gets slightly thicker, but the shoulders of the neck start to taper down a little bit. Around the 7th fret, things really start to change. The neck starts to get a little more asymmetrical, and a soft “ridge” starts to reveal itself. By about the 12th fret, it’s an asymmetrical soft “V” shape. And it feels wonderful. It’s almost as if the neck is molded from an extruded cylinder of clay, and then shaped to fit a shifting hand shape as you move up the neck. The mass of wood beneath the hand feels the same, but it’s just distributed differently depending on where you are on the neck.

In my experience, i tend to play with my thumb over the neck when playing open-position chords and more complex voicings slightly higher up on the neck. As i move up the neck, my wrist naturally rotates downward toward the floor. The transition from the even “C” to the soft asymmetrical “V” essentially tracks along with my thumb on the bass side of the neck. I’ve never felt a neck quite like this, and i can’t wait to play it. After sitting with the neck bolted to the body, i really think it may be the best neck profile for me. Being primarily a rhythm player, i need good leverage all across the neck to hold down tricky chords and have them ring true without buzzing. I think this neck profile with accomplish that.

Look at more build pics on the Proto 1 page.

More progress…

For full detail on the build, see the Proto 1 page.

I didn’t get as much done on the fretboards as i would have liked last week, but i did get them prepped for slotting. We just couldn’t find the proper wrenches to change the blade on the table saw.

So instead, i spent time carving and shaping the neck heel on Proto 2.

Proto 1 and Proto 2 inched one step closer to completion over the weekend, with the neck joints being drilled, T-nuts inserted and a test bolt-up of the necks and bodies.

This is the first time we’ve actually been able to sit down with both of these body styles as (more or less) actual instruments. The ergonomics are fantastic, even without the neck and body carves done. Balance seems to be excellent, and playing position of the Javelin in a seated position is perfect.

The Aviator is stunningly lightweight, though the white limba body and neck is quite soft, and this guitar will require a good hard clearcoat to keep it from damage.

The Javelin is the complete opposite… the solid East Indian rosewood neck and 2″ thick figured walnut body make for a hefty instrument. But it’s important to note that neither the neck nor body have been carved yet, so it will likely lose about 1/3 of its mass. (We have some fairly dramatic carving ideas for these bodies.)

Stay tuned!

One feature that’s popular among some players is a “kill” switch on their guitars. This allows the momentary interruption of the signal by connecting the signal to ground using a pushbutton. Specifically, it’s a Single-Pole Single-Throw (SPST) Normally Open (NO) Momentary (MOM) Switch.

I have an interesting electronics/surplus store nearby, and while rummaging through the bins there, i came across these:

It’s been a few weeks since Decibel’s “soft launch” and a few days since the models and prototype builds in progress were revealed to a wider audience.

So far, the feedback has been tremendous and very supportive, so i just want to thank all of the friends, colleagues, and fellow guitarists who have given feedback and support. I take every bit of feedback seriously, and i do take it all very constructively. As a professional designer, i’ve learned over the years to separate myself from my work, so while i am attached to my design work, it’s just my work, and nothing you say can offend me personally. Everyone sees things differently, and if someone can help me to see my own work in a different light or from a different perspective, it makes the end result better.

I thought i’d share a few brief notes about the genesis of the models you see here. I’ll hopefully delve into these in a bit more detail and try to dredge up some sketches and earlier works in progress. But for now, here’s the brief history of the range as it stands today. Read more

Read more

Bolt-on, set-neck or neck-thru? This question has been kicked around and debated for about as long as the electric guitar has existed. Each has benefits and drawbacks. Since i don’t favour one method of assembly over another, i will likely be using whichever method is most appropriate or suits my desire or needs at any particular time.

In these early stages of building, i’ve opted to go for a bolt-on design, for a few reasons. First, the bolt-on design gives maximum versatility. I’m building guitars with very different body and neck woods. They’ll all have the same scale length, bolt pattern and neck pocket, so they’ll be easily interchangeable, so i can experiment with how different neck woods and body woods interact. Second, if anything goes catastrophically wrong at any point in the build, i’ve only lost a body or a neck. With a set-neck or neck-thru, i’d have to trash the whole instrument. I’d rather not do that.

But i won’t be using just any old bolt-on design. The classic Fender “bolt-on” is actually mis-named. The necks are actually screwed on. Bolts are usually threaded to receive a nut. Most “bolt-on” necks just use big wood screws and a metal plate (or recessed metal grommets). Not a bad design, but its strength is limited by thin threads biting into wood. Repeated neck removals weaken the joint every single time.

Here’s how we’re building our bolt-on necks: