Prototype 1 Javelin body after rough-cutting it on the bandsaw.

The body blank started out about 2 inches thick. It’s been surfaced down to a more modest thickness, and the top will be carved to a 16-inch radius.

Prototype 1 Javelin body. The lighting doesn’t do the figuring justice. The finish will make that grain pop.

The rough-cut Prototype 1 Javelin body.

Bandsawing the MDF body template for the Javelin.

Javelin body template trimmed, sanded and smooth + 7-string neck and headstock templates. (27″ scale, 24 frets)

2010.01.15 Update: The body has been cut on the table router using the new templates. We hit it with a quick coat of Waterlox tung oil finish to see what it’s going to look like… SICK figure on this board!

2010.01.21 Update: Pickup and neck cavities roughed out using a Forstner bit on the drill press. These will be cleaned up on the router table. The control recesses were also cut. We prefer a tight, flat-bottomed control recess to hide the bottom of the knob and any chance that the nut and mounting washer for the pot will be seen, making the controls low-profile but still usable. This guitar is getting a 16″ radius “arc” top, so the knobs won’t be this deep after the carve is done.

2010.01.30 Update: The headstocks attached to the neck blanks of Prototype 1 (rosewood) and Prototype 2 (limba).

The fretboards for Proto 1 (rosewood) and Proto 2 (ebony) were slotted and glued to the necks after the truss rods were inserted.

While the fretboards were clamped and waiting for the glue to cure, i decided to start carving the body contours of Proto 1.

Curvy!

Proto 1′s figured walnut is a lot harder to carve than the white limba i used on Proto 2. After carving and sanding, it’s lost much of its figured appearance due to dust hiding the wood’s grain…

… so i hit it with a thin coat of tung oil! Wow!

This still needs to be taken down in thickness quite a bit. It’s currently thinner and more contoured than other neck joints of this type, but it can go further.

The contours are still quite rough… you can see the file and rasp marks. Those will be sanded out. The middle portion of the back will be scooped out a bit more.

The lines of the back will follow the contours of the top when the top is carved. It will be flowing and organic, with a clear line separating the top from the back.

My outdoor neck-carving rig. The weather was spectacular this weekend, so i worked outside as much as possible.

Hey, this thing’s startin’ to look like some sorta gee-tawr!

The neck is rough-carved at this point. It’s got a nice, even profile, but still a bit chunky.

Nice smooth neck-to-body transition… about as smooth as you can get with a bolt-on neck. The heel slides comfortably into the palm of the hand in the highest register on the neck.

The heel will still likely be thinned down a bit, but you can see how the neck-to-body transition is nice and smooth… about as smooth as you can get with a bolt-on neck.

2010.03.15 Update: Proto 1 body and neck carved!

There’s a light coat of tung oil on the body and a tiny bit of lemon oil on the neck and fretboard just to bring out the colour.

The body has about a 15″ or 16″ radius on the top, which you can see gives some dramatic curves and sweeps to the lines of the guitar.

This isn’t a carved top in the tradition of an stringed instrument or an archtop guitar. It’s more of a “radius” or “arc” top.

Looking from the butt end of the guitar.

Note the upper horn.

The rear contours.

The upper horn sweeps into the tummy carve, and the ridge softens out into a very smooth and organic curved back.

Waist cut detail.

Detail of the sweep of the horns.

Another shot of the body.

Some final sanding and the first coat of oil.

Crazy figuring!

Check out those stripes.

Further coats of oil will fill in the grain a bit more.

Purty.

Very purty.

3 mm side inlay dots.

… and they glow! Luminlay… great product. I’ll probably be using it on more guitars.

Logo!

Proto 1 gets its markings on the back of the headstock and inside the neck pocket.

Dry fretboard.

Oiled fretboard!

Assembled and strung!

Custom Nordstrand Decibuckers, ABM bridge, 6-way Free-Way pickup selector, master volume and tone.

Guitar by Decibel. Appliances by KitchenAid.

Seven coats of polymerized tung oil. No buffing.

3-piece East Indian rosewood neck. One-piece figured walnut body.

The wiring isn’t hooked up yet, and i still have to fabricate a control cavity cover.

Shiny!

2010.07.14 Update: Complete! At least until i decide to start modifying it and swapping out components to test other ideas.

Rear view. The aluminum control cavity cover is a quickie that i fabricated just to keep the innards from spilling out. It does a decent job, though! I’ll probably get better plates fabricated, likely from aluminum.

View from the butt end of the guitar.

Curly black walnut body.

You can almost see the Luminlay side dots glowing in the daylight!

Here you can see the radius on the top of the body. It’s approximately 16″, so everything follows the arc of the fretboard radius. It’s slightly flattened in the middle to allow easier mounting of the bridge.

Inside the cutaway. Pretty effortless access to the 24th fret.

Recessed controls. I like that they’re sunk out of the way. Future builds may be a little less recessed, as it does pose some issues, mainly because there’s some wobble to most pots, which causes the knurled knobs to make contact with the walls of the recess when attempting “pinky” swells.

3/4 view of the body.

A close-up of the player’s view of the controls. The toggle is out of the way enough for me, but some players may not like it. I may consider moving the controls further back.

The lower 1/3 of the body literally disappears from view when playing, except for the controls.

One niggly little imperfection i’m disappointed with… the depth stop on the drill press i was using either wasn’t set right or it slipped, and one of the “pin” holes for the Sperzels got drilled right through the face. I did a quick fill, but didn’t try very hard to make it disappear. It’s there as a reminder to ALWAYS TRIPLE-CHECK THE DEPTH STOP! And hey… it’s a prototype!

Back of the headstock.

PROTO1!

The amazing disappearing upper horn! It’s incredibly comfortable, and surprisingly strong! In the future, i will likely do the top radius first, and then the carving inside the horns to leave a bit more material there for strength.

The neck heel is deeply contoured and tapers away from the full body thickness to about 1/2″ where it meets the neck.

A lot of material has been removed from the lower cutaway area to give very smooth and comfortable access to the upper register.

Here you can see the organic blending of planes, lines and curves… visually interesting and extremely comfortable.

Neutrik locking jacks are superbly engineered, but are a little bulky. I chose to recess it, protecting the jack and cable, and giving a cleaner appearance from the front.