I will start shipping the new batch of bridges tomorrow. I would like to thank those that pre-ordered for your patience! New and improved! There are many improvements and changes compared to the previous batch: The base plate has a groove in it to guide the tuner and ensure that it does not rotate by mistake if hit by a strong force. The base plate also has dual mounting holes as compared to one before. This makes it easier to mount flat on a guitar, without recesses as was originally intended. The bridge/tuner has a groove in it to allow lower height from the surface. The saddle has a finer thread than before, allowing even better height adjustment. The finish is a satin-matte finish that was chosen by popular vote earlier. The aluminum alloy has been changed to an even harder and more durable one than before. The tonal properties are outstanding. The bearing has been changed to one that fits a lot tighter. The scew might feel a little tight initially, but this will soon be broken in to feel very distinct. Please feel free to place orders on the Products page. I aim to ship within 1-2 days from receiving the...
Learn MoreI have just spent a couple of very ego-boosting days at the Uppsala VI International Guitar Festival. My EGS guitar was finished with only days to spare, still smelling of linseed oil, and it was with some nervousness I showed up on Friday to exhibit it. Those of you that have followed the progress know that there are many experiments going on at the same time: ergonomic body shape, fanned frets, trapezoidal neck profile (contact Rick Toone for more information about this neck profile) , carbon truss rod, Lace Alumitone pickups, semi-hollow body, and the list goes on. Most visitors of the exhibition stopped to look twice and were intrigued. Those who looked closer and actually tried it said without fail something along the lines of: “That wasn’t as strange as I thought it would be” and then moved on to: “It’s actually really comfortable”. But this is only after dropping their jaw at the weight of 1850 grams (approx 4 lbs). And after commenting on the amazing sustain. Yes – putting 10 lbs of solid wood on your shoulder is not the only way to obtain it. Some other comments were: “It’s almost like it plays iself” “It’s so fast in its response!” “I could sit here all...
Learn MoreYes, it has strings, it plays, it sounds, it weighs 1800 grams… Here’s a sneak preview – I will post more photos in the near future. and, it’s got the new batch of hardware! In other words, feel free to...
Learn MoreI was travelling all last week, so I have spent a hectic the weekend getting ready for final assembly. I received the new hardware on Friday so am now only missing the glide bearings that sit at the rear of the tuners. In terms of finishing, the original idea was to leave all wood their respective natural colors, since this is the way I prefer it. But, I have ended up with the back of the guitar stained “ebony black”. The thought was that this would go together with the color that I put on my first ever build, the Rockette. The deep orange would have looked good with the black back. The issue is that I don’t remember how I achieved this finish… A violin builder, Tommy Jakobsson, taught me some of the basics of lutherie back in the day and I’m pretty sure he tipped me off on this finish. Since I am on a deadline and Tommy has not returned either phone calls or e-mails, I had to abandon it. I have a very strong memory of the finish being a two-step process involving chemicals rather than stains. It reacted with the wood itself and became an incredibly vivid orange when oiled. Does anybody know what...
Learn MoreToday, drilled the fastening holes for the neck and could for the first time test out the balance of the instrument. It was a nervous moment the first time I put it in my lap, since the body is so incredibly light and the hardware and pickups add very little weight. The neck on the other hand, being made out of wenge and ebony, felt like a rock in comparison. However, I needed not to have worried. I’m happy to report that it balances perfectly and exactly according to plan. I started with an alignment test setup that was left sitting all the while I was drilling the holes. Then, the three main positions were tested: Look ma, no hands! Lastly, note the angle of my index finger and how it follows the angle of the frets. The guitar obviously doesn’t balance itself in this position, but it is very comfortable nonetheless. I can feel that the comparatively heavy neck and the trapezoidal neck profile (contact Rick Toone for more information on this neck profile) seems to address the “headless wiggle” problem. I can’t wait to string it up, but the mounting plate for the string locks is off for finishing along with the rest of the new...
Learn MoreToday, I have worked on the neck, finishing off the head end of it and mounting side dot markers (abalone). I also routed the pickup holes and this is where things started going wrong. My idea was to have the pickups extending out of the top of the guitar as if the top itself was a pick-guard. The mounting screws would actually come in from the rear of the guitar to be invisible. I routed enough clearance (I thought) inside the body to allow the pickups to be slid in under the top and then be mounted in this way. But, it didn’t work out at all. I don’t want to carve out anything more from the rear, so instead I had to cut openings for the mounting pieces of the pickups. (Although as I’m writing this, I realize that I could have cut these pieces off altogether and replaced them with something else underneath the pickup! Ah, well – next build…) Note that the bridge is missing parts so looks a little un-proportional. I also realized that there is not a lot of space to mount the controls. This guitar will have a single volume and a 6-way rotary pickup selector. My initial impression was that the pickup...
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