Bone Voyage

Thanks!
I will need to test a few bridge options after the guitar is done.
This is one of the things that need to be played and evaluated for proper tonality.

 

Thank you!

 

Let's settle for 'Horny Viking Cat's eyes' (-;

 

I don't think so.
You should consider two things here:
1 - Hard Maple is much stronger than Spruce
2 - Any standard bracing is as good as its glue joint..

 

It must be done. Sometimes more than once.
Better safe than sorry (-;

 

Quite a few PU options for the Bone Voyage.
"None" is not a bad choice (-;
Or... one or two AirGap P90 or HB.
I expect a beautiful match between my AirGaps and this instrument.
Those who played the AG's probably know what I mean.

I see no problem in routing the top as long as the bracing is kept intact.
For the PU equipped Voyage I will route the top very shallow (5/32" rout).
We'll get to that soon.

 

I believe others do that.
The "big thing" here is using a one piece flat sawn maple plate.
It taps like a bell!! very different than the usual QS Spruce, louder and "crispier".

 

Thanks Nick.
I did. It sounded too rounded for the tone I have in mind and that's why I mentioned that I need to come up with a totally different top for a 13" wide archtop.
I guess it can be made the classic way with a 2 piece Spruce top if the player is after a sweet and rounded tone.
I prefer to have a wide and even frequency range acoustically and control it with my hands as I play or with the correct amp settings. If it's there you can shape it but if it's not ... (-;

 

Thanks for the input Ken. Appreciated!
The top and back do need to be matched at this early stage but there's a lot more to come in regards to the tuning so please bear with me here.
It will sing beautifully, no "standing" frequencies and "wolf" notes in plan (-;

 

There are two or three bridge options for the Bone Voyage.
I'll be trying them and see which works best.
First option is keeping the original Bone-I bridge but instead of anchoring it to the top I can use a tailpiece rod much like it was on the early LP's.

Stud is cut, drilled and threaded. Before on the left and after on the right (-;




steel rod is threaded and screwed in



Note that the threaded bottom of the stud is cut short. I will be able to attach a wooden round base under it and shape it to get the correct playing action




Bridge is drilled and the rod can run through it




like this








I haven't done the final bending and black chrome plating on the rod. I will do this at final assembly and If I'll decide to use it it will be bent properly into a nice rounded trapeze shape and plated along with a mounting end for the tailpiece of course.

 

The second option is closer to the classic archtop design (BTW, both options can be used on the same guitar as there are no drills. Both connect to the end pin strap botton)

The classic tailpiece works along with a separate bridge that can either be an ABR type or a traditional hardwood. The more important factors of this design are:

1- Length of the tailpiece and the total length of the strings which affects the tension

2-The angle the strings are breaking over the bridge which affects the sustain and tonality (EQ)

3- The material the tailpiece and the bridge are made out of


Since I like to preserve the spirit of the Bone-I and have an articulated open tone with tight string tension I will be using a longer tailpiece (shorter strings), but not too long because I still like to have some of the classic archtop feel to it. Same with the angle.. since the Voyage has a smaller body the height of the bridge (neck angle) is not too high so the tailpiece will need to ride very low to get a proper string break angle over the bridge. As far as the material, I want it to be full sounding but a little warmer than the Bone-I so I'll be using Brass and Brazilian Rosewood (same billet as the board).

Here's the CAD design. An invisible Brass string retainer running under the rosewood




The Brass will be cut out of a sheet and bent to reach the bottom strap mounting area








and the CAM simulation




Note that the Brass retainer will need to be bent to fit the rosewood, It will be done manually and with the help of a few little brass screws.




I will not cut it today as I still need to order the correct thickness Brass sheet



The Rosewood tailpiece is crucial to the tone. I will be using premium Brazilian Rosewood and make sure to test the tap tone before deciding on a final thickness.
However.. I do want to keep the tailpiece profile as low as possible for comfort and good break angle. The solution I came up with is to carve the tailpiece in the exact 3D shape of the top. This way it will not stand too proud above the top and will look great and sexy (-;

I designed it in CAD to match the top curves






Bottom is carved first




then it's flipped and the top is carved




string access holes cut



like that




It hugs the top 100%. No gaps at all








Now.. the tailpiece shouldn't come in touch with the top at all to allow the top to vibrate freely so pulling the tailpiece back a little (to it's correct position) will create the needed little gap. Pefrect!





Shaping the tailpiece to match the rounded top dish took care of the string arc as well (-;




I forgot to mention that the string anchoring points are angled because each string needs a different extra length for the entire set to balance nicely. I took the higher B and e slightly further closer to the bridge to have a better balance for 10's or 11's.



I started with 1/4" thickness and a bulky shape and further hand thicknessed it until the tap tone was sweet to my ears




and further shaped it to became more organic and feminine (-;















Here it is with the highly flamed (yes!) Brazilian Rosewood board blank that will be used on the Bone Voyage.