Thanks so much for getting back to this work of art. I’ve loved every minute.. the problem solving, the creative decisions, the sharpening of chisels. Pure joy.
My pleasure, I'm so glad that I am back in the creative headspace.. I've been struggling for years to get going, and now and struggling because I have too many things I'm excited about doing 😂
@@CrimsonCustomGuitars I am similar, never happy unless there’s a project on the go ( the latest was a baroque mandolino!) but easily getting swamped by to many things unfinished. At my tender age of 70, I think I am learning to stop when I’ve had enough and do something totally different.. have a rest/ cup of tea/ watch you tube videos of people making things(!). So.. take it easy. More power to your elbow.
Hi Ben. Watching you gently carve and sand a small piece of mahogany, after I have been inexpertly and inaccurately hacking and machine sanding large pieces of heavy plywood all afternoon, is making for a very relaxing evening (with a glass of syrah). Glad to see your guitar near being finished.
I cannot even begin to express how much weight lifted from my shoulders when you finally decided to "protect the soundboard". I adore this little guitar. Truly. It's beautiful.
Three cheers for finishing up old projects! I'm currently finishing a build that I had started in 2016. My father passed very unexpectedly, and I fell into a bit of a depression. I had just started a burst replica days before. I had gotten to the point where the top was carved, and binding channel was routed. Still needed pickup cavities, neck mortise, and control cavity secondary angled routes to be done, and hadn't even started on the neck, when I decided to box it up, and resume when my head was in a better place. I got back to building later in the year, but started fresh with other builds. Eventually I forgot about that build entirely. Out of sight, out of mind, I suppose. I came across the box with the body in it back in the end of May, and thought to myself, "my dad would be disappointed if he knew I scrapped this build due to his death" and decided I needed to finish it up. I'll be wet sanding and polishing it today, and wrapping it up in the next week or two as the last of the parts I still need arrive. It feels good to be finishing this one up after all this time. I've never named any of my guitars, but my father's name was John, and he had a belly (kinda like a burst!), so I'm going to call this one Big John.
That's a lovely tribute to your dad, thanks for sharing it. There's something about pickup up a project again and seeing it through that resonates with life.
The first video in this series inspired me to.nake my first instrument. A sapelle fence post got turned into a guitar. Since then I've made a violin, harp, hurdy gurdy, tongue drum, tagel harpe and in the middle of building an oud. All with hand tools, and all before he's finished the thing that started me off!
I have built about 14 cigar box guitars now and it gives me great pleasure when I string them up and get a tune from them and all sound so different thanks for your influence.
I have an odd personal connection to this build. You started it while I was laying in a hospital bed trying not to die from Covid. It was a welcomed distraction. Thank you for being there to help me through
The "Oh look - squirrel" and actually picking it up to use as a brush at 29:30 had me rolling on the floor with laughter. Those Schaller Da Vinci tuners are gorgeous. Can't wait to finally hear the first notes from this build.
I first came across this hand tool only build when i was part way through my first build. That was supposed to take me six months or so but took me two years and I was only making a body to put on an old neck i'd had knocking about. It's been an inspiration to watch over the last two years. Can't wait to hear it! :)
This guitar is imho the most beautiful guitar you've built so far. Terrific work like this takes its time. As long as you don't need seven years to build it (like Chris from Clickspring needed to build his mechanism of Antikythera and he isn't finished yet), it's all good!
Your control with chisels is excellent. And yep, when you said "I can hear you screaming at me now..." I was cringing hard inside, knowing exactly what would happen to me if I tried chiseling down towards the body like that. I do have some stuff to sand, so I am inspired to go do that now. Thanks! 😀 Oh, btw...I know just what you mean about putting off finishing a project. While it's still in work, the possibilities are endless; but finishing means, well, it's finished and it is what it is. 😉 Enjoy the process! 🍻
@@CrimsonCustomGuitars I wish I had to funds to be naughty, I just have a lovely Raymond Weil rectangular faced Tango. If you are ever in Kingston Ontario, you should indulge your other guilty pleasure and visit the woodworking museum. They have a room, floor to ceiling, with antique wood planes
I've said it before but it's still true- I could watch you using a chisel (and especially the big one) for hours- absolute mastery of a cutting tool. I love those tuners! Will making mother of pearl buttons for them be Part 19? Good to see the squirrel doing some work too!
I do seem to recall "one day" being mentioned at the start of this build - long before you accidentally used the power drill. But by the third video I think we'd all given up on "one day". Probably a good thing - haste is often the enemy of quality - and this build showcases a number of high-quality details in both construction and decoration. BTW - the bridge turned out beautiful. For those of us without your carving skills, shaping and finishing the bridge before installation would probably be a safer approach. After years of watching your videos, watching you carve that bridge was only slightly unnerving.
Cool. I'm still thinking of makiing a bass guitar out of some driftwood I found.Seems ok,nice piece of wood,been floating around the seas forever. About bass shaped lol
Ben working on a full build is my favourite thing on all of youtube. This makes me very happy, though not, I suspect, as happy as it makes Ben. As soon as this is finished he make that fanned-fret, headless, 5-string bass of my dreams....
I didn't catch the soundboard, or come close to doing so.. Ever watch videos of people using bandsaws? I sometimes do just for how sketchy it always looks.. Every. Single. Time 🫣😁
Love that travel guitar made from a fence post Ben. It looks like something John Paul Jones would play along side Jimmy Page on some acoustic 70's classic hit. Cool as shit. Can't wait to see it finished. I remember when you started it. 👍
The giant chisel made me laugh; I bought a 50mm chisel that I didn't really need, but on the rare occasions when I use it I feel as if I am treating myself to one of life's luxuries.
I'm loving this guitar more and more, every time I see it! And now i'm wondering if I need to go buy a TENS machine, since the tingling and numbness in my hands have gotten so bad that I haven't been able to practice carving for several months, after two fairly severe cuts I gave myself (top of left thumb, and a couple months later another on the top of left forefinger, almost to the bone- query: do guys love scars, like it's purported that chicks do?). I've had to put the side gig I wanted to start on hold because of my clumsiness, in fact.
Tens machine is amazing.. Definitely give one a try in my 'not a medical professional' opinion 😂 And I don't know one way or another if dudes dig scars, but they certainly do dig chicks who know their way around a tool!
I'm running out of distractions.. This will be finished soon! Though.. I hope you will stick around for my channel, if no one else's.. I have big plans 🫣
Yeah, don't kill your wrists trying to get this done on a deadline. We're god with you pacing yourself. ;) You know there are those of us out here who now want to see a "squirrel brush" in the Crimson store, right?
It seems to me that the beveled design might tend to break strings. Though if it does, it's an easy modification to just add some rounded channels for the strings to gently bend against as they leave the pin hole. Hell, I may be wrong, I've been wrong before, I will be wrong again.
They were based on a tool we found, changed it quite a lot while keeping the basic concept.. So, developed, not invented.. I suppose in the same way that all electric guitars are developments on the telecaster etc ect?
There’s a secondary problem with your tipped bridge pins. You’re leaving an acute section where the string presses against the hole/relief slot of the bridge pin. String tension will likely eat away this acute angle spot more rapidly than square I’d also be a little concerned how well that mahogany will take a fine wire with 20lbs tension pulling on it. That high angle may also result in early failures of strings due to the stress of that bend (will it. Don’t know. Could it? Possibly)
If I draw it out the break angle of the string stays the same as it would if I cut away the bridge traditionally and if I drill straight down then there is a 90 degree corner of bridge that the string is resting on.. If I carve the bevel and drill square to that, we still have the same break angle and the same 90 degree edge where the string sits, the only differences are more material left in the bridge giving a pleasing aesthetic through matching, or almost matching, the strings break angle.. And the bridge pin is arguably going to be more secure.. Holding at right angles to where the string is going rather than the traditional.. Ah, 115 degrees or so? The whole idea may achieve nothing.. But certainly is interesting to think about..
@@CrimsonCustomGuitars On the acoustics I build you can actually take the bridge pins out and tune the guitar. The bridge pins just fill the hole with something pleasing to look at . The real work is done by the bridge plate and the string slots. I think Driftwood guitars on YT have a video explaining the mechanics of how this works and why. Also why not shape the bridge before gluing it on?
Given how long stringed instruments have been built, one has to think that bridges are pinned the way they are because that works better, and it is easier to do than the way you propose. As to its' efficacy, ie is one way better? Only one way to find out. Makes this experiment perfectly valid I think
Better.. Maybe.. But the way I'm thinking about pretty much everything right now is that many people just do things the way they've always been done without much thought.. I am having a blast thinking outside of the box 😁
Hmmm. What could go wrong? Well, you asked ... You said that traditional pin bridges apply pressure "straight up" from the bridge, but that isn't completely accurate. The pull of the strings also apply rotational force laterally from where the strings exit the bridge towards the nut, yes? That is why pin bridge guitars "belly" over time and why bridges tend to fail at the back side: there is rotational force which pulls the back of the bridge up. Increasing the angle of the strings going into the bridge "may" (note I wrote "may" here) increase the amount of rotational force on the bridge, and hence the top. We will have to see over time, but I fear that this guitar will tend to "belly" more than other instruments and also may have a bridge more prone to failure.
@@TomTom31ify The strings run across the bridge saddle and apply downward force to it (it doesn't act as a lever, but you could say it sort of acts as a fulcrum). However, the 'pull' of the tightened string acts across the entire string from the ball end to the tuning peg. Because the ball end is inserted into the guitar at an angle (typically 90 degrees) to the remainder of the string, the pull makes that area 'want' to straighten out. That's what causes the rotational force. That rotational force is one of the many reasons that guitar tops "belly" and/or the glue bond between the bridge and the top, more often than not, fails at the back side of the bridge. Now, will increasing the angle that the strings go through the bridge cause a greater rotational force at that point? I am not absolutely sure, but I suspect that it might.
This was my thinking too.. But.. What I'm doing is essentially moving the ball end of the string closer to the saddle than in traditional guitars.. It 'should' be the same exact amount of force (bringing the string up to a given pitch) but.. The pull should be more against the downward pressure on the saddle and further away from the back of the bridge, therefore.. I hope, reducing bellying while.. Well.. I'm not sure.. Improving tone?? Who knows 🙄😳
The top is mahogany and there is hardly any width to the lower bout, compared to even the smallest size acoustic instrument, in other words there is no potential belly to be made, given it’s strung to standard pitch.
Those tuner keys look rather bulky for that small guitar. I think a better option would have been some Hipshot open gear locking tuners my self. But hay you are at least finishing this guitar. Besides that it is your build after all. Dusting squirrel Cute.
An idea you might like to pursue is building a guitar that isn't a compromised botch job. Use your decades of experience to make the best that's within you for once rather than pushing your own imagined envelope. Suppose after all these years of ambitious missed targets that's probably too much to ask. But if a client came asking for your interpretation of a studio lp, what would you make, having seen nik huber guitars etc.
But first... first you must travel a long and difficult road, a road fraught with peril. Mm-hmm. You shall see thangs, wonderful to tell. You shall see a... a squirrel... on the roof of a shed, ha. And, oh, so many startlements.
Cheeky! I like it 🤔😁 I would like to see what you end up building.. Plans are something we should make available though, drop us an email through http.www.crimsonguitars.com and tell the guys I sent you!
Curious as to what brand or individual's design would be the most exacting, "superior" design to make modern guitars with - if brand, finish, value and wood selection were in the abstract - but for precision & stability of tune alone - for an electric guitar. I know that sounds redundant, but what "brand", I mean, if the unique design is part of a brand, mention it, but not judge it ON the brand name. I've heard 3 luthiers suggest Music Man is the best design, I read also that Duesenberg is best but just from 1 luthier. We know it certainly isn't Gibson - nothing against Gibsons, they're beautiful & iconic, but stability of tone by design? No way. The Telecaster is so basic - but the position of the tuning pegs isn't ideal. Suhr have perfected the Fender designs, so nothing original there. Is it a private build, perhaps, that yielded the world's most stable design? At the expense of being pretty, even?
Not convinced the angle of the bridge pin is anything much to worry about. When the strings are up to tension the bridge pins shouldn't even be a part of the equation since they're simply there to stop the strings from falling out of the slots in the saddle/soundboard. As long as they don't allow the string end tk move backwards, job done. Aesthetic choices are perfectly valid as long as they still fulfill that simple purpose.
Mainly aesthetic, but I do wonder about having the ball end situated closer to the center of the bridge rather than at the back... That could make a difference to long term stability?
@@CrimsonCustomGuitars Not sure it makes much difference. The only pressure on the bridge from the string is applied at the saddle, and at the top edge of the string slot. The ball-end pressure on the soundboard isn't really going to affect the bridge any differently providing it is in complete flat contact with the soundboard. I guess the soundboard MAY flex slightly less if the pressure is more in the centre of the bridge, but ultimately I think the soundboard has the same potential for bowing regardless of the small difference that you could apply to the location of the pins. Making a bigger bridge area in order to centre the pins more may make it more stable but at the cost of reduced soundboard resonance. Bear in mind I'm more engineer than luthier, so may be way off base, but I have dabbled a bit. I certainly do NOT have anything even remotely close to your level of experience.
I suspect weight is a problem. You want maximum vibration transfer and adjustable saddles are heavy. Fender did make adjustable ones at one point in time
Emerald offer adjustable bridges on their carbon fibre acoustics. So I assume (like far too many things in guitar design) it's done because it's "traditional" and what customers expect.
@@MooCow2X2 Carbon fibre or graphene would put pay to that problem, I suspect pin locking the saddle to the body once adjusted for intonation might overcome the vibrational transfer issue, I am thinking that fan frets and adjustable saddles would make a better instrument.
@@CrimsonCustomGuitars Seriously? I know I've never been through all that you have, but I'm genuinely disappointed and hoped it was just stained from rust or something from another old tool or off screen project, since I couldn't see it on your first finger too. After being at you're fittest, both mentally and physically.
You should do a series called “build a vintage guitar” where you take so long to build it it’s vintage when you’re done.
Very good. Quality banter. :)
This is your best format Ben. Keep doing them like this!
Really looking forward to seeing this guitar finished.
Thanks so much for getting back to this work of art. I’ve loved every minute.. the problem solving, the creative decisions, the sharpening of chisels. Pure joy.
My pleasure, I'm so glad that I am back in the creative headspace.. I've been struggling for years to get going, and now and struggling because I have too many things I'm excited about doing 😂
@@CrimsonCustomGuitars I am similar, never happy unless there’s a project on the go ( the latest was a baroque mandolino!) but easily getting swamped by to many things unfinished. At my tender age of 70, I think I am learning to stop when I’ve had enough and do something totally different.. have a rest/ cup of tea/ watch you tube videos of people making things(!).
So.. take it easy. More power to your elbow.
Hi Ben. Watching you gently carve and sand a small piece of mahogany, after I have been inexpertly and inaccurately hacking and machine sanding large pieces of heavy plywood all afternoon, is making for a very relaxing evening (with a glass of syrah). Glad to see your guitar near being finished.
Fantastic! Thank you
Ben is a gem of a luither. Always love watching this channel.
Glad you picked this one up again. I've been following this build from the beginning and really look forward to seeing and hearing how it turns out.
I cannot even begin to express how much weight lifted from my shoulders when you finally decided to "protect the soundboard".
I adore this little guitar. Truly. It's beautiful.
I like to think he heard all of us screaming and just let us twist for a while. :P
So glad to see this build back. Terrific work, and a joy to watch and hear your thought process as you go.
Thank you kindly!
Three cheers for finishing up old projects! I'm currently finishing a build that I had started in 2016. My father passed very unexpectedly, and I fell into a bit of a depression. I had just started a burst replica days before. I had gotten to the point where the top was carved, and binding channel was routed. Still needed pickup cavities, neck mortise, and control cavity secondary angled routes to be done, and hadn't even started on the neck, when I decided to box it up, and resume when my head was in a better place. I got back to building later in the year, but started fresh with other builds. Eventually I forgot about that build entirely. Out of sight, out of mind, I suppose. I came across the box with the body in it back in the end of May, and thought to myself, "my dad would be disappointed if he knew I scrapped this build due to his death" and decided I needed to finish it up. I'll be wet sanding and polishing it today, and wrapping it up in the next week or two as the last of the parts I still need arrive. It feels good to be finishing this one up after all this time. I've never named any of my guitars, but my father's name was John, and he had a belly (kinda like a burst!), so I'm going to call this one Big John.
I'm sorry for your loss and glad you are nearing completion on Big John.. This is a lovely way to remember your dad!
@@CrimsonCustomGuitars Thanks, Ben! Stay awesome!
That's a lovely tribute to your dad, thanks for sharing it. There's something about pickup up a project again and seeing it through that resonates with life.
The first video in this series inspired me to.nake my first instrument. A sapelle fence post got turned into a guitar. Since then I've made a violin, harp, hurdy gurdy, tongue drum, tagel harpe and in the middle of building an oud. All with hand tools, and all before he's finished the thing that started me off!
Patience is virtue.... Good to see it reaching completion
Still my favourite build. Still it continues. What a gift haha.. nice one Ben.
🤘😁 Thank you 😁
Finally some closure about this one 😁 can't wait to hear how it sounds !
You and me both!
I have built about 14 cigar box guitars now and it gives me great pleasure when I string them up and get a tune from them and all sound so different thanks for your influence.
I have an odd personal connection to this build. You started it while I was laying in a hospital bed trying not to die from Covid. It was a welcomed distraction. Thank you for being there to help me through
I know I'm late (been working a lot) but Ben! Dude! Yes! Loving this. I've been following this guitar build since the first video on it. So exciting.
Great to see it back on the bench.
The "Oh look - squirrel" and actually picking it up to use as a brush at 29:30 had me rolling on the floor with laughter.
Those Schaller Da Vinci tuners are gorgeous.
Can't wait to finally hear the first notes from this build.
Dude your back building!!! Really awesome to see day 734 of this one day build... ❤
The sound of a sharp chisel cutting through hardwood is a pleasure to the ears - just like a Golf Ball falling into the cup.
I couldn't agree more! Love it!
I absolutely love the shape of the volute. It's so beautiful.
I first came across this hand tool only build when i was part way through my first build. That was supposed to take me six months or so but took me two years and I was only making a body to put on an old neck i'd had knocking about. It's been an inspiration to watch over the last two years. Can't wait to hear it! :)
I very much needed this video, to remember to take the time to just...take the time.
This guitar is imho the most beautiful guitar you've built so far. Terrific work like this takes its time. As long as you don't need seven years to build it (like Chris from Clickspring needed to build his mechanism of Antikythera and he isn't finished yet), it's all good!
Your control with chisels is excellent. And yep, when you said "I can hear you screaming at me now..." I was cringing hard inside, knowing exactly what would happen to me if I tried chiseling down towards the body like that. I do have some stuff to sand, so I am inspired to go do that now. Thanks! 😀 Oh, btw...I know just what you mean about putting off finishing a project. While it's still in work, the possibilities are endless; but finishing means, well, it's finished and it is what it is. 😉 Enjoy the process! 🍻
Glad you're back doing these type of build videos .... it is these videos thar inspired me to build my own guitars .... more of the same Ben 👍👍
"thing's"? Apart from that Ben thanks so much for the excellent videos!
Lol. Thank you 😁
I'd love to see that one finished Ben... and hear it🙉😊
Lovely watch, young man
Thank you, a naughty habit, but so satisfying 🫣
@@CrimsonCustomGuitars I wish I had to funds to be naughty, I just have a lovely Raymond Weil rectangular faced Tango.
If you are ever in Kingston Ontario, you should indulge your other guilty pleasure and visit the woodworking museum. They have a room, floor to ceiling, with antique wood planes
Reading your shirt can you imagine it's been almost 20 years I can't believe how fast time flies
22:47 YAY for the biltong chisel.
Love this tool more and more every year!
I've said it before but it's still true- I could watch you using a chisel (and especially the big one) for hours- absolute mastery of a cutting tool. I love those tuners! Will making mother of pearl buttons for them be Part 19?
Good to see the squirrel doing some work too!
Gorgeous tuning machines. I fully expected you to pull out the power drill when installing them though 😆
You and me both!
Hi Ben, so glad to see you back on this build. Just wondered, wouldn’t it be faster doing the bridge fine contouring with a cabinet scraper?
It is almost alive!!!
I do seem to recall "one day" being mentioned at the start of this build - long before you accidentally used the power drill. But by the third video I think we'd all given up on "one day". Probably a good thing - haste is often the enemy of quality - and this build showcases a number of high-quality details in both construction and decoration. BTW - the bridge turned out beautiful. For those of us without your carving skills, shaping and finishing the bridge before installation would probably be a safer approach. After years of watching your videos, watching you carve that bridge was only slightly unnerving.
Excellent intro! Well done, Ed!
Agreed, Bear did really well on this one!
Cool. I'm still thinking of makiing a bass guitar out of some driftwood I found.Seems ok,nice piece of wood,been floating around the seas forever. About bass shaped lol
Yer,neck of course,its a full size neck,could be a cello maybe.
Yesss it’s back!!
Ben working on a full build is my favourite thing on all of youtube. This makes me very happy, though not, I suspect, as happy as it makes Ben. As soon as this is finished he make that fanned-fret, headless, 5-string bass of my dreams....
I am very seriously planning a bass.. Though fretless short scale this time.. 🙄 Sorry
@@CrimsonCustomGuitars That's still awesome to hear, though. I will enjoy it just as much, regardless 🙂
Ok come on how close did you come to catching the sound board! What an expert you are!!!
I didn't catch the soundboard, or come close to doing so.. Ever watch videos of people using bandsaws? I sometimes do just for how sketchy it always looks.. Every. Single. Time 🫣😁
Love that travel guitar made from a fence post Ben. It looks like something John Paul Jones would play along side Jimmy Page on some acoustic 70's classic hit. Cool as shit. Can't wait to see it finished. I remember when you started it. 👍
The giant chisel made me laugh; I bought a 50mm chisel that I didn't really need, but on the rare occasions when I use it I feel as if I am treating myself to one of life's luxuries.
I couldn't agree more 😁
I'm loving this guitar more and more, every time I see it! And now i'm wondering if I need to go buy a TENS machine, since the tingling and numbness in my hands have gotten so bad that I haven't been able to practice carving for several months, after two fairly severe cuts I gave myself (top of left thumb, and a couple months later another on the top of left forefinger, almost to the bone- query: do guys love scars, like it's purported that chicks do?). I've had to put the side gig I wanted to start on hold because of my clumsiness, in fact.
Tens machine is amazing.. Definitely give one a try in my 'not a medical professional' opinion 😂
And I don't know one way or another if dudes dig scars, but they certainly do dig chicks who know their way around a tool!
@@CrimsonCustomGuitars I have such a filthy mind.... even at my age! hehehe
Love it
It's a beauty 😍
Thank you!
I'm feeling inspired to finish my 2022 GGBO build 😅
Go go go!
wonderful
Many thanks
The smile on my face when I immediately saw the squirrel was unmatched
I so want to build a guitar like this
I believe in you, go to it!
I've just about given up on UA-cam, but I'm NOT giving up on this series. I am so looking forward to seeing this guitar get played.
I'm running out of distractions.. This will be finished soon! Though.. I hope you will stick around for my channel, if no one else's.. I have big plans 🫣
Oh hello there!
Two monarchs and four Prime Ministers later.... :)
phew you did, I can now clam down!
Yeah, don't kill your wrists trying to get this done on a deadline. We're god with you pacing yourself. ;)
You know there are those of us out here who now want to see a "squirrel brush" in the Crimson store, right?
Indeed, I was screaming “protect the sound board”, mainly due to my inadequacies… than yours 😅
It seems to me that the beveled design might tend to break strings. Though if it does, it's an easy modification to just add some rounded channels for the strings to gently bend against as they leave the pin hole. Hell, I may be wrong, I've been wrong before, I will be wrong again.
sharp or not very sharp I would be scared stiff of slipping and running the chisel through the top - I would need some form of protection for sure!
Did Crimson develop the sanding stick? I thought they were just copies of a handmade sanding stick you found in an old tool collection you brought?
They were based on a tool we found, changed it quite a lot while keeping the basic concept.. So, developed, not invented.. I suppose in the same way that all electric guitars are developments on the telecaster etc ect?
@@CrimsonCustomGuitars makes sense, thanks for the reply!
There’s a secondary problem with your tipped bridge pins. You’re leaving an acute section where the string presses against the hole/relief slot of the bridge pin. String tension will likely eat away this acute angle spot more rapidly than square
I’d also be a little concerned how well that mahogany will take a fine wire with 20lbs tension pulling on it.
That high angle may also result in early failures of strings due to the stress of that bend (will it. Don’t know. Could it? Possibly)
If I draw it out the break angle of the string stays the same as it would if I cut away the bridge traditionally and if I drill straight down then there is a 90 degree corner of bridge that the string is resting on.. If I carve the bevel and drill square to that, we still have the same break angle and the same 90 degree edge where the string sits, the only differences are more material left in the bridge giving a pleasing aesthetic through matching, or almost matching, the strings break angle.. And the bridge pin is arguably going to be more secure.. Holding at right angles to where the string is going rather than the traditional.. Ah, 115 degrees or so?
The whole idea may achieve nothing.. But certainly is interesting to think about..
@@CrimsonCustomGuitars On the acoustics I build you can actually take the bridge pins out and tune the guitar. The bridge pins just fill the hole with something pleasing to look at . The real work is done by the bridge plate and the string slots. I think Driftwood guitars on YT have a video explaining the mechanics of how this works and why. Also why not shape the bridge before gluing it on?
Given how long stringed instruments have been built, one has to think that bridges are pinned the way they are because that works better, and it is easier to do than the way you propose. As to its' efficacy, ie is one way better? Only one way to find out. Makes this experiment perfectly valid I think
Better.. Maybe.. But the way I'm thinking about pretty much everything right now is that many people just do things the way they've always been done without much thought.. I am having a blast thinking outside of the box 😁
Hmmm. What could go wrong? Well, you asked ... You said that traditional pin bridges apply pressure "straight up" from the bridge, but that isn't completely accurate. The pull of the strings also apply rotational force laterally from where the strings exit the bridge towards the nut, yes? That is why pin bridge guitars "belly" over time and why bridges tend to fail at the back side: there is rotational force which pulls the back of the bridge up. Increasing the angle of the strings going into the bridge "may" (note I wrote "may" here) increase the amount of rotational force on the bridge, and hence the top. We will have to see over time, but I fear that this guitar will tend to "belly" more than other instruments and also may have a bridge more prone to failure.
Hi Patrick. I’d have thought that’s rotational force you mention acts mainly via the saddle (which effective acts a lever), rather than at the pins?
@@TomTom31ify The strings run across the bridge saddle and apply downward force to it (it doesn't act as a lever, but you could say it sort of acts as a fulcrum). However, the 'pull' of the tightened string acts across the entire string from the ball end to the tuning peg. Because the ball end is inserted into the guitar at an angle (typically 90 degrees) to the remainder of the string, the pull makes that area 'want' to straighten out. That's what causes the rotational force. That rotational force is one of the many reasons that guitar tops "belly" and/or the glue bond between the bridge and the top, more often than not, fails at the back side of the bridge.
Now, will increasing the angle that the strings go through the bridge cause a greater rotational force at that point? I am not absolutely sure, but I suspect that it might.
This was my thinking too.. But.. What I'm doing is essentially moving the ball end of the string closer to the saddle than in traditional guitars.. It 'should' be the same exact amount of force (bringing the string up to a given pitch) but.. The pull should be more against the downward pressure on the saddle and further away from the back of the bridge, therefore.. I hope, reducing bellying while.. Well.. I'm not sure.. Improving tone?? Who knows 🙄😳
@@CrimsonCustomGuitars Ooooh! Good points! I hope you are right. Time will tell!
The top is mahogany and there is hardly any width to the lower bout, compared to even the smallest size acoustic instrument, in other words there is no potential belly to be made, given it’s strung to standard pitch.
Those tuner keys look rather bulky for that small guitar. I think a better option would have been some Hipshot open gear locking tuners my self. But hay you are at least finishing this guitar. Besides that it is your build after all. Dusting squirrel Cute.
They are a bit bulky, but I've always loved the design.. Maybe going to do something about the keys though.. MOP anyone?
I'm still chuffed that i may have been the person to suggest using m.o.p. as a nut :)
And a damn fine idea it was, thank you!
An idea you might like to pursue is building a guitar that isn't a compromised botch job. Use your decades of experience to make the best that's within you for once rather than pushing your own imagined envelope. Suppose after all these years of ambitious missed targets that's probably too much to ask. But if a client came asking for your interpretation of a studio lp, what would you make, having seen nik huber guitars etc.
A long time ago in a shed far away a build was started...
oh look squirrel.
Life put a few squirrels in my path this last year or two.. More than a few 😂
But first... first you must travel a long and difficult road, a road fraught with peril. Mm-hmm. You shall see thangs, wonderful to tell. You shall see a... a squirrel... on the roof of a shed, ha. And, oh, so many startlements.
Squirrel !!
Ben yes this was a one day Build
Ben you need better lighting!
I dunno, I kinda like the warm, cozy lighting in this shop.
Yes.. I do. I hoped the editor would brighten things up a bit more in post.. Moody though.. 😍
Coming soon to crimson guitars: Heirloom quality dusting squirrels
Isn't that the beef jerky cutting chisel?
Not quite sure why this work would not have been done before glueing the bridge to the body?
The squirrel stole the show.
He is proving to be a most useful mammal!
I love this guitar, I'm going to make a copy, unless you send me free plans or a kit 😉 (edit) or the actual guitar..... 😈
Cheeky! I like it 🤔😁
I would like to see what you end up building.. Plans are something we should make available though, drop us an email through http.www.crimsonguitars.com and tell the guys I sent you!
Bens B2 Stealth bomber bridge. just paint it flat black
Curious as to what brand or individual's design would be the most exacting, "superior" design to make modern guitars with - if brand, finish, value and wood selection were in the abstract - but for precision & stability of tune alone - for an electric guitar. I know that sounds redundant, but what "brand", I mean, if the unique design is part of a brand, mention it, but not judge it ON the brand name.
I've heard 3 luthiers suggest Music Man is the best design, I read also that Duesenberg is best but just from 1 luthier. We know it certainly isn't Gibson - nothing against Gibsons, they're beautiful & iconic, but stability of tone by design? No way. The Telecaster is so basic - but the position of the tuning pegs isn't ideal. Suhr have perfected the Fender designs, so nothing original there.
Is it a private build, perhaps, that yielded the world's most stable design? At the expense of being pretty, even?
Not convinced the angle of the bridge pin is anything much to worry about. When the strings are up to tension the bridge pins shouldn't even be a part of the equation since they're simply there to stop the strings from falling out of the slots in the saddle/soundboard. As long as they don't allow the string end tk move backwards, job done. Aesthetic choices are perfectly valid as long as they still fulfill that simple purpose.
Mainly aesthetic, but I do wonder about having the ball end situated closer to the center of the bridge rather than at the back... That could make a difference to long term stability?
@@CrimsonCustomGuitars
Not sure it makes much difference. The only pressure on the bridge from the string is applied at the saddle, and at the top edge of the string slot. The ball-end pressure on the soundboard isn't really going to affect the bridge any differently providing it is in complete flat contact with the soundboard. I guess the soundboard MAY flex slightly less if the pressure is more in the centre of the bridge, but ultimately I think the soundboard has the same potential for bowing regardless of the small difference that you could apply to the location of the pins. Making a bigger bridge area in order to centre the pins more may make it more stable but at the cost of reduced soundboard resonance.
Bear in mind I'm more engineer than luthier, so may be way off base, but I have dabbled a bit. I certainly do NOT have anything even remotely close to your level of experience.
"What could go wrong?"
See attached list.
Why do acoustic guitars have a fixed saddle? Why cant we have adjustable saddles on an acoustic guitar?
I suspect weight is a problem. You want maximum vibration transfer and adjustable saddles are heavy. Fender did make adjustable ones at one point in time
Emerald offer adjustable bridges on their carbon fibre acoustics. So I assume (like far too many things in guitar design) it's done because it's "traditional" and what customers expect.
This.. With a side of @MooCow2X2 simplicity equals better vibrational transfer and therefore a more true to the guitar transfer of tone..
@@MooCow2X2 Carbon fibre or graphene would put pay to that problem, I suspect pin locking the saddle to the body once adjusted for intonation might overcome the vibrational transfer issue, I am thinking that fan frets and adjustable saddles would make a better instrument.
sharpens a chisel, changes to another chisel.
I think you have watched too many ASMR videos! 😂😂😂
Probably 😁
There's nothing quite like the sound of the gears on a hand drill
Ben, seriously, what's wrong with you right hand, middle finger knuckle? It looks like you've been chain smoking.
For my sins, I have.. I had managed to stay cigarette free for fifteen years or so.. The divorce, burnout etc killed that streak... Temporarily!
@@CrimsonCustomGuitars Seriously? I know I've never been through all that you have, but I'm genuinely disappointed and hoped it was just stained from rust or something from another old tool or off screen project, since I couldn't see it on your first finger too. After being at you're fittest, both mentally and physically.
whats your day job mate?
you have a collection of old blunt tools and its laughabke
😂 Funny
Your ruler's not radiused mate
Part 17 of 18....a bold claim Ben.
Also, are the squirrel dusters going to be available in the Crimson Store?
GENIO!!!!!!!!!!!!