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How to Make an AxeCraft custom guitar.The BodyThe body is hand made from select wood materials. We use select Alder, Ash, Cherry, Maple, Black Walnut, Basswood, Cypress, and other unique species for exquisite sound and beauty.
Each guitar is individually
dreamed up and constructed. Bodies are cut out individually and hand shaped.
The neck, pickup and control pockets are precisely machined for a true fit with the neck.
Pick up and Control pockets are coated with shielding paint to eliminate 60 cycle hum.
The finishes are hand applied in many, many layers. We use primarily Tung oil as a stain and water based finishes (for reduced environmental impact). Bodies are hand rubbed with a layer of carnuba wax before assembly.
The NeckNecks are constructed in the shop or purchased as blanks. They are made to precise tolerances. They are made of hard maple and may include an Ebony or Rosewood fingerboard. Frets are medium gauge nickle-steel. Necks include a double action truss rod. That's just the start. Each neck is hand finished to ensure best possible intonation and action. Fret placement are checked for accuracy before any work is done.
The frets are set dead level with the truss rod, then sanded level with a radiused block to prevent buzzing.
Frets are then crowned and the ends rounded over.
Frets are then wire brushed, buffed and polished in a three step process.
The neck is aligned with the body and attached with a 4-bolt neck plate.
Tuners are installed.
The Bridge is precisely positioned and installed.
The nuts are hand made of bone or Corian(tm) and individually fitted to the neck. String slots are individually fitted using gauged nut files.
After the neck is strung up to tension, the truss rod is adjusted to allow 0.10" to 0.12" relief at the 8th fret, depending on the individual guitar. Frets are rechecked for buzz and fine adjustments are made. The bridge saddles are adjusted for intonation, and action is set.
Finally, the pickups are adjusted to balance high, mid and low range sound. Then we play the guitar for a while and make any adjustments that show up as the strings settle in. The ElectronicsElectronics are individually selected for each guitar. Controls are hand soldered.
Control, pickup and output pockets are painted with magnetic paint to shield the components from ambient 60 cycle AC energy. This helps prevent hum. Controls are grounded to the bridge using solid copper wire to provide excellent grounding and prevent hum. Pickups are typically Fender (tm) or Altec (tm) Alnico V units. We also use other pickups as desired. Potentiometers are typically A250k for the Volume control and B250k for the Tone control. On humbucker or stacked coil pickups we typically use 500k pots. Capacitors are typically .020 or .022mf for single coils. Other sizes are used as needed to balance the guitar sound. Switches are typically Fender (tm) 3 or 5 way. We pay a premium to install Fender switches because they are solid and reliable. We also use Switchcraft (tm) components, because they are solid and trustworthy. We usually use an "electrosocket" type output jack in the "telecaster" style guitars because they are more rugged than the Fender design. We occasionally also use the "football" type on teles. "Stratocaster" style guitars get the typical boat type output.
Please contact us if you have specific questions or requests.NOTE: "Fender" "Telecaster" and "Stratocaster" are registered trademarks of the Fender Musical Instrument Company. These guitars are not copies of their instruments, but are inspired by them. We use Fender's names as reference only. |
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"AxeCraft", "BlueJeansMusic" and
"Cherry Guitars" are trademarks (2008) of Steven Miller.
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