FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions
 Here's something I get asked all the time: How did you make this electric guitar?

 
This is Poseidon II.

 
Poseidon II Specs 

1.    Made from 95% reclaimed wood (the ebony stringers were the only wood purchased for this guitar) 
2.    7-piece laminated neck-through (Maple, Mahogany, Maple, Purpleheart, Maple, Mahogany, Maple)(See below for details)
3.    25.3" (650 mm) scale length 
4.    24 Stew Mac wide/highest frets ( # 0150 1.32mm crown height) (well, actually 25, if you count the â€̃zero fret’) 
5.    Single action truss rod (adjustable at head stock) 
6.    Maple compound radius fret board (12" at the nut, ~18" at the 24th fret) 
7.    Metal tubing & Acrylic rod inlay 
8.    Bi-coloured L.E.D.s under inlay, with a DP3T switch to select L.E.D. colours
9.    Walnut and Ebony stringers 
10.    Figured maple wings tops with mahogany backs 
11.    10 degree head stock angle 
12.    1 degree body angle 
13.    Black Corian® nut 
14.    2 over-wound 42 AWG Bizzar Alnico V Humbuckers each with dual coil select switches and a single phase switch 
15.    Concentric Volume pots 
16.    Three-way Treble/Rhythm switch 
17.    Stereo 1/4" output jack, the second 'channel' turns the L.E.D.s on and off when the guitar is plugged in 
18.    Black Tune-O-Matic bridge 
19.    Black Mighty Mite machine heads with built-in string winders
20.    Black string through ferrules 
21.    Hand rubbed Tung Oil Finish
The purple heart centre laminate and outer maple laminates were pieces of previously installed hardwood flooring. The mahogany laminates are from mahogany luan pallets/skids , the long 2x4 or 4x4 pieces that allow the forks of a forklift to stack several bundles of lumber on top of each other. The remainder of the wood came from my scrap pile under my work bench, with the exception of the ebony stringers. They were purchased at KJP Hardwoods from their ' Domestic and Exotic Offcuts bin for just a few bucks. They were purchased just to provide a dramatic contrast between the stringers and wings, A.K.A. eye candy. 
This whole build was a major learning process. 
The original 27" baritone plan done in CorelDRAW 10 was scaled down to a 25.3": 

The rough centre laminate, a salvaged piece of purpleheart hardwood flooring, notice the flooring grooves on the bottom and the nail hole from where it had been previously been installed:
 

Centre laminate planed down to size, and being marked from the template:
 

Depth of the truss rod channel (15mm) and the back of the neck (21 mm) are marked on the centre laminate. The deepest point of the channel curve on this neck is at the 8th fret:

 
Neck laminates clamped up for a mock up. Notice the grooves from the hardwood flooring on the outside laminates: 

Truss rod channel cut prior to neck laminate glue up. The curvature of the channel is smoothed out before glue up:
 

Start date in truss rod channel: 

Laminates clamped upside down on a flat surface to (try to) keep the top surfaces of the laminates flush:
 

Laminates, planed square and head stock angle and thickness, as well as nut and volute locations marked. There is a nail hole in the upper piece of mahogany from where it was attached to the pallet/skid:

 
Body end off cut, with different body angles marked. In hindsight, I should have chosen a little bit more of an angle. Another lesson learned. :) 

Neck blank rough cut with the offcuts:
 

Truss rod channel anchor holes done & walnut stringers attached (and nail hole): 

Pickup cavities hogged out before wings are attached, allowing for notch for the leg of the pickup base plate to be cut out of the walnut on the radial arm saw, creating a clean crisp corner once the other ebony stringers are added. The majority of the pickup cavities can be cut this way saving some wear and tear on the router bits. 

Pickup cavity and string through template secured over hogged out cavities. The short anchoring screws are screwed into a part of the neck that will be covered by the fretboard, the screws are short enough not to invade the heel carving later on. If those weren't enough, screws can also be placed into the bridge bushing holes.

 
Pickup cavities routed:

 
Wing layers rough shaped. Due to the fact that these are very oddly shaped scraps, I couldn't glue the pieces together, prior to shaping. 

Mahogany with glue, pre-spreading. 

Rough wings glued up. 

Shaped and squared wings lined up to mark neck heel contour. 

A fretboard about to have fret slots cut. 

The slotted board. 

A fretboard getting rough 12" radius (nut end) on the belt sander.

 
A fretboard getting rough 18" radius (body end) on the belt sander.

 
Custom wound pickups using Alnico V magnets and 42 gauge wire.
Each of the coils are specifically wound to a different output, offering a wide variety of tonal possiibilies. 
Double DPDT switches provide Individual Coil Selection (North/Humbucker/South) capabilities to each humbucker. 
Push/pull pot replace with stacked pots for individual pickup volumes, and a DPDT mini toggle switch for phase shifting. 
Phase shifting is only available when the standard three-way switch is in the centre position. 
Each of the coils can be put out of phase with either, or both coils from the other pickup. 
There are 24 different coils combinations available. 
Small de-lamination. The heat from the spindle sander used on this curve, weakened the glue used for lamination. 

De-lamination repair. Some Hot Stuff cyanoacrylate Low-Viscosity Glue and a clamp, pretty simple. 

Test bevel on a scrap of mahogany. 

Maple side of a wing beveled. Stopping short of neck edge to make final shaping smoother. Apparently the router bit needs to be sharpened. 

#%*&@$^+ !!!! Router blow out. Got to get that bit sharpened! Thank goodness for Hot Stuff cyanoacrylate Low-Viscosity Glue and sawdust! 

Router blow out rough repair and rough sanded. 

Wings attached and neck/wing contour roughly shaped. The ebony stringers (added after cavities were routed) makes for a neat corner. The screw hole from the pickup template are clearly visible.

 
String through holes drilled from the top. Looking into the pickup cavity, the wiring channel routed from the underside of the neck blank before the stringers were added can be seen.

 
The two outer holes are drilled just deep enough to break the surface of the back of the laminates, and then cleaned up from the back. 

The template and guitar are flipped over, the outer holes aligned. The remaining holes are drilled 1/2 way through. This method helps to eliminated the effects of drill bit wander. The flipped template ensure symetrical holes on the back.The holes are later be enlarged to accommodate the diameter of the front and back ferrules, as needed. 

Headstock with walnut stringers (and nail hole). 

Headstock 'ears' glued on. Keep an eye on that nail hole.
 

Drilling truss rod adjustment channel under nut location. The plastic tubing prevents the side of the drill bit from biting into the headstock.
 

Truss rod installed and anchored at body end to make accurate measurement of truss rod length. Nail hole gone! 

Shaping the neck heel was done with 40 grit sandpaper on a random orbital sander, using long consistent passes. After four passes per side, at different angles to the centre line, the profile is sort of octagonally shaped.

 
The 40 grit eats away at the wood pretty quickly. The corners of the 'octagon' are sanded away leaving a a more round shape. 

Once the profile is close to the desired radius, progressively finer grits of sandpaper are used to complete the shaping. The purpleheart laminate is flatten out, providing a 'flattened D' contour (quite comfortable when played with a 'classical' grip.

 
While clamped to the bench this way, shaping the heel and blending it into the bevels on the back of the wings with the random orbital sander is a breeze.

 
The fretboard is slotted.
Fretboard inlay cavities drilled to exact inlay outer diameter with a brad point bit. The brad point bit leaves a centre point for L.E.D. holes.
Inlay made, installed and sanded flush to top of fretboard. Make sure the inlay is 'sealed' in the hole so that nothing can leak in around the inlay and short out the L.E.D.s.
L.E.D. channel on back of fretboard is routed.
Compound radius rough sanded.
Fretboard binding rough. At this point the fretboard has been radiused. Compound rasdii actually. 12" radius at the nut and ~18" at the body. 

Binding on the fretboard is four alternating layers of 1/2" veneer strips, attached to each other and to the fretboard with Hot Stuff cyanoacrylate Low-Viscosity Glue. Use a hot iron to 'press' the binding on, a few inches at a time. Start and the body end and work around the corners slowly, and up towards the nut. Using 1/2" strips allows you to bend the binding slightly over the top and bottom of the fretboard. Sanding off the excess binding creates crisp fine contrasting lines between the wood colours. This also ensures a flat bottom for the bottom veneers application. 

Fretboard binding done. Fretboard has been finish sanded.
The side dots are drilled through the binding and 1/8" aluminum tubing is cut to length and ends reamed out for fibre optics, and glued into binding, leaving a little bit protruding. 
At this point, the frets should be cut to length, which is about 5mm longer than the fret slot, to allow for a slight overhang.
Then frets are bent to a slightly tighter radius that the fret slot.
The tangs of the frets are under cut at ends so that the fret crowns will hang over the binding. 
Install frets, tack in the ends first, with a plastic headed hammer, then work from the centre outwards. 
Tap the ends of the frets down over the top of the binding. Inspect crown to fretboard contact on all frets and make corrections (if necessary).
The L.E.D.s are inserted into the back of the fretboard, make sure to align them all in the same direction. 

LED plan courtesy of LED series/parallel array wizard 
Resistors for L.E.D.s.

 
L.E.D.s
 

Back of fretboard with L.E.D.s and first three layers of veneer applied. Three layers of veneer are cut away around L.E.D.s and resistors for a safety cushion protecting the electronics from being crushed during clamping to the neck. The fretboard is ready for the final veneer. A hole must be cut in the last veneer to pass the L.E.D. wires through.

 
Mounting rings and bobbin tops planned out on scrap neck laminate offcut. Drilling bobbin pole holes was a pain due to the different densities of the woods. Once the mounting ring slab is cut and hollowed out, it is cut into slices and sanded down to desired thickness.
 

Mounting rings rough cut. Hole at bottom of bridge pickup cavity was a previously unseen flaw in the maple laminate. Filled with glue and saw dust, it is sanded flush.

 
Final router blow out repair. 

Finished product:

 
Overhead view: 

Flamed maple wings show up better in this one: 

Ah more flame. 

Volute:

 
Full back shot:

 
Pickups and mounting rings: 

Another look at the pickups and mounting rings:

L.E.D.s and side dots orange: 

L.E.D.s and side dots green: 

Jack and cavity cover on back:
 

Jack:

 
Cavity cover help on with neodynium magnets. Cavity shielded with copper tape to prevent RF interference.

 
The happy owner! 

John Ricci ( Exciter ) checking out Poseidon II at Tuscon's:

 
Brian Stephenson ( Aggressor , Old James, Bëehler, Old James) checking out Poseidon II: 

Ricky Paquette ( Retrophonic & Ricky Laurent ) checking out Poseidon II:

Here's how I built Luna 
Luna plans:

Truss rod channel cut:

Neck laminates clamped:
Wings rough cut and ready for clamps:
Neck Laminates rough trimmed†

Fretboard 1:

Drilling truss rod access from headstock:
Headstock stringers:

Truss rod anchor:

Spoke Wheel Truss Rod Nut test fit:

Truss rod anchor location side profile:

Sanding neck to width & levelling truss rod fillet:

 
Bending the frets:
 

Sanding fretboard binding, side inlay dots & fret ends in one step:

 
Fretboard pins 1:

 
LED wire channel, Truss rod anchor & Fretboard pins 2:

 
LED wire channel, Truss rod anchor & Fretboard pins 3:

 
Raw fretboard:

 
Oiled Fretboard:

 
Control cavity with rough jack hole:

 
Control Cavity with screws to attract rare earth magnets in cover: 

Control cavity with wiring channel hole:

 
Control layout:

 
Back oiled:

Here's how I made the Pickups
1. Cut/shape/de-burr/sand bobbin tops (the de-burring process is crucial to make sure there is absolutely nothing that the coil wire can get caught on).
2. Cut/shape/de-burr bobbin bottoms (make sure that the pickup height adjustment screws can pass by the ends of the bobbins uninhibited).

 
3. Cut/de-burr pole pieces.
 
4. Polish pole piece bobbin tops (if they’re going to be exposed).
5. Drill pole piece holes in bobbin tops and bottoms.
6. Drill eyelet holes in bobbin bottoms (far enough apart so that the solder from the lead wires will not touch the wound coil wire).
7. Set eyelets with punch and tack hammer.
8. Ream holes in eyelets to ensure 5 wraps of coil wire and lead wire can fit through.
9. Finish bobbin tops to match body of guitar/bass (if you are using matching laminate off cuts).
10. Install pole pieces flush to top of the bobbin tops.
11. Wrap poles pieces with shrink tubing to prevent possible shorts.
12. Install bottoms parallel to the tops.
13. Make and insert “Power Blocks™† mounting ring anchors :) (“Power Blocks™† are just pieces of wood that will accept the mounting screws used to attach the bobbins to the baseplate).
14. Locate and drill baseplate mounting holes through bobbin bottom and into “Power Blocks™†.
15. Drill baseplate mounting holes slightly oblong to allow for lining up the laminates on the bobbin tops.
16. Make spacers, small pieces of wood used to keep the bobbins level to the baseplate. I use the tongues and grooves from the hardwood flooring I use as neck laminates.
17. Test assemble pick up to make sure everything goes together properly. 

18. Load wire into winder.
19. Tape 6" of coil wire to underside of bobbin for a buffer.
20. Wrap coil wire around all pole pieces several times, crossing over the previous wrap like a ½ hitch knot.

 
21. Start counter application. http://pickups.myonlinesite.com/programs.php
22. Test counter.
23. Reset counter.
24. Mount bobbin on winder with double sided tape.
25. Enter desired number of turns.
26. Slowly wrap several traverses of coil wire, ensuring the limiter is doing its job accurately.
27. Wind to desired number of turns.
28. Extract bobbin.
29. Cut coil wire, leaving a foot or so to load the next bobbin.
30. Un-tape start of coil wire (buffer) from bottom of bobbin.
31. Feed start end of coil wire through south eyelet (5 wraps).
32. Feed finish end of coil wire through north eyelet (5 wraps).
33. Tin eyelets.
34. Test coil resistence with an ohm meter at the grommets.
35. Secure ends of coil wire to top of bobbin bottom with clear nail polish, to prevent accidental breakage. The Teflon tape won’t stick to the coil wire.
36. Wrap coil with Teflon tape, to allow for un wrapping/repairing (if necessary).
37. Solder ground wires to start ends of copper tape.
38. Wrap coils in copper tape.
39. Wrap bobbin in cloth tape.
40. Feed lead wire through baseplate hole from bottom. I use some shielded computer wire for this. This wire contains 5 stranded wires inside a shielded cover. I use the 5th wire as a ground wire.
41. Solder lead wires to bobbins. I use the DiMarzio colours scheme.
42. Connect copper tape ground wire to ground wire.
43. Connect ground wire to baseplate.
44. Loosely attach bobbins to baseplate with mounting screws.
45. Insert magnet, Alnico V from Stew-Mac.
46. Insert spacers.
47. Line up laminates in bobbin tops.
48. Tighten baseplate mounting screws. 

49. Install pickups in mounting rings.
 
50. Install pickups in guitar/bass.
 
Here are the four coils in the different stages of wrapping. 

The four coils (from right to left) freshly wound, wrapped in Teflon tape, wound in copper tape and grounded, wrapped in black pickup tape. Wrapping the coils in copper tape and grounding them acts as a Faraday cage, eliminating RF interference.
 
A video of my winder in action:
http://s44.photobucket.com/albums/f21/Bizzar_Guitars/Vids/?action=view¤t=Winder001.mp4

 
Some other question I get asked include: 
How much do your guitars cost?
There is a base price, and things go up from there. Please make contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more details.
 

Can I get L.E.D.s in my fretboard?
Yes, L.E.D.s can be installed under a fretboard. Fibre optic side dots as well.
 
Can I get a copy of a _______? 
Ah, sorry no. All Bizzar Guitars are unique, one-of-a-kinds.
 

What woods can I choose from?
There are a wide variety of exotic and local hardwoods available.
 

What hardware is available?
Just about everything.
 

What finishes are available?
A wide variety of oils and polys.
 

Do you do repairs?
Yes.
 

Do you make cases? 
Yes
What do all those switches do?
There is a standard 3 way switch which allows the user to select between Bridge/Bridge + Neck/Neck pickups.
There is a mini toggle switch for each pick up, allowing the user to select between North/Both/South coils of each pickup.
When at least one coil from each humbucker is selected, a third mini toggle switch will put the bridge coil(s) out of phase with the neck coil(s).
Here's a wiring diagram of 'what's under the hood'.
 

This diagram was made on The Guitar Modder courtesy of Scott Walker of Walker Guitars