NGD: Decibel Javelin Protoype 1!

[darren]

Well, this is a momentous occasion. I have unchecked the "in progress" box and checked the "completed" box. It's done. At least for now.

Here are the specs:

Body:
Figured walnut, 1-piece

Neck:
East Indian rosewood, 3-piece laminate with a scarf-jointed headstock

Fretboard:
East Indian rosewood, 24 frets, 27" scale, 16" radius, side dot inlays only (Luminlay)

Frets:
Medium-tall nickel-silver

Pickups:
Custom Nordstrand, 1/4" pole pieces

Electronics:
"Free-Way" 6-way toggle, master volume, master tone (currently not wired), Neutrik locking output jack

Tuners:
Black Sperzel Trim-Lok

Nut:
Earvana Compensated Tuning System

Truss rod:
StewMac double-expanding with spoke wheel at the neck heel (EBMM style)

Bridge:
Black ABM flat-mount with Wilkinson-style saddles

Strap buttons:
Black Schaller locking

Finish:
Polymerized Tung Oil on the body, lemon oil on the neck, matte acrylic on the headstock face

Planned mods:
GraphTech GHOST piezo system.

You can view the whole buildstory here.


Complete! At least until i decide to start modifying it and swapping out components to test other ideas.


Rear view. The aluminum control cavity cover is a quickie that i fabricated just to keep the innards from spilling out. It does a decent job, though! I’ll probably get better plates fabricated, likely from aluminum.


View from the butt end of the guitar.


Curly black walnut body.


You can almost see the Luminlay side dots glowing in the daylight!


Here you can see the radius on the top of the body. It’s approximately 16″, so everything follows the arc of the fretboard radius. It’s slightly flattened in the middle to allow easier mounting of the bridge.


Inside the cutaway. Pretty effortless access to the 24th fret.


Recessed controls. I like that they’re sunk out of the way. Future builds may be a little less recessed, as it does pose some issues, mainly because there’s some wobble to most pots, which causes the knurled knobs to make contact with the walls of the recess when attempting “pinky” swells.


3/4 view of the body.


A close-up of the player’s view of the controls. The toggle is out of the way enough for me, but some players may not like it. I may consider moving the controls further back.


The lower 1/3 of the body literally disappears from view when playing, except for the controls.


One niggly little imperfection i’m disappointed with… the depth stop on the drill press i was using either wasn’t set right or it slipped, and one of the “pin” holes for the Sperzels got drilled right through the face. I did a quick fill, but didn’t try very hard to make it disappear. It’s there as a reminder to ALWAYS TRIPLE-CHECK THE DEPTH STOP! And hey… it’s a prototype!


Back of the headstock.


PROTO1!


The amazing disappearing upper horn! It’s incredibly comfortable, and surprisingly strong! In the future, i will likely do the top radius first, and then the carving inside the horns to leave a bit more material there for strength.


The neck heel is deeply contoured and tapers away from the full body thickness to about 1/2″ where it meets the neck.


A lot of material has been removed from the lower cutaway area to give very smooth and comfortable access to the upper register.


Here you can see the organic blending of planes, lines and curves… visually interesting and extremely comfortable.


Neutrik locking jacks are superbly engineered, but are a little bulky. I chose to recess it, protecting the jack and cable, and giving a cleaner appearance from the front.


So there you have it. I'm extremely pleased with the tone and playability of this guitar. It's the first of many more to come!

[eleven59]

Looks incredible I'll definitely have to drive down with Justin to give it a test run one of these days.

[Sebastian]

That looks fantastic !
Awesome work

[Joel]

That looks stunnning!
Wow... really impressive.
How does she play?

[Randy]

Came out fantastic. Very unique and true to the original design. Good job.

How did you do the radius across the top? I mean, by hand or did you make a jig for it?

[Vegetta]

Damn that is nice Darren


I think you need to send it to me for some unbiased examination and review

[Hungoverstin]

So when can I expect this at my door?

Wicked job darren, absolutely love that thing!

[darren]

Originally Posted by Randy

How did you do the radius across the top? I mean, by hand or did you make a jig for it?

Ideally, it would be done with a jig on an edge (belt) sander, or cut on a CNC mill for the ultimate accuracy.

But since i had access to neither of those, i did it freehand with a handheld belt sander with a 30-grit belt on it.

BZZZRRRRREEEEEOOOOWWWW!

[Randy]

Well, that must've been a shitload of work but it came out terrific.

[DslDwg]

Just gorgeous Darren - love the wood - love the radius across the top of the body - really great looking.