Metal Guitarist Forums banner

NGD: Sabre Guitars SSM-1 (Extremely pic heavy!)

9K views 59 replies 23 participants last post by  ShreddyLZ 
#1 ·
I travelled down to the Sabre workshop yesterday and picked up my GORGEOUS build. I can't even begin to describe how amazing this guitar looks in person, and the attention to detail is just phenomenal. For now i'm only going to post pictures, and i'll do a proper video/text review once i get back to India later this week.

All I can say so far is that Christian is easily one of the best luthiers around, and deserves a lot more attention.

'Nuff said, onto the pics.




 
See less See more
50
#5 ·
It's off center, it's way too narrow, and the string spacing is way too narrow for that wide of a board. The ends of the nut don't even come close to matching the edge of the fretboard, angle wise, either.

Also, unfinished maple fretboard?



The low string doesn't even hit the bottom of the nut slot... There's some obvious problems with that nut...
 
#6 ·
It's off center, it's way too narrow, and the string spacing is way too narrow for that wide of a board. The ends of the nut don't even come close to matching the edge of the fretboard, angle wise, either.

Also, unfinished maple fretboard?

The low string doesn't even hit the bottom of the nut slot... There's some obvious problems with that nut...
I was going to ask the same thing, but I don't know shit about making guitars, so.......thanks. :D
 
#25 ·
Chris didn't use a pre-slotted nut for this. It was an un-slotted straight nut. :yesway:

Something else i'm not sure was addressed was the maple fretboard... is it completely raw, or is there some kind of finish on it? I'd recommend at least a good sealer coat, given that you live in a generally hot and humid climate.
You'll have to ask Chris what he used, i'm not too sure!
 
#23 ·
Let's keep this thread positive dudes. Elysian said what he had to say, and i can respect that. The nut issue is sorted now. And was no ones fault. I overlooked the measurements on the spec sheet, and Chris is going to make me another nut with spacing similar to what i'm generally used to, which is great. I will stand my ground on MY claim that Chris is one of the finest around. The rest of this guitar is spot on. It definitely is finished better than my Daemoness. But that's just my opinion ;) I can't comment on the playability yet, as this is my first guitar with a fanned orientation and my first Endur Neck. So it's taking a while to get used to!

Cheers guys, i'm glad you all like it. Cause i love it. I can't wait to head back to India and try her through my Axe Fx II. Brootz ahead!
 
#27 ·
I kind of feel like I should comment on this thread - a lot of positive but a few negative assumptions here from people.

All constructive in my view. I'd first like to say that in NO way do I consider myself to be one of the finest luthiers around. I'm self taught, and I've been building since I was 13 but as far as I'm concerned I'm still (and hopefully always will be) learning every day, with each guitar I make.

First to dispel a few assumptions made here.

The nut is NOT a pre slotted nut, and the slots are perfectly straight in relation to the fretboard. I might be self-taught but I'm not an idiot - I'd never use a pre-slotted straight nut on a fanned fret guitar.

It IS however, a straight nut-blank. And the reason I use them is quite simple. Graph-tech's Tusq XXL Black material is made from a mix of Graphite/Teflon powder which is pressure moulded into an epoxy substrate. This is why (for anyone who's cut it before) it smells like burnt hair when you cut it. The outer finish of the material that has been in contact with the mould is incredibly smooth, and much better for reducing friction than the raw material once sawn or sanded - even polished. This is why I use the pre-moulded blanks rather than cutting each nut from the larger blocks of the material - it would actually be cheaper for me to do this, but I don't like the results. My Nut slots are NOT matched to the size of the blank so the bottom of the blank is still cut to size, and the thickness is reduced to fit properly. The only concession is that the width of the blank leaves the slight angled-edges at the ends where they meet the slot-ends. Perhaps this isn't the most elegant solution from an aesthetic point of view and it may be something I look at in future but in my opinion it doesn't spoil the look and it certainly doesn't affect the playability.

On the subject of the fretboard itself, it is not raw, but finished using the same oil recipe I use on my bodies. This is polymerised tung-based combination of oils and AC lacquer that does not "yellow" and is totally matte, which gives the fretboard a more natural look. I use this firstly because it is much more protective than using simple tung oil or something like Tru-oil but also so the pearl inlays retain their whiteness, and the bodies get a nice even satin look rather than a "varnished" feel.

As Shreyas has mentioned, a separate note concerning the nut is that my standard string spacing is 6mm. This is quite narrow (and just a personal preference as I have really tiny bitch-hands.) but I've always cut nuts this way as a result. Shreyas is in the UK for a few more days so I've offered to cut him a new nut to suit him better before he goes home!

As far as I'm concerned, this kind of thing is what custom builds are all about, and I'm just happy to be able to tailor the instrument a bit more to his personal preferences. :)

I really hope you guys like my work (apart from the divisive nut thing!) Its a pleasure to build guitars for a living but you guys are a scary bunch sometimes!

All the best

Chris Sabre Guitars!
 
#34 ·
Hi again - Drew - cheers for the comments.

Regarding the pre-moulded nuts. You're right for the most part, the slots themselves obviously have to be cut/sanded/polished etc. so there's little difference there, but the difference I find comes at the termination point of the string (the apex where the cut slot meets the front of the nut itself. Sounds like a tiny thing, but for me, I think it just ends up with a smoother front face.

I completely concede your points about the aesthetic, and sure for some a tight string spacing like that may not be ideal (hence my re-making it for shreyas) however its certainly not "wonky" and the space between the strings and the edge of the board is exactly equal to the distance between the strings themselves. (its a 48mm wide board at the nut and the spacing is 6mm)

Hopefully I can get some pics to you guys of the neck when the new nut is installed!

Best Wishes

Chris
 
#36 ·
I'm not sure what benefits there are to having the strings equidistant from the edge of the fretboard to the string next to them at the nut. :scratch:
 
#41 ·
I'm not inferring any added benefit - just pointing out they're not "wonky" but regularly spaced lol!

oh and Drew - I've been here for a while! Don't get much time to post but I've got a build thread on here!
You know, now you've got me thinking. I THINK regular spacing is to have them a lot closer to the edges of the fretboard than each other, but without a guitar in front of me I wouldn't stake my life on that.

And in that case, this is a very belated welcome. :lol:
 
#42 ·
Lol.

No I completely agree, on my 6 strings for example there's only a 3.5mm gap between the fretboard and the outer strings. But for 7s I've always reduced the spacing in the past - like I said it's really just from my own personal preference and given the comments definitely something I'll be looking into in more detail.

My response to the "wonky" thing was more because I thought it inferred that the strings were somehow off-centre or irregularly spaced in some way lol!
 
#44 ·
^ :agreed:

Just as a heads-up, this is what my Warmoth's (compensated) nut looks like in terms of edge spacing, which is what most of us are used to regardless of numbers of strings (ignore the backdrop, it was a quick picture :lol:):

 
#47 ·
They're licensing the formula from Earvana.

I'm not sure what the status of the EBMM/Earvana lawsuit is at the moment.
 
#50 ·
Although I'm pretty sure that the dispute arose before we switched to the first-to-file system, which means that if Earvana can prove their particular version was invented first, they can invalidate EBMM's patent.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top