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Carillion Polaris Multiscale 7 Build Thread

6K views 26 replies 12 participants last post by  drawnacrol 
#1 ·
I got in contact with Chris Delia last year after seeing some of his guitars on FB just to say I really liked his work and ended up talking a lot about guitars and throwing around ideas for a build. I was already knee deep in builds at the time and I wanted to try his work first before committing to a build. Chris lives near Feline Guitars so I flew over to England with my Koa Ibanez to drop it off for a SS refret and check out the Carillion Guitars workshop. Chris put all my doubts to rest since his guitars were top notch and he is extremely knowledgable in guitar building, not to mention a really cool guy. He has quite an extensive wood stash so we spent a few hours picking out pieces and going over every millimetre of the guitar making sure everything was the way I wanted.

After getting my Daemoness I know exactly what I want in a guitar nowadays but that means going custom. This build is very similar just with a few differences like the neck woods swapped, oil finish, slightly smaller fan for B standard tuning etc

So here is the beginnings of my Carillion Polaris Multiscale 7 string.

I looked through about 20 Quilt Maple top, it was a very hard choice but I picked this one out because of the curving figure around the arm rest.


Flamed Black Limba Body


Clamped up


5 piece neck: Honduras Rosewood with flame maple inserts


I opted for the new REAVER headstock as soon as I saw the prototype, I've grown to like 4 over 3 headstocks more than inline.


A set of Lundgren "The Ones", Alnico V pickups wound to about 15k and slanted at 14 degrees. They are the same set as in my Daemoness but with black allen screws for minor adjustments.
 
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#10 ·
Cheers dudes, I'm really happy how its turning out so far.

Neck pocket and arm contour cut.


Second from the left, some crazy looking guitars in this batch. I was originally going to go for an African Blackwood fretboard again but the supplier I got mine off for my Daemoness wasn't replying so I had a look through about 50+ boards and settled on ebony. Chris then went through his stock looking for a really tight grain black board.
 
#11 ·
Neck profile is being carved. I tried out a few of his guitars with his D profile and settled on a slightly flatter back so its going to be similar to the Ultra Prestige profile on my old Rg1527 but a small bit thicker. Neck profiles are something thats never really given me trouble unless they're vintage Cs or super thin wizard necks.



The quilt maple backplate has been glued on too. It and the front plate has a black veneer strip to separate the two.
 
#13 ·
Build update! Inlays are done. These took Chris ages since the point of the shield follows the angle of each fret. A lot of work but a really fine detail that adds to the instrument. I'm really happy how they turned out. Body carves are done. Frets and bolt-on contour next.



Here is a bit of an optical illusion because of the angle of the end of the neck and bridge saddles, the neck pickup looks crooked but its sitting at 14 degrees, same as the bridge pickup. The pickups are made for a 1 inch fan so they sit slightly closer to the lower string saddles on a .75 inch fan. One of the little things that further adds to the effect of a multiscale.


You can see the difference the extra .25" makes on the lowest string on my Daemoness.
 
#15 ·
I have invisalign braces, I can barely say Polaris haha

Its going to be a beast. I've really homed in on what I like and want in a guitar. It took a few years but I've nearly figured it all out. The Daemoness is getting tuned down to A standard and this will be in B standard.
 
#16 ·
carillionguitars First colour coat to scratch find after drum sanding the top. This'll get cleaned up then it'll get 'blacked' to pop the figure. That'll then get cleaned up to completely scratch free then it'll get blacked again to pop the figure one final time. That'll get cut back then colouring can start. This is private stock quilt so the prep work is everything when it comes to getting the most from the figure! Long, but very worth it!

 
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