I've built over a dozen Custom Ancient Swamp Kauri guitars, for such artists as John Oates and Nancy Wilson. It's a great wood to work with, but fragile. IF you can afford it, purchase the ultra rare "Whitebait" Ancient Swamp Kauri and when finished properly, can mesmerize you with the iridescent chatoyance that this wood displays...
Right before the end of the video , I was like wow Ben tattoo looks more bold and i went back and checked , YES he had some work done on the Crows wings. P.S. I cant wait for the finished guitar reveal.
I noticed the same and came to comments to see if anyone else had noticed, and if it was retouched or I was just imagining it or....... he had just put some hidration creme on his head, cause it was a bit red... XD
Every time you post a video, it is my first stop for viewing pleasure. It is such a great channel all the way around from What's on the bench, to the story's now behind the guitars, to the luthiers set up, and last up not least the guitar builders. Way to grow the channel and keep it entertaining. Oh and the unboxing videos are very exciting. Ok enough praise for now.
For cutting that headstock area off on the bandsaw after the neck shape is routed, U can super glue and masking tape the neck onto a piece of 4x2 and use that as the piece that registers to the bandsaw table. You can get the neck set perpendicular to the blade relatively easy that way. And it’s WAAAYYY MORW STABLE!
Very happy to see you working on this build again looking forward to seeing it finished and hearing what it sounds like. I also Liked the what's on the bench return I saw yesterday evening. Thanks Ben.
I was surprised that the fret board stayed connected with wood glue. The reason being is that it was soak in cactus juice and I thought that would have filled in all of the pores of the wood. I am glad it worked though.
Definitely agree with the pick idea from the headstock off cut. It's a very expensive and old piece of wood, be silly to waste big chunks of it. Use as much as you can!
Great build. I used ChatGPT and asked for a limerick about Ben Crow and got an interesting result. There once was a man named Ben Crow, Who built guitars with a crimson glow, Each instrument he made, Was a work of art displayed, And it left all who played them feeling aglow!
@@CrimsonCustomGuitars Hey, I tried to follow your Instagram, but it is private. Maybe I got the wrong one, there's two. Request may be under Dave Nyberg. Thanks!!
Yay, all the way for kauri picks !!!🎉 To be able to own even a smidging of such beautiful wood (insert pun) would be awesome. The guitar is coming along amazingly, waiting with baited breath for the addition of lacquer to see it’s full beauty 👍🏻
definitely want a sharp router bit when doing that trimming ? Had me puckering up thinking about tear out on 42, 000 year old piece of wood and How I would explain that to a customer ? But we know you have a pet peeve on sharp tools !!!
Ben - just occurred to me - instead of tape for quieting truss rods - clear silicon might last longer. I can see the masking tape drying out in 50 years, leading to rattle. But I'm not sure silicon would work, it dries and shrinks over time I suspect. But there may be some modern material - would epoxy be too brittle? There may be some modern material that might last longer and not shrink. Build for the ages. Pursuit of excellence. God is in the details. Step up your game. Push the envelope. And all that jazz. Btw, I learned how to build guitars by watching all your build videos in order, from oldest to newest. I consider you to be my guitar luthiery Sensei.
Great to see a build video again! Not sure how I feel about the fretboard though... I think a contrasting wood always looks better. Would it still take stain after the treatment?
Ben, Have you seen the latest Premier Guitar episode where they go to the Fender Custom Shop? They also have some extremely old wood. Check out what they made with it at the end of their episode.
hey BUN, nice to see a video like this again. really great. Very cool what you do with this wood. Does the fretboard get darker so that it stands out from the rest?
The whole swamp Kauri thing is pretty weird. I got a big swag of it years and years ago simply because the sawmill I'd go to every so often to get Macrocarpa slabs just happened to have swamp Kauri and it was before swamp Kauri was even a thing. The guy took we out to where all the slabs were and said 'we have this too, it was dug out of a swamp, Kauri it is, and it's basically the same price as the Mac' so I'm like 'okay, may as well, I'll have a couple of those.' 'Cause by then I really liked regular Kauri, most of it from salvage of old buildings, soft yes but when it could be got on the quarter it has such a lovely fleck and the golden colour is so rich it's really lovely stuff to work. So then I've this 'Swamp' Kauri and I didn't actually like it that much as it had a greenish grey tinge going on and, well, that didn't really enthuse me. Still worked nice but even then it was a bit stinky. Actually what's kinda interesting is that all the other natives, the ones that are actually useful for guitar building, have still been here and, maybe even wonderfully, have stayed on the shelves...
Is the belt on the Triton oscillating sander going clockwise or anti-clockwise? It does look like it is going clockwise. I ask because I have the Rigid (US) version of this machine, and it runs clockwise. However, the sander mechanism is flipped 180 degrees from the Triton. This places the smaller roller on the right, and I don't like it. I would prefer a version of this sander type that has the larger roller on right, and runs clockwise.
My question would be, why not have assembled the entire neck blank, sans truss rod, and cactus juice the entire thing? Then install the truss rod from the rear, Fender style. The neck and headstock, especially the headstock, are likely to dent as well. Am I wrong in thinking that the juiced fretboard won't lend much strength overall, as well?
Couldn`t you bake the piece intended for plectrums to harden it or them after they`re cut, that might be a quicker solution? But, you have to know the correct temperature & for how long etc etc (must be true cos I read it on the web)!
Hiya Bun, Great video, thank you. Isn't the lack of vast numbers of tools in your new on-air workshop showing your wife that you don't need all the tools you have at home? That you never use now? Do you need to give her ideas? Worse, giving our partners ideas? Stay safe, Steve...
I’m sad, Ben. I’ve been having to de-superglue my Crimson TR template from the blank after routing the main channel, then move it along to get that extra bit of channel needed for Gibson or Silver Sky - type TR adjustment slots. And now I see the one you’re using there has an additional little slot *just* for that extra bit. A great upgrade but it left me behind a little. I weep… A suggestion for your neck/fretboard templates - as your already mark the fret positions, why not a little text field alongside the 12th fret? Also, holes for the centres for inlay positions would be incredibly useful time saver.
Ben, you could make a raffle for the plectra, with multiple winners, to raise more money for the guitar museum. They may not be that functional, but damn, they are old.
Like the style of this video! I'm intrigued why you didnt use the template to create the truss-rod access hole? I havn't got a template like this and getting that hole to look neat has caused me a few tears...
But I might route a new guide hole in my template… will need a couple of bits of wood to make a temporary template for it - as you might use when routing a neck pocket into a body to match the neck you have..
Since you vacuumed wood with resin, are you not concerned about glue joint strenght between fretboard and neck (I thought you would use epoxy for that job…)? Anyway, keep on with good work ;)
I mask the truss rod, I get a lot of necks that are full of glue, it's a mess to repair, the last one was a high end epiphone that was passed around the second hand market till the guy that bought it sent it to me for repair....
Ben, about the carbon fiber rods: You have glued them in using CA glue, and you have only put the glue at the bottom of the cavity. Is this sufficient? I have seen people using epoxy for this and they were flooding the whole pocket with epoxy. I am about to build a bass neck with carbon rods and you have just confused me.
I always cut that afterwards, drilling into an open cavity tends to make the drill jump in your hands and that can crack the thin section next to where the fretboard will be glued.. I prefer using a sacrificial drill bit and go after the fretboard is making that area nice and solid
Did you get your scalp tattoo touched up, or added to? Looks like a fresh outline, and some swelling in the solid areas. Build is coming along great, keep it up, man!
Is it just me, or has Ben had his head tats redone? They look darker today.
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Is there any alternative to the rolled up masking tape on the truss rod? Aged masking tape is a crusty ugly thing. I know it won’t ever be seen but loads of details aren’t. I would suggest bits of shrink tubing laid on top of the rod. Am I anal? I need to know…
![[TH] 2024 PMSL SEA W3D1 | Fall | สัปดาห์ตัดสิน ทีมไปไฟนอล](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZBU3GyzqErI/mqdefault.jpg)
I've built over a dozen Custom Ancient Swamp Kauri guitars, for such artists as John Oates and Nancy Wilson. It's a great wood to work with, but fragile. IF you can afford it, purchase the ultra rare "Whitebait" Ancient Swamp Kauri and when finished properly, can mesmerize you with the iridescent chatoyance that this wood displays...
Right before the end of the video , I was like wow Ben tattoo looks more bold and i went back and checked , YES he had some work done on the Crows wings.
P.S. I cant wait for the finished guitar reveal.
I noticed the same thing.
I noticed the same and came to comments to see if anyone else had noticed, and if it was retouched or I was just imagining it or....... he had just put some hidration creme on his head, cause it was a bit red... XD
I'd love to see some 42,000 year old plectrums! DOOOO EEEEEEETTTTT!!!!!
8:08 Oh come on! Cut right when we got to the interesting part! 😋
Every time you post a video, it is my first stop for viewing pleasure. It is such a great channel all the way around from What's on the bench, to the story's now behind the guitars, to the luthiers set up, and last up not least the guitar builders. Way to grow the channel and keep it entertaining. Oh and the unboxing videos are very exciting. Ok enough praise for now.
Would definitely like to see some picks made and tried from the remains of the headstock.
I agree!
I check for these progress videos every time I open TH-cam. This has been a fascinating build
It's great to see you building again.
When he said " I am enjoying today." I could've sworn he said; " I had a joint today." I had to listen to it twice.
For cutting that headstock area off on the bandsaw after the neck shape is routed, U can super glue and masking tape the neck onto a piece of 4x2 and use that as the piece that registers to the bandsaw table. You can get the neck set perpendicular to the blade relatively easy that way. And it’s WAAAYYY MORW STABLE!
Neck looks great Ben. Great to see you behind the bench again.
Crimson Guitars- probably the prettiest offcuts in the world!
The masking tape won't rip off the template, but can get between the bearing and template and cause some inperfections
Very happy to see you working on this build again looking forward to seeing it finished and hearing what it sounds like. I also Liked the what's on the bench return I saw yesterday evening. Thanks Ben.
Love the “Fight me in the Comments” graphic!
Nice to see skilled, hard, work. Nice glow from the head!!!
Binding definitely worth doing on the f hole. I like the Sharpe point. Don't see f holes like that. Really enjoying this build.
I was surprised that the fret board stayed connected with wood glue. The reason being is that it was soak in cactus juice and I thought that would have filled in all of the pores of the wood. I am glad it worked though.
Taping off the truss rod: Every bit of glue squeeze out you get around the permitter is the same going into your truss rod cavity.
Anyone else getting muffled audio distortion in the left channel?
same here!!
Yessir.
Oh good I thought it was my phone
nope!
Yeah, scratchy sound on left channel, very annoying
Definitely agree with the pick idea from the headstock off cut. It's a very expensive and old piece of wood, be silly to waste big chunks of it. Use as much as you can!
Great build. I used ChatGPT and asked for a limerick about Ben Crow and got an interesting result.
There once was a man named Ben Crow,
Who built guitars with a crimson glow,
Each instrument he made,
Was a work of art displayed,
And it left all who played them feeling aglow!
David - this is AMAZING! Please can we use it on Instagram?
@@CrimsonCustomGuitars Of course you can use it.
@@CrimsonCustomGuitars Hey, I tried to follow your Instagram, but it is private. Maybe I got the wrong one, there's two. Request may be under Dave Nyberg. Thanks!!
Loving this build, also liking the new ink up top, looking good!
Yay, all the way for kauri picks !!!🎉 To be able to own even a smidging of such beautiful wood (insert pun) would be awesome. The guitar is coming along amazingly, waiting with baited breath for the addition of lacquer to see it’s full beauty 👍🏻
definitely want a sharp router bit when doing that trimming ? Had me puckering up thinking about tear out on 42, 000 year old piece of wood and How I would explain that to a customer ? But we know you have a pet peeve on sharp tools !!!
Oh, and if inlaying the fretboard, paua shell (I think you call abalone?), would be a nice detail IMO
With the round end on the head stock, it'd be cool to integrate a koru pattern into it ;-)
Ben - just occurred to me - instead of tape for quieting truss rods - clear silicon might last longer. I can see the masking tape drying out in 50 years, leading to rattle. But I'm not sure silicon would work, it dries and shrinks over time I suspect. But there may be some modern material - would epoxy be too brittle? There may be some modern material that might last longer and not shrink. Build for the ages. Pursuit of excellence. God is in the details. Step up your game. Push the envelope. And all that jazz.
Btw, I learned how to build guitars by watching all your build videos in order, from oldest to newest. I consider you to be my guitar luthiery Sensei.
Very awesome Guitar being Made. Thanks Ben.
I would love to see a puriri fretboard on one of the kauri guitars
Great to see a build video again! Not sure how I feel about the fretboard though... I think a contrasting wood always looks better. Would it still take stain after the treatment?
Darn I love this build. Yes, plectra please.
Did you get some more work done to the tats on your head??? It’s looking mighty shiny!!!
Ben,
Have you seen the latest Premier Guitar episode where they go to the Fender Custom Shop? They also have some extremely old wood. Check out what they made with it at the end of their episode.
hey BUN, nice to see a video like this again. really great. Very cool what you do with this wood. Does the fretboard get darker so that it stands out from the rest?
Good afternoon Ben how are you today
Yay !
Every time I work on a guitar I say burn it!
I think it would be awesome to make a plectrum from the same material.
The whole swamp Kauri thing is pretty weird. I got a big swag of it years and years ago simply because the sawmill I'd go to every so often to get Macrocarpa slabs just happened to have swamp Kauri and it was before swamp Kauri was even a thing. The guy took we out to where all the slabs were and said 'we have this too, it was dug out of a swamp, Kauri it is, and it's basically the same price as the Mac' so I'm like 'okay, may as well, I'll have a couple of those.'
'Cause by then I really liked regular Kauri, most of it from salvage of old buildings, soft yes but when it could be got on the quarter it has such a lovely fleck and the golden colour is so rich it's really lovely stuff to work. So then I've this 'Swamp' Kauri and I didn't actually like it that much as it had a greenish grey tinge going on and, well, that didn't really enthuse me. Still worked nice but even then it was a bit stinky.
Actually what's kinda interesting is that all the other natives, the ones that are actually useful for guitar building, have still been here and, maybe even wonderfully, have stayed on the shelves...
Surprised you didn't go with one of the insanely dense oceana/Austrasian hardwoods for the fret board
Āe rā. Pūriri fretboard and Rātā neck would’ve made more sense.
Is the belt on the Triton oscillating sander going clockwise or anti-clockwise? It does look like it is going clockwise. I ask because I have the Rigid (US) version of this machine, and it runs clockwise. However, the sander mechanism is flipped 180 degrees from the Triton. This places the smaller roller on the right, and I don't like it. I would prefer a version of this sander type that has the larger roller on right, and runs clockwise.
My question would be, why not have assembled the entire neck blank, sans truss rod, and cactus juice the entire thing? Then install the truss rod from the rear, Fender style.
The neck and headstock, especially the headstock, are likely to dent as well.
Am I wrong in thinking that the juiced fretboard won't lend much strength overall, as well?
Things to do while waiting for a glue-up to dry.
A: Sleep.
B: Watch TV.
C. Get 8 hours of head tattoos.
Couldn`t you bake the piece intended for plectrums to harden it or them after they`re cut, that might be a quicker solution? But, you have to know the correct temperature & for how long etc etc (must be true cos I read it on the web)!
Hiya Bun,
Great video, thank you. Isn't the lack of vast numbers of tools in your new on-air workshop showing your wife that you don't need all the tools you have at home? That you never use now? Do you need to give her ideas? Worse, giving our partners ideas?
Stay safe, Steve...
I’m sad, Ben. I’ve been having to de-superglue my Crimson TR template from the blank after routing the main channel, then move it along to get that extra bit of channel needed for Gibson or Silver Sky - type TR adjustment slots.
And now I see the one you’re using there has an additional little slot *just* for that extra bit. A great upgrade but it left me behind a little. I weep…
A suggestion for your neck/fretboard templates - as your already mark the fret positions, why not a little text field alongside the 12th fret? Also, holes for the centres for inlay positions would be incredibly useful time saver.
Thank you Paul, I have sent this on to Sam Hook. DC
Ben, you could make a raffle for the plectra, with multiple winners, to raise more money for the guitar museum. They may not be that functional, but damn, they are old.
with the fretboard being so soft, will you be using wood hardener to help it stay in shape and not wear out too soon, or lacquer finish?
You didn’t make use of the truss rod access part of your jig.
Like the style of this video! I'm intrigued why you didnt use the template to create the truss-rod access hole? I havn't got a template like this and getting that hole to look neat has caused me a few tears...
Ditto! I remove and replace the template a little further along the neck and use an 8mm bit to rout that part of the channel..
But I might route a new guide hole in my template… will need a couple of bits of wood to make a temporary template for it - as you might use when routing a neck pocket into a body to match the neck you have..
Since you vacuumed wood with resin, are you not concerned about glue joint strenght between fretboard and neck (I thought you would use epoxy for that job…)? Anyway, keep on with good work ;)
Did your Kauri owning Jaguar obsessed client also commission a Fender Masterbuild? (Premier Guitar custom shop tour, 17 mins in).
One of these days Ben will get a squirter of glue on his glasses and be like "and this is why we where goggles"
Great video again. I have a question concerning the carbon stoffing rod. What size ? I can't find them on the website, and many size exist. Thx
Past me does stuff to make my life difficult too
Why not a rosewood or ebony fretboard?
I thought you treated it with cactus juice resin. But it's still that soft?
Ben, you need more coffee !!!
Next week really ;o) Nice neck anyway !
Ben, are you OK. You’ve sounded a bit breathless in the last two videos I’ve seen (hand build and this one). Please pause to consider your health.
Looking good Bun. Fresh Ink on the head wings?
I mask the truss rod, I get a lot of necks that are full of glue, it's a mess to repair, the last one was a high end epiphone that was passed around the second hand market till the guy that bought it sent it to me for repair....
Good point! It's also easier to apply the glue with the masking tape in place, so I can't think of a good reason not to use it.
What router bit did you use to do the channels in the neck?
Ben, about the carbon fiber rods: You have glued them in using CA glue, and you have only put the glue at the bottom of the cavity. Is this sufficient? I have seen people using epoxy for this and they were flooding the whole pocket with epoxy. I am about to build a bass neck with carbon rods and you have just confused me.
You don't need to flood it with epoxy. What I did is perfectly fine. Ben
Truss rod adjustment access? 😬
Make the plectrums.
You could make plectrums, but designed to be used as a necklace.
Nice build! I’m no expert but isn’t the trussrod access missing? Or is it common to cut it afterwards?
I always cut that afterwards, drilling into an open cavity tends to make the drill jump in your hands and that can crack the thin section next to where the fretboard will be glued.. I prefer using a sacrificial drill bit and go after the fretboard is making that area nice and solid
Ok I was wondering the same thing
@@CrimsonCustomGuitars nice thanks for clarification!
Ben did you get your head tattoo touched up? Looks fresh 👍
I noticed that too
Did you get your scalp tattoo touched up, or added to? Looks like a fresh outline, and some swelling in the solid areas. Build is coming along great, keep it up, man!
Was thinking the same thing.
Wednesday I think. That's why he couldn't present the giveaway draw.
Why not use the superglue trick and add a square piece of wood on the headstock while trimming the thickness, much safer, better control. FWIW
anyone else hearing a lot of mic buzzing in this video?
hey ben, too much coffee today?
Ben make 42,000 old Guitar picks to mach the Guitar
Is it just me, or has Ben had his head tats redone? They look darker today.
Is there any alternative to the rolled up masking tape on the truss rod? Aged masking tape is a crusty ugly thing. I know it won’t ever be seen but loads of details aren’t. I would suggest bits of shrink tubing laid on top of the rod. Am I anal? I need to know…
GooD)))))))
Wood that’s 42,000 years old?? Hmmm
why so many uploads in between.... why not just make this guitar?
42000 years old?
Recovered from a swamp
Have you had a new haircut? Looking shiny 😅
I suspect he was under the needle again recently.
Plectrums made out of that aren't going to last 5 minutes sadly
Are you South African? Once upon a time, anyway.
Bens breathing is super annoying!!! Why wouldn't you edit this out!!!! Its like someone chewing with their mouth open.