White XR Spectra
White XR Spectra Pickups, anyone? These are white XR Spectra 82mm pickups that are currently custom ordered. I’m thinking we can make this a standard if there is enough interest.
Manufacturing Thor: Pearl On Carbon
I find the iridescence of mother-of-pearl simply irresistible. That shimmering effect of mother-of-pearl, together with the way carbon fiber reflects light, is simply majestic!
XR Spectra Availability
It took us a long time, but I’m finally happy to announce that we are now manufacturing a fresh batch of XR Spectras. The XR Spectras are now available for pre-order, with an estimated 2-4 weeks lead-time. The current version is still v2, but I am changing the naming from inch to mm, and so …
Nu Cello
A brief diversion from the Manufacturing Thor series. Here are some photos of Ferdinand Liedtke’s Nu-equipped Cello. The Nu modular pickups are used in all sorts of instruments! Ferdinand says he’ll share some sound clips soon.
Manufacturing Thor: Part 7
Here’s how our fret cutting tool works. A laser-cut acrylic template with fret position slots aligns with a 3mm pin. The fret slots are cut on a small rotary saw with a titanium coated circular saw blade with a cutting width of 0.5mm.
Manufacturing Thor: Part 6B
After posting Manufacturing about Thor’s Compound Radius Fretboard, I was pointed to an article by Mottola stating that compound radius fretboards are not worth the extra effort and that cylindrical fretboards and normal fret dressing techniques yield the same results. I went on to analyze this claim.
Manufacturing Thor: Part 6
Thor’s fretboard has a compound radius, with a nut radius of 304 mm (12′′) and a 24th fret radius of 456 mm (18′′). Compound radius fretboards have a conical surface that allows for low action and no string buzz.
Manufacturing Thor: Part 5
Manufacturing Thor Part 5: The Neck Duplicator: How do you quickly produce repeatably precise necks without using a CNC? We made our own wood carving duplicator for just this purpose. It works like a charm. It enables us to copy a master pattern in amazing detail using a compact router on one side and a stylus on the other.
Manufacturing Thor: Part 4
Part 4: The Nut: OK, So… Your frets are metal. Your tuning machines are metal. Your bridge is metal. And your nut is… eh… plastic? Bone? Or some kind of synthetic material resembling bone? The nut we use for Thor is made of laser-cut stainless steel, buffed to perfection. It matches the sonic and mechanical properties of Thor’s stainless-steel frets.
Manufacturing Thor: Part 3
Part 3: Manufacturing The Middle Section Previously, I wrote about the design of the Thor’s middle section. This time, we’ll look at how the middle section is manufactured. As mentioned in the <a href=”https://www.cycfi.com/2022/09/manufacturing-thor-part-2/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>previous post</a>, I decided not to use a CNC machine. At least not this time. We don’t use much wood anyway, and the wooden parts are …