Fun with carbon fiber...

XSSIVE

XSSIVE

OCDologist
I've had carbon fiber parts on several of my cars over the years from hoods and side view mirrors to suspension braces and all sorts of other pats. What I hadn't done for some reason is incorporate carbon fiber into any of my guitars or anything like that. So I had the crazy idea to make a real carbon fiber guitar pick using some high quality solid carbon fiber twill weave 1.5mm thick gloss finished on both sides material.

carbonweave.jpg



Well the pick looks great, has amazing grip, sounds good and plays well....BUT...big but...once you get past the hard gel coating on the outside and form a bevel on the edge (which is what strikes the strings as you play) it's essentially like playing with an extra hard carbon pencil and my fingers were black with dust after just a few minutes of playing. :laughing:

It does look cool though...

cfpick.jpg



Oh well, that failed. That wasn't my only idea though. My guitar now has a control cavity cover made of solid carbon fiber hahaha.

cfcover.jpg


cfcoverb.jpg


Was considering offering them as options for my guitars but I'm not sure how many people are as nuts as I am and would want to pay extra (quite a bit due to material cost) for a fancy cavity cover haha.

I'm tempted to get a 3mm thick sheet to try making a neck plate at some point.
 
Re: Fun with carbon fiber...

That cover is AWESOME!! i am using dunlop picks that are supposed to be carbon fiber and no residue.

Depending how extreme the cost is, I might be interested
 
Re: Fun with carbon fiber...

BloodRose said:
That cover is AWESOME!! i am using dunlop picks that are supposed to be carbon fiber and no residue.

Depending how extreme the cost is, I might be interested
Click to expand...

I use the carbon Jazz III's, and I love them.
 
Re: Fun with carbon fiber...

I think a carbon fiber pick guard can look awesome, but it has to be paired with the right colors. It goes great with that green, or matte black

frontside_zpsfa84f090.png


Ferrari colors would probably all work good, since they're putting so much carbon fiber on their cars now.

But with sunburst and off white plastic? mmmm No.

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Re: Fun with carbon fiber...

I have the "carbon fiber" Jazz III picks too and I use the "" because they really aren't carbon fiber, well not true woven carbon fiber like I used and is used in most exotic cars and aftermarket car parts. The Jazz IIIs are made up of the dust from carbon fiber and a ton of some sort of bonding material to harden and hold it all together. It's like comparing a solid piece of alder to a piece of MDF, MDF is wood dust and glue that's used to bond it together and make it solid while alder is solid alder. It's the way they get around the issue I had with the beveled edges dusting when they scrape on the strings, make the pick mostly out of some form of plastic or glue that hardens when molded with some carbon fiber dust mixed in.

If you look at a close up pic of them you can see the speckles of dust that they're made up of and that there's no actual woven pattern.

huge pic... http://www.gearnuts.com/images/closeup/xl/1600-471P3C_detail1.jpg

Carbon fiber pickguards are of course on my potential "to do" list for future builds. I just wanted to test it out and see how easy a material it is to work with and the answer, very easy.
 
Re: Fun with carbon fiber...

I love that you're seemingly never content to rehash the tried and true methods, Mike. You're really pushing the envelope on your guitars and I love it. I wish that carbon fiber would look good on my guitars - any of them - because I want it. It would just look terrible on any of my instruments.
 
Re: Fun with carbon fiber...

I'd love to do a whole carbon fiber guitar but I've never worked with the raw sheets of the stuff and the resin, no idea where to begin with that. I have considered doing a recessed carbon fiber top on a wood body though, another on the "to build" list.
 
Re: Fun with carbon fiber...

Wow! Some cool stuff. I bet a CF pickup cover could be sweet too.
 
Re: Fun with carbon fiber...

trevorus said:
I use the carbon Jazz III's, and I love them.
Click to expand...

Yep! Those are the ones! Thanks, couldnt remember the proper name. I started using orange tortexs and then switched to Red Jazz IIIs then the EJ ones. When I discovered the Carbon Jazz IIIs, I was hooked! Love em!
 
Re: Fun with carbon fiber...

Yeah, thanks Mike! Thats why I said "supposed to be" cuz I knew they werent solid cf, but didnt want to try to explain exactly what they are as I wasnt 100% sure.

That black axe with the cf pickguard looks boss and the that v...... Schwing!!!!
My washburn 526 has a carbon epoxy board and its killer. Again, not true carbon fiber.
 
Re: Fun with carbon fiber...

Ive never played one of the rainsongs, but I love the look and have always been very curious about them
 
Re: Fun with carbon fiber...

Mike,

Darren Wilson from Decibel Guitars up here in canuckistan has also worked on carbon fiber picks, and he's actually selling them as well. I'm not sure if he solved the carbon dust problem, but maybe get in touch with him and ask him about it.

398945_10151533399451605_773784860_n.jpg
1465363_10152044017026605_911887437_n.jpg

https://www.facebook.com/decibelguitars
 
Re: Fun with carbon fiber...

CTN...Thanks for the heads up. Didn't know anyone made real carbon fiber picks. From that first pic of the beveled ones it seems the tips have a finish on them. They look glossy at the end with a clear line where some sort of finish stops and the rest is more matte textured. Perhaps he's just finishing them with gel coat, epoxy or even super glue on the tips? If that's what he's doing it would work, but I'd be worried it would wear off fairly quick and you'd be back down to the carbon inside.

This little project all started because I became a pick junkie and started collecting a ton of different picks and realized I only like bevel edge Jazz III shape from 1-1.5mm. So I did this to do more testing....

resized_picks.jpg


Dunlop doesn't actually make any of those in Jazz III bevel edge size, I cut them down just like I did the sheet of carbon fiber. Turns out Dunlop X-H Gel picks in Jazz III bevel edge are awesome. Had to make a bunch extra since I liked it so much.
 
Re: Fun with carbon fiber...

Just checked his site and as I guessed....

"The tip of each pick is sealed, shaped and hand-polished for precise picking and a smooth finish."

I wonder how long the tip finish will last? I can't see it lasting all that long honestly since it's being rubbed against wound metal strings over and over.
 
Re: Fun with carbon fiber...

I agreed with your observation on the tips, so I see thats confirmed. I dunno, some epoxys are nearly indestructable. Wonder how that changes the tone tho. I like the cut outs he has for grips too.
 
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