Clarity Ep 51 - Playing With Magnets

In this episode, Ben is playing with magnets to create a unique and seamless method of securing the backplates.

This Video series with Ben Crowe at Crimson Guitars in the UK

Please note that this series was filmed in 2013 when Ben was still working out of a shed at the bottom of his garden. This means that some of Ben's techniques and opinions have since changed, however, much of the content is still relevant so we hope that you will benefit from this series and the updated links.
Thank you for watching.
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Thank you again for all your support, we really, really appreciate it! – Ben
Stay tuned and stay awesome! ____________________________________________________________________

[benrouf]

I love the magnetic handle idea, very slick. Some flathead screws and/or washers of sorts would probably have worked on the inside part in place of the rectangular magnets, covering the bigger wholes and avoid extra chiseling (but who wants to be spared chiseling?).

[SM]

seriously thank you Ben, you are a mad genius and you shared how you figured out how to do this. again thank you.

[samhunt]

Hi Ben. Great guitar. Lovely work. I have made similar control covers with the magnets. What worked well for removing them was to put a chamfer on the underside of the cover in one corner, when pushed at that point, it canter leavers the control plate out. Has worked for me. 👌

[chromauk]

Velvet snooker cue tip for the tool would be perfect imho. Relatively inexpensive, and soft enough to protect any finish you apply. You could even go full blown and have a crimson velvet tip with custom shop inlays done and sell them as spares in your shop, incase the owner winds up losing one! Think of having a junior apprentice cranking out thousands of cue tips for a week or two as "punishment detail."
Speaking as a chef, I know nothing motivated me more as an aspiring bright eyed jnr commis than being stuck with forced menial repetative labour after I made a cock up that tanked the kitchens GP.
Cue tip detail could very well be your version of prepping a dozen cases of Jerusalem Artichokes :D

[fw]

Brilliant idea! You are definitely a detail obsessed man! Bravo! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[stealthracer]

Ben, you ARE an utter genius! Just one thought, instead of putting more magnets in the guitar body, how about putting a pickguard screw (or similar) at each corner of the cavity and fitting a tiny wood plug on top of it to render it invisible?The cover would still be held shut and you'd save on magnets. And to prevent the cover being fitted the wrong way, how about a key - I'm thinking of a small tab along the inside of one edge of the cover, with a corresponding slot inside the cavity.

[alxo]

Since the (roughly) triangular back plate tends to fit the cavity in more than one position, you may have switched the polarity of one of the magnets (and switch the corresponding magnet in the guitar body, too). This way, two magnets out of three would be repelled in case of wrong orientation of the plate: it would stay in place only if correctly inserted.
Same idea for the rectangular plate...

Anyway, good idea: I really appreciate the resulting clean look!!!

Other suggestion: try to create a place in the guitar's body where to put the tool...

:-)

[darrensjames]

G'day Ben, well, I must say you are an utter genius. That was a fantastic idea. Cheers.

[Airtrooper]

This truely is innovative, its the little things like this that make a guitar great!

[escargotomy]

Ben, I am working on my first build with a swamp ash body and will be grain filling black to accent the grain, dyeing multi-shades of green, and finishing with CG Finishing Oil & Renaissance wax as per your Bari-Tele series. I have lots of abrasives on hand (3M & Mirka Abranet, wire wool) and wanted your input as to what grits I should use before/after grain filling, and before/during/after applications of your finishing oil. Thanks very kindly. Cheers, Matt B

[crashastanford]

G'day Ben, Radio Control Aircraft modellers have been using rare earth magnets for hatches for years and they hold hatches on really well.

[rickr]

I like this a lot, great idea! Also like chromauk's snooker tip idea for the protective surface. Though he called it velvet, I believe they are suede cow hide leather which IMHO works well with wood for looks, and in this case function. I'd add my own thought, that if you could find a hex cap screw that fit into the neck strap buttons and that the tool could fit inside of the hex feature, you'd have an awesome storage location.

[thomasgirardin]

Man this is absolutly sweet. I love your ideas. Congratulation.
Keep up the good work

[Alex-jqft]

this is why Ben is - and always will be - better than all of us

[jonasheinonen]

There is a computer gaming mouse called the logitech G403, whitch employs the same magnet type cover in its bottom for inserting/removing weights. The lid is cut in such a way that if you press down at the outer edge between two of the magnets, the other side pops up. No tool needed for that :). Just make the angle of the cover and the placement of the magnets to allow it to swing up. Love These videos Btw. Not a guitar Builder Myself. Beautiful instrument :)

[audiotechlabs]

Will the magnets have any effect on the electronics? Will they have any effect on the strings. I must say the idea is brilliant. You won't know until everything is installed. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. Thankz

[CountryHouseGent]

"You're an utter genius."

[justinparker]

Would you be able to do an in depth tutorial on how to carve a volute? In most neck carving videos I've seen they usually skip over it or don't spotlight the process at all. I am having extreme amounts of trouble with this and would love some assistance. Thank you.

[henter]

hi Ben, are they neo magnets? if so they could degauss the pickups, something definitely to consider! I had few magnets being drained that way already...

[sevenarrows]

By placing the magnets on the long edges instead of the corners, you could bevel the inside of one corner and pushing down on this corner would pop open the cover.