Myka Guitars Posted April 14, 2004 Report Share Posted April 14, 2004 I just finished another electric gutiar. This one is a double cutaway with a quilted maple top, Bolivian rosewood neck, Brazillian rosewood fingerboard, and black limba body. The dye is a black/purple/blue burst on the top and a black burst on the back. This was all done with water based aniline wood dye. The body is slightly chambered for resonance and weight but not too much so it will balance nicely with the extra weight of the rosewood neck. The whole guitar is bound with Indian rosewood and a 5-ply b/w/b/w/b wooden purfling. The finish is a brushed on Nitrocellulose on the body and nothing but bare wood on the rosewood neck. It plays nice and is smooth! Here are a couple pics: Top: Back and details: There is a page on my website with process pictures here: 010 construction process Enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigtommyb Posted April 14, 2004 Report Share Posted April 14, 2004 That looks sweet!! and a great site showing how it was made!! Hope my guitar turns out as good as that 1! Big Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammy Posted April 14, 2004 Report Share Posted April 14, 2004 Good stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asm Posted April 14, 2004 Report Share Posted April 14, 2004 beautiful! love the back! looks great with the tint of black to it, fits the grain perfect. question, where did you get a big piece of rosewood like that for the neck and if you dont mind me asking how much was it? ive been dying to find somewhere that i can get a whole neckthru rosewood piece and not have to lam it all up. looks great! t Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myka Guitars Posted April 14, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2004 asm, I got the piece of Bolivian rosewood from Crosscut Hardwoods in Portland, OR when I lived out there last year. It was a 2" thick piece, 4" wide by 96" long. I think I paid about $100 for it and I'll get 3 necks out of it. I use a scarf joint for my headstocks to save on wood. I know that Allied Lutherie carries Indian Rosewood neck blanks for $80 a piece. It is cheaper to find it in a retail woodstore, you just have to sort through the pile to get to the quartersawn stuff. You can also try Gilmer Wood Company. They have everything for guitars. Ask for Marc Culbertson, he is a builder and will set you up with exactly what you need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbkim Posted April 14, 2004 Report Share Posted April 14, 2004 asm, I got the piece of Bolivian rosewood from Crosscut Hardwoods in Portland, OR when I lived out there last year. It was a 2" thick piece, 4" wide by 96" long. I think I paid about $100 for it and I'll get 3 necks out of it. I use a scarf joint for my headstocks to save on wood. That guitar is a beauty! Heh, I wish I still lived in Portland . Enough for three necks, eh? I've been wanting to make a steinberger L shape from all rosewood (or cocabola.) The shape is small enough I think to make two full guitars from that same amount of wood. Heh, but I should practice on maple first . Hmm... I wonder what a full ebony guitar would sound like? Assuming I could find big enough pieces... I wonder if it'd be too bright sounding . Dare to dream! Again, beautiful guitar... enter it for GOTM if you haven't already! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted April 14, 2004 Report Share Posted April 14, 2004 Good lord, that's a sweet-looking guitar! Off to check out the website...! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tsl602000 Posted April 14, 2004 Report Share Posted April 14, 2004 That's a beautiful guitar. From what I understand you did the burst with dye, right? Any chance you could give us some tips on that? I'd love to do a burst finish, but have no spray equipment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myka Guitars Posted April 14, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2004 I used water soluable aniline dye from StewMac. I mixed up some blue, purple, and black. All the blending was done on the wood. This is what I did for the stain: 0. Raise the grain with a wet rag and sand with 400 grit 3 times. 1. Apply black around the edges and purple for the rest, let it soak in. 2. Lightly sand (400 grit) so only the deep soaked stain remains and the white appears on top of the curl or quilt grain. 3. Apply blue all over, twice. 4. Let it dry and sanded again to lighten up the top. 5. Rub blue into the center and black around the edges and while it is still wet rub purple in between to blend the blue and black. 5. Rub more blue in the center and black near the edges. 6. Sand again. 7. Applied the final staining of black at the edges, touch of purple in the middle and lots of blue in the center. My approach to staining is much like watercolor painting. It is a very forgivable medium. If you put on too much and make things too dark either let it dry and sand it back or wipe a wet rag over the dark area to remove dye. Also you can force lighter color dye over darker dye by saturating the area and rubbing it in. You can also fix a line of dye when you go over a dry area by rubbing it out with more dye. I would suggest starting with a sanded piece of wood and practicing. Play around with it and you will get the hang of it. Start out with diluted dyes so you can see how they work. Then just keep adding more to build up the color. As you can see I used about 10 coats of stain altogether to get the color I wanted. It will come to you if you work with it. I don't have a spray system either. All my coloring is with dye and I brush on nitrocellulose lacquer for the clear coats. It works pretty well even if it does take a little longer. The result is the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerealk Posted April 14, 2004 Report Share Posted April 14, 2004 Looks great! A very nice blue guitar! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyB7539 Posted April 15, 2004 Report Share Posted April 15, 2004 My God... Simply gorgeous... All I can think of to say... I am simply speechless... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar_ed Posted April 15, 2004 Report Share Posted April 15, 2004 Hi Myka, I love the wood and the finishing job. Fantastic. And the dye job is great. I would suggest that it ought to be a "Guitar of the Month." The wood is similar to a piece I got from Warmoth sometime ago. You can see it Here. Scroll down and click on the Blue Guitar. There is something about blue and great quilted maple...... Guitar Ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdw3332 Posted April 15, 2004 Report Share Posted April 15, 2004 Very nice work, it is beautiful. The web site is also great. I liked the pictures of the binding process - I'm getting ready to do my first binding on a spalted maple top. Any hints? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLS Posted April 15, 2004 Report Share Posted April 15, 2004 Looks great! I really like the inlay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myka Guitars Posted April 15, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2004 guitar_ed, you are right about blue and quilted maple. I looked at your blue guitar. Very nice! I am amazed at how wood grows sometimes. That quilted maple is just incredible. That orange Tele is sweet! mdw3332, I am working on a spalted maple top guitar right now. Spalted woods are inconsistent in density and the softwood does not machine well. If you want to do binding make sure your router bit is sharp and be prepared to touch up the binding ledge with sandpaper. The wood may want to chip out in the softer areas. If you take your time and route slower than usual you should be fine. And be sure to use a sanding block to make sure the softer wood does not sand away first and leave you with a bumpy surface. Here is a pic of that spalted maple guitar: Spalted Maple Guitar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdw3332 Posted April 15, 2004 Report Share Posted April 15, 2004 David, Thanks. I intend to practice for a while before I tackle the binding. I have the body glued up and will post a pic after I do some shaping on it. I'm using mahogany under the maple. Your site is great - your #s 006 and 009 are outstanding - well, they all are, but those two just jumped out at me. The process pics are cool. Thanks, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myka Guitars Posted April 15, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2004 Cool, I'm glad you like the site. I add to it all the time. I just updated #009 with more pictures of the dye process. Check it out: #009 Construction Process Thanks everyone for your comments. I appreciate it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdw3332 Posted April 15, 2004 Report Share Posted April 15, 2004 David, I went and talked to my wood guys today and they were really cautious about routing the spalted maple. However, I think I found a good alternative. I have the Stew Mac Dremel binding attachment. I am practicing using that with a 1/4" sanding drum. Seems to work perfectly - takes a little longer maybe, but no fears of tear-out. I have some 1/4" ebony wooden binding that I think will look good. I'll post pics if I don't screw it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myka Guitars Posted April 15, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2004 Great idea! Sanding it would work great. I may try that too now that you found a solution. I was going to do a faux binding but wood binding with some purfling would be sweet. Even if it takes a little longer it is always worth going all the way with a project. Thanks for the sanding bit idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Litchfield Custom Gutars Posted April 20, 2004 Report Share Posted April 20, 2004 That is absolutely brilliant. I never would have thought of that! Thanks a ton for sharing that with us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goth_fiend Posted April 20, 2004 Report Share Posted April 20, 2004 ummm you guys...can you help me lift my jaw off the floor? thats one awesome axe, guitar of the month material for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Litchfield Custom Gutars Posted April 20, 2004 Report Share Posted April 20, 2004 This is what I did for the stain: 0. Raise the grain with a wet rag and sand with 400 grit 3 times. 1. Apply black around the edges and purple for the rest, let it soak in. 2. Lightly sand (400 grit) so only the deep soaked stain remains and the white appears on top of the curl or quilt grain. 3. Apply blue all over, twice. 4. Let it dry and sanded again to lighten up the top. 5. Rub blue into the center and black around the edges and while it is still wet rub purple in between to blend the blue and black. 5. Rub more blue in the center and black near the edges. 6. Sand again. 7. Applied the final staining of black at the edges, touch of purple in the middle and lots of blue in the center. My approach to staining is much like watercolor painting. It is a very forgivable medium. If you put on too much and make things too dark either let it dry and sand it back or wipe a wet rag over the dark area to remove dye. Also you can force lighter color dye over darker dye by saturating the area and rubbing it in. You can also fix a line of dye when you go over a dry area by rubbing it out with more dye. I would suggest starting with a sanded piece of wood and practicing. Play around with it and you will get the hang of it. Start out with diluted dyes so you can see how they work. Then just keep adding more to build up the color. As you can see I used about 10 coats of stain altogether to get the color I wanted. It will come to you if you work with it. Thank you for the great tutorial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spirit Posted April 20, 2004 Report Share Posted April 20, 2004 I saw this on the MIMF forum too. Can't remember if i replied. Still, my thoughts go something along these lines: *Jaw drops* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajb Posted April 21, 2004 Report Share Posted April 21, 2004 nice guitar, but i dont think its yours, i've seen it on musicians friend or somthin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted April 21, 2004 Report Share Posted April 21, 2004 Er... OK... It's not his, the webpage of the build is fake, the inside knowledge is fake... it's all a hoax so that he can make himself look cool to a relatively small group of strangers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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