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MuffinPunch

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Posts posted by MuffinPunch

  1. So I decided to continue on with the "good one" so as to not go on a fiery rampage and destroy the entire shop. I figured Id go ahead and put the radius on the edges so I dont forget and inadvertently drill the output jack first. Then I rough shaped the body and arm contours on the spindle and belt sander.

    100_5383.jpg

    100_5384.jpg

    Trem cavity is a bit rough on this one cuz I used a dull cutting bit on the milling machine. I was happy to use a router after that.

    100_5385.jpg

    its amazing how much lighter the bodies are after routing! Makes me want to get them (or at least one of them) ready for finishing along side the sevens! So I decided to order soome of the hardware for these two the other day. Mostly interim parts designed for replacement until I can come up with some money to buy the good stuff. I want to equip these with OFRs and DiMarzios, but for now I think they will have to settle for chinese knockoffs. Does anyone know of a cheap licensed Floyd has the exact same mounting points as an OFR? I want to just make the swap later on without having to modify anything on the guitar. I had thought about going with the Floyd Rose Special, but it seems silly to drop that kind of cash on a bridge that Im am designing to be replaced as soon as possible.

  2. Bitter sweet day of woodworking today... I feel like I actually got quite a lot done considering. I had to buy a new pattern bit to rout the cavities. I thought I could get away with just using a cheap Rockler bit. It worked for about an hour...

    I got my template positioned to rout the front of the guitars and prepped the router and what not.

    100_5375.jpg

    Got the whole body routed, one down one to go.

    100_5376.jpg

    I am putting a 2 degree angle on the neck pockets for the top mount FR, so after doing all of the standard routing I packed shims under the template to raise the end of the board to match the angle while I routed the neck pocket. Somehow the bit cought on the edge of my template on the second pass and blew the baring. I had no idea until I realized the router wasnt running smoothly accross the template. Epic FAIL Rockler! (it was probably my own stupid fault, but I sure like to shove the blame off onto someone else after a screw up like that!)

    100_5380.jpg100_5379.jpg

  3. Progress is a bit slow as always... Got the scarf joints done and the truss rod channels cut though. Hope to get the fingerboards on by the end of the week. Really need to get the body ready for casting... that means completely finished. I have to take it somewhere to get the sandblasting done as the sand blaster at school isnt equipped for wood. It would probably eat a gaping hole into the face! still have to drill some holes and finish sand before then.

    p_00143.jpg

    p_00147.jpg

    100_5374.jpg

  4. RAD, that finish is incredible!!! I want one! Quick question though, at the risk of looking like an ignorant n00b, that glazing you used a few steps back... was that to fill in any imperfections in the surface like bondo?... Im getting ready to start priming for an opaque finish on my 7 string and I want it to look close to as clean as yours. Also, do you put anything on the wood prior to priming? like shellac or something similar?

    The glaze is much finer than bondo. It comes in a tube premixed.

    Old car painting trick.

    Prime your piece.

    Sand it to 400 but don't cut through.

    Use the glaze to fill all the divets.

    SAND ALL THE EXCESS OFF. Or it will show through the final coat.

    The stuff I used is not the absolute right putty for the job. It is really for bigger fixes.. But I new I had several coats going on top of it.

    This is the one to use.

    3m spot putty

    Cool thanks! I actually used to work for Grainger in the warehouse, wonder if they will still give me a discount..... Hmmm. :D

  5. RAD, that finish is incredible!!! I want one! Quick question though, at the risk of looking like an ignorant n00b, that glazing you used a few steps back... was that to fill in any imperfections in the surface like bondo?... Im getting ready to start priming for an opaque finish on my 7 string and I want it to look close to as clean as yours. Also, do you put anything on the wood prior to priming? like shellac or something similar?

  6. But dont you think you could have a lot more fun if you were to build one really nice guitar specifically to keep for yourself and not worry about whether it would sell or not.

    Actually... Not at all. I dont play enough or care to play that much anymore, to have a really nice expensive guitar. I mean, it seems pointless to do that, when i would just play it a few hours a night, playing the same 3 songs i know over and over. I hit a peak (not a very high one) of ability on guitar. I never got very good, despite how much I played. And actually, i foudn that the longer i went without playing, then came back to playing, i was actually better.

    I enjoy building 100X more than playing. Dont get me wrong its not just "Buid build build, sell sell sell, gotta make money'

    Honestly, ist actually like 75% of just having something to do. if i did not build guitars, i would have pretty much nothing to do when i dont work at the baseball stadium ( dont work much anymore)

    I honestly couldnt make a poplar guitar with a CLEAR coat, and maple neck, and not want to sell it. I spent a lot money on wood, and most of my free time. Even though i dont do it ONLY for the money, I will not just lose money by keeping something that could be WAY better off in the hands of a skilled player that appreciates playing it. They are meant to be played, and used. I just dont do that enough to see the benefit of keeping one.

    routed, and ready for paint. Sorry, forgot to rotate them before i uploaded them to photobucket.

    Fair enough. I can appreciate that. But for someone who is so obviously obsessed with guitars, its ironic you dont own one to at least have on display or something...

  7. To each his own. Sounds like you are squandering a great skill though. You have the ability to make some really well built and uniquely beautiful guitars, but you lock yourself into doing the same thing over and over because you "need it to sell". Dont get me wrong, your KL explorers are great, as well as your other builds (including this one). But dont you think you could have a lot more fun if you were to build one really nice guitar specifically to keep for yourself and not worry about whether it would sell or not. Building "plain" guitars to sustain a habit of building more "plain" guitars sounds like redundancy for the sake of redundancy.

    Trust me, Im not trying to sway your opinion one way or the other. I doubt I could if I wanted to. Just expressing mine.

  8. I would see the time I invested and revel the fact that to buy that guitar would have cost much more than I spent making it myself. Do you usually build whatever the heck you want and then pawn it off to the first interested party, or does a potential customer tell you what they want before you start making it? Im sure youve done both, but what is the "normal" scenario?

  9. Still thinking along the lines of a pair of Les Pauls for next summer, maybe I'll make one with the floyd and one with regular hardware.

    I always loved the idea of a Floyd on an LP, until I saw Axcess Standard. It lust looks wrong IMO. Not bad, wrong!

    Good luck with this build man! I got ambitious and thought I could build 4 guitars in 14 weeks for some reason. To make matters worse, two of them are very non-traditional. Im just now coming to the realization that im in way over my head 8 weeks into the builds!

    For one guitar, you should have no problem! You sound pretty confident too, thats always a good sign.

  10. Looks like youve gotten yourself a pretty nice setup there, and your build is coming along very nicely. Regarding neck thickness: Im new to building as well so I generally design my guitars to the spec of a commercial guitar that I like. More specifically, I model my necks after an Ibanez wizard profile by making gauges of the back of neck at the 1st, and 12th frets. Although I dont know the exact truss rod that Ibanez use, I believe its relatively safe to bet that its a double action rod with dimensions very close to those of most "aftermarket" rods you can buy, though StewMacs Hot Rod (which it appears you are using) is slightly more narrow and deeper than the 1/4" wide rods I recently installed in my San Dimas necks. I may really be touting my ignorance here, and I would actually really appreciate being corrected if Im wrong, but I use that assumption to determine whether or not the thickness behind the rod will be sufficient to hold up to the pressure of an adjustment. I really hadnt asked myself the same question before now. Embarrassingly, I will now have to reevaluate my current builds to make sure that I dont run into the problem you inquired about.

  11. I can not figure out how to post a picture ......I will link to another forum that I posted this on so you can see it you want. The description (general) of the guitar is there as well.

    http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot...nally-done.html

    Thanks for all you help here!!

    You have to be a member to view the image you posted on that forum. This is your 63rd post on PG and you still dont know how to post a picture? You need an account with an image vault website such as Photobucket. Upload your image there and link it to your post using the %7Boption%7D code provided.

  12. Pros, never thought about that, putting them in a case, that is.

    MP,

    Yeah, i tend to work on them for at least 8 hours every day i dotn work my other job, and when i do, i come home and work on them after. Ive made 5 in 6 weeks.

    Cool man, Youve literally made guitar building your life! Very commendable. And it shows how serious you are about doing this. Do still manage to find time to play?

  13. Dude, you really crank these puppies out! Im honestly jealous at how much spare time you must have to work on guitars all day every day. Have you done a Rhoads with an ESP HS before? Slap a couple of pin stripes along the edges and a bucker in the bridge and you got an Alexi clone.

  14. Progress has been kinda slow lately since ive been wrestling with building the "cores" for my seven string projects. Im starting to realize that much of the equipment at school, however plentiful and diverse it is, has been really abused and is therefore quite hard to work with and innacurate. As you all guess, this makes building a good guitar by hand very challenging. However, I was able to get my necks ready for fretboards and shaping in the past couple of days.

    I got my faux truss rod fillet done, and the actual truss rod channel routed.

    100_5270.jpg

    Then I rough cut the necks on the bandsaw.

    100_5272.jpg

    I then double stick taped the templates on to clean them up with the router before finally installing the truss rods.

    100_5273.jpg

    Ill work more on it tomorrow and update with pics.

  15. It sounds better if its not referred to as a commission, more like your building for your relative which Im sure a lot of people here have done. The 'C' word sounds like you're in business. Parts at cost and a little added on to get you into your next build is my suggestion, not $1500. I also recall the '10' thread having great advice and ideas. Good luck -Vinny

    This is more along the lines of what I expected in a response to this thread. I really appreciate the advice from all of you guys, and I will definitely take it to heart, but if youve taken the time to read through all of my posts in this topic than you have noticed that most of the responses take me more seriously than even I do at this point. If I were an experienced and seasoned luthier, I hopeI wouldnt need answers to these questions. I admit, I may have posted this prematurely, but its something Ive been curious about and I appreciate the feedback from you all.

    Yes, I am interested in building guitars to sell...

    And yes, I understand I am rather inexperienced to be thinking about taking on such a feat...

    Lets put it this way: In a couple of years or so, when I have learned much more about the art of guitar building, I would like to see if my work is something people would be willing to pay for. I already know my uncle thinks he is, but maybe he doesnt count. Regardless, Im not an aspiring luthier. Im not even an amateur guitar builder. I am simply a designer who feels that there are very few new guitar body designs that are aesthetically pleasing and different enough from tradition to warrant their production. And I happen to enjoy making the things I design.

    All that being said, I am not be opposed to building a guitar for someone (or for myself) that is a design other than my own, (unless its an ugly one) just so long as I get to do it my way. :D I have no misconception that I will eventually be doing this for anything other than as a hobby, but in order to justify building many more, I will have to sell them. I would love to keep building and fill an entire room in my house with custom one-off guitars designed especially for me, by me, but my wife would kill me and I dont have a room, much less a house! I more than anything was wondering what you guys suggest charging for labor. Obviously your high level of experience makes your time much more valuable than mine which is something I will have to factor in myself when I do start charging.

  16. No not really.

    <soapbox>

    Sorry to be blunt but we had a discussion about it and most felt 10 was the magic number... My stance was that 10 of the same model might qualify. I build so many crazy one off guitars that 10 was not enough. Every new design leads to new gotchas and problems.

    Once you start to get good at the physical aspect of building a good playing guitar you can get into the "voodoo" of technique and wood choices and all the things that make a great guitar. It is an art.

    </soapbox> :D

    Perry covers it quite well right here Can I build a better guitar?

    No need for apologies, I totally get what youre saying. I remember that discussion. Like I said, I have no intension to go into production as a full time builder, and I dont profess to build higher than mid-range quality guitars either. In fact, I wouldnt even mind building entry level guitars at this point, but I understand thats a hard feat considering the overheard cost of a small-time hand builder. So after I finish my current builds and the "commission" for my uncle, that will put the tally up to 6, then I still have my LP and Crimson King bass. To do for myself in addition to a few other ideas Ive been hangin onto to use as gifts. By the time I start doing actual commissions, I should have 10-12 guitars under my belt. So your magic number doesnt sound so ridiculous to me. The voodoo is definately way out of my leage at this point. Ill worry about that in 5 years when Ive finally gotten the hang of building mid priced guitars. Ive seen the progress of some of the "younger" guys on this forum, and its true, with practice comes perfection, then theres guys like you RAD,who take guitar building to a whole other lever, voodoo indeed! Thanks for the replies everyone!

  17. Does it count if Ive started building five? :D And designed many more than that...Truth be told, I have yet to actually finish a guitar, but aside from fretting, Ive experienced pretty much avery aspect of building. I can spray and mix chemicals (auto body work) and I have wired robotics and digital electronics, so im expecting those aspect to be be less of a challenge for me than the woodworking part, which im finding I kind of have a knack for. Obviously I made a few mistakes during the course of my current builds, and I have learned from them, so with more care I shouldnt have any repeats. I dont plan on slaying new dragons (experimenting) on a commission build either. When I take on a carve top by hand, I will figure it out on my own guitars before using those techniques on a commission build. I honestly dont expect to be cranking out a new build avery month or so like some of you guys. I was thinking maybe 3 a year at best. Like I said, I get these wild ideas in my head that just dont go away until I make some attempt at resolving them. This thread is my attempt at doing that. Besides, when I start making money on building guitars rather than getting poorer, Ill be able to donate to this fantastic forum!

  18. If it were me, id definately cut the control cavity into the body template so you can get everything aligned to the centerline, and I would clean up that pup template too and put a centerline on it. If your template looks like that, you might as well freehand the rout on the guitar, cuz its not going to be much help. If you dont already have Melvyn Hiscock's book, get it! Theres a whole section with template drawings in the back for different sizes and shapes of pickups that come in handy as well. Thats what I use to get measurements for cutting cavity templates.

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