richiehamilton

Great, thanks!

Hi can someone recommend a suitable re-saw blade available in the UK/Europe, and tell me where you got it, how much it cost etc? My bandsaw was a fairly cheap elektra beckum (now metabo) bas316 (I think) which I have never managed to resaw correctly on. I'm sure I've set it up as well as I can, and I think now it's time to invest in a decent blade, the only ones I could get in dublin were cheap and pretty much as bad as the standard ones it came with. Thanks in advance Richard

Can anyone in Ireland help me locate a decent sprayable lacquer? Waterbased would be preferable, and it doesn't have to be amazing, it just has to be available! It's too expensive to order from abroad and I'm just not getting glossy enough results with shellac. Thanks all Richard

I too find it hard to believe this was a factory blunder. Is there any chance that this was a misinformed frankenstein attempt- i.e. somebody who thought they could just throw a bass neck on a 6 string body? But from your picture it appears to be an unadulteratd 4 string bridge. Is the neck join dovetailed? Very curious.

Hi- you can do it with very few tools if you put your mind to it, and very little space. Building a guitar can be broken in to lots of little stages, and while it may be more tedious without power tools or a dedicated space, you can do it at the table at home and clear up later. Also you can get suitable wood almost anywhere, it mightn't be fancy flamed maple but almost any builder supply store will stock something like mahogany (sapele, or utile) and something like maple or alder or poplar. As for the other supplies there are always good ways to get around them. I love this guy's story- he's based in peru and didn't want to mail order expensive binding for his les paul, when it is just cheap plastic. So he cut up a cheap pvc pipe! His guitar looks great and he did it without space or money or supplies. http://galileo.spaceports.com/~fishbake/lpc/cvr/cover.htm People have been makeing beautiful instruments for hunderds of years with only the simplest of tools. Just look at some of the 17th and 18th century guitars and violins. Good luck. Do it! Richie

Ok thanks all. I think in hindsight it might well be easier to just carve the solid wood in the old fashioned archtop style. Although I love carving, something about the cheapness of many factory run guitars appeals to me. However it is probably true that by the time you get any sort of press system to work you could have carved plenty of guitars. I hadn't considered a grinder for rough material removal before though, can anyone direct me to a photo essay or pictures of someone actually doing this? Thanks everyone for all the replies, and I'll probably stick to the old way. richie

Hi all I've been thinking for a while that I'd really like to make something like an E-335 or even gretsch style hollow electric. these generally have formed plywood tops and backs. Has anyone tried moulding their own plywood for this, or has anyone an idea as to how to try it? I presume they are normally formed in some sort of press, and steamed while it's tightened. Would a wooden press made of criss-crossed horizontal and vertical sections work? Any suggestions? Thanks a lot Richie

This is just to let anyone in ireland know that Lidl have rolls of aluminium tape at the moment for only €2.50. Very useful for shielding and a bit of a pain to find normally!

Hi there, I'm also in Ireland and here's what I've found. If you're building an acoustic guitar your best bet is madinter.com. They're spanish so you have the euro thing. Craft supplies are ok but Madinter is much cheaper. If you're building electric most timber suppliers (look in the golden pages for your nearest one) carry sapele or utile (mahogany like woods) and also maple, each about 30 euro per cubic foot (i.e. an 8ft by 8inch by 2inch roughly). Since you're in the south east you should look up the lisnavagh timber project www.irishwoods.com which is in carlow. They grow their own timber, I got some beautiful ash, and sycamore. Sometimes they have some walnut. It's nice to use native timber and some of it is stunning,and not expensive. Good luck richie www.richiehamilton.com

Hi everyone I'm just looking for opinions; can anyone think of any good reason why not to make a slightly thinner strat style guitar? It's just that I have a lovely piece of ash which isn't quite 45mm, only 39. It's actually two pieces, a thin top on a thicker back piece. I don't want to change it because the grain is great. Anyway any opinions re: viability would be welcome. Thanks Richard

Hi All I just wired up a strat with a three way switch, a volume for the neck and bridge, a blend volume for the middle and a master tone. I wired it according to the seymour duncan "tele three pickups with blend" schematic http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/schem...tele_blend.html except that I wired the tone to the output so it would be a master and not just for the neck and bridge as on the schematic. My problem is, when the volume for the neck/bridge is down, the blend doesn't work. If it's on at all, the blend works fine, in full range of volume sweep. Why should this be if the blend is wired directly through its own pot to the jack? (To be honest I was amazed any of it worked at all!) thanks in advance all

Ok guys that's great help. I do have a feeling the saw isn't set up properly, any advice on good books/online articles in that area? Thanks a bunch Richard

Hi all, I have a bandsaw but I've always had problems with resawing- i.e when I'm trying to cut a plank down for backs and sides and it's 7"+. The blade wanders and cups, and it takes ages on harder woods. I've come to the conclusion that my local hardware store stocks cheap blades, and I'd really like to try something that will make my cutting life easier. Can anyone recommend a 1" blade for resawing, maybe something carbide tipped? If it's available in europe that's even better. Thanks all Richie

Hi all, Does anyone know anywhere in europe where I can order cheap 250/500k pots? It seems silly to have to pay €5 when usually pots are listed for €1 in most electronic catalogues. The only problem is most of them seem to be plastic nowadays. Anyway any info would be good Cheers in advance Richie

Thanks for all the replies. I had heard about the torres papier mache guitar. I think I will certainly give it a try. I'll put pictures on the page. Chriss, I may get back to you about bowmaking, I'm planning a take down recurve at the moment! Cheers again everyone Richie