Red Candy

[daveq]

I started out drawing up a strat body and made a few minor adjustments to it. This was several months ago - I haven't had much time for building lately. I don't normally get into quilted maple all that much but this piece caught my eye. The neck is also hanging to dry now but no pics yet.

This guy will have:

• Hard maple body with quilted maple top
  
• flamed maple neck with flamed maple fretboard (10 to 16" compound 24 frets)
  
• OFR
  
• Dimebucker and hot rails pickups
  
• EMG-PA (onboard preamp)
  
• EMG-VMC (variable mid control)
  
• coil tap switch for neck pickup
  

It's a nice shade of red for a fall day. Hopefully more pics once it has been assembled.

pic2

pic3

Edited September 26, 2004 by daveq

[Maiden69]

daveq, like always nice job. When you get a pic from the neck, get a shot of the "AANJ" neck. After doing one on my strat all my guitars will be like that from now on. I personaly don't like the red on guitars, I seen too many in my time, but it looks great, did you did the stain-sand-stain, the last pic looks deep but the second not. Any way it's a great finish. Looking fowars to more progress pics.

[daveq]

Thanks maiden,

It's amazing how much the figuring changes depending on the angle you view it at, the angle of the light, ... I'm still learning how to take pictures of these things and have it come out as if you were standing next to it.

I used Drak's bleach, stain black, sand-back, and then stain color method. It has taken quite a while to get to this point but I'm real happy with it. It's my best finishing job so far (I hope I don't screw it up in the end ). I was thinking about using orange instead of red but I'm saving orange for one of George Lynch's guitars that I'd like to make a copy of.

We are in the process of selling our house and I've recieved several requests to sell it so I'm actually considering it. I'll see how it turns out in the end - if I'm still happy with it, I might see what I can do in terms of putting it up for sale. I'm kinda lucky in that I know someone locally that owns a music shop (an excellent music shop) and he's allowed me to sell through him in the past.

I'll take the pics of the neck joint tonight (if I remember). I love that style of neck joint. I'd like to experiment someday and see how thin I can make it without affecting the guitar's sound and sustain. This one's actually a bit on the thick side.

Thanks Maiden - the neck joint pics will be posted soon!

[!!METAL MATT!!]

WOW thats nice I like that top good work!! cant wait to see more pics

!!METAL MATT!!

[Drak]

Dave, have you used the VMC before?

You're plans are pretty damned close to my usual electronics 'M.O.', I usually use the Afterburner instead of the PA-2 (same thing tho) and either or both an SPC and EXG (the 'Gilmore' pots) and I 'think' I bought a VMC about a year ago, but haven't put it in anything.

I was wondering if you could comment on the reaction/sound of the VMC as opposed to either the SPC or EXG controls.

Nice Axe!!! (but then everything you make is always great )

PS, digital cameras completely blow when it comes to reds, it drives me insane and I thrash madly about the castle gnashing and cursing every time I try to take some of a red guitar, hehehe...

The only thing that has worked for me is using a photoshop type of program (I use Adobe Photo-Deluxe) and go in and do a lot of adjusting to the contrast, brightness, and saturation levels. It takes a lot of maneuvering to get it close...believe me, I know...

[daveq]

Thanks Matt!

Drak - I have had a VMC in my tiger guitar for quite a while now and absolutely love it. I'm working on my own version of it (the VMC costs quite a bit - I think $70?). I usually use it to boost about 8dB @ 2kHz. The boost really makes a difference and helps create a super-crisp distortion.

I have been using the Seymour Duncan onboard booster up until now. I still like it but wanted to try the PA-2 on this one. The afterburner has different circuitry and I think is a higher quality booster which is one reason why I'm wondering why I wanted to try the PA-2 . I guess I just like trying things. I may end up going with the AB or maybe back to the SD booster - I'm going see how it goes.

I definitely think it's worth putting in an active booster into most passive-pickup guitars. You always have the option to bypass it if you have situations where it's a problem and have the option to heat it up if you feel the need.

I have used the EXG (by itself) in a guitar with a EMG-81 and 89 in it. I found myself constantly dialing it out since it seemed to add a lot of mud to my sound. I just ended up taking it out. Maybe it's best used in conjunction with other circuits?

Thanks for the info on the red issue and digital cameras. I couldn't believe it when I saw most of my pics .

[erikbojerik]

Nice looking axe Dave, I actually really like red-on-quilt (and strats too).

Two tips on house selling/buying:

1) Nice playset! If it conveys, ask for more $$.

2) Make sure the new shack has room for a workshop! If she wants stuff in the garage, tell her hat's what driveways are for (to park the cars in). I bought my last house only a year before I started serious guitar building....without thinking about a proper workshop....argh!

[www]

Red! I want red, there's no substitute for red.

Red! Paint it red, green ain't mean compared to red.

Sweet!

[daveq]

OK, here it is fully assembled:

Here's a web page with 6 pics (avg size per pic ~50KB):

redone.htm

[82DeanZ]

Love it Dave. Awesome work as usual. That's a 1/4 maple top right? Did you have much trouble bending it? How did you do it? Great work.

Best Regards,

Mike.

[daveq]

Thank you Mike -

it is a 1/4" top and I didn't have much trouble bending it. I didn't go as far down as a strat or Ibanez RG out of fear of tearing out on the top surface. I kept it wet (not drenching but not dry either) and let the heat soak in from the clothing iron. I do mine a little bit differently in that I don't glue and cure the main portion before attempting the bend - I do it all at the same time. I don't know if I'm taking risks by doing it that way but it has worked well for me for several guitars. I use Titebond Extend instead of Titebond Original since it is supposed to give more setup time and is intended for joints under stress such as bent railings, ... The extra setup time is really the big thing for me.

Scott Rosenberger has a great tutorial on bending tops. I think it might be pinned here somewhere. That's where I got my info from.

I just plugged it in and it felt great. I like the sound but I need to wait until tomorrow to crank it up and really hear how it does.

[DannoG]

Dave, much as I 'm diggin' the top, let's see some more pics of the back of the neck. Sweet.

[daveq]

Thanks Danno -

The neck wood was something I found locally. I think it has "basket weave" figuring but I could be wrong. It has a very slight hint of spalt also. The fretboard was also a local find. It doesn't have outstanding figuring but it is very straight-grained and quarter sawn.

Here's another pic of the fretboard and headstock - the spalt is just barely visible in the headstock but the lighting in this shot probably won't allow you to see it.

This isn't the first fretboard that I used on this neck though. I originally had the same wood as the neck on the fretboard but I wasn't happy with the side dots and took it off. I certainly gained more experience cranking out compound radius fretboards on this project.

one more

I have more pics of the back of the neck. I'll be adding some to that web page later today.

[Maiden69]

Very nice Dave. I love the figure on the neck, almost looks as the ones that hyunsu uses. Are you two sharing a secret stash? The finish on the neck compliments the color of the body too.

[!!METAL MATT!!]

THAT IS DEADLY!! I realy like that guitar there's just somthing about it

what did you use to get that red i love that red I realy need the info

Thanks

!!METAL MATT!!

[daveq]

Thanks guys. The colors (as usual) are just haphazardly created. I grabbed a bottle of cherry red colortone stain and mixed alcohol in until I liked the color. After applying it once, I let it dry, applied the clear, let it dry, then went back over it one more time with another coat of red (and then lots of clear).

I can't say that this is a good way to do it given that it's the first time I've tried it but it does seem OK so far.

BTW, the clear is Tru-oil. Same for the neck and fretboard. The wife is pregnant so I don't want any nitro around or anything worse. I saw some sweet guitars over on mimf that had tru-oil finishes so I gave it a shot. I really like that stuff but I'm always trying something new (to me).

OK, I won't bother you guys anymore with this - I was just so happy with the finish that I wanted to share it with some people whom I respect.

Thanks,

Dave

[mullmuzzler]

This is great! I can't express how cool this guitar appears to me. I really love maple, especially quilted one. Like always, you've delivered again, man! Congrats!!!

mullmuzzler | OSSMT

[swirlslave]

awesome as usual!!!

by the way, my ad-aware program always freak out when i click on a link of yours because of all the pop-up and i got to close it for being able to get to the link.

i know its not your fault, just wanted to let you know because i think it could discourage people from actually see your work, which are very worthy of being seen.....

[daveq]

What??? I have clicked on them from my PC at work and never get any pop-ups at all??? Does anyone else see this? What browser are you using?

It seems odd that my earthlink site would do that. I can see if I was using anglefire or something like that but not earthlink.

Please let me know if anyone else is seeing this.

(thanks for the info on the pop-up thing - I need to know what's going on if everyone is seeing the same thing)

- thanks,

Dave

[Maiden69]

I got the ad-aware and my didn't did nothing, I bet you are using Internet Explorer, that pic=ece of crap is candy to pop ups, that's why my friend thats a computer security engeneer told me to switch to mozila, after that I haven't have a pop up yet.

[Simo]

No pop-ups at all for me

The guitar looks great Dave, can I ask a quick question....how much Tru-Oil do you use on a whole body? So far I've only found it in small bottles over here, like this.... http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...ssPageName=WDVW

I was just wandering how far those would go.

[swirlslave]

yes, im using internet explorer so i guess its why its going crazy ???? lol

f**c**g microsoft and bill gates.......

[daveq]

Thanks for the feedback on the pop-ups - I'm glad it isn't happening to everyone.

Simo - I used a large bottle of it for a new neck I made for my tiger guitar and also used it for the body and neck of this guitar. That bottle reached about the 1/3 mark and then I switched to a smaller bottle to avoid problems. Supposedly, as the amount in the bottle decreases, the chances of it developing a "skin" increases so that's why I switched to a fresh bottle around the 1/3 mark.

I got the larger bottle at woodcraft (my local store is now constantly out of stock with that stuff). Since that has been used up, I've resorted to using the smaller bottles from WalMart. I'm just glad that I have an alternative supplier for it.

I probably would have gone with nitro on this guitar but since the wife is pregnant, I didn't want those fumes around (I normally hang mine to dry in the basement after spraying outside). With the tru-oil, I just did everything in the basement and it never bothered anyone.

I think I put about 18 coats of it on the body and 6-8 coats on the neck. I was so amazed by the guitars I saw on mimf that were done with tru-oil that I wanted to give it a shot. I'm glad I did.

If you were to put two guitars next to eachother - one with nitro, one with tru-oil, you would notice a difference. By itself, the tru-oil guitar still looks beautiful though. It's just a difference in the "glass" look - the nitro will have a perfectly glass like appearance and the tru-oil will have a more subtle glass appearance if that makes any sense. Do a search on tru-oil over on mimf and you should see some good examples of what it can look like.

[Simo]

Thanks for the info Dave, I'll have to give the stuff a try I've got a couple of bodies that will need finishing soon and altough I can get my hands on a spray gun and I've got a compressor, the weather here in England is starting to get a lot colder and wetter so I don't fancy doing them outside....I doubt it would stop raining long enough for me to spray them anyway

[mullmuzzler]

BTW, the link doesn't work (at least on my computer). Can U post some more pics in the thread?

mullmuzzler | OSSMT

I've changed something in Explorer... It's cool now. Great guitar & pics!

Edited September 29, 2004 by mullmuzzler