Gemleggat Posted August 6, 2005 Report Share Posted August 6, 2005 How robust is that type of finish david? If your typical jazzer spilt his malt whiskey over it, would the alcohol make it melt? It is a beauty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted August 6, 2005 Report Share Posted August 6, 2005 Neato, David. I'm still more of a fan of the other finishes you've done, but of course working with a client will lead you in new and unexpected directions, which is always a cool thing in and of itself. Too bad the Tusq material didn't appeal to you. A black nut would have been the final detail in a world that has gone black. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted August 7, 2005 Report Share Posted August 7, 2005 I love that guitar david. It's simplistic, yet quite unique. I have one major concern. It's for your own well being. Have you ever heard the expression "once you go black, you never go back?" , russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myka Guitars Posted August 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2005 Russ, you may be right! I actually thought of trying out African Blackwood as a neck material with a black stained lacewood top. "I see a gui-tar and I want to paint it black..." No Mick, no! Gemleggat, the shellac finish is very thin and fragile. It will not be as abrasion resistant like lacquer even. It should be alcohol resistant once it cures but who knows. A lot of classical guitars are french polished but the rock and roll/jazz crowd is not as easy on their guitars as the classical crowd is. I'll have to get me a bottle and test this out. What you have to go through for the sake of art gun, I do think that the difference between the soft and hard maple does make a difference, especially for the neck. I also think neck wood is a huge factor in the tone. If you went with a harder maple the guitar would have a little more sparkle in the higher end and also have more attack and snap to the notes. Your 1/4" of maple on the top will not be as dominant as the body wood since it is so thin (compared to a carved top). A mahogany body will definitely warm it up and balance the guitar a bit. That is essentially what this guitar of mine is minus the maple top. Let us know how it turns out. Oh, and these pieces of ebony for the pickup rings and fingerboard were gaboon. I did just get in a few boards of Madagascar ebony. I'll post about it if I have any concerns. So far it seems stable enough. We'll see when I cut some fret slots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted August 7, 2005 Report Share Posted August 7, 2005 Beautiful guitar David... It's a shame like you mention that you were not able to shot a translucent black (or perhaps black stain) on the neck alone. It surely had a nice figure to it from the progress pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gun Posted August 7, 2005 Report Share Posted August 7, 2005 Thanks for tha reply David. Yeah It should be like yours but with the maple top added. But I think it will be more bright cuz I forgot to tell you it will be 25,5" scale 24 frets Just undecided about the choise of wood, laminate maple-bubinga-maple neck in estearn flamed maple or hard maple? David, do you have a mp3 link for that guitar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myka Guitars Posted August 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2005 No mp3s yet for that one. My client says he'll get one to me sometime soon. I sure hope he does, he's a great player and will make this thing sing. When I get it I'll post it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myka Guitars Posted August 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2005 You asked for it Drak, here's some pics. I have completed a couple other guitars this month and I also have a few cool ones in progress that I'll share with you all. First off here is a new Dragonfly: Check out that bearclaw spruce! This is one amazing sounding guitar. I wish I could have kept it. It's cool, I have one in progress that will be mine...I mean a display model More pics here. Another project I have going is an Ibanez style carved top. Check it out here. This is essentially one of my carved top electrics with the Ibanez shape for a player who love the way these look but wants something more than what Ibanez offers. This one will feature some cool matching wood humbucker covers. They will look like large P90s. Pretty cool! And last but not least I have an interesting small bodies archtop acoustic in the works. It will be much like my Dragonfly design but with a 15.5" lower bout. This one will have a very interesting bridge (more on that later). Check it out here. On the schedule are another pair of lacewood Dragonflies (like the original), a pair of the Sungazer goldtop guitars, and a couple cool solidbody electrics. I'll be sure post more later this month when the two above guitars are finished. Enjoy! ~David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted August 10, 2005 Report Share Posted August 10, 2005 Busy, busy huh David... I love the neck joint on the spruce top, flawless! and it's the 1st time I see a non Myka guitar, very nice top, keep us updated on that one, but of course you know i will be peaking at your site to see progress too. see you around Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hyunsu Posted August 10, 2005 Report Share Posted August 10, 2005 thank for your beautifull guitar.. look is happyness... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jehle Posted August 10, 2005 Report Share Posted August 10, 2005 It's just so beautiful, it makes me want to cry. What a fantastic design! I really love the way the neck and body join with that carve. It looks like it would really feel nice right there. The other pictures in the link are outstanding. Love the grain pattern on the back of the guitar, and I love the headstock. This looks like a 3 to 5,000 dollar instrument! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i-j-c Posted August 10, 2005 Report Share Posted August 10, 2005 Simply stunning and totally inspiring - attention to detail is amazing..beautiful! ..that neck joint is a work of art in it's own right...it looks sooooooooo comfortable! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myka Guitars Posted August 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2005 1st time I see a non Myka guitar ← This one is an anomoly. I almost didn't take the order but I liked the idea and the guy is super cool. The shape will be pretty close to the original but that's where it stops. The pickups covers will be the most interesting part of the design I think. I am still trying to imagine it. I think it will be somewhat odd (conpared to a regular humbucker) but very cool. I have been very busy lately (a big thanks to all my clients!!!) but I will keep updating my website and I'll try to keep up with my posts here whenever I can. Thanks for all the great comments. I always appreciate the support. ~David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i-j-c Posted August 10, 2005 Report Share Posted August 10, 2005 Believe me, if I had the money to hop on a plane to NY, put a down payment on one of your creations to support you I would... Do you mind if I ask a question David..? When you are cutting out a chamber (ie a full chamber as in the beaut above)...do you first say rough cut with a jigsaw or similar then route round to get it smooth...and do you just support the router in the edge carefully? Now you might do that a much better way as I'm sure you have some superb tools at your disposal..but would that be the best way say to me who only has a jigsaw and router at his disposal at present!? Cheers, Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myka Guitars Posted August 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2005 When you are cutting out a chamber (ie a full chamber as in the beaut above)...do you first say rough cut with a jigsaw or similar then route round to get it smooth...and do you just support the router in the edge carefully? Now you might do that a much better way as I'm sure you have some superb tools at your disposal..but would that be the best way say to me who only has a jigsaw and router at his disposal at present!? ← You might be quite surprised at how many tools I don't have. Most of the hobbyists here have a better shop than I do. You can do fine with what you have but you will need a good router bit with a bearing guide since we are talking chambers that do not go all the way through. Make the chambers small enough that the router is not in danger of tipping into it. Use the jigsaw to cut out your templates and file the edges smooth. Then run the router along the template to duplicate this in the wood. Like this. For the larger chabers for a semi-hollow I actually use a router table. I remove most of the material with a forstner bit in the drill press (a 10" bench top drill press). Then I use a template and bearing guided template bit on a router table. Like this. You can't see the bearing bit too well but you get the idea. ~David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
!!METAL MATT!! Posted August 12, 2005 Report Share Posted August 12, 2005 COOL man Nice Looking Jig's!! I wish Mine Where That Clean !!METAL MATT!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i-j-c Posted August 12, 2005 Report Share Posted August 12, 2005 David - as ever, great reply - your patience is a virtue.. ...and as ever, it's just as enjoyable checking out your jigs as it is your work...like MM says above - I wish mine were that clean too.. I'm in the process of making two of your jigs right now - the neck pocket jig with some mods (I actually used your jig idea in a makeshift neck pocket jig on the build of my es335 - photo's are in my build thread) and the neck carving jig (including the router mount).. ..I've also been talking through with some model makers today making your duplicarver... ..I hope you do not mind me asking about your jigs...but they are superb..and something everyone can benefit from your knowledge.. Thanks David. Rgds, Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myka Guitars Posted August 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2005 ..I hope you do not mind me asking about your jigs...but they are superb..and something everyone can benefit from your knowledge.. ← Never a problem. That's why I posted them here. I'll continue to post revisions as I make them as well. Please do the same if you come up with some improvements. Two minds are better than one (or dozens in the case of this forum). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadgoodcharlie Posted August 13, 2005 Report Share Posted August 13, 2005 Excellent work to all of you,until I found this place I couldn,t believe how many builders were out there.Tons to learn from this place,there seems to be some real talent here.I,m kinda new to building and also navigating around the site .but the tricks and things I,m learning here is awsome,cheers to all from My Webpage?Hope these pics get through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javacody Posted September 10, 2005 Report Share Posted September 10, 2005 Myka, A couple of questions. First, when can we expect more Goldtop pics? Those Sungazer's are awesome! Second, how does chambered limba sound? I've heard that chambered mahagony with p90's or paf's sounds very muddy. Has that been your analysis as well? How does limba do in this department? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren wilson Posted September 12, 2005 Report Share Posted September 12, 2005 Gorgeous work, David! I've just been browsing some of your other guitars, and my jaw literally dropped open when i saw this one. What a stunning top and finish! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnewman Posted September 12, 2005 Report Share Posted September 12, 2005 I second javacody's question... I'm about to get started on a limba-bodied guitar that I'm thinking about making pretty seriously hollow - how do you like the sound? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javacody Posted September 13, 2005 Report Share Posted September 13, 2005 Also, what about your secret truss rod treatment? Is this a trade secret ( I just read about it for the first time on your site ), or something you can share with us? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mingus Posted November 1, 2006 Report Share Posted November 1, 2006 The finish is actually a shellac. This was to be sure that the finish was ultra thin. I wanted to do a french polish but that was out the budget so I compromised a bit. I formulated a shellac form flakes soaked in alcohol and used a black tint. I then sprayed it with my airbrush (no sense gumming up my lacquer gun). It went on very easily and dried quick. When I had on 5 coats I stopped and let it dry. I then used #0000 steel wool and rubbed it out. To buff I used a soft flannel. It turned out great and feels really good. The wood grain is very visible since it so thin (and I don't use grain filler unless I absolutely have too). Myka, A couple of questions about your finish. What type of tint did you use with the shellac? I am after a solid colour finish, but don't have access to spray gear so shellac would be my preferred finish. Also, what sort of grain filer would you recommend for under shellac? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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