guitar2005 Posted January 18, 2006 Report Share Posted January 18, 2006 All, I'm working on a 2nd Jem project and need help on the color. This one will have a mahogany body with lacewood veneer top, a super nice birdseye maple/cherry neck with an ebony board with pyramid inlays (any other ideas? pyramids sound kinda lame... ) I'm not too sure on the color. I want to cover the mahogany in black, either a stain or solid. The lacewood is kinda pinkish so I know that I want to stain it but I have no idea which color to choose. I'll probably use water based dyes, grain fill, dye again, seal then clear coat with nitro. Any suggestions and/or links to other projects? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlGeeEater Posted January 18, 2006 Report Share Posted January 18, 2006 (edited) Dye black/sand back/dye purple It looks good man, very clean work! Edited January 18, 2006 by AlGeeEater Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
signguy Posted January 18, 2006 Report Share Posted January 18, 2006 Looks great so far, nice job. As for inlays the pyramids are good, but you may want to be a little creative with them. You may be able to find some ideas on fleabay or something. There are usually loads of different styles there. As for colour, I'd say with the grain you have in the veneer to go with the dyes as well. Just be cautious as depending on how thick your veneer was, the glue may interfere with the finish. The green and blue dyes have been my fav's for awhile now. Have fun with it. Look around the site for some ideas on colour. Jemsite may help on that one too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted January 18, 2006 Report Share Posted January 18, 2006 Before you do any staining, how thick is the venner? Will it take sanding to remove the black on a sandback technique? Also, you might want to consider bleaching it and then using a nice color (either stain or a toned clear coat), it won't give you the dark grain look, but it will give you bright color over a darker grain like Drak did a while ago. So far, nice job. On the inlays, why don't you go to a few online sites that sell pre cut inlays to look for inspiration... There are a lot of designs out there now that are at about the same price as pyramids or blocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slabbefusk Posted January 19, 2006 Report Share Posted January 19, 2006 How much $$$ ya want for that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackZ Posted January 19, 2006 Report Share Posted January 19, 2006 (edited) "inspired"? actually it IS a JEM but its looking great Edited January 19, 2006 by BlackZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted January 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2006 "inspired"? actually it IS a JEM but its looking great Basically, I say "inspired" because there never was a production Mahogany Jem, or one with a Lacewood top. Also, The neck on this thing will be killer. I like the black/purple idea. I think I'll go for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackZ Posted January 21, 2006 Report Share Posted January 21, 2006 "inspired"? actually it IS a JEM but its looking great Basically, I say "inspired" because there never was a production Mahogany Jem, or one with a Lacewood top. Also, The neck on this thing will be killer. I like the black/purple idea. I think I'll go for that. i see black/purple is okay, but dark green/black would look cool. and use gold hardware!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted November 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2006 (edited) Arghgh! I had to trash the Birdseye/Jatoba neck I had started because when I cut the scarf joint, the neck became 5mm too short... I guess I can use that neck blank on a 22 fret guitar. Live and learn I guess I glued up another neck - Maple/Walnut/Maple this time. For the headstock, I laminated Birdseye Maple/Maple Core with a Lacewood veneer on top to match the body. Here's a pic of the layers being glued up: http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL912/43163...3/202156755.jpg Here are some shots of the scarf joint being cut on my miter saw and being glued up. The cuts need a bit of cleaning up with either sandpaper of a #4 plane. http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL912/43163...3/202156778.jpg http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL912/43163...3/202156717.jpg http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL912/43163...3/202154739.jpg Here's a side view of the scarf joint after shaping on the router table: http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL912/43163...3/202154714.jpg The headstock frontal view - I suffered major tearout on the end grain at the tip of the headstock and had to re-shape. Lesson learned: Never attempt to route tight curves on end grain I think that I may have moved a little too fast and I maybe went in the wrong direction on the router table. I also think that I should have cut closer to the router template to remove as little material as possible. I'm really happy with the end result. I really wanted my own shape instead of the Ibanez design but couldn't draw out anything I liked. I like my custom shape For final shaping of the tip, I opted to cut real close to my line with a scroll saw and sand the rest out. Much easier and less dangerous that way. http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL912/43163...3/202154701.jpg http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL912/43163...3/202154687.jpg Here's a shot of the entire thing: http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL912/43163...3/202154697.jpg I've had to redo my neck template which was also a little frustrating but better the template than having to redo the real thing. I've made a lot of mistakes but am learning quick This is my first neck from scratch. Next steps are routingg a truss rod channel, adding a fretboard and shape neck contour with volute. I've got the black stain for the lacewood and I'll be putting an order for some grain filler from Stew Mac. Edited November 6, 2006 by guitar2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlexVDL Posted November 6, 2006 Report Share Posted November 6, 2006 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted November 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2006 Very nice and clean.. did you use a CNC machine? How did you get the lions claw so perfect? Lion's claw is CNC. There is a tutorial on making a Lion's Claw but I never tried it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexybeast Posted November 6, 2006 Report Share Posted November 6, 2006 Beautiful work, I'm a fan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester Posted November 6, 2006 Report Share Posted November 6, 2006 Very nice and clean.. did you use a CNC machine? How did you get the lions claw so perfect? Lion's claw is CNC. There is a tutorial on making a Lion's Claw but I never tried it. May I ask where you got the cad files or whatever it is that people use for the CNC? I'm asking because we got a BIG new CNC machine at school (cost friggin' 140000€!!) and my teacher wants all of us to make something with it for practice. Why not a guitar then, eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlexVDL Posted November 6, 2006 Report Share Posted November 6, 2006 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted November 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2006 (edited) Edited November 7, 2006 by guitar2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester Posted November 7, 2006 Report Share Posted November 7, 2006 I made a 3d jem front route, rear route, old neck joint and aajn. I sent it to brian a long time ago, they should be in the downloads section. I also made a jpm in 3d. Looks like I'm in for a donation then. Or GOTM win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
custom22 Posted November 7, 2006 Report Share Posted November 7, 2006 If you wanna enhance the grain, you might wanna check out the linseed oil technique. I dont know much about it, but this guy from www.guitarrefinishing.com did, and so have many others. It seems to work pretty well without having to sandback the wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted October 31, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2010 (edited) I haven't worked on this guitar for the longest time. I've had all the parts but just got side tracked with life, other projects, lack of time, music etc... I'm now trying to finish all the projects I started and decided to finish this guy before I get too involved in the Thinline Telecaster I'm about to start. 1) I stained the lacewood black, 2) built a new neck out of birdseye maple/wenge (there were a coupld of mistakes I did on the original neck that were too big to keep), 3) made a Wenge fretboard with block inlays and 4) applied sanding sealer on the mahogany parts. All of the Mahogany will be painted black. The fretboard is bound with wenge and a small maple strip to add a contrasting line. Looks sweet. Here are some progress pics. I think that the next step is to grain fill, but I think that StewMac grain filler has to be applied before the stain. If that's the case, I'll grain fill with sanding sealer. Edited October 31, 2010 by guitar2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted November 1, 2010 Report Share Posted November 1, 2010 Man thats a cool lookin JEM. Was clearing out some stuff from the workshop to make space for a new workbench a few weeks ago, when I found this. Started it for myself a year or so ago, then got side tracked with customers builds & never got back to it. Maby it will get finished now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted January 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2011 Made some progress on the guitar lately between 3 tele thinline builds and 5 neck builds.... I grain filled with sanding sealer. This took a while as Lacewood has varying densities. Very hard to get a consistent finish. I sanded through a couple of times. I also glued on the fretboard, trimmed it on the router and radiused it. Here's a closeup of the fretboard: One of the things I always struggle with is the inlays and filling the gaps around them (see fret #9 marker). This time, I tried CA glue. I build it up withsaw dust, sand down but it seems as though it never really penetrates. I always have a couple of spots where empty gaps remain. Is there a trick to consistenly fill the gaps and not have them show up again after sanding the filler flush? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3DogNate Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 Is there a trick to consistenly fill the gaps and not have them show up again after sanding the filler flush? Use water thin CA glue. Get it from a hobby store... Most Super Glue style glues from the big box stores is either a Medium or Thick consistency... hard to wet down a gap with that stuff... The Thin stuff is what you want when you are doing a fill with sawdust as it will penetrate and flood the area. Don't use accelerator or it'll turn white with most CAs. (there are exceptions) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted January 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 Is there a trick to consistenly fill the gaps and not have them show up again after sanding the filler flush? Use water thin CA glue. Get it from a hobby store... Most Super Glue style glues from the big box stores is either a Medium or Thick consistency... hard to wet down a gap with that stuff... The Thin stuff is what you want when you are doing a fill with sawdust as it will penetrate and flood the area. Don't use accelerator or it'll turn white with most CAs. (there are exceptions) This is what I use: http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=20022&cat=1,110,42966 Maybe too much saw dust, air bubbles? IDK. I'll try to make sure it goes in with a needle or something like that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kpcrash Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 I'm just interested in exactly how the neck is built. I've thought of trying to do some kind of wizard-style neck for a different body - just haven't gotten the cahones yet to shave one down that thin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 That's the stuff. Sometimes you can flood the crack till it pools and then look at it five minutes later and it's empty again...And sometimes you get bubbles that won't let anything get deeper. You've pretty much got to pop those with a needle. Once the glue stops disappearing you can tamp in some sawdust and it should stay. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted January 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 That's the stuff. Sometimes you can flood the crack till it pools and then look at it five minutes later and it's empty again...And sometimes you get bubbles that won't let anything get deeper. You've pretty much got to pop those with a needle. Once the glue stops disappearing you can tamp in some sawdust and it should stay. SR That's what I figured. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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