Ideas Needed

[Drak]

Someday I'm gonna be famous

Do I have talent well no

These days you don’t really need it

Thanks to reality shows

Can't wait to date a supermodel

Can’t wait to sue my dad

Can't wait to wreck a Ferrari

On my way to Rehab

Cause when you’re a celebrity

It’s adios reality

You can act just like a fool

And people think you’re cool

Just cause your on T.V.

I can throw major fits

When my latte isn't just how I like it

They say I've gone insane

I'll blame it on the fame

And the pressures that go with....

Being a Celebrity

[biliousfrog]

serious cat scares me...stop looking at me like that....STOP IT!!!

[cherokee6]

I agree with the group; alot of custom basses, and, as mentioned Warwick's have that countour. Work with it!! If you're going to paint it just use filler on the tearout and sand it well along with a sealer coat, etc. and it should be fine. A lot of pros get tearout also and fill the holes.

[Guest AlexVDL]

.

[rhoads56]

wheres that bad idea pic??

[Drak]

I seriously doubt it's finished moving yet.

You are all (well, most of you), in your race to save a piece of wood, forgetting and overlooking the obvious that is staring you in the face.

You're all taking for granted that it's done and settled in and the way it looks in the pic is the way it'll stay, like it magically came to a rest all the sudden as soon as he took the pic, and I doubt it is, the original problem is most likely still in motion and will be for quite awhile.

Think about it long and hard before you recommend he proceed forward, I think it is unsavory advice unless he wants to simply put it on the shelf for oh, about 2-3 years to let the wood completely settle in to the point where it's trustworthy, and by then it could wrap up like a pretzel.

The wood is bad, like a bad seed, it was unseasoned and raw, and is probably best discarded, the lesson learned, and you move on and learn not to do that again and build yourself a proper guitar next time out of seasoned wood.

But oh, I forgot, there's never a good enough reason to throw a piece of wood away, it's always salvagable, isn't it?

The wood was unacceptable from the start for whatever reason, and it still is now.

[Supernova9]

I think this goes to show that alongside a ruler, one of the most essential tools is a moisture-content measuring device.

[Drak]

As I see it, there are 2 simple and easy lessons for the apprentice luthier to be learned from this:

1. If you want to build a stable guitar, buy your wood from reputable, trustworthy sources.

This is also called:

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR IN LIFE.

This is also simply a part of BECOMING a good luthier.

Matt is not there yet, by a long shot, but he's learning like all of us, it's a journey, and he's walking the path.

2. My favorite of the two: YOU CAN'T PUT A SHINE ON SH$T.

If it's crap, accept it as crap and learn the lesson and move past it. End of lesson.

Your time is valuable, and you needen't spend time chasing a losing proposition, that is like throwing good money after bad.

There is no lesson here about faking a Warwick body, which would be the lesson of adaptability.

Adaptability and flexability in thought are fine things to have, but you have to know when it's prudent to use them and when it's not.

In this case, the 'you can't put a shine on sh$t' rule usurps the adaptability rule.

And a moisture meter is a good thing to have also.

[Mattia]

Or, if you're not quite sure about the source, let it sit for 6 months to a year. And/or get a moisture meter.

It's the usual issue, really; you can get great wood that's not ready to build with cheap, but if you want to start within weeks of receiving your shipment, you're gonna have to pay the surcharge.

[fryovanni]

I still believe shelving it for a spell is best (2-3years-No, 6-8months-yes,That would allow sufficient time for stability at that thickness(it is partially dry for sure at this point)/ "seasoning" is something beyond that). I am certainly not going to advocate all e-bay wood dealers are reliable or knowledgable, but I can definately say there are some very good dealers on ebay also(Chuck at Durawoods for example does not deserve a black mark by association).

A moisture meter is a handy tool. A scale is pretty handy also. You need to know what you want to see though or they are useless(there is no one static moisture reading that is correct). Time is the best and cheapest method you can use. Wood will never get bad over time and a simple waiting period before use ensures sufficient drying(I am not going to say it addresses cell trapped moisture due to case hardening due to overly agressive kiln drying scedules, but nothing much will help in that event). Even if you buy well dried wood from a totally reputable dealer. You have got to allow a period for it to get used to your ambient humidity(has nothing to do with it being stable were it was shipped from, it has to do with it being in a new environment). Wood needs to have the ability to stabalize on all sides as equally as possible, always ensure this when you recieve wood(even if it was absolutely stable in it's old environment). So ask yourself.. Do you take that fretboard stewmac just sent, open the package and go right to work on it? Or do you let it set for a week or two.

I see no reason why guys should not buy wood from local lumber yards, salvage mills etc... As long as they are willing to due there dillegence, and learn how to select and care for it properly. I do believe it is a huge part of luthiery and to not learn these things makes you a poor luthier(How can you garentee your guitar is stable and will have a long service life if you are ignorant about the material you built it out of.).

Although it is true-

YOU CAN'T PUT A SHINE ON SH$T.[/quote], you can put Lipstick on a pig. Bondo, epoxy, CA to fill cracks, or clamping cracking wood back together. Sometimes is as a smart fix and sometimes not so much. None the less if its an ugly fix, or wood with defects you can always paint it with solid colors(right?).

Peace,Rich

P.S. This is also why wood that has not been dried is not worth as much as fully dried wood.

[Drak]

you can put Lipstick on a pig. Bondo, epoxy, CA to fill cracks, or clamping cracking wood back together. Sometimes is as a smart fix and sometimes not so much.

I completely agree. If the base wood is stable and usable, then the adaptability rule would usurp the 'you can't shine sh$t' rule, and you should proceed forth with your creative ideas to fix it.

I have learned a TON of tricks for fixing this and that if the base wood was worth saving, and the learning of these creative fixes is a large part of the luthiers' repertoire and is absolutely necessary to have.

I'm just saying in this case, the wood was basically unusable from the start, the base product is faulty, therefore, anything done after that is just heaping bandaids on a huge ooozing sore that will not heal.

And the decision-making process one uses to come to either conclusion, whether to keep and fix or whether to jettison to the hogs, is part of being a good luthier, and only comes with time and experience. The DECISION is the important part, why did you decide either way and why?

So I would be interested in Matt's decision, and how and why he came to that conclusion, it's important.

JMO.

[biliousfrog]

There's some really good points there Drak & the point about the wood still being unstable is a classic example of experience over talent. I'm not saying that you're untalented BTW ...it just goes to show that no matter how talented you might be, or think that you are, it will never make up for lack of experience...& not considering that the wood might still be moving is a great example of us inexperienced luthiers not seeing the wood for the trees. (no pun intended)

I'm sure that there's still some uses for it but maybe not as a working body.

[fryovanni]

All fair points Drak.

I would add this comment, and take it for what it is worth. I see "experience" used to describe qualified(or at least that is how I take it). A person can have a lot of experience but never really understand exactly how things are working. Bear with me here.... We are working on guitars that we want to last for a lifetime, and even some effects may not be seen for many years. A guy could work with brand x liquid hyde glue for 10 years making many guitars. in year 11 he gets a call that a fretboard is lifing, and over the next two years the problem becomes appearant that the glue has a serious issue or the way he clamped it was too high and mildly starved the joints. Well informed, and capable are not really a given with experience. I have met some guys that do not have a lot of experience per. sey(fairly new). However they research, understand, and exicute with good skill and capability. I have nothing good to say about the guy that just skips past getting a solid understanding and says "ehh... I have done it like that for years". It is almost as bad as a person that believes everything they read combined with no practical experience and thinks they can't be wrong.

Peace,Rich