Jaam Posted June 4, 2008 Report Share Posted June 4, 2008 I don't think a dark pickguard would work well with that body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hexa-db Posted June 4, 2008 Report Share Posted June 4, 2008 Your new godson is really lucky - my godfather is a luthier and he's never made me anything! :D It looks really cool though - maybe I should make something for my son... (he already likes grabbing the strings on my epi LP and letting them go) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattharris75 Posted June 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2008 Thanks for the comments everyone... I had no luck fixing the maple pickguard, so I went ahead and rough cut one out of a scrap piece of walnut that I thicknessed to roughly 5 mm. I'll probably thin it out a bit more yet, and of course round the edges. The walnut definitely gives it a different look, but I think I'm going to like it. You can see that the padauk top is significantly more red with a couple of coats of epoxy on it. It's in a scuff sanded state at the moment, but with the fresh epoxy on there it shines quite a vibrant and deep red-orange. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted June 4, 2008 Report Share Posted June 4, 2008 I love Padauk, great job with the guitar, Matt! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattharris75 Posted June 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2008 I love Padauk, great job with the guitar, Matt! Thanks Jon, that top is a piece of Padauk from you. The finishing process is underway, it's starting to look quite nice. The new walnut pickguard is lagging a bit behind, but it is completely shaped. Just needs a little more sanding and rounding of the edges and i'll get started grainfilling it. I'm going to Atlanta to visit my friends and the new baby this weekend, so it looks like i'm going to come up a little short on my deadline. Ahh well, i'll just get to play it for a few months before the next time I get over that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carousel182 Posted June 10, 2008 Report Share Posted June 10, 2008 wow, that looks really impressive man! That's gonna be a lucky baby! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verhoevenc Posted June 10, 2008 Report Share Posted June 10, 2008 Z-poxy, tru-oil and paste wax? Care to elaborate on your process? Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattharris75 Posted June 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2008 Z-poxy, tru-oil and paste wax? Care to elaborate on your process? Chris I'll elaborate once I know how it works out. Seriously though, i'm just playing it by ear. I think i'm going to change things up a bit from my test finish. Thus far I have filled with 3 coats of z-poxy (the padauk has huge open pores) and then did a 50/50 wipe down coat of z-poxy mixed with denatured alcohol. I'll wire wool this down perfectly smooth and then start tru-oiling it. I'll play the number of coats by ear depending on what looks good to me. I probably will not use paste wax as I initially thought I might. I will most likely cut the final coat of tru oil with some denatured alcohol and leave it at that. (Saw somebody, possibly Erikbojerik, do this on a bass he recently completed) Then possibly polish with micro mesh papers if necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted June 10, 2008 Report Share Posted June 10, 2008 I assured her that I would build more when we have our own kids, and she seemed happy with that. Ya think?!?! You just promised to have kids. Of course, you'll have to break that promise. Once you have kids, your guitat making time is GONE! Untrue...our son is 13 in a couple of months and my guitar building habit is just getting worse and worse!! :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattharris75 Posted July 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2008 Well, it took a month or so longer than I expected, but this guitar is essentially finished. I will be soldering the wiring tomorrow night and I need to tweak the setup a bit, but it's not too far off. The finish turned out looking pretty good, but not perfect. As a retrospective, here are some of the things that I learned or would do differently: 1. Smaller doesn't mean easier 2. Cut my own nut rather than use a cheap plastic one that doesn't fit well. 3. Use reasonable quality tuners, not the cheapest that eBay has to offer. 4. Next time, use individual saddles and a wood plate to make a string through bridge rather than a tailpiece 5. Do a simple semi-gloss oil and wax finish for this wood combination, rather than filling the pores and going high gloss. Would have looked great the other way and been significantly easier All in all I'm quite pleased with the project. I will post some sounds clips of this little sucker in the next week or so. Here are a couple of pics (Click for full size): Now it's time to get back to my twin bass projects!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshvegas Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 (edited) I'm impressed... ....you've managed to hide the fact that that you have made YOURSELF an electric UKE! It was a good cover story but I sussed ya! joking aside it's cool I like it! Edited July 26, 2008 by joshvegas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpm99 Posted July 26, 2008 Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 Please post sound clips. I was very excited to see an update to this thread today. Good work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattharris75 Posted July 31, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2008 Got her all wired up and playing. Posted a couple of new pictures in the guitar of the month thread. Go check it out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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