supplebanana Posted April 9, 2010 Report Share Posted April 9, 2010 lovely piece of 'bolo u got there!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattharris75 Posted April 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2010 Thanks. The fretboard came from member Erikbojerik, along with a bocote and a couple of bloodwood boards. Great looking stuff from Erik! One thing I noticed about the fretboard last night is that the nut slot is slightly too wide to fit a regular fender nut snugly. So, either I'll have to shim it or cut a new nut out of a wider piece of stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattharris75 Posted July 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2010 (edited) Life is busy with a 5 month old... A little progress: Radius'ed fretboard polished with micromesh, neck pocket routed, pickup routed, neck/volute carve started. Edited July 2, 2010 by mattharris75 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted July 3, 2010 Report Share Posted July 3, 2010 Daaaang has it been 5 months already? Beautiful shot of all the woods in that guitar. I guess there is no hurry to get it done in time to be played by it's recipient, but this thing is looking tasty. We're starving out here! SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuntinDoug Posted July 3, 2010 Report Share Posted July 3, 2010 The neck binding looks really good with that fretboard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattharris75 Posted May 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 (edited) So, it's been ages. With a 15 month old running around as well as other life responsibilities, I haven't had much time to work on guitars. Finally got back to this build a little bit and made a little bit of progress. The carve is about half way done, and the neck has been fretted. Edited May 3, 2011 by mattharris75 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 That fretboard is sick! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattharris75 Posted May 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2011 Yeah, it really is an amazing fretboard. A little more progress tonight, got the neck rough carved. Wenge is a bear to carve compared to the maple/walnut/mahogany type stuff I've done in the past. A bass neck out of this stuff would make your arms sore for days! I'll probably stall out again here, as I have spring football (I'm a coach) for the next few weeks starting tomorrow... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted May 4, 2011 Report Share Posted May 4, 2011 I'm glad to see some more progress on this Matt. This has always been one of my favorite builds. You've got some time yet though, 15 months is still a bit early to start playing. On the other hand, I'm betting that 15 months went by in the blink of an eye. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scherzo1928 Posted May 4, 2011 Report Share Posted May 4, 2011 That might just be the best looking neck I've ever seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattharris75 Posted May 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2011 Thanks guys, appreciate the compliments. And yes, Scott, time is flying! She is running around everywhere and getting into all kinds of trouble. And she does love to strum on my guitars and bang on the drums, so that's a good sign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattharris75 Posted January 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 Well, my daughter turns 3 tomorrow. Time flies! And I suppose it's about time for me to make my 'annual progress' on this build. Actually, over the course of this year we've moved (had to build out and set my shop back up), had several surgeries, and had all sorts of 'real life' get in the way... But now that the shop is set up and I have a little free time, I've gotten back to it. I've worked on cleaning up and deepening the top carve, and done a little bit of carving to the back, as well as cutting the control cavity and control cavity cover. I found a piece of wood that was a pretty close match for the cover, but it's not quite perfect. Really there's not a whole lot of wood working left. At this point it's just massaging a few things in the carves, adding the cavity for the jack, the tuner holes, and doing final sanding. Maybe I'll actually have it ready to spray some finish this spring! Fingers crossed! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Posted January 30, 2013 Report Share Posted January 30, 2013 That is fantastic. And kids are maniacs. My youngest is almost 3. But the carving on the back of this thing is magnificent and the wood just makes it look even more so. Bravo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted January 30, 2013 Report Share Posted January 30, 2013 Matt, I was hoping this was going to make another appearance soon. I love the back carve too. That is a very close match for the cover. It is hard to get that close from a different piece...or different location in the same piece of wood. Your stuff is always worth waiting for. THREE! Good lord! SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattharris75 Posted February 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2013 Thanks guys! We had a little jam session last night, the 3 year old on drums and vocals and me on guitar. I berlieve we've got a hit on our hands with "The Monkey Jump Jam", she's got quite a talent for songwriting! So I think she's really going to enjoy this thing once it's finished. Been doing more work. I decided to go with a strat style jack on the back like my bass builds, so I cut the jack hole on the back of the guitar. The problem is that the body is not as thick as the basses, so I've cut out a flamed maple plate to go under the jack plate which will be both decorative and give me a little more depth to work with. The big thing is that I did my first finish test. And I learned quite a bit! For one thing, it's extremely important to be consistent with sanding back the black when using lighter colors on top. I kind of haphazardly threw this together, and my surface prep and sanding back were marginal, and the result suffered for it. But of course, I learned a lot of what to do and what not to do when dying the top, so it was quite helpful! This is black/scarlet red/yellow. The black was sanded back quite a bit, the red slightly less, and the yellow is full strength. I'm thinking I might get some dark brown to replace the black, and sand down both it and the red a bit less on the next attempt. I like the variation between the colors, and the overall orange tone, but I think it can be richer and more consistent if I make those changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted February 4, 2013 Report Share Posted February 4, 2013 If red is going to be your midtone color, try adding red to your black or dark brown for your dark sand back color. You will be aiming for a super dark red instead of black or dark brown. This will make your dark to mid to light color transitions smoother and still provide plenty of contrast. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattharris75 Posted February 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2013 Thanks Scott, I'll give that a try on the next go round. I originally did it this way in attempt to get a 'tiger eye' sort of look. It turned out OK, but I think I can do better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Posted February 6, 2013 Report Share Posted February 6, 2013 That's ridiculous. I have never seen a tiger's eyeball that looked like figured maple. Oh, I guess the next one will be turtle-shell green. Deez guys... On another note, the color is beautiful, and with all color mixing in art, the accidents are usually just a fantastically pigmented journey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattharris75 Posted February 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2013 Turtle shell green.... Good idea, maybe if our next kid is a boy I'll do that for his. Here is the maple jack plate spacer that I made, and how it sits on the guitar. It's 6mm deep and is 5mm wider than the jack plate all around. I think it's going to look pretty cool once it's finished and part of the guitar. Just one more little contrasting element. Lousy cell phone pic... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted February 6, 2013 Report Share Posted February 6, 2013 That's ridiculous. I have never seen a tiger's eyeball that looked like figured maple. Oh, I guess the next one will be turtle-shell green. Deez guys... I know you are joking, but its the stone not animal and refers to a PRS colour for guitars guitar finish: Stone: animal: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattharris75 Posted February 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2013 Yeah, I love the look of PRS's Tiger Eye finish. But honestly, I think it translates better to quilt than flame. There's more black in my test piece than is evident in the image that I posted, but it's still not as dramatic as theirs. And, honestly, after looking at the guitar and how dramatic the cocobolo fretboard is, I'm now questining whether or not to do a dyed finish, other than perhaps some sort of simple light brown to enhance the grain. It really looks prety awesome as is, lots of contrast. What do you guys think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted February 6, 2013 Report Share Posted February 6, 2013 Here is the maple jack plate spacer that I made, and how it sits on the guitar. It's 6mm deep and is 5mm wider than the jack plate all around. I think it's going to look pretty cool once it's finished and part of the guitar. Just one more little contrasting element. That was nicely done. Your light enhancement idea would look nice and tastefull......but I'd have a hard time not popping that figure. It's just too much fun. A burst would help separate it from the cocobolo. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattharris75 Posted February 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2013 A burst would be another new process for me. The dyes I'm using are alcohol based. From what I've seen it looks like doing a rubbed on burst would be pretty easy with water based dyes. Not that I couldn't switch over and go that route... I watched a video on youtube of Big D guitars doing a 'nuclear' burst that I really liked. But his example is on a burl guitar, which certainly gives a different effect. And again, I'm not sure it wouldn't be too 'matchy matchy' with the cocobolo. This is going to take some thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted February 7, 2013 Report Share Posted February 7, 2013 I just used the same dye and airbrushed the burst after the body was where I wanted it color wise. Alcohol dyes would work fine....super easy, but you do sort of need an air brush. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattharris75 Posted February 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2013 I wouldn't necessarily be opposed to doing a wipe on burst, but adding an airbrush to the equation isn't really something I want to mess with. I have a while to decide on the direction I want to go. I imagine I'll change my mind ten times before I get to that point, but that's part of the fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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