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Third Build - Double (neck) Trouble


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so what's the weight currently?

mine is 8lb without hardware, quite relieved its come out at that!

I have been weighing hardware as well. the owner wanted chrome knobs till i pointed out that chrome knobs weight about 30g each and we need 8 of them. we went with ebony ones which are 5g each

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those headstock inlays(not to mention, the whole build), look AWESOME. love the interlocking thing. subtle and brilliant

Thanks, Charlie. I have agonized over that thing for years. My wife couldn't even come up with a logo design that I liked and she is a graphic designer! I guess I'm just hard to please :D

Anyway, I was always looking for some way to play off of the laminated stripes in the neck/headstock and I feel like I finally got there. Eventually, I went back and inlaid the headstock on the purple one I did a couple years ago. Looks nice - and finished!

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so what's the weight currently?

mine is 8lb without hardware, quite relieved its come out at that!

I have been weighing hardware as well. the owner wanted chrome knobs till i pointed out that chrome knobs weight about 30g each and we need 8 of them. we went with ebony ones which are 5g each

You know, I'm not sure what the weight is at the moment. I did borrow a bathroom scale from a neighbor at one point and if I remember correctly, it weighed in at around 12 pounds (including tuners, bridges, truss rods and any other hardware that I actually had at the time. Strings, pickups (4 of 'em, ugh), knobs, electronics... those will add a little more. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't get to 15 lbs. :D

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  • 3 years later...

Yes, it's been a while... I have been on a guitar building hiatus for the past few years while I struggled with a nasty Craigslist addiction ^_^ So, I figured after 4 years it was probably time I checked back in on this project. I haven't made as much progress as I would have liked, but things seem to be coming along. I had a mid-April goal to complete this, but it will more likely stretch into May or early June. Anyway, here we go...

Couple rear shots with cavity covers; one dry, one wet:

0FFD505F-A424-4EB8-A6F9-6A5AA4C57D40_zps

3FB83920-DD1D-407D-90D6-6FB39F68A50F_zps

Knob and switch recesses

1FC3917B-A60A-4971-AAA1-6E5168F4D3BD_zps

B702C096-3A60-40F2-AC95-D5247EAC7484_zps

Full frontal body so far

B506735A-CEA1-4FFD-9620-7155E67EB0A9_zps

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A couple more of the back showing some carve details:

8E844697-70F3-46FA-B23C-7953585D17F6_zps

FF15177A-A270-4931-AC39-C7F402A283BE_zps

Probably getting ahead of myself, but I'm antsy to see what the dye will look like on the curl; one dry, one wet.

E2045562-07CF-4B1D-AA25-2AACF0607B71_zps

1554B598-911A-4DB7-8D02-D07BF6D9ABCD_zps

It's starting to look a little too warm so I may end up having to bleach the top like I did on my previous purple one.

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I had a mid-April goal to complete this, but it will more likely stretch into May or early June. Anyway, here we go...

Of this year?

It's awesome to see this thing going again! :hyper

SR

Well, I certainly earned that... :blush It's a running joke with some of my coworkers too.

But, I'm glad to be back on the wagon... and hope to be a little more involved over the coming year.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Here's the location for the jack

43E25C09-B49B-42BD-A307-6C7CC91E9B0C_zps

Top bleached a time or two...

12A5FF2C-F922-4AD8-94E4-2D66E7313980_zps

I'm trying another stain test... I could really use some advice on this because the whole stain black - sand back technique is confusing me. I didn't have to deal with this on the previous guitar; it was a burl and didn't need anything to "accentuate" the grain. I'm also dealing with faux binding again so I need to understand what my sanding/sealing/dying plan should be.

So after doing some initial snooping around in the finishing tutorial area, here are my assumptions regarding the process:

1. Sand top to ~400 grit

2. Mask edge for faux binding and seal with several coats of lacquer

3. Dampen top with water to raise grain and let dry

4. Apply black stain to top and let dry

5. Sand top again to knock off high spots which will lighten black dye, being careful not to sand off lacquer which is sealing binding.

6. Apply color stain to taste

7. Seal top with lacquer

Have I missed anything or made any incorrect assumptions?

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You do not need to raise the grain with water to dye it. You may wish to do so and sand back the raised grain prior to dyeing so the grain won't raise again....or at least as much. I prefer to mix my sand back black with the primary color rather than straight black. For instance, if you are going with blue, create a very dark blue or blue tinted black for your sand back color or for red, make a very dark red or red tinted black for the sand back color. Doing this will give your guitar a cleaner color than straight black will, which can give a muddy look to some colors. Straight black does work and is used often.....I just like the cleaner colors you get from the way I described.

Otherwise you are good to go. Of course, it is always good to practice on scrap.

Enjoy it, dying figured maple is fun!

SR

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You do not need to raise the grain with water to dye it. You may wish to do so and sand back the raised grain prior to dyeing so the grain won't raise again....or at least as much. I prefer to mix my sand back black with the primary color rather than straight black. For instance, if you are going with blue, create a very dark blue or blue tinted black for your sand back color or for red, make a very dark red or red tinted black for the sand back color. Doing this will give your guitar a cleaner color than straight black will, which can give a muddy look to some colors. Straight black does work and is used often.....I just like the cleaner colors you get from the way I described.

Otherwise you are good to go. Of course, it is always good to practice on scrap.

Enjoy it, dying figured maple is fun!

SR

Thanks for the reply, Scott. I've only used the dye with denatured alcohol so I guess I'll have to take my best shot at using water. And I'll definitely try your trick of mixing my base color with the black. I did some initial trials on the scrap which I'll post soon.

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  • 4 weeks later...

That looks pretty good.......but if it were me I'd hit it at least one more time with your main color dye to try to get a bit more depth and richness.

Unless this is exactly what you are going for of course, then well done!

SR

Damn, I knew you were going to say that! To be honest, I'm reluctant to do any more dyeing directly on the wood. The concentration was off on my first attempt and ended up being wayyyyyy too dark; I had to sand most of it back off (then re-bleach the wood and re-tape my faux binding :angry:) Now I have anxiety every time I get close to it with dye. I also stuck with the alcohol dye; because I'm mixing blue and red, I wasn't sure I could get the same purple hue if I used a different type. I did try mixing water with the powdered dye which I don't recommend... it just clumped up and got foamy. Maybe if I mix water with my alcohol solution?

At any rate, unless the client wants me to revisit the color, I'm leaving it as-is. I suppose I'd feel more comfortable bursting the edges slightly darker with tinted lacquer; maybe I'll run that by him if he's not happy with it.

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  • 1 month later...

Once that's complete shot with lacquer and buffed out, it'll be stunning. I like the transitions between the faux binding in the cutaways. That's often a difficult place to get a good look. Overall, this is a build you don't see the likes of very often. Wow.

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Once that's complete shot with lacquer and buffed out, it'll be stunning. I like the transitions between the faux binding in the cutaways. That's often a difficult place to get a good look. Overall, this is a build you don't see the likes of very often. Wow.

What he said.

SR

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  • 6 months later...

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