guitarnut Posted July 24, 2010 Report Share Posted July 24, 2010 I'm really excited about this build. It's a design that I've been working on over the past few months. The body is inspired by a PRS but with a little different styling and wider, fatter horns. The top will be carved similar to a PRS but with a few twists. I'll have drawings completed and posted in the next few days. Specs: Peruvian mahogany body. Quilted maple carved top. Peruvian mahogany neck. Bolivian rosewood fretboard. Dual HB...not sure which brand yet. Wrap around bridge. Volume, tone, 3-way toggle switch. More soon... Peace, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarnut Posted July 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 As I was hoping, starting this thread lit a fire under me. I spent some time on the design this evening and I'm really happy with how it's coming together. I'm not sure what color I'll use on this one but I did a couple of looks in Photoshop. I built the file from scratch using a few nice professional photos for guidance. The quilt in the mockup is the actual quilt I'm using...I snapped a pic of it and sized it to my PS file so the scale isn't accurate nut it's close. More to come... Peace, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reinhold Posted July 25, 2010 Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 I like the shape a lot and I think the orange is the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuffinPunch Posted July 25, 2010 Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 I dig the red one, but maybe without the zebra pups... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chops1983 Posted July 25, 2010 Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 Looks great nut! The red is beautiful, but i really like the tobacco kinda burst in the 3rd. Its just stylish the old tobacco look. I shall be watching this build very closely. That is one awesome piece of quilted maple, congrats! Chad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarnut Posted July 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 Thanks guys! I appreciate the input. It'll be awhile before I decide on color but I could see it going any of the 4...and 2 or 3 others . I did a bit more work on the pre-viz. I added a bound fretboard, inlays, and strings with shadows and reflections. Also cleaned up the faux binding to make it pop more. Instead of posting all 4 again, I just updated the images above. Peace, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarnut Posted July 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 I thought it would be cool to bind the fretboard in quilt too. I'll go this way for sure if I bind the neck. Here's the mockup of the headstock. Similar to PRS but a bit wider and shaped differently on the end. Also bound in quilt. Can't wait to get started on this build! Peace, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarnut Posted July 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 I worked out the back contour. Pretty basic but effective. I'm gonna come home at lunch tomorrow and turn on the AC in the shop...maybe it'll get the temp below 90F by evening. I really want to get this one started. Peace, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarnut Posted July 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2010 Well, here's the finished mockup. All pieces put together. I'm still not sure about the color but the other details are pretty much set. Body, fretboard and headstock with quilted maple binding. Still, I did three versions: One with MOP inlays... ...one with quilted maple inlays. I'm not sure about the maple on an unfinished fretboard. And one with no inlays...side dot only. Now, enough playing around. It's time to build. I have the shop AC running at home, should be able to get something done this evening. Peace, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuffinPunch Posted July 26, 2010 Report Share Posted July 26, 2010 I like "pro" fretboard without inlays the best, after that the MOP. What about Abalone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted July 26, 2010 Report Share Posted July 26, 2010 I worked out the back contour. Pretty basic but effective. I'm gonna come home at lunch tomorrow and turn on the AC in the shop...maybe it'll get the temp below 90F by evening. I really want to get this one started. Peace, Mark Control plate doesn't flow... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarnut Posted July 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2010 I like "pro" fretboard without inlays the best, after that the MOP. What about Abalone? Pro? The inlays in the mockup were done with the gradient tool in PS, so they don't really look like either MOP or abalone...I'll look at the two real materials and see which I like. Having never done inlay, I'm not familiar with the tools and terms. Peace, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarnut Posted July 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2010 Control plate doesn't flow... Yeah, it's not final. I didn't have the front of the guitar in this PS doc so I wasn't sure where the controls would land. I know for sure I don't want the typical "boomarang" shape that's used so often for this control layout. I'll tweak it at some point. Peace, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juntunen Guitars Posted July 26, 2010 Report Share Posted July 26, 2010 I definatly like the green with no inlays best but the blue is coming close behind. I wish I knew how to use Photoshop like that ... then again maybe not I would be more excited to design than build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted July 26, 2010 Report Share Posted July 26, 2010 I like "pro" fretboard without inlays the best, after that the MOP. What about Abalone? Pro? The inlays in the mockup were done with the gradient tool in PS, so they don't really look like either MOP or abalone...I'll look at the two real materials and see which I like. Having never done inlay, I'm not familiar with the tools and terms. Peace, Mark Pro means I don't need stinking dots to play. Gets my vote... hate inlays anyway. Control plate doesn't flow... Yeah, it's not final. I didn't have the front of the guitar in this PS doc so I wasn't sure where the controls would land. I know for sure I don't want the typical "boomarang" shape that's used so often for this control layout. I'll tweak it at some point. Peace, Mark Good to hear about the Boomerang as I always thought it looked stupid as well. Overall it is a nice design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jdogg Posted July 27, 2010 Report Share Posted July 27, 2010 I vote for the red as #1... orange as #2... both colors are spectacular. lookin good.. i like the shape... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Posted July 27, 2010 Report Share Posted July 27, 2010 I kinda like it. Looks like a PRS that went on an eating binge and had only its back end lipo'd. Its unique. I'd play it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdshirtman Posted July 28, 2010 Report Share Posted July 28, 2010 I'm in love with this body shape. Nice job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarnut Posted August 3, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2010 Well, the heat is backing off a bit and the AC managed to get the shop to an agreeable temp so I got to work on the quilted top. The billet had a check on each end. I know this when I bought it but I didn'r know that one of them went more than halfway thru the thickness. So, it took some creative positioning and measuring to find a spot that was full of quilt but had no checks intruding into it. I started by placing 1/2" hash marks on the face and sliding my pattern centerline inward until the horn cleared the check. Then I marked the head and tail and flipped the pattern to check it's positon with the other horn. 2" in from the edge with the most wane was the sweet spot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarnut Posted August 3, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2010 After trimming 2" from the edge and resawing two 7/8" slabs for the bookmatch, I saw that there was some sapwood on the inside that wasn'r visable before. As luck would have it, the pattern fits just inside the sapwood. And the ends to the left are not affected by the checks...the deep one was on the other end. I must be living right. It couldn't have come our closer. Jointed and in the clamps. I gave it a quick test with a scraper to see the quilt...red circle. After it came out of the clamps, I gave a cleanup pass thru the planer and took it down to 3/4". I think it's going to turn out nicely. There are a couple of small knots that appear to be very shallow. I'm thinking they'll be gone by the time the carve is done. More soon. Peace, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwcarl Posted August 3, 2010 Report Share Posted August 3, 2010 That's going to be a fantastic looking top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted August 3, 2010 Report Share Posted August 3, 2010 yowser - thats nice one thing you will need to consider is the natural colour of the maple as it is. If going for blue and green direct stain you may want to lighten it first to get a strong colour Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarnut Posted August 3, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2010 yowser - thats nice one thing you will need to consider is the natural colour of the maple as it is. If going for blue and green direct stain you may want to lighten it first to get a strong colour Yeah, I'm not sure on that. The maple on this one is about the same golden color as the maple I used on my Texas Tele which bleached nicely. The problem I may have on this one is the bleach only affects a thin top layer so I'll have to do it after the carve. Having the runny bleach on the guitar at that point puts the mahogany sides at risk...like dye bleeding under masking. I'll have to test that scenario and see what works best. Peace, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s2p2e Posted August 4, 2010 Report Share Posted August 4, 2010 This is looking fantastic so far; love the design and the top you've got.. It's gorgeous. Can't wait to see more work on this one. Cheers and good luck. Spencer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s2p2e Posted August 4, 2010 Report Share Posted August 4, 2010 (edited) This is looking fantastic so far; love the design and the top you've got.. It's gorgeous. Can't wait to see more work on this one. Cheers and good luck. Spencer Sorry, accidentally posted twice Edited August 4, 2010 by s2p2e Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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