pauliemc Posted August 14, 2011 Report Share Posted August 14, 2011 Been busy with this one for the past week or 2. havent taken enough piks to fill an encyclopedia, but enough to give a good idea of whats going on. Body - single piece sapele with book matched flame maple top. neck - 5 piece laminate, black walnut, hard ash, rock maple. with scarf joint & ebony board. deep tennon to bridge humbucker. 24 frets. Gotoh floyd, gotoh tuners, 1x single coil. 1x P90, 1x humbucker. Billet for back of body with ebony board. body billet is very thick here, but I sliced off 20mm from this. Might make a nice gold top on a hollow body PRS24 coming up soon. Flamed maple top to be book matched. I like the figuring on this piece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted August 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2011 Neck blank. Maple, walnut, ash 5 piece. walnut headstock & ebony board. Truss rod not installed yet, Just getting everything lined up with the body at this point then later - Truss rod installed, neck rear profiled, headstock shaped & heel tennon sorted for fitting to body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted August 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2011 Test fitting the neck. All seems fine. Just got to clean it all up before gluing & route the single coil right up against the end of the neck. Thats it for now. Ill put up some more as I make progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted August 14, 2011 Report Share Posted August 14, 2011 Holy crap, what's that ridiculously glossy metallic looking beast in the background? That's not that black one you polished so much it looked like pewter a while back is it? I like the walnut headstock on this one. Are you putting the P-90 at the bridge? It looks like you've got the hummy drawn in the middle. Has a color been picked yet? SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted August 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2011 Holy crap, what's that ridiculously glossy metallic looking beast in the background? That's not that black one you polished so much it looked like pewter a while back is it? I like the walnut headstock on this one. Are you putting the P-90 at the bridge? It looks like you've got the hummy drawn in the middle. Has a color been picked yet? SR Hey Scott. Customer wants this one red. so its gona be black stain cut way back then red toner in the clear on the front. Just clear on the back & neck. The humbucker is going at the bridge, then the p90, then a single coil at the neck. my rough layout scribbles are just a visual aid for the customer to help get his head around exactly what he is looking at. The shiny beast is a Chrome boy. Chrome JS ala Joe Satriani. Actually nickle plated, its a seriously upgraded JS100 from Ibanez. Iv been doing them for about 12 years at this point. Some completly from scratch builds & sometimes customising Ibanez geets for customers. this one is number 16 so far & I still havent gotten the plating thing fully sorted. still looks wicked cool despite the problems building them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xadioriderx Posted August 27, 2011 Report Share Posted August 27, 2011 man that neck is teh sexxxxxyyyy! i realllly like the different wood for the headstock, ive never seen that before. this is sweet, and i may have to steal that idea next time =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted August 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2011 man that neck is teh sexxxxxyyyy! i realllly like the different wood for the headstock, ive never seen that before. this is sweet, and i may have to steal that idea next time =) Steal away man, steal away Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metallisomething Posted August 28, 2011 Report Share Posted August 28, 2011 This looks awesome. From another left handed person, a Left PRS is exciting to see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted August 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2011 This looks awesome. From another left handed person, a Left PRS is exciting to see. Cool. I rarely get to do a lefty anything. just waiting on the bridge to arrive before I move this along. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackdog Posted September 2, 2011 Report Share Posted September 2, 2011 Great work so far. The neck looks great and the different headstock wood is a nice idea. Not a fan of the volute you implemented, though. But I'm too much of a traditionalist sometimes... Not sure about the pickup sampler approach either, but that's the customer request and you have to honour it. Keep it up, it will be gorgeous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted September 16, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2011 Little more on this. Top carve started, Still needs tweaking to be just right. Trem cavity to be recessed & remaining pickups to go in this week. But for now its moving along. Flame is coming out real nice on this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted September 17, 2011 Report Share Posted September 17, 2011 That flame is looking hot. Is that another of your rescued restaurant table tops? SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted September 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2011 That flame is looking hot. Is that another of your rescued restaurant table tops? SR Indeed it is Scott. this one, a drop top & a chunk of quilt are all I have left. think ill use the quilt for something for myself. the droptop went into a flying V i did for a guy. he ordered it on a monday & was playing it that saterday night at a gig its coming back for some polishing & photos in a few weeks. But the flame on this is coming out realy nice, actually got better when I bookmatched it . Any more builds in the near future from yerself ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted September 18, 2011 Report Share Posted September 18, 2011 That flame is looking hot. Is that another of your rescued restaurant table tops? SR Indeed it is Scott. this one, a drop top & a chunk of quilt are all I have left. think ill use the quilt for something for myself. the droptop went into a flying V i did for a guy. he ordered it on a monday & was playing it that saterday night at a gig its coming back for some polishing & photos in a few weeks. But the flame on this is coming out realy nice, actually got better when I bookmatched it . Any more builds in the near future from yerself ? That V sounds like a bloody fast build. Unless my powers of observation are faulty....and they often are, I'd say you hand carved (chiseled) the scoops on the cut outs on this. Man after my own heart. As for me, I dunno. I had a request for a build about a month ago. We spent about a week discussing details and then it got quiet. The customer is a friend of a friend and I have been assured that it is still on.....only delayed for a bit while he tries to sell a guitar to get the cash for this project. We'll see how it goes. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted September 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2011 That flame is looking hot. Is that another of your rescued restaurant table tops? SR Indeed it is Scott. this one, a drop top & a chunk of quilt are all I have left. think ill use the quilt for something for myself. the droptop went into a flying V i did for a guy. he ordered it on a monday & was playing it that saterday night at a gig its coming back for some polishing & photos in a few weeks. But the flame on this is coming out realy nice, actually got better when I bookmatched it . Any more builds in the near future from yerself ? That V sounds like a bloody fast build. Unless my powers of observation are faulty....and they often are, I'd say you hand carved (chiseled) the scoops on the cut outs on this. Man after my own heart. As for me, I dunno. I had a request for a build about a month ago. We spent about a week discussing details and then it got quiet. The customer is a friend of a friend and I have been assured that it is still on.....only delayed for a bit while he tries to sell a guitar to get the cash for this project. We'll see how it goes. SR Yea the V was quick. Started on a tuesday - handed it over that saterday. 4.5 days in all, I had neck blanks ready to go & some off cuts sitting waiting for one of my green builds (scrapwood builds) body & neck were all glued & fretted by the end of day 2 with the first bouts of colour going on. then clear coat on day 3, assembly on the morning of pickup. I reckon it will need the clear cut & a few more coats whe I get it back for the buffing. But screw it, he wanted it realy fast & I like a challange. Anyway. The whole top on the PRS jobbie was chiseled, a gouge is realy the only way to get the scooped out thing I do on the bottom horn. Just havent sanded the edges or inner horns yet. Waiting to see if the customer wants a belly cut in the back before I go much further. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackdog Posted September 20, 2011 Report Share Posted September 20, 2011 Yea the V was quick. Started on a tuesday - handed it over that saterday. 4.5 days in all, I had neck blanks ready to go & some off cuts sitting waiting for one of my green builds (scrapwood builds) body & neck were all glued & fretted by the end of day 2 with the first bouts of colour going on. then clear coat on day 3, assembly on the morning of pickup. I reckon it will need the clear cut & a few more coats whe I get it back for the buffing. But screw it, he wanted it realy fast & I like a challange. Anyway. The whole top on the PRS jobbie was chiseled, a gouge is realy the only way to get the scooped out thing I do on the bottom horn. Just havent sanded the edges or inner horns yet. Waiting to see if the customer wants a belly cut in the back before I go much further. That is a nice carve Paulie. For the cutaway scoop (and the belly cut) I'm using rasps and cabinet scrapers, I'm not good (and too slow) with chisels and gouges. But your end results are looking great ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted September 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2011 Yea the V was quick. Started on a tuesday - handed it over that saterday. 4.5 days in all, I had neck blanks ready to go & some off cuts sitting waiting for one of my green builds (scrapwood builds) body & neck were all glued & fretted by the end of day 2 with the first bouts of colour going on. then clear coat on day 3, assembly on the morning of pickup. I reckon it will need the clear cut & a few more coats whe I get it back for the buffing. But screw it, he wanted it realy fast & I like a challange. Anyway. The whole top on the PRS jobbie was chiseled, a gouge is realy the only way to get the scooped out thing I do on the bottom horn. Just havent sanded the edges or inner horns yet. Waiting to see if the customer wants a belly cut in the back before I go much further. That is a nice carve Paulie. For the cutaway scoop (and the belly cut) I'm using rasps and cabinet scrapers, I'm not good (and too slow) with chisels and gouges. But your end results are looking great ! Id try the chisels n gouges again if I were you. the ones you used were probobly too big, I use a very small gouge for almost all my carving. Takes away little pieces at a time & is very controlable. I find th smaller gouges & chisels are better. But thats just me, maby Scott could chime in here, dude has some serious skills with carving tools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted September 20, 2011 Report Share Posted September 20, 2011 Yea the V was quick. Started on a tuesday - handed it over that saterday. 4.5 days in all, I had neck blanks ready to go & some off cuts sitting waiting for one of my green builds (scrapwood builds) body & neck were all glued & fretted by the end of day 2 with the first bouts of colour going on. then clear coat on day 3, assembly on the morning of pickup. I reckon it will need the clear cut & a few more coats whe I get it back for the buffing. But screw it, he wanted it realy fast & I like a challange. Anyway. The whole top on the PRS jobbie was chiseled, a gouge is realy the only way to get the scooped out thing I do on the bottom horn. Just havent sanded the edges or inner horns yet. Waiting to see if the customer wants a belly cut in the back before I go much further. That is a nice carve Paulie. For the cutaway scoop (and the belly cut) I'm using rasps and cabinet scrapers, I'm not good (and too slow) with chisels and gouges. But your end results are looking great ! Id try the chisels n gouges again if I were you. the ones you used were probobly too big, I use a very small gouge for almost all my carving. Takes away little pieces at a time & is very controlable. I find th smaller gouges & chisels are better. But thats just me, maby Scott could chime in here, dude has some serious skills with carving tools. Yeah, I totally agree with your philosophy, Paulie. I use palm gouges almost exclusively. I next to never use one that you have to hit with a mallet, and then only with tiny little controlled tap taps. For a top carve like yours, I'd mostly use a palm gouge that's a half inch wide for the bulk of it, and never cut deeper than 1/8th" at a time. For tighter areas, I'd use a quarter inch wide gouge, and I even have some that are 1/8" and 1/16" wide, for special occasions. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted September 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2011 Yea. Lookin at some of your stuff I kinda figured you were using smaller chisels. But I rarely use palm gouges, im more familiar / comfortable with the hammer. It comes from my backgroung in carving stone aswell as timber, I studied art for a while, painting, sculpture, drawing & all that crap. So im used to the hammers. I use 2 small ones. one 2 oz. & another thats basicly an ash club. Very light taps & steer the blade as you go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted September 21, 2011 Report Share Posted September 21, 2011 Ha. I have an ash club too. Well it looks more like a mallet. I made it from an ash tree in the yard that termites killed. I use it and bigger chisels a lot for rough shaping and rapid material removal. Ol' bear didn't see any but that for the first month or so. It doesn't see too much work on guitars though. Crow is another one that does very nice work with a chisel and a hammer. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted April 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2012 Taking a few days away from the bigger orders. Get to do a little on the oddball one offs & full customs - The cool stuff These were taken just after the gitir was polished & the hardware test fitted with the finish applied. These were the last piks I took of this particular gitir. But I have it here for a few more days so I will get a few finished snaps of it. Anyway. Piks. Sorry about the quality, but my camera is old & starting to crap out. the top is actualy a nice cherry red with no orange tint to it. But you get the general idea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted April 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2012 I let some of the black dye sink into the binding & left it there. I think it ties it in nicely with the rest of the top. Did the same on the back & sides. Blackened it & cut it back a tiny bit. But when cleared it does not show the timber as well as Id like, turned into a big shaving mirror. You can kinda see it on the sides. Note to future self - polish black less (somehow) Headstock without the truss cover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 24, 2012 Report Share Posted April 24, 2012 That's beautiful Paulie. How difficult was it to keep the masked binding line clean? SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremyp Posted April 24, 2012 Report Share Posted April 24, 2012 what clear did you use on this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted April 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2012 That's beautiful Paulie. How difficult was it to keep the masked binding line clean? SR No. was easy enough. Only had a few tiny areas to touch up with a blade after the tape was peeled off. I used a fine line pinstriping tape from 3M. not the blue stuff. Pinstriping tape flexes around corners much better. I used some of this. My link Its expensive when shipping to Ireland is included. But was so easy to use & came up realy well. I need to find a supplier over here because I think ill be using a lot of this stuff. Either that of hop on a ferry & go to the UK, Fill up the land rover & head home Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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