CDH Posted January 18, 2018 Report Share Posted January 18, 2018 Hi all! I'm new to the forum and new to guitar building as well. A little less than two years ago, I decided to try my hand at building guitar kits. I had turned 50 a year earlier and although I hadn't seriously played guitar in almost 30 years, I thought I might take up playing again and start a new hobby to boot. In April of 2016 I received my first two kits and dug right in. My idea was to see how things worked out on less expensive kits. If all went well, I would invest in a custom kit from Precision Guitar Kits and build my dream LP. Well, the first kits went well enough that I did pull the trigger on the PGK LP. What a fine instrument that one turned out to be. However, it would be my last kit because the next three guitars would be from scratch…and I’ve never looked back! I am posting here a video that I made recently that shows my first year of building these six guitars. It’s a compilation of the photos I took while building them. The original music I composed and play on the video is recorded with the actual guitars that I built. In the future, I’m looking forward to reading about and discussing building experiences with other luthiers on this forum. I travel a lot for work, so the building has slowed a bit, but I have just completed my design and templates for a travel guitar. Stay tuned! Chris 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Natural Posted January 19, 2018 Report Share Posted January 19, 2018 welcome and congrats on some fine builds. Looking forward to the travel guitar build. I noticed it appears you used Solarez on one of your builds- would be interested in your experience with that finish. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDH Posted January 19, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2018 Thanks for the welcome! I did use Solarez on the last two builds (the chopping block guitar and the 7-string). I like that it didn't add 3 extra months to the build, but the Solarez can be finicky. Because it has to flow out for ninety minutes, it can get a little thin in places and I kept sanding through, or even more frustrating, buffing through. One thing I'm learning is that I need to be a little more diligent with my wood prep sanding. Obviously, a smoother, flatter wood surface will give me a more uniform covering of the resin. For the travel guitar I'm going to use Tru-Oil. I used Tru-Oil on the EVH kit's neck and the arch top pickguard. I'll be posting pictures soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liquorice Posted January 19, 2018 Report Share Posted January 19, 2018 Awesome video, always nice to hear self made instruments in action and not just looking at slideshows. Glad you changed your logo from abalone to decals, those abalone letters looked a little too busy in my eyes. And self made brass headpiece for that headless guitar was great. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDH Posted January 19, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2018 Thanks for the comments. I see a little bit what you mean about the abalone. Though, I was happy how the inlay turned out on the ebony truss rod cap on the 7-string and the LP headstock. I guess the abalone needs a sharp contrast to work better. I actually saw a similar brass headpiece that another builder bought for his headless 7-string project. I tried to find one to buy, but had no luck. So, I had no choice but to fabricate my own. Much more rewarding in the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liquorice Posted January 20, 2018 Report Share Posted January 20, 2018 18 hours ago, CDH said: Thanks for the comments. I see a little bit what you mean about the abalone. Though, I was happy how the inlay turned out on the ebony truss rod cap on the 7-string and the LP headstock. I guess the abalone needs a sharp contrast to work better. Yeah inlay work looked great, only letters that are made out of abalone look a little busy. 18 hours ago, CDH said: I actually saw a similar brass headpiece that another builder bought for his headless 7-string project. I tried to find one to buy, but had no luck. So, I had no choice but to fabricate my own. Much more rewarding in the end. There are all kinds of "bell brass" and such, did you just get "brass" for your material ? I have always wondered that why there are no "bomb-proof" guitar parts, with decent material thickness and reinforced threads ? There is the weight side ofcourse, but then there is the durability. Are your single bridgesystems those abm-3801 parts ? I recently have started to like how headless guitars look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDH Posted January 21, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2018 19 hours ago, Liquorice said: did you just get "brass" for your material ? Just brass a far as I know. 19 hours ago, Liquorice said: Are your single bridgesystems those abm-3801 parts ? Yep. They work great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted January 21, 2018 Report Share Posted January 21, 2018 Welcome to the forum. I haven't had chance to watch the video yet but I see some fine looking guitars here. I think we'll be seeing some mighty impressive results as your skills progress! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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