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Blonde Glamour Shots...Something old, something new, something blonde, something blue!


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32 minutes ago, ScottR said:

I agree with the top class statement. The radius and glue up is impressive.

And I somehow lost track of the fact you are building two.

SR

thank you sir, again, a nod from the pros - must be my lucky day!  for the record she isn't glued here... was just dry fitting it, but thank you all the same. 

afa 2 - the project started out as two... but kept nagging me that I really wanted a 25sl strat... so here we are!

anywho, thank you again for the kind words.

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so got one neck profile done... but I was out of breath a few times... but then I'm old and in rough shape so... fairly thin profile ended up at .77 at the first and .90 at the 12th... the asym is quite nice as you can get a nice thicker feel on the low side but slide your thumb towards the high e and it feels very fast/thin.

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a shot of my cavity prep (no jokes please): put some true oil in there then did some shielding paint after.DSCN2118.thumb.JPG.bdb1c36c114e5d99f50866785a9f078c.JPG

so then clamp city...

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hot off the press... er um... clamps?DSCN2122.thumb.JPG.f166e3617c66d2871d510a960fbb7d5b.JPG

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had to take several breaks as it was killing my back to use this sander but finally done with that part anyway!

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nice solid join between the mahog and maple

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so keeping an eye on weight... looks like 3lb 8oz body, 1lb 5oz neck, 2oz per pickup so 8oz, 1lb 3oz bridge, 8oz tuners so 7lb?  still will be removing some pickup wood and a deep belly cut - I'm guessing that will take about 12oz off so estimating just over 6lbs here.

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got a little hairy this week when I dry fit my top and cut the neck pocket for my set neck version.  the neck needs to be glued before I attach the top... but wouldn't be able to cut the top with the neck installed so it's a catch 22. 

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now to deal with the rounded corners... I'm not that great with chisels... but give me a laminate file and I'm right at home (see below)

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spent a lot of this week building/testing my binding jig... required quite a bit of tweaking.  Added and then removed springs, changed the length for tension several times... to get it just right.  these drawer slides have built in mechanism/springs for making a 'soft close' which is nice.  the carriage doesn't just drop... it eases back into position. 

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rebuilt my plexi piece because I couldn't cut the last 1/8" right up at the neck pocket - literally was that close.  So rebuilt and now it has plenty of room.

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it works pretty intuitively. nice and straight.

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It is perfect everywhere except right at the highest points...you can kind of see here.  My donut was simply a plumbing piece that is a cover for faucet pipe.  had a 7/8" hole already, and has a nice slope.  It is a hair too large (approx 1.5") around and this is preventing complete flattness on most of the guitar.  The two closeups below show that it drifts almost a 1/16th at those spots.

For this guitar: it will kind of be cool.  There is going to be some manual shaping of the 1/2 round as it won't dig in as much on the sides... but will dig in fully at the back.  This should follow that pretty good so I'm going to use it as is... but will likely build a new donut at the point where I use it again.

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Looking good :)

Ref the weight prediction, I always calculate and then add 8oz.

I don't know why, but 8oz always seems to creep in somewhere! :rolleyes:

So my prediction is I would add 1/4lb for the things you haven't mentioned (pots, wires, strings, etc) and then add my 8oz angel dust (mainly finish, to be honest) and therefore end up with a final playing weight of  6 3/4 lbs .  

Still pretty good if it meets that because that is a deep, deep body compared with the ones I've done recently!  And stupendous if it gets closer to your own prediction. ;)

Maybe we should set up 'predict the weight' as a sister competition to GOTM?  At least it would give me a running chance...because as sure as heck, you're going to beat me with this on the GOTM itself! :lol:

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You're weigh in is far more precise than mine! For the V, I can't put it on scales because of the awkward shape (I should have put the wings then the neck on the scales and totalled them up, now it's too late for that). I ordered a hanging scale the other day so I can hang it from one of the peg holes. In the meantime, I just fitted the top, slapped the box of hardware on top, pick it up and said, yep that'll do :D

Binding channels came out great!

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24 minutes ago, Andyjr1515 said:

Looking good :)

Ref the weight prediction, I always calculate and then add 8oz.

I don't know why, but 8oz always seems to creep in somewhere! :rolleyes:

So my prediction is I would add 1/4lb for the things you haven't mentioned (pots, wires, strings, etc) and then add my 8oz angel dust (mainly finish, to be honest) and therefore end up with a final playing weight of  6 3/4 lbs .  

Still pretty good if it meets that because that is a deep, deep body compared with the ones I've done recently!  And stupendous if it gets closer to your own prediction. ;)

Maybe we should set up 'predict the weight' as a sister competition to GOTM?  At least it would give me a running chance...because as sure as heck, you're going to beat me with this on the GOTM itself! :lol:

hehe, you have a lot more experience on the weight so I wouldn't be surprised!  Still have a forearm cut, pickup routes, and I forgot: neck heel will be trimmed down quite a bit so - I might have gone over (is this going to be like price-is-right?  closest without going over.  if @ADFinlayson chimes in with 1lb we're both screwed!

on that note... it's funny - I have a tele that I've always thought was super light.  it just feels like it's light... now that I have a scale it turns out to be just over 7lb.  So I've thought a lot lately about what makes a guitar 'FEEL' light.  I'm going to guess balance.  I'm going to start weighing so that I can learn and be able to go back and reference.

afa gotm... you are very kind - but I wouldn't bet on me against any of the stuff I see here on any given day - let alone your stuff!  I'll be proud to loose to anyone around here!

4 minutes ago, ADFinlayson said:

You're weigh in is far more precise than mine! For the V, I can't put it on scales because of the awkward shape (I should have put the wings then the neck on the scales and totalled them up, now it's too late for that). I ordered a hanging scale the other day so I can hang it from one of the peg holes. In the meantime, I just fitted the top, slapped the box of hardware on top, pick it up and said, yep that'll do :D

Binding channels came out great!

thank you ADfinlay - never even thought about a fish scale!  Prob be perfect.  Binding channel... I just went in 1/8" to test it.  this binding is going to sit slightly below the top and get exposed by a roundover... so not done yet!

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3 minutes ago, ADFinlayson said:

Whatever weight yours came in at, mine would probably come in 1lb heavier, my guitars are not known for the lightness. In fact, I suspect the V will turn out heavier than I think it is because it's so long! 

BTW, congrats on your guitar heading up Amateur Luthier, it's very pretty! :D

afa light... it's not a competition - I rolled a car when I was 16 and went through the side window and bounced off the pavement and went back into the car.  Herniated 3 discs in my back.  Just sold one of my p basses as I couldn't play it for more than 5 mins w/o crying.  a shame cause it sounded great... just not in the cards for me anymore.  If I could I'd ONLY play heavy guitars.

thank you an the am luth/pretty.  I just tossed my hat in the ring on that and forgot all about it until the 'sudden death' event.  I have been really lucky lately and I'm very thankful for that.  Balances out the shit luck I have elsewhere I guess. It's all good!

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26 minutes ago, ZekeB said:

that top is awesome

which one?  they were both from my good friends over at downhomewoods on etsy.  $40 ea!!!  Wayne is the owner and is super nice.  They are often busy so are pretty short in emails (or so I've heard from others) but they are pretty warm to me as I'm a talker! 

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don't think I'm bob villa or anything but just thought it might be nice to show a time lapse of my set neck carving... here it is with the facets drawin:

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halfway through the first facet (3mins)

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facet 1 done:

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then hold at 67.5 degrees and facet 3 done:

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sm thing on the other side... about 10-15mins per side total.  this side shows them after being blended together:

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move my clamps and do the vallute

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the blend the vallute/heel on the spindle:

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then to my best tool: hands + sandpaper!DSCN2182.thumb.JPG.474d8ee1af22d1f9316d56cc9cca53a0.JPG

thanks to vallute, heel truss, ebony overlay and fretboard, and 1.75 width at the nut... this thing is very rigid.  can't bend it at all yet it's .786 thick at the 1st.  no flex in the headstock at all.DSCN2183.thumb.JPG.32b953a543fd7ecd06c483fe2b181fc5.JPG

 

the wood I used here is something I have a lot of.  wanted to use it for this neck to see if it would be "pretty enough" for a body.  It has all these 'brown specs" and it didn't occur to me till now what they are - or at least what I think they are: ambrosia?  there are no holes anywhere and I thought ambrosia typically would have that.  they are just tiny versions of what looks like ambrosia here and there.  Would love some enlightenment on this topic. DSCN2187.thumb.JPG.aa6928d5093d7064f46ad7df9b5c1a45.JPGDSCN2185.thumb.JPG.bbf217bbd552fe9846aa50ff2d3e3d89.JPGDSCN2186.thumb.JPG.1f3d287e0fc3ee7c14227b117500b54c.JPG

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1 hour ago, mistermikev said:

It has all these 'brown specs" and it didn't occur to me till now what they are - or at least what I think they are: ambrosia?  there are no holes anywhere and I thought ambrosia typically would have that.  they are just tiny versions of what looks like ambrosia here and there.  Would love some enlightenment on this topic.

No clue. It looks like some markings @Andyjr1515 had in his ash.

The bird's eye markings and burls are typically unformed buds. I wonder if these have any connection to that.

SR

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3 minutes ago, ScottR said:

No clue. It looks like some markings @Andyjr1515 had in his ash.

The bird's eye markings and burls are typically unformed buds. I wonder if these have any connection to that.

SR

ok, well, I know more now than I did before!  I'm guessing unformed buds means it is from a younger tree then? 

will have to see how the figure shows once it's got some true oil on it but am def planning to use this for at least one bass.

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for the bolt neck... i wanted to get my neck attached before I cut the pickup and trem cavities from the top... so even though I hadn't cut my neck relief on the back... I drilled my ferrule holes to depth and bolted her up.

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drew my neck lines on the body and checked it against the top centerline - looking good.  then used a level and shims to get my top sitting flat on the radius and clamped it down ensuring my template was matching up with my centerline.  used a combo square to ensure the but end was sitting correct above my binding rabbet. 

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routered out my pickups and trem cavity...

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took the whole thing off and set it at an angle to do the jack plate...DSCN2193.thumb.JPG.b0a884129465df599596ec01178d4019.JPGDSCN2192.thumb.JPG.d37c304f7ff2b00336478601168abcd8.JPG

all set!DSCN2191.thumb.JPG.c13651f3d88b3bd903b1b4d1bdb91a4b.JPGDSCN2194.thumb.JPG.7c46e06e72da5ac88a285ec01257b052.JPG

glued up my set neck version... MORE CLAMPS!!!DSCN2195.thumb.JPG.173cde77b27caa4c8d79cdddfc2f9f30.JPG

and removed all the clamps (28hrs later... 24 to dry and 4 to remove all the clamps!)...

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followed basically the sm proceedure for the set neck but had to elevate my template 3/8" to sit on top of the fretboard...DSCN2197.thumb.JPG.cb1393051e2e3026b3b9b7e261f5889b.JPG

and all done w that!

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21 minutes ago, Andyjr1515 said:

My goodness. Super high quality work.  Fast, too!

that's good to hear as I'm sitting here sweating from hand carving my neck heel.  I should probably wear a heart monitor while I'm doing it because I'm pretty sure I just pushed myself to the edge!  Didn't feel it until I stopped. 

thank you for the kind words.  Means a lot to me.

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just been kind of driven lately.  having a lot of fun.  so got my final binding channel in on both.  decided I'm just going to do one layer.  jig worked pretty flawless altho there is a tiny bit of flex in the plexi that made me look hard... still came out perfect:

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did the sm for my bolt version... for some reason my first pass on the bolt left a little ledge... probably router was sitting a hair dif in the base... totally ok as my binding is just below it.

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did my neck heel carve as well tonight.  started with a router...

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then went for a scraper.  first time really using one and I can see why so many fall in love.  between that and an orbital sander 15mins and done.

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Great job on the radius top. Lots of potential pitfalls there! 

RE: those brown flecks in the neck - they are either pitch flecks or mineral tracks /spots.

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23 minutes ago, ShatnersBassoon said:

Coincidentally, that transition looks very much how my current build ended up. Not sure how it got there, but I like the convex look. 

well... it started out there but I ended up going to a more traditional look.  I loved it, but with this headstock shape it made the area between the nut and headstock look really short... like a turtleneck!  Originally I first saw that idea on @Norris 's tele.  his looked awesome!

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