Grindell

I use a $15 dollar Stanley I bought at the local home improvement store, but it had to be tuned. By that, I mean I lapped the blade and sharpened it on my japanese water stones, flattened the sole of the spokeshave, then flattened the back of the chipbreaker so that it would fit tight against the blade, rounded the edge of the chipbreaker so that it would actually work correctly, then used a file to take off the paint on the spokshave itself where the blade rests so that the blade made tight contact against the bed. Once all that was done, it worked great. Also, I have a little 3 set spokeshave set made of brass, that I got from some mail order tool catalog, like Heartsfield, or something. All I had to do was sharpen the blade, and they worked great.

Has anyone ever noticed that Leon Redbone looks just like Frank Zappa, but with a big moustache, dark glasses and a Panama hat? And, you never saw them together at the same time?

There's a guy on Ebay who sells them for a decent price. He's good to work with. I got a bearing and a sleeve, as I already had 4 or 5 3/8" bits. If youy search on luthier, you should see him. He sells a bunch of inaly stuff, and some silver wire that I'm thinking about getting.

I've used fresh hide glue for several fingerboards, and it works great. I use Titebond if the basement is cool and I'm afraid that I can't get the parts all together in time before the hide glue sets. I'm starting to use hide glue on all my glue joints, as I really like the way it works, but each glue has its positives and negatives. Titebond is sure less of a hassle, though.

I've used fresh hide glue for several fingerboards, and it works great. I use Titebond if the basement is cool and I'm afraid that I can't get the parts all together in time before the hide glue sets. I'm starting to use hide glue on all my glue joints, as I really like the way it works, but each glue has its positives and negatives. Titebond is sure less of a hassle, though.

I remember Dan Erlewine saying somewhere that his pickups were out of phase, and that accounted for some of the sound.

It does show him using the key to set the intonation.

I know of a guitar store that has one, new in box, from about 1987 or so. Never been sold, and I don't even think it has been out of the box. I believe the owner of the store wants to sell it for what the going price was, which is around $300. That might be why it is still unsold. He also has a few Kahler's, also new in box, never sold or touched. If you want the phone number, send me an email The same music store also has a Washburn Ace Frehley signature guitar, like a funky v meets explorer, also brand new, never been sold.

Kev's blues was recorded with a Ibanez 570 on position 4. I'd rewound the single coil for a more strat-like sound. When you put it on position 2, 3 or 4, you get s bluesier, stratier sound. IMHO, I think that the 2, 3, and 4 position of a HSH should sound dead-on strat like, while 1 and 5 should give you the full humbucker sound. The Ibanez 550 and 570 are great guitars, but I just don't like those positions. I'm going to rewind my 550 single coil next. Oh, and if anyone is interested, the mp3 was recorded straight into the computer with a PodXT, on the doubleverb amp setting, with a 2X12 cabinet, and a little room reverb. The PodXT is great. But, that's just my opinion. I'm going to try recording some samples with Big Red next, just so people won't think I'm crazy about the guitar sounding red! Thanks for all the nice comments! Whenever I'm feeling bad, I can always count on someone else's kind comments to keep me going for another day. Makes the fustrations a little easier to deal with, don't you know. I think the next strat will be done in candy apple red. I'm going to try getting some of the bronze powder, and see what happens! Oh, and Brian, I can't recommend the Robinson inlay videos enough. I watched them once through, then went and did the rose inlay. Inlay might be the hardest thing for me, because you have to concentrate so hard. Thanks for the compliment!

Thanks! Big Red is a nice guitar, it actually sounds red! I know that sounds crazy, but everyone who hears it says it sounds red. I just hope I get those 2 basses done sometime. I just got done gluing the templates on to some Abalone, tomorrow I'll cut out the inlays for the headstocks. Also, I might fret the one bass tomorrow. Nothing like a little work on New Year's day!

If you go to http://home.mchsi.com/~kswaim you can see pics of my newest strat. This is the first start where I've wound the pickups myself.