VanKirk

Happy B-Day ...with a baseball bat

I use a rasp then finish with adhesive-backed sandpaper stuck to the side of a coffee cup. I use the coffee cup for the sides of the body too since it's just the right contour. It's ghetto I know but it works for me in my limited space. (that'll change since I've just signed for a new house with a shop yesterday)

MAN! Another tough vote. I admit that for the builders who make a living out of it, I EXPECT to have my jaw drop or they just don't get my vote. Well... Perry's made my jaw drop. I sooo wish I could play these guitars! I officially volunteer myself to be the official PG 'taste tester'!

Brian sure does seem to be a generous & responsible person, eh? I get alot of enjoyment, entertainment & knowledge from this forum.

I think that your leaving caused such an uproar around here because you are such a valued source of info and a straight shooter. You've added MANY helpful tips to MANY of us here and took the time to put up with the onslaught of questions. I use the 'last click' feature alot and I see you constantly PM'n peeps, giving even more detailed advice, I'm sure. I appreciate your personality because there's no question, no obscure or hidden meaning to your intentions even if I may not always agree. You're a huge contribution to this forum. I hope you keep your PG legacy intact and continue to share your knowledge.

I'm gonna make mine a bit deeper at the upper bout area and then round it off similar to how johnsilver's is.

Happy Birthday!!!

In our democracy (USA) we are given certain freedoms & control but on someone else's forum I don't look at it as a democracy. I hear alot of people in forums talk about 'violating my rights' but I think that all forums are really dictatorships but I don't mean that in a bad way. I just mean that the final decision is left to site owner/mods regardless of what the majority says. Short of breaking any laws they can do anything they want to. PG members are fortunate to be a part of it.

I'm surprised that you'd start a topic like this since you've been an active member on the USACG Forum, javacody. IMO, the mod over there is WAAAYYYYYY harsher and moderates based on how he feels (which seems to be bitterness) more than enforcing rules. That forum seems to be VERY clickish to me and not noobie friendly at all. I think this forum is moderated very well. It's a thankless job for people that put up with disrespect and whining about them and the rules. Same with the regular, experienced builders. That's good advice. That's how I try to act on-line but admittedly, I'm a smart-ass alot of the time even in person and yet the mods have always been respectful to me even though I probably needed a STFU after drinkin a couple beers and posting dumb stuff. The only problems I see are the ones created by some members around here but we all have bad days. Just let it go and move on. Appreciate the forum for what it is, a great resource for learning about guitars... you a-holes

Yes they sell gloss or satin in wipe-on or aerosol cans and I would also recommend the sealer to level the finish much quicker.

I can appreciate looking for advice & motivation from peers but I gotta agree with cudbucket. Try and finish up the drawing, make a template then show us after that.

WoW! Beautiful. Is the hair at the neck/shoulder area 'in the shadows' or is it broken bits of hair that have a deeper meaning? At first glance it looks 'shadowed' but I'm not sure, just curious. You're a very talented artist! Aha! Now that my heads outta my rear I can plainly see that it's the effect of being under a bright light...hence the title "Spotlight"

Looks cool but I was wondering...could you pan over to the right in the first pic and get a profile shot of the car, please?

I'm using the Hipshot BabyGrand on my loooong project and I love it! It has allen screws to keep the posts from tipping. I have been playing on it for about 2 months now. It's great even though I've been a strat player for a long time. I must admit that I don't know what the tone is since I don't have the pups in it yet. My opinion is only based on playability and sound acoustically. It feels rock solid and comfortable and I'm surprised at how loud and articulate this thing is unplugged compared to my strats and I love the look.

I know that Guitar Center really strong arms companies into big price cuts to them for the mass quantities they buy. Maybe the suppliers are hard pressed to meet the quantities asked for from GC so they really spit them out since the GC market seems to be aimed at first time buyers that don't know what to look for in a good guitar anyways. If you have one commissioned, stay away from Litchfield Custom Gutars and research the builder so you don't get ripped off. I'm sure you know that but I had to say it.

I know, I know. I'm the laziest , most procrastinating builder on the forum. Body Side view of carve. So far. You can see how I didn't account for the measurement of the drill bit taper so the posts don't sit into the body far enough. (the black area at the posts). Neck has a 3 degree angle to the pocket. Nice snug fit too. Full Frontal with cat and my feet. Sounds wrong, I know. Full view from behind. No comments about my mismatched socks please. You can see how one of the ferrule holes is off center with the screw hole, dumb mistake. I drilled that hole before drilling with a forstner bit for the ferrule. dumb dumb dumb! I'll fill it with a dowel and redrill right after I pull the posts and drill the holes deeper for the bridge mounts, another stupid mistake. I need to buy the post puller from Stew-Mac cause I had to use a mallet to knock them in. Then I can drill for a ground wire to the bridge that I forgot. Yet ANOTHER stupid mistake. I'm also gonna make the belly contour a lil deeper (took me so long to make it that I'm fatter now). Then, on to finish the upper bout carve and pup routes.

I wanted to learn to play guitar so I could play Zeppelin and Pink Floyd songs. Page is funny in that he seems kinda sloppy to me but it's that sloppiness and out-of-timeness in all the right places (99% of the time) that makes me like his playing. but!... after I heard SRV I was inspired to really pick up the guitar and (attempt to) learn to express myself with it. Just raw emotion straight through him and out his guitar. Neither player is technically advanced, just fun to listen to. Same with Clapton and Gilmour. I like Satriani alot because he seems to blend technical and emotional playing well. Some of his songs have so-so rythm parts and weak sounding drums, IMO. I'd love to see Satriani find a band with the chemistry that LedZep had! and Hendrix, well...it's Jimi! what else can I say?

I love the body shape, wood choices, neck and pup covers. VERY NICE! Those shoes gotta go though, hehe What finish did you use?

Your guitar makes me smile. That neck looks like it's sooo smooth!

HEYYYYY!!! Nice guitar. I usually think beasts seem unbalanced and kinda gaudy (sp?) but I like that one. It looks mean and metal without trying to be in-your-face, over-the-top about it.

What kind of wood is it made from? What kind of finish are you looking for? Something high gloss, matte finish, smooth or hard like laquer? I really like oil finished necks like tru-oil or formby's tung oil on maple necks for a smooth matte finish. You just wipe it on, let dry, rub out with 0000 steel wool after about 3-4 coats and repeat if you feel like it.

Bill Lawrence pups are the shiznit! You tell him the sound your after and he'll make it for ya (as already stated). If you buy Bill Lawrence pups be sure to get them directly from him cause there are (1 in particular) rip-off 'Lawrence' pups out there. Stew-Mac even used to sell them (the knock-offs) and I've read enough reviews about both that say the knock-offs are FAR inferior to the real thing. He doesn't distribute, he only sells direct.

I agree that building a Spider amp would be a big task for a beginner. If you were able to source ALL the parts (correct tolerances, etc...) and assemble it there's still a strong possibility that it won't work right. You'd then need the knowledge to troubleshoot the problem and I doubt you'd get much help from techs at Line 6. I also agree with ansil that the Line 6 guitarport has some pretty cool effects in it for a reasonable price. It doesn't really matter if the effects are in an amp, pedal or guitar depending on your use (such as needing to integrate it all because of limited space while traveling to/from gigs). Maybe, start with a bit simpler DIY project.

noplugsjustinfo is a member here with an online store that makes them. He sells wooden pickup rings at specialtyguitars.com. Flamed maple, ebony & indian rosewood rings. Edit: but I only just now noticed you already found them. Doh!

The PM's happened before all the other stuff (like the food coloring and seran-wrap) came to light but I'd seen his work and was scheptical but I thought at least he's tryin' and we share the same interest. He had PM'd me about several things (my Z car, amp repair, wiring schemes, tried to sell me some pups, too) and I came VERY close to meeting him in person because he was going to check out USACG which is about 10 minutes away from me. My Spider-senses said stay away he could be a freak so I turned him down. Thank goodness for my Spider-senses! It was the slam thread that really helped expose him. Especially, after going to the REAL Litchfield site. That made me ill.