Motorbreath

One of my favorite bands - technically ) I've been listening to them since "Images and Words" and always found their work inspiring from an instrumentalist point of view. But I can't listen to it 2-3 hours long, I find it exhausting lol.

Fortunately those burn marks weren't that deep and I could get rid of them today with low grit sanding. I use a handheld power planer and a flap disk as you suggested. I made some progress today and routed the electronics cavity. Right now I am googling for a way to use a drill as a lathe to turn my knobs. Found some wenge and thinking about turning merbau/maple veneer/wenge knobs. Take care.

I am working on a merbau solidbody project. The wood is dense and heavy. Hardness is 136% compared to oak. I even tried to use it as binding in my other project but it simply won't bend. I read Hyunsu's posts and admire his work and I can understand his selection process, because this wood seems to have much variation in grain, color and sound. This is an asian species and I have no previous experience with it and haven't played a guitar with a body or neck made of merbau. If all goes well, I can finish my project and record some sound clips with it, only then I can recommend it. The only thing I am positive about is that it rapidly blunts sharp tools but has very high machining qualities. Cheers.

Well, like Mattia said it's quite heavy but unfortunately I haven't been able to find some decent wood for the top. It is a solidbody now. I cut the body, routed the neck pocket and PU cavities. You can see the burn marks around the body, I have to sharpen my ball bearing bits or learn how to find the right cutting speed or both. Neck pocket and front cavities Then started carving and hoping to remove some wood to make it lighter Carving body Neck is attached and some measurements are taken Body with neck I am a big person, thus the big body. It is now a little bit heavier than my Gibson LP Std. The back cavities are not routed yet. This is my first project, so I wouldn't mind playing it seated as long as it turns out to be playable The neck in the picture was picked from e-bay some time ago. I am testing around with scarf joints, slotting, etc. I will start building the neck when I'm ready. I've got tons of sanding to do now. More on the ash / black pine body later. Cheers.

Rabbet ready. I must call it a day now because I found that I ran out of glue. No bindings today. But I routed the binding rabbet: Routing the binding channel Here is the finished work. The guide bearing left a slight mark on the body, I'll fix it later - i hope ) Ready for binding - I suppose And this is a sample of the merbau binding I am expecting to use. I cut them with a circular bench saw. If it comes out fine maybe I'll do the backside, too. Merbau binding This is it for today.

This is the body I was experimenting with before to learn the process of building. The ash top was meant to go with the merbau but it warped and came out thinner than planned when planed flat. So I decided to glue it on top of my black pine test body. Then I routed a 12 x 3 mm channel right in the middle for a merbau strip. Right now I am routing the rabbet for the wooden binding strips. Looks like the merbau body must wait until tomorrow ) Take care.

Update on my test build. Warped ash is saved, but got thinner in the process. So I decided to create a real guitar out of my test build before cutting the merbau for the real deal ) This is the result: Ash top glued to black pine body with 12 mm merbau insert in the middle Like I said I've decided that I've done enough testing and this body deserves to be a full featured build. So it gets a 12 x 3 mm Merbau insert right in the middle which will be complemented with merbau binding as soon as I get my hands on a suitable router bit for the channel. Close-up shot Now I've got two bodies in progress and two ash body blanks waiting for their turn. I'll keep you posted on the merbau blank. Cheers.

I'm afraid I'm too n00b to tap test a piece of wood ) From what I can tell it seems to resonate nicely. I will definitely be more specific when I string and play it. I have more of it, I hope it turns out to be useful. I know that bass builders use this wood. My only concern for this kind of hardwood is that the sound may be too "brittle" or "edgy". Take care.

I tested a bit with it and today will be cutting a body. First, it's great for routing. If the template is flawless and the router bit is sharp, the work area needs only minimal sanding. It's a bit boring, I second that. But much less boring than mahogany imo. The body blank I've put together has some figure. Well, we will see today ) And BTW it's on the heavy side.

Sounds like a good practice routine. One of my favorite solos is David Gilmour's act in "Comfortably Numb". I have no objection to high speed passes here and there but I prefer to hear the player interact with his instrument and the music. Take care.

Got a GT-8 and a Carvin Legacy for live work. I don't use it with a tube amp because I think it colors the sound, and in a bad way imho (I used and tested every possible connection, direct to power, 4 cable method, it simply won't work for me). For studio work, I use the amps I build. If you are handy with electronics, a tube amp circuitry is very primitive by today's standards and you can easily build a pre or poweramp. ax84.com is a good place to find info and schematics tested by members. I have built two amps using their legacy schematics with little modifications for my personal needs and I am happy with both of them. Both of them Class A and low wattage, they are loud enough for the studio. Take care.

An axe which covers a lot of ground is a must. My main guitars for session and live work are a pu and wiring modded Custom Telecaster and a Cort KX-Custom. And I use mainly three amps; Carvin Legacy stack, a Vox Venue 100 from 80's and a 10W Class A head that I've built myself. As for getting the gigs, I think it's all about the people you know, and the way you play. You don't have to shred like hell, nobody would want that. I know many players which can play way faster than I do but cannot play a straight swing with exact metronome timing. The main thing is, a session musician cannot afford to be narrow minded when it comes to playing style. Right now I am playing with a well-known pop-rock singer in Turkey which provides me with a lot of connections. Maybe it's harder to get session work over there, because there are many good musicians around. I hope this helps a bit. Take care.

+1 on the Telecaster. Some might not like it, but I think it's one of the marvels of the modern solid body era. Easy to manifacture, goes easy on your wood stash, not so hard to play ergonomically. Its alleged bad ergonomy is way overrated imo, it's the player that counts, not the axe - to a certain degree. Strat is a close second. Just my opinion, though. Cheers.

No topic hijacking pls )) NP, Ferrules are a part of this project anyway. Well, here is the merbau body blank, glued, sandede and ready to get attacked by a router. Merbau body blank And this is the ash top, warped but I think still usable (the figure is deeper, flash ruined it a bit). Ash top My ash body blanks are a little "bowed" now. I think I can salvage them when they are stabilized. Tonight I'm going to start cutting the merbau body. I will share the outcome. Take care.

Great body shape and the colour. The top looks very exciting, +1 on putting it on concrete, though