GuitsBoy

That bit is a 6 sided stepped insert face mill. Its got 6 inserts that are sequentially stepped downward and inward towards the center, that way as the cutter goes around, it only takes 5 or 10 thousanths with each of the inserts. Theyre sequentially moved inward towards the center to compensate for the movement of the table as you traverse. Its really meant for face milling aluminum, steel or Ti, but its seemed to cut through maple just as easily

I built a carvin bolt kit guitar, but that was fully finished, and only needed to have the neck, tuners, bridge and prewired pickguard screwed on. I wouldnt even count that as a kit. I just like building stuff with my hands. I guess its in my blood. The machine shop in the picture is my fathers aerospace shop. I used the bridgeport milling machine for all the milling and routing out the channels, sanding with a sanding drum, and even cutting out the body binding channel. I guess I did use a dremel to touch up some places here and there too...

Thanks for the kind words guys... Ill probably build another one eventually when i get some more time. Im thinking about either doing a martin kit or perhaps a carved top solidbody neckthrough like a PRS derivitive. As for the fishman, I really like the way it sounds. Its not a convincing accoustic tone, but its far more resonant for clean sounds than a normal neck position humbucker. I like it a lot and find it rather useful. Im constantly using that for my clean tones over the bucker.

I had meant to post this a long time ago, but here's a bunch of pictures from my first attempt at building a guitar. Its a pre built carvin neck. The body is a thinline tele derivative, hollowbody, single f hole, dimarzio humbuckers and a fishman pickup under the bridge. I have the accoustic pickup electronics in the back cavity. The small toggle lets me substitute the accoustic pickup and preamp in place of the neck position pickup, that way I can easily switch between leads to my choice of clean tones with the big switch. Anyway, here are the pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/GuitsBoy/GuitarProject What do you guys think? -Tony

How do I wire up a stereo output jack to cut power to the electronics when I unplug? Is the negative pole of the 9v batt hooked to the common ground? Will that introduce noise? Im working on a thinline tele with an acoustic preamp, and I dont want to have to remember to switch it off every time. Thanks!

I agree, you ARE ALREADY quite good at guitar building. I appreciate the time you have spent taking pictures and posting to this forum. Your ideas and your craftsmanship are inspirational to us all. Thank you! -Tony

Okay, I just purchased a HVLP spray gun. Where should I buy the clear for it? Should I purchase the DEFT clear polyurethane from home depot or lowes? Should I try and find clear automotive paint? Should I buy from an online distributor? I'm paint stupid, so please let me know what to look for. Thanks, -T

Hey all - Just looking for a little insight on two possibilities im thinking about. Righ now I have an acoustic saddle pickup that I want to integrate under the fixed bridge of my project guitar (thinline tele). The single saddle piezo pickup wont be that hot to begin with, plus its not really located optimally under a fixed solidbody bridge. I had been planning on using this preamp kit: http://www.hobbytron.net/vk1803.html But now Im wondering if I should forget the preamp and just buy two or four piezo buzzers and wire them up togather. I assume these would be wired in parallel to reduce resistance, right? Would this be hot enough to keep up with my dimarzio HB in the neck pos? Do you think it would simply sound like crap? I know the only way to really tell is to try. Any suggestions? Thanks, -Tony

Sethmetal - Check out this link Ctrl-X They have a preamp that will mix passive guitar pickups with active for a piezo. -T

I believe brian is a mod or even owner here. He can sticky your page so it stays visible. PM means private message him. Give him a heads up about this post. HTH, -Tony

Hi all - I was recently able to purchase an acoustic bridge pieze pickup for extremely cheap. I plan on trying to wedge it under a standard solidbody bridge on my project guitar. Has anybody done this? I would assume that you only need to route a small channel for it to rest inside of, sp that the pickup lays just slightly above flush so that the bottom plate of the bridge applies constant pressure on the pickup. Also, Are active electronics going to be absolutely necessary for this piezo pickup or can I wire it in just like any normal wound pickup? FWIW, this will go into a home brew thinline tele hollowbody clone. I plan on using a carvin neck through 25" neck, and probably the standard fare carvin bridge and misc hardware since im placing an order there. I have two dimarzio HB pickups laying around. I plan on wiring up the electric side with a 2HB, 3way switch, 1V, 1T. The acoustic side will have a seperate V and T. Ill use another 3way switch to switch between the electric and acoustic voices. Anybody care to offer some advice? Thanks! -Tony

Hi all - Im just wondering if the specialized guitar products from stewmac are worth the price difference vs. generic stuff from the big box (Home Depot or Lowes). Basically, these components all have counterparts available at both types of retailers: Stain Sanding Sealer Clear Laquer (rattle can) Polishing Compound Seems like you stand to save 50% or more by buying home depot stuff. Is there a major drawback to buying generic products? I would assume that the clear laquer would not be nitro based, but would you still get as good results? Anybody have any good results with particular brands? Thanks much! -Tony