Jump to content
Voting in Guitar of the Month April 2024 is now open! ×

gpcustomguitars

Established Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    757

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    23

 Content Type 

Everything posted by gpcustomguitars

  1. gpcustomguitars
    Thanks a lot! I expect we'll see more rain in the next few days, but it's definitely spring here. The temperature on the day of that photo was 21C! We are finally out of the house, I'll start building the additional workbench I have planned for a while, and my son can start a little garden that he wants He pops up in the shop every now and then, mostly to have fun trying to file something and pestering me to let him use my spokeshave
  2. gpcustomguitars
    Thanks! I still have what is left of the board, so I'll have to figure out what to build, too...perhaps a tele with a reverse headstock?
  3. gpcustomguitars
    A few pics in the today's sun: 192 by Goran P, on Flickr 193 by Goran P, on Flickr 194 by Goran P, on Flickr
  4. gpcustomguitars
    Did some more work on this...first the boards were cleaned and thicknessed on a planer to 42mm. I think I chose the nicer looking side for the top. Screwed the template to the body blank and routed everything at once in many shallow steps (1-2mm). Yesterday I got a new toy , so some sanding followed. We agreed on bound top/rounded back for now, so I routed those next. Also, I don't want to route the neck pocket before getting the actual neck on the table. 05 by Goran P, on Flickr 06 by Goran P, on Flickr 07 by Goran P, on Flickr 08 by Goran P, on Flickr 09 by Goran P, on Flickr 010 by Goran P, on Flickr 011 by Goran P, on Flickr 012 by Goran P, on Flickr 013 by Goran P, on Flickr 014 by Goran P, on Flickr 015 by Goran P, on Flickr 016 by Goran P, on Flickr 017 by Goran P, on Flickr 018 by Goran P, on Flickr
  5. gpcustomguitars
    Time for a new project! I've promised my friend a new body for his Tele. He likes the neck, but would like to replace everything else. We still have to determine the absolute details, but it will be a standard, one piece body, and we got a slab of ash for it about a month back, enough for 2 bodies and something crazy It's at 9% now, but I'll still go slow and see if it has any movement hidden. I bought the standard AlNiCo vintage styled pickups for it from ali, they seem OK, interested how they will sound. First, decided where to cut. I'll wait a bit and get it trough a planer, and then it's lots of routing... 02 by Goran P, on Flickr 01 by Goran P, on Flickr
  6. gpcustomguitars
    Thanks a lot Andy, glad you like it!!! I would have liked to make the claw more precisely, but this is what I was able to do with hand tools Next to do are 2 projects for a friend, a tele and another 335.
  7. gpcustomguitars
    The pickups arrived! Had to redrill the height adjustments holes, as they were too tight, but otherwise, I just loosened the strings and they slipped right in. Happy I think white rings are just right for this guitar. Toggle is also white, and I've changed the tuner buttons with pearl ones. Other than some more minor tweaking, it's missing a cover and input jack is probably wired wrong. I've tested it's 3 legs with a cable, but forgot that the ring one will also read as ground...will re-test and re-solder as needed. 189 by Goran P, on Flickr 190 by Goran P, on Flickr
  8. gpcustomguitars
    We have a new table cloth 187 by Goran P, on Flickr Not completely happy with the looks of details on the claw, but at least, it's polished. I would like to get some proper tooling, but that will have to wait. 188 by Goran P, on Flickr Did basic setup with some used 11 strings I saved for such a purpose, and let it sit over night. No movement, so I switched to lighter gauge, 09, and did some more tweaking. Waiting on it to settle, re-tweaking once a day, seems all good. I would like to lower the strings a little more in the long run. I play with 10s, but I think that for a child 9s are better. I taught him 2 chords, we'll see What's left to do is to wait on the mailman and to check whether I got all the soldering right in the first take.
  9. gpcustomguitars
    Thanks!!! Did some wiring last night, according to a PRS schematic I found. As planned, treble bleed 100k/470pf, with 22nf. What always gives me some trouble is which connector is which on these types of jacks Waiting on the mini hums, and some polishing of the hum rings still to do. I'll leave them white, it seems to go well with the theme. I'm postponing the making of a new block as my drill press setup seems too unreliable for 40mm deep drilling until I get a real drill press... 186 by Goran P, on Flickr
  10. gpcustomguitars
    Pots and bridge studs are in, I'll need to deepen the toggle area for a hair and reapply a piece of the foil, shouldn't be a problem. I didn't take the cupping of the dip in the top/washer into account, if that makes sense...otherwise, seems OK, I'll start the wiring. I'm planning a treble bleed, a 470pf/100K combo, any other suggestions? The pots are 500k. 185 by Goran P, on Flickr
  11. gpcustomguitars
    Thanks! The TR cover is plastic I bought on Ali, it was really cheap so the plastic has some slight texture, but it looks OK here It flips open, so that looked interesting. Still waiting on mini hums.
  12. gpcustomguitars
    Assembly time! My son helped (it means he has claimed the guitar), but being 8, we went trough the paint on the tip of the headstock while polishing...I guess we can live with that. The clause is that he has to take lessons 184 by Goran P, on Flickr Bridge and the wiring to follow!
  13. gpcustomguitars
    Thanks! Yes, that's the idea, I want to set it up with a floating bridge. One thing that I can't make right now is to have a sliding nut to go with the screw that tightens it down once it's been set up. It would need a tiny rail, and that would be an overkill I might do it later with, say, 2 brass strips and some shallow routing, but that can be done on any string change if needed. Just a quick pic of cutting the slot - last time I cut twice and drilled once, and this time stacked 3 saws on the frame to get the width needed. Used 2 clips to keep them nice and tight during the cutting, worked fine. Just one cut, and it stayed pretty straight. No pic of the finished part, I just sanded it a bit and chamfered all the edges after this. This is all not machined-straight, but for the setup I've used, it's OK and functional. 178 by Goran P, on Flickr 179 by Goran P, on Flickr Regarding the design - thanks! I Think I will make it during this year, perhaps altering it a bit more to get a better thumb access. But first, I need to finish a few other things - the BillyBo sibling I've started some time ago, and a tele and a 335 commisioned by a friend. Waiting!!!
  14. gpcustomguitars
    OK, the claw, v.2 I've cut a new blank, marked all the lines and holes and drilled trough with a 2 mm bit. It seems that the brass cuts much quicker on small diameters, and enlarging them gradually is fairly easy. The drill was set at almost minimum speed. I tried to drill 2 depth stops (6.5mm) without pre-drilling and that went very slowly for a depth of 5.5mm. The most challenging bit of work was the angled drilling, I broke a few drills as my setup obviously has a lot of play in it, and then the 7mm bit wandering, causing the rough inner surface. I decided to use slightly longer screws, but the heads had to be turned down a bit to fit into the slots. Quite some filing to do yet to square it all up and remove (most, where possible) tool marks. I'll cut the spring slot later today, and I think I have a nice idea on how to do it a little bit better than the last time. 168 by Goran P, on Flickr 169 by Goran P, on Flickr 170 by Goran P, on Flickr 171 by Goran P, on Flickr 172 by Goran P, on Flickr 173 by Goran P, on Flickr 174 by Goran P, on Flickr 175 by Goran P, on Flickr 176 by Goran P, on Flickr 177 by Goran P, on Flickr
  15. gpcustomguitars
    Thanks! Haven't had any time for the shop for a few days now, but I could squeeze in a few hours tonight. I'm looking forward to trying this out.
  16. gpcustomguitars
    I agree, but the accessibility of the adjustments screws could be an issue, and it would be a bit more discreet in person I think. I coloured the parts for the drawing, but it would all be less pronounced when machined, and the part itself is pretty small, 20x32x10mm. I might make both to compare.
  17. gpcustomguitars
    After some more thinking, this seems even better: claw2 by Goran P, on Flickr It could be a bit tricky to do the angled drillings, but I'll take my time and have fun Comments please, am I missing something?
  18. gpcustomguitars
    I think I have a better version of the claw, with better access to adjustment screws. First idea was not very user friendly, and I can't assume I'll be the only one to play/adjust this guitar. claw by Goran P, on Flickr The adj.screws should have hexagonal heads, for better access between the springs, but we'll see. Perhaps not needed...I will have fun making another one ...and will use the drill press this time
  19. gpcustomguitars
    Some more work on the claw. I might make v.2 with different layout of holes, but I think this one will be OK, if I don't break it when I drill the adjustment holes. I made 2 cuts first, then drilled trough, and finished the cut with the round file. I'm planing to have the claw screw trough to the neck when adjusted, so that the vibration transfer is maximal. 159 by Goran P, on Flickr 160 by Goran P, on Flickr 161 by Goran P, on Flickr 162 by Goran P, on Flickr 163 by Goran P, on Flickr 164 by Goran P, on Flickr 165 by Goran P, on Flickr It was already dark, so the pics are ...... , but I did manage to get 3 coats during the day. Scars on the back are pretty obvious, but I'll see if that bothers me enough to do something like veneering or not, probably not. All the holes and cracks were nicely filled, but the downside is that the dye cannot be applied evenly. 166 by Goran P, on Flickr 167 by Goran P, on Flickr
  20. gpcustomguitars
    Thank you all! I don't use a thumb much at all for fretting, perhaps a F# when playing a Keith Richards-like D chord, so I don't immediately think of it. I'll probably tweak it some more, and perhaps make one during the summer. I think I have most of the parts needed already. Managed to drill the wire holes nicely for both pickups, trough the 12mm hole drilled for the jack. Ground hole from the spring claw was easy then. Exit points nice and where intended Also, finally got around to routing the ledge. I drew the shape, scored it with a marking knife and used a Dremel in the routing jig with a straight 3mm bit. Some sanding to do to clean it all up. 152 by Goran P, on Flickr 153 by Goran P, on Flickr Then I made the body of the claw - brass stock, 20x10mm. The cavity is 10mm deep so it should sit flush. Still some drilling to do. When I buy some larger stock I'll attempt the trem block too. 154 by Goran P, on Flickr 155 by Goran P, on Flickr 156 by Goran P, on Flickr 157 by Goran P, on Flickr And a nut cut, just for a pic for now. I've cut that one before, synthetic, but I'll cut a cow bone one too. 158 by Goran P, on Flickr
  21. gpcustomguitars
    After a lot of sanding I applied 2 coats of gold paste. Still one to go, mostly to touch up some highs spots that have popped out after the second coat and require yet more sanding.... My pickup routing template worked perfectly fine as intended. I taped it permanently to the 8mm MDF, and routed trough with a bearing equipped short bit. As I had the corners cut too sharp, MDF has four ledges in the corners, due to the difference between the acrylic corners and the bit diameter, which holds the acrylic insert perfectly fine for routing two screw pockets. So, first drilled 2 pilot holes fi12mm to 24mm depth, routed the pup cavity to 12mm depth, and routed the pockets flush with a 6.35mm straight bit. Went fine, and reasonably quick. I should drill 2 holes for pup wires before the last coat of gold (which is really durable, I've level sanded it and it's a tank. Also, dries in seconds), and route the cover ledge, which I completely forgot about in the last session. 145 by Goran P, on Flickr 146 by Goran P, on Flickr 147 by Goran P, on Flickr 148 by Goran P, on Flickr 149 by Goran P, on Flickr 150 by Goran P, on Flickr 151 by Goran P, on Flickr I have lent the fretless bass to a guitar playing friend for a while, his band is about to record their second record, and they would like it on 2 or 3 songs We joked about a guitar version of it for a while, so I used a quiet part of the day to come up with this: nove gitare1 1 by Goran P, on Flickr Any obvious mistakes in my thinking? Should balance nicely and be pretty light, but I was hoping to make it more sitting-friendly, and allow some thumb space for people who play that way.
  22. gpcustomguitars
    Well it only gives my wife an excuse to buy more... I have a rubber mat I use, and we use the kitchen table for crafts and stuff for school and kindergarten all the time, so it's completely legal. And sanding is already unpleasant, no need to add winter cold to the experience Yes, white acrylic sheet, 5mm thick. The process I mentioned I found on YT, it was a part of a relicing/ageing process on a LP. Not my thing, I make mine pre-dinged and scratched but the work itself was nice to watch, great attention to details. Search Dr.Nitro, if it's OK to mention it here? The theory is that the acetone softens the surface, alcohol slows the softening, and the dye can mix itself in the softened surface and stay there. Works fine on YT, I would like to try it myself.
  23. gpcustomguitars
    Nothing much to show for now, just this one pic of the pup rings I had laser cut. I also made the routing template in the same session. It has the ring part for routing the actual cavity and the insert part for routing the two dips for the adjustment screws. I think I will be able to get away with routing basic pup cavities to 10-12mm depth, leaving about 12-14mm of the tenon intact. So, I have to rout the pup cavities and the cover recess on the back. In the meanwhile, I've been sanding (on the kitchen table in the evenings), filling cracks and wormholes, resanding, refilling etc. It's looking better and better, but still a lot of sanding ahead until I can dye the back, sides and the neck some sort of light walnut/mahogany brown. The pup rings are really white, but I won't do anything about that until assembly time. I would like to see how will they look on rubbed gold top as they are. If needed, I found a really nice method using yellow dye, acetone and alcohol to dip parts in and then repolish. New tablecloth 144 by Goran P, on Flickr
  24. gpcustomguitars
    Yet another routing session last night. Managed to clean the electronics cavity route and did some more CA saturation/filling in spots, more to go. I managed to route out the spring cavity using an improvised jig, I hope this will work as intended. The claw block cavity is 10mm deep, and the rest is 9mm. It might seem silly, but I want as much wood around that tenon as possible. Still to rout is the electronics cover recess and the pups, I'll get the jigs laser cut from plexi along with the pup rings... 139 by Goran P, on Flickr 140 by Goran P, on Flickr 141 by Goran P, on Flickr 142 by Goran P, on Flickr 143 by Goran P, on Flickr
  25. gpcustomguitars
    Yes, it will be exposed as this is going to be a goldtop. I'm planning to saturate the glue lines with epoxy, or to inlay two lines of MOP between pickups to prevent the lines to show after a while. I should have enough small MOP offcuts, but I'm still not sure how it would look - goldtop + MOP? The neck, sides and the back will be dyed light brown.
×
×
  • Create New...