Boggs

Old fashioned glass plate. Sandpaper glued to it. Right angle to hold wood perpendicular to the sanding plate (showing rough cut first). As soon as I can find a 2x4 that is square, I will use it in place of the drawing triangle. Apply titebond to edges to be bonded. Use pipe clamps to squeeze edges. Add weight to top of pieces being glued to prevent bowing (gluing and weight not added here because pieces not quite ready for gluing yet). Clamp for 12-24 hours. somewhat time/labor intensive. Works well though. See photos below... Eventually, I hope to get all of my bookmatching done so I can load all of the pics and so one can select tops and backs to make their guitars from. I only build chambered body electrics. Boggs

I do really appreciate your honest reply... I may need to try a 3rd revision based on comments from here and elsewhere. The problem with the symmetrical one is that balance on the strap would lean more towards a neck-heavy condition. I hope to gain an understanding of the visual appeal of some guitars which are asymmetrical, which are most single cutaways. One thing I will do everything in my power (and your advise) is to not compromise function while trying to make something visually appealing. I also do not want to make another Fender or Gibson copy. That is not easy to do as it seems that is all anyone ever *expects* to see in a guitar. My CamelBack is a guitar I designed strictly ergonimically for comfort, playability, balance, tone, and function. I have found on almost every occasion that folks who were initially put off by the photographs actually liked it in person in their hands... They were expecting to not like it. It is a case of a guitar that doesn't photograph well, but looks far more attractive in real life. All also express comfort and playability as key first impressions. The design is a technical home run. It is also a difficult sell...

Symmetrical or asymmetrical design... Which do you prefer and why? I would also like to change the title to show this addition. Any suggestions as to how to do this? I do not want to offend the mods or anyone else by creating a new thread... FRONT One Two BACK One Two What would you prefer to see different? Lower bouts and offset waistlines will probably stay. It's the upper bout lines that I am struggling with. I do want some volume there for chambering. This is for a chambered electric. Offset waistlines are for player comfort sitting or standing. Boggs

Mostly doing repairs on our new (to us) home which was in much greater dis-repair than we anticipated. Thanks for thinking of me though. Boggs

It too will be a chambered body guitar using this spectacular bloodwood for the top and back over a chambered Cuban Mahogany core... I am designing this one around the grain of that spectacular (and a biotch to work with) bloodwood. Is this shape something any of you guys could covet and if not, why not. Here are the pics of a rough cutout overlay on the wood. No finish on it at all. Not even wetted down... This one would have to net a premium due to the added difficulty of working with this wood and the fact that it is a special build. not too much of a premium though... Boggs

We are called "Circle of Friends" and we have 2 CDs out. They can be viewed and sampled here: www.dynrec.com/cof . Our Christmas CD got considerable airplay here in town and also as far away as Albuquerque, NM. It helped our sales a lot, needless to say! Boggs

That is essentially the technique I use to make my chambered body guitars except that I do not have the luxury of CNC gear. I had to hollow out my mid-section of 2" thick Cuban Mahogany with a jigsaw and drum sanders! Can you say "Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?" I knew that you could... Boggs

Finally got a report back from the Ritchie Blackmore (Blackmore's Night) concert in Philadelphia where Carl used the Giannini guitar I repaired opening for Blackmore's Night also with impressions from Ritchie... "...well to add to the weekend (reference to the prison REC I told him about which is why I had to miss the invite to the concert). the concert was great and we got a standing ovation, which was very gratifying. but the best part was that ritchie blackmore noticed that my guitar had been repaired since we played with him the last time and he loved the way it sounded and really liked the design of the wood on the front. so, just wanted to pass that on to you. it sounded great at the concert i really like being able to play it again. thanks again for all your hard work..." Cool or what?! Boggs

There are several types. The one I just installed into the Giannini referenced elsewhere has a microphone, an under-saddle piezo pickup, and a blending pre-amplifier which gets mounted to the side of the guitar. This requires a hole to be made in the bottom of the saddle slot to feed the wire from the piezo, a hole in the end block for the 1/4" jack, and a hole to be cut into the side of the guitar to mount the pre-amplifier/control unit. A simple under-saddle piezo without preamp would still need the 2 holes at the saddle slot for the piezo wire and the end block for the jack. Boggs

Happy to see I was able to help here! Congratulations! Boggs

I am the original owner of an FG230 and it had the same problem. I did end up resetting the neck and also I installed a JLD Bridge Doctor which helped resolve this issue. Boggs

Sorry guys. I assumed this was a different "audience" and I realized I had posted this series originally in potentially the wrong forum. I did it this way to avoid bandwidth. No offense or anything was intended. Using separate threads is something I generally do for a long-ish project becuse once someone checks a thread once or twice, they usually don't return to it and I get posts asking for some information I posted earlier in the thread. Again, no harm, abuse, or offense was intended. I'll lay low for a while to avoid unintentional forum mis-use. Boggs

To avoid a double post, here is a link to it. http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=10521 Here is a sound clip of it raw... plugged directly into the sound card. No embellishments at all. "Pounded with a pick" like the owner does. It's a nylon stringer. http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/boggs.com/Gia...r/Giannini1.mp3 Enjoy Boggs

You asked...

Of course not... Here's what I did besides de-divoting the fingerboard and installing the electronics... I cut a geometric hole where it was worn through and cut a piece of 1/32 aircraft plywood (real high quality stuff) to make a patch. I built up and repaired the bracing and expoxed the cross brace for the patch to bond to and filled the hole. I then shaved and scraped the worst area of laminate destruction from wear and body sweat rot from the top about 1/32 inch deep (the top is only .100 thick) and traced the edges. I used that tracing to make another patch from the 1/32 material and filled the shaved out area with it and filled the edge with wood filler. I then sanded the top smooth. I had some nice walnut veneer so I designed a pickguard using it and cut out the shape to cover the patched area and bonded it to some 1/64th aircraft plywood. I used a strong double-back tape on the body of the guard and glue around the edges along with a wood fill around the edges to seal it down. It should be a LOT more robust than that cheap laminate that Giannini uses for their tops. I then sealed the guitar with a spar urethane (5 coats) since this guitar sees bad weather and sweat and serious abuse. Oh yeah... I also repaired where the back was delaminating and separating from the side... Boggs

It's less boomy and more articulate... I would be willing to bet the owner will feel it sounds better now than it did new! It sustains amazingly well for a nylon stringed guitar, too! I have a sound clip thread on it here somewhere... Thanks for the comments, too! What you described, Maiden69, was precisely what I was trying to achieve! You just made my day! Boggs

Thanks for the photos, TJ! Now, behold... Before: After: Boggs

Thanks! My buddy took the photos today so I will get the files from him soon... Before and after are pretty neat to see! Boggs

I hope to get it photographed tonight. It may be Monday before I get them to be able to post though. Acoustically, the thing really sounds amazing and it sustains unbelievably well for a nylon stringed guitar. The owner will be opening for Ritchie Blackmore and Blackmore's Night in Philadelphia on the 19th of September and he intends to debut this repaired Giannini for that concert! I was invited as his guest, but I will be working a prison ministry that weekend and it cannot be changed. I committed, and we will have such a small staff of volunteers due to NYS regulations that I cannot (nor would I anyway) back out, even for a day. Oh well... Boggs

Plugged straight into the PC. Onboard mic and piezo blended with the now onboard Fishman. Set flat. No effects. Strummed hard like the owner typically does. Raw as can be... It is a nylon-stringed Craviola guitar. Pictures will be taken once I get access to a digital camera. Enjoy! Boggs http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/boggs.com/Gia...r/Giannini1.mp3

Further investigation showed that this guitar was only 8 years old! The Gianninis have a strong reputation for self-destructing. Materials in this guitar are really sub-standard I am finding out. The laminates used are of very low quality. I recommended to the owner that he not invest in a new top but instead, let me try to repair this one. I also had to repair the back where it was delaminating and also separated from the side. He understood the quality issue but still wanted it repaired, so I went about getting some 1/32 and 1/64 aircraft plywood (extremely high quality stuff) from my local hobby shop and set about repairing the broken braces and patching the hole with the 1/32 stuff. I then scraped down the really excessively worn and damaged area of the top around the patch and made another patch with the 1/32 wood to fill the area scraped down. The edges of the patch were then filled and all was sanded smooth. I then designed a walnut veneer pickguard/patch cover and bonded it to the 1/64th plywood for strength. I used strong double-back tape in the body of the pickguard and glue at the edges to secure it to the top. Since this guitar is played outdoors in sometimes inclement weather, I used a spar urethane to finish it to help protect it all from the elements. I used toothpicks broken and fitted into the holes at the back where it is supposed to mate to the sides to patch the worst areas and reglued the back to the side. I roughened up the finish and hit it all with the spar urethane to help seal it all as well. I removed the old battery holder from the top brace as it would ring whenever the top was tapped so you know it would ring when played... The owner wanted a pickup and preamp with built-in tuner for making his life easier at performances, so I got and installed the new Fishman Matrix/Prefix premium blender system into it. The install went very smoothly. Last night, after finishing the install of the Fishman system, I tapped the body all around and found no more rattles and the various tap tones I could get depending on where I tapped it gave me encouragement that it would sound both full and articulate so I was pretty excited to string her up, which I did. What a difference from when I received her!!! I think the owner is going to be very happy!! I plugged her in and all worked perfectly... Let me tell you, I was really nervous about taking this on, but I am really thrilled by the result! I KNOW nobody else would have taken this on due not just the condition of this guitar, but also the poor quality of materials and workmanship in it. I knew what it meant to him, and I am so delighted to revive his baby for him that I just cannot convey how excited I am to get her back to him... I will try to get pictures of the finished repair as I get access to a digital camera and maybe a sound clip at some point. I am packing to move (my wife and I bought a new house partly so I can get a bigger workshop area), so projects will have to shut down for a while. I'll post the pics in a new thread as I get them. Message here, if you don't take the risk, you will never reap the reward. The reward is directly proportional to the risk... Take the leap of faith and START TAKING ON THOSE PROJECTS YOU HAVE BEEN TOO APPREHENSIVE TO START!!! Boggs

Beautiful pieces, all, but that Earth guitar is just knock your socks off gorgeous... Spectacular use of the grain and natural color. Boggs

I should have mentioned that the Boggs entries were our first ever builds. I do understand that the shape of my padauk #1 is not a traditional shape, so I also understand if it is thought of as being a bit too "unusual" in shape for voters. Put it in your hands, though, and it would be a different story... The offset waistline means player COMFORT if it doesn't mean beauty...

I have to go with Boggs #2 because I know the amount of work on the inside of that guitar that my friend Tim built and how crude the equipment was that he made it with. I don't feel it would be ethical for me to vote for my own, so I didn't. It is unfortunate that you cannot see ite innards of Tim Fuss's Kubicki-like chambered body and floating-braced top. All of these guitars are truly outstanding and Drak's workmanship is especially outstanding. Very cool design of the horns as well. I like the uniqueness of it. I never was a cookie-cutter guy, so I really appreciate the thought in that design, but as I said... this being Tim's first ever guitar build, and knowing what is inside of it and how it was constructed, I have to give my vote to him. I am more than delighted to see that someone other than myself saw it, too! Very cool! Boggs

That, sir, is a beautiful work of art! Boggs