Boggs

I finally got the process really figured out today and the shine just EXPLODED!!! The photos you see here look like a matte finish compared to how it looks now!!!!! I will wait until it is together before taking the next shots as that is when I will have access to a digital camera again... It should be done by the end of this weekend for sure!!! A word of advice... Use only the highest quality 200thread/inch 100% cotton linen for the cover cloth you use to rub the finish in... It just seems to "dispense" smoothly at a perfect rate with little drag. I also found that using 3 toothpicks together to dip into the olive oil (which I like better than lemon oil) holds just the right amount of oil for lubricating the pad. It acts a bit like an old quill fountain pen... Very consistent and you can use the toothpick to spread the oil on the pad like a spatula. Works GREAT! Boggs

Thanks for the explaination and for the kind words! Boggs

So, you're telling me that your uncle is one handsome, really packin' hunka manliness, eh? Sorry... Couldn't help myself...! I'm kinda ignorant regarding the pun... Care to explain it to us and folk? (I've been looking for an excuse to use those smilies... ) Boggs

First is a pic of the prototype in its new storage home... a used (but just like new) Johnson case I got t The Music Store for $35! It's like it was MADE for this guitar! Next is the 3rd grain fill treatment (This stuff is hard! My hands are killing me!) After that, it was starting the actual French polish finish... Tim was extremely helpful as always describing the technique, but I still have a lot to learn about getting the amounts of each liquid in the pad correct. I have also found that the texture of the cover will make a big difference. I am going to get some denser linen for the polish cover today before going further. Here is a bit of the result of Saturday's polish marathon... I would like to have mine completed by the end of this coming weekend. Light IS at the end of the tunnel now! Boggs

If you added some background talking and a cash register ringing, you would have the sound of a guitar shop nailed. Hee hee hee. I like the tone at 1:35. Very Doobie Brothers there. Again at 2:08. Sounds great so far. Too bad you have to take it appart to finish it now. That's hysterical, Jehle!!! ... and you are so correct... Boggs

Good luck, and let us know what you will be doing with it! Boggs

The piece of padauk I got was originally 2x6x36inches and was about $25 or so from what I remember. It wasn't that bad at all. We got 2 tops and 2 backs out of it. I got mine locally at Pittsford Lumber. Any quality lumber house should have it or know where you could get it locally. It isn't all that rare. Boggs

I just spent about 15 minutes just plugging in the padauk guitar and just running through a bunch of pickup configurations and settings on the Genesis 1 modeler just plugged into the PC... Just hamming around to capture a variety of different tones... As the title says, just clowning around with it before taking it apart for finishing. Strings are old and intonation not set or anything yet. It's just to give a flavor of the range it is capable of... Cheers!!! Boggs http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/boggs.com/Cyb...WithPadauk1.mp3

That's just unbelievable to think it is your first build... That is spectacular by any standards!!! Boggs

Outstanding work and result! Great feeling... ain't it?! Boggs

Yes. The backing track was provided by a friend on another forum.

...And now for a sound clip of the prototype... A couple of clams, but not too bad. For some reason though, when I save the wav file to mp3, it seems to overload causing a lot of clipping that is not in the raw wav file. I don't get it... Anyway, here's the proto with Beef&Boggs... I tried to go for a more Metheney-esque tone. The tone pot was rolled back a bit for this one. http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/boggs.com/Cyb...efandBoggs1.mp3

Thanks, man... I couldn't help thinking of that commercial for some reason... The poor old ugly duckling prototype (the one on the right in the picture) is finally wired and COMPLETE!!!! :D I have to tell ya, that is the most comfortable, playable guitar I have ever had in my hands and I think it might even surpass the Holdsworth Fatboy in that regard!!!! The thing sounds awesome at least through the Genesis I and headphones... Absolutely killer on about every setting or pickup combination... I suspect it will be my favorite to play even over the padauk/mahogany piece mainly due to the weight... The prototype being made from cheap old pine and even cheaper old European plywood weighs nothing... expecially hollowed out as a semi-hollow that it is. That guitar makes you want to play! I think it sounds better with the maple neck... It can be less dark and has more spank than when I had the mahogany neck on it. I am so psyched and now I cannot wait to get the other one done. For sure, neither guitar is going to be forgotten...!! Boggs

Did you just ask me how many cookies you had in your mouth right now? Boggs

I stopped over to Tim's again last night and did the necessary drilling to get the neck mounted and did in fact mount it up... The previous night, I mounted all of the hardware... the pickups which I routed for, the bridge, and the tailstop. I can actually string it now and check intonation to make sure I don't have to re-locate the bridge for any unforseen reason... This guitar balances perfectly (!!) and is remarkably heavy for a semi-hollow... It will weigh in at I suspect just under 8 pounds! I have a few more holes to drill yet which I should get to tonight and I need to figure out exactly how I want to re-shape the neck heel where it mounts up to the body. Holes needed are for the input jack, the Sperzels, and the electronics cover screws. I also strung up the prototype last night although I am still waiting for the 3-way switch for it before wiring it up. Here are a couple of pics of the two guitars side-by-side! I haden't strung the prototype fully yet as I needed a new set of strings (my old ones wouldn't reach the in-line headstock machines). Boggs

With the French polish, it won't be quite that dark until it ages. That shot was just wetted down with mineral spirits... That Cuban mahogany I got from Toby at Blue Moon Exotic Woods is pretty spectacular stuff though... The padauk top is actually more symmetrical and better than the back! It is glued on now, but I need to round the edges and rout for the neck and pickups. Boggs

8 hours to carve that? Who are you... Edward Scissorhands?! Amazing work, for sure! My site is on Angelfire, but I pay for mine for extra bandwidth and to be ad-free. You may want to check into it. I've had no problems with them. Boggs

Beautiful workmanship! Boggs

I'm getting so psyched... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Boggs

We had another stellar Saturday working on these guitars... I started out by cleaning excess glue from the access panel seat where there was squeeze-out from gluing on the back so the panel would sit flush with the back. Then, we removed squeeze-out from the lower bout where the mahogany was a bit wider than the padauk and added a piece of padauk to that area. We worked on Tim's guitar body while this glue set. Then, after the glue had set sufficiently and using Tim's small drawblade, I cleaned off the excess material before rounding the back sides with the router. The photos showing these processes can be seen here... The next 3 photos show the result of the rounding and the real shape of the guitar back dry and then 2 more wet with mineral spirits showing the beauty of both the back and both Cuban mahogany sides... After that, we glued up the top after I drilled and slotted the top panel for the switches and pots and made the first hole at the pickup areas so I can rout them with a follower bit. The glue should be all set today and the top should be ready for rounding and the neck and pickup routs will be ready for completion! As a bonus, I received the parts I need to finish the prototype and got everything assembled and ready for installing the electronics! That guitar will be completed early this week!!! Boggs

Daveq, Please continue to post your opinions as they DO matter. Unfortunately, and it is just human nature, you will tend to hear more from those who disagree than who agree. You can't let that censure yourself because that is how ideas are squashed. I'm 51 and I still have a lot to learn about everything... not just guitars. I look at what I am doing as a hobby which someday I hope to be able to "use" to supplement my income and spread a little bit of joy at the same time. I will never really feel "ready" to consider myself a luthier no more than I can really consider myself a musician. My own standards for both are too high for me to ever achieve. What I would like to be able to do is set up beginners' guitars for them so they will be easier to play and make them want to play because they are not fighting a poor setup on the instrument. I want to be able to give them awareness of their instrument's characteristics and how they can improve on them for their own playing. Building these guitars hopefully will arm me with more of those skills and enhance my credibility for those who would need such services. Also, my designs are very ergonimic in where I am stressing function over form which may take some eyes a bit of getting used to. My prototype has been called butt-ugly... until they put it in their hands and realized how comfortable it is to play! There is more to guitar life than Strat or LP or PRS... I took my lead from Alan Holdsworth and hope to take it to another level. I have no dillusions of grandeur as I do realize I could never make a living from doing this. It's all about spreading a little enthusiasm and maybe inspiring someone with more talent than me to do something they too can be proud of! Cheers, mate! Boggs

Props for forging your own design. If it turns out to be a PITA StewMac has one that does exactly that, $35. 12er bridge That is kind of what I had in mind... Only $35? How can I compete with that?... I will have to look at this one closely to see its advantages and disadvantages... Boggs

Here's the koa that inspired me...

I am in the process of building the 2 guitars now and helping out on the third and I already am formulating plans in my head for my next guitar build... a solid body neck-through 12-string using Cuban mahogany and koa (that I got while in Hawaii last winter) bookmatched wings and a 5-piece koa/mahogany/koa/mahogany/koa laminated neck (for strength) and I intend to design my own bridge and saddle assembly such that each of the 12 strings can be intonation adjustable... I'M OUT OF CONTROL!!!!!!!! Boggs

Cool! How's that?...