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Perhaps these will help generate more opinions? Those are pictures of the actual wood that is being used. Chris

So I've really enjoyed the design help I got with a shape I'm working on, so I figured I'd try it out for some inlay work as well! I have a new bass shape that sort of reminds me of a sperm whale. With that in mind I wanted to do a sperm whale inlay. Alone they generally just look like amorphous blobs... so I'm going for sperm whale vs. giant squid. Here's the kicker... I want it to match well with the materials the bass is out of. It's a neckthrough that's curly purpleheart center, mahogany sides, and pinstripe maple/black. Since it's a neck through you will see these materials from the top. The body wings are hollowed EIRW. I generally like my inlays to be mostly shell for chatoyance, and less wood/reconstone as just color accents. Here's my best combo I've worked up so far: Black and White MOP for the whale, Pink and White MOP with curly purpleheart for the squid. Fretboard is black (Gabon) ebony. I'm also considering making the squid's fins and sucker tip out of a white epoxy that glows blue in the dark... Is there something else ya'll would recommend? I'm happy with the whale, not sure about the squid. Tying in the purpleheart is proving difficult. All opinions welcome, Chris

It's funny you mention the explorer cause I have this drawing here on another layer that I can turn on/off to use as some form of reference for such a large-bodied instrument: Whats even funnier is using that explorer prompted me to extend the tail a few days ago; the opposite of what Swedish Luthier did that said, it's been a shorter tail longer than its been a long tail, so I'm by no means against it. I've also been growing the waist too. It started at about 5.5" and I think I last left it at 6" which is admittedly still small. I really like the idea of removing all those details, it really did give some nice perspective. Would you mind sending me that file so I can compare it in Rhino to my current versions? Also, seeing it without the pickguard has also given me some crazy carved-top version ideas hahaha. Best, Chris

The floor is open for opinions! Chris

I was thinking it was likely alumilite casting resins? But my god, can this thread continue getting any hotter?! Chris

So for those of you that have watched some of my youtube tutorials you might have noticed that the opening titles make it seem like they're from part of a larger whole... that's cause they are. The video is some 5-hours long at this point and takes you from design all the way through finishing the wood working. It was supposed to literally include everything... finishing, setup, electronics as well. However, I'm just too busy these days. So I'm releasing it as is, with it's couple holes here and there. I just don't have time to finish it and it seems dumb to not share the information that is available. Part 1: https://youtu.be/7hL4Fpb59dk Part 2: https://youtu.be/ot8vk2FhCy0 Outline, and "What's Missing" guide: Part 1: Introduction & Safety: Missing. However, you should always familiarize yourself with all safety precautions with your tools before using them. You should never perform processes that you are not comfortable with. Design and Template Making- 00:00:10 Wood Choice and Preparation- 00:07:44 Top Carving- 00:17:18 Shaping the Body- 00:54:28 Belly carve: Missing Drilling for Controls: Missing Binding and Roundovers- 00:57:50 Neck Template Making- 01:21:15 Neck Wood Preparation- 01:24:00 Scarf Joints- 01:30:12 Truss Rod Slotting- 01:40:36 Fret Slotting- 01:47:36 Neck & Fretboard Routing and Binding- 01:51:22 Fretboard Radiusing: Missing Truss Rod Preparation- 02:04:00 Fretboard Glue-up- 02:07:29 Headplate and Backstrapping- 02:14:07 Headstock Routing- 02:28:50 Adjusting Truss Rod Before Carving: Missing Neck Carving- 02:33:35 Final Radius Shaping- 02:51:44 Fretting- 02:56:50 Inlay Design- 03:14:44 Cutting Inlay pieces: Missing Installing Inlays- 03:17:51 True Oil Pore Filling and Finishing- 03:39:10 (Out of order, don’t know why) Fretwork- 03:52:00(Out of oder, don’t know why) Part 2: Routing Neck Pockets- 00:00:00 Drilling Pickup Cable Holes- 00:42:26 Gluing the Neck- 00:46:20 Bridge Locating and Drilling- 00:58:14 Routing Pickups: 01:06:21 Sanding: Missing Epoxy-Style Pore Filling: Missing True Oil Pore Filling and Finishing- 01:06:40 (Don’t know why I have it repeated here) Fretwork- 01:19:26 (Don’t know why I have it repeated here) Staining- Missing Spraying Finish: Missing Buffing a Sprayed Finish: Missing Electronics: Missing Setup: Missing

I agree with Scott. You need a little more symmetry in the waist area to get it more comfortable to the eye. I also think that your cutaway horn is too prominent. Pulls the eye there too much; I'd shrink it and make it more in line with the size of the rest of the guitar. The headstock is super cool! That's my favorite part. It's nice and deco, gives context to the two-tone of the body. Very well placed and thought out. I even like the black center and edge lines. I think you should include those with some kind of veneer between pieces glued up or something. I also think this has a lot of promise, but I'd continue tweaking it before I built with it IMO. Chris

I'm not sure those are cracks in alder. I've used it a number of times and haven't had that issue. I do see those markings though like in the Fender picture. Not sure what they are, but when I've seen them they have not been cracks but part of the grain detail of the wood. Chris

That's one nice piece for "test" work! Side note: Be careful, looks like your last letter might get covered by the tuner's washer. Chris

I'm guessing that's likely how that piece of wood wants to absorb things. Some maple will react weird. I did a top awhile back that had a different weird absorbtion: See how it didn't absorb to the same degree in a number of spots and looked blotchy. I tried tons of stuff... that's just what the nature of this piece was. I sanded it all back, used that as my "dark sand back" then sprayed the burst instead to get this: Chris

I find basswood annoying to get sanded right personally. But in europe sapele, white limba, etc. are all fairly easy to find (or at least they were in the Netherlands when I lived there). All are great choices. Chris

Maybe I'm missing something... are you binding the cavity cover to fill that border or something? Chris

I have an Amazonian Rosewood fretboard on a neck with white binding in the works and it seemed to work just fine. From what I understand the logic is that the acetone roughs up the plastic's surface giving the titebond a little bit to mechanically bond to. Meanwhile, the acetone and titebond also work fine together for a chemical bond as well. I did test pieces before doing my first plastic bound guitar and found it held a little better than acetone alone. Just tried Duco for the first time yesterday though and am thinking that might be even better. Chris

Similar to that, but after brushing with acetone, also throw some titebond in there. Chris

Ah, so you're just doing the acetone/titebond plastic binding trick too? Chris

I love the way you bind EVERYTHING. When some companies do it it comes out bleh, but with your stuff it is always so classy. What's the glue you're using to stick the binding in that one picture? I'm always curious what others use for the various plastics. Chris

I personally prefer riding down by old man Johnson's farm, myself. Chris

www.gilmerwood.com Chris

I've uploaded a couple galleries to check out. Feel free to comment on them! And of course please follow us on facebook and/or instragram. I'm aware ya'll aren't exactly my target audience, but it's always nice to have the word spread. Best, Chris

Also, for Mac users there's a, I'm not even kidding, 100% free beta of Rhino CAD OSX on their site. Works great. I have Rhino purchased and have it on a parallels install, but still use the OSX version for convenience. Only issue I've ever encountered is some failed trims commands. Chris

This guy has a lot of good stuff to say that once you hear it you go "Duh!" but you likely didn't consciously think about it. http://guitardesignreviews.com/2011/06/fundamentals-of-electric-guitar-design-part-1/ Chris

The top should be like that. That's a standard feature of most "flat top" acoustic guitars. They generally have a domed top of about 25' radius. This gives them some space to shrink with humidity changers so that they don't crack when they dry out. Instead they just flatten a bit. Once they get to a fully-flat surface due to humidity lows... if they keep shrinking more they have nowhere else to go but to split the top in places. Chris

You can get an app called "Paper"... that's about as good as you're gunna get. Hahaha, and that's just free-hand sketches. Chris

The full site is officially up. I'm still in the process of tweaking some things, finding bugs (think I've gotten most, but if you find any let me know), and uploading more galleries. However, please go take a peek! Let me know what you think. And maybe even follow us on instagram? Best, Chris

From what I understand you just need to do a print of the logo on transparency paper... any FedEx Kinkos or print shop should be able to help there. If your issue is getting the physical file to print with try www.fiverr.com or similar. You can probably show someone a picture of the logo and have them make you a vector drawing or PSD out of it for $5. Chris