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But... But... Chris

KEM: The pocket is just a little longer than the tenon itself. No difference in the end though as it's covered by a pickup. If you're referring to why that spot is shiny, it's because it was glued in with epoxy. Scott: that spalted quilt was actually given to me by thegarehanman (old member) as thanks for making the 11 hour drive to attend his party (we were in college at the time hahaha). Really cool stuff! Got a couple others similar he gave me. For the ghost pinto thing, that's the build I'm doing along side my new student. Needed something simple cause he's doing a strat. It's basswood and persimmon on top bound in ivoroid. EIRW Bolton neck with 25.5" persimmon fretboard. Being done up really simple just an EMG81 with volume, tone, and an LED blue on/off switch. Side and face dots are glow in the dark teal that will match the 'burnt stained blue' finish it's getting aka the JEM7BSBs from the 90s. Chris

Oh wow have I been slacking on updating! Alright, here's some updates on the builds. Let's start with the two simple neck projects. The Ibanez replacement neck with the crazy CF U-bar went out to its owner awhile ago: As did the rosewood baritone neck, but it went out in the white to be built into a tele body by someone else: Both the marlin tele and the meeting have had their necks set, hardware attached, etc. pretty close to 'in the white' and lots of sanding! This has to be my favorite latest happening though! My mad scientist wiring scheme for this Marlin hippy guitar. The controls for the standard stuff is volume, tone, 3-way. Push pull on the volume taps the coils, push pull on the tone turns on a pre-amp booster which the gains controlled by the final knob. The pre-amp (Walker pre) also has a buffer that it sends out a stereo loop jack. Upon returning it goes through the arcade button. The little mini switch next to the button changes whether hitting the button allows the signal through (inclusion switch) or if it interrupts the signal (kill switch for the loop). Basically you can tap in/out your looped signal, or just use the return part and tap in/out ANY sound including another guitarist. Some small progress on some other builds too: Oh, and took on another student: Chris

Still have a bunch of these jigs. Chris

Another trick for if it's a non-tensioned insert and the hole is JUST too big... I'm talking it's a good fit, but not a PRESS fit. If that's the case you can put some wood glue in there with the insert, let it dry. It won't stick to metal, but when you pull out the insert it will have filled the spaces, including matching the grippy part of the insert. Chris

I'm guessing that set you back a pretty penny! As much as I love wood... I've never been able to let myself spring for the quilt like that (or super curl koa). Don't know why? I can't wait to see what you do with this though! I'm a sucker for cool limba. Chris

A lot of people talk about sapele like they do mahogany. They're quite similar and I'm sure many cheaper brands that say mohog use sapele, NATO, etc. What makes me so sure it's sapele is the one shot where it's going from rift to flatsawn. THAT is tell-take sapele grain there! Also, mild figure like you're seeing isn't rare in the stuff either. Chris

Looks like Sapele to me. Chris

Haven't made one yet... but I'm gunna say it'll probably be difficult. For those that don't know this appears to be the same guy out of Italy that RestoAD gets his headless hardware from. Chris

Very cool. I really like the carve, very interesting way of addressing it and I think it paid off in the end. Especially the way the asymmetry of the protruding areas of the carve accentuate the asymmetry of the overall design. I tried my hand at headless design for a design contest awhile back and actually found it kind of difficult. I'm not used to designing small guitars so changing one of my designs to be headless proved hard. But I finally just started from scratch and came up with this: Chris

But how often are you actually using an electric guitar for acoustic reasons in real life? Exactly. Moot point. Chris

Here ya go! All the inconclusive whining on the subject you could ever want. Even including Rick Turner! Can't get a better argument than one involving celebrities! http://luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10123&t=42378 Chris

Should have finished it and put it up as just a spec-built sale IMO. Oh well, someone will make it their joy. Chris

New tutorial on this dot process: Chris

Sucks for the guy. Looks like a nice rosewood neck and that carve it very clean. Chris

Not sure this site is a good place to expend your marketing efforts... We all generally build for ourselves here. Look forward to the in progress threads though! Chris

How come you can't see pole data on mobile? Chris

I'd say new thread. More spotlight and can correctly tag it better. Chris

Hopefully no one has an issue with this, but it's really only a NECK of the Month build. I've been working on projects for other people lately so I haven't had much time to finish full instruments. But this neck for an Ibanez S turned out pretty cool so I thought I might enter it. I don't expect to win with what I already see above my post... but if anyone has an issue with just a neck entry I can take 'er down. Without further adieu, here's the "You want me to build what?!" neck. Specs: 3-piece maple with wenge veneer stripes African Blackwood board with home-made white (green glowing) glow in the dark side dots 25.5" scale with 16" radius Custom headstock co-designed with friend Ebony headplate (with conical shaped recess) and backplate with 'banjo style' volute Name: I'm calling it the "You want me to build what?!" neck because my friend wanted it so thin, and I only use double-action truss rods, that I was genuinely afraid that the truss rod would pop through the back of the neck. There's only about 1/16" behind the rod. To make it work I had to devise a plan to make the neck both stiff at that thickness and not have the rod break through. The solution I came up with was a carbon fiber weave material pressed into a 1/2" radius U-channel around the truss rod like this: Seems to be doing the job! Chris

Perhaps I should do a video tutorial? Chris

Either not too many people saw this... or not to many people had a strong opinion one way or another. Given this is a build to follow-along with a student so he can watch me do each step and then repeat it on his guitar I was bound by time. I went ahead and made a decision; I went the BSB (burst stained blue... but really more of a teal) 90s JEM route. Chris

I've got a new student and I'm doing a simple bolt-on along side him so he can watch me do each step, then do it all himself on his strat. I'm torn on some aesthetic choices so I figured if poll the audience. Here's the cemented specs: 12.75" Barracuda shape with single EMG-81 and black Floyd rose and other hardware. Top, fretboard, and headplate are all board-match persimmon. Body is just basswood, neck is EIRW bolt on. Red Options: - red pearloid binding with black/ivoroid/ black top purfling - red volume speed knob (no tone) - clear finish Blue options: - Ivoroid binding, no purfling - BSB (burnt stained blue aka 90s JEM7s) finish Combine both ideas?: - all of the red option AND do the BSB style finish but in red? - not so sure about this option... Chris

If you'd like to learn how to carve a true diamond volute there, here's a how-to I did a while back. Chris

Rough carved top and back billet: Neck and side pieces: I'm doing a VERY untraditional scroll design in case you're wondering what I'm up to there and why it isn't carved. This is a REALLY rough sketch of what I'm up to. There will be no "carve" of a scroll. Instead, the headstock will be backstrapped. The backstrap won't taper, but the headstock does. Leaving an almost scroll appearance: Chris

Fun! I have a curly redwood/curly claro walnut violin project I should really finish! I love working on other stuff for a bit... however, I never seem to want to work on non-guitar projects long enough to finish most of them hahaha. I always want a temporary distraction and then back at it. I shall be watching with great interest here! Chris