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82DeanZ

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  2. Guitar Of The Month For February

    in Guitar Of The Month entry/poll archive

    Posted · Edited by 82DeanZ

    This is "Mike's Mohog." Here are some pics:

    Body%20Close%202%20JS6.jpg

    Back%20of%20Body%20Close%20JS6.jpg

    Edge%20JS6.jpg

    Front%20of%20JS6.jpg

    Here are the specs:

    Birdseye maple neck with slightly thicker than wizard profile and slightly thicker on the thumb side for comfort. 1/8 in allen nut, double-action Hot Rod truss rod adjustable at the headstock. Four coats of Minwax tung oil rubbed out with 0000 steel wool. Neck attached with 4 gold recessed ferrules.

    25.5 in scale length, 22 fret rosewood fretboard with abalone inlays, abalone side dots with custom "triple side dot" at the 12th fret and Dunlop 6105 frets. Hand-rolled fretboard edges. Fretboard polished to a high gloss with 0000 steel wool and lemon oiled.

    Graphtech nut and black metal string retainer bar.

    Black Planet Waves auto-trim tuners with 18:1 tuning ratio.

    2-piece honduran mahogany body with custom all-access neck pocket. Angled side output jack. Standard black strap buttons. Body prepared with 12 coats of Minwax tung oil rubbed out with 0000 steel wool and finished with a coat of Minwax finishing wax to give an edible sheen to the mahogany.

    Hum-Hum configuration with black humbucker rings containing a Dimarzio PAF Joe in the neck and Fred in the bridge position. Rear routed control cavity with custom mahogany stained flame maple control cover held with 4 gold screws. Black volume and tone controls with black 3-way toggle switch (bridge, bridge+neck, neck).

    Black Hipshot hardtail bridge with rear string-through body configuration with gold ferrules.

    Setup with 1.5 mm action and slight neck relief. Sustains forever and has a sweet meaty growl.

  3. New Project - JS6

    in In Progress and Finished Work

    Posted

    Hey Matt,

    Not quite the same way. It does deepen the grain effect much like simply wetting the wood. You're not going to get the same depth as a laquer finish, however. I will say that the tung oil is very complimentary with mahogany and it really brought out the birdseye figure in the neck. I'll look forward to seeing what you decide to do with the IMPALER.

    Best Regards,

    Mike.

  4. New Project - JS6

    in In Progress and Finished Work

    Posted

    hey Mahelcaya,

    The Dimarzio Joe is not quite as hot as the EVO that I have in my other homemade guitar, but it sounds sweeter. It's hard to describe. The EVO almost fizzles while the Joe chimes. Thanks for the complement. I like all of your mahogany guitars as well, especially "Custom Paul."

    Best Regards,

    Mike.

  5. New Project - JS6

    in In Progress and Finished Work

    Posted

    Hey All,

    I took quite a bit of time off over the holidays, but recently got back to work and finished up my JS6:

    Body%20Close%20JS6.jpg

    Here are a few more pics.

    The whole thing is tung oiled (with additional finishing wax on body) with all black hardware. More specs:

    Birdseye maple neck

    22 fret rosewood neck with abalone inlays and Dunlop 6105 frets

    2-piece honduran mahogany body

    Planet Waves auto-trim tuners (18:1)

    Dimarzio PAF Joe in neck and Fred in bridge position

    Hipshot hardtail bridge

    Graphtech nut

    This thing feels just like my factory JS's and sounds sweet as hell. It passes my "sounds great unplugged" test with flying colors and it sustains forever. I'm extremely pleased with how this project turned out. I can't believe how much it looks like a real JS6. I don't think I expected to get this close when I started the project. Thanks to all those who offered advice and comments.

    Best Regards,

    Mike.

  13. New Project - JS6

    in In Progress and Finished Work

    Posted

    Hey Darren,

    Not intentional, but a result from not using a roundover bit to acheive the true 1/2 radius on the lower bout. I did the entire edge radiusing by hand and eye using a surform and sanding block.

    Do we know if it was Rich that got that JS5 on ebay yet? That thing was beautiful. I think the Rainforest is my favorite JS followed by the Snake. I wonder what he paid for it.....

    Thanks for checking in on me Darren.

    Best Regards,

    Mike.

  15. New Project - JS6

    in In Progress and Finished Work

    Posted

    O.K. Maiden....I took your advice! I went ahead and stained the control cavity cover with the mahogany stain I had. I did the Drak-black-sand back technique as well. I think it looks really cool. I don't know if it looks any more or less out of place, but in either case it looks very nice. Here's a look:

    Cavity%20Cover%201.jpg

    I'm still bummed about the string ferrule holes being a bit out of whack. Live and learn. Here are a couple more shots:

    Different view of the back

    Close-up of control cavity cover

    Front of body after 10 coats of tung oil

    Thanks for looking.

    Best Regards,

    Mike.

  18. New Project - JS6

    in In Progress and Finished Work

    Posted

    Hey Jeremy,

    In the end I didn't use a grain filler. I got some good advice from forum members here and Frank Falbo gave me a really good answer to that question with regard to Ibanez guitars. He discussed several possibilities and it's his opinion that the Ibanez oil finishes such as on the JS6 are straight oil. After reading through his argument, I decided I agreed and went with staight oil. I'll probably finish with a wax coat as he suggests as well. I've got 5 coats of Minwax Tung Oil on the body so far and it's looking good enough to eat. The grain is still clearly visible (little pores), but it's not offensive at all. Looks like I'll be done with the body in a couple of days.

    I still need to:

    1. drill the tuner holes on the neck

    2. glue in the pre-slotted Graphtech nut

    3. roll the fretboard edges and file the fret ends

    4. final sand and tung oil the neck

    5. assemble wiring and install hardware

    6. final setup

    I think that's everything. Looks like at least one more week of work to do.

    Best Regards,

    Mike.

  20. Testing... guitar in progress

    in In Progress and Finished Work

    Posted

    Here's a closer look: what do you think of the ferrule job?

    Having just gone through the same process, I would say you did a fine job on the ferrules. Definitely not as trivial as it seems. I really, really, really like this guitar. A lot of original designs just end up looking weird, but yours doesn't strike me that way at all. Great Job. Can't wait to see how it looks with a finish.

    Best Regards,

    Mike.

  22. New Project - JS6

    in In Progress and Finished Work

    Posted

    Hey Maiden,

    Yes, the color of this particular piece of mahogany is very nice indeed. And of course, my outdated 1.3 megapixel camera isn't doing it any justice either. In person it really looks awesome. I guess it is a bit reminiscent of a Mushok, isn't it?

    Yes, there is a bit of router rash at the bottom of the pickup height adjustment holes. It really doesn't look as bad in person and for some reason the tung oil makes it stand out more. And as you point out, the good news is that that part of the guitar will never be seen, eh?

    Actually I haven't decided about the cotrol cover yet. I need to test stain a scrap piece of flame maple to see if I like that any better than the natural look. I know your vote is for the stain! :D Maybe I can get to that tomorrow. I'll post when I figure it out. Thanks for checking in on me.

    Best Regards,

    Mike.

  24. Cupped Neck Blank....is This A Problem?

    in Solidbody Guitar and Bass Chat

    Posted

    I think you should be O.K. Where did you get the blank? It was kiln dried wasn't it? Was it shipped from an area of significantly higher humidity? I think I saw a post by Drak or someone who pointed out that if you sand or plane one side of a blank you should treat the other side the same way. The theory is that one side will respond to humidy changes faster than the other which can cause cupping. Not sure how accurate that is, however. Just some additional things to consider as you make your decision. My gut feeling is still that you should be O.K. regardless.

    Best Regards,

    Mike.

  25. Cupped Neck Blank....is This A Problem?

    in Solidbody Guitar and Bass Chat

    Posted · Edited by 82DeanZ

    Yes, I understand your concern. The stakes weren't quite as high in my case since I am doing a bolt-on. If worse comes to worse I can just un-bolt, submit to W.O.D. (sorry for stealing your material Drak, but I couldn't resist!) and then make another one. From what I understand, it is not uncommon for boards to twist in the kiln. When they come out they are dry, stable and...twisted. Fix the twist and you should be good to go. If I were in your shoes I'm not sure what I would do. Tough call. Most likely I would try and find another blank. Let us know what you decide.

    Best Regards,

    Mike.

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