jer7440

I have a black limba body I'm going to need to pore fill soon, I may have to give CA a try.

Hey Scott,

Love the build. That top is gorgeous!

I had a quick suggestion for applying CA. When I used to build RC planes I would saturate different parts of the wing with CA and I would wrap a cheap plastic sandwich bag (not a ziplock...the really cheap ones that fold over and tuck in) around my finger and use that to spread the glue. The CA doesn't stick to the plastic that those bags are made out of. You could put your cloth pad in one of those bags and try that to spread the CA. It might work better.

Nice first effort! Very creative. Do a little more research around here to improve your finishing technique and you'll be kicking out some great looking guitars in no time. How does she play?

Beautiful!

For some odd reason I thought they were aluminum. Never mind me, then.

Thanks anyway! The next time around I may give aluminum a try.

Anodizing would be great....but my parts are steel and not aluminium.

ihocky2...I just sent an email off to Fords Guns. Hopefully they can give me a quote based on the picture and dimensions I sent to them.

Hey guys,

I have been machining some individual bridge pieces for my next guitar. I am just about done with the machining, now I need to figure out how I'm going to finish them. I really like the looks of black chrome, but I had a quote from a place that plates mostly hot rod parts and they wanted over $300 to do six bridge pieces. This seemed a little steep to me. Do any of you have experience getting hardware plated? Is it really this expensive? Do you think powder coat would work?

Here is a pic of what I need to get finished.

Thanks for any input!

Gorgeous! I love the heel design and the sound holes on the front are great. Your binding and purfling are so well done. Great job!

Looking great!

Maybe machining a roller system so the file causes the rests to revolve rather than filing them.

I looked at a roller system, but I was trying to keep things as simple as possible. I will make some stop blocks and harden them That will take care of the problem.

Did some more machining on my custom bridge pieces. All the holes are drilled, tapped and countersunk.

Also playing around with the new camera. I'm trying to figure out how to take good pics.

I also made a jig for removing the fret tang for bound fingerboards.

This is my interpretation of the LMII jig. You slide the fret into the slot and tighten the bottom screw finger tight. This holds the fret securely. Then, with a few strokes of a file, you end up with a cleanly removed fret tang.

You file down until the file hits on the shoulder bolts. At this point the tang is nice and flush. I was thinking the shoulder bolts would be much harder than they are. If you look closely you can see that the file is wearing on the top of them. I will have to rework this and replace the shoulder bolts with some hardened steel. This set up should get me throught this fret job though.

Ok...after another long break, it's time to see if I can get this baby finished! I got my fret wire bent and all the frets cut to rough size. I'm waiting on a fret tang nipper before I go any farther with the fretting. I also went back to work on my individual bridge pieces. I'm getting all the holes drilled and tapped (I hate tapping tiny 4-40 screw holes).

Next I need to drill and recess my control holes. Then a little finish sanding and the body should be ready for finish!

nice job on that mounting plate! It looks really good.

Wow Doug! Like I told you, I haven't been on here much in the last month....that guitar is looking awesome! I love the corroded fretboard!

Prostheta: When I machine a neck like this, I do it in 2 setups. I the first setup the cutter is perpendicular to the headstock and I cut the contour of just the headstock. In the second setup the cutter is perpendicular to the fretboard surface. In this setup I cut the neck taper and do all the surfacing (carving) on the back of the neck and headstock. When you cut it this way everything blends together nicely right below the headstock. I'm not sure if this is what Doug is doing...

I have the 14" version of this saw...and I love it! I would compare the specs of the two saws and if the 12 is similar to the 14 I would say it should work great.

What surfaces does the RG have that aren't flat? Is it just the tummy cut and the arm relief?

Thanks Blackdog! You have some gorgeous stuff in your portfolio as well!

Yeah...a 3/4 in top is perfect. The overall thickness of a PRS is about 1 3/4". On the guitar I built in this thread my prs I had a 1" alder back with a 3/4 maple cap. That gives you a full 1/2" of carve depth while maintaining a 1/4" for a natural binding.

Boggs...the wood and finish is gorgeous....I really dig the body shape as well.

Hey, I know some of you guys use CAD to design your stuff. Do any of you have a standard Humbucker pick up drawn up that you would be willing to share? I would just do it quick but I don't have a pickup that is not installed in a guitar, and I'd hate to have to pull my guitar apart.

Thanks

Jeremy

Man Doug...You are kickin out some great designs! I love this one too.

Looking great Doug! I really like what you did with the flame and your logo in the headstock. Very cool!

Thanks again for the input! I have a couple of neck blanks already glued up with the normal straight scarf joint....so I think I will try to make that work this time. Now I need to figure out what I want to do for the pickups....

ottovola - Nice job with the material finish. I'm also not sure I love the pickup covers.

andyt - That gold swirl is sick! I like it a lot.

lil petrucci - I agree with the others....need better pics. At least a shot of the whole guitar. I like the metal pick guard a lot.

SwedishLuthier - Great guitar. Classic lines, but still your own. I love the multiply binding.

Low end fuzz - Looks like a nice guitar, but its a little busy for my taste.

Kpcrash - The only thing I would like to see different would maybe be a smoother looking finish on the body...maybe some grainfilling with the tru-oil...?

rdiquattro - Love that finish. That burst is very well done....beautiful.

hydrogeoman - That is a classy looking tele. I like your take on the tele headstock.

Kenny - That is a smooth looking axe! Gorgeous quilt . I also would have preferred a more rounded volute.

Boggs - Your work looks extra clean...but I am still not a big fan of the shape.

Well... I may as well throw one up here as well!

This is my second. It is an alder back with a maple top. The neck is maple with Santos rosewood binding, inlays and head plate. The pickup rings and control knob are also santos rosewood.

The neck and all of the rosewood accents are finished in Tru-oil. The body is finished in nitro. The burst was wiped on with color tone dyes and the back of the guitar is tinted lacquer.

The tuners are Planet Wave (I love these things). The pickups are GFS...they really sound great.