Mr Natural

Pros - I missed your question here previously. I agree about the finish- get anything metal near it and the finish will come off. The TOM style fits a need for sure- but honestly- I still love my bad ass bridges, sharp edges and all. big chunk of heavy metal and they just ring.

you never cease to amaze me with your ingenuity Goran. Well done bro- seriously- I love how you have a need, then tackle it head on and come up with a homemade solution.

beautiful guitar. well done man!

Pros- I bought two of the D bridges back when you told me to call Hipshot about them. (before they advertised they were selling the 6 string version). I do that a lot- buy two of something- then sit on it for years. I figured I would get two just in case- like my beloved bad ass bridges-they quit making them.

so- I had quit trying to find pics on my pc for a long while -got tired of it- tedious-but I have found some but they are out of order-so- found some that appear to be next in line. i am about to say screw it but I sort of want my threads to flow chronologically so- I am trying. I really dont like windows 10-and all the shit that keeps getting loaded and f'ing up stuff that works/worked and no longer does. I still have the issue of 1000s of pics, saved as one pic per folder, with no way of previewing and having to go in and figure out dates and such. I really dont give a shit about the guitar pics- but it pisses me off about all my family photos that now I have to go remember dates, or estimate dates on- that stuff sucks. Plus I found I have a couple of folders within folders- so- instead of having 3000 something single photos to go thru- I have more like 5000. I have gotten thru about 2800 or so I guess. tedious as hell though. anyway- pics of lining up bridge and pick up then pu route. In the pic with the bridge- obviously there is no string tension as I was taking the pic- so the strings appear lose. the placement here would allow me to put a (single) pick up in the music man sweet spot, or if I ever decide to change and go with 2 single coils- I can spread them a little bit apart under single pu cover within that huge as bathtub of a pu route. I have a nordstrand with a3 mags in there now. In the pic with the router guides- notice there is sanded areas on the mdf I used as guides- despite being the same mdf with "same thickness" - painted mdf sometimes is not flat and I took my fretboard sanding bar and ran it back and forth every which way to make sure the router base would slide smoothly and evenly.

watching with interest i bet that body wood will look killer once you put the radius in the body and finish it. those grain lines should really pop!

way to use your noggin andy and solve a problem! for a flat top (rob allen mb-2 copy I made) I had built a router table insert to hold my binding dremel guide upside down in my router table- and hold it "perfectly" still and perpendicular to the router table and it worked=-for flat tops anyway-it would not work on a radius topped guitar such as an acoustic. with all due respect - I am totally ripping off this idea when the time comes to do so. bravo dude.

that guitar is a beaut and you will be missed around here. Hope all goes well for you. Stop by now and then and post some wood porn please.

glad to hear you got some items to take back- but I have to admit- I about gasped at the price of the tru-oil. Wow. $20 for 8oz. I realize things are expensive in HI compared to the mainland- and at woodcraft you are going to pay a premium anyway- but - wow. guess its a better deal than shipping to Japan.

looks great Scott- she's a beaut!

diggin this thread. reminds me I want to build an acoustic one of these days. need to tool up first. cam clamps and such. I have the plans for the clamps- just not the time right now.

congrats on GOTM- well done.

digging that string retainer block- very cool . thats a mojo hole. I love the fact that it is so clean despite the fact that its about to be covered up. nice work CJ

damn dude- that is a sweet guitar.

i have always used the method of nailing along the outside edges of the bookmatch- nail along one side- then place a thin strip of wood underneath the joint so the bookmatch is slightly "roofed" with the joint edges exposed open slightly-then nail the other side of the bookmatch making sure to keep the jointed edges somewhat tight. the idea here is you remove the thing strip that kept the jointed edge up off the flat surface, glue the joint- then you have to press down on the bookmatch to get the center to press together- the nails on the outside give enough pressure to keep the joint tight- and a flat board plus weight on top keeps everything relatively flat and prevents the center from popping up from the pressure. Make sure to use wax paper over your glue line on both sides. I would expect wood that thin will curl somewhat even after the glue dries. but you can flatten it out when you glue to the top of the guitar. here is a pic of what I am trying to explain- i used whatever I had laying around on top of the bookmatch- If I were you I would try to find a single piece of material to keep that flat. I have used this method as it is one of the easiest ways to deal with outside edges that are not squared. as you can see below- the bookmatch is wider at the bottom than at the top. the nails provide adequate pressure along the whole length. also notice the bottom corner is slightly curled up along the nails- that is about a 1/4 in thick top if I remember correctly- it happens- especially with figured woods.

I tried the retarder trick- but my problem is clean environment- ie- my garage is my shop.. Two bay doors- and son comes in and out of one, wife in the other- telling wife alone not to use garage is like asking for trouble- so- constant opening of the door- ie- air flow-ie dust- ie- last guitar I did in summer was white and I swore never again having to get crap out of the finish cause it was open so long in drying. my ghetto plastic sheets walled "spray booth" was not cutting it.

you are a brave man. I am not sure what the humidity level is in Houston, but I cannot even think of shooting lacquer until at least mid-late Sept here in GA. Swamp level moisture in the air till then. Looking good Scotty

this is coming along nicely. Keep up the good work.

food for thought-in case you might like a more "really get to know your fingerboard" method. I still use this method-not sure why- a bit more work but I find it relaxing. skip to 2:55 mark on the video. fwiw- this guy has some really great videos on his youtube site.

heavy. As in one of the heaviest sickest metal licks of all time. Did anyone do C# tuning before that? 71ish? Nicely named. You better be slinging the sludge on that puppy. no Bee-Gees covers ok?

if korina is anything like black limba with respects to its insane ability to split-I would go with the plate if only for that reason alone to spread the (not sure of the word here) "contact force points" where the neck is connected-the plate would spread that force- where as I image without the plate- you have those screws lined up and could split easier- regardless of how thick the body is. I would almost go as far as to say regardless of plate or bezels- I would (after pre-drilling the holes) go as far as say for insurance purposes- you might consider seeping in some water thin CA into the screw holes, let it dry to strengthen the wood around the holes and then be careful not to over tighten when you connect the neck. maybe its just me- and maybe the blk limba I had was over dry or something- but I have worked 3 different pieces from 3 different sources and they all split. (full disclosure- they were set necks- and the neck pockets were snug- and fitting them in caused the splits.) but I used the same templates I have on other woods and not have that problem. YMMV

looks great man. bravo.

been there done that! its a totally valid fix

I have used danish oil prior to lacquer (on walnut and mahogany) as that I have notice helps and avoids that bland washed out look.This is not the best pic- this is after first couple of coats of nitro lacq on a lap steel I did a few years back -the crotch figure top reflects light differently depending on the angle you look at it- but point is oil really helped bring the color to life on it and the mahogany body/neck. I let it dry for 2 weeks prior to spraying and only used a light coat- just enough to cover and highlight the figure/color .

totally jealous