Mr Natural

The first acoustic build (at least mine was) was a scary experience. I didnt have enough (or the proper) tools and further I didnt realize some of the techniques to employ If I may make a suggestion- it looks as though you have some significant tearout around your tuning holes and also a rough area around the truss rod adjustment. You can minimize the tear out on the tuning holes by placing a block of wood against the side of the headstock that you are drilling thru. It looks as though you drilled from the back(?) since you are missing some chunks in the front. Also- use a brad point bit if you didnt the first time- that will help as well. You can try filling in the missing chunks by using the old super glue/wood dust combo- but it may not finish as nice around those areas. I did the same thing on my first guitar- no worries! also- even though it will be covered by a truss rod cover- the wood surrounding that truss rod adjustment looks to be tight (the part towards the nut area)- you may want to clean that up a bit- you can use an exacto knife or razor to cut lines thru the head stock veneer and then clean it up a bit with a small sharp chisel. Just a suggestion- if it is tight in there and the wood swells/shrinks any with humidity- it may impair the ability to turn that rod. Looking good all in all for a first build. DONT GET DISCOURAGE> Make sure you keep track of the issues you encounter and seriously- review that list with the next one- you will be surprised how much more smoothly the next goes. keep on track with this build- and if you arent sure of something- ask- there are plenty of folks here that can help. Good for you for taking the jump. Natch

Have you (or anyone) used Danish Oil at all? I am curious how it compares to the True Oil. I used Danish Oil on a CT copy I made and it was super easy to use- Nice build Erik. I have always loved that CT bass. peace- Natch

Alex- Nice job- the color especially looks great. If you dont mind me asking- where did you get the paint and what color (exact name) is it? Thanks natch

I believe they use laminated woods on all those ES semi hollows- and the center block is definitely mahogany- take a look at this- this movie is almost an hour long- takes a long time to load unless you have a decent internet connection- but well worth it. the shot of the spruce block they use between the center block and top answered so many questions I had. I think they mention that the Alvin Lee model has a maple block and some sort of cut out in it-I havent watched the movie in a while and I need to scoot off to work. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4764707652331081865 I think this has been posted before- there is also a pdf that shows this process- I think the link is www.upnorthstrings.com- there is a pdf on there- they use a modified center block- doesnt go all the way to the end of the guitar like the gibson does. hope this helps you. Peace Natch

While many of the pictures have been removed- you could try www.onlineapprentice.com. If all you are looking for are the steps- this may help despite the lack of pictures. Scroll down and you will see the lesson topics that are posted. You could use these as your rough outline to the steps for building. Peace- Natch