topper

It looks real nice, good job on the carving. I really cant wait to see it finished. I always take a good look at the planks of wenge at the mill. Its got a evil sort of look to it, i know im going to have to use it too. What sort of finish do you intend to use ?

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=...t=1,42884,42902 Thats the one

Cheers Vinny, im going to take a look at that. Fingers crossed !

Hi Batfink, i can do inlay if it's a picture, but i find that when i try to cut letters by hand my eyes are just not happy with what they see. I have no probs with getting them cut with cnc, i dont now where.

hi, i wonder if anyone can be so kind as to recommend a place where i can get lettiering cut for inlaying (in the uk)? I have a font that i need to use, and was hoping that i can get it copyed. The font has so many straight lines and is very unorganic, i need a laser cutter or cnc ! Thx.

I was expecting to pay custom charges, but have not. I was charged £25 ($40) to get it here, to be honest i thought it was worth it. I guess its ok if your ordering a fair few bits, my parcel was about 3kg. Anyway DHL is worth the extra.

I cant belive how quick my delivery was with stewmac's, i wanted to post this up, guy's from the UK or europe might find this interesting. I put my order in with stewmac's, monday night. Its now 11am thursday and it's here. It was sent out tuesday, it so quick ! Funny i ordered several parts from - all parts UK, and from Guitar Parts & Spares UK two weeks ago and still they are not here. Go stewmacs ! As the pound is strong you get a good deal too. May 30, 2006 14:40 Zanesville, OH - USA Shipment picked up May 30, 2006 16:21 Zanesville, OH - USA Departing origin May 31, 2006 00:39 Wilmington - Clinton Field, OH - USA Departing origin May 31, 2006 07:23 Wilmington - Clinton Field, OH - USA Departed from DHL facility in Wilmington - Clinton Field - USA May 31, 2006 21:33 East Midlands - UK Arrived at DHL facility in East Midlands - UK May 31, 2006 23:17 East Midlands - UK Processed for clearance at East Midlands - UK June 01, 2006 03:47 East Midlands - UK Clearance processing complete at East Midlands - UK June 01, 2006 08:32 Southampton - UK With delivery courier

I set myself up there ! Never knew you could do that ! I saw the super glue pot in the pic and wondered if that was CA , but thought that was madness. So i guess if your not going to stain the guitar it's a great way to seal it, or am i wrong again and you can stain the guitar still ?

I know the colour you mean like a mackerel LOL. To be honest it's one of my fav's. I think that ferulles are a good idea, sort of glad to hear you say that. BTW what the hell is CA glue ?

Very nice Drak i was wondering how you are going to finish that guitar ? Also are you going to use a tailpeice or are you going to use ferrules ?

Yep the grinder throws out loads of wast, needed my face mask too. I was laughing when i saw just how fast it was. Great way of diong it !

Cheers Drak ! Hey toddler68 ive seen those parker fly's with a spruce top i think they look great, maybe they would look better with a funky f-hole too. How do you carve the horn's ? I bet a flap disk is way too powerful for those parts ?

First thing in the morning i will get one, anything to make it easy. Cheers mattia.

Well i guess it time to show my work in progress, i feel embarrassed showing my work with all of you guys here. Any tips would be great ! Im making a double cut-away guitar, sapele bottom with a spruce top it will have chambers plus f-holes 24.5"scale. The hardware is going to be a Schaller roller tunematic, Schaller stop tailpiece with fine tuners, and locking machine heads. Not too sure what pickups yet, going to need some help from you lot for that. Ive been waiting for the bridge and tail for ages, it seems that schaller is hard to get hold of in the U.K. I need them now as i want to get my neck angle sorted and as im going to recess them, im getting a bit twitchy waiting. Also it's going to have a deep set neck tenon. I started carving the spruce top today it's the first one ive ever done so there has been alot of head scratching going on. Im damn sure all my hair will be gone this time next week ! Its got a long way to go but im enjoying it so far. http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b202/jim...r2/IMG_0307.jpg

Hmmm i think i could be turn into a thief looking at that where do you live Drak ? Looking forward to seeing that one finished.

Well i might have to take you up on that offer, sounds like a great excuse to goto Amsterdam again. Maybe also get some tips from you too. Talk about inviting myself, LOL. I will GIVE you the wood for a days training. hehe.

Ive just been up to the timber yard again, they are giong to try and rip down some english walnut for me today. I will be up there again tomorrow so fingers crossed. The band saw they have is massive i would say its about 30 foot high a real monster. They have problems cutting anything less than 20mm thick, i was told that a smaller bandsaw should do the trick for accoustic sides and backs. I wanted a load of english walnut ripped down for accoustic sides and backs, but they refused to do it. I can post some pics for anyone that wants to take a look at the timber selection, will try to do that later. I dont mind sending some timber out, paypal is ok. But remember im in the UK and if you want it sent to a different country the postage might be a shock. The timber will have to be sent out in a chunk and the machining would have to be done by you. I will only be able to do this for a few people, sorry but i dont have that much time. I would like to help out some of you guys here as a thank you for all the info on this site. Do you mean American Black Walnut, or American Claro Walnut, out of curiosity? I've never seen any Claro here, but American Black is about the same price as Honduran here, and European (not English per se) Walnut a cut above. Anyway, sending PM... I was thinking American Black Walnut, i just saw a 8' lenght, 6" wide 1" thick peice of black walnut for about £30, i was not that good looking. Seemed a lot of money to me. Will pm you mattia, with some pic's, later today.

Thanks for your replies ! I say both! No seriously, build both Think that's what i will do, hardtop first then the spruce. Maybe i will save the spruce for now, do a hardwood top first. Im sure that a hardwood top will be easyer to carve, would be good to have a little experience before the spruce top. Just let me know, if i go back up there i will pm u a pic of the wood available. Its odd am walnut here (U.K) is way too expensive, in fact i would say its almost silly money, but its so darn nice.

Maybe it would look nice if you did it like this pic ? If u have your heart set on plates i would make my own, draw it on paper and if it looks good go for it. But i cant see what would be wrong with two plates or even four or five. Your guitar your decision. Good luck, and let us see the end result pls.

English walnut is great stuff very nice looking, ive not really seen too many people using it on guitars. Its fairly light, good looking and easy to work. I was lucky enough to buy this chunk of english walnut last year, its about 60mm thick. When i went to the timber yard yesterday there was loads of english walnut just like in that pic. I think that chunk in the pic coast me about £40. I will send you some if you like ? Do u think i shoud use that as a top ? Im still drawing the guitar to scale size and i think im going to have at least a week to think about it anyway. Hmmm spruce or walnut ??? Mattia have you ever used english walnut for making necks ? BTW here is a better pic of the soft top. http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b202/jim.../Picture006.jpg

Thanks Mattia, maybe i shold get back to the timber yard and look for somthing else to put on as a top. Its not far up the road i was up there yesterday they had; am walnut, english walnut, maple, Ebony, Padauk, Panga Panga, ash and a lot more too. You have got me thinking about putting on a nice american walnut top on instead. Im pleased you mentioned the thickness, i will post more pics later maybe you could keep an eye on me as im a noob really. This is going to just be a bit of fun for myself so what the heck. cheers.

Stumbled across organic guitars last night, thought it might be worth a mention. http://www.organicguitars.co.uk/

Hi, could do with some idea's please. I shaped a LP style body, but i think im going to make it a double cut away (im a sucker for the old melody maker style guitars). Then i thought, 'why dont i use that spruce as a top and make a semi'. Ive always wanted one so what the hell. I found the spruce at car boot sale, it was being used as a homemade drawing board. Needless to say it was VERY cheap. Here is a pic of both top and bottom, do you think its going to be ok if i carve and bind it ?? Idea's pls all are welcome. Will the body be too thick ? Inspiration = http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b202/jim.../Picture013.jpg sapele and spruce top = http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b202/jim.../Picture007.jpg thx ! Ideas deas ah well !

Thats great stable yahoo !!! Ive got loads of real nice stuff in my workshop. Its cheap too, so thats a bonus.

The last guitar i made i used ferules, and to be honest i dont like them, but think i might have to use them on this guitar. Gunna keep on drawing this firebird until im happy with the way it looks, im lucky as it not ment to be a exact copy. What do you think about the feeling when you are palm muting on a guitar with a TOM compared to say a strats trem ? Im still trying to get used to a TOM. If the TOM is recessed, i guess it may feel better ??