heath

I don't know about shipping to Canada, but their shop is right down the road and they are always helpful. They also build banjos and do repairs. One of the older guys let me go back and pick out ebony fretboards on one my visits. Real nice guys.

Here is a site I reference all the time in regards to drying, storage, and general information about wood. Wood Web Knowlege Base Scroll down about half way on the page and look for the Primary Processing section. Don't know if anybody frequents this page or not. You could always build a small solar kiln and dry it out. Of course that may not be cost effective for just a little walnut. I just use part of my garage. It eventually drys out. I would definately seal the ends though. I learned early on that you can ruin some very nice wood by not sealing the ends

I can't remember how to spell it, but have you been to nak wam market? That place was like a big paradise for any guitarist or builder. You could get anything there for a guitar. Couldn't tell you if they were the real deal, but they had all kinds of Jems and Soloists. So did you use planes and spokeshaves to shape the neck?

Awesome Maiden! I remember my days in Yongsan. I was interested in building back then but I couldn't find any places to pull it off. There used to be a craft shop in the same building where the bus stop is(on main post), but I bet it's long gone by now. Great progress man!!!

The treble horn was going to be the next kink to work out, so todayI cut and sanded some and I think I got it lookin better. As far as the name goes, I might be flexable, I just can't come up with anything that satisfies. How about 'Kickin Chickin'. Kinda has a little spunk to it. I also ditched the bocote fretboard for a later project, and decided to go with cocobolo(don't know if thats spelled right). I like the way it looks with the mahogany and the brown stain. Here are a few more pics. pic1 pic2 Heres a 8/4 piece of quilted maple i got for $30: maple

Here is a new pic of the Body(not glued) . Does anyone else think the upper horn may need to go on a diet?

Well, I did a couple pine 2x4 mock ups of the necks before I even glued the neck laminates up for my first guitar. It's pretty funny to have this sap oozing stick with some tuners, a nut, fretboard and bride all strung up. Should have added some electronics to it to hear that 'sappy' tone. I have a lot of white oak i can practice with, the trim in my house is made of the stuff, and i hate it. I also tend to be cautious and patient. I've screwed a number of things up in the past because i got into a hurry. The main thing right now is relaxation, and it helps me do it.

Hey bigd, what thickness are your top laminates(If they are all different, an average or range value will do). I was thinking of doing multiple guitars at once on my next build just to become more familiarized with the processes. Nice lookin set!!!

I did a little shaping on the upper horn today. I thinned it down some but I'm not sure if it is thin enough for my liking yet. I also tooks some pics of the grain accentuated with some water. I hadn't done this before so it's my first time seeing the grain this way. Body shot 1 Body shot 2 Just for a perspective standpoint, I wanted to point out the body is at most 12inches across, and I think 17 or 18 inches tall. I think the pics make it look bigger than it really is. I'll post some pics in the album showing a ruler next to the body. Width Height On a side note, Once I looked at the design after it was drawn up, I noticed that it looked like a fenderized BC Rich or something. So much for originality, but I like the design anyway. Heath

Believe it or not, I orginally had a Gibson Firebird in mind when i started planning the shape. I am going to probably thin the horns out, and do some additional shaping to them to get everything like I want. I forgot to mention earlier that the hardware will be black. I've already started to build the next guitar also, it will be called the Pheonyx. It's going to be made out of poplar, padauk, redheart, and white oak. I'll be getting two necks from the blank I glued up. There are a few pics of the wood in with the pics of the War Shrike.

I'll be using the stain black sand back technique. I'll be using a brown stain. Its called dark mission brown I believe. The rest of the guitar will probably just be stained the brown color without staining black first. I was going to do a sanding sealer over top of the stain, but I didn't see any point in laying down some sanding sealer if I am going to put tons of laquer on it. I think that will seal all the pores in the walnut and mahogany nicely. I am wondering what I should do with the headstock surface. I was thinking of overlaying some of the veneer I made for the body onto it. I may do a black laquer coat on it then just gloss it up if I don't have enpough veneer left over. Thanks for the compliments.

Howdy All, Been just sittin here readin posts for the last couple of months. I started on my first guitar about a month ago and have made some progress on it. I call it the War Shrike. It is made of a three piece laminate for the neck, consisting of Maple-Walnut-Maple. The fretboard is bocote and will have ebony, MOP, walnut, and maple inlays. The body wings are made up of maple, walnut, and a quilted maple/mahogany veneer. The wings aren't glued on just yet, I clamped them on the guitar for a look to see what final shaping needed to be performed, plus any further jointing procedures that were needed. I haven't decided on electronics yet, but the bridge will be a standard hardtail like the Hipshot hardtail bridge. The initial design idea was to make the body look like a bird of prey swooping down with the wings back and the claws outstretched in front to grab whatever poor animal happened to cross it's path. Please give some feedback on this project. It has been fun and relaxing just to work on it, and I think that has been the best part. Thanks, Heath Guitar Photos