chops1983

Hey Jesse looks good! Can i ask, Where did u get the templates from? I don't really have time to make some and it would be easier to buy them at this stage. I got given some alder and a 6mm bookmatched flame maple top, so im thinking of building a Tele cause i cant afford to buy one Your helps appreciated! Chad.

Just a quick one. Thanks to the mods for banning idiots.

Its been awhile, seems like the same old is happening on PG! I find arguing on an internet forum completely pathetic, but it has been a laugh reading over this. Osorio, i haven't voted this month and i don't particularly like Les Pauls but i checked out your thread and i think your guitar is one of the best Les Pauls i have ever seen. I might even go vote for it now. In fact when i vote it is always for the outright best guitar. In other words, best quality and most aesthetically pleasing to ME. I rarely ever checkout the names of the builders or the build threads. I see 4 pics of each guitar and can make an assumption from them. I generally only go into the build threads if i can see some dodgy work and it is usually to check if my eyes are seeing right in the pics. I would also prefer to see originality, but it isn't a prerequisite. Maybe one of the mods should get rid of Bionic Dave, i reckon there is no need for that type of behaviour.

I've heard lacewood called "Austrailin Oak" and I would say it is similar to white oak in its working properties. I am doing another lacewood guitar and there were a couple small tearouts but not too bad. I'll sand a little and do some doping in with sealer if I have to. I've worked with a lot of birds-I and birch so some of it has to do with slowing up when jointing and taking less off each pass. I know some people use a thickness sander because of tear out. I am a furniture maker so I've milled up a lot of stock and experience really can't be taught but just being aware that it wants to tear out helps. I think you are referring to "Sheoak" which is a timber only native(that im aware of) to where i live in the southwest of Australia. There is also Aussie oak which is very similar to Tasmanian Oak but probably grows on the mainland of Oz. I have used both Oz oak and Sheoak in necks. Oz oak is strong and straight grained and easy to work with and Sheoak has those little eyes like lacewood when flatsawn that can tear out. Yeah, the SG is an obvious influence and i just know the PRS singlecut cause its like a Les but stretched long, quite an elegant shape i feel. It is hard to make a truly original design. Everything can be related to another design, but to merge a few and make it your own is well done. Its a nice shape!

Hey Jarvey, I like your style. The second guit is like a cross between an SG, Les Paul and a singlecut PRS. Nice Lacewood BTW. Keep up the good work. Chad.

I thought about that Chad and I didn't do it that way for a reason. I'm not sure if it's a good reason so here goes... I'm not sure how "straight" the dots need to go in in order for them to not look crooked. What I mean is this; I could set the neck on the drill press table, get the side of the neck perpendicular to the drill bit but I wouldn't have a true flat edge to work against, (neck has been carved, fretboard has been radiused), to make sure I was drilling straight down behind the fretboard. If I were to drill in at an angle that was off a degree or two would it matter? Would it show? Would the side dot look oval or round? I don't know. That's why I didn't do it that way. Would it make a difference? I have no idea, but that's my reason I didn't do it that way. Have you done it that way in the passed? If so, how does it look? The way I did it... I installed the dots, super glued them in, nipped off, then when everything was dry sanded flush. When I sprayed the primer I was hoping to scrape the dots and all would be good. Didn't happen. I couldn't scrape a round mark. I left some of the black dot white with primer, and scraped into the maple surrounding the dot. Solution... I read somewhere that a guy made his own side dots by making a side dot punch using his drill press. I have a drill press and a piece of steel so I can do that too! lol I clamped the steel to the drill press table and drilled a 3/32" hole in it using the bit I drilled the side dot holes with. Once the hole was in the steel and without moving anything I unchucked the bit, ground the back end of it flat and rechucked it in the drill press upside down. Checked the bit in the hole in the steel...prefect fit. I got a piece of thin plastic I had, (one of the clamshell containers wood screws come in), cut the lid off of it and punched about 50 clear 3/32" round dots. I used a spray adhesive I have and sprayed it on the lid, layed one dot in it so the one face of the dot would be 100% covered in the adhesive and then layed the 3/32" clear dot over the 3/32" black dot in the neck. Once done, I masked off the fretboard and sprayed primer like normal. I think it worked like a charm! Once the primer is done, I may pull one of the dots off to see how much of a build up there is around the dots. I may have to do a little sanding, maybe not. What I do know its that my black dots are 100% covered with a clear dot and everything SHOULD be good to go. Stay tuned... hmmm interesting technique at the end. To me a round hole is a round hole is a round hole as long as the hole is drilled square to the face. Guessing that your fretboard edge would be unfinished is a straight line to work to. I haven't been in this circumstance though so my opinion is just speculative. Im sure with the quality of your build the dots will look stella.

Great build J48. With the black dots if it was me i would spray the colour coats, then drill and glue the dots in, flush cut them off with a sharp razor. A little area of scraping around the dots should not harm the white once the clear goes on. In fact you would probably be scuff sanding before the clear anyway so it should not be an issue. Its a hard one to nut out, but the way you have done it works, just think of it as tiny binding! Chad.

Hey Carl, Great to see some more pics. The geet is looking awesome mate. I think taking Buter's advice was a good idea, gives the guitar a more stylish, professional look as opposed to a stoptail IMO. I wish he would give me advice like that. The only thing i can see that i would change, is the neck pocket sides near the heel, to me they look bulky and uncomfortable. It may not be feasible to shape it so they finish tapered to a point(Did that make sense?). I don't have the guitar in front of me to tell how strong the joint is, but, if its possible i'm sure it will be more comfortable and aesthetically pleasing. What inlays do you have planned? Chad.

Nice work Keegan. I really like the both pickup sounds clean and distorted, to my ears there is a lot going on. Sorry, i would like to describe more in depth than "A lot going on" but i'm not the best at putting it in words. Chad.

A cool month, not a guitar on here i don't like. Roger: The build quality looks very good and the overall theme and design is really well executed. Me, myself am not a great fan of pointy obscure shape guitars so its not a geet that i would be pulled to play. Notyou: Im a huge fan of your work mate, guys like you are artists and the way you go about your work is great to watch. Your build methods and approach are inspiring. Cheers! Muzz: Great fun build thread and a cracking guitar. As Wez has stated, the heel area looks surprisingly big and uncomfortable and it caught my eye straight away. Not sure if it would affect playability too much but just looks a bit off. Change this and it would have been pretty killer all round. John: I really like this guitar mate. Probably my favourite of all your builds thus far. Your scroll saw work really shows how far you have come with your builds. The only changes for me would be to trim the butt a little, its a little wide for me Otherwise, fantastic. Jaden: Really professional builds you got going on. The cavity covers on the back i would prefer to be plain black or perfect grain matched covers, including the racing stripe in the trem cover, but im being picky really. The switch location for me is wrong also, i would definately knock that whilst playing when i get a bit excited. Congrats on the guitarist reviews aswell, i think they gave you great reviews and i hope you will see that through future orders. Johny: Really stylish build mate, love the soundhole and the overall design. I've never seen an amplified nylon string before and am interested in some sound clips if you have the technology? Hooglebug: This is your style to a T. Tele inspired but with enough of of a twist to call it an original hoogle. I know you had a few finishing issues so its great to see a fantastic looking build. If i had of voted this month it would have been for this guitar. As for my photo's, i was a bit too obsessed to get a true indication of the colour of this guitar instead of good focused pics . I thought about editing the post but stuck with them in the hope people would check out the build thread. Looks like i lost a vote because of this, so moral of the story... post good pics!!! Chad.

Looks great nut! The red is beautiful, but i really like the tobacco kinda burst in the 3rd. Its just stylish the old tobacco look. I shall be watching this build very closely. That is one awesome piece of quilted maple, congrats! Chad.

Man, I know what you mean !! I'm starting playing in a band context again after a good 8 years, and it's getting tough. I find that I should devote more (some ?) of the available free time to practicing, but then I love building... It's a struggle. Maybe I should just quit the day job. Now your talking! You build great guitars, im sure their must be some interest from other musicians around you, You got a website? The new geet just had its first gig...Went great guns!!!

Thanks for the interest chops, I'm loving your last build too !! With the available spare time my day job leaves me with it seems to take me between 6-8 months to build one of these: The original korina SC was started in early May'09 and finished right before Christmas. I don't know how much longer it will take making two, but I'm taking advantage here of the fact that the customer is not really in a hurry. Clearly, if time becomes a factor the commission will take precedence, for now I'll try to keep building both concurrently. Cool. 6-8 months seems do-able. My last build was ongoing for around just under 15 months but i was away for 6. Like you the day job gets in the way. I find when i build, it consumes a lot of my spare time and my playing time is nearly nil. Gonna take a break from building to figure out what i want to do next. I have some plans in my head though Keep the pics coming!

Really impressive build mate, that soundhole looks fantastic. Congrats!

Theres always interest from my corner Blackdog. You build beautiful guitars! What sort of time frame do you complete these builds in?

This is my third build finished nicknamed "Seth" who was the enemy of Osiris, also the 12th fret inlay on this axe. The build is for my wife who is a big fan of Egyptology and not such a big fan of my building addiction. Specs: Body: Tassie blackwood base with a burmese teak top finished with 2k poly. Neck:Ebony fingerboard inlayed with greenlip abalone shell handpicked from the ocean by me and my father in law. Maple/ Sheoak/ Maple finished with tungoil for a sleek,fast feel with a burmese teak headstock veneer topped with 2k poly. Scale: 25.25 inch or 641mm, 22 frets Hardware: gotoh tuners, wilkinson VS100-n floating trem, tele style knobs, schaller locking strap buttons, carbon nut, silver nickel frets, stew mac 2 way hot rod truss rod, stewmac black oval jackplate. electronics: 2vol, 1 tone and 2 push/pulls with a 3 way blade style switch. Neck pickup splits, bridge pickup has series/parallel switching which im super impressed with. Pickups: Irongear Rolling mill in the neck and Hot slag in the bridge. Im in love with the raunchy crunchy tones the hot slag produces, but the rolling mill needs to be fatter. It would be better balanced in a warm,dark toned body IMO. I may change this out for a warmer/fatter neck pickup at a later date. (Any suggestions?) Sound: unplugged this guitar has a beautifully clear tone more towards the bright side than warm. Resonates nicely throughout the whole body, kinda feels like its alive when your in a sitting position with the guitar touching your ribcage. These photo's are the closest representation of the colour i can get with my camera. For a lot more photos checkout the last couple of pages of the build thread here

Swirl Removed

So i put an irongear rolling mill in the neck of my latest build, i feel it is quite cutting and has alot of clarity but lacks bass and just plain fatness! Im wondering if by swapping out the alnico V magnets to something else it would become fatter? If so what magnet would you guys suggest trying? These pickups are a reasonable price so im thinking i might have a play with some different magnets to get a feel for what it might do. Also where do you guys buy your pickup magnets? If anyone wants to sell me some that would be cool. Thanks for the help. Chad.

This is good advice Muffin. Its where i started my obsession for guitars and building, im sure if you asked the other guys on this site they would say the same thing. My skills im sure aren't to the same caliber of some on here, but ive managed to turn some really bad setup guitars, cheap and expensive into really some real players with a fret dress and proper setup. The satisfaction you get when you give it back to the owner can be very rewarding. Goodluck with the future commission's. Put in the time to learn the skills and go for it. Chad.

Perry's first build can be found here.

And neck... Grain matched truss rod cover, its hard to tell the detail in this pic The eye of horus inlay was not my finest hour, i had only recently arrived from six months holiday without a tool in my hand and it was inlayed freehand. Its not bad but its abit rough. A closeup of the sheoak in the neck, a little like lacewood. I would guess they could be close relatives. Well, There you have it. If you've followed the build i hoped you've enjoyed it Chad.

The back... This photo should have been horizontal Same here, maybe just tilt ya head to the side I have never setup a floating trem before thats why i haven't fitted the cover, just want to make sure its all good.

Ive had this one done for a week now, well almost, i need to fit the trem spring cover and im going to partly dismantle it for swirl removing by hand and then its done ;P These are just some shots to post on PG to show you guys. Mind the fingerprints i have hardly put it down. Im still getting used to the sound, im finding the open coil p/up's have alot of bite(presence if you will) than what im used to, but that is fixed on the amp eq and the vol and tone on the guitar. Im running irongear p/ups, a rolling mill in the neck and a hot slag in the bridge. I love the crunch from the hot slag, its beautiful... but the rolling mill i feel could be fatter. Sustain is overall quite good but theres a couple notes on the fretboard around the 12th fret that seem to fade fast, i think the 12th fret g on the g string and there was another nearby. It makes me wonder why that is? The 12th fret low E sustains longer than any note ive played on any guitar... go figure Anyhow some pics...excuse some of the angles on the photo's. When i uploaded them on photobucket this is how they appeared, you can rotate them before you upload, but i missed the boat.

Great build Metal. The only thing i don't dig is those clunky p/up rings, such a sleek instrument but they just look clunky.

It just has to do with the top carve. A Les Paul's thickest section is below the bridge and then it tapers in thickness towards the neck. To Answer your question, no you don't but it will depend on the design.