NotYou

Getting new huge tools is great. I have a 15" (oddball size I found on craigslist). It's a pain to move, but it's great to have around. There's nothing like being able to resaw and book-match your own wood.

Thanks. The plan this time was to release it, then do the video. It sold almost immediately, so we never got a chance to do it, though. I really love how it sounds, so that's kind of disappointing. The guy that bought it records a lot, so I might get lucky, though.

If you're confident with you building skills, you just need to get a reputation, some recognition, and credibility. I was fortunate enough to get into Destroy all Guitar pretty early on. That got me the recognition and especially the credibility. Reputation takes time and can be frustrating. A lot of people won't review your guitars or get them seen publicly, but that's really the only way to get it. You just have to keep at it and do your best to blow minds. The longer I do this, the more I realize that standing out is key. I've known builders who make great stuff, but can't sell anything because people can easily go with somebody else with a longer reputation or a cheaper price. If you make guitars that nobody else is making, they'll sell much easier. People need to know that if they want something like what you're making, they have to get it from you. The more established builders can make stuff that's more traditional and get by because they have a recognizable name a long reputation. Newer builders cannot do the same thing and compete. Demand is extremely important, but if they can get something similar from somewhere else, it won't matter. Look at any of the newer or younger builders on DAG. Everybody is making stuff you can't get anywhere else. I don't just mean visually, either. Even guys making Strats and Teles like Red Rocket are making them so unique and beautiful that if you want something like their guitars, you have to get one of their guitars.

Also, “Our real discoveries come from chaos, from going to the place that looks wrong and stupid and foolish.” ― Chuck Palahniuk ... I can't say building for a living has been easy, but it sure as hell keeps things exciting.

I just got back from checking out hand planes at Rockler. I think I'm getting one. Just holding it made me excited (that's what she said). Since I work low volume, the extra time it takes to hand plane isn't a big deal. As long as I get the results I want, I'm happy. I also love using woodworking hand tools in general. How can you not? I can get a really nice low angle one for about $180 and I get $20 off there. Not too shabby. After I work with it for a while, I'll decide which way to go. The 13" from Grizzly looks like the best bet. With a little love, Grizzly's tools are pretty decent for the money. Here she is:

Ok, new plan: Get a 13" planer & a good hand plane (I have a crap hand plane now). That would keep me within my budget and give me a lot of versatility. Any thoughts on that?

Yeah, I don't like making tools anymore either. I've made quite a few jigs and a pickup winder, but I hated every moment of it. I'm strapped lately, but I'd still rather buy something than make something.I might actually buy a 13" planer and make a drum sander, though. I'll save a few bucks and have a planer for most of my builds. The few larger ones will just need to be finessed a little more. I'm still thinking about it. I won't have the money until later in the week, so I can toss the ideas around some more. If that one I posted from craigslist is still available, I might go that route if I can talk him down some (and you can ALWAYS talk down craigslist people).

Ahhh, thank you. ... and thank you, craigslist: http://denver.craigslist.org/tls/2808051243.html

For planers, these are in my range. http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=29962&filter=planer http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=31270&filter=planer and, of course, one from Grizzly: http://www.grizzly.com/outlet/13-2-HP-Planer-with-Dust-Collection/G0689 I'm making a custom right now that about 14", so buying a 13" planer is kind of an issue. I also have one planned that's going to be about 16". If I reaaaaaalllly stretch it and plan, I can get a 15" Grizzly... although, I'm not entirely sure that'd be worth it: http://www.grizzly.com/products/15-Planer-Moulder/G0477

Thanks, those are all good points. I could see it being dangerous, especially with everything exposed like that. Not a huge concern... but that's because I'm reckless. I guess it should be an issue. Thicknessing isn't my big concern. I mostly want to be able to get boards flat so I can laminate them properly. If they're uneven thicknesses, it's still not a big deal as everything I make has a lot of hand carving done to it. I just can't get the wood flat enough by hand to attach a top to a body. I have a jointer I use for necks, but it only does like 6.5". I'm pretty sure I have a one of those motors in my shop. I pulled it out of something else years ago. I've moved since then, though... I hope I still have it.

I've been without a planer for quite a while, but I can finally get one. While looking for something in my price range, I realized a drum sander might be more suitable, since we use so much figured and brittle wood on guitars. The one I used before was really nice and still chipped and tore brittle wood all the time. I don't know jack about drum sanders. I've heard from other builders that they're the way to go, so I'm looking into it. I found a nice looking bench top one that can do 18". That's plenty big for larger guitars and even some acoustics (if I get a planer I can only afford 13" and I need wider for some current and upcoming builds). The drum isn't overhead like most seem to be. You run the board over it, like you would on a jointer. I know it'll take longer than a planer, but that's not a problem as long as it gets the results I want eventually. Does anybody know if that will work for planing? I've heard it will, but I want some other opinions. Like I said, I know hardly anything about these. My ignorance is not bliss. I want to know what I'm getting into before I decide anything. This is what it looks like:

I say do it! The clear coating probably isn't necessary. Metal patina is generally permanent. Unless the person playing it is rubbing it like crazy, it should be fine. Test it after you make the patina. You should be able to judge if it needs the clear or not. If you do, I would recommend thinning the clear quite a bit and blotting it on very thinly. Spray it on or add too much and you'll lose the aged look. Thanks for that link, BTW! I don't know how I've gone this long without hearing about Sculpt Nouveau. Here's a recent one I did. I did not clear coat any of the metal:

This guitar has been in progress for a long time. I put it on hold for a while and worked on other projects until I felt comfortable with where it was headed. I'm thrilled with how it came out. As I say on my website, this isn't a theme guitar or anything like that. It's a particular aesthetic, though. The idea was to make something that's the opposite of shiny and pretty, but just as attractive. The question of subjective beauty is something I've been obsessed with for quite a while. I took a torch to the wood. My original intention was to just make a sunburst style design, but I decided to go all out and really have at it, causing the wood to check and burn deeply. From distance it looks normal, but up close you can see it's heavily burnt. Interestingly, there was a noticeable difference in tone when tapping on the wood after I burnt it. It sounded much more clear and warm. The overall tone is amazing. This is undoubtably my favorite sounding guitar yet. I'm going to have a hard time giving it up. ---------------------------- Specs: Everything is distressed. Body: Semi-hollow Soft Maple /Black Walnut Top: Jatoba Neck: Ironwood/Black Walnut Fretboard: Ironwood Finish: Burnt; Hand-Rubbed Polyurethane Neck shape: Large "C" Scale: 24.5” Frets: Medium, Nickel Bridge: Gotoh Wraparound Tuners: Grover Nut: Recon Stone Pickups: Hand-wound Humbuckers (7k neck, 8k bridge), pull tone knob for single coil split Controls: Blend Pickups, Tone (push/pull for coil split), Master Volume ---------------------------- The web page with info is here. Photo gallery here.

It just went up on DAG.

I made some wallpaper! http://dl.dropbox.com/u/21006696/wp2.jpg Thanks for the comments! I always appreciate it. It has a nice shimmer in person. The parts that just got a little toasted took on a bit of a honey color when finished. I love the changes it made to the tone I've used this shape before a couple times. It's actually my most popular shape. I'm not sure why I don't use it that much. It's my most functional shape too as it's very easy to sculpt the heel and reach the upper frets. I made this knowing some people wouldn't like it. Pretty much all of my work is like that. I love reading the comments when my stuff appears on other forums. It really gets a polarized love/hate reaction. Very few people are in the middle. Vintage guitar guys tend to despise me There should be a video soon for Destroy All Guitars. I don't know when, but it should be soon. I think this is my favorite sounding guitar yet. I really want to get some samples out there. Yeah, the whole thing feels unique. The neck feels very worn and is quite thick. I didn't want it to feel new at all. That's really important to me with most of my guitars. I like my guitars to feel like wood after they've been finished, especially the necks. I can usually get my guitars to even smell natural after being finished. This one smells funny though from all the metal finishing.

I'm the exact opposite. I rarely use my bridge pickup. I'm more of a blues based player, though, so...

This guitar has been in progress for a long time. I put it on hold for a while and worked on other projects until I felt comfortable with where it was headed. I'm thrilled with how it came out. I took a torch to the wood. My original intention was to just make a sunburst style design, but I decided to go all out and really have at it, causing the wood to check and burn deeply. Interestingly, there was a noticeable difference in tone when tapping on the wood after I burnt it. It sounded much more clear and warm. The overall tone is amazing. This is undoubtably my favorite sounding guitar yet. I'm going to have a hard time giving it up. ______________________________________ Here is the info from the website: Info: This isn't a relic or a theme guitar. I believe things don't need to be shiny and pretty to be aesthetically pleasing and I wanted this guitar to emphasize the "other side" of beauty. Everything on this guitar is heavily and thoroughly distressed. The wood was burnt with a torch before being finished and even the finish was distressed. All the hardware has been aged and worn, even the frets. It may look haphazard, but actually takes me significantly longer to make a great guitar look this decrepit than it does to make something shiny. Sound & Playability: I wanted the tone of this guitar to match the visual style and I think it sounds as smokey and organic as it looks. The overall tone is woody and buttery warm, yet surprisingly snappy for a semi-hollow guitar. It's very dynamic and capable of many unique tones. The pickups can be split into single coils by pulling the tone knob for even more variety. Like all of my guitars, I want this instrument to inspire the player. I tried to make every aspect look, feel, and sound as natural as possible ______________________________________ Photo gallery is HERE. Webpage is HERE.

I'll probably say something about the others later, as this was a great month, but I wanted to say this was an easy for me. Bukoffsky's guitar is one of the nicest looking guitars I've seen in a long time. I love everything about it... except the smily face. Seriously, though, there was amazing work this month. If Bukoffsky didn't submit that, I'd have a hard time choosing... but I would definitely pick Shad's guitar

Unless you use the DR Pure Blues strings I mentioned. They're wrapped in pure nickel. They really feel and sound better than about any strings I've used.

I actually just did this last night for the first time. I used this first one: 1) ^^^ The grey line is a wire connection between the posts. I also found these variations: 2) ^^^ Red represents what is active in the different positions. 3) ^^^ Blue represents what is active in the different positions. The first one requires more solder connections, but it's pretty straight forward and much less convoluted than the other two. It'll especially be easier for a repair guy to understand quickly. I used that same switch you posted. I couldn't solder a ground to it, so I wrapped it around the threaded post when I put it in the body. Enjoy. Edit: BTW, make sure to download those images. They're in my Dropbox account and I'll probably remove them eventually.

You're not a luthier until you screw something up then spend a bunch of time fixing it, so nobody ever finds out. It's quite a skill, really.

I had this problem recently with some wraparound bushings. Best thing to do is glue in a dowel ( with Titebond, etc) then re-drill. You can use just glue, but you'll have better results with re-drilling as it will be metal on wood. It's subtle, but it makes a difference and it's worth the extra bit of time. If you decide to go the glue route, I would use epoxy.

Fold the cloth over a bit and don't hold down the soldering iron down for too long, so the heat won't burn the wood. Otherwise, you'll have a new problem. The steam won't burn the wood, though. Just watch the hot tip.