Crusader

I was wondering who that was with the purple hair! By the way I feel for you guys over there. I have cousins in Sydney, one is in Canberra. I don't know how you don't go bonkers

^ Its funny I considered using Mahogany for the back but one reason I decided not to is because it would be almost one-piece with 'wings' on the sides. Turns out thats exactly what this looks like anyway! Here is today's efforts, I'm loving it!

Don't you just hate that? Yeah have to be careful with a Router. Personally I would have left it original thickness By the way, great score on the table top, and I don't think anyone would be offended by the comment about sustainable timber. To me it looks like Sapele but from what the guy said it must be Honduras or something Looking good so far!

Had a good day, finally a Saturday when nobody called for doors. Started on the back and I'm happy it went smoothly with almost no mistakes Err...actually.... First of alL I drew a plan which I now think is very over-kill but I didn't know that until I'd done it Some of the templates for the top were helpful although I erased the lines I drew a couple of times I thought the top area didn't look right so I dug up the photos for the ES I built a couple of years ago Erased and amended and amended again By the way talking about no mistakes. See the little dot in the middle of the upper bout? Yeah drilled a hole thinking it was a top which would get routered out for the neck Turned out nice, except for that dot but not to worry it will get filled with sawdust

Yes it's funny I had no idea what it would look like until I put the back on, and I had the same thought "this should sound good"

Ha ha, I tell you what there's a lot of nature going on around this place... Flies, ants, cockroaches, spiders, Indian crickets and so forth. It seems the landlord doesn't believe in using pesticides... ...but I suppose that means they find a scruff bag like me to be a suitable tenant!

I think that's the dance moves for this entire hobby! I've just taken a break from my own build and having a look at others, looking excellent and the blue looks surprisingly good. My experience with colours is "One step forward, Ten steps back" Good to see another West Aussie!

I've just been looking through your build, you have such a flair for design. I gave up on trying new body shapes and stick to tradition because my designs just look like what others have already done. Your work looks different yet still has appeal, nice! Oh yeah, and I only ever have flies that hang out with me...

I've always said building an accoustic is way over my head and seeing your work on this has not changed my point of view, nice work!

Got started on the back today, a piece of Queensland Maple thats been laying around for years. I really wanted to use Mahogany but decided to spare the little bit I've got left. And besides this QM is a stunning piece of wood I routed around the edge like I did with the top, which is an idea that came out of a mistake but is now going to be a standard procedure for me because I can work on it with the router without it being glued to the sides Like so... With the top, sides and back all put together its starting to take shape....hmm and that reminds me I better fix the mower

NTD New Toy Day I got me some new toys yesterday. The Ball Gouge didn't fit my grinder so I took it back. The Turboplane was not much good for what I'm doing atm but may come in handy for future ventures. The curved Cabinet Scraper is worth its weight in gold, good old-fashioned hand tools win the day! The Turboplane is not ideal for this stage of the game because it tends to grab and take out chunks as you can see on the right hand side toward the ear. There's another thing called a Rotary Rasp which I think would be better but doesn't seem to be available in Australia The scraper fixed all the problems I didn't use the Turboplane on this side, I used the trusty old router but I was stumped as to how to go about it. I needed something 22mm thick....when suddenly I realised another top blank will do the trick! The Top was securely held down by a screw through the bridge pickup area Before... ...After All done and I think I'm happy enough as is. It isn't an accoustic so a few variations in thickness should not matter. In fact I have no idea if scooping the top out like this will make any difference at all, it just seems like a good idea and I'm getting practice for when I do another arch-top And just a matter of interest. The balance line has shifted about a quarter of an inch, from 270mm to 264mm (which is also something I have no idea about apart from speculation involving nodal lines) So next step now is to choose what to use for the back

I think some TOM bridges have a slot for a screwdriver in the top. Can you get hold of one of those?

It's like a precarious bull-dog with sharp teeth just waiting for a chance to bite you!

Mate you are absolutely right about that! LOL...lmao

Yes and its very comforting to know LOL. Having this knowledge keeps me from going berserk and smashing things to pieces! Now that I'm content with the top of the top, I turned my focus on the underside of the top, luckily my Landlord has a drill press! As soon as I got it set up I realised a flat surface is no good to work on so I made a convex base for the top to rest on out of a block of 90x35 pine I drilled the centre of the squares. The drill press couldn't reach everywhere... So it was out with the 90x35 pine again. I also went nuts with the drill press in-between the squares, it just seemed logical that the more is done with the drill press the better I tried various chisels but it was hard work So it was out with the router again. I was very cautious doing this but got a good result. And notice the wrong date? It was actually 5th of September (dah) Next I paid my father a visit and it was back in the shed again. he has this carving blade from when he was building Rocking Horses and it did quite a nice job Notice the dots in the holes? That's to keep track of how deep I'm going. I started using a felt pen but realised the ink sinks below the surface so I did the rest with HB pencil And all done for the day. It was 7.15pm and I'm so glad the neighbours aren't really close I want to do more, get closer to the edge and a bit thinner maybe. I'm not planning on this to be an accoustic but at this stage I'm tempted (ha ha) I've made the strip in the middle 100mm wide this time, on the ES it isn't wide enough and the top tends to collapse. So anyway that's the story so far

Cheers thanks for that

Have been getting a little progress...I hate it when I think I've got a couple of days free and someone rings up and wants some pictures hung. Yeah I can do that but, ah, its like getting a Dentist to come round to brush your teeth LOL First here the photos I posted in General Chat I made a boo boo and forgot to raise the router on the third run. I've got over it now but its so annoying because its the sort of thing I constantly do and never learn Using the square cut router bit makes it look more "professional" Then its on with the sander, but this is where the square router is less desirable. The square corners never seem to disappear and I oversanded leaving dips and flat spots... ...and on top of that there were still some felt pen marks The oversanding left it a bit out of shape but wait there's more... I adjusted the Pickup area And went round the edge again I actually got around to buying a scraper and dealt with all the dips and bumps Torch testing the results...

I've been in the same situation so many times! I would give the same advice as the other guys

comes with volume pot, input jack and everything!

Yes I just checked the specs and it does come with a summing board

I've installed a Piezo on two of the guitars I've built so far, but I used LR Baggs Elements so they have no adjustment for intonation. For the current build I've bought an LR Baggs Tunomatic Bridge and I'm wondering if I've made the best choice Does anyone know much about these? https://reverb.com/au/item/467188-lr-baggs-t-bridge-tune-o-matic-piezo-bridge-pickup-chrome

Actually got something done today. Corrected the Neck carve and did the first run with my new templates. Some people know the angle of their Neck carve but all I know is I need at least 7mm at the bridge (ie. thickness of a pencil) I used a square cut router bit this time so I know exactly where its cutting. Previously I was using a rounded bit because I thought it will be easier to sand afterward Also I found this video and its interesting how people have similar ways of doing things, like his overhead router setup and going free-hand in some areas, oh yeah and he has a grey beard!

If I keep doing things the same way I've improved my templates and now using 1mm increments in height. I will probably use the templates cut out of card to make some out of MDF. It takes so long to do all this stuff and so tedious, And I might never do another one just like it!

Thanks for that although I thought someone would make one with a 1/2" shaft, but I suppose if you use a 1/4" shaft it must be okay! cheers

I contemplate making a set of templates for the LP top carve and just do it like everyone else but it comes down to this question Where do I buy one of these? The shops around here are hopeless