Crusader

Yes I think I did The reason I am making videos is so there is no mistaking which guitar is being used and to see the switch to know which pickup is being used. During recording and swapping between guitars it is very easy to forget to announce what I'm doing. But I may also want to use the video for other reasons So anyway just now I recorded myself in PhotoBooth for 30 seconds and clapped in the beginning and at the end, and talked. After putting it in PhotoShop it was in synch at the beginning but out of synch after about 9 seconds

Yes I tried that with one video but the mic was over at the amp on the other side of the room LOL But also, when you have a PhotoBooth video in PhotoShop I'm not sure if you can separate the audio in order to do that. I have tried recording sound in Logic then put the video into Logic, then export the sound to the video. Then put the video into PhotoShop to edit it.....BUT 1) Its a lot of mucking around 2) It still never looks right (sound - video synch) 3) The quality of the audio in the PhotoBooth video is just as good as in Logic, so back to 1) Its a lot of mucking around I'm just wondering what other people do, there must be others who do the same thing. I'm wondering about iMovie. The trouble is my HDD will be getting junked up with yet another program. I have tried to edit videos in Photos but can't remember what the problem was. I just thought PhotoShop was the best and it seems ludicrous that you have to use a lesser program to get the results you want bamboozled!

Hi all I like to record my guitars to compare them with each other but its hard to keep track what is being played. So I've been trying to do it with videos using PhotoBooth, Logic and PhotoShop But when putting a PhotoBooth video into PhotoShop the sound is out of synch. I have had success putting a PhotoBooth video into Logic, then exporting the sound track to it, then putting that into PhotoShop but I just tried it again with no success. I don't know what I did right and what I'm now doing wrong The thing is it seems a lot of mucking around so my question is, what is the best way to do this? PhotoBooth does not seem to be the best choice. Anyone got suggestions? cheers, Doug

The chick that appears at 3:03 - thats a different chick right?

I got this thing strung up and running with a 57 Classic in the neck. It sounds a bit "Wooly" on the 6th string, or perhaps you'd call it "Boomy" but nothing too much of a problem. It sounds good accousticly as well as plugged in. A lot of accoustic guitars sound a bit "Tinny" when unplugged. I've got a set of Phat Cats that I might like to try in this one

ROFL...shall I leave out the cuss words?

Hi, thanks for your comments it's much apreciated Although its bothering me that maybe I should have put some bracing in the back. I can see myself in the near future trying to glue bits of wood through the f-holes. Always making things hard for myself!

So nobody noticed my little "sort-of' pun? "War is over"....11.11.19 Never mind I still have to do the sanding....and the lacquering...AND the masking. I don't know which part of guitar making is the hardest! With this guitar I made the neck angle a bit too shallow for a regular Tunomatic Bridge. I was going to use a Bone Saddle but the angle is too much for that...so I made one out of Rosewood. I would prefer Ebony but will see how it goes The accoustic style saddle is yet another unconventional way of doing things which I've done before. Its a much easier way of having an accoustic pickup and I haven't had issues with intonation. I just don't change the string gauge I decided to go with the usual 2 Humbucker combo. I've got a middle pickup in the template but don't think I will have one on this project The Neck pickup is at the same location as my R9 but the Bridge is 3mm closer to the saddle. Sometimes I can be very pedantic. When I got around to making the template I had no information with me and was going off memory and I was going off the deep end kicking myself for leaving things at home I knew the centre of the Bridge pu was 39mm from the saddle but which side? I went with the 6th string side but was supposed to be 1st string side making it 587mm from Nut. But that won't make an ounce of difference in sound and it took out all those holes I drilled. (mental note: DON'T drill holes in pickup area close to edge!) AND DON'T LEAVE THINGS AT HOME!! Next was shaping pickup rings. Quite an easy task so I had some fun then found some in my parts drawer that were already shaped LOL Next thing I did was make room for the long pole pieces that Gibbo pickups have Next THE TRUSS ROD I had some that were already threaded but I wasn't happy that the thread is not straight. I did a google and found an idea and made my own version of it The photo turned out a bit blurry but you can see the thread is straight And now for the anchor nut, I have lots of door lock parts around and what a bonus this part has the same thread that I need! I've had a few ideas on how to anchor the Truss rod and this is the best I think A Gibson style guitar with a Fender bullet! And just for the record for anyone who likes the idea of keeping thread straight However if I was to do this I would use a drill press

Here in Oz the thing to worry about is honky nuts falling out of the gum trees ....well me anyway cos I spray just outside the shed

Yes well I wonder what it was about Memphis, apparently some were made in the Custom Shop as was mine although it still had sawdust in the body LOL More about nibs, I read somewhere that some people really like them and want to keep them when getting a re-fret. Personally I prefer the way they're done on my Songwriter. Now that I understand what they are and everything I reckon its just slack!

Oh yeah! thanks for the correction, I have to get my terminology right. I will be doing nibbed frets on another guitar so that video will come in handy. Wish I had MOP inlays instead of just dots, that's a nice looking neck Talking about nibbed frets, when I bought my ES-137 a few years ago I heard they were a bit hit-and-miss with quality and one of those things was the fret nibs. Somebody posting a complaint about their ES thought they were little things that Gibson put on the ends of the frets LOL

I'm currently making a guitar kind of like an ES-137 and I always had in mind to use 57 Classics or Phat Cats. However I have found it sounds really good with accoustic strings. So I am re-thinking this and wondering if anyone has some suggestions On the previous semi-accoustic I have 57 Classics, and an under-saddle piezo but I'm wondering about other options for this one. Maybe just one accoustic pickup in the neck position. I don't know much about these type of pickups so anyone got recommendations or suggestions? cheers

By the way while was posting these photos I've been listening to this, its exactly what I would have done when I was younger!

Wow thanks everyone for your kinds words, I haven't been on in a while and thought its time to update the progress and what a pleasant surprise to find these comments, cheers! Well the frets are in now and it went surprisingly well. I used to find if I did the fret slots first they would clog up when doing the radius. But this time I had no problem and I think the board is very well dried, its a beautiful piece of Rosewood Its the first time I've done nibbed frets and that also went very well. I have strung it up and played a bit and there's not too much buzzing with about 1.4mm action at the end of the fretboard! I had this timber from an old dunny door and decided to use it for a radius jig... However it was hard to use so I soon made another one ...And I found that rubber matting I was looking for the other day. The neck fits snuggly into the jig with that blue foam in place. This jig is far superior to the other one. The guitar just goes in and out with ease, so I can check the straightness Before I did the radius of course there were the fret dots. I looked high and low and couldn't believe I did not have a 7mm drill bit!. So that was a trip to Bunnings, and once in the shed it was time for some modifications to make it suit the needs. I didn't do a very good job of it and it wandered a bit Dot Dot Dot ... a couple of them were too deep so I used some Plastic-Bond Now on with the binding. I trimmed it down and it needed squaring off any way, the edges are somewhat rounded Then fun with frets! (much more fun than flags) And now with the frets in I can relax and have the feeling like the WAR IS OVER

Hey a bit of progress lately. I glued the back on Then trimmed it with a nasty machine Then used another nasty machine After sanding round the edges I wasn't happy with the result... So I made yet another Template so I could router the back And finally smoothing out the dips and bumps Then onto the other end using some High-Tech graphic design tools And now shh THE SECRET NUMBERS! I made this Fret Scale ruler with an angled edge to help transfer the line to the Fretboard, don't know if you can see it Now just check with the R9 and it was spot on. I know I should use A STEEL RULER but they're just so hard to read from! And on with the job Now with the slots cut I have a dilemma, should I Radius then bind or bind then Radius? If the slots end up being too shallow afterward I will be in big trouble. I cut down to this line which seems rather deep but after doing the Radius its surprising how much comes off. I think I should Radius then bind, any opinions or thoughts?

Cheers, thank you

I agree with Bizman although I think if it were any of those factors it would be a problem from the start. I think the Cherry is drying out and shrinking

I got around to measuring the thickness of the back all over and its mostly 3.5 to 4.0 millimetres and I'm happy with that. I used a "Beaver" drill bit on the f-hole patch (I think I bought that thing in the 1980's and finally found a use for it!. I blended the patch into the underside of the top with an orbital sander Pictures = Proof Now all I gotta do is buy some popsicles.....

Got the Back shaped and its a bit thin but fairly even. It ranges from 3mm to 4.2mm some pictures

Cool idea I will try that! So I've glued veneer on one side so far and I am confident it will work. With the f-holes cut it allows the top to flex and get better contact between the two surfaces. So without further adieu some pictures (as we say here) "or it never happened" I got it all prepared to do both sides but will decide later. What I did today is the RH side here I used a piece of veneer I made to protect the top when clamping. Bizman, I frantically looked around for some rubber matting to follow your suggestion but after a dummy run I decided it should be okay Too many clamps? I gave it 3 hours, hopefully long enough for Titebond I think this will work out just fine but I really wish I would not mess things up in the first place. I could have put the time into cutting frets or something useful So here's something different, fitting a door that someone else has measured. I'm not always fixing up my own mistakes! I do other people's as well. In this case when people measure a door they don't realise there is a rebate at the bottom. They always measure from the wrong side. I just glued a piece of wood along the bottom, not all that difficult but takes up a bit of time The other thing I got done today is a start on the back

"That's thin!" - Yes I had too much confidence in my measuring method, combined with impatience once again Your filing technique - Yes good idea, I do that sometimes but didn't think of it for f-holes. I haven't finished them off yet and I'm going to be very cautious with the thin one. I might just use sand-paper As mentioned before I still might glue in a veneer. The reason I didn't is because the area is not flat. Now that the f-holes are cut I think it is less of an issue. One other thing - I am contemplating binding the f-holes And here's something to read, the guy's opening line. It expresses my experience perfectly http://bobsarchtop.blogspot.com/2012/02/cutting-f-holes.html

I really appreciate the suggestions however I have gone ahead and cut the F-holes out already. But I can still do the veneering and my idea is to make some out of off-cuts of the top. I decided it would be better to do the veneer after if I still want to I did the F-holes on another guitar with a jig and a router but this one I used hand tools Its only on one F-hole at one end that the top is quite thin. Now I know what I am dealing with I used a Rat tail file to rough-out the other hole, but I don't want to use that on the thin area

Yes thanks for those suggestions. I have already been thinking the same things. After some investigating the thin areas are where the F-holes are going to be and I can foresee cracks and splitting

Have some progress recently. I finished carving the top out and have glued the neck on However I'm a bit concerned, there's a couple of areas about 2 inches in diameter which are only about 1.5mm deep. Is that too thin? i mentioned it to my father and he goes "Well add a bit back on" LOL and I thought "that's not a bad idea" Anyone got thoughts or suggestions about this?

Sorry for bringing this one up but I didn't find anyone saying much about "dust bunnies" One of the great things about Nitro is you can pick a spec of dust out and the lacquer just closes the gap as it dries. I've done this after about 5 or 10 minutes after I've finished using something like a Stanley Trimmer blade ...maybe not 10 minutes