ScottR

yeah...but my neighbors are all too old to care what I am doing. ..........** naw, I'm not going to say it. ...other than that's probably a good thing. SR

Good, because it's well beyond that stage already... RAD's going to be famous for his pups before long! SR

My neighbor wandered by while I was doing this. he though I was going to leave it like this. He thought it looked like alligator hide. Does anybody else work in full view of the neighborhood? That's a carved top. It's in the process of being a sanded carved top now..... SR

Yep. Very nice. Pick up any tricks spraying this one that you'll incorporate into the next one? SR

I'm assuming the fret lines are maple veneer. Are you trimming out roughly fret sized pieces and sliding them into the slot and then trimming them flush or do you have some other method of doing that? Are you using a spot of glue or more....or none? It looks awesome of course. I love the way ziricote looks, but haven't had the pleasure of working any yet. SR

Hmmmm. I must hit him up for a set of buckers, out of phase to each other. real screamers. Scott: I have three sets of pups from RAD. They're all a$$-kickers. I'm positive you won't be disappointed. PAUL: Yes, DO hit him up. You won't be wasting your money. You've had nothing but high praise for his pick-ups for quite a while now, John and you haven't been alone in that point of view. I've been paying attention. I also agree with his theory of what sounds good as he explains on his web site. Plus, RAD's a class act to deal with. I have no doubt I'm going to love these. No pressure Brett. SR

You've got it exactly! Everything will remain natural except and unless I do a subtle fade/burst as you described it. The trick will be to see if it even would show up, because this top changes color drastically with the addition of a finish. And actually it was your last build that is making me even consider this. What you did with that teak top blew me away. And that fretbender was amazingly easy wasn't it? SR

Someone needs to figure out how to put a bearing on the spindle to create a pattern following spindle sander...or has that been done? SR

I like the idea of a black burst around the edges, so long as it goes over the sides onto the back like a Firebird. Well, you may not like what I'm picturing then. What's in my head would start at the top edge of the top at the rabbit. The 3/8" edge would be natural like a faux binding. It would be very minimal and subtle, just enough create a difference between the face of the walnut and the side. It would not extend very far into the face at all and would be very transparent. And if I don't like it, it won't happen. SR

Well that's two votes against any black edge fading, both from builders I greatly respect. Hmmmmm. The plan was always for it to be so subtle as to not be obvious unless you're looking for it. Maybe I'll post up the test piece when I get to that point.....assuming I like the test myself of course. All the hardware is black Paulie, with the exception of the frets and the shaft of the three way switch. The pickups are a set of P-90s made by RAD with black covers. I cannot wait to hear them! Gonna be a pretty dark guitar. SR

Very nice build going here, Fookgub...even if it's already been said once. Be sure to give us your conclusions to your original questions. Thanks for posting that link to Clarks Hardwood Lumber. I had no idea that was here in town. I forsee a trip there in my not too distant future. For some reason, I had it in my head you were in Austin...*scratches head*. SR

This is going to get a clear nitro on the body and danish oil on the neck. I'm toying with the idea of ever so slightly airbrushing a black dye fade along the edges of the top to delinieate the edge and pull the eye to the center, very, very subtly mind you. And I've already gotten one "bad idea" to that concept. If I end up rounding the edges a little that idea will get canned. It may anyway, I don't know yet...I'm waiting for it to tell me. I don't get relicing. I do get creating a replica of an icon, like you did with your SRV. Excellent, excellent execution on that (which certainly helped it beat mine in the GOTM if I remember correctly). I guess I feel like a guitar ought to earn it's battle scars. To me your SC looks old world because of the sort of German carve you've given it and the colors you've given it. It makes me think of whiskey and cigar smoke. SR

Hey Chad, that's very cool binding. Is that some sort of tortoise shell? It's dancing in the light. Keep 'em coming, these are looking great. SR

Hey Paulie.I like smooth flowing curves, so the carve might remind one of a PRS I suppose. Definitely a bigger deeper carve. Of course it may tell me it wants be be something else entirely....carves do that sometimes you know. It is getting an extensive contouring on the back, so it probably won't look too much like anything else, except mine. That single cut you're working is really cool. It's got a real old world vibe going. You are going to have to finish it one day. SR

Hey Grant, I thought you disappeared on us....till I saw that cool new build you've got going. Good to see you again. SR

Thanks Deano. (Ron?) There is something about the shape of a Les Paul that just looks "right". I tried to make subtle changes to the classic LP shape without losing that "rightness". SR

+1 That is gorgeous. SR

Yeah it is. I am very happy with the joints I have been getting with the T-88 epoxy from Rockler. I joined the top halves and the bottom halves with original Titebond and am not near as happy with those joints. They pulled apart just a tad at the ends. Of course I may not have done as good of job mating those pieces...but I went into the glue up thinking they were some of my best. The areas that well pulling apart were small and were cut away, but my joints with the epoxy have been great. In fact I had some drips on the back that I knocked off with a sharp chisel...and they pulled up wood anyway. On a slightly different note, I forgot to mention that I was surprised at the porosity of the claro walnut. The epoxy squeezed all the way through 7/8" of top in 8 or 9 different spots right through the pores. I don't think that top is going anywhere. SR Yeah I noticed that Claro does that also had the same thing happen with the peruvian walnut. How are the glue lines with the T-88? How is the mixing and cure time (I think Wes used it on one of his builds)? The glue lines have been virtually non-existent on this one, at least on the fretboard and the top plate on the headstock. The top join appears to be the same, but it is only sanded to 60 grit so far, so we'll see how it cleans up later. The mixing is pretty cool. It turns a uniform milky white rather quickly and much more smoothly than any other epoxy I've used. It is very sticky and clingy when mixed and has a working time of at least an hour. It may be longer, I don't think it actually states it anywhere. It does say that it keeps on curing and getting stronger for several days. It claims to be a structural epoxy adhesive. it also claims to be good for oily tropical woods, like cocobolo. I've always left it overnight, clamped as hard as you would for titebond, and found it clear hard and cured in the morning, but I don't have a clue how long it took to set up. Wes was saying in this thread that he was using it join a top plate on his tenia short scale build, but I don't think he ever made another comment about it. SR

Yeah it is. I am very happy with the joints I have been getting with the T-88 epoxy from Rockler. I joined the top halves and the bottom halves with original Titebond and am not near as happy with those joints. They pulled apart just a tad at the ends. Of course I may not have done as good of job mating those pieces...but I went into the glue up thinking they were some of my best. The areas that well pulling apart were small and were cut away, but my joints with the epoxy have been great. In fact I had some drips on the back that I knocked off with a sharp chisel...and they pulled up wood anyway. On a slightly different note, I forgot to mention that I was surprised at the porosity of the claro walnut. The epoxy squeezed all the way through 7/8" of top in 8 or 9 different spots right through the pores. I don't think that top is going anywhere. SR

That top rocks! I love the cocobolo layer too. I came very close to putting a maple layer in mine, but decided there's enough work already to thin that thick sucker down. I have been thinking the back is pretty plain on this one but judging from the way the sides cleaned up, that may not be the case at all. SR

....and thanks to Chad for the idea to clean up the ledge with a chisel. Routed for the pickups and cut a ledge with the rabbiting bit to give me a clean line to carve from. so now what's left is the part I like best....the carve! SR

Ok Paulie, here we go. I cut out the neck slot it the top and routed wiring channels in the body....but forgot to take any pics. From there it's straight to glue up. I used almost every clamp I had and screwed the top back in place in the pickup locations. Not necessarily in that order. Out of the clamps, and it's looking like a guitar. I located the controls and drilled the holes, then flipped it over and routed the control cavity. Then I used a rabbiting bit and cut a lip. Thanks to Huf for this idea. SR

This is very cool Grant, lots of awesome woods in play here. Osage orange ought to be a great neck wood. I'll be very interested to hear your opinion of it when this is done. SR

Nice job of making the best use of that myrtle. That's tricky business as if you don't take the same amount off both pieces you lose your bookmatch. SR

I'm not sure I understand how the floating top works Dean-oh. Looking forward to seeing more of this intriguing project. Sr