ScottR

You should count yourself very fortunate in your relationship with your wood dealer! Very nice quilt too! SR

My fingers are considerably shorter than yours...there's a shot of you playing at a fairly young age around somewhere and my first thought was damn you've got long fingers. I built my guitar with a 1 5/8" nut because that was what my neck plans called for. I found it difficult to avoid muting strings when chording. I got better as I learned....but after playing an LP I still find it easier with a wider spacing. The trade off is it's tougher to get a pinky on the low E. I figure that is more due to my inexperience, which is why I asked a more experienced player...namely you. I certainly agree that it's easier to play the shorter scale over the 25.5". Thanks for the input. SR

How did it come out? SR

My top wood came in today. It's claro walnut crotch. dry. and moistened with mineral spirits. This thing is going to be rich and velvety looking when finished. SR

In this day when relicing seems all the rage, we see the opposite end of the spectrum. This makes sooo much more sense to me. It looks like the finish was pretty well done to begin with, but damn did you ever bring it to life. Well done. I'm betting you're having a great time with this project. Looking forward to seeing the final result. SR

Hello B I'll make a point to do that. With the weather and lack of daylight holding work to weekends I'm chaffing at not being able to work on it....I mean I want to go home and work on it right now! I don't think it will take as long as Muzz's pointy stick, but it feels like it is. WM, that was a lucky find that is not likely to be repeated. I had to stop them from cutting it up with a chainsaw so it would fit in their dumpster better. I didn't know what I had, so I took a piece into a local Woodcraft and enlisted their help in identifying it. SR

What is it about the narrow string spacing that you like? SR

What's a flood switch? SR

Thank you sir. SR

I rescued this from the trash bin....this and about 20 others. It was wood used to build shipping crates for large (5'x10')slabs of polished granite that are imported from Brazil and made into counter tops. It was free. I'm glad you like the wood combination and the design. Thanks Joe. No the Schaller is a hard tail. And the fret board is just getting MOP dots, which oddly enough came with lengthy paperwork stating they are a product of Australia. Like we don't have enough coastline here. I am considering inlaying a logo of my initials cut from cocobolo on the back though. SR

So at this point I have the body gluing and I re-sawed a nice piece of cocobolo into two fretboards and a piece for a face plate for the headstock. That rough jatoba blank came from a crate used to ship granite slabs for counter tops in. It weighs 12 lbs as it sits there. I picked up a Porter Cable jointer this weekend. I didn't have a jointer or planer for my first two builds....this is much better. SR

While I was waiting for .... inspiration, I guess, I made a radius block out of some one inch thick acrylic that was left over from a sign job many years ago. (More of those perks from the printing industry). Also from the job was a piece of steel pipe that was 28" in diameter. That really doesn't have anything to do with printing...but my boss decided we needed a huge smoker/bbq pit. We are in Texas...and he came across some pipe, and...well, I should probably stop there. It did get finished...ultimately...one way or another. Anyway that pipe made a nice 14" radius, so I smoothed a section of it and sprayed some adhesive on it and stuck some sandpaper to it and with a little bit of elbow grease ended up with a nice radius block. I added some cork sheeting to each side to slow down the development of corns. The flat side is perfectly flat and will good for making sure the fretboard is perfectly flat and straight as well as radiused. SR

My third build is for me...and will incorporate some improvements based on lessons learned from the first two builds. First the specs: body: African mahogany top: claro walnut crotch...hopefully to arrive tomorrow neck: jatoba fretboard: cocobolo bridge: Schaller pickups: P-90 set made by RAD tuners: Gotoh 510 minis...mediums have been tight in the curve of my headstock...we'll see how I like these. Scale: 25" 22 medium frets, nickel steel There is a recent post asking how to begin planning. My single cut is going to be Les Paul based and modified from there. So I started with a center line drawn on a nice piece of heavy card stock...(I'm in the printing business; I gots some perks. Then I laid a Les Paul studio on the center line and traced the body. No it's not mine. Again the perks; one my best friends, Hook, known here as skullsession, was kind enough to loan me his. After tracing the body, I modified the shape to my taste and drew in everything else as I wanted it. SR

In what way? SR

That is soo true. Looking good so far. SR

Customers getting in the way huh? I suppose that is the plan isn't it? I hadn't seen you around for a few weeks....wanted to make sure you were still kickin'. So do you still have that 1-piece sapele git or does it have a happy new home now? ...and I had forgotten about that busted up acoustic....did that make a nice warm fire or did you get it sorted? SR

I'm actually liking the body shape, particularly with the carves. I think you ought to put in a mild arch in the top as well. It will add to the class. SR

Happy birthday Paulie. So, is this green beastie still hiding in the dark, or are you bringing it out into the light every once in a while? SR

That's a nice top Jesse. It looks like a maple crotch, but the color's throwing me a bit. Is that what it is? SR

Congrats on that one man. And it plays as good as it looks you say....then it must play very well indeed. What did the final weight come in at? SR

All the inlay coming together is starting to give this a western feel. It looks great! Are you going to finish it the same way you did #5 (which looks very, very nice)? SR

To clarify, are you saying that your headstocks are .125" thicker at the fretboard end? Or at the far end? SR

What led to you adopting the recessed tuner? Increased string angle? Increased structural strength due to the thicker headstock? Purely aesthetics? Voodoo? SR

And does it seem like pics resize sometimes....and not others? SR

The two I have built so far both have jatoba necks, as will the one I'm just starting. first build Hook Custom They are extremely stiff responsive necks that feel and sound great. And no neck dive issues with these anyway. I think it would be too hard and heavy for a body wood, although it's not that different from bubinga in that regard. It is normally rather plain too, but if I ever ran across a piece of the proper size for a top that was figured like the one I pictured here, I'd certainly give it a go. SR