ScottR

All those tiny pieces......makes my eyeballs twitch. SR

Holy crap, that's ambitious! SR You see many of those in Arizona? sr

I have never. Ever, Not even once have a fretboard survive booger free after doing it this way. But I want to put the frets in while the neck is still flat. So the fretboard has to be as close to finished on the surface as I can before fretting.....because that's nearly impossible after fretting. And for me shaping the fret ends is part of the neck carving process and for me the neck profile begins at the rollover on the edge of the fretboard, not under it. Once the neck is shaped and the frets are dressed, I'll tape them off until the thing is assembled and the body is shaped. I'll do the finish sanding on the headstock, neck and body all at the same time, and uncover the fretboard to see what kind of boogers I have to fix..... SR

Yeah, rosewood is wonderful stuff. Did you ever pick up any of your local Arizona Rosewood? SR

Then I fretted it with EVO. I haven't used anything other than SS for years. It was cool to be able to cut the frets with regular fret trimmers, but the stuff felt a little brittle compared to stainless. This is something I should have gotten years ago! I just barely started evening up the fret ends, and then called that a stopping point. SR

This weekend I radiused the fretboard to 16", inset gold MOP fretmarkers and side markers made from those little bamboo skewer things. SR

Time lapse photography..... SR

Thanks Andy. I rather like the way that S curve turned out. SR

I don't want to play that thing...I WANT TO RIDE IT!!!!! SR

Damn me Mike that looks amazing! I love all the contouring you did (of course). Really, really, really superlative job! SR

Head stock plate. Maybe with a little mineral spirits, just because figured maple is so much fun. SR

Time to carve the headstock. SR

I totally agree. SR

Wow! I agree. That would be an awesome final color. Maybe add a very subtle burst? SR

Andy, that may be the most useful idea I've ever had. The weight makes hand pressure unnecessary....and reduces the temptation to add it anyway. Between that and the wide stable base, it reduces the occasions of rolling off the edges of the piece you're sanding. And those nice sharp edges are what make glue lines disappear. SR

Good call. I will admit that was one of my more ambitious endeavors. SR

Thanks Luis! You should try some side projects just for the variety. If nothing else it lights the fires for building more guitars while you're side-tracked. And with the crazy hig bar you've been setting with your guitars, your side projects are sure to be stunning. SR

Yeah, that's right.....that's what it is all right.... sure! I promise you one thing. It will be invisible before it's all said and done. SR

I like to drill my tuner holes before thicknessing the headstock. That way I insure I don't get any tearout where the bit pops through. It's better than a backing board. Also important to make sure your bit is 90 degrees to the surface. Then It's time to cut to shape, SR

You know how the more you sand a bookmatch, the further away you get from the perfect match? Well it's kind of cool to see the reverse happen from the back side. After leveling the top of headstock plate, I flipped it and started planing from the back so as to preserve the bookmatched surface. The thinner it got the more bookmatched it looked--from the back. Always save the offcut from your headstock angle cut.....assuming you make them the way I do. Not that you should..... Using the offcut, I can cut the proper angle for my nut slot. Then I pegged it to hold it in the proper place, and again used the offcut as a caul to give me parallel clamping surfaces on the angled headstock. And somehow I ballsed that up. Even using a nut blank as a spacer, something moved. It had to be during the clamping whilst locating the pins....that were there to keep this from happening! So, now I get to do my first repair during this build. The little slice I cut off making the nut angle didn't get destroyed. I have to flip it over to keep the angle correct. Since it had been thinned down and was getting close to the bookmatched surface the grain on the back was pretty close to the same as the grain on the front. As I sand it thinner it will get even closer. SR

You want the pin to be the same diameter as the hole/bit. Drill the top half of the holes using your bridge as the guide. Then without moving any of the setup drill the hole in spoil board clamped under the bit. Drop the pin in. Flip the guitar and set each string hole onto the pin and drill the bottom half of the hole. Be sure that the bit is 90 degrees to the surface of each face of the guitar.. SR

Having the new owner be happy with it is the best! Racking up another GOTM ain't bad either, well done Andy. SR

The hollow body looks sweet! Those may be the cleanest f-holes I've ever seen. SR

I sliced it in half and glued it up. While the glue is drying , I traced the top on the body wood, cut it out, and leveled the gluing surface. And then began leveling the gluing surface for the top as well. SR

Bamboo pins are in. Also I paint a thin strips of petroleum jelly down the center of the truss rod bar and then cover it with scotch tape that has been trimmed near to the channel. Glued up using a thick counter top section as a caul. I'm taking an offcut from the top and bookmatching it to make a headstock plate. Squaring up the edge that will be glued together for the bookmatch. SR