ScottR

And after the first few coats of clear, we get this.

SR

Finally got a weekend that was both warm enough and dry enough to do some spraying.

First a green tint coat.

Then a black burst.

And a black burst on the back as well.

SR

4 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

Absofreakinglutely gorgeous, then again that's what I was expecting.

One question though: The golden control plate is inlayed but the bridge plate isn't. Why the difference?

 

The bridge is sitting on a flat surface, and the control plate needs a flat surface, but the top is carved and quite contoured in that area. I had to create a flat surface for it before I carved the top, so I had to go deep enough to retain the flat surface after the carve. It nearly runs out at the bottom edge.

SR

16 hours ago, killemall8 said:

Absolutely crazy, Scottilicoius!

 

Cheers Luis!

SR

2 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

Oh, my!

It's going to be another stunner

Why thank you Andy!

I certainly hope so.

SR

It's been a minute since I've had anything to show. I've mostly been waiting for warm enough weekend days to mix up table top resin to wipe on, semi level, wipe on semi level and so forth. And then I leveled it and matched it to the guitar's contours. I found bare wood again in a few small places, but the pores are still sealed, so I'm going to let them ride. They'll all be under the burst anyway.

Trying on some bling.....

SR

15 hours ago, killemall8 said:

that is some delicious tastiness

Thanks Luis!

I'm looking forward to some shooting weather, so I can get the tints and bursts done and finally see what it's going to look like.

SR

On 12/27/2023 at 4:17 AM, Bizman62 said:

Had to check out if that was going to be a headless guitar but by no means no.

SR

This definitely needs to be a prop in a horror movie!

It's so creepy it's cool.

SR

Just route a neck pocket and make a new neck for a set neck guitar.

SR

Love the radius jig, and that fretboard is pretty stunning too!

SR

12 hours ago, tjiscooler said:

as gorgeous as the final product is, I kinda liked the way it looked all gouged up, especially the heel carve, looked like an awesome texture. id like to do that to  whole guitar someday. Also, that wedge taper you have is really cool looks comfortable with the weight in all the right spots!

I agree the carved look is cool, I just wouldn't want to play it for any length of time.

And you are correct, the wedge body shape is super comfortable and hangs beautifully from a strap. It's like a soft snuggle from your best girl.

SR

8 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

I've said it before but for potential future readers repeating feels just right: Enhancing the figuration with other than black makes the result much more vivid. Clean as opposed to smudgy, also more natural. Coal and some stones are the only black things that come into mind thinking of Nature and even they have depth (chatoyance) and shades of other colours. Plain matte lampblack simply looks like dirt on the surface in my eyes. There's uses for such but it's not the best option for this kind of a job.

Exactly.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Save the black to tint lacquer for spraying a nice burst. It is wonderful in that role.

SR

And the next day the top gets it first coat.

SR

Here's a couple of shots with a Les Paul template to compare size.

And the sand back work is done.

I'm pore filling with my table top epoxy resin. The back has the bigger pores so it is first.

SR

11 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

Opinions, please.

This works for me.

SR

5 hours ago, ADFinlayson said:

I'm amazed how light that is, that's a massive chunk of limba and rosewood, I don't think I've ever been that lucky with limba. 

This was definitely a non-typical piece of limba. When I bought it around three years ago, it was on a pallet of rough cut limba and I dug around and found this piece. It was 2"x8" and 9 feet long and barely weighed 10 lbs. Super light....maybe there's something called swamp[ limba. The down side was it's soft. Look at it cross-eyed and it gets a dent.

Two more things contribute to the lack of weight. The carve: there truly is not much of the limba and rosewood left compared to what I started with. There is a long tenon, but no heel whatsoever on the neck. It's got a large control cavity and all those curves on the top represent removed material, along with the afore mentioned wedge shape. Next is the fact that it is a small body to begin with. It's not easily recognized in pics with little to compare it to, so I'll post a shot of it sitting on an LP template when I get a chance. A small body is one of the easiest ways to reduce weight.

Of course, I'm going to give it a deep clear coat and bolt a bunch of metal onto it, so it will gain most of those pounds back, before it's done and over.

SR

5 hours ago, Mr Natural said:

excellent job on that repair. 

Thank you kind sir!

SR

On 12/3/2023 at 3:54 AM, Bizman62 said:

It's still slanted! Arrgggh!

One thing I've done in the past, is to tape a piece of tracing paper over the opening and trace the shape. then with a pencil, trace in all the grain lines from the surrounding wood and cross them over into the cover side of the line a little ways. then you can cut that out and lay it over your offcuts and turn it in all directions until you find the orientation that looks best. Then trace the outline and get to cutting.

SR

5 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

No.  I can't see it even when I have been told it is there.  A splendid, and invisible, repair. 

Great thinking about the wedge.  That's a LOT of weight coming off and yet you are left with a full depth control chamber and front visuals that don't give the little secret away!  I like the thinking and the result.  

Thanks Andy.

You are correct, the wedge shape does remove a lot of weight....and it's really comfy. It started as a belly cut tied to a forearm cut and then both just blended into the design's shape. It's worked out pretty well for me.

SR

7 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

What a lovely repair! Now I finally understand the "scoop" thing mentioned at an earlier stage. For doing the same I should buy a gouge and learn how to sharpen it, then learn how to cut two similar scoops. One is easy but cutting a matching piece to the bowl... No way! Not to mention using the communal gouges at the workshop...

Now it's also obvious what you meant by "green". Until now I was wondering if it was about the final colour or about the timber. Looks nice. Bright red plasticware with white edges would fit the current season, don't you think?

Well there's no way I'd dissuade you from buying a gouge--it's so useful--but a better plan is to never drill a hole in the wrong place!

As far as cutting a matching scoop, you don't really have to. You want it a little oversize, so the edges overhang the "bowl" and then sand them flush.

Red and green do work for this time of year. I can't say I'd much care for red plastic ware, but I've often wanted to do a figured maple with red in the dark areas and green in the highlights.... in honor of Gary Moore's "Blood of Emeralds". It would take more tricks than I possess though, because red and green mixed together make brown.

SR

2 minutes ago, henrim said:

 

On this macro level the spot repair has different color. It is more yellow than the wood around it. Is it noticeable in real world? Probably not. Nice fix.

You are correct, the shade is slightly different. It is still a repair of an error.

I think after it's all finished up, I'll probably get away with it.

SR

Last dye job sanded back.

The thinnest point.

The thickest point of the body, and it measures 2.375".

The back sanded back. It was only dyed to darken the pores.

Wedge cross section.

As much sand back as I got to today.

Turns out this thing is actually closer to three pounds than it is to five....as best I can tell. My garage scale is not a precision instrument.

SR

Time to start the dye process. First is the base line dye - deep and dark for the shadows.

Fast forward through a couple more dye and sandbacks and we get to the last dye job, which will be close to the finished color.....frog juice green.

SR

It is sanded down to final thickness, so time to fix the extra hole. Here's the scoop cut out and the replacement scoop to go in.

Gently clamped.

Looks like it squished down nicely.

And sanded flush.

See it? I cannot unsee it, but enlarged like this I can just make out a couple of fine glue lines.

SR