ScottR

I don't mind the darker hardware.... but that is why I asked if it was wet. The top is dark.

You are going to clear it with shiny stuff right?

That cut away looks right now. The sharper edge did the trick.

The top is just polished up through the micro mesh grits....quickly, not thouroughly, as I wanted to see how much the figure was going to move and shimmer. But it is dry. It changes a lot when wet. The darks are much darker and the lights are brighter and colors deeper and more intense. Claro looks pretty dull until finished...I can't wait to see how much Simo's changes. This is crotch wood, so there is a lot of end grain in the top and that gets real dark. And real deep looking. The figure looks like light dancing on the surface of a pool of water. Overall, it looks like wrinkled up crushed velvet.

And yeah, it will get a thick coat of nitro and a thourough buffing.

SR

I rekon that hardware is toning this one down a bit too much. Id be tempted to swap those saddles out for Chrome & polish the tops of the vol, tone knobs to put some snap back onto it. Although it may look totally different when the finish on the front is done so I duno.

Polishing the tops of the knobs is a good idea; I did not expect them to be so matte when I bought them. I'm not sure where I'd get the chrome saddles to fit short of buying another bridge and swapping them out. The top will be very glossy though, so we'll wait and see how things look, before adjusting anything.

SR

I did a test fit before I started pore filling. I didn't spend any time adjusting pickup height (obviously); I just located mounting holes and got them threaded and so forth. I guess this is the first pictorial proof that i actually received those P-90s that RAD has gotten.

SR

I had a bit of company this weekend, so the schedule was knocked out of whack a bit. I have been in the process of finish sanding though so there is not a lot of visible changes going on. It does look nicer sanded up into the finer grits.

SR

Note to self:

Buy favorite case.

Build guitar to fit case.

Come on man.....tell us more.

SR

My New NEW method once I get the Grizzly Radius Rig

slot - glue to neck - profile neck and board at the same time -- attach neck to super kick arse sanding contraption - rough radius perfectly conical 16" - 20" radius -- change paper to 220 and sand a beautifully smooth conical fretboard. Total time spent radiusing 5 minutes.

OH BOY! OH BOY! OH BOY!

New tools!

Can't wait to see pics of it in action!

SR

I wondered how this was doing.

That is a very classy idea. I don't know any celebs, but I wish you the best of luck.

SR

That's a really pretty fretboard.

So, let me get this straight. You radius the fretboard before you slot it and more interestingly to me, before you glue it to the neck. I'm assuming you have an excellent caul to use for clamping.

SR

So, I've never seen any discription other than "neck monster" for this set up. Is it just a router mounted equal height blocks with a surfacing bit and enough room to pass the neck blank side to side below? Or have you built a sled to move the router on? Is the neck clamped to the table and the router moved or is the router set up fixed and the neck moved?

SR

lookin good; lovin that walnut

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

lol!

i guess i did!

this site keeps shutting down my posts, no explanation or anything, thought i would post my build, but they did it again!

i dunno what im doin to upset these guys soo much but im out, im sick of it; basically i come back to check out your builds!

your like the only guy with super luthier skills, that isnt on my facebook or on talkbass.

still lovin this; its comin out Amazing!!!!

grant

Those are very kind words sir. I don't claim super luthier skills, other than knowing where the parts go and how they fit together. I probably do a pretty okay job of shaping wood.

I can't imagine why your SG build is locked. I went back and looked and can't see anything remotely controversial in it. Must be a case of mistaken identity. If it's not a mistake it's a shame, as there are some serious skills on display in there as well as in your past builds. Talk about creativity with wood!

Hopefully it will get fixed.

SR

I will knock the sharpness off of the edges, but no round overs.

SR

Have to agree with you there. Just take the sharpness off the edge & leav it. Makes a nice contrast to the curves & is a nod to the typical edge you would get if this were slab backed. There is an edge along part of the carve on the back of mine, starts out as a round over then sharpens up.

I used to think it was prety cool, but you have kinda bitch slapped my single cut with the ugly stick with this one

Well.....you can't let that stand. You're just going to have to make another!

SR

Looking absolutely stellar .

You sure know how to make that wood bend to your will !

Thanks Mike. That claro walnut is turning out to be very friendly to work with...hardly any coercion needed.

That's rocking SR! Loving your carving, i bet it feels all nice and cuddly in a playing position.

BTW i want your hat!

Chad.

Hey Chad, yeah cuddly is a good word for it. I think the part I like the best is where the neck join ties into the scoop on the treble cut away. It's hard to see in the pics but the contours follow the shape of my hand just right and my thumb fits nicely into the contour on the other side.

As for the hat, it's a life saver in the afternoons. My work space stares into the afternoon sun. Drop on by and we'll take a trip into the Texas hill country and pick you up one.

Lookin realy good Scott.

Nice to see somebody else carving the hell out of the back. With the cut you have there this thing should sit realy nice against the player. Realy good grain aswell, God I hate you

Paulie, I think you are the only other builder I know that appreciates the carving of the back as much as I do. I know some guys that say it just doesn't feel right unless it's a flat slab....but I don't get that. A carved back feels better.....and looks cool too. IMHO.

And I knew it but RAD was right. Pick a theme and hold to it through out the whole design. I think the theme for this one is long sinuous curves and defined edges. I will knock the sharpness off of the edges, but no round overs.

SR

From the cavity side this has a typical thickness. From the belly scoop side it is quite thin.

SR

I thought I was going to be creative and use a drawer pull knob with sandpaper on the face and chuck it into the drill to scoop out the control knob divots. But no....I couldn't get the sandpaper to stay long enough to do any work. So I went back to my old trusty spoon shaped carving tools.

Added a jack hole.

Finished carving the scoop on the cutaway and contoured it into the neck join.

SR

So Joe, here is a rough carved neck join.

Next I made a cavity cover out of left over claro walnut. Unless I change my design, I sacrificed my leftover top. I located screw holes and used tooth picks to hold the cover in place while I contoured the back. I need to know how much is going to get cut away before I countersink the screws.

Once the back is shaped I can counter sink the screw holes. I have learned not to use countersink type screws. They tend to split the thin wood cover when tightened. This time I used a forstner bit and made a flat bottomed counter sink to use with pan head screws.

SR

If your headstock has a face plate that matches the body, I would finish the plate like the body, that is with lacquer. If not, and the rest of the neck is oiled, then I'd oil the headstock as well.

Your patch idea will show the least, depending on how skilled of a job you do. I'd go that route and glue it in with CA then sand it flush Once flush you may need to wick in some more along the edges of the patch. I usually sand that while the glue is still somewhat wet. This works the sanding dust into any gaps. The glue line will still look darker than the surrounding wood, but when you oil the neck and fretboard it will be much closer to the same color.

SR

It's a ribcage carve if you don't have a belly.

I'm enjoying the peeks at OZ through your garage door, and of course the top shelf work you've done on these teles. You are making it look awfully easy to get it right.

SR

And it most certainly leave a satin finish even after sanding up to 2000. Maybe it's using the teak oil as a lubricant that has something to do with that. My experience has always been that sanding that high leave a glossy polish on the wood and the teak oil or more often for me - the danish oil - just leaves the wood with the same level of gloss as before application. With a much deeper richer color of course.

Very nice by the way.

SR

My first thought when I saw that pic was- Whoa, did he shoot some transparent red over mahagany?

Actually wood gets dyed around here quite a bit. Probably mostly on figured maple but several others as well, and mahogany every so often. Gibson cherry red? I'm not sure if it's dye or stain to be honest and it doesn't matter really. What matters is that's a very nice look you've come up with. That grain does pop.

Well done. Can't wait to see it fully assembled.

SR

Thanks guys.

Maybe I can get some opinions?

In making the scoop in the cut out, so far I've got the edges rounded a bit. I'm going to increase the scooped area some still, but I'm not sure I like the way the rounded edges look. They sure feel good, but all the other edges on the top are pretty hard so I think the round edge looks out of place.

SR

Recurve is what I have always called it....and more importantly, what I've always seen it called.

SR

If you would have said, "I'm painting the white solid black"

Chris

Interesting way of putting it....but I agree with what you meant.

SR

And to think you used to use those tiny little thumbnails. Your threads were almost too much work to look at back then. This is much better.

I'm trying really hard to come up with some constructive criticism, as I know how much you value that....but I think I'd be here all night.

Okay...I'm trying to make some of those lines of text on your decal on the back of the headstock say Guitar Logistics to me....but I just can't do it. Other than the model number, what does it say?

This is excellent by the way.

SR

I see it Scott, no problem here...and I love it! I can´t wait for the finish on it to bring out the grain. How much will you carve the neck joint? I´ve been watching threads over at MLP and I´m really into the Axecess joint, although it does look very "modern", so yours might be more subtle to match the classiness of the rest.

Thanks Joe. The neck will just melt into the body with a very smooth transition. It will be very similar to the Hook Custom. http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq180/doodoo4u2/The%20Guitar/DSC00549.jpg

and here

only matched to this back.

SR

I don't know what the heck is wrong with that first picture.

Or am I the only one that just sees a slice of it? The whole thing is at the host.

SR