ScottR

Mark,

This is sweet....like usual. How did you "ease the edge" of that maple cap to get such a uniform faux binding top view? I get how the side is done, but have never seen the way the top edge is created.

SR

I hadn't noticed the matching fret markers before now or how nicely the headstock complements the body shape. Nicely done. This has a fascinating combination of retro looks juxtapositioned with never seen before features. Very cool. I can almost hear that different drummer you're dancin' to.

What do all those controls do?

SR

anyone had any experience with adding graphics to plastic (a la EMG) pickup covers?

I'm planning a build based on a picture of a friend's face (we share a weird sense of humor) and I would like for the pup not to obscure the picture, but for the picture to continue over the pup. Potentially also over the end of the fretboard, but that might be ambitious.

any experiences?

There are adhesive backed vinyls that are made to be printed on with ink jet printers that can be applied to shapes like pickups and fretboards. It will stretch and conform to those shapes. I cannot say I have ever seen it done on a guitar, but it happens all the time on vehicles. I have seen a set of keys laid on a hood of a car and covered with a graphic made this way. It conformed to the surface of every key in the set. It does take some skill to do it properly. and it does involve a heat gun (or hair dryer and a little patience) to help stretch the vinyl and remove its memory.

I'm sure there are several graphics companies in your area that can produce these. You need to look for one that advertizes vehicle graphics and wraps.

SR

I dream of growing a tache that good..

I worked in a grocery store during college. We had two--count them: two-- ladies that were customers that sported heavier beards and more hair curling over the top of their collars than I do even now thirty years later.

BRRRRRRR

SR

Dude, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that mahogany!

On the other hand, I guess you're over the idea of a curly mapel top now.

SR

The inlays are cool. Is there a theme being depicted? Phases of the moon?

SR

I'd say mostly it's setting the neck before finishing the carve at the join. It helps to really good at it too!

SR

Man, I love the way this is going!

FWIW, my carves have been done after neck set too...but they were long tenons that went way under the top.

There are going to be a ton of controls on that, do you have the switches yet?

SR

Looking good Matt.

Belated congrats on the new addition to your family as well

Keep us posted on the mandolin project as well. I got an idea thrown at me yesterday to build one with a banjo like body--a banjolin as it were. The suggestion was to begin with a wood bodied drum and slice one end off to use as the body.

SR

I'm actually a little surprised you didn't put the animals on the front as well, but the point is moot now.

I'd go with a mahogany neck and a dark fretboard, maybe some of your padouk. You could work a little of the carving (if you have any usable scrap left) into a backstrap for the headstock or a trussfod cover to balance it out. And I'd finish it with clear with a translucent black burst which would tie into the finish on the back art.

SR

so to clarify, if I'm planning on dyeing my entire body, neck and headstock (basically everything except the fretboard) black, then sanding back the headstock and top to dye blue, roughly how much finished solution should i be making up of the black and the blue?

thanks

Tom

Try this Tom.

Pour a couple ounces of water (mineral spirits, alcohol) into a container and wipe down the parts you are going to dye--twice. Let it dry between coats. One coat for the black and one for the blue. This will give you a real good idea of how you are going to use and you will likely be amazed at how little it actually takes.

SR

I've always wanted to do one of these! They look like so much fun! There's got to be some way to do it without using contact cement though? For some reason I just couldn't bring myself to use it on a guitar (don't ask why, just internal prejudice since I used it in pre-school lol). I'd love to find a way to do it with epoxy or something, but so that it doesn't leak through the paper... so I could do it on a carved top in my vacuum system or something!

Chris

Graphics companies use ink jet printers to print on adhesive backed vinyl which are then used to wrap vehicles. The prints and materials carry warranties of 2 to 7 years for outdoor all weather conditions. They can be applied over the compound curves of fenders and such so a carved top guitar would be no problem. They would, however, be more expensive than Our Souls' poster and contact cement method.

Another positive would be that you can get just about any design or picture printed.

SR

What they both are saying is a 12-16 compound will have a 12" radius at the nut, a 16" radius at the bridge end of the fret board and will need the actual bridge to be radiused at roughly 20".

SR

Man, what a cool looking old guitar. I would be fascinated to know what that is.

I know little enough about acoustics, and am therefore dangerous, but lacking any other advice, I would follow Spoke's suggestion of epoxy in the crack. Use the slowest curing kind you can find and work it into the crack carefully. Use CA glue to reseat your loose frets.

SR

I might have missed something, but whats the reason for those screws in the top? Gluing or something?

Looks good, keep the pics coming.

I screwed the top to the bottom through the pickup and neck waste areas and used the bottom as my router template for the top. I want the edges very clean so I can route a binding channel before I set the neck and glue the top and bottom together. And yes I will use them to aid the gluing.

Scott

+1 for Oregon Wild Wood - they have some very nice Bastogne walnut as well.

This build is going really well so far. I would second the notion for master or concentric V & T pots, having played a Les Paul for years and years, I personally have never used both volumes to mix the pickups.

Yes they do. Gilmer Wood is another good source, although they are more pricey.

Has anyone been to the Hobbit House site: http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woo.../indextotal.htm?

It has more pix, facts and opinions on exotic wood than any sane person probably wants to know or see. Nothing is for sale either. But as a resource for info on new and exotic woods for that new project, it is great. It will make one desire fancy and exotic ... stuff that one probably, really shouldn't.

nice on the headstock.

I'm curious about the technique used to go from the gouge/spoon to being flat... some kind of thumb plane or spoke shave? Nicely done.

Actually, that was done with one of the most versatile tools in my box....sandpaper. I marked a line parallel to the top surface and used a dremel with a small drum for the roughest stuff, and mucho hand sanding with a small block made of a tongue compressor (a wide popsickle stick). There was also some carefull work with a cabinet scraper and a micrometer to get uniform flatness and thickness.

Obviously, there are more efficient ways to do this. I just love the feel and sight of the grain and figure of beautiful wood come to life under my fingers. That came first. Having the end result be a guitar came next...

Scott