ryeisnotcool2

well.... everyone has there own ways of carving the tops, i use an angle grinder with a special sanding disc and i also use a drill with a 4.5" 50 grit pad on it. These work really fast and depending on the wood can carve a top in an hour or two. so far ive done three and they all look great!

once again you impress me! i like it!

unless you have noooooo money you can get the book! jeez after all this fuss and argueing it would be easier to learn by trial and error!

well, i stripped the guitar it only took about 2 hrs, so im gonna resand the bugger and retry but first im gonna make some test pieces from scraps i have. im thinkin i'll test the varnish first and if all is well i will try the guitar again. im gonna coat the test peices as i go so after each day i can just check the test peices to see if the finish is hard. but first i'll just try the test peice then tommorow i'll check it. wish me luck!

thanks for the help drak. i think your plan is is the same one im thinkin of doin. im gonna call the dealer that i bought the product from and find out when they bought it to see if its to old. but im also gonna try it on some srap wood starting tonight! i started stripping the guitar. i got the neck mostly done except for the head stock. the craved body still needs more work though. but i will keep ya informed

i used violin varnish because its beutiful! and because the guitar has f holes and looks very "classy" so i wanted to enhance the character of it and make it look violin like. i personally hate laquer! it takes forever to cure and ive had bad luck with it in the past. but who knows i might start using it again?

well for those of you who have doubts about wich is stronger, just test it by taking some scraps and glue two together with rough edges and then two together with jionter smoothe edges. then try to break them! smash on the work bench or use a hammer. personally ive found in my experiments that if you take a joined edge sand it with 100 or 120 grit with a block so to keep the edge square the joint will be the strongest and will hide the best. but that is just my opinion. as for the table saw vs. jointer, well i love the jionter it has many uses but i also use freud blades in my table saw, the are the best and they are well worth the 60$ as long as you take care of it and dont cut through nails! it will last you years of great use. (you can get the resharpened for like 5$) and they do cut great if your table saw is set up correctly, and i just use a little delta 10" but it cuts beutiful!

the guitar is walnut back, the neck and top are mahogany. all the wood is dry and has been naturally dried for many years. i sanded the guitar to 350 grit before using the varnish.i didnt use a sanding sealer though. maybe i should have? i think im gonna start stripping it down and then i'll reapply the varnish but im gonna let each coat cure for at least 24 hours! i'll probably apply it with a balled up rag kinda like in the french polishing tutorial.

yeah ive looked at his pups on ebay,they were soapbars and looked very nice! but ididnt know how they sounded but since you speak highly i might look into them. thanks

well, the heater im using has a built in fan. it circulates the air pretty good. i checked it this morning and it seems to be working so im gonna bake it for one more day, and pray that it will work! i'd like to enter it in this new comp. if i can get it done in time. but i still need to buy pups and tuners and of coarse the cash flow is tight this month! oh well maybe it will all work out?

i saw stewmacs pup winder and i think i wanna build my own, any one have any blueprints ? or any tips in this area of guitar work?

ok so about six weeks ago i started putting the finish on my hollow body. im using behlen violin varinish. i am applying it with a brush since it flows nice and i will be leveling it off later. the bottle says you can recoat after 2-3 hours so after the first three i checked it and it seemed dry so i did another coat. the next day i repeated these steps once again. to a total of four coats. the product also says it can be rubbed out after 24 hours. well..................... its now six weeks and the finish is still not hard! if you press your finger on it, it will leave a mark. so i have to keep waiting. i talked to a tech guy at stewmac two weeks ago and he said to give it about two weeks because i probably shoudlve waited at least 24 hours between coats. but its now six weeks and i need this thing finished! im in the process of trying to "bake"it by leaving it in a small room with a heater at 95 deg. it fairly dry up hear right now so im hopeing this will work. if any of you know a better idea please let me know

well mr.prs likes to be really really expensive! so i decided to start making my own, ive always tinkered with them and i love working on them so its right up my alley! and now i have a few customers and am gonna start my own little co. building them! plus you get alot more attention from people at shows when you tell them you built it yourself!

Why use the bolts? just glue it in, thats all the farther in the tenons are on sg's and prs's. then you wouldnt have to worry about bolts.

thats pretty cool, i wish i had a milling machine..................that will be my next BIG investment! its probably a great sounding guitar!

niiiiice!!! I LIKE THE PAINT JOB, COULD WE SEE A BIGGER PIC OF IT?

like jehle sayed, you probably have all the tools you need right in your house! and there are plenty of tutorials about what you need to do. just ask alot of questions and they will get answered,thats what this board is for!

well here is what i think would be the bare minimum spoke shave or a wood rasp for the neck- 8- 15$ small nilon faced hammer for frets- 15$ three files; one for frets 6" triangle, one for neck half rasp half smooth-12$ set of jewlers files-12$ a cheap router- 50-80$ lots of sandpaper tightbond wood glue lots of clamps, c-clamps, quick grip clamps, any kind a good ruler a neck caul a dremel if your doing inlays-35$ a drill and assortment of bits that would probably work for ya, and you can get most of this stuff at lowes or home depo and also check out www.harborfreight.com they have a lot of tool really cheap,there not the best tools but if your on a tight buget it will get you started. then if you like building you could invest in better tools down the road. good luck!

as for files, go to lowes or depot and buy nicholas brand files, they are nice and are inexpensive. i bought a st of the jewlers files wich are great for all types of work on a guitar and i bought a 6" triangle file, then i took my dremel with a grinding wheel and i ground off the burs on the corners of the file then i just polished em up a little so its nice and smooth,this helps protect the fret board and its cheaper than buying stewmacs for 20$!

those deltas are nice little jointers! i think it would be plenty sufficient for guitar building! and if your worried about the power of the motor on harder woods, just make the cut depth a little shallower. as for the wife problem.lol ive had the same issues! but i find if you make her something nice with the tool then she usually forgets about it!

i just looked in the phone book! i found a few places that do chrome plating, they charged a minimum of 25$ but thats not to bad.

OK so im using violin varnish on my hollowbody that im making, my question is, do i use the same type of steps as in regular clear finishing? im thinkin of doing three coats then sanding and then repeating for about 15 coats, will this be OK? then im gonna polish it like you would clear. thanks for your help!

well im not saying this is a fact, its just what i heard. but think about it like this, i dont know were tom A is located but say ha is in california, his rooms are all kept at 80 deg f. with the proper humidtity. then he has an order for a guitar in PA. and the guitar will be shipped during the winter were its 20 deg.f. thats a big tempature change and if tom does this process then it would in my opinion protect the guitar. and the same goes for a guitar going to arizona or something! unless you never gig or take your guitar out of its house then you dont need to worry but i have mine on the road every week and it gets pretty ugly sometimes! maybe someone can contact tom and find out if this is a accual process he does. im just the messenger so dont shoot me!

so i heard that they take every guitar they build and before putting a finish on it they string it up, put it in a room around 50 deg for a few days, then put it in a room around 100 deg for a few days, supposedly to let the wood "do its thing" and then they finish it. it sounds like a great idea! i think im gonna try it.

Hey boys! Yeah the jaros guitar is how i designed my neck thru. its pretty easy i make my necks run al the way past the bridge on a 4 deg. angle. then you glue your top on. my tops are 9/16" at the bridge so i dont really have to much of the neck wood taken out for pickups. of course you need to make a special jig unless you have access to a milling machine! wich is what i am looking for. but its a nice joint and it is very strong! and theoretically the tone should be great! but i havent finished mine yet i need to buy tuners and electronics before i put a finish on it.