whalehazard

What's the radius on the fretboard? I'm replacing the fretboard on an SB900 for a client and the one I removed is inconsistent...seems somewhere between 9 and 12.

Hey guys, it's been a long time since I've been on here. Still got lots going on, but haven't done a good job documenting. Had some really terrible luck this week...

Thursday night I was at my band's practice space to load the van for a radio performance. The band we share the space with was taking a break from practicing at the time and the guitar player's lefty LP Custom was leaning against his amp, face toward the amp. I moved our drummer's hardware case which knocked over his cymbal case, which in turn bumped the LP. It landed face first on the only tiny patch of floor not covered in carpet, right on the nut. He said no problem, it happens all the time, and it's never broken. I picked it up and the first thing I noticed is the infamous Gibson "smile." It's a very minor crack, and I'm obviously repairing it for him for free, no big deal, it'll be good as new. I still feel really terrible, even though it was only indirectly my fault. It was sitting right next to an unoccupied guitar stand! I know it took a huge knock in resale value, but I don't know what I can do except fix it, and maybe offer him a discount on a custom build in the future or other repair work. He's lucky the guy who broke it can fix it, but I'm still wallowing...any advice? Anybody had anything like this happen? What's the worst thing you ever did to a client's guitar? He wasn't even a customer, this is just random real world bad luck. Maybe it would have been better if I'd been working on it. Balls.

Not yet, still rounding up prices and trying to get him to come to a decision on specs.

I'm trying to put together an estimate for a commission for a 12 string with a TOM style bridge. Any recommendations?

Thanks, guys. It's nice to have internet friends. Sometimes when I'm banging my head on the workbench all afternoon I feel very alone in what I'm doing. I'm sure we all feel that way at times. I'm trying to decide what to do with the logo colors on the ebony headstock. These might sit for a little while, it's finally warm enough to start finishing the other Andromeda that's been sitting around for far too long. I also stupidly volunteered to draw the album art for my band's upcoming vinyl release, and I have no idea when I'll have time to do that. I'll try to keep updating either way.

Thanks, Scott. It's actually marbled acrylic from https://www.inventables.com/ I cut them with a jeweler's saw, as I would had I used MOP. Just sanded them flush.

Thanks, Chris!

Not a lot of progress. I bound the semi-hollow one with cream plastic. No pics yet. Here's the ebony fretboard inlay process. This design seems easy, but there are lots of pointy bits and I went through about a dozen X-Acto blades getting the cavities right. They're glued, and I'll clean it up tomorrow.

Hey folks...I do a terrible job of keeping up to date on pictures and whatnot. Here's what's happening right now...This model is called the Siren. Like a LP Jr, but more streamlined and cooler. I posted pics of a TV yellow one with a fuzz probe in it last year. The base model is solid alder, mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard and headplate, with marbled acrylic dots. The semi-hollow version is an african mahogany body with a maple top (will have plastic binding), mahogany neck, ebony fretboard and headplate, and will feature a different inlay option. Both will have a single P90 pickup in the bridge. I have yet to decide which pickups to use. Bridge, tailpiece, and tuners are all Schaller.

Finally done and posted in GOTM! I'm very happy with how this one turned out...I get to play it at rehearsal today and then I'll be recording with it this weekend.

Andromeda

24 3/4" scale

24 frets

One piece Fijian Mahogany body

Quartersawn cherry neck

East Indian Rosewood fretboard and headplate

East Indian Rosewood and white fiber binding

Pearloid, Mahogany and Canarywood inlay

Gotoh tuners

Gotoh 510 wraparound bridge

Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro neck

Seymour Duncan Custom Bridge

Build thread!

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/topic/46666-two-builds-at-once-new-design/

Well, these have been on the back burner for a while, trying to get the latest commission out the door, which was a finishing nightmare. Then I was on vacation, and then I was on tour for several weeks. The finishing on this has been a breeze, comparatively. I'm grain-filling the second one with egg whites right now, and should start spraying the burst on that one this weekend. I still need a name for this model, but here's the first prototype. I'm excited that this one will be featured prominently on my band's next album. The sides and outer edge of the burst are really a very deep red-brown, but it looks black in this picture. My girlfriend took the good camera to Costa Rica.

Siren FZ

TV Yellow finish on one piece swamp ash body and quartersawn cherry neck.

East Indian rosewood headplate and fretboard with white fiber and rosewood binding.

Inlay materials include recon stone, gold glitter plastic, and white pearloid.

Schaller roller bridge, with Bigsby tailpiece.

Grover Deluxe tuners.

Natural bone nut.

Chunky 50's profile neck.

24.75" scale.

14" radius

Forearm contour and shaped heel for comfort.

50's Gibson P90 with new pole pieces and cover.

This has a built in fuzz pedal, which is partially controlled by the proximity of the player's hand to the copper plate, which acts similarly to a theremin antenna. Second knob on the body is for the volume of the effect, other controls are wired to trimpots inside the control cavity. The LED indicates whether the switch is on or off, and it gets brighter the closer your hand is to the antenna.

OK! This took far too long to finish. Sanded back to wood twice, had to touch up the clear a couple of times, spray more to cover witness lines, etc...TV yellow on ash with waterbased lacquer is tough! This is finally done and will be picked up by its new owner tomorrow. It sounds and plays great. It has a built in fuzz pedal. I'm not supposed to talk about what pedal it is, the owner works for the company that makes them. One of the pedal controls is controlled by a theremin-style antenna, which is attached to the copper plate on the pickguard. This thing makes some crazy sounds. The LED indicates when the pedal is on, and it gets brighter depending on the proximity of your hand to the plate. PM me if you think you know what it is, but don't post it here.

Pics! The color in these is not super consistent, but you get the idea.

Long time, everybody. This one's been a real pain. Long story short, I had to start this finish over twice. Trying to do a TV yellow with waterbased lacquer is very tough. In the end I cheated and sprayed two coats of rattle nitro between the yellow and the grain fill. But, I'm very happy with the final result. The test I posted earlier was no good. Likewise, starting with a white base went out the window. The first pic here is a pretty good indication of the color, the detail shot is much more orange. Ever seen TV yellow on ash before? I think it's pretty sweet.

Now to cure. I'll be back in a couple of weeks!

The top is great...so warm and inviting. Excellent build.

Getting some work done on these while I wait for lacquer to dry on the commission. Cut some tortoise today.

Engraved the headstock logo detail and sprayed a white base coat. Making good progress.

I think I've got the color about where I want it. I got the go-ahead from the client, but the filler on the final version will be slightly less red. This picture is pretty close to what it looks like in person.

Also...truss rod cover.

This is beautiful...love the zebrawood. And your lam necks are killer as always.

Oh boy...in the process of spilling a $32 dollar can of conductive paint on the floor of my basement, I put a small ding in the back of the headstock. It'll iron out and will be painted over, I think I'm more frustrated about the paint.

I tried to talk him out of it, but no luck. It'll still be cool. I'll probably do another one of these in the future with some tweaks.

I think so too, but he wants my take on TV yellow. Still figuring out how best to do it on the ash, but I'm almost there.

Got this one assembled and wired up. The client is very happy with it, so it's time to finish sanding and finalize some color tests. Hopefully I'll start spraying this one this weekend.

There's always more scrap timber.

These look great. I love RD's. Looking forward to watching these builds.