jmrentis

I thought the sperzels went on the headstock not in the bench?? Unless of course your going for a nice birch lapsteel! JK, I know you feel though, I always get real bothered when I mess something new up like that, even when you know its bound to get mess up anyway. J

Yeah, I had tried a few different things right off the bat, but it seemed as many had that similar issues that it was some issue on their end, so I decided just give them some time to sort it all out, it was no biggie as I said, I don't really post over there much, though I read a ton. Anyhow, I was excited to see this morning all the topics were there when signed in and I was able to alter my password and see pictures again. I haven't read many of the thread on everyones opinions of the new forum, but I'm very happy with how much quicker it loads and being able to edit and all the other goodies, very cool, well worth a couple days worth of issues. Thanks for the helps anyway Mattia, I appreciate it. Glad things are just about all worked out. I'd imagine now the swap meets will be much easier to understand and update. This last one wasn't too bad, some of the people did an excellent job updating and others did not. With the new forum, I bet it will run much smoother now. Thanks again. J

Yeah Danny Carey their drummer is unreal, truly an amazing drummer. Seeing him play his drumset always amazes me away, even better was during their last tour I think, they did an instrumental that was three songs strung together and they brought out the opener band to help with percussion, which was Messuggah, it was wicked. One of the pages on his site is kinda fun too, its a pic of his main current setup and when you point at the different drums and symbols they make the sound, pretty cool. Its not all that current being the pics says 2002, but close enough I've seen a couple different setups like this, the Lateralus tour I saw he also had a big fat gong on the side that he used for a song or two and some other minor stuff. Danny Careys page Cool guitars Dean, but I must say I would pass up that acoustic just to get those rad blue rollerskates to hit a disco with, lol.

Yeah, I can also see the forum and have been since they changed it. However, I am one of those people that once I sign in, all the topics disappear and I just have an empty index. I cannot alter my password either, I just have a single box instead of 3 I believe. This problem will hopefully be resolved soon enough and they know all about it and have their guys working on all the issues that have come up. The issue with the topic disappearing has something to do with permissions, so they are working on a way to reset the global permission so everyone will regain access to the topics. Some people are having problems, some people are not. If you have it set to automatically sign you in, try signing out and see if anything changes. Also, some people have reset passwords and requested new ones and that has fixed some of their problems. Anyhow, just wanted to inform you in case you still hadn't gotten in, they are working on it and hopefully it will soon be solved. I only rarely posted to begin with, so it's no skin off my teeth, besides it loads faster now and there are a bunch of new features, much nicer imo. Best of luck. J

That scares me, I think the oldest stuff they have was 92 or so and heck they just released a new album last year. Not many people I've met even know who that band is for some reason. My local radio station Rock 105.3 had a contest a few years back on best band. And the final two were Metallica and Tool and in the end Metallica won. To be dead honest I was actually surprised Tool made second as they just don't seem all that much publicized compared to some, on that station Metallica songs outnumber Tool songs probably at least 10 to 1 or better. Anyhow, I don't know if I could have even laughed at that girl, I think I might have just been completely dumbfounded.

Cool stuff Byron, very nice. Yes, I think you are right they just call them bench vises, thats how I've seen them listed as well. I can't wait to have some serious space of my own, I'd love to have a nice bench and room for my stuff. I really like that bench you made. That little bench you linked J seems like a decent idea, much better than working off or saw horses I can imagine, which can be miserable. I have a couple "tables" made up for the saw horses because I cannot route or sand(machine) in the garage really, too much mess. I also just got a table for a router, but its just the top part, which I can use outside easily and still will store very easily. I think it will work out perfect for the time being. I've just been dying for a router table. Let us know how that bench works out J if you decide to rock something like that. Best of luck. J

Geez, I feel oooooooooooooold. -Vinny Not to worry my friend, I can promise you my body had deteriorated more than yours. I can't figure out if I lived such a fast-paced life that it hyper aged me or if at some point one of my ancestors mated with a dog, not really sure. Narrowed it down to one of those two. I am just starting to see how things can make you seem or feel old. I still remember vividly when I first could buy smokes and booze and now I see those signs at 7-11 or grocery stores that say you must be born before some date and it weirds me out. I know it's still early to feel that, but sometimes I do, I'm just a few weeks shy of 27, so I have plenty of time to feel old, lol. J

Hmm, I was way off, I always thought that a one piece neck was a unlisted meal at KFC. Oh well.

Never had any problems with LMI either(though I'm in US) and I've hear plenty of good things about them. As for Jon, he does great work. I've got some bubinga fretboards and wow, just beautiful and slotted and sanded perfect. I don't know what woods he has going, you'll need to get in contact with him and see. Here is his site: Jon Basses and services. Not sure if the store will show it all, but you can look see whats listed and check out the Gallery to see some of his work, you'll see my bubinga in there somewhere. The pics don't do it justice by a long shot. Anyhow, check it out and maybe try LMI again as they usually are great. J

+1, just about exactly what I am going with on my current project. Thats one of my most favorite setups for some reason. I'm trying some better caps I found for the hell of it, but thats the combo I want to use. I think after this one though, I may try some different pickups just to save some loot, I can always swap out pickups if need be. I bet your guitar is going to sound wicked upon completion Byron. Congrats, it really is looking good. Best of luck. J

That is great advice on the early binding. I am now wishing I had cut the channel on my headstock before attaching the fretboard because the fretboard is taller than the headstock and prevents a router base from cutting the areas near the nut. Anyhow, excellent work, I really like the design and how clean your work is. Keep up the great work and keep those progress pics rolling in. Best of luck. J

Very cool stuff! I agree about some of the over the top wear, I really am not a huge relic person, but I think that is mainly because of over the top ones and the rip offs that occur, however after seeing a few quality relics lately, I can see their appeal and think they're pretty neat. Way back when I was a young angry teen I really liked Green Day a lot and I believe he(Billie Joe) used his first guitar for everything and from all the wear it started falling apart, swelling from sweat and all kinds of issues. Not sure how it ended up looking, but I'm curious now to see what the wear from all those tours looks like up close. Anyhow, great stuff Stew, keep us posted on your plans for 2008, can't wait to see what you got for us. J

What is that groove beside the bridge or should I say what does it represent? I'm guess maybe pinky finger or ring finger wear. I know I often have my hand and/or finger against the body. With that type of bridge I could see resting my fingers right up against it. Anyhow, just curious. Very wicked work all around. I remember some of your work from when I first started visiting the board, very impressive work. Look forward to seeing more of your work. Best wishes. J

Yeah, top A looks nice. B looks very nice as well, I couldn't see where the knots were exactly, but if they were in the center area toward the top or bottom, you might be able to make it so the neck pocket will go there, so you'd end up routing it away anyways, just a thought. I was able to align one of my checks where the neck pocket was and another miniture hole where one of the pickups went, so they were no longer there. As for shops, I wish I had some help for you. Right now I am looking for a new place to live, but it still won't be a house, so more than likely I'll have my big equipment at either my parents house or my best friends house. My friend lives in Point Loma in basically a mansion and he said I could set up shop there if I wanted, but thats a much longer drive than my parents pad at the moment. As I've said in another post, I still am trying to collect tools, I have enough to build with, but my access to build is very limited. If I hear of any good shops I'll let you know, but if you get desperate and really need to do a cut on a bandsaw, use the drill press, or make a quick route, we can try to set something up, but as I said I really don't have a shop nor room for a shop at the moment. Wish I had the money to have my own house. Hopefully upon finishing my degree and getting a job, I might be able to get a place, though San Diego is so dang expensive. We'll see. Anyhow, check other local schools, I'm sure you could work out a deal with one to let you do some work, maybe even ask around at Rockler and Th&h and see if anyone there has a shop, offer to pay for your use and wear and tear on the equipment. Either that or try and make amends with your school, if possible. Those tops are great by the way, hope they don't do anymore funky stuff. best of luck. J

Wow, summatime will be a big time for you. Can't wait to see those axes, I really dig the themes you came up with, different from any I've seen and really cool. I'm curious to see your custom offset designed V, sounds interesting plus I like seeing custom designs. Something you mentioned in your post kinda struck me. Initially I had written a question asking you about spraying booths or sheds and if you had ever tried something like this and your first sentence answered the question I ended up erasing, crazy. Sounds like a good idea to try, though your other finishes worked out well. From a few people around I've read that some of the Harbor freight guns work well and are super cheap, might be work looking into, maybe grizzlys guns as well. Thanks for the advice on the oscillating drum sander, sounds like a good idea. I've have some cheapo drum sanders for the drill press and for the little use I can get out of it, I can see how well it will suit my building. The drums actually made shaping the volute area on my neck super nice and easy. Again, thanks, I will check those out and probably grab one. Thats a good price and I have no beef with ryobi. I got a 2hp ryobi router off of craiglists for $40, used once and that router is amazing and make quick work of everything and not a drop of tearout. Also, for the boiling lake idea, check around and see if you can find any pomele bubinga! I've only seen it a few times, but it would really go along way to created that boiling look. The grain itself may actually create the look for you if you staind and sanded back. Just an idea to toss about, either way sounds like a cool idea. I think the wood choice is perfect because looking at your other guitar of bubinga, the color fits nicely. Anyhow, best of luck to you, some killer ideas and I look forward to seeing them. J

Dude...I have a room in my house(about 16' by 12') packed to the gills with guitar building tools.I can't even walk through it right now.When I get into "building mode" I move the bigger tools out of the house,onto a concrete bunker I have in my yard,and I put them into a jobox at night...What I have spent on tools would have bought me several custom instruments.. I also have a picnic table reserved for wood cutting only,because I can move it as the shade moves through the day. This summer will be a big time for me... I can't wait to have all the tools bought and room for them, I have enough to build guitars now, minus a spray gun, but I still have a number of tools that I feel will help me build. I also want to eventually move into acoustic builds, which will require another load of tools. The two tools I really want next will be thicknesser/drum sander open ended and/or a planer, seeing all the things Eric used his open ended sander for sold me on the tool. Well actually I was sold long before that after seeing and hearing what other members did with them, but that brought it back into my mind. Wes, Do you care to share what you got brewin for summatime or is it top secret? For the most part I've kept mine low key minus a few pics, mainly because there are too many experienced builders here and I'm too liable to be influenced by good advice and better ideas, which would make me start changing my plans, which would end up causing me problems, probably. Either way, minus binding the body and fretting, all I have is finish. Unfortunately, I need to make some type of binding machine for carved tops, which I have no desire to do. Oh well, at least I'll only need to build it once, right? J

What about total cost for your first guitar, including tools? I'm especially interested in the prices of those who didn't have many prior woodworking tools to begin with like myself. I've spent more time saving money for tools than I have for building for sure, but I plan to do this as a hobby for as long as I can and hopefully, I'll get to the point where I've got everything and my total cost is considerbly less. I would imagine for some people who bought all the proper tools in quality, spent something close to or over many custom guitars. I know I've probably spent probably a couple grand gathering tools and equipment over the last two years and I still need more like finishing equipment and a planer. Obviously, you could do it without much, but many people I think buy the 14"+ bandsaws, planers, standing drill presses, table saws, routers +table, maybe laminate trimmer for bindings, dremels for inlays possibly, all kinds of clamps, and much more. So that first guitar usually costs quite a bit. As for the topic, since I justed building I keep telling myself that I'll just build my own, but that could change depending on my finished product quality. As well as my current project is going, I feel fairly good about my innate woodworking skills and will hopefully continue to fine tune them. I do however, see so many guitars that I just love and since finding this site, the great custom luthiers out there and learning of my own skills, I will likely only buy customs, unless like Rich, I find some gem at a garage sale or pawn shop that I want to learn, practice, or fix up on. I would have no problem in buying a guitar though especially since I am many many years away from equaling even the least experienced custom builder. Anyway, I didn't get into building because I wanted a nice guitar for cheap, I got into it because I sincerely and thoroughly enjoy building and creating, I actually got so excited at the idea right away. Heck, ask Wes, I pestered the crap out of him the first couple weeks I was here as I was so excited about the whole thing. I'm especially thankful to have found this forum, as I have learned so much, so much quicker than I would have on my own with a book, plus its nice to bounce ideas off of each other and share thoughts. J

Again, it sounds like a killer project. I think the color scheme you're working out, sounds good. Same for your binding ideas, all of them sound good, its hard to offer an opinion because I don't have the vision of this thing in my head like you would, each of your ideas sound great though. That black pearl will look great I think and same for the gold lettering. Andy is a hell of a guy and will pretty much swap out anything that doesn't make your standard or wishes. Each time I've gotten off the phone with him, I've thought to myself, damn what a cool guy. So far everything I've received from him has been top notch and he'll usually verify that he has what you asked for while still on the phone and even give more in depth descriptions on the colors of the shell, so if you like more green or blue, etc, you can choose. So, if you like the really dark stuff, just ask if he can pick out some extra black. If he doesn't have some, he's usually really good about getting some for you. Like I was told from Rich and few others and as I've found out, he's a hell of a guy. Cool to hear Th&h does a similar thing to cut n dried, I had no idea really. The guys at rockler told me about that place a little while back and as I saw, their prices beat most of the other places around. They used to suggest frost to their customers, now they send people to Th&h. I would offer you a ride up to those other places, but I have some health issues and only get out on occasion, but if I decide to go, I'll let you know and see if you wanna cruise. My car beats walking, but thats about all it beats, just recently passed the 200,000 mile mark on the stock motor and still runs like a champ. Plus, I can always ask my parents to borrow their truck since its easier to carry wood in than my little beater import. J

I mix it up and check many places, I guess you could say I love to shop, but only for tools and lumber. Th&h definitely will offer some better prices than many places, but I've bought some wood from most of the shops around. Cut n' dried has plenty of great useable wood for lutheiry purposes. They tend to have less figured and exotic stuff, but I've seen some fantastic mahogany, zebra, cocobolo, ebony, wenge, all kinds really. Its not a huge stock though, but well worth a look. That place is up the coast by Solana Beach, which is really a shorter drive than you'd imagine, up the 5. Frost has a lot of good wood, Rockler has some nice pieces, I may try and buy a fretboard sized piece of black and white ebony from there if they have any of size. Also Tropical Exotic Hardwoods of Latin America is another great place bursting with exotics, love that dang place. I was worried it might have burned down during the fires, but luckily it made it through. They have loads of all kids of awesome woods and they get shipments from all over like Australia and so on. Definitely worth a look. Aside from those I still will grab some stuff online or from friends around the forum, I've bought stuff from at least 4 different people, everything from figured top and fretboards to buffalo horn nuts which are black and fretwire. Also one of the reasons that I check cut n' dried hardwoods is they will cut boards for you. Many places require you buy the entire plank and sometimes you just can't afford 15 board feet of figured bubinga, so at cut n' dried they will cut you off any size off a plank as long as it leaves 5 feet left on the plank. This makes it very friendly for me, even if I could afford that much wood, I really wouldn't put it to good use as I'm so slow and I will probably try loads of different woods before using that one again. It was very sad to see all those checks appearing, it really is beautiful wood. I'm just worried that when you resaw you'll find some checks that will make using it impossible and at that point you'll be out of luck so to speak. Plus you've already lost a lot of wood that you paid for. I know how you feel though. I'd see what some other members say like Rich about that wood and if its worth using it, I don't have the knowledge to say yay or nay. As you said, since you are going to do such a complex build, it would be in your best interests to do everything as best as possible. It will kill you later when you have this amazing flawless build and something that doesn't quite look right to you. I've seen some great epoxy inlays that work very well, but I just don't envision that concept for this build, but who knows. Personally, I would go with ebony or black pearl even. Andy Depaule can actually make them for your no problem if you send him the designs, so you wouldn't even have to cut them yourself, only route. If you need any pearl I would check his site, has just about anything you can think and it really ups the presentation of your efforts. Andy DePaule inlays/shell. Again, best of luck with your build, I think it is going to be one killer build. Jason

Truly another magnificent piece! And it means so much more going to such a great cause. Now I feel bad, as the best I've done for my oncologists office is a big platter of cookies at xmas. Though if I ever become half as talented at building as you are, I would definitely try to help in such a fashion. Nothing better than some hope for those who have little or none left. I always get excited when I hear of new technology in the field of oncology. Recently my office started a new form of radiation that enables a person to have many more treatments as they are much more focused treatment, even people that in the past have reached their max radiation can now go back for more treatments with this new technology. I forget the name offhand of the new technology. Anyhow, raising money is such a good cause and does so much more those in need. Best of luck with the auction and bless you for doing so. Jason

Let some others comment on those checks, but that is truly concerning, already you've lost a ton of useable wood. The last plank of zebra I bought had a couple checks, but they were in places that were or little to no concern. Plus I bought it at cut n'dried here in Socal, so I knew it wasn't going to change much at all. As per the name all their wood is dry enough to use following acclimation. As for the design and such, I like it. Is there going to be a carved top or flat with a rounded edge or what? The only thing that sits outside my personal preferences is the waist, its a tad too thin or the bottom end is a tad too round, either way the contrast is a tad too much for me, but again its your design and I say right on! and Go for it. The inlay design I thought was really cool and something that will really stand out on your build. I'm not huge on the ebony dust and epoxy, but it will be interesting. Some black pearl maybe or just some ebony would look great as well. I also really like the idea j.Pierce came up with about using parallelograms, in using this idea the 12th fret could be a normal square block. It would be cool, but I really like the traps as well, they stand out a bit more. For the ebony and epoxy mix, if you could do some black and grey marbled look, that would be really killer and kinda mesh with the figured top. Anyhow, great stuff, can't wait to see how this one turns out, best of luck. J

Oooooh BUSTED! LOL. Anyway, looks great, I love the look of that neck, very nice stuff. How did you end up shaping it? I found rough shaping the neck to be one of the funnest parts of building the neck and a super sharp spokeshave made it quick as could be. I still need to pick myself up a nice rasp, cheapo hardware store one worked alright, but takes more cleanup than I'd imagine a nice one would. What are your plans for the headstock, any veneers or inlays or anything special? Nice work and keep the photos rolling in and if you just happen to accidentally take a couple pics of Perry's secret recipes and designs, I wouldn't be opposed to finding them in my inbox, jk, haha. J

Yeah, his turned out nicely, though the top of his headstock is less wide than yours or mine, which makes it much easier. The tough thing about getting the curved setup to look nice is the upper two tuners, because you still want it further towards the middle than the lower 4 and thats what makes it tough to setup with top half of the headstock so wide. As I said I really like having them all aligned, but while having them aligned I also like it slanted toward the middle like / \ that, but it just doesn't work out on this type of design so the )( setup like yours has to be used. BTW, yours turned out well, not an easy style to pull off in my opinion, I know what you mean about having to offset the tuner to fit them, either way I like how yours turned out. I will probably drill mine tomorrow, I've drawn the placement on the headstock like 15 different times and still am not completely satisfied. However, I've come to the conclusion that I am a very indecisive and picky person when it comes to building and designs, so at some point I just have to accept a design and go for it. Anyhow, I really like your headstock design and inlay, I can't wait to see the rest of it. Best of luck. J

I don't know about the addy changing or anything, but I assume within the email it will tell you. From what I gather they were shooting for the 16th to start transferring and what have you, but that got pushed back. They said 3 days so around the 19th, but I don't think they started until sunday afternoon. I would assume when they have finished doing what they need to, the emails will be sent out with the temporary password for the newsite. Its a considerable undertaking so some hang ups are to be expected, hopefully it happens as it should. I can just see all the people out there getting edgy at home without their OLF outlet, I bet people are breaking out phone numbers, haha. J

Did you have any hassle trying to figure the placement of the tuners? LOL, I just mention it because I designed a similar style headstock and have been pondering the placement for a while now. I truly prefer having the tuners aligned, but with this style if you do you end up with one tuner on the edge and the outer 2 too far in. The only other way to do it would be how you did where they end up in the shape of a parenthese ) ( which looks fine, like I said I just prefer the more aligned look. Anyhow, as for the thickness, what I would do before deciding to keep it as is or change it, would be to take some fishing line or string and take the bridge you have and line everything up properly. You might be able to see better what you would like changed or not changed. The string spacing and distance may not be to your liking or there might be so little taper that you end up having this open fretboard wood towards the bottom of the board. So, I might try that and see what you think about it. Just a thought, I found this technique to really help me to see how things were going with the neck. Anyhow, looking very nice, best of luck and keep the progress rolling. J