SoundAt11

JET has a lot of nifty ideas worth using:-) I like the ebony "ramp" for the string-thru, along with the brass plate on the back, very clever. Now if the Carribean Burst was only as easy.

Thanks guys, I'm glad to know you like my work so far:-) For the jack, I was going this route: http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/proutput.htm and then screwing in the Electrosocket. So there'll have to be an angled hole in the side of the body pointing downward (I run my cord behind the strap button). Those Electrosocket's are great, they don't work themselves loose at all, they're solid and they look cool to. Here's a tip for jack: http://www.jetguitars.com/jack.htm Notice that body style looks similar to mine, I realize I'd been subconsciously following it:-)

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/soundat11/al...dat11/my_photos I had an Epiphone Special (bolt-on) laying around from my first guitar and figured I'd put it to good use and build a new body and fix up the neck. The body will be 2-piece mahogany, flat top, single-cutaway style with the Epi neck bolted on. This will be my inexpensive "fun" axe to grab (built out of leftover parts and scrap lumber) when I don't want to take the PRS somewhere. NECK: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/soundat11/de...dnm=670bre2.jpg I refretted the neck and scallopped the last few frets following the tutorial on this site (no pics of the process, just the finished result). http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/soundat11/de...dnm=e658re2.jpg Next I sanded off all the finish off the headstock (I'd already sanded all the other factory goop finish off the neck long ago). http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/soundat11/de...dnm=e9f8re2.jpg I marked up the headstock for the proposed new headstock design: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/soundat11/de...dnm=6513re2.jpg I then enlarged the tuner holes in order to dowel them up (had a 1/2 mahogany dowel to use). http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/soundat11/de...dnm=8dddre2.jpg http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/soundat11/de...dnm=ac4cre2.jpg and rounded down and sanded (but marked for some more precise hand carving, I tweaked the headstock shape a bit more) http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/soundat11/de...dnm=a678re2.jpg Epi puts this thick black poly finish on there really thick and that's on top of a thick layer of red sealer, yeesh! BODY: Template: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/soundat11/de...dnm=c336re2.jpg I went with an slightly offset single-cutaway style. It's got some influences from a PRS (bottom horn) and a Les Paul and Tele (top), with a little tiny bit of Jaguar with the offsets. I've later changed my mind on the offsets, as it didn't look right with my new headstock, and redid both of the lower bouts and cutways to match. I had a lightweight 12x20 piece of Honduran Mahogany laying around that had a few bad spots on it and was otherwise unusable, so I cut out the 2 body halves from it (being careful to skip the bad spots). My jig-saw died during the first cut, so I had to go buy a new one. The new one came with a multi-purpose blade, just I figured I'd stick with it and cut wide. Good thing I did, that thing is too aggressive, but I knew I'd be shaping later. http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/soundat11/de...dnm=aa6cre2.jpg Roughly shape sanded with black marks showing the remainder to remove. http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/soundat11/de...dnm=130are2.jpg With the neck: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/soundat11/de...dnm=1ff0re2.jpg http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/soundat11/de...dnm=cb11re2.jpg The next task for the body is to plane the 2 halves down, run the edges through a joiner, glue them up, and continue shaping. The neck needs more sanding and shaping, tuner holes drilled, and a new bone nut added later. The finish is to be determined, likely tinted tung-oil from Woodburst, though I might go with a solid color on top (perhaps flat black or surf green), with cream binding, and a clear mahogany back. Pickups will be 1 or 2 direct mounted Seymour Duncan humbuckers I've got laying around, likely black in color. Hardware likely a gold tune-o-matic bridge, gold grovers, and string-thru (with gold ferrules). Controls, likely a push-pull Vol and Tone (with coil splits), a 3-way switch, and an Electrosocket jack mounted at an angle. More to come.....

Warmoth has the 24 3/4" scale conversion neck that is supposed to give you that scale with no other adjustments or mods needed, just make sure your fingers are OK with the shorter scale. That should give you a sound closer to a Gibson, a mahogany neck would give you a little warmer smoother sound compared to the maple.

I'd rather be bound by a firm price on the expensive stuff until I actually receive the lumber and see how much usable guitar stock I have. It may go up or down. At those prices, an inch or two can make a big difference. I can give you discount for buying 3 (and because I love the vine guitar:-)). What dimensions do you need on the three? Will

Alright got my prices per board feet and availability: They got most woods in stock and can process them and have them ready in a week, although some will have to be trucked in, so add a week on them. Honduran Rosewood (closest sound, look, and density to Brazilian and superior to Indian)- prices for a 2" thick neck would be between $70-100 depending on width and length. They're limited on this one, so I may get 12 board ft, so I should have 10 blanks at most (hopefully not much scrap material, though I'll probably sell the scraps on this stuff). I may buy some 1" thick material also, these prices will be much lower. Add a week. Macassar Ebony (they actually sell in quarters of an inch length due to the price)- A 2" thick neck blank is going to be in the $150 range (could be higher or lower depending on width and length). I may buy some 1" thick stock instead, as that should cut the prices down drastically. Add a week. Gaboon Ebony Similar to above but tack on approx $20 to the price. Add a week. Maples They can get me quartersawn hard maple and flamed soft maple, the prices are pretty good, so I can do these for pretty reasonable prices. Probably $30 for a 2" neck blank of either, a 1" thick neck blank cheaper. I may sell the less figured cheaper and the wild figure ones for more. Ash Great prices, though they said nothing wide enough for 1-piece bodies. Cheaper than Mahogany for sure. I'm going check more on this one. Add a week. Purpleheart Great prices, though I'm having nightmares about cutting this stuff and having to buy a ton of new sawblades:-) I shouldn't have a problem doing $25 neck blanks 2" thick. Tops and veneers are something I'll look into if I can find a cabinet shop willing to work with this wood. I may make a batch of strips for neck laminates. Zebrawood Not ridiculous prices, but cost approx 1.5x mahogany. I'd like to do some necks and body halves out of this, so maybe $35 on a normal 2" thick neck. 2-piece body, maybe $60. Black Walnut A little higher than Zebrawood, but is available. Prices will probably vary, as I'll likely take the super figured stuff and cut into gunstock blanks to sell on Ebay. But figure $40 on a 2" thick neck blank and at least $60 for a body blank. I didn't have a chance to find out about the Honduran Mahogany, so I may call back later and get it's price and availability, as sell as to get more info on the Ash. Will

The lower priced Seagull and Alverez acoustics are really nice as well if you want a conventional all-wood dreadnought guitar.

Hey Bill, didn't know you post here. Yours went out in the mail this afternoon. I tossed in a pack of hide glue to, so you're all set for 2 guitars. Keep an eye out for a weird shaped package with a lot of tape on it arrivng in 4-5 days:-)

I'll find out the prices on the Walnut, Braz Rosewood, and Hond. Mahogany when I call tommorrow. I was told that they can get the Braz, but wasn't told the price or how long it'd take. I'm interested in the Walnut for selling gunstock blanks to, so I'll see what they can do for some really figured stuff (dunno about 3" thick, though, I have to spec thickness and 2" would be the most commonly used). If I recall, the Hond Mah was a little more expensive than the Afr Mahog, but I'll buy it in bulk, so we'll see what kind of deal I get. I may skip the Ebony and go for the Rosewood instead, The Ebony is just so expensive and very hard on my tools. If the price is too high on the Braz, I may get just a few necks worth of it, and get a few necks worth of Indian Rosewood.

I'll be ordering a few hundred feet of lumber this week for sale, I'm well stocked on African Mahogany for bodies and Black Limba for necks, but am considering the following: White Limba: for bodies and necks Swamp Ash (lightweight 2.8lbs or less per Bf): for 1,2,or 3 piece bodies Hard Maple (Quartersawn only) for necks Honduran Mahogany: for 1-piece bodies and possibly necks Gaboon Ebony (pure black): for necks (this stuff is ridiculously expensive) Brazilion Rosewood: for necks (also expensive) Just let me know if there's an interest in any of these types, I'll be placing my order either Tuesday afternoon or sometime Wednesday. Everything should arrive within a week or two. Will

If you like Fenders, it's hard to go wrong with the Made in Mexico versions. They're good quality instruments that many of us have gigged with reliably. Once you learn more, you can start doing pickup swaps or installing better tuners or a new pickguard, they're a good platform to learn on. If you like the Gibson's, you may want to save up for a used Les Paul Studio or Faded SG model. Both are good solid instruments that should last you a long time without needing upgrades (except maybe the tuners) and should keep their value if you decide to sell them.

I'm partial to old US-made Ovations, the deep-bowl roundback style with the conventional single large soundhole. They either have 2-piece Mahogany necks or the 5-piece neck on the top of the line ones and all come with German Schaller tuners and the string-thru bridge that eliminates those annoying bridge pins. Mine will stay in tune for months at a time. I love mine, it's extremely loud and sounds much more open and full than those small thin Ovations that are loved/hated nowadays. I find the big Ovations are still more bright and clear sounding than most inexpensive wood accoustics, which often sound flat and dull cardboard with strings (I love the larger Taylors, Martins, Gibson, and Guild's, those are great). You can pick up a good Ovation Balladeer with a fitted hard case in the $200-$400 range. You can pick them up under $200 if you look hard enough

PM Sent

When I think about it more, the Pre-Stain Conditioner is better off as a light, tung-oil substitute or a thinner, it doesn't really do make mahogany any more consistant to stain with their pigmented oils. Perhaps the problem lies with their being too much pigment in the tung oils. Often the pigmented oil will be absorbed into the wood, but the excess pigment powder remains on the surface of the wood and isn't absorbed. One thing that I've found that works, other than thinning the pigmented oil with pre-stain conditioner is to allow the pigment to settle to the bottom of the bottle. If you leave the container of Woodburst pigmented oil on the shelf for a few weeks, the pigment will settle to the bottom of the plastic container (sort of like when you drink a glass of hot chocolate and when you're done, the whole bottom of the mug is full of the chocolate that settled to the bottom). This is what I did for the maple neck on my guitar, as a test of "full strength" Honey Oak made the maple chalky orange, as not all the pigment absorbed. However pouring the lightly pigmented oil slowly out of the container onto a paper towl yielded very nice results. The neck turned out looking like an aged 60's Fender neck with just the tinted oil and no hard finish. To achieve a similar result on the Mahogany body, I used the Bing Cherry and usually used a paint brush to dip out the lightly tinted oil from the top of the bottle. A couple light coats of that and a few coats of lacquer and I was pleased with the results. On my homemade speaker cab, using Luan plywood, I just rubbed the Bing Cherry oil at full-strength (shook it up really good) with a paper towl and polyeurathaned the whole thing after it finished drying in the sun. It's a strong wine/grape juice color that looks beautiful. I tested the Honey Oak and Bing Cherry oils on some White Pine for my Amp Head cabinet at "full strength" and found that they didn't absorb evenly and left pigment on top, just I just used the pre-stain conditioner to pop the grain out and then Poly'd the head cab. The Luan absorbed very evenly, as did a scrap of popler, unlike the mahogany, maple, and pine so it's worth it to experiment on scraps of your different guitar woods to see what works best to achieve the look you want.

*edit* All sold, except 1: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZsoundat11QQhtZ-1

Dude, that's awesome! Thanks for the kind words, great work on that LP there. It's cool to think I'd had that same piece of wood in my house just a few weeks ago and know it's already a guitar:-) Here's similar blanks on Ebay: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZsoundat11QQhtZ-1

Just added 7 of the African Mahogany 15 x 20.75 x 1.75 blanks to ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=7376656755 Don't forget about the Black Limba neck and body blanks currently on ebay: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZsoundat11QQhtZ-1

Golly, that one sold within a few hours, so here's a 16.25 x 24 x 1.75 piece: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=7376538875

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...AMESE%3AIT&rd=1

If you're just looking to for a soft, smooth finish on the back of the neck without taking it down to bare wood, then just grab a small sheet of fine grit sandpaper, put it in your hand as if you're playing the guitar and go up and down the neck. You can get that thick finish down to something much smoother without having to sand the whole thing to bare wood and oiling it.

http://us.a2.yahoofs.com/users/4394c27fz73...hAP7pDBz65HyWgP http://us.a2.yahoofs.com/users/4394c27fz73...hAP7pDBmQIbV01f http://us.a2.yahoofs.com/users/4394c27fz73...hAP7pDBLJzA3yZO Here's my guitar that I finished with Woodburst's Bing Cherry tung oil over the Honduran Mahogany and a light coat of the Honey Oak tung oil and several coats of Pre-Stain Conditioner under everything. The body is was sprayed with two light coats of Deft lacquer in a spray can from Walmart. It may not look great in the pictures online, but the Bing Cherry looks awesome on Mahogany in person, I've even used in on a plywood speaker cab that always gets compliments by people thinking it's really exotic wood. I would not leave the colored tung-oil uncovered, as the Bing Cherry pigment will rub off, even after a few weeks time. My suggestion is to thin it with the pre-stain conditioner and use several thin coats. Spray lacquer or poly over the top of it. I love the woodburst products and have used them for several projects, I'll be purchasing many more of them soon for my latest project.

Black Limba piece for Body wings and Neck of a Neck-thru Ends MONDAY Black Limba Long Neck blank Black Limba: 2-pieces for 16x20x1.75 Body and 1-piece African Mahogany Body Blanks 14x21x1.75 for $48!

Now that sounds decent, $30 for just my personal stuff is OK; I can have some lumber for business done at the same time. I'll call around on Monday to the cabinet shops and see what they can do.

I've got a set of nice mahogany wings cut for my current neck-thru project, but need them taken down approx .25 inches (they're 1.75" right now). That and I'll probably pick up some quilted maple or purpleheart for the top that'll need to be planed down smooth. What does that sort of thing usually cost at a cabinet shop/local sawmill?

Reply in process:-) Just so everyone knows, I'm down to my last 6.5 wide piece of the Limba, it's currently on Ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/BLACK-LIMBA-Korina-gui...1QQcmdZViewItem Now I'm left with enough lumber for 4 Black Limba body blanks, 8" wide on each piece. Forget that $70 price, go with $60 for a 16x20 section. Otherwise, I'm cutting them up and Ebaying this weekend. I'm WELL stocked with narrower 4-5" wide Black Limba boards for necks. Most appear to be Rift-Sawn. All the limba is light weight. Cut those 1 3/4" thick Mahogany prices to, my house is filling up with lumber and I need to move it! $40 on 14x20 $45 on 15x20, $55 on the 16x22, and $65 on the 17x24 MONSTER blanks I've also got several 14ft long, 17" wide uncut boards, so if you always wanted to carve you a one-piece an ES335 or an Explorer out of a 4ft long piece of Mahogany, here you go:-) Specify what kind of weight range you're looking for on the mahogany, as I've got some that are normal weight and some on the heavy side (of course, a 17"x24"x1.75" piece of wood is going to be heavy by itself). This tend to be very attractive on the grain and figuring, though lighter in color than most mahogany. Check out my Yahoo Photos page for more pics of everything.