Charlie H 72

This weekend:

Mocked up inlays (island chain)

Routed top to shape

Painted inside black

Broke truss rod nut :/

For some reason this came out super-high contrast, but this is how the wood looks with rubbing alcohol on it.

(that is ONE coat of black paint, some crazy super high pigment stuff)

Can't resist a mockup...

Okay, heres the problem for the day. already posted in the jim thread, but now i have pics. what should i do about this? restart the neck, or try and get this truss rod out?

let me know what you think.

Looks awesome man! Really creative.

Thanks guys!

Glad everyone is loving it...

Here is an update of the control access panel. The pickup will be mounted through the top, so no ring needed, but back access is necessary, so we did a circle access panel that should provide us with the space to get at electronics and the pickup. Fortunately electronics are simple, one jack, one pickup, one pot.

Sorry these pictures arent that great. they actually show color better than some other ones though.

I have an important question regarding this picture!!!

So, below is what is left of the "support spine." Will that be enough to carry the tension of the strings? I am afraid it will be less than ideal, and putting a carbon fiber/steel reinforcement rod into it might fix that. I don't want to have to put one in though.

Nice! I really like how you have walked the line between classic and modern with these. Plus the workmanship is awesome.

I'm impressed! Any shots of the back?

Thanks! An update on the weekend (mom and sister gone, dad and i spent 8 hours in the shop so far):

1: Pickup cavity routed

2: F holes designed

3: F hole jig made

4: F holes routed

5: Inlay idea: have the inlays look like the jacaranda w/ the center maple stripe is still running through them, against the ebony fretboard. whenever an island comes to the center, it has the maple stripe running through it (like it is revealing it or something. No matter what, the headstock will be the same pattern as the body.

6: Other F-hole idea: Cut a rectangle out of the guitar and put in a metal grille like a bath drain or something.

7: should we relic the hardware to tarnish it a little? just putting it on the table. it might add to the "seaworthy" look of the guitar.

8: Should the fretboard be glued to the neck before either of them are tapered? will ebony splinter like crazy if it is run through a band saw or table saw?

pics!

forstner holes for starting the rout

F-hole routing jig

Jacaranda dust. This wood literally turns to butter under tools. its awesome. Also, it smells like some incredible spice. I can't describe it. It is such a joy to work with compared to the mahog. back. Piece-to-piece variation is wild, which is probably why it is not very popular (and im not even sure if its attainable anymore, this is recycled), but everyone should at least smell it before they die.

rout from the back

and the front (no sanding whatsoever)

some beauty shots:

Hi all,

This build has been in the planning stage for a while, but now its up and running! It is inspired by Chris Craft boats, vintage radios, and the ocean. I could tell a long story about the planning, but I won't. its a hollow/chambered body with f holes. 75% of the wood is recycled. the name means seagull, but its a working title. i figure i might as well go with the spanish theme. it sounds cool (at least i think). no im not spanish.

Specs

Body:

-Top - Carved, multi-lam jacaranda and maple, with f holes whose design i will post the when its finalized.

-Back - Painted black mahogany, chambered, support strip down the middle of the inside, roundover on back.

-between the natural top and painted back, there will be a red pinstripe, like the waterline on a boat.

-notes: jacaranda came from a couch like the one with the red vynil pictured. my dad had in his house growing up, but it broke, so it has a second life as a guitar. maple was purchased, so was fretboard, but the back was mahogany from a chair my uncle built in middle school. not really sure how he paid for all that mahogany, or why he decided to build the chair, but it is literally 5 feet tall and 2 inches thick, using 2 solid pieces for the back. it is incredibly uncomfortable to sit in due to the fact that the back is at a 90* angle to the seat. Anyways, it was falling apart and unusable (not to mention ugly) so he gave it up to us. my dad and i made him a miniature version out of the same wood for xmas, he loved it.

Neck:

-Maple

-25.5" scale

-Ebony fretboard

-Scarfed headstock

-island inlays

-compass rose inlay on headstock

Hardware:

-http://www.guitarfetish.com/181-Wilkinson-Open-Back-3x3-Waverly-Style-Vintage-Tuners_p_9.html these tuners

-the bridge pictured (TOM)

-the tailpiece pictured

-one pickup, lollar imperial bridge, placed sort of in the middle.

-one volume, no tone

note: I've found that I basically only use my bridge pickup on my main guitar, especially during shows, and that the extra controls are only in the way, so im going as simple as possible on this one.

-no pickguard

-martin truss rod

-jack top mounted and recessed

-coil tap? how do lollars sound tapped?

-maybe a cool red killswitch, who knows, but i think i want one cool button or something. let me know if you have any suggestions.

-pickup will be subsurface mounted, no ring, if possible. if not, it will have some sort of bling-ey mounting ring. not sure what yet. maybe rickey style chrome ring, or maybe red plastic. let me know if you have any suggestions there as well.

the mortising on the inside is pretty rough, but i figure nobody will see it

truss rod rout

close up of the wood

plans

Let me know what you think!

I think you need to simplify your design. There is too much going on. That said, the craftsmanship is obviously beautiful.

this is really sweet man. so glad you're keeping it simple with the woods. the grains of the two match really nicely, and the shape kicks ass.

Okay, update, sort of. This project won't get started for awhile, because im headed off to vietnam for 5 weeks in the beginning of the summer (never been out of the country, except to canada, this will be crazy), but I've decided to make it an archtop, and make the f hole round, with a chrome ring around it, sort of like a porthole, but not too close to one. The pups will be p-90s (or should i get some p rails?)

So maybe i need some wood porn? here it is (even though i havent stripped the wood of its absolutely horrible old finish):

(not all those pieces are usable)

the basswood, which is 12" across.

here's the tailpiece i'm using: http://www.guitarfetish.com/Cast-Open-Harp-Tailpiece-Chrome-for-Full-Body-Jazz-Guitars_p_143.html#

and I havent gotten the holly yet, but i might just use maple

So, I've been playing Lagarto (my last build) pretty much exclusively. I love it, but its time for another build. You guys will get this one from start to finish. Here's the story; at the end of last summer, I saw this Hacker-Craft boat tied up to a dock somewhere, and basically, I fell in love with it. Here's a little sample- http://www.showmanagement.com/media/originals/hacker26.jpg. I was in Maine over memorial day weekend, where I first saw this boat, trying to figure out what my next build would be. Then, I got a sudden inspiration to build a guitar inspired by these boats. The goal is for it to be fast and elegant, with classic, (but a little bit funky) styling. Also, it will have a few nice pieces of chrome hardware, kinda like the boat. No plastic allowed on this one. The tops of the boats are made from mahogany with holly strips, so that's what I'll do to this. I will use pau ferro instead of mahogany though, because I have a bunch sitting around from an old couch. Its a couch from when my dad lived in Brazil for a few years. I also have a chunk of basswood sitting around too, so that will be the back.

here's the body shape (some tweaking still, maybe):

Specs:

Neck

-Painted maple back

-Ebony fingerboard (stained totally black)

-25.5" scale

-12" radius

-3x3 headstock

-vintage style tuners

-medium/medium stewmac fretwire

-Inlays: Chrome grommets, with holly dowels or ebony dust & epoxy to fill in, or some kind of creative block style inlay, or just the grommets w/ nothing in the middle, or some cool dots from laminated pau/holly dowels (tell me which you guys think is the best)

-headplate to match the body

-hopefully 24 frets

-Chrome dot side markers.

-The neck will be built up like this: Maple back, 1/16" holly lam, 1/16" pau ferro lam, ebony fretboard

Body:

-Pau and holly lam top, 1/2"

-Basswood back

-Spar varnish finish on the top

-Holly binding

-Painted back and sides

-rear mounted controls

-Archtop-style trapeze tailpiece

-chrome barrel knobs

-TOM bridge

Electronics:

1vol 1tone, besides that i'm not sure. I really want to look into p-rails, but i also want a guitar with some nice warm, smooth paf-style pickups. Lagarto is really tonally versatile, but its far from warm, esp b/c of the all maple body. what do you guys think?

also, what color should the back, sides, and neck be painted? I was thinking, if I keep it like a boat waterline, navy blue, black, and a nice rich red would all work. Right now I'm leaning towards red or black, but if I choose black, it could look weird next to the fretboard.

I like that finish. will it be a little bit darker than that in real life, or no? Also, you might wanna consider no p/g, and then use black hardware, dome knobs instead of bell knobs, and black pickup covers. I think that would look pretty sweet.

There's only one final pic, but this looks nice.

I would really like to see a different fretboard on there, ebony would be my first choice. the walnut and rosewood are so conflicting.

Absolutely beautiful man. great work

That's beautiful man. I love that you stuck to only one figured wood, i hate it when people mix. all of the pinstripes and artistic touches are so nice. there's clearly a lot of attention to detail here. I also love the rear control cavity. How did you get it to match up?

those headstock inlays(not to mention, the whole build), look AWESOME. love the interlocking thing. subtle and brilliant

I like it, it looks like a piece of paper that was crumpled, and then someone tried to smooth it out; but at the same time, its sort of just adding extra stuff to the design without it really contributing overall, you know what I mean? You're leaving it white, right?

So I have a HUGE piece of teak in my basement (1 1/4" by 14" by 10' or so), and I want to use some of it as a base for my next guitar (it will get weight relieved), which will have a bloodwood top. Where do you get the right size bloodwood for stuff like that?

thanks guys. yeah its all hand done with sharpie. the smudge is from the clear coat, it didn't like the sharpie so much

hey guys, i just joined, but ive been a member of a similar forum for a while. i just thought i'd post pics of my first build on here

This is beautiful simo, i've been following it, and I had to join just to comment. Love the shape, love the feel, and the wood combination is surprisingly really nice. I usually don't like multiple figured woods together. cool headstock shape too. I will be building a 5 string fretless next with a friend that im really excited about