komodo

lmao There are a LOT of misalignments and repairs. Mostly, way too large of routes with filler. Also, when you glue down the cut paper piece onto the pearl, I took care in picking good pieces, hopefully color matched as well. Well, that color changes a lot with light direction (like wood figuring) and even through the piece itself. End result is there are a few pieces that are more gold than white. Many of the inlaid pieces are actually very gold on the bottom side, and pure white on top. Anyhoo, none of it bothers me, as yes when the frets are in and strings on, you will see it but as a larger whole. BTW - the one thing you are not, is a churlish git.

Thanks! Not scary, most of it is just a long methodical slog. There was much swearing when I knew I went outside a line or heard the Dremel hit and edge it wasn't supposed to 'BZZZT'. You are focusing on a little 1/8" patch for a LONG time as you work your way through it. Fret slots aren't too bad. I start with a StewMac .008 saw just to get through the pearl, then follow with a .020 to finish. It's not so bad unless you have more pearl than wood to get through. The saws get through it ok, they just don't bite as well. Well, I've got some major digestive, ulcery, reflux, something or other going on, and doc has me on strong meds - so I've done all this sober. LOL. Miss the beer, but I know how it feels when drinking it, so no ty. At this rate I may finish this one before the Black Queen. It's been in finish surgery with all those checks, buts doing quite well. Nearly 100% recovery. I've also been repairing a synth, and building a 1x10 Thiele type cab for a killer Celestion G10S I bought from Paul Rivera. LOL.

It’s in. My route was sloppy af. The paper idea did not cooperate and instead of cutting clean, it kinda lifted and made it hard to see. I thought I had a pretty good bead on the edges but still had to do a lot more fill than I’d like, but it’s in and I’m happy enough that it is. On e the board is oiled, the fill tends to slip away a little more. Now I slice through all the pearl that should be a fret slot and make sure they are the right width. Fretting will be an adventure.

I know! Pretty sure I swear constantly in my head and out loud.

LOL @17:10 I'm so familiar with this. "It's in, I know it's in. I've pressed it 5 times. But is it fully seated? I think so, but maybe not? OMG what if it's seated but slightly at an angle, the whole guitars playability relies on this forever! I'll give it another press. There, it's in. I hope."

Scribed, and filled in for visibility. Please don’t let anyone in the Lovecraft Society know that I made a pink Cthulhu. They will take my card away. First I tried milk as a binder which works excellently on glass, but not on wood. Reapplied using Titebond, so the paper should ‘t shred and pull-up as I route.

I use full respirator, same as spraying nitro. You have to be right up on it with magnifiers, and use needle files a lot to fine tune. Dust pretty much falls straight down, but it is extremely fine and certainly airborne. Also, I sweep up that area after every session. You breathe the same level of micro dust in your shop unless your dust collection is A+. After working in your shop for 1/2 hour, turn off the lights and turn on a flashlight (torch for my brit buds) and look at the fine dust in suspension. It's alarming. The difference with pearl dust is that your body will not process it and it can lead to silicosis in your lungs. Everyone should try it. Tools are simple: saw frame, lots of blades, lubricant, stable surface to cut on with a V or slotted area for the blade, needle files. Material and patience. That's about it.

Thanks @mistermikev While this is certainly elaborate and easily the largest thing I'll ever do - it is something anyone could do. Inlay is not inherently difficult. Imagine laying tile in your house, it's kinda the same. There are some considerations and challenges with this one, and it is a time suck. But, we are doing this for fun? For the time suck? This particular inlay is no different than many typical tree-of-life type inlays, and as a matter of fact it's easier as I have many long and large pieces. It's the little ones that are a bitch. All the stuff around Cthulhus head is really a PITA, but once out of there, it's not bad at all. If you want to see real inlay artistry, look to Larry Robinson or similar and see what people do with a mix of materials or when they go for realism. Stunning stuff. https://robinsoninlays.com/

Thanks! I've gone through so many possible scenarios in my head. My issue with that one is possible areas where there is not a hard edge - there must be one everywhere. Once you have the Dremel in the base, and you are hyper focused on a tiny area, it is extremely easy to lose your way. Also, if any area wears off, same problem. The biggest issue is that these pieces are so small and just don't want to stay put. The tiniest shift results in the "image" being slightly off, and that effects other pieces. A similar way, and devised for intricate inlays is to spray the board with adhesive spray, place your pieces and then shower it with a powder. The needs here are: -A way to attach the pieces so they do not move and the final placement can be set - BUT not so strong that delicate ones can be removed for sure without breaking. -A way to scribe or mark the edges with high contrast and maps the actual pieces in their actual placement. One considered way is to print the same design and affix it to the board and route that. Gambling that what I cut is close to the design. The design was glued onto the pearl, so it should be close but that is a sloppy way. Considering the detail, I'm not ruling it out. Another way, is to print the design in light grey on white, affix it to the board, then scribe each piece with a fine pencil. It would allow me to hold it in place, check its orientation and have a close scribe. It's erasable and fixable. I'm leaning this way. Last way is to leave it as-is, lay a paper towel over it and use a hot iron to press it down into the wood. Since this is an overly optimistic, fictitious drunken rambling (and quite frankly, magical) method, I will not attempt it this way.

One minor setback - I discounted the marks on the pick guard because I hadn't yet peeled of the protective film . . . which I thought was on both sides. Nope. So, I managed to bevel the wrong side on my last piece of material. Its shouldn't be a big deal to surface it and get rid of the scuffs but it's irritating.

You aren't wrong! I will spend a good while examining how pieces fit next to each other, and filing them so the transitions are better. Also, smoothing curves that are easy to see now, but not when doing the single piece. You can see things in the pictures that is apparent, but in person the pieces are very small and it's not apparent. Then, the excavation. There is no way to get this to a Larry Robinson level where the pieces snap in (!) . . . I will be lucky to not make a mess of it. The real trick here is the complexity of the center bit and not blowing out brittle chunks of negative area, as well as having each piece aligned just right. I've got the ebony dust - CA fill tricks to back me up, but the goal is for that to be as minimal as possible.

Cutting is done.

Takeaway of the day is: listen to Frank Ford. http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/Luthier/Technique/Finish/Lacquer/CheckRepair/checkfill.html I've procured some Cellosolve, but not after trying thinner, blush eraser, etc. Nothing made a dent. As I excavated the checks a bit to open them up and allow the solvent to work, I was disheartened and pretty much wrote it off as a refinish. Only the top is bad, the sides and back are perfect. As soon as I started dripping on the Cellosolve we were back in business. It's not perfect, but it's 95% better. I'll let it sit for awhile, and then come back with some lacquer drop fills. The Cellosolve takes a LONG time to cure, so this will likely sit for a few weeks. That's ok, I've got nothing better to do, except finish a couple other builds.

That whole top is glowing! I'll say it again, I just want to pick it up and play it. What more could a guitar wish for?

Sweet! Im a pedal builder too, til now have only done the veroboard stuff from tagboardfx. What is your first pedal there? EDIT: nevermind I saw the label. Super interesting pedal. I just built a clone of a Throback Strangemaster, and it’s 10x cooler than I thought it would be.

Oh no, I confess I passed right over the links. Well, if there is a pick guard, you could take a little off the end of the neck, a little off the end of the overhang, push the neck pup back a little, move the bridge up a little. You may be able to take up the slack with some careful measuring and balancing. Maybe.

Route the pocket deeper?

Getting a big ol bun for that side of beef, I can smell it from here! It must only be just a few minutes to dinner...

I’m going to let mine sit for a few weeks, since the top layers has been leveled and the under layers can cure more. At some point I’ll experiment with some thinner and a tiny brush, seeping it in the check.

Also, looking at your pictures it seems like the checks are actually raised? You can feel them? Mine are similar, and I stick with the ‘not done curing yet’, and sanding released stresses hypothesis. On a previous build, I did some relicing and intentionally created checking using a freeze thaw process. Those checks were in the clear but you could not feel them.

I’ve got the same. While cold and heat differences can create them, so can internal stresses from curing. In my case I laid on the clear very thick and the outer cured faster than the inner. Once sanded, the checks appeared. I’ve not done this yet, but some form of seeping solvent into the checks may work. http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/Luthier/Technique/Finish/Lacquer/CheckRepair/checkfill.html

Well it took three tries. This material is brittle and if you don’t have the rough cut smooth and close to the line, the router would chip chunks out. Also, I was trying to hand fit the pup holes, only to get it ‘close’. But this build isn’t about ‘close’. On the last, I cut up to the line, sanded smooth right up to it, used a downcut spiral bit in my drill press and got it vertically perfect and cut the pup holes (same bit as was used for the cavities in the body, so same corner radius), the beveled slowly with the router. Finally perfect.

Ahahahaha, so you are going to build a BC Rich Beast next? To get the REAL rockabilly sound?