komodo

What an enchanting video. Beautifully shot too. That's like an excellent beer for the soul.

3 hours ago, Drak said:

Gorgeous build, beautiful color.

But I'm dying (pun intended) to know specifically the dye color(s) you used on it.

Fabulous work!

 

PS, I saw Queen, around 1977-1978.

I think Styx was supposed to open for them but canceled out and we got Golden Earring (Radar Love) instead...

Thanks @Drak!

I've seen many bands, but Queen is one I've never had the chance to. Boy, 77-78 Styx woulda been something, that was their peak.

As far as the dye - I'd have to go back and see if I left any notes on it because I'm not sure! I'm using LMI powder dyes mixed in alcohol.  Clues:
"also @ScottRs dye advice had me doing a bunch of dye tests building a dark sand back color using brown red and blue with great success. I’m getting very close to D-day."

"Coat of slight purply black then sand back."

Looks like then I did a washier coat of the same later. It's no longer in my noodle, but I think I used black dye, and added touches of the purple I used for the earlier sand back color. If you look at Page 9 in this thread, about the middle of the page, you can see the gauze and stuff sitting around the guitar that has thinned dye residue on it. It shows the purple black color a little better. When the shellac hit it later, that slight amber bump warmed it and tilted towards purple a little more.

Thanks Carl!

Sure I can speak to that. You know when I started it, I had high hopes for the Trisonics, probably too high. The pickup usually doesn't lend as much voice to a guitar as the pup makers market to you, but these have a unique open air coil construction. I've got a clone of a Catalinbread Galileo pedal I built that really gets you into the Queen ballpark and I figured the pedal/pup combo would be great. And I wasn't looking for dead on, I'm not in a tribute band or anything. 

To me this guitar was about two things, the ebony core for tight transfer of sound, and the pups. In the end they both went far beyond expected! It actually sounds way more like May's sound more than I thought it would even without the Galileo pedal, using only amp gain and maybe a treble booster. The May singing sustain is there, not from any Vox AC30, but from the ebony neck which is great since I play a lot at lower volumes. 

The sound is very very present, almost acoustic sounding unplugged, which is always a great sign for how a guitar will sound plugged in. The switching gives many options, not unlike the Red Special, but probably more manageable. I was really surprised at how different the combos sound, some are whispy thin and some are ferocious. 

Couple of things I've realized about myself - I'm not using the tremolo as much anymore (on any guitar), and I'm pretty sure I like two pups vs three pups. It just feels more natural. My next build is going to be a fixed (Hannes) bridge.
 

6 hours ago, curtisa said:

I think a covid-safe fist bump needs to be directed towards @komodo for taking out Guitar of the Year 2020. Well done, buddy

Thanks @curtisa! This guitar would only be a silent plank of wood without your assistance.

2 hours ago, mistermikev said:

congrats on a very deserving win.  a fantastic example of greatness!!

Thanks @mistermikev! 

What a good way to start a Monday. Thanks to everyone, especially @Prostheta for keeping this site here for all of us to share. Building has been a lovely curse for all of us, but during this last year it has never been more apparent just how therapeutic it can be. It makes the whole process richer, when you share with friends all over the planet. I really appreciate that!

I think the only thing greater than what we do here, would be sitting in a pub having beers with everyone!

Love it. Looks like Buster Scruggs may have owned that at some point.

Funny thing @Drak, I was searching something here recently and came across a discussion you and I had regarding finishing techniques for enhancing maple figure but with a natural finish, no dye. It was FIFTEEN years ago. lol.

 

It just let's the design breathe more. If someone were to offer me one of the above for free, I'm not sure what I would pick but I think I would lean towards the plain.

Let us know when you get the wood @mistermikev. Ha!

I keep trying to quit the exotic figured wood craving. I'd like to be able to build something that relies on the design rather than framing the figured wood, but I just love it so much I can't stop. Here's an example:
I think the plain one is just killer. But my inner wood whore keeps buying the crazy stuff!

As a wood whore, I think I'm qualified to comment.
Where I'm at these days is: 
-Is it pretty? I mean for guitar making, is it really worth all of the build time?
-Is it structurally sufficient? And really, I only worry about necks. Bodies could really be any wood, though some really are better (limba).
-Do I NEEEEED it? I hoard wood, because you have to buy it when you have the chance. That said, lots of wood comes and goes. I've already got what I need to build guitars, but is this a special piece that neeeeeeeds rescued??

Of course this only applies to myself. I did just buy some good flamed maple because apparently I ran out and didn't realize it. It's for a new build that could be done with what I have on hand, but there's a vision in my head.

I will warn you - I've got a lot of sharp things in my shop, but that slotting blade is sharp!

I'm not sure if this applies to your current situation. But many guitars ago, I had a catastrophic failure with a DIY overhead pin router jig that completely screwed the binding channel and took a chunk from the body. I ended up using a spindle sander/belt sander to take the whole body in by about 1/16" - 1/8" (2-3mm). I mean, I shrunk the whole body shape by about 5%. Then created a completely new binding channel. I've got a preference for slightly undersized bodies anyways, probably because I once owned a Fender Duosonic and had so much fun throwing that thing around. Similar is Nuno's N4, the Jackson Dinky, etc. But those are all quite undersized. Taking the depth of a binding channel isn't even close to those.

Total porn.
I'd love to see an over the shoulder of your core-laminate process. I'm kicking around a neck through and trying to wrap my head around milling and glueup of all the veneers.

Love your tenacity. The veneer would give me pause, only because you have nice progress here and getting crisp edges/lines on the bevels looks tough. But maybe I'm overthinking it. I'm always trying to think a couple steps out with what ifs to manage the risk of each action.

6 minutes ago, mistermikev said:

Hmm... what about a giant octopus inlay spanning the entire fretboard in turquois (totally NOT going to suggest that to kevin cause I'm pretty sure I don't have it in me!!)

I endorse this idea, and yes you do have it in you!

This is an interesting thread as it really highlights some of the more critical aspects of guitar making. Some are preferences, some or just good wisdom, and some are results of the tools used. In my process, the fret board slots are cut first because I'm using a table saw sled with a Stewmac blade and pin template. It's true that I do go back and deepen the outsides of the slots to match the radius, but it's really a minor process and I know the slots are all parallel and accurate. In the end, it's could very well be slower than doing them by hand.

I vote for #1 but with the 12th fret inlay.

I slot, then radius, then glue. When gluing the radiused board, you can use radius sanding blocks as cauls, or long strips of wood. After the radius, I'll go back and slightly reslot them to match the radius with a fret saw. It needs to be done anyways, because sanding the radius packs the slots with dust. 

For more complex inlays, I'll do a half radius, then the inlay, then complete the radius. 

On 1/13/2021 at 2:07 AM, curtisa said:

So, are those pickups or slate flagstones?

No kidding. I think you could sell advertising space on those.

You really outdid yourself on that one!

Congratulations to you. It's been really great to see this from it's conception to completion. Love how you shared the working concepts so we could see it forming! More more!

It's a Christmas miracle from Drak!

Have never done woodworking before, but was summoned from the depths so I'll take a stab....

Consider that even if you had a deformed plank, you are slotting it and hammering metal bits in that can very easily warp it in the opposite direction, Then you are applying an adhesive on a large surface, essentially laminating it to the neck. You could probably use any material on the planet really.

I just did this to a corrugated #6 last year. It's really great, but I keep wishing it was a little smaller. Might try a 5 or 5-1/2 next year.