sunday_luthier

Jaden - The E.R.O. : I voted for this one. The familiar formula takes a surprising turn here with the inlayed pattern. It's finely executed. I didn't think I'd ever vote for this kind of superstrat guitar, but I really like it!

Bionic Dave - The Tortoise - I love that tortoise inlay. The rest is nice too, but for some reason, I find that the body shape doesn't fit well with the fanned fret configuration.

Ricky Anderson - Orange Lady - Ricky, the pictures aren't about "fancy black backdrops", but having the piece show up clearly. In your case, it's a bit difficult to appreciate the workmanship. I think your design is really nice. I may have made that upper horn in a slightly less traditional shape. And how do you feel about your fanned frets "straightening" at the 12th? It seems to be that the first few fret positions would be easier to play if they weren't so slanted.

Hitone - The Sheriff - I like the theme and you pulled it off nicely. Can't wait to see its nemesis! How does that star switch work? Does it rotate?

sdshirtman - The Dimple - I almost voted for this one. I especially like your thorough build thread. It shoes that with enough preparation and care, a first build can turn into a gem. Very, VERY nice work!

Cheers,

Okay,

so I made a sample.

It's an acoustic cover of an '80's French disco song by Dalida... No, I'm not kidding.

Mourir sur scène

Enjoy !

I find that metallic paint from a spray can is best applied with quick, random gestures that lightly cover the entire surface of the guitar at once, keep going until it's all covered with paint.

I find it works a LOT better this way than if you try spraying slow, successive lines accross the guitar, as you would normally do.

Cheers,

This one is called the

OM Wanna-B

Yes, it's just an acoustic, but it's my first and I am more than happy with the way it turned out, and especially the way it sounds!

The pics :

The build thread : Here

The recap :

Finished : August 4, 2010 (a year to the day I began!)

Scale lenghth: 645 mm

Spruce top, with single tortoise binding

Mahogany back and sides

Mahogany neck

Macassar ebony fingerboard with W/B/W binding, Gibson-style

Rosewood bridge

Bolt-on neck joint

Rosewood headstock veneer with pearl dragonfly inlay and engraved "B" logo

Finish : gloss lacquer on body, teak oil & carnauba wax on neck

Here is an mp3 sample I made (it's an acoustic cover of an '80's French disco song by Dalida)

I hope you guy like it.

Cheers,

Finished!

Some pictures :

I just stringed it up, so I'll let it work overnight and set the action and trussrod tomorrow.

Sounds like a charm.

Cheers,

rogerabjet - 'Scarab' : I'm not a fan of the shape at all. The upper horn looks like an accident on a seemingly intended symmetrical guitar. I do like the fingerboard inlay, however.

NotYou - "Abused Blues #1" - I agree with WezV about the pickup covers. I like the design and the artistic relic job. I dig it because the relic here is not about making a guitar look old, but instead giving it a fresh new look.

Muzz - Pointy Stick - I think the neck goes too far into the body, which goes against the principle of the "superstrat" school. And I'm not a superstrat guy so I'm a poor judge when it comes to these kinds of guitars. It's your second body and first neck, so when you think about it, the result is pretty amazing. Congratulations.

avengers63 - The Cherry Blossom - I like the shape and overall funky garage band vibe this guitar has. As usual, there are issues that make me wonder why you seem to insist on producing so many guitars instead of applying yourself to making them cleaner in the finishing touches. I generally like the fact that your builds go all over the place, that you try new things everytime and never rest on your laurels. But the execution really deserves more care. This piece has a lot of charm, but for a craftsman, is that enough?

Jaden - purpleheart original series TT - Maybe the exact opposite of avengers63's build : Classic, conventional shape, very modern and professional looking. Everything looks very tight and clean, as usual.

chops1983 - "Seth" - Magnificent build. Love everything about it. I like the narrow waist which looks very contemporary with the reverse headstock, but with a traditional finish that balance it all together perfectly. Second place for me, tied with Hooglebug's build.

Johny - chambered body nylon string guitar - In my opinion, the most interesting build this month. Not flashy, and not really minimalist, but a guitar you want to pick up and play. The headstock is stunning. Gets my vote.

hooglebug - Holly Esq. #10009 - I also like this one very much. I like it because although it is based on a classic design, the new "interpretation" doesn't look like a knock-off at all. It's a modern tribute that stands its own against the original instrument it is paying tribute to. The one thing that slightly bothers me is the pickguard shape which, to me, isn't quite there yet.

EDIT - I take that back : the pickguard is fine!

Cheers,

OK, so it's time to start finishing.

I like a shiny gueetar as much as the next guy, so the box will be finished with clear gloss lacquer.

The neck, however, will be finished with teak oil and carnauba wax, to keep a natural wood feel.

Before applying the finish, the bridge is located on the soundboard, and its exact location covered with masking tape. Pictured below is the box with 2 coats of sanding sealer, grain filler, and 3 coats of clear gloss.

After levelling the frets, and glueing the bone nut, the fingerboard is treated with Lem-oil, and the neck covered with teak oil until it's saturated (the wood "sweats" oil)

Cheers,

Hi guys! I´m a new member to this forum and this is my first post. I´m working on a 8 string, alder body with pearl binding that i plan to paint black.

I guess it´s more common to use polyurethane as a clear but in this case i already have a black poly (2 part) paint and 2 part acrylic clear. So the question is, can i put acrylic on top of polyurethane? I honestly can´t find the answer by searching the forum (or google)! I would really appreciate if someone could help me with this!

By the way, the clear and the black are not the same brand if that matters.

The best way to find out is to test on a scrap piece of wood.

Brush on some black poly, let it dry, brush on some clear, and see if :

a: the clear sticks to the black

b: they don't react together (melt, create bubbles, or spontaneously combust ;-).

I think you should be okay

Cheers,

Had to take a couple of days off due to illness. I'm taking this opportunity to upload some pictures of these past couple of weeks' progress.

After routing the binding channels on the body, glueing the plastic "tortoise" binding strips with cyanoacrylate glue :

Scraping the binding flush with the sides :

Sanding the sides and binding with 150 grit paper :

The finished endgraft and binding work. The end graft is a tapered strip of Macassar ebony. The same as the fingerboard :

The binding junction at the back of the body. It is made of a strip of mahogany, like the sides of the guitar. The neck heel will have a Macassar ebony cap :

Fitting the neck after adjusting the heel for proper alignment and neck angle :

I still need to tidy up the neck heel so that it is flush with the body, glue the bridge, final sanding and tweaking, then finish and setup.

Cheers!

On the agenda this weekend : closing the box. This is the last chance to take pictures of the inside of the guitar.

I glued the kerfed lining strips with clothes pins with an added rubberband. Worked like a charm!

I also finished the back bracing and chiseled small pockets in the lining for the brace ends.

Since this is also the last chance to have access to the soundboard bracing, I made clamping cauls for glueing the bridge and fingerboard later.

The clamping cauls in place :

Glueing the back with Cumpiano's roping technique. Thanks to my local bicyle shop for the old inner tubes. The technique works very well, but I broke the "rope" a couple of times when making a test run, so it's really important to stretch just the right amount to have enough pressure, but not too much to avoid breakage :

I hope I didn't forget anything inside the box ;-)

Cheers !

Black body, red pickguard for me...

The other way around is just too 80's.

The ESP explorer you pictured is very similar to the Gibson explorer,if not completely identical...If you ordered gibson plans from Amazon you would be there.

http://www.amazon.com/Gibson-Explorer-guit...994&sr=1-14

I bought the flying V plans a while back and they are excellent.

Ok, I can't keep quiet about this : Spirit Flutes is a thief and all around EVIL person.

The plans he sells are illegal copies of someone else's work.

I know this first hand, as I drew a number of plans that I had made available on a French guitarbuilding forum in PDF format, and which I sold a while back on Ebay in paper format.

He took my plans, erased my name from them and started selling them as well.

I politely wrote to him asking that he please remove his listings, as they were in violation of my copyrights.

He was rather harsh and defiant in his reply, and threatened to have Gibson sue me! He went as far as to write me an e-mail with a fake Gibson header, pretending to be Gibson's legal department. I swear I am not making this up!

I got on Ebay's VERO program and had his listings cancelled, and had to contact his web provider so they could remove the plans he was still offering for sale on his own website.

The plans he now sells are still not his. That's why his ebay listings don't show the actual plans but a picture of the guitars.

The plans he now sells were drawn by a guy from Italy with whom I've had a few mail exchanges as he (rightfully) felt he was getting ripped of too.

Anyway, please do NOT buy from this guy!!

If you can put something ( another clothespin leg ) in the tail of the clothespin , it'll add more pressure.

Beautiful lookig work so far ! I'm sure this'll be a beaut!

From what I've seen, people will typically put rubber bands around the jaws of clothes pins to give them extra clamping power.

Thanks guys, those both sound like great ideas. I'll put them into practice when glueing the back!

The weekend's work :

Glueing the sides to the soundboard :

Getting some work done on the back plate. The braces have yet to be chiseled into shape :

An overview of what I have so far :

Still need to put it all together.

Cheers,

Our Souls inc. - "Zulu" : I don't know what to think of this one. I really like the fact that you made a guitar out of that piece of sculpted wood, but at the end of the day, it's an Exporer that you wouldn't really suspect anything about unless you turned it over, I don't know HOW, but it seems there could have been some way to work a little more WITH the art piece at hand.

pauliemc - FREAKY GREEN SATRIANI : I like this one. The body shape, neck joint, and the finish all make one good looking and original guitar. I think that it's cool that the fabric texture stays with the finish.

crow - PRS Custom 22 COPY : Very tasteful reproduction with just the right blend of the original PRS vintage vibe and the more modern headstock and pickup treatment. The inlays are also very nice because they are more subtle than if white pearl or abalone had been used, yet there's enough contrast to tell what's going on. Very well done!

RestorationAD - Diablo : Another very tasteful build with a nice selection of woods, and I love the back of the neck.

madhattr88 - "the Rascal" - I like this one too. It's a very nice interpretation of a classic design. It's taking it a step further and making it your own. Very well done, too!

avengers63 - MIRRORED ICEMAN - I also like the change made to the body design. I like where you seemed to be going with the headstock, but it seems you weren't there yet ;-) I also like the bolt-on in the back neck joint. I saw one on a friend's Italian guitar a while back and thought (and still think) it's a really cool idea, and I don't min the red binding. However, the close-up shots get me thinking you need to pay more attention to detail and the finishing touches and/or preparation. It seems you've been building a truckload of guitars, so this shouldn't be as much of an issue as it seems to be here.

Hitone - The Jazz Skeleton Concept - Voted for this one. Okay, so it might seem like a novelty guitar, but it's a damn fine one. I would love to see more close-up pictures of it. I would also love to play it. It is really a designer's guitar. I love it!

Strandberg Guita... - second installment in the Ergonomic Guitar System : Of all the guitars this month, this is definitely the guitar that I would most like to own. The ONE thing I would change on it is the neck plate... This guitar deserves something much more modern and ergonomic than that 50's chrome Fender neck plate!

NotYou - "Ain't got a Name" - Another fine art piece.

Metalhead28 - "GINGER" - A nice "wood porn" guitar. Love the color, and pretty much everything else... And it looks SO clean! How did you manage the transition between the body lacquer and the oil neck finish?

AccidentalChef - Mary Ann - Very nice "woody" guitar. I think I would have found it too woody brown had it not been for the flashy padauk stripes. It ties it all together. Very nice!

Cheers,

LOVE that #3 !

The fourth one is also pretty cool, taking the Strat theme somewhere new. I like it a lot, too. Although I think I'd rather see it without a headstock as well.

With these different configurations, I think that your design works better with darker body woods, and without the "f-hole".

When you entered GOTM a couple of months back, I didn't vote for your guitar because there was something about it that didn't seem right to me, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Now I can : it's the f-hole.

Although it's an original shape, I think it detracts from the general minimalist-ergonomic vibe of your design. Just my 2 cts.

Really, that #3 is where it all comes together!

Cheers!

Moving on slowly :

The headblock and tailblock glued to the soundboard :

The neck will have a bolt-on attachment. The bolts will be secured by two nuts behing the headblock. I think this is the system Stewart McDonald uses on its prefab necks :

After bending the sides into shape, I clamped to the mold overnight. I had to make some touch-up bends. My two sides still aren't exactly identical, but I think that's acceptable.

Bending the sides was a real test for my patience. I had made a few test pieces and was happy seeing that I could actually bend them, but I didn't actually try to bend them to an EXACT shape, which is a different story.

Anyway, here are the finished sides :

Checking the sides on the soundboard before trimming the X-brace ends and Upper face brace ends :

Glueing the kerfed linings to the sides. I wish the clothes pins could put a little more pressure on the glue joint, but I have to contend with them.

Cheers!

After a long hiatus, I was finally able to get some work done on the soundboard bracing.

Glueing in progress. I still have to glue the two "X" braces and chisel it all into shape (photo from May 2):

Chiseling the glued X-brace into shape.

... and the braced soundboard :

Next weekend, I should find the time to bend the sides.

Cheers!

Nice job everyone! A bunch of serious guitars. I like to vote for the one guitar that I feel stands out from the crowd. It would have been the Raven, but I already voted for it last time, so I didn't think it fair to vote for it again.

RDub - the Lone Wolf Voted for this one. Second acoustic I vote for in a row. If I had one complaint, it would be the headstock veneer. I think a much darker wood would have been nicer. I'm not a fan of the tight zebra wood figure, although I think it works well for the back, but not so much for the headstock. Plus, a darker wood makes the inlays stand out better.

andyt - Sheena Very nice guitar. The simple design with the single double lipstick pickup and swirl finish and single chrome knob... it all ties really well together. I don't know if the lipstick pickups were chosen because the guitar was meant for your sister, but I think it gives a feminine touch without making the guitar too "girly".

jvillavicencio - D-Classic The body shape is not for me. It looks like a design taken way too literally from a rough drawing on a napkin. Its saving grace is the headstock, which is way cool!

Simo - 'JD6' Very clean, very professional, nice design, woods and hardware. Nothing to fault here! Good job.

Jester - "DRIFTER" Another very nice one! I do think the tailpiece is a little too big, however.

PRS Tait - The Raven 2 I love this one, and the finish is a lot nicer than the first time around. Had I known it would have been refinished and re-entered, I would have saved my vote this month for it.

hooglebug - SAKURA #10008 Although I like the general design and I certainly can't fault the execution, I feel that the two bevelled curves on the body top don't really serve the design. To my eye, it's a bit of a design gimmick that shows off some fine worksmanship, but in the long run could very well be done away with. I really dig the one on the headstock however. To me, the headstock with its sculpted curve makes a lot more sense, esthetically.

Maikkeli - THE SUN I feel a bit bad that this one hasn't got any votes. I think it deserves better. It's very classy where it could easily have become tacky. The pearloid binding gives a bit of a "precious" look without going overboard.

Cheers everyone!

If I could have voted for a guitar PART, it would have been Avenger's headstock... but the rest of the guitar is just not to my taste.

I voted for Sardine's acoustic. An acoustic guitar is always an impressive piece of craftsmanship. I think it looks very elegant... although I wish there was something, just a LITTLE something to give it some personality. It looks like a really nice guitar that could have come from anywhere... I'll take it!

Second place for me is guitarnut's Tele.

Sorry I don't have time to write something about each entry... I need to get some sleep.

Cheers,

Just made a bridge :

I made the slot for the saddle a little too wide. I've decided to try adding a little thickness to the saddle with Epoxy. I don't know what it'll be worth, though.

Your pics are not showing up in GOTM I think?

Fixed. Thanks!

Hello everyone,

Here's my Queen-B chambered electric guitar.

Body is Sapele back, carved wild cherry top with cream binding. Clear gloss on back, Top is amber stain + clear gloss.

Neck is set sipo with Macassar ebony fingerboard and cream binding "à la Gibson".

Grover tuners

Tune-o-matic bridge with stopbar tailpiece

DiMarzio PAF humbuckers from the 70's

J-Bass-style circuit (2 volume, 1 tone with no switch)

It's my "spring" guitar. I started it Spring 2007, went back to work on in Spring 2008 and finally finished it this Spring, which shows you how prolific a builder I am ;-)

I also made a small sample, with the guitar in crunch mode, bridge pickup in right speaker and neck pickup in left (or the other way around) :

Theme from a non-existent beer commercial

Cheers,

Ben

Hello, everyone!

I signed up on this forum back in 2005 but never participated.

I was drawn to the "guitar of the month" contest that I thought was a really fun idea to get to showcase everyone's guitars.

I think I voted a couple of times back then and went back to the French-speaking luthierie forum where I still lurk most.

I was drawn back here today and just voted for one of this month's participants and will post my latest build for August's contest.

So anyway, I'm an amateur guitar builder from Belgium. I've only built electric guitars so far but have recently started my first acoustic. Unfortunately, a new job and many home improvement projects have kept me away from my workshop, and I don't know when I'll be able to get back to it.

Cheers,

scottyd - Unique Redeemer 4 Vic

I love it. I had a hard time deciding between this one and hooglebug's guitar. Both have a lot of personality. I tend to think a cool guitar always beats a cool bass, though. Sorry.

Jaden - Blue Jean

Looks very well made, but simply not my style. Sorry. I do like the F-hole control cavity cover though.

hooglebug - Tri-caster D #09005

Got my vote. Full of personality, but nothing over the top. Very tasteful design, woods, hardware, and fingerboard inlay. There is nothing I would change on that guitar.

eshuffle - Emerald Snakepit

Although I think this one lacks a creative touch, the LP is certainly not an easy guitar to build, and the inlay work involved here adds to the "wow" factor.

avdekan - Chambered Bass MKI

The fact that it's an original design certainly deserves credit, but it's not my cup of tea. It looks to me like it started a double-cutaway design but got its upper horned "filled" at the last minute of the drawing stage.

jaycee - "Dread-Niamh"

I think it's easier to grab someone's attention with a cool electric design than with an acoustic one so I'm fully aware that it's unfair to say that this one looks plain in comparison to the other guitars competing this month, but... I think it does.

Boggs - RockBeach CB-II

A funky shape, and I like the idea of the progressive pickup slanting. Not much fantasy neck-wise though. Why? why?

avengers63 - The Retrotron

I was never a fan of the retro cheapy Danelectro style. Although I admit this one looks cooler than most I've seen.

Quarter - Beauty's Sister

Clean and tasteful build. I like the design and choice of woods, and the headstock logo. My third choice