ginner

Hey guys, I've been here a heck of a long time as well and this is also my first time entering. Lurking this forum for damn near ten years, I've learned a lot from everyone on here. What to do, how to do it, and what not to do! I appreciate all the help this community has given me, and am finally proud to present a project of my own. Let me know what you think! I call this one Azure. -Honduran mahogany body -Frazer valley flame maple top -Wenge neck with padauk laminate, maple veneer accent strips -Truss rod cover made of matching woods padauk/maple/padauk/maple veneers -Rosewood fretboard with figured koa binding -Cavity cover made from matching top billet -Padauk headstock inlay -Natural wood body and headstock binding -Jumbo frets -3 way pickup switching -Volume and tone control -Schaller straplocks -Hipshot open locking tuners -Evertune bridge -Bare Knuckle pickups (Painkiller matched set, nickel covered) -25 1/2 ” scale length -12” radius fretboard -1 11/16 ” nut width Good luck guys! Thanks!

Hahaha Thanks Scott! The only drawback I can say for the evertune bridges is that they take out a hefty part of the body, a la floyd rose style. However, the pros heavily outweigh the cons. These things are super easy to set up, intonate and feel really smooth to play on. The fact that they keep your guitar in perfect tune at all times is unreal. I've never been happier with intonation in my life. Some people complain that you can't bend or vibrato, but thats not the case. You can set each string so its just before the breaking point of equal tension and still have perfect tuning as well as the ability to bend and vibrato. Unless I'm doing a commission build for someone and they want something else, all my future guitars will have this bridge.

Thanks man! Here's another teaser shot...

Finishing off with a template bit. Using a jointed 2X4 as a router guide I put two angled channels in the body before gluing the top for pickup wires to easily be pushed through the body. Thickness planing the headstock veneer. Getting ready for the top..... After drilling for hipshot hard tails, I was convined to install evertunes instead. Very impressed with these bridges!!! Throwing in the veneer. Paduak. (marquetry?) Staining process! Basically following the same process as most guys "prs" style. mostly black stain (some of your color added) added, sanded back, and then another of the actual color, sanded back again, and a final stain of the actual color. Grain filled with system 3 epoxy. Sanding sealer added and then water based lacquer on top. all from wood essence in saskatchewan.

Body blanks. Honduran mahogany! Na na na na na na na na bat maaaannn Using two screws located where the pickup cavities will go, I mount a template to the body. Countersunk screws into the template let the entire project glide.

Hey guys, it's been a long while since I posted. Recently I just finished some new guitars, and wanted to post the build experience. I've learned so much here over the past 10 years. Slowly but surely, I've put together all the priceless knowledge I've gained from lurking these boards for hours and hours coupled with countless time in the shop experience the true taste of "trail and error". I want to thank everyone on this board for helping me get to where I am. Verhovenc, Drak, Prostheta, ScottR, Westhemann are just a few of the brilliant dudes on here that inspired me to strive for the best I can achieve and always ALWAYS be trying to improve my skills. This is one online community I have always followed, have been extremely proud to be a part of, and respected the members of greatly. I really want to share some of my techniques for building. There is probably better ways of doing most things I'm posting here, but hopefully I can give somebody who is trying to learn some step in the right direction. Here are some pictures of the build process! Hand Selected timbers from a local wood enthusiast and owner of one of the largest exotic hardwood emporiums in all of North America, Gary Chanin. Two different design ideas I was considering between. Some early planning of templates! Getting some laminates ready! My fairly crude jig for rough cutting headstock angles. Gettin the truss rod channel cut! Squaring the top laminates with my trusty and always sharp Veritas plane Gluing up the top.

Well, to be perfectly honest I don't have a name for this one, so for now well just call it the pink sock. - One piece Honduran mahogany body - Quilted maple top - Brazilian rosewood fretboard - Wenge and bubinga neck - Sperzel locking tuners - Hipshot hardtail - Bareknuckle painkiller set Hope you enjoy, and I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of this months entries. Thanks!

Thanks crazygtr! quick update, did some more spraying.........

Hey everyone, just thought I'd post some progress pics of my latest build. Let me know what you think! Quilted maple top One piece mahogany back Wenge neck with bubinga laminate stripes Rosewood fretboard Matching quilted maple headstock veneer Black binding Sperzel locking tuners Hipshot hard tail bridge bareknuckle painkiller set (in chrome) Heres a preview More pics can be found at : http://s1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff482/ginner4/

a

Rightous guys, this is all really clear to me now. I like the idea of using the drill because you can still have that little bit of veneer showing just behind the nut, but like wes says its a bit risky if you don't do it perfect. I think i might drill with a slightly smaller bit to reduce my chances of destroying my headstock and then use wes' method after. Thanks alot, appreciate the replies.

Cool, thanks, but how exactly would you drill for it ? could you explain how you would set it up to make it perfect? Thanks.

Hey, Ive got a question about how to make the truss rod access channel if i have a veneer on the face of my headstock. Normally I would use a router table with a fence to drill my truss rod routes, including the access before I glue the headstock ears on, and no problems. But now I have to have the ears on before the veneer which means I cant route the access using my usual method. How do you guys do it ? One thing I was thinking was to have a piece of wood the same thickness as the ears and double stick tape it to the heel section of the guitar to make up for the ears, but that seems a little risky to me. Thanks for any input.

Haha, yes I did see that build. It turned out awesome, the flames are original and look killer. The rustoleum looks great, I'll go and check it out. My first guitar was made of plywood.... diddnt even know it untill i decided to strip it; when i took the pups out i was confused by the layers thinking "this cant actually be plywood". Oh, for accenting the grain I have some stewmac colotone dyes and am doing the classic triple step finish with black, sandback, etc. Btw maybe someone reading this will know... can I get tiger eye brownish color ? I have the red, black, and brown. I picked up some spray cans of this "verathane" high gloss stuff for my flame maple rack spacers.... They have about 8 coats on them right now, im thinking let dry overnight, level sand, apply more coats? Ill post finished pics later. another side note, hobby store WAS open today and I was able to pickup 2 boxes of Zpoxy, I wasn't sure how long one box would last me so I bought them out of their stock. I did the same with my truoil when I went to wholesale sports, hah. I read alot about truoil being available at wal-mart, but I went to two super-centers today and decided, what the heck Ill take a look anyways and they only had the spray cans, ***'s up with that? Anyways, thanks again Ill try them out and post some progress pics when im nearing completion.

Awesome, thanks for the detailed reply but I wasnt thinking of painting any colors, just finishing with clearcoat... and in that I do not know what to choose to bring out the grain/be durable and shiny Would you still recommend the rustoleum stuff for just the clear gloss? Thanks.

dude, awesome thanks. Assuming I have to go with spray cans or buy a better compressor, what would you suggest I get for spray cans, or a compressor! lol Thanks

Thanks for the quick replys guys, 1. So with a smaller (iam assuming diameter, but also in length) hose, you think I should be fine with the setup I have now? Sweet maybe I'll pick one up today. syxxstring, thanks for the info on the gun I did not see it on stewmacs site right away. Thats a bummer, but do you think I could hack it and make it work good for me like kpcrash? 2. Oh, no i did not mean it was a waste of time I just meant the waterbase stewmac stuff was becasue you have to do like 6 coats just to make it feasable, thats why I wanted the zpoxy, which I think I am going to pick up some today if this hobby store is open. 4. as for the 2 part poly wow that is expensive but if it works it works, I have a respirator (the kind lee valley sells) but no real ventilation so that may be a problem... I could use a big fan from my garage's side door to outside, bad idea? I do live in a subdivisions kind of area, neighbors will probably slay me. 5. Thanks for the tip, I just read so many people just go up to 220 (stewmac, people on the forum,) I just thought it was reasonable but maybe Ill try and go higher. Thanks ! Thanks, I'll look into that. Im pretty sure I will take kpcrash's advice and at least try it out first because I don't want to buy a new compressor and spray cans are shitty/expensive... One more quick question, should I wait for it to reach 45 (if thats what Im spraying at) PSI if it lowers a bunch while I'm spraying? will it start to spurt and give me orange peel etc? I tihnk I might have some trouble because this compressor really $%#*ing sucks. Thanks.

Hey, I am ready to finish a guitar Ive been working on (other than final sanding) and had alot of confusion about finishing. Ive spent a couple of weeks reading hours and hours every day here, and still am very confused/frightened to start. Ill start with my first question, Is my rig efficient enough to be able to spray a guitar? I have a porter-cable compressor, the specs are "2.6scfm@90 psi", and it is a 6 gallon compressor. For a gun I have the stewmac "production" gun. Second question - OK, I have the stewmac COLORTONE waterbase grainfiller, sanding sealer and gloss topcoat. Ive read alot of problems with this and that it is very hard to get perfect, its not very durable, and it is not very glossy (a satin finish??). I am looking for a gloss finish for the body and a satin (or oil) for the neck. I also read that the grainfiller is a waste of time; I want to get some "zpoxy" finishing resin to speed up the process, but am not sure if they are compatible if I go with the waterbase finish. Third question - I'm still debating weather to use some type of satin finish for the neck or tru oil (I have two of the 8oz bottles of it). Ive seen the epic "mahogany and tru oil" thread and learned a lot from jon mattharris and mattia, but are still not sure how to grainfill with it (many coats and wetsanding using truoil as lube, fill with zpoxy, or just lots and lots of coats leveling with steel wool). I am to understand that a satin finish is still more durable than tru oil, and I think that is what I'm after. How do you get a satin finish ? (do I use my waterbase stuff? Can I grainfill using zpoxy?) Fourth question - For the body I want a glossy, hard, fast curing clear finish and I ve read pros and cons for everything... auto-body sprayable "2 part acrylic urethane" came up, I was wondering opinions, and where I could get some. Does anybody have opinions for what would be good for a beginner with no experience and the spray equipment I am using (if its even feasible at all) and where to get those. Fifth question - The body is ash topped with maple, and the neck is mahogany sides with a bubinga middle laminate with maple veneers separating them all, and flame maple binding. clicky. The steps for finishing I am assuming would be - 1. sand to 220 2. clean with vacuum/air sprayer 3. apply zpoxy to mahogany and ash (assuming Im doing a satin on the neck and a gloss on the body) 4. sand and re apply with a more viscous application of zpoxy (can someone tell me how to make this happen?) 5. sand and re apply with a less viscous application of zpoxy using denatured alchohol as a thinner (if necessary for sandthroughs etc) 6. cleanup with vacuum/air sprayer 7. mask off FB and neck and spray body with sanding sealer 8. repeat until satisfied with thickness 9. sand and spray choice of laquer 10. repeat until thickness is right 11. do the same steps for the neck only mask off the body and less coats for satin finish using satin finish. 12. wait 3-4 weeks to cure 13. wetsand/buff - is this the right order of things/right way to do them? sixth question - OK, the stewmac site tells you how to clean the production gun and it seems excessive tedious and kind of intimidating. I will have to practice before I use real finishes but do you actually have to take the gun apart and put everything in lacquer thinner and clean it all up after every coat? seems like by the time you finish cleaning it your almost ready for another coat! Maybe I just seem lazy but I thought Id ask. Sorry for the stupid-long post but I hope someone of you will take the time to read it and help me out cus I'm at a loss right now and want to finally get this thing done! But I will however show you some pictures of this guitar and another project I am working on for my rack. frontal - clicky sideview - clicky flame maple rack spacers - clicky the family - clicky Thanks a bunch for your patience and any thoughts are welcome, looking foreword to some responses!

Thanks alot guys, I appreciate the responses. Rich, when you "wick" the fret, you do it in between hammering the ends and pressing them in? thanks.

Hey everybody, I just started a new project this week and its been the first guitar that I've been happy enough with to keep (no mistakes yet!), I have been "practicing" building guitars for about 2-3 years now. I say practicing because I do not have a finished product yet, hahah. Anyways, I was basically ready for finishing (final sanding and fret leveling) and I went to level my frets. This was my first attempt at it, and like most things, was a learning experience. I ended up either not having a perfectly straight neck or a perfectly level fretboard, and by the time i was done there was hardly any frets left near the nut and the bridge, but full ones in the middle. I mostly realize how to rectify this mistake ( straighten neck, level fretboard and then make sure frets are mostly level before leveling THEM,) but I had a few questions I cant seem to find the answers to. First question would be should I finish the guitar before leveling the frets, or does the steps matter much? I figure an unfinished neck will be more susceptible to warping and maybe I should finish it before taking on this task. Second, Now that ive taken out the old frets (I did not use titebond OR CA, and this is also a bound fretboard, I know some would crucify me for not at least CA'n the ends down but anyway) there are obviously indentations where the tangs/barbs used to be. Is it imperative that I now use CA on at least the fret ends, or could I get by without it? I realize I could try and "miss" the old slots by 1/2 a mm or so but is that enough? I just do not want to use CA because now that the fretboard is glued on (its a set neck with a melted heel, warrior guitars-esque) I cant use my drillpress/fretpress insert to get at the higher frets and using CA is intimidating for me because of the skill involved and using paint thinner and solvent etc, among other reasons. Thanks alot for any insight, and I'll probably have some progress pics in the "in progress" section soon. Thanks again. edit: oh and sorry one more question, I was looking at getting a quality straightedge and wasnt sure where to go... stewmac has their aluminum thing but people seem to either hate it or love it depending on who did QC that day, but lee valley has some cheaper ones that look nice... also how would I check for trueness? would running a piece of say bubinga through my jointer and checking it against that be a good test or no?

Thanks guys, I ll definatly do some searches on cheaper alternatives on tools. The thing about slotting my own fretbaords, is i DO plan on using ALOT of exotic boards, plus I will be doing 7 strings and maybe 8 if I am able. I think I will just do without fancy custom inlay for now, drop almost all of the inlay stuff, save myself a few hundred for now. I ll just do it in steps. Also another question, is tru oil good for fretboards?