Robbinst

Yup, body mounted bareknuckles!

Attacked the top with full force today and actually got it carved up pretty nicely!

I think Im looking for something like what RADs using. A nice router jig to get the flat taper I need while having good control and visibility of the cut. Neck pocket day! These BK pups are going to look great in this thing!

Just checked it out Chris. I like it alot. I will have to get in touch with you once I get back from school to see if you still have any. Cant afford it right now unfortunitily. Killemall- Fretboard/ taper is no big deal I have a jig to cut the taper on the FB then I glue it on an rough cut the neck. after that is a matter of a few minutes with some 80 grit and I have it nice and straight. Its the thicknessing of the neck that always annoys me. The profile thinkness as you called it. Im always worried the blade will move and cut in too deep towards the bottom side where I can not see.

Also how about a jig for the thickness taper on the neck. My band saw drives my nuts and always leaves me with a ton of sanding clean up to get the desired thickness. Im using a 3/4 ripping blade but I dont trust the cuts its giving me so I cut a decent distance from the line. Any suggestions?

Interesting.. Pics por favor?

...and now...more pics! Nothin better then a nice invisible scarf joint neck pocket, bridge placement, and pup cavities on deck!

I know what your saying Chris, but I know they will be able to show me some tips and tricks to help me do stuff quicker. One of my main issues is time. I have no plans on learning to rush my builds but I would like to work more efficiently. I need to get my hours down to see any kind of profit. The Duality and the Seven were my first comissioned builds but I cant really say I made any money on them because they took me so long to make. Im getting quicker on my own as this new build (redwood/ebony) has only two weeks into it but I think the school will help even more. Plus its highly encourraged to take as many pictures, notes, and measurements as you can of all the jigs they have at the school so that you can recreate them and improve your output. I know theres plenty of jigs online but they always seem to fall to the back of my todo list when I get stuck or cant quite figure it out, Its just how I am in that department, I want to know what to build exactly to get it done and get back to actual guitar work. Once I get back I will have a clearer plan of what I need to buy, what I need to make, and how much money it will take to achieve that. Also Just having people there getting paid to answer every question on the spot is something I look forward to. You guys are very helpful but I hate to ask too much of anyone ya know. Anyways I worked hard for a year and saved the cash and its something Im looking forward to and do not think I will ever regret going as this may be the only oppertunity I ever have. Thanks for the advice and your willingness to help though!

Rad it was $6500 for the journeyman program that I am taking. It will cover setup, repairs, pickups, an electric and acoustic build, and business start up, so I mean for the experience as a whole I did not think that was unreasonable. Galloup has been teaching for over 25 years and is well respected, I have heard alot of good things about him. Also as I mentioned the school will cover a complete acoustic build which is what I would like really focus on and be known for. It will help me greatly to build one under someones guidence prior to investing in all the extra tools jigs and materials. Plus they are highly focused on setup ups and making the guitar play as well as it can. If you finish a step early your encouraged to perform setups on one of many guitars the have available for teaching purposes. Once I sharpen my skills a bit, Ill be able to make some more cash offering those set up services as well.

SL- Thanks man, feel free to use it! Its deffinitely alot less of a headache then trying to bend delicate wood or being stuck with an annoying glue seem. Just spend the extra time sanding to get a close fit, it will be worth it when the glues dry! That is a reall good idea for the binding, while still not easy, its much simpler then I had originally thought. Nice idea! Verhoevenc- I have been done college for about two years now and for those two years I have been working as a busboy 5 nights a week and in my shop 6 days a week. I could use the 8 week break to get out of my routine for a bit. Its going to be an experience. I have never been away from home for more then a week, I commuted to college and still live at home. This will give me a good feel of what its like to be on my own. It will also allow me to make new contacts in the business and could possibly lead to an apprenticeship or a job. Students who are able to impress the instructers could potentially be sent to well known/respected luthiers to continue their studies. I figure If I can come this far on my own in two years of serious building that I could really do something special with proper training. I would like to make a living doing this and I know it wont be easy but with a name like Galloup in backing me I may have more of a chance. Even if I am unable to make it, I will always have lutherie as a hobby and its something I want to push as far as possible.

Bindings done and Im pretty happy with it! one flaw where the ebony had chipped but thats with in a carving zone and will be removed

The build vids are an awesome idea, I may have to make one eventually, I just dont know how to do all the editing/ music stuff . I hope It catches on around here it would be awesome to see every one actually working with stuff as well as the regular update pics.

What kind of finish did you use on this? I had some similar fading issues on a headstock that I dyed recently, I blamed it on the epoxie sealer I used but I dont know for sure what caused it. It is very frustrating to say the least. I do like the color you ended up with though, its a shame it came up alittle blotchy.

Very very nice work man. So clean! I really hope those inlays were not all by hand as I would worry about your mental well-being after cutting so many pieces, haha

I have no idea. Its probably about 30 years old though so its got a bit of wear and tear haha.

The request was made to bind the face plate with the curly redwood and if you dont know, it is extremely fragile so bending it would be a nightmare. Another issue was routing the binding trench. The design calls for such a sharp point that my router would absolutely destroy it no matter how careful I was. So instead of taking that risky path, I asked around and decided remaking the faceplate only thicker and binding it off the guitar would be much safer. I still had the issue of bending the red wood though. After some thought I figured out a way to bind the face plate with one piece of redwood. No bending, no pieced binding glue joints, just a nice solid, clean boarder. Im pretty proud of the result!

^ wow that looks like it was difficult to do. Doing full side blocks was tricky enough I would want to do halfs. Playing with some stain. Customer wants a shade inbetween these two

Thanks Scott! Ajax- I dont think its a vik idea, I have not come across one that he has done like it yet. I have seen it befor though Im just not sure where. It was the customers idea to use for this build.

So In order to earn some last minute cash for school I took on one more Vik style build. It will have: -Curly redwood top bound in ebony -Black limba body -Rose wood neck -Ebony fretboard -24 frets, 25.5" scale -BK Humbuckers -1vol/ 1 push-pull tone/ 3 way switch -Bourns and switchcraft electronics Pics

Good advice RAD. I didnt see it like that before but what youre saying makes sense. I dont take things personal as I am aware I dont know everything. Other peoples honest opinions and ideas are always welcome! Thats why I post haha!

Sorry for the double post but I forgot to mention this. Last week me and my dad drove up to big rapids michigan to check out the Galloup school of Lutherie. I will be taking their journeyman program which is 8 weeks total and covers the construction of both an electric and an acoustic guitar. I was alittle worried when I got there because the place looked pretty small compaired to what both me and my dad were thinking but after going inside we were both pleasantly suprised. First of all, every one was very nice and more then welcoming to us. I was worried we might have been annoying asking for a tour and stopping them from what they were working on but they were more then happy to show us around and answer any question we had. The shop is so clean and organized and it has the perfect amount of space. There is a front room for like finalized work, a mid section where about 20 student benches are set up each stocked with the tools youll need. The have a spray both, cnc room, a setup station, and a back room with all the huge machinery and stock of lumber. There was about 15 people work on various things through out the shop and there was not a spec of dust or any kind of mess any where. It was beautiful haha. Towards the end they showed us a couple guitars made by Brian that were absolutely stunning. I was nervous to even look at them as they were worth about $12,000 each. I brought the seven string that I just posted pics of, in order to show Brian Galloup and although he was busy and I did not get to meet him, I was able to show the other instructors and they were impressed. It was a really great feeling to hear that from them after all the effort I put into it. This trip has made me even more excited then I already was to attend the school. These next 3 months of waiting are really going to drag now. Has anyone else attended any of the schools programs or had the chance to see it? Im curious to hear other's experiances with Galloup.

Thanks guys! I cant claim that carves as it is a Vik design but I plan on using some of them with my own shapes soon. Scott- You are correct the body is black limba. I have another build starting up using the same wood for the body with an equally nice grain pattern. This stuff is great to work with!