Robbinst

Hey guys, I have about 2 weeks left before I head up to the Galloup school so I haven't started any new guitars but I have been working on smaller projects to make some extra cash and I thought you might appreciate this long board I'm making for a friends grandson. He will be receiving this for Christmas. The grandfather owns race cars and has people drive for him. One of his drivers passed away who was close with the grandson. The driver had a flaming skull as sort of a trademark, so the grandfather asked me to include the skull on the deck. I went a little overboard but I couldn't help it and I love the way it came out.

Here Is the Skull the driver used

So lets inlay...

In the board and sanded flush

Looks pretty good but It seems to be missing a lot of detail. Time to break out the wood burning pen

Oh and the grandson is only 9 years old

May I suggest some tulip wood for the tulipcaster...

I love the looks of this wood but its hard to find and probably not too cheap. It would be appropriate, given the name of the guitar though

photobuckets the easiest way to go in my opinion. Just make a free acount and upload pics to your album. They have a IMG link that you just click to copy then paste it in your post here!

-Tyler

Thats funny, I used the exact same headstock shape on my first guitar too! Her over all build is lookin much better then mine turned out though

Lookin forward to more!

The way they look on the back doesn't bother me all that much. If one found them to be too distracting though, they could easily be recessed and fitted with a cover like a tremelo cavity.

Then you could get all mysterious and tell everyone it's a secret when asked what was under the cover.

SR

I was thinking of doing that! It would look much cleaner and be more appealing, at least to my eye!

well done man.

You know- I dont know if anyone else noticed this- but the way the figure is slanted from 7pm to 1pm at an angle- to me that makes this guitar all the cooler. I mean- if the figure was "typical" straight/parallel 6pm to noon alignment- I dont think it would look as good. Amazing how the orientation of the figure affects the final outcome. I dont think I have ever thought about that before- being so used to the "usual" quilte/flame maple tops we all see .

so- was that planned or happy accident?

Went put the template it about every orientation you could think of and this looked the best by far! Had we decide to have the curls cut straight across I think it would have really takin away from the instrument. Im very pleased with the customers choice!

I have no words... just... O_o

Spectacular. The top and the whole thing blew me away! This is really one of the best looking stained tops that I've seen.

re the Hannes - I'm tempted to do an actual A/B with a body that I'm building to test the sound of different necks. I'll have a cheapo hardtail on it, but if I did the routing for the Hannes I could try to see if there is any perceivable difference in sound. (I'm getting the Hannes for one of my builds anyway)

That would be cool to see! Like I said before, my main gripe with the bridge is the way its mounted. That face the hardware makes on the back of the body bothers me to no end. If they came up with an alternate mounting style I'de use these standard on all my builds. Till then hipshot might be my go to.

Im honestly not sure Scott. This is the first time using some of these woods and first time using BK pickups so I cant really tell if the bridge had an affect on its sound. I does have very good sustain which may have to do with the bridge but once again thats just speculation. I enjoy the looks and the feel of the Hannes and Im pretty sure its not hurting the sound at all so I would definitely use it again!

^Thats awesome man thank you!

The redwood build is complete!

Those waves....

Was able to grab a quick demo vid before shipping out this morning. The customer should have it by Wednesday and I could not be more excited to hear what he thinks of it!

Dear lord that burl is fantastic! My jaw dropped a bit when I saw it haha.

Such an appropriate song hahah. I do prefer the natural but the blacks looking sick too!

That is fantastic

Looks like airbrushed true fire!

Thanks! I have enough redwood for a whole nother one peice top, Im trying to decide what colors to try with it next. Open to suggestions

That one of those trapazoidal neck profiles? Did I miss that in the thread?

Chris

yes it is! It feels great too. I was skeptical but I ended up really like it!

Beautiful work Ty. Very Impressive!

Thanks bud!

The guitar has been sprayed! Now I'm just waiting a bit for the finish to cure. Rather then try and take a bunch of pics and use the standard line "Its so much better in person" I figured an HD video would do it more justice. It is from my phone though so please bare with the stupid skinny layout its playing in.

The only thing I would do differently is not dye with black first....and this goes for all figured maple tops as well. Add black to whatever your main top color is to create a very dark version of that---dark blue, deep dark red, dark green--use mohogany to create dark browns for tobacco or orange. Use those for your deep dark sandback colors instead of straight black. This will give just as much pop, but the color will be cleaner with smoother transitions than the straight black will. Straight black tends to create a slightly muddier color in comparison.

SR

I know whatcha mean Scott, I provided the customer with a test of both options and he chose the black under coat so thats the one we went with. Different stokes as they say.

Waiting on the finish process at the moment so in the mean time I started looking at up wiring diagrams Ill need for this build. Ill be doing a vol/pushpull-tone/ 3way toggle and this diagram seems to be what I need

http://www.guitarelectronics.com/product/WD2HH3T11_01/Guitar-Wiring-Diagram-2-Humbuckers3-Way-Toggle-Switch1-Volume0Tone001.html#reviews

The only thing I am unsure of is when I split the coils, which ones will be active. The customer would like the screw bobbins to be the active ones when the push pull is engaged but Im not sure if that is what I will get from this diagram. Could someone confirm this or point me in the right direction?

wow thats crazy! With an order like that I do hope they are takin care of ya!

You are one of my favorite builders on here, this guitar should give everyone a reason why.

Thanks man! That really does mean alot! (still waiting for that neck picture on your build ;cough; ;cough;)

Thanks for the other feedback as well guys, Im really glad to hear you like it!

Welp, Im still not the best painter so Im not gonna spray comissioned builds just yet but my dad thinks hes up for it so Im giving him a test. I have a scrap body that I will give to him along with materials and a paint schedual. If he can give me the glass finish im looking for and the customer approves, Ill have him shoot and buff this one for me. Hes been In the automotive repair business for his whole life and knows how to lay some clear so Im confident he will impress me. In the mean time Ill keep practicing on builds I make for stock.

Nice man. I really need an air filter system, down draft tables, and motivation to vacuum every once in awhile, my lungs are not pleased with my current old dusty shop set up haha.

A few days ago I saw you posted a pic of about 9-10 BK pickups. How much cheaper did they get per pickup since you ordered so many. I would imagine they give you a decent discount right? Im sooo close to putting the set I ordered in this build Im finishing up but the wait is killing me. Im dying to try them out and hear them in person for the first time.

All nice and sanded!

add a little naptha to see the figure better

darken things up a bit

sand back

and.......boom

sorry about the poor picture quality, all I had on me was my phone.

Nice lumber and Im interested to see how your bracing idea works out! Think you could snap a better pic of the neck grain? I have never heard of pernambuco.

I like the looks and the feel of it for sure. I would have been nice to not have to sink it, or to have a low profile option but it wasnt that big of a deal. My only real gripe with it is that the mounting screws enter through the back. I dont think that was necessary and I cant un see the mildly upset face that is on the back of the guitar now.

whoops, meant to put more pics in that last post. The bridge profile was entirely too high so to correct it and make it look a bit sleeker, I recessed it about 3mm into the body. Im happy with the height and feel now.

Before

After

You use the flat trapiziod profile Brett?

Ive been slackin lately. not on the building part but on the posting picture part of it, seems like I'm always in a rush or running lat for somethin. Any ways here they are:

Trapazoid-ish neck profile. Wasnt sure how I would feel about it at first but I actually ended up loving the feel of this neck.

I havnt had a chance to check in this thread in awhile but holy crap that thing is looking good man. Your carving is beautiful and I love the wood combo you got goin on. Nice work!