Drak

E-mail me, or send me a private message, I'll show you what you can do with those strips.

If you looked up the word 'fake-out' in the dictionary, a picture of a photo-flame would be there...

1 = Not True. I get my BEST results by dying the wood directly. How the hell ya gonna (Mr.) 'stain black then sand back' over top of a finish? Even if you don't wanna do that, I find that water-based anilyne dyes are THE most colorful, I call them the 'comic book colors', and I always use water-based stains directly on the wood to get my basecoat color. I do, however, sand up to 2000 or 4000 grit on bare wood first, buffing the raw wood up to a true 'mirror' finish first...but there are folks out there who will tell you you shouldn't do THAT, as the finish can't really 'adhere' to the wood properly when it's sanded up that high. Bullshit. The truth is, there are -lots- of ways to color and bring out the figure of figured Maple, I'm not sure there really is a 'best'. Your quoted way works too, but it's not a good idea to apply any finish directly over oil, you usually have to let the oil dry a looong time first, then apply a de-waxed shellac coat (barrier coat = separation coat) between the oil and nitro or poly. I did some testing like that, using Tru-Oil first, then shellac, then finish, I didn't notice any particular improvement, although some others may, I don't claim to have the corner on anything, but I don't like using so many different finishes on top of each other, but again, that's just me... And yes, to get shader coats, you mix alcohol or metallic-based dyes in with shellac or lacquer or poly, that's how I do my edge 'bursting. If you are using water-based finish, you use water-based dyes mixed in with them to get your toners, or 'shader' coats... You can (and I have experimented with) doing the whole thing in water-based dyes before applying any finish at all , base coat and bursting, all in waterbased dyes on bare wood, but I've found I like my 'bursts better when shot as a shader mixed in with my lacqer, and my basecoats in water-based dye applied directly to the wood. Again, just my way... When you mix shaders in with your finish, you are always darkening up the look, even with transparent dyes, the more you shoot, the more you are 'covering up' the wood, and I don't like to do that either, only when doing 'bursts, but that's just the way I've found that I'm happy with. There are lots of other ways...

Maybe that Collen guitar is natural, but it doesn't quite represent what I consider natural Mahogony. I would say that NM is more a lustrous honey-gold color. That Collen guitar looks kind of reddish or something...maybe it's just a dark pic or something...

Try looking in your local yellow pages under 'Hardwoods', or 'Wood Suppliers', then find any that use the word 'hardwoods'. Thats a step in the right direction.

This might be a good time to try some Lace Sensor 'Dually's'. A guy on another forum is getting amazing overdriven tones with his LS Hot Golds, I have a set of those already, and a guitar (hanging/drying now) to put them in. But he also swears by these 'duallys' (HB's) too. Lace Sensors (I think) got a rather bad rap when they were put on Fender guitars, but they are starting to turn the tide, I've read a LOT of really good things about a few of their models in the past year. And they're pretty affordable. PS, I just shot the finish coats on this guitar yesterday, and JEESUS, it came out WAY better than I expected, I'm LOVIN' it! Each guitar I learn a little more about finish coats, toners, 'bursts, shading, etc... I've added a technique I saw Bob Benedetto use on his archtop (from his video series) when he was demonstrating shooting his finishes. It's paying off.

I agree with Scott. Mahogony is really sweet left just the way it is. 'Maybe' a coat or two of shellac first to give the pores a bit of character... David McNaught (extremely high-end custom builder) does that...quilted dyed tops with the Mahogony left completely natural.

Lord help the fan that rushes -your- stage, mate! I expect your installing case-hardened steel pin inserts on all exposed points? PS, It looks terrific.

I have all of my re-cones done by WeberVST. You might have someone local to you tho... No way to re-wire to 8, but your mismatch is at 100% right now, it 'should' be OK, try not to max it out tho...hard on the OT. Old Fender OT's were heavy duty and could stand a 100% mismatch OK, I'm not sure how well built the OT's in more recent amps are...

If the voice coil overheated and fried, or got thrown off-center and jammed, the speaker would still look 'normal', but be roastie-toastie. Say bye bye Just pull it apart and have a look-see, if a wire came off, it should be pretty obvious. If the wires are connected and connected well, at both ends, speaker is probably gone. You could also look on the back side of the connectors, you will see the two wires going to the voice coil, if either one of those came off, that would do it too. Be careful, they're kinda delicate...

It would be a waste of a lot of wood bleach to do the whole thing before you glued it down. I wouldn't do that. Wood bleach is very caustic, and you don't want it dribbling all over the place. Use a respirator and latex gloves if you do use it. May sound a bit complicated, and to tell the truth, it is. But that's where you start to learn. A simpler approach would be to just glue the veneer down normally. Sand the raw wood up to 4000 grit using Abralon sanding pads so the wood shines like a mirror when you're done. Put a finish on it. Spray a blue toner mixed in with your finish over it once you've levelled the finish. It won't look anything like what I outlined above, but it will still look very nice. You could also apply the veneer, buff the wood up to 4000, wipe on your stain, wipe it off, apply finish, and boom, you're done. If you want to do all black, this would work fine. Just different looks/approaches. You have to decide how deep you want to plunge in and how much prep time you're willing to spend to have a drop-dead gorgeous look. You would get so much veneer in that bundle, you would have tons of extra veneer scraps to glue a few pieces down to some scrap wood and try out all the options before you ever glue a piece of veneer down to the guitar. This is called practicing on scrap, and it is recommended. You don't want to be experimenting on the real thing. Having to remove veneer that's already glued down to your guitar sucks. And stellar-looking finishes don't (usually) come on the very first attempt, you've got to put some time and experience and a little trial and error into it beforehand. ...But that's why we're here! Give it a shot.

Went to see Thin Lizzy last night in VA (JAXX Nightclub) It was really the 'Scott Gorham Show', as he was the only original member there, but that's really why I went anyway. The guy's still got it, and the show brought back a flood of memories from me youth! I figured this might be the last time I get a chance to see him up close (like, 5 feet away)...I can't see them doing continuous tours for long, probably a one-off tour... It was interesting to watch John Sykes do very VoWWeLLy Lynott vocals. You could watch his mouth and see how he tried to mimic Lynott's voicings by overexaggerating the words, he did a fair enough job of it tho. WOW! Actual rippin' guitar solos again! OOPS! Wrong Forum...Oh Well...

Well, just if you want to do anything with it besides an 'earth' tone (yellow, red, brown, etc.) If you want to do blue, you want it as white as possible to begin with. Bleaching veneer can be tricky. You've really got to have it bonded extremely well to the substrate, or it will try to lift or bubble in spots. Lifts or bubbles drive me INSANE! You run into the same problem when using water dyes on veneer too, ya gotta wipe it off and keep it to a minimum as best you can...I've had veneer lift just by shooting finish on it. It can be a pain, but for what you get if it comes off right, it's worth it. Veneers are some of the best looking woods going these days, 'figure'-atively speaking, so it's worth it to get the hang of veneering and staining it. It is a tricky process, but it can be done. You want to really let the bleach settle in as much as possible to get the most bleaching effect, but the longer and wetter the veneer is, the more chances it has to start to lift. It's a tradeoff bleaching veneer... But I wouldn't let any of that stop me, that's how you learn...and veneer is cool because you usually get enough to do several tries if it goes south on you... Also, if bleaching veneer and you intend to do the 'stain and sand back' thang, then what I do is to do the stain and sand back first, THEN bleach it, because as you are sanding back, you can sand thru the bleached parts back into unbleached wood...(a little tricky) and it can come out somewhat mottled. AND, wood bleach has very little to no effect on anilyne dyes, so it will bleach the wood underneath the dye, but affect the dye very little! Crazy, ain't it? But, once again, there's a tradeoff. And it is again, the wetter you leave the bleach, the more it will 'weep', or 'drag' the dye into unwanted parts of the wood. When doing the stain and sand back thing, when you are done sanding back, you want a nice 'crispness' to the dye left in the figure. I've used my airbrush to 'shoot' the bleach on, so it wouldn't 'drag' the dye with it... You do it a few times and you start to get the hang of it, how much dye to use, how much bleach to use to have it come out the way you want it. But to me, this is where all the fun is, in learning the techniques involved and mastering (yeah, right!) all of these different processes to be able to bleach and dye veneers and have a stunning '10+' top... PS, if the Maple is light enough, sometimes you can get away with not bleaching it, but it almost always makes blue look better if you start out with 'as white as you can get it'. Nice veneer! Hey wes, that 'blue then grey' thing is a great idea, I am going to give that a shot on something, thanks!

The Lacewood I've had was as soft as Redwood, really soft stuff. You might be able to use such woods if you split it up into 3 sections, but that would probably ruin the figure you're probably going for... Zebrawood might be another option, but Zebrawood is also -really- heavy stuff. Cherry would be great also, but I don't think it has the crazy figure you're probably looking for... I think what you would want to find is a piece of highly figured Mahogony, Cherry, or Maple. One thing to remember tho, is any wood that is highly figured is also (usually)prone to movement and warpage, "to some extent"... The last thing you want on a neck... If you used Lacewood, used 3 different slabs with the grain going perpendicular to each other, and used a good hard stiff 'board, like Ebony, ...might work... What the hell, do something crazy and let us know what happens! Experimentation is always fun, tho not always usable.

I have never used water, that sounds like an old wives tale or something... A high-quality (no cheap stuff) router bit is all that's really needed. To minimize any chance of tearout, start your 'hogging out' route in the middle, and 'shave' your way to the outside edges. Most router bits I buy are around $25.00, give or take. If you're buying an $8.00 router bit, you're buying the (cheap) wrong one!

Quartered Paduak would be a good choice. You don't see it often, but it's a great wood. Warmoth offers it, and I bought one and like it a lot. Koa also (if you can find quartered Koa) Rosewood would weigh a ton, but we all know that right? Q'ed Purpleheart Q'ed Myrtle

Redwood is extremely soft...softer than Basswood even... You can take your thumbnail at least 1/8" into it without even trying hard.

Funny you mention the JB, that's what came in it factory, I still have it... The 85's not a bad idea, I have a spare lying about, you think 2 85's maybe, or 85/81? I've never used an 81 although I have an 85 in another guitar in the bridge...

Hey all. I have in the spray booth (meaning hanging from a tree branch!) right now an old guitar I bought many many moons ago. It's a Kramer from the '80's. It came stock w/ a bridge-only HB and a Floyd. I've taken some uhhh, 'liberties' with it, and added a neck HB route. So, I think it's going to be a challenge to find some HB's that will sound great in this thing (solid 1-piece Maple body, Floyd equipped) Talk about no bottom end, does it get any worse? I'm taking suggestions on this one...

Lawdy Lawdy! Can I get a witness? Those are some gorgeous guits! (Looks like Ed Roman/McNaught stuff?)

I only have a single CD player. It's ancient, (Nakamichi) but it's never broke down, so we'll keep using it until it does. In there right now? Roy Buchanan. Mah main Tele-man.

I thought the Fred was 'all about' the harmonics, they supposedly jump off the strings almost unasked. True?

PICS! PICS! We DEMAND PICS! (and a good story to go with 'em) WELCOME!

Not to topic-hijack, but I wanted to ask this question more clearly (for me anyway) Does anyone make a piezo Floyd, or can you replace the saddles on a Floyd w/ piezo saddles, and has anyone here done it, and what is the best system out there to use? I would be very interested in doing this if it can be done. Extra routing don't bother me none... I haven't installed any piezo systems yet, but I had plans to do one pretty soon, and figured I was relegated to using a TOM guitar to get the job done, but I'd like to put one on a Floyd if it can be done successfully. Thanks!

Not really talent, that look is in the wood itself. It was really more about not screwing up an already-good looking thing I think... Just dogged perseverence really. If it don't ~move~ me, then I move to grab my sander to sand it all off and try again. And again...and again...until it 'does' finally ~move~ me. It's just the 'stain black and sand back' technique, I think there's a tutorial here on doing that...I use that technique on almost everything I do these days, I really like the look. Thanks for the nice words!