Norris

On 6/15/2020 at 12:31 PM, Andyjr1515 said:

But it's not as much an altruistic desire to share tips and techniques with other builders - but more like the fact that next time I do exactly the same thing, there is absolutely no chance that I would remember what it was I did if I hadn't written it down with pictures to refer back to

I do the same. At the rate of 1 build every 3 years I have no fear of sounding like I'm repeating myself though! 

Gorgeous. The sound holes look very elegant 

I've finished refinishing the neck. There's some relief in the neck, but not much (it's an old-skool single-acting truss rod). So to encourage a bit more relief it's resting under high tension for a few days 

As Andy says, that's just ridiculous! So many curves that make the light do cool squiggly things. I think you've raised the ScottR bar yet again

58 minutes ago, curtisa said:

I think @Norris has a new challenger in the "slowly but surely" race

At least I give regular updates, even if nothing much is going on

Nice save

Is there anything else supporting the headless "head"? Through dowels, screws? I hope the end grain join doesn't come apart 

Congratulations!

I've just downloaded it & had a play. Fantastic work @Polymaker!

It's great that you can save the config

The photo looks very similar to my first build, a telecaster. For that I used a black "thixotropic grain filler" followed by spirit based blue dye

Specifically, Dartfords grain filler supplied by Rothko and Frost here in the UK

https://www.rothkoandfrost.com/wood-finishes-c15/filler-c45/dartfords-thixotropic-grain-and-pore-filler-p73

21 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

I got some from Small Wonder recently (during lockdown) :

http://www.smallwonder-music.co.uk/

Beat me to it

Kudos! I've not been on much for the last few days and to see this suddenly leap to "in" is amazing. Having done a couple of inlays on my build (although trivial compared to yours) I'm very impressed with your stamina, let alone the skill.

I tried a couple of trial routes on scrap when I did mine, and quickly realised that hand cut MOP is never going to exactly match the original artwork. I ended up placing mine over the original artwork as a guide then holding it together with masking tape before scanning the actual pieces onto the computer. My inlays were then small enough to print on large address labels that I stuck on as a routing pattern. I still ran into the same issues of scuffing up the paper, not being able to see the edges very well, etc.

It's going to look spectacular when it's done!

22 minutes ago, Prostheta said:

As soon as it gets a bit old, far less so. Even after the first soak, that looks lovely.

And that's the dregs of an old bottle

So after some fettling with sanding beam, cabinet scraper and my favourite "sandpaper wrapped around a piece of D beading" I got it all nice and smooth to 400 grit. I dusted it off occasionally and played it (the strings have stayed on throughout, loosened for levelling, left under tension for detail sanding) to make sure any rough areas were addressed.

I've just put the first coat of Tru Oil on, applying and wiping for about 30 minutes to let it soak well in 

It's blended in rather well. It's amazing how much your confidence is boosted when you've done it before. It's actually a very nice finish to work with

I'll build up a few coats over the next few days, before I leave it to rest and then knock off the gloss 

Sounds great, looks beautiful. I love that neck pickup sound. The bridge is just pure firebird. Johnny Winter eat your heart out!

9 minutes ago, Crusader said:

Wow you're more domesticated than me! LOL

I have confidence sewing after making a festival flag last year

I made the "rewind" pennant, my wife and a friend made the audio cassette flag. After coping with polyester slipping and wriggling all over the place, denim is a doddle!

Tough choices again! Well done to all the entrants. There is some great talent on display - I'm quite glad my build didn't quite make the finish line this month (there again there's likely to be stiff competition next month too!)

59 minutes ago, Crusader said:

How on earth did you sew those, do you have a miniature sewing machine?

I cut and double stitched the "hems" first to get it to the correct length, then cut strips & sewed along the length inside out, before finally turning them the right way out using a knitting needle to push with

Oh, and then used a thinner knitting needle to get the seam to sit nicely once I'd slipped the sleeves onto the prongs

46 minutes ago, Prostheta said:

I knew I should have clarified "sticky". I was more concerned about the slickness as opposed to whether it had dried or not! 

It was actually very comfortable after I'd de-glossed it with some fine grit sanding (1800 iirc). However it might be some time before it's used in a proper gig situation. Personally I don't mind a gloss neck (I've played my Rickenbacker bass with its gloss painted neck on many gigs, including quite sweaty ones!). Dan, like a lot of people, prefers a matted finish.

39 minutes ago, Prostheta said:

I have an unused Khaya blank sat doing nothing for a couple of years and that stuff is ridiculously light. I almost feel that there's something wrong with it.

I felt the same with the body blank. It felt more like balsa! The body is a different species of khaya to the neck blank - which is a lot more like traditional mahogany. The body wood is also a lot softer, which is why every hole I drilled was immediately reinforced with CA wicking

2 hours ago, Prostheta said:

How sticky was the original finish on the neck?

Not at all. There again it has been a while since it was applied. A few swipes with the shinto rasp and it was gone anyway 

2 hours ago, Prostheta said:

It's a wise choice copying the profile from his favourite player. How we approach the idea vs. the customer's expectations are often quite different.

Absolutely in this case. He thought he wanted a very chunky neck, but after playing it extensively for a few days it set off the tendons in his elbow. Apparently this has happened previously on another guitar. Hence why I got him to choose the neck that he finds most comfortable and copied it as best I could (given the slightly different fretboard widths). There can't be anything worse than having a guitar custom made that you then can't play. At least there was enough meat there to change it to a "known" quantity. It would have been a calamity if it was too thin!

Hopefully we'll end up with a combination of his favourite neck and favourite pickups. His Gibson single cut has humbuckers (good, but not P90s)

Edit: oh, and this guitar is half the weight of his Gibson!

I left a bit of wriggle room. I did very nearly create a low spot but luckily stuck the straight edge on in time, while I had enough high spots elsewhere. I'm now sneaking up on it with a 120 grit sanding beam and the occasional blast with a concave cabinet scraper 

You can make out a few spots that are not quite level yet 

I've had a few things to do, but today I'm getting onto re-profiling the neck.

I asked Dan to choose his most comfortable neck out of his "stable", and he picked a fairly modern single cut LP junior. So the first job was to copy the profile at the 1st & 12th frets with my mitre gauge and transfer it to paper 

Then I put it through my hot laminator to stiffen it and cut it out with a scalpel 

The neck on the Gibson is slightly narrower, especially on the 1st fret. So I adjusted the template to suit and then did the scary bit to that lovely Tru Oil finish...

...quickly followed by a major bit of shinto rasp butchery!

That was a heck of a chunky neck before!

Anyway, rinse and repeat at the 12th fret. That didn't need quite so much removing thank goodness.

Now I'm joining up the two new profiles with my trusty shinto rasp and a straight rule, which should keep me busy most of the day 

1 hour ago, Bizman62 said:

The "pants" look just like those on some comics or even puppet animations.

You could make a prosperous career by stitching jeans and other textiles for doll house hobbyists!

They are like the skinniest drainpipe jeans ever!

I recently bought myself a wall hanger that can take up to 9 guitars. However it came with a warning that the coating on the hangers could react with nitrocellulose lacquer. I think it just affects the accessory (leads, headphones, etc.) hangers, but just to be on the safe side I butchered an old pair of jeans 

I even had to go and buy some orange thread for the proper "look"