lvrpool32

25 minutes ago, ScottR said:

Wow. There's some serious wood porn on display there.

Got any pics of the back?

SR

Finishing up the cavity covers and jack plate today.......

Koa flat top, zebrawood body, flame maple neck, snakewood board, Schroeder gun black hardware.

you don't see the smiley face???

On ‎6‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 1:20 PM, StratsRdivine said:

"........... Also wondering what the market value is for 5A quilt in solid nowdays (prices seem all over the place, but around 175 for 2 sq ft  top blanks).

Great burst job.  Is that gun sprayed or rattle can?  "

A "real" 5A quilted  billet (20" long 6-7" wide, 1-3/4-2" thick) high street price is -$230-$250. I've seen some pieces listed as 5A or "exhibition grade" that where very poor and way over priced. You can find them on ebay now and then and get lucky with the price.

The burst is all paint gun.

thanks....with the cocobolo binding and fretboard the dark red burst seems to work better than the natural.

On ‎6‎/‎6‎/‎2017 at 11:57 PM, StratsRdivine said:

Dayam.  Sweet chunk of redwood.  I bought some "fiddleback" redwood (what Certainly Wood called it) back in '94 in which the waves were nearly 4" crest to crest.  It was the first cuttings of its kind back then, so its good to see it common now.   Your contouring is nice, and pretty interesting cutaway carves.  

Did you make the neck too?  Post more pics - show us the back, headstock, etc (unless this is a tease, and you'll reveal all later).  

Welcome to the forum!  

 

The neck I made too..I will have more pics tonight once the latest coat of tru oil is dry.

23 hours ago, ScottR said:

That is gorgeous! Did the softness of the wood give you any problems?

SR

this was a remarkably "hard" piece of redwood, I've had pieces that felt very "spongy" (kind of felt like balsa wood it was so soft) I sealed it with 2 coats of tru-oil and then tinted clear/straight clear  and it has yet to 'sink", I'll give it a couple more weeks before final buff and assembly incase I need to add a couple more coats.

the 335 is still "in progress". The body is black limba, took a while to hog out all the excess, when I was all done the weight was quite nice. The top I actually bought for head plates and cavity covers because there where some splits in it. I decided to run some thin CA glue into the cracks before re-sawing but the color that came out with the CA on was brilliant...so I fixed all the splits and decided to use it as the top. The neck is flame maple, fretboard and binding is cocobolo.. I went with an aged Schroeder bridge in the end....I hope to finish it off next week.

Padauk body and neck, flame maple top, output jack bezel and headstock veneer, zebrawood pickguard and fretboard, Brandonwound pick-up set.........

2 hours ago, Prostheta said:

. The forearm wear is maybe a little OTT in terms of darkness, however I'm sure that if you play her anywhere nearly as much as she deserves, that should dial itself back into perfection.

 

Thanks for the feedback, it's much appreciated. I agree on the forearm wear, I had made a paste of charcoal, water and pencil lead ..and I got it too dark. A scotch brite and some soapy water fixed it..........

so its pretty much done...the Brandon Wound PAf's are exceptional. Ill do some more detailed pics and specs this weekend.

So I have been working on the top and headstock "appearance". It's funny how I picked this top because it wasn't as "wild" as some of the others but after the tru-oil and nitro...it's really come alive

4 hours ago, Prostheta said:

 

 isn't copper used as a "smush buff" on top of things like Al to produce a smooth filled surface for subsequent layers like chromium (Cr)?

yes they use the copper to fill any small pits and then cut/polish that before nickel then chromium plating 

I have three very nice maple tops for sale, all thick enough for carving (11/16, 13/16 and 7/8) they are rough cut to Les Paul size.

$150 + shipping each (PayPal gift) or all 3 for $400 shipped (PayPal gift)

Yes I used the ExNihilo templates, gives a really nice shape and cuts hours out of the process.

working my way through the back of the guitar....original is on the bottom...

This is an older build of mine, limba body, rosewood neck, cocobolo fretboard, abalone inlays and quilted maple top.

A little bit of the OCD Nick came out with some of the hardware! The original guitar is heavily worn, it's definitely not a "display cabinet queen" and the hardware is both tarnished, peeling and in some places corroded. A lot of today's reproduction stuff is manufactured differently, for example in the 50's they appeared to nickel /chrome plate right onto the aluminum, today they add a layer of copper between the aluminum and nickel. So nearly impossible to get the right "relic" look with these repo pieces. So I sent out the search minions (eBay!!) and found an original 60's tailpiece with the start of the right type of wear... A little bit etching compound, a little scuffing... It's got the right '59 feel! I also found an early 60's toggle switch which has a similar "used" appearance.

some pics of the top carving process....

The late , the GREAT Gary Moore was my "guitar hero", some may come close, but no one matches his talent or tone for me. So I'm going to build my tribute to him, not the guitar he is most famous for..the ex Peter Green Les Paul, but the one known as "stripe", the primary guitar he used for Still Got the Blues and After Hours.
Nice old growth Honduran Mahogany for the neck and body, figured maple top,  an original '58 LP jr Brazilian rosewood fretboard that has been routed to accept the trapezoid inlays from Jim Weyandt at Jam City Guitars (board looks old, not cracked or chipped, but you can see its got plenty of stories to tell, not something you would use on a perfect /fresh LP, but absolutely perfect for what I want to do here),  DJ nitrate inlays and Brandonwound PAF replicas and have the similar "aged" finish. Not normally a fan of signature or collectors choice models, but I'm going to enjoy this build.

36 minutes ago, Norris said:

Very nice! Welcome

Is that top one a resonator?

yes, quilted sapele back, sides, neck, koa fretboard, quilted maple top.

A couple of old builds....