CDH

Thanks for the comments. I see a little bit what you mean about the abalone. Though, I was happy how the inlay turned out on the ebony truss rod cap on the 7-string and the LP headstock. I guess the abalone needs a sharp contrast to work better. I actually saw a similar brass headpiece that another builder bought for his headless 7-string project. I tried to find one to buy, but had no luck. So, I had no choice but to fabricate my own. Much more rewarding in the end.

Thanks for the welcome! I did use Solarez on the last two builds (the chopping block guitar and the 7-string). I like that it didn't add 3 extra months to the build, but the Solarez can be finicky. Because it has to flow out for ninety minutes, it can get a little thin in places and I kept sanding through, or even more frustrating, buffing through. One thing I'm learning is that I need to be a little more diligent with my wood prep sanding. Obviously, a smoother, flatter wood surface will give me a more uniform covering of the resin. For the travel guitar I'm going to use Tru-Oil. I used Tru-Oil on the EVH kit's neck and the arch top pickguard. I'll be posting pictures soon.

Hi all! I'm new to the forum and new to guitar building as well. A little less than two years ago, I decided to try my hand at building guitar kits. I had turned 50 a year earlier and although I hadn't seriously played guitar in almost 30 years, I thought I might take up playing again and start a new hobby to boot. In April of 2016 I received my first two kits and dug right in. My idea was to see how things worked out on less expensive kits. If all went well, I would invest in a custom kit from Precision Guitar Kits and build my dream LP. Well, the first kits went well enough that I did pull the trigger on the PGK LP. What a fine instrument that one turned out to be. However, it would be my last kit because the next three guitars would be from scratch…and I’ve never looked back! I am posting here a video that I made recently that shows my first year of building these six guitars. It’s a compilation of the photos I took while building them. The original music I composed and play on the video is recorded with the actual guitars that I built. In the future, I’m looking forward to reading about and discussing building experiences with other luthiers on this forum. I travel a lot for work, so the building has slowed a bit, but I have just completed my design and templates for a travel guitar. Stay tuned! Chris