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mistermikev

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Posts posted by mistermikev

  1. 5 minutes ago, Bizman62 said:

    It is. In the Ivory Museum in Erbach, Germany, there's an ivory ball with can't remember how many (7?) figurative carved balls inside each other - and the balls were loose! Knowing that the tusks of an elephant are only 20 cm/8" thick at the max that ball had to be only about 15 cm/6" in diameter. And that was carved all by hand, power tools weren't invented yet. Well, maybe a treadle powered dentist's drill?

     

     

  2. 2 hours ago, henrim said:

    image.thumb.jpeg.9e753bac40846e2d81d7e8d117594d71.jpeg

    well it's official.  I'm no carver... but seeing this I thought it looked a lot like other 3d printed things I've seen with the carving going so deep... and seemingly having layers underneath layers.  If that is even possible via regular carving tools... man it'd be a colossal effort!  does look an awful lot like wood - enough so to have a number of respectable  luthiers "unsure" anyway (that means y'all and myself included allbiet arguably less respectable)

    thank you for ending the mystery!

  3. 1 hour ago, avengers63 said:

    Your next project. Test those carving skills.

     

    May be an image of guitar

    i saw this on facebook... and it was my understanding that this was 3d printed... which is confusing cause it sure looks like wood.  I know the guy was saying his brother used to carve these... maybe I misunderstood.  that is a rediculous amount of details... but if anyone could pull it off... it'd be @ScottR !!

  4. 2 minutes ago, Bizman62 said:

    Yes I know you weren't, But seeing how the ruler was off in the photo as it was taken rather to show how I did it and remembering I hadn't checked the line afterwards as the pocket was so tight, that's what made me worry.

    hehe, made ya look!

    • Haha 1
  5. 22 hours ago, spindlebox said:

    I couldn't agree more my friend! I love that guitar. It's a little soft but with proper treatment it's gorgeous.

    "little soft" - must.... resist... urge... to... quote... steve... correl..... that's... what.... she......... (head explodes)

    not sure what variety of cedar my acoustic is (western red) but the top on has remained in pretty good shape... that said I take care of my stuff.  the interesting thing is it def has a distinct sound to it.  lots of midrange... 

    cedar comes in so many beautiful shades... I like the natural streaks in that body.  my acoustic has that typical cedar 'olive' look to it.  

    anywho... putting cedar solidbody on my bucketlist!  Looking fwd to seeing your new cedar creation.

    • Like 1
  6. 3 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

    Mike, your comment worried me some so I had to check. The neck seems to be in line with the centerline or at least close enough to fool my eyes.

    oh, I wasn't commenting on that... YOU said "close enough" in your comments... so was just reacting to what you said.  You can never tell via a picture... unless it's REALLY off... I def didn't see that.

  7. "good enough" he says... so a 200lb non binary gender neutral being walks into a bar and says "I will have relations will all beings in this bar if one of you can guess my weight".  from the back of the bar another non binary gender neutral being exclaims "900lbs"!  the 200lb non binary gender neutral being says "that's close enough".  

    I think that might be a non offensive version of that humor... but I could be wrong.  

    well... progress is progress.... and you've made more progress than me this week (and the previous 5 or 6) so bravo!

    • Like 1
    • Haha 1
  8. on the one hand... I feel like it's always a bad idea to try to "clean" an older instrument... no matter how old.  on the other... as a player, if I like a guitar I want it to play like I like.

    afa I can tell... "the strat"'s go for 2-9k and anything beyond just cleaning the neck is going to drop it's re-sale.  add to this... if that is nitro... it can be highly reactive and I would def do some research if you are going to use anything beyond a damp rag.  as a point of illustration... I had to refinish one of my nitro based guitars a while back... I took acetone to it and literally wiped the finish off... down to bare wood.  easiest strip job you could ever do.

    what I see there in the picture is ageing of bare wood where the finish has worn off.  you aren't going to get rid of that by cleaning.  It's going to remain black... very much like ebonized wood... it's not on the surface - it's in the top layer of wood.  the transition between the finish and bare wood likely doesn't "feel" great... but any sanding it is going to make really obvious impact.  any cleaning it risks cleaning solution getting into the poors and again, making an obvious visual impact. 

    the fact that it's chipped like that and the wood is exposed... means it is more than likely nitro.  afa sealing that wood... all the things that would re-seal it well are going to ruin the value even if done professionally.

    again... I would gently clean this and keep as is... or measure and buy a "player" neck to put on while keeping the original "as is".  just one aholes o.

     

  9. 10 hours ago, AbramT80 said:

    Working on a carved top guitar, looking to add some sort of figured maple (preferably quilted, but anything with a lot of figure). I don’t want to break the bank, if I can I want to keep it around $75 with shipping (I know that’s a big ask). Where do you guys source your guitar tops? 

    here's my short list of where I think you could look:

    jlcraftwood is a user on evilbay... https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?item=314846027349&rt=nc&_trksid=p4429486.m3561.l170197&_ssn=jlcraftwood

    woodtoworks.com/en-us

    kimballhardwoods.com/

    curlymaple.com

    curlymaplewood.com

    hearnehardwoods.com

    etsy.com/shop/Downhomewoods

    etsy.com/shop/ElwoodMusic

    gilmerwood.com

    exoticwoodzone.com

    • Like 1
  10. 6 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

    Yepp, that triangular boomerang thing starting from the end of the fretboard looks like a pickguard to me. Then again, the upper corner of a full width tenon would be visible with that.

    Right on, wasn't sure if you saw that.  with a thinner tenon... that upper edge of the neck might look a bit more clean too as the joint in theory is a bit more hidden.  that said, i'm sure it'd be fine.

  11. well I see a few issues but I suppose nothing is impossible.  probably the biggest issue is going to be scale length.  a guitar kit is going to be somewhere in the 24.75 to 25.5 range and typical bass is 34 or more.  so you could slap a bass neck on a guitar body... but this would change where the bridge should be so if it's drilled already... might not be able.  you could just put bass strings on a guitar but a 25" scale bass is pretty small and as mentioned tension could be a real issue.

    the second big problem is going to be strength.  bass strings put a lot more tension on a body than guitar.  some 335 designs have a center block... so shouldn't be an issue... but some are full hollow... and I don't see that working at all.    Have not built a 335 bass, nor looked at one... but I imagine if it's full hollow you'd need a lot more bracing.  

    those would be my biggest concerns.

     

  12. 52 minutes ago, JGTay said:

    ty.  I think @Andyjr1515 ? maybe mentioned it to me... that I should submit... and at the time I was a bit embarrassed that I had submitted a couple weeks before and never heard anything... so assumed I lost.  Then out of the blue I got an email.  very nice surprise.

    • Like 1
  13. well if that's the worst thing that happens to ya this life... u r probably in good shape!  somedays u r the windshield... and other days the bug.  finish crying and get back to chipping wood.  9/10 folks aren't going to notice when it's done anyway.  

    the burl is looking very nice.

  14. On 7/28/2023 at 1:07 AM, Hawkhandler said:

    Never built a guitar before but I have some woodworking knowledge and the tools. The plan is outlined below but I don’t know where to start. Clearly there are templates for more cookie cutter build but if I can’t customize how I want then what is the point?  I’m sum, where should I start?

    Les Paul DC body

    Dual humbuckers

    neck thru construction

    24 frets

    string thru with TOM bridge

    body wood will be mahogany, no cap, no binding. I’m considering cherry for the neck and Ebony fretboard. I’d like to keep the Gibson style head but it would be great if I could get the strings over the nut with less or no kink. Additionally I’d like to add a zero fret.  Appreciate any and all help. Thanks in advance  

     

     

    where to start - well we all have been there.  analysis paralysis... I still get it all the time but I find if I just put one foot in front of the other and start going in a direction... I'll immediately get a better sense of what I need to do!  

    for me... building always starts with design.  Even if it's as simple as taking pictures of exhisting guitars and chopping them up into "my version"... it's good to have some sort of plan.  for a dc body, altho I've never built one... I am keenly aware of the complications where the neck meets the body.  Those necks are typically at an 1.5-4.5degree angle to give enough height at the saddles to fit a tom under.  doing a neck through is sort of going to complicate... or simplify things depending on how you look at it.  the center stock is going to have to be pretty thick to cut out a body and then an angled neck... if you get my drift.  

    so I would start there... you need to know what scale length you are doing (24.75 or 24.625 is pretty typical for a dc)... and what the saddle height is going to be at the intonation line.  I would start by making a sideview drawing.  doesn't have to be complex... just a 1/4" rectangle to illustrate the fretboard (maybe start out using fret2dfind to make a fretboard with your nut and saddle string widths... and given 24 frets let that dictate the length of your fretboard).  make some little squares to sit on top of that and represent frets - at the height of the fret wire you intend to use. then draw a line to sit on top of those frets and run parallel to the fretboard... and make it the length of your intended scale length.

    then maybe dig up a dc guitar plan (there are lots of them on the net) and measure the body length... now draw a rectangle to represent your side view of your body... with your intended thickness.  

    now draw a rectangle to represent your saddle height.  

    take the body and saddle and use a graphics program to rotate them to 1, 2, 3, and maybe 4 degrees... until the bridge/saddle fit under the string.

     

    gibson headstock with a straight string pull... well the only one of those I am aware of is the flying v!  it's not really possible to have the typical mustache headstock and still maintain straight pull.  you could modify it... but it has to get thinner towards the top.  I do however like that you started off trying to achieve the impossible!! (gibby headstock w straight string pull)

     

    hope there is something above you can use!!

  15. 33 minutes ago, curtisa said:

    If all the axis does is move forwards and backwards between the same two points all you'll likely see is that the overall motion will be shorter than expected by the backlash amount. A tool moving in a 1" square pattern might come out with 0.98" edges for example. But of course we do all sorts of weird curvy motions when CNC-ing a guitar body, so it gets weirderer quickly.

    Depending on the software it might be able to enter backlash compensation values if you know how sloppy the machine might be. The software will then add extra steps to each change of direction to pick up the missing slack in the background. But you have to know what that slack is to begin with, which may be non-trivial to establish if you can't get your hands on the equipment to measure it with.

    right on, I appreciate the answers as always.  I'll stop derailing the thread now lol!  thank you thank you.

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