mistermikev

6 minutes ago, MiKro said:

@mistermikev,

This is looking good Mike. You are doing very well so far with the cnc and learning. Your learning curve is getting smaller each day.

I commend you. Many take a long a time to master where you are. While I am not saying you are at a master level yet, you are gaining ground on these areas. Keep up the learning and questions

Mike.

you can't possibly know how much that means to me, and esp to hear that from someone as talented as you Mikro.  I'll try to live up to that.  If I'm doing well, I owe all of it to you (and @Curtisa too) - you've been a huge help and I'm very thankful. 

51 minutes ago, Drak said:

Totally agree on that.

I have always really disliked anything chrome or nickel and in 25+ years (maybe 30 now) have never built a guitar with silver hardware, ever.

Typically nearly everything I built was with gold, but have nicely adapted to black hardware too in recent years.

So, I feel ya.

What I did to adapt was to learn to shoot finish (since I seemingly was born with a spray gun in hand) to adapt.

For small pieces, I use an airbrush with thinned lacquer, larger pieces get the pint gun (I never use a quart gun for anything).

I have faux sprayed all kinds of hardware to adapt to the situation at hand.

You name it, tuners, bridges, tailpieces, knobs, pickup pole pieces, pickup covers, etc.

Pretty much any piece of guitar hardware I've shot it to adapt it.

Even real (new) gold hardware I usually clearcoat with an airbrush to keep it fresh.

I can usually shoot a light layer of brown over cheap gold hardware to make it look more like real (deep) gold.

I've got guitars over 20 years old with gold hardware that looks absolutely brand new due to a thin layer of lacquer.

Here's a pic of a set of Bill Lawrence L-550's that I sprayed the (silver) blades red to match the guitar with an airbrush.

I think I replaced those silver screws with black ones after this pic.

Which is one of my 'metal' guitars that I usually keep in some version of dropped tuning.

 

So, this is your way to adapt, I love it when people are pushed to adapt their own way and am looking forward to see what you come up with.

 

 

right on and thank you very much for the response.  is a nice look on that guitar and a lovely build.  will keep that in mind for when a build calls for it. 

side note: have often thought of trying gun blue on frets to turn them black(ish).  I don't have anything against silver... just sometimes wish there was such a thing as black frets!!  wish jescar would get on that!

for this one... going to try to use as much of this lovely blue turquoise as I can (already paid for!) and always trying to push to things I haven't done yet.  pickup covers is def on that list. 

18 minutes ago, komodo said:

There we go, some @Drak action.

@mistermikev, loving your tenacity at the CNC and inlay. Hating the math. The tiny letters are getting mind boggling.

thank you re tenacity and for the reply.  it(cnc) has made me take a step back quite a few times so far so have to charge full steam when I can!!

letters - they are super small... and tbh I have a really hard time handling them with my giant sausage fingers!  initially broke a letter just trying to pick it up! 

at some point I'm going to have to do some letters in maple... i have a feeling that will hold it's own challenges.  (Perhaps an opposing grain veneer will keep me from too much trouble - just thinking out loud).

thank you again for taking the time fellas!

48 minutes ago, ADFinlayson said:

Looking good. Masking tape on the back fo the inlay and on the backer, few tiny drops of super glue will be plenty to hold it down, then when you go to remove, twist don't lift

thanks brother that's pretty much what I've been doing (using masking tape/superglue trick)... and then "don't breath while you use a scalpel to pick them up"!  

adventures in tiny letters... these things are so incredibly delicate... had to use "the force" to not break them getting them into a bag.  I've now got logos, .25" dot markers, .09375" side dots, .4" 'Twang Master', and .175" pickup pole piece covers.  Have never liked the silver pickup poles of single pickups clashing with gold hardware... so going to attempt to make maple pickup overlays with recon turquoise pole pieces.  Next up I need to make letters for the toggle switch washer and there will be some very thin lines forming a circle around the design.  Then a switch tip and am planning recon "dome inserts" for my gold knobs with wood letters inlaid into them.  Was up late last night cutting these in hopes of getting to milling my neck this or next weekend.

21 hours ago, mattharris75 said:

Got through my robot combat event and got back to working on the mandola.

Sanded the runs out of the back and sides and need to put on a really thinned out coat of Tru Oil and see if that will be enough to call it good.

Then I sanded the top and the front of the headstock from 2400 through 12000 micro mesh then polished with 3M Finesse It and Meguires Mirror Glaze. It's not perfect, but I think it looks pretty good. It has a nice shine, but it still manages to look thin, showing just a tiny bit of the grain through. And that's pretty much what I was going for.

 

So, get a thinned coat on the rest of the instrument, wax, attach the pickguard, re-assemble, and call it finished...

lovely stuff!

i remember these guitars... and the 'crackle finish' craze.  don't care for that color... but always kind of like the crackle finishes esp on some of the jackson/esp.  They (epi crackle) have sort of an underground following and get $250-450 in decent condition.  Might want to re-think the refin and consider selling it on evilbay and buying something more to your liking... just sayin'.  Someone somewhere is bound to love that color scheme (perhaps a stryper fan).  If you refin it - it will be worth much less when done.

all that said... I wouldn't go near the binding with heat as the cheaper epis tend to have thin/chinese binding that will melt if you look at it wrong.  I wouldn't do stripper either as that will def make short work of binding.  The only way I see you getting that finish off w/o ruining the binding is with good old fashioned sanding.  And I suspect that finish is going to be really thick.  Further, I wouldn't expect the top under that to look nice.

just one knucklehead's o.

8 hours ago, Gogzs said:

As @Bizman62 said, depending on what you get, either individual ferrules or string block, that will be the only place where the strings touch the metal, so if you go with ferrules, your ground wire needs to touch all 6 ferrules for proper grounding. 

I'll soon be at the point of deciding on a bridge, and I don't mind the tricky height adjustment, once set up I don't plan to change much so a longer setup in exchange for a comfy bridge, I can live with that. But yeah, the 3D-6 is probably the comfiest bridge I had under my hand, feels insanely awesome when palm muting... ahhh, decisions. 

I wondered about that with this bridge given that the saddles are a graph tech mystery material.  I am facing a similar issue (in my head) with my bass as I contemplate a wooden bridge. 

Maybe y'all have thought of this but some things to consider: A) if you are grounded only to one string... not the end of the world... but obviously unless you are touching that string you get the ground hum.  It's actually pretty hard to not touch the high E(at least for me)!  B ) if you use a brass nut... problems solved.  ground is applied to one string and transfered to the others via the brass nut.

54 minutes ago, ScottR said:

This is my current favorite. Good looking, and good adjustability. Again, I don't know that I buy into the full contact tone voodoo, except for one point. Once the set up and intonation is done there is a side set screw that locks everything together. Rock solid.....and pretty much the opposite philosophy of the Hannes.

SR

I hear ya... is a very pretty design and quite functional and well thought out.  I wouldn't say I buy into the tone voodoo either but I'm certain that every little thing helps.  If it's a .00000001% difference... great.  More importantly that bridge is so comfortable, and amazingly stable afa tuning.  I get your point about opposite... and it illuminates something I didn't realize was a selling point for the hannes - stability but complete separation between strings.  That could be cool.  thanks for that.

Just now, ScottR said:

Impressive work and perseverance.

It seems like the last time I did any inlay work I super glued it to the backer and then used a heat gun to release it. It might not have been CA, but it was certainly a glue that let's go when heated.

SR

thank you sir.  I thought about releasing the backer by soaking in acetone... or just degrading the veneer with water... but this stuff is so brittle that I think I'm going to keep the backer and just cut my inlay channel that much deeper.  that said, that thought may come in handy in the future.  I imagine that the carpet tape I use would have released pretty easily with a little heat. 

tonight: adventures in some very small letters for the headstock name, and for some inserts for the gold knobs I have. 

so first off, shout out to member @Clavin.  I reached out to him regarding recon stone and he def pushed me in the right direction and I'm very thankful.  As I understand he hadn't visited us for some 10 years or more so... very much appreciate his response.  He has some amazing inlay work on instagram.  ( craig_lavin_inlay )

anywho, adventures in inlay... finally got one good solid logo out.  What did I learn: well my first run gave me great detail right off the bat and no broken bits... but I had used carpet tape and my inlay crumbled as I took it off the mounting.  I was at .068" thick.  I had some ideas that maybe I could super glue a backer of thick veneer to it, and instead of using carpet tape do the masking tape/ca glue trick.  Clavin had reinforced the idea of a backer and that gave me the confidence to go that route. 

well, unfortunately my depth wasn't deep enough to break the veneer... so about 1.5hrs with a scalpel and finally freed the inner parts. Hard as hell and brittle as hell at the sm time!!

47 minutes ago, komodo said:

Well, I'm already going to use woods that have scientifically measured tap tone, hand-harvested and air-dried in anechoic chambers.
I tune my guitars to 432Hz - the tuning of the gods that makes hair grow, planets align and kills a rhino at 100 yards.
I'm using strings spun from Krell metal, mined from asteroids.

So the only thing left is the bridge.

hehe, but..... I want all those things too!  seriously tho... I hope you go fwd w it... you've piqued my interest.  schaller has a pretty rock solid rep so... at the least it's pretty, comfy, and reliable.

no exp using this bridge so can't contribute much but perhaps you'll convince me.  I get the attraction to coupling the saddle with the wood... it's what attracted me to babicz.  It certainly is an attractive bridge and looks very comfy. 

looking at the tech docs I don't see how it works.  it looks like a saddle rides on another piece of metal that makes contact with the wood?  Not sure why that would promote better coupling? "Your guitar will sound much more harmonious." ok, I want to believe but this kind is pushing me away! 

so, perhaps in convincing me you'll strengthen your need for it...

for the record as your therapist I recommend to take a nice long relaxing stroll through ebay.  Try to think happy thoughts while you put bits, new tools, pickups, bridges, tuners and other guitar accessories in your basket.  Find your center as you hit the buy-it-now button.  

looks lovely brother.  specially the smooth pic.  

all my builds are therapy sessions!  Not sure the therapy is working but it sure makes me forget about life!!

so... I've got my recon stone split up... ended up finding the diamond jewelers saw pretty time consuming so bought some bigger diamond wheels for the dremel and now my garage looks like a meth lab.  (worse yet I was trying to preserve all my dust and now I look like a meth dealer being careful not to drop/loose any!)

need to do some inlays with this and hoped to do it on the cnc... wondering... will shell bits work?  the diamond wheels cut this pretty easy so I don't think it's all THAT hard... and actual diamond bits are unobtanium expensive.

I know I've read some old threads here with lots of helpful advice regarding recon stone... but no one ever mentions how they cut it (I'm guessing by hand).  

what say you?

congrats on a very deserving win.  a fantastic example of greatness!!

well... having looked at your pictures I'm going to resolve myself to the old addage "it's not the size of your machinery"... hehe.

jeebus you have some industrail sized cnc and bandsaw!!  

lovely wood.  I'm certain it's the grain pattern playing tricks on me... but I cannot see that last one without thinking the left side veneer/laminate is tapering towards the start of the headstock. 

look fwd to seeing the 'money shots'.

cheers

23 hours ago, komodo said:

Funny thing @Drak, I was searching something here recently and came across a discussion you and I had regarding finishing techniques for enhancing maple figure but with a natural finish, no dye. It was FIFTEEN years ago. lol.

 

you can't drop something like that and not post a link? 

sounds pretty interesting... I've often thought about how wood figure can look so much better depending on how it was cut.    out of my planer after some 1/64" cuts it looks pretty good... but then sanded looks terrible.

usually the pieces I get - if they have a surface that isn't rough - the figure looks really good - then you cut it and it's not quite as good.  It's like the weathering of sitting in a yard does something for it and I've often wondered what that is or how to achieve that effect.  Perhaps I need to get some fork lift diesel exhaust in a jar!

further, have often thought about taking a paint brush and tru oil or dilluted dye... trying to trace the figure and accentuate it.  Something wrong with that if your trying to turn a turd into gold... but as an option to do something unique and just enhance figure that is there... could be cool.

I..... I make..... I make fretboard (alternate lyrics to rammstein's du hast)

so bookmatched them and the seam is pretty much invisible AFTER radius and pretty happy about that.  beginner's luck I guess.  had some issues with following the radius with the slot so switched to just cutting them and will have to touch them up a hair with my fret saw.  all in all - went pretty smooth thanks to a little help from my friends (thanks @MiKro and @curtisa!!)

WELCOME!!

my guess is it would probably be totally fine... and hate to be a debbie downer... but what if it's not?  at the end of x hours of guitar building I'd hate to have something like that ruin me. top doesn't have a lot of heavy lifting to do but I would have all kinds of concerns about hiding it after there is some filler in there as bizman alluded to above.  

If it were me... I'd measure to see if I can cut out that area - looks like you'd only loose 1/2".  I don't know what kind of tools you have... but I'd draw a diagonal line on both sides, chop that off with a bandsaw or jig saw, then use a router and straight edge to clean them up/ join them. 

You may also draw out your templates/design on it and see if you can get it to sit in a pickup route or at least under the bridge.    

hope something there is usefull.

beautiful instruments, beautiful music... 2 distinct types of lovely there.

guitar has a pretty specific backstory... love it.

just a follow up... got a few more tops here and there but this one... had to share. 

his didn't have maple fretboard... yours is forbidden fruit.  pretty rare lp.  love/hated, perhaps you know all that.  I had never seen one before a few years ago and one of the guys I worked with mentioned he had an lp with maple fretboard.  I was floored and didn't believe him.  he brought it in to work and sure enough.  vcool.

6 minutes ago, Bizman62 said:

Guess not. Most likely more like planks. Rough sawn. A knot here and there, cracks and knotholes...

fir would be poplar around those parts...

3 hours ago, komodo said:

I keep trying to quit the exotic figured wood craving. I'd like to be able to build something that relies on the design rather than framing the figured wood, but I just love it so much I can't stop. Here's an example:
I think the plain one is just killer. But my inner wood whore keeps buying the crazy stuff!

this is so true... and there is a good lesson there... between those two the plain maple is beautiful, but a bit of a unicorn - like a flat gloss guitar!  I want to do a painted guitar at some point too... but it's hard to do as my instincts are to use beautiful wood!!

3 hours ago, ScottR said:

It does doesn't it? It has long been considered a trash tree in the U. S. southwest. It can grow a tap root over 50 feet deep so it thrives in dry country. It has thorns that can puncture a tractor tire. and the tree itself is sort of ugly. On the other hand the sap is about 27% sugar, so that feeds all kinds of bugs and small wildlife, along with the beans (seeds) which are excellent forage and commonly ground into flour back in the days of the native Americans. The smoke makes meat taste delicious. I never use charcoal, only mesquite and the occasional pecan stick.

And the wood is beautiful.

SR

all good to know.  I'll tell you - it turns reg bbq into magic bbq!

2 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

@komodo, it's just natural. If you can choose between a figured and a plain plank of the same species, I guess no one of us would choose the plain one unless there's a paint job involved.

Way back when I didn't know anything about flames and other figurations I bought a hollowbody archtop Ibanez FG100 just for the shape. It was hanging at the stockist's office which I visited almost every week. At that time I thought that type is the only choice so I finally bought it. The wood looks very much like the lower one.

 

 

note to self - remember to appreciate simple beauty!!  all of the sudden I want a plain top lp soo bad!!

44 minutes ago, komodo said:

It just let's the design breathe more. If someone were to offer me one of the above for free, I'm not sure what I would pick but I think I would lean towards the plain.

Let us know when you get the wood @mistermikev. Ha!

hehe, oh I'll have wood.  side note apparently there is a strip club somewhere called the lumber yard - "where real men go to get wood".  Hope the strippers don't look like lumberjacks!  (mega diversion in 3.... 2.... 1....)

2 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

Beauty in the eye of the beholder. For some people birch is "the" wood to go, to me it looks pale and dull even if it has flaming. Stable as furniture wood, good for firewood.

Googling for images it looks like mesquite is one of the "exotic" woods for semi expensive imported boutique furniture!

believe it has the most to do with what is easily avail near you!!  I can't get quilt anywhere other than online so for me... it's an ooh la la.  sm with any burl.  alder - we have in scores here.   sm w flamed maple.