mistermikev

lovely body blank.  truss channel looks nice.  good work.

"I was all set on the blue/purple until you showed me the turquoise" - his words.  hehe.  So... need to find some wood that I can use for a headstock/fretboard for that one as I want to keep the matching wood with one of the tops it came from.  Will use that wood for my prototype so... joined it up last night:

extra points for capturing belly + shoes in the shot!!

side note: tablesaw - such a nice tablesaw but the fence is crap.  I adjusted the tension for locking it down... but it only locks on the one side... other side has a wheel that just rides along... and with enough pressure the fence moves in micro amounts.  for this reason... I couldn't get a joint out of it that I was happy with.  Tried several times to cut a very small amount and keep even pressure throughout the cut... but no luck.  my only reference point is industrial delta saws - but I can tell you they were effortless by compare.  As expensive as this thing was - and as many nice features as it has - not impressed SAWSTOP.  u suck.  sent an email to their support and got crickets.  

Ended up using my router to make two long straight edges and utilizing the "cut both sides at once" trick.  that resulted in an invisible join.  The setup time was brutal.  Long story long... need to buy a decent aftermarket fence for this tablesaw.  I've been using it a lot tho - wondering how I ever got along w/o it!!

3 hours ago, Gogzs said:

Well, considering my first build ever, and first proper project working with wood, involved wenge... I don't see things going any worse than that haha. From the wood db for wenge:

Very splintery—care must be used when handling unfinished wood with bare hands, as splinters have an increased risk of infection.
Also, Wenge splinters tend to take longer to heal and  are more likely to go septic (get infected) than splinters from other woods.

Bamboo will be an upgrade in regards of not getting septic wounds  all jokes aside tho, I do use protection when handling it, should be ok.  

yeah, wenge is not fun - I love it but dang it can hurt!  So can oak!!  when I was young I was sanding a big cabinet by hand with a piece of loose sandpaper... unknown to me that was a big hidden split on one of the edges... slid my hand right into it... got a big splinter that went through 3 fingers.  this was oak... got most of the splinter out... but the numerous little splinters festered and I can tell you it was very painful!  

I imagine bamboo can be very sharp.  also very beautiful.  should be some cool colors in that.

Fascinating stuff.  no intention of using bamboo anytime soon (I imagine the splinters are deadly) but good to know and fascinating in general.  thanks for sharing.

seems to me that if you slot first... then radius... unless you cut your slots with a lot of extra depth you are going to have to likely re-slot them after radius... or at least check them good - but that's not uncommon.  freq use pre slotted and radius boards... and the issue there becomes ensuring you have the accurate centerline (everyone seems to draw a big fat line and finding the center of that always makes me nervous).  I think it's safe to say that any way you do it there is going to be benefits and pitfalls... and no matter what way you do it you just have to be aware of those benefits and pitfalls and use them to your advantage and avoid them - hehe!

man... lotta parts!  looks like an insane amount of work!!  really liking where this is going.  "offroad" - I admire your bravery!!

6 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

To me the middle one appeals the most. The figuration on the lower bout fills the entire area nicely. Then again, there's an idea on the top one as well as the longitudinal stripe matches with the neck and string lines. The royal blue with gold hardware has echoes from uniforms from the past, forceful, controlled and arrogant like the Royal Naval Officers from the sailship era!

The turquoise doesn't seem to match with the gold hardware but it may be my monitor as well.

right on, I love your detailed feedback.  I was actually thinking I'd do chrome hardware if I went turquoise... as it just looks great together... but I think gold would end up looking good too.  Honestly... I think all 3 of them have something going for them and any one could be a good guitar... but the turquoise really resonates w me... I just have a thing for turquoise!  (don't tell my wife)

so... did some revised mock ups to help my friend decide... would love some feedback if y'all would be so kind altho ultimately it's his choice.  That said... I think I'm going to make this turqoise one my secondary...

so... my buddy having a hard time choosing between these tops... but is leaning towards the 2nd one above.  Since I'm doing a prototype and assuming I don't render it kaputs along the way... I'll choose a top from whatever he doesn't pick and slap it on that.

this will be the fretboard and headstock overlay bookmatched from matching wood...

21 minutes ago, ScottR said:

To me that is probably a 4A board, a fine job of bookmatching and the best board in the series of pictures...IMHO.

SR

very much appreciate that scott.  it's very white in color... and initially I thought maybe a mid 4... but now I'm seeing a little 'color stain' in the center there that is making me think more like low 4... and then the little flaw there at the bottom just to the right of the centerline.  unfortunately the 'flash side' of this board is that view... so that little flaw would be hard to avoid... but perhaps long enough to get it out of the cut zone altogether. thank you again!!

and the result from bookmatching kevin's piece... 

two very dif pieces of maple... first one is very light color and lower contrast... would prob benefit from a lot of sand back... second has a lot of chatoyance and high contrast... darker wood and def made the planer work more.  

I'd be curious of your thoughts afa "which one is better".  

also... full confession... i done a bad bad thing... I bought this today...

17 minutes ago, David Ivy said:

@mistermikev yes it does sound like a lot of work but I am more so wanting to build one guitar at a time for the person who wants a hand crafted instrument and not an assembly line guitar. I in no way want to try to compete with the big manufacturing brands. Just one here and one There with my name on it.

sorry, wasn't trying to discourage at all... those are just the thoughts I have in MY head on the matter (probably would have been best left in my head!!).  I wish you nothing but your absolute dream fulfilled!!  

5 minutes ago, David Ivy said:

@mistermikev I most certainly will share pictures as I get jobs done.

Because I have a 9 to 5 job guitar building at this point is a hobby but really wanting to get good enough to sell boutique guitar builds someday. Maybe even come up with my own guitar design.

I think if we are all honest with ourselves... we all want to be the next leo on some level or another.  I totally want to build guitars all day... but all the crap that comes along with marketing/selling/meeting deadlines... sounds a lot like work!!

omg you ARE really going there... I like the cut of your jib and will follow.  I've always wanted a tamo ash guitar at some point... and the blessed stuff is so expensive (real tamo ash)... on my someday list.  hope you share pics of the process.

so... wanted to get some practice in before I started re-sawing and planing the very specific piece of wood my friend kevin picked for his tele... so this is the first result from that session...

this is a different board I have - sm board I used for my "fish on" bass but bookmatched... how many A's would you give it?  be brutally honest.

wait a minute... you are carving AND veneering?  should be lovely.

noice.  is that a poplar body?  shinto - I like my shinto... but I feel like it's kind of hard to control.  for removing a lot of material fast it's hard to beat but the dragon tail is my go to... you can get precise at the tip... and you can still remove wood pretty quick at the base.  then I also like my (gulp) orange harbor freight rough rasp.  makes for some ugly surface but man it removes wood fast!! 

anywho, looking good.

could it be that you've managed to consistently make the most resonant guitars ever?  strings resonate so well they rattle on the frets?  (congrats!)

i dunno... just spit balling here.  I def feel your pain and truly wish I could help.  I think when you've tried everything you think it COULD be... maybe start looking at the things you think it COULDN'T possibly be.  sometimes just trying something stupid might stumble you into something that gets you going back in the right direction. 

In the interest of offering something constructive... can you put your neck on someone elses' body?  your body with someone elses neck?  what else can you start changing up?  perhaps build a guitar going in a completely different direction than you are used to to try and scare out the issue?  build a run of the mill strat knock off.  don't use the sm nut/tuners/truss-rod/pickukps.  even things you think would have nothing to do with it... don't use the same knobs.  different pots.  I know... "how in the world could the pots I use have anything to do with string buzz"... they probably couldn't... but idunno... maybe because of those pots you cut your control cavity different and you realize you were creating a sizemic megaphone under the strings.  if you are doing string string thru maybe do something different there?  surface mount? honestly the fact that the strings are buzzing the frets despite being high off the board... while it doesn't sound pleasant... it suggests you are getting some wicked string movement.  the fact that it stops at the last fret would surely suggest it HAS to be something with the frets/neck/relief... but that right there is the thing you thing it MUST be... what if you put a mega high nut on the guitar?  Maybe the string is rattling BEHIND the finger?

sooner or later you are going to find the answer but I have to believe you just have to keep trying things until the direction of the wind changes.  so difficult when the frustration level is so high and you just keep going in circles... so stop going in circles and try anything you haven't looked at already.

i hope there is something here you can use but more than that I hope you get out of the place your in and rise above this asap.

1 hour ago, jlcraftwood said:

Thanks so much Mike!!

I'm working on putting a web page and Facebook page together so I can try and get away from "Evilbay"

I work hard to try and keep my customers happy with combine shipping and great customer service skills. I work hand in hand with the local mill to get the best pieces and yes these pieces may have minor flaws or cupping, but that's why I'm selling them and they are not on there way to the "BIG NAME" guitar makers. Please keep your eyes peeled for my upcoming sales and hopefully soon my Web page and Facebook page.

Thanks Jaymie of JLcraftwood 

Please email me with any questions jaymielee2008@outlook.com 

right on.  just want to encourage you to enable my addiction to wood(send more wood to evilbay please)!!  Further, I know I am sometimes reluctant to spend a lot on a top as I still figure I'm "practicing" so... I would assume there are others' like me who appreciate a good bargain for that reason... and hoped to help them out too.  

would love to see some more quilt, burl, and good lord - if you ever come across any figured ash... please please please lmk!

looks lovely brother.  i see a depth in that finish that is at least 87/92nds deeper than before.  nice work.

19 hours ago, bimmermanshane said:

So I've browsed the internet, watched 100+ YouTube videos, and none of them really tell me the answer to a simple yet highly debated topic. 

I'm building a Les Paul style guitar, I love Les Paul's, however I'm changing the neck profile and number of frets in search of playability and sustain.

I love the warm mellow Les Paul tone, and I would like to incorporate some of that as well as adding some more modern clarity and attack, hopefully without going active. 

Everyone says super distortions, or jb. But YouTube sound clips don't show me good quality sound in most places. 

I would like some high end clarity similar to Jon petrucci on dream theaters newest album, but to also have a slightly more traditional warmth and decent sustain. 

I would say Slash's guitar is almost too warm/muddy, on the other end would be 80s and early 90s Metallica with almost piercing treble and high gain sustain. So...something in the middle if that exists...

If you want a nice mellow, but clear/non muddy tone, what brand or direction should you go for pickups?

Even thought about a good high gain/high output bridge pickup, with a more traditional neck pickup. Matching volumes would be slightly difficult though. 

Sorry for the long winded question, I know I'll have to compromise on either top or bottom end most likely, but I'd like a balance of both if I can to make the guitar more versatile. So I could gift it to someone who plays blues sometimes, and metal other times, or use myself for recording. 

Thanks for the help

as @curtisa alluded too... the first thing that stands out to me in your post is the comments about slash's setup.  Perhaps you have his sig guitar handy?  his guitar (if I'm not mistaken) is A2 PAF so they are quite dark by comparrison, but he plays through an amp/settings that are very treble heavy so... keep that in mind.

when you say warm les paul I think classic paf.  they are actually a fairly treble heavy pickups... but are warmed up by any number of things like covers, the guitar itself (don't flame but I'm sure a giant chunk of mahog contributes on some level), and the distance the pickup sticks out of the body (on a les paul this is considerably much more than others and IMO makes a contribution).  With all that said... I'm a huge fan of just the std paf - even an under powered one and even in bridge position.  It is not a pickup that is meant for metal tho.  Just doesn't lend itself well to that IMO. 

so... solutions... well, one solution is the jb/jazz which pairs a higher output ceramic pickup (i also love this pickup) with a lower output "paf like" neck.  Personally, I'd prefer a jb/59 as the 59 just has the best paf sound to me.  With the jb in the bridge you still don't quite get satisfaction afa modern metal sounds (not that I am a modern metal guy).  and honestly you loose a little of the special sauce that the 59 has in the bridge for lower gain stuff.  one thing I've found that works well to get the most out of the jb pickup is to setup your wiring to be able to access prs-style inner vs outter coil pairings.  This fills in a lot of the gap between the meanness of a jb and the warmth of a 59.

at this point - I'd just recommend you get several guitars to accomplish the several differing goals!  That is really the best option... but barring that, the next step closer to a more metal sound (IMO) and w/o ruining the classic sound... is to add an active preamp.  Depending on what you put in there... it can def shape whatever pickup you have into something different.  Its not a perfect solution but I much prefer a passive pickups with an active preamp to low wind/low impedence active pickups (emg, live wire, blackouts).  At least with an active preamp you can bypass and get back to that passive sound.

anywho, just one aholes 2 cents.

def some inclusions and some fairly bad cupping issues... but for those more adventerous folks - thought you might appreciate!!!

I know, I know... my pile of tops far exceeds my skill and will to build... but I figure you gotta snag it while you can!!  I recently snagged some tops from ebay seller jlcraftwood and while they aren't mind blowing... they are really nice and bargain priced!  They did have some minor defects like one was pretty cupped (I can fix it!) and they might have some mineral streaks or inclusions... but pretty nice for the price! 

He had a number of 3A quilt and curly drop tops... and some 4A... most were $15-30!  Shipping is $21, but he said he'd pack up to 3 drop tops into one box.  so... first round I bought 2 tops - one for $20 and one for $18... total of 38 + 21 shipping.  Got those and they were pretty nice so last night I snagged 3 more.  

if yer looking for drop tops (he does have some carve tops but they were meh) you won't find much for a better deal.  I will post up some picks this weekend.

cheers!!

seeing the front I agree it looks like a whole nuther animal.  I could def be maple... but wood grain is so fickle.  I've got some figured basswood that looks a lot like that.  contrary to it's reputation this basswood is pretty hard (harder than hard pine but softer than maple).  Just pointing out that all popular beliefs about wood are just generalizations.  in cases like this... at best you have a guess unless you do a dna test (jk). 

that guitar shape looks like aria pro.  given that... or some other big mfg, I'm much more inclined to guess maple.  if it was some small luthier... who the heck knows - could be made of figured cheese!