ZekeB

Lol sorry was referring to doubting the original decisions we make after looking at it for so long. That being said I'm going to stick with the first one. The art deco theme seems to be leading this design.

Thanks mike. I think your right about trying to stare at it too long. I tend to take forever with the cad, design, and building as well.

Exploring the black binding idea with the gold mother of pearl. This is scaled to the material i have on hand as well. 3.17mm wide. And then there's the ivory binding alone: And finally the ivory and the MOP: They all have some striking features to me. The black binding with MOP is simple but striking. I think it still plays the the simplicity of the basic shapes kind of like the pick guard with an art deco feel. It feels pretty unique. Really cool idea Bizman The second to me is what you might expect from a black gold guitar which isn't a bad thing. Its got a good balance and its definitely a safe approach. And finally the ivory and gold is the super elegant feel to me. Really hits on the gold hard which works with all of the other gold hardware. What you guys think?

Wow beautiful work mike

Either ivory or maple is the plan. Did not consider black. That sounds interesting

I've been going back and forth on this. To do gold MOP purfling or just do the regular binding. Less is more or more is better. Its going to have gold mop in the pickguard and the fretboard. Does that seem overwhelming on inlays to you guys? I have the material just haven't pulled the trigger yet.

Here we go. Fretboard cut and slotted. Here's the start of the pickguard. Zebrawood against the macassar ebony. Working on the logo inlay.

Ah I really like that. Fits the flow of the shape

I liked the horn idea. Here's my attempt to meld it together. I didn't want to be too aggressive with the corners to take away from the body. I just copied the rigid corner where the binding ends on the horn. I. also don't want to get too far from the few inches of width i get on the headstock. Thanks for your thoughts guys. I actually meant to put this thread in the design bar forum section. I'm not sure how to move it or if I could. Thanks.

I'll try it on the next stained guitar for sure. Thanks for the tip

The key to the black undertones is the color wash. After you sand it back don't do multiple color washes. Just use a higher concentration and wipe on once using a clean part of the cloth for each rub. I did it based on skyjerks root beer float build thread. I washed out the black color the first time. It may seem dark at first but it seems to brighten up as it dried I did a tru oil coat over that then the nitro.

I spent a long time trying to figure out just that. The fretboard is a lot thicker than originally planned so I used that distance to justify the covers. I guess it was just an opportunity from a mistake. The string distance from my playing is just right with the covers. The top piece of the cover is thinned down to get the most room after I set the pickup height.

Pickup cover preview. Thoughts welcome

A little better shot. Ignore the orange peel

Just waiting for the final sand now. Really like the finish. It seems darker in doors. It's almost turquoise bright outside. Just seems more dynamic. The slimmer neck with true oil feels great too

That's not bad idea. I wasn't sure about the headstock either honestly

Thanks Mike. I'm thinking a neck through with a drop top. What's the n2?

Been working on this design for a while. The extra support around the neck is kind of the defining feature. That and I needed a guitar for the future that uses the purfling I decided would be too much on my current build. I'm dubbing this one, Inigo.

I really dig this design. Very cool

got my material ordered. Just need to finish up the refinish job I've got going so I can get into this one. Here's the back carve plan. Got a maple top from the folks you suggested on etsy mike. Thanks for that.

Here's a list of my modifications: I'm rounding out the carve on the top. it will accent the features on the horns. I'm also going to add some contour lines sculpting out the area right above the middle contour line. Actually I was inspired by your Sauron guitar ADFinlayson. The sections that meet the neck will be smoother transition as well. Going to rebind it and carve some of those channels that were too shallow around the sharp corner of the horns. Adding some gold MOP to the guitar knobs. Adding the new covers (really excited about those). Carved the neck back some more to fit my hand a little better how I play. Its not perfectly symmetrical because I adjust my hand differently as I go up the neck so I made some small transitions for that. Figured out my mistake on the paint job the first time. Going to add the black, sand it back, then add the higher concentrated blue WITHOUT WASHING OUT THE BLACK. Then as I put on the finish I'll spray some black to very lightly burst from the binding. The finish on the top will be tru-oil under and nitro (mohawk) on top. the finish on the back and the neck will be just tru-oil. Here's a pic for the contours. I've been carving with a lamp in the dark to see the sculpt. I really helps a lot. I find I get lost in the grain pattern if I don't have some type of way to differentiate. Hopefully the B&W helps see the contours

Resculpting the top some. Want it to feel more organic. Also some alterations to the neck for feel. We'll just call this Mako 1.1. Oh and got a better camera!

That's a killer combo. That veneer really makes it pop with the separation of textures.

that top is awesome

I'm going to refinish this guitar to make some changes for playability and wanted to add a little more uniqueness to it. One of those things are going to be pickup covers. I've made about 4 different sets and I think I've finally got a method that'll work for me. I made them out of 3 laminate pieces of the same design but staggered the holes so it would be clean while being thin. Have one more to do.