Bizman62

Do the picture angles play tricks with my eyes or is the headstock really of the 'Approved by The Royal Paddle Club' type? I like the shape of it, there's hints of various classics without being significantly one or the other.

My media reading skills need some improving, I didn't see anything wrong in the first picture! Don't leave holes, put a black side dot marker there! Or even better, something decorative like a faceted jewel that is just a tad proud of the surface - a black crystal stud earring!

Hmm #2... How about using a drill bit for the fat part and chiseling the tip?

You're not the only one... On my current build I started from the last frets and only had half the length needed for the first fret. Agreed, I destroyed that much when adjusting the fret bender but the real reason was that the wire was cut to posting lengths, leaving an unusable short piece from each. I should've used the wire from my 1 kg roll but it was locked in the class workshop which was closed due to 'rona restrictions.

Either the vinyl sealer hasn't done the job properly or your clear coat has either reacted with uncured sealer or the spraying has been inaccurate. That looks like burst bubbles or something like that, a bit rougher than the orange peel often seen. If that was your first coat of final clear coat, it's common practice to sand it matte and respray. Getting the bottoms of the dimples matte is important as they would otherwise shine like stars under the next coat. Lightly level with some 400-600 wet paper and a block to see how bad the dimples are, followed by an abrasive felt to address the bottoms if needed. Then respray. The next coat should then be better. You may still have to lightly sand even the final coat matte and then go through the grits to finer and finer abrasives up to very fine polishing pastes for the ultimate mirror like gloss. A sprayed surface is glossy but it's not level as you noticed.

With that logic copying Rembrandt's "Night Watch" in the patinated state would make justice to the original. As Wikipedia says. "For much of its existence, the painting was coated with a dark varnish, which gave the incorrect impression that it depicted a night scene, leading to the name by which it is now commonly known". As law says, whisky has to be stored in oaken barrels for three years until you can call it whisky. I've tasted some Russian spirit that said whisky on the label but most likely it was "reliced" booze. Only the colour was similar, and the alcohol content. So basically I say "nay" with the exception that if you have a priceless piece of art like a true vintage guitar shown on every promo picture, using a copy on tour for safety reasons is sane. Copying someone else's roughly loved instrument doesn't transfer the unique features of the player.

So... Last weekend I glued the neck, sanded matte and applied some more lacquer. Today I leveled the runoffs and sanded it matte and went to apply some more lacquer. Is there a "best before" date on rattle cans? These two were bought when I started this project about a year ago and both have suffered from the stuff not wanting to come out. Today's one was even worse than the first: At first it just spit something, then it started to leak under the nozzle button. An occasional spray and then stopped again, leaking more from under the button which at that point decided to stick on my forefinger rather than stay where it should. Then all of the sudden, after some more shaking and keeping upside down, it started working. Fearing it would stop again I applied the lacquer too plentifully so there's runoffs all over the place. Hopefully the layer is uniform enough to be sanded level! And the bottom is wavy as the sea but I won't bother leveling it! For some reason the images loaded sideways

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The in-between version of "Beryl" makes me think of an old men's club with dark brown leather and wood furniture and tobacco stained walls. A bit of aristocracy, upper class feeling if you get what I mean. Think about the leisure clothes of the very rich - jeans and checkered flanel shirts - that look similar to the regular ones until you take a close look to the seams and other parts where quality of materials and workmanship show the reason why they cost ten times more than the cheaper alternatives. I was thinking about enhancing the grain with a darker shade of the brown that's already there. So matching timber colour was what I meant. Making it more natural, so to say. I'm not too fond of pure black for popping the grain or other pattern strenghteners - even charred wood is very dark brown instead of bluish black. Then again, I've seen some very nice bursts created with colours you rarely see on wood like turquoise and pink used together on flamed maple for a Caribbean Sea surfing impression!

Glad I could help you pondering! That's the next best thing after being able to help someone doing nothing.

Thanks, @ScottR! I was thinking similarly but as I'm a novice in woodworking compared to either of you I was hesitant to instruct my superior.

Although the only really critical place for metal enforcement was under the saddle height adjusters I understand your point. And I really like what you came up with! Except for the screw in the bottom... Recessing the block sounds great. It should also keep the plate in place with minimal fasteners - maybe even a couple of magnets might do, or dowels. Or just the corner screws of a Tele... Looking at your idea made me think about some further ideas to make the bridge more interesting: How about an elongated acoustic bridge type with a ramp for the bone and a flat lower part for the pickup? Like:

I can't see why it wouldn't work. There's a couple of places that may require some further thinking, though. The height adjustment screws of the bridge pieces need something hard to stand on so they don't sink into the maple. Countersunk flat head nails or something similar (thumb tacks???) should help spreading the pressure. The intonation screw holes might need something as well - I wonder if there's pop rivets that have a matching inner diameter with the screws... A regular washer should suffice, though. Same for the pickup adjusting screws, although I believe that's of least importance considering the stress.

I think you're right.

If you already haven't, study @Drak's "Beryl" and how she evolved from a bit dull natural beauty to a stylish club rose and further to a mindblowingly vivacious personality. That said, the wood used for "Beryl" was stunning to start with, your's is more down-to-earth. If your build was mine, I might consider something like the "club" looks. I also wonder how it would work with a blue burst but that definitely would require some in-depth testing!

That really is some very pretty wood there! Natural is a valid option, then again some matching coloured stain or filler might bring the grain up even better, and maybe a burst to accentuate the shape? You decide...

Whoa! for the fretboard!

Definitely not, at least not any of those mentioned, or rather all of those. There's every myth and story ever told in that figured colouring. The spiritual aspect of Creation was already mentioned, equally it could illustrate a post-industrial Mad Max by night or any sort of apocalypse. Despite all of the flames and smoke I wouldn't call it a weapon of Doom, though; the fire is elemental and pure like a volcano, deadly but not evil. I'd say that guitar requires tunes with a meaning, performed with attitude in any style.

Holy Mackerel! I repeat the Big Bang reference, with the addition that there seems to be fiery fumes blown out amidst the burning moustache the flame-eyed Creator!

Although it can be seen, the grain matches surprisingly well! I'd say the patch is as good as a patch can get. If it starts to bug you, reshaping the horn a bit shorter can easily be explained as improving playability on the highest frets...

That was an easy to answer survey even for one speaking a foreign language. One option was missing where you had to put the properties in order: Playability! No matter how good the tone is, or the extra features, or portability, or unique looks; if you struggle to get a note out of it you won't play it. A good guitar or any other instrument feels like it plays by itself, the player is just giving hints. Almost like a mind reading thing! Good luck with your survey!

You're right, the wood was gorgeous to start with but it was just a piece of figured lumber. The middle version somehow reminds me of the covers of the Sandman comics by Neil Gaiman, both because of the gloominess and the figuration, just beyond being able to actually see what the picture is about. There's been several threads about removing the finish but your method beats them all! And... the end result is fantastic! There's stories untold starting from the Big Bang, the all-seeing eyes of an Almighty Creator, their will stirring swirling Galaxies from the flaming Chaos in the Infinity - and from those macrocosmic views you suddenly can find human size campfire stories, a bit scary but safe to be heard within the sphere of light and warmth.

I was thinking about that while driving to work. You can use pieces of leather, hardboard or thick cardboard between the wedges and the body to prevent dents as those will spread the pressure on a larger area, thus preventing dents. You can make the wedges out of any wood although I'd prefer some dense hardwood like maple or beech. Pine might split under pressure. Having all sorts of wedges at hand can be very helpful, make them wide, narrow, long, short, tall... And save them for future use! The illustration just shows where to put them, not the actual shape or size.

Hey, having a workshop is luxurious. If it's warm enough to serve as a wood storage, even better. After 9 pm most people aren't at their best anyway, so take your wife's command as a safety advice!

One word: Wedges! For addressing hard to reach areas like that one option is to pinch the piece between two boards held in place with clamps and then add wedges between the board and body to apply diagonal pressure. Let me draw it! Another trick is to use the bars of the clamps as levers. Use whatever you can - bungee cord, rope, another clamp - to pull the bars towards each other.