rsguitar

I think you did an awesome job and you have many more guitars in your future. I like the design very unique this is a good thing. Originality counts in my book and the use of one of my favorite woods( blood wood )nice my friend. Keep marking guitars they will just get better and better as you make more. Well done!!!!!!!!!! Mike

Well glen did you clean the gun after you last used it? If not I usually flush my guns with lacquer thinner after each use to make sure that the gun will spray well for the next project. There still may be some old finish in the gun. When one of my guns in not working well I take it all apart and soak it in lacquer thinner in a one gallon container and leave it over night. The next day I use a brass brush and thinner and scrub it up to make sure all the old finish is gone. Then I Lube up the gun in key areas( spring, trigger, all threads,etc.) and reassemble the gun. Next what type of colorant or dye are you mixing with your lacquer? and what type of finish are you trying to get(opaque,trans.)? It maybe that your mix is a little bit off and need to add more of the dye to get your desired results. I need a little more info to understand what you are trying to do. I hope this helps Mike

I'm not sure of what type of wood it is I will look it up. You should cut the logs up into billets or whatever you are planing to do with it. Just remember to seal up the ends and stack it properly with sticker(a 3/4"x3/4"xhow ever long you need)and use allot of weight on top so it wont warp or twist as it dries. Make sure to store the wood somewhere dry and warm. Good luck on the wood. Mike

Well here I go again I am so thrilled with this guitar. It is the first of this design and I spent a long time getting this thing just right. It was all paid for even before it was completed. It went to music store owner in Perry Iowa(Steve Parnel). It was delivered the same night that Michael Angelo Gave a clinic at Blue Rock Guitars & More. What a great night. It is named the Genesis, and the thing sounds awesome. I had been planing to use a L.R.Baggs T-Bridge for my own guitar, and when Steve said he wanted a guitar he could play both as an electric and acoustic. I told him I've got he bridge for you. Man does it sound good combined with the control-X preamp the thing screams. You can blend the magnetic and piezo together to create some great tones. I love this wood it is alive with color and changes dramatically when moved around. Well enough of that, here are the specs and pics. Genesis Specs 9 piece curly maple/walnut/cherry/walnut,stripes Waterfall Bubinga cap on headstock Ebony fingerboard bound with curly maple, ebony 13 degree headstock angle 25 1/2" scale fingerboard 12" radius neck RSG logo inlay at 12th fret Abalone side dot markers Jumbo frets Bone nut Sperzel standard tuners/ Satin Chrome Dual action truss rod Carbon fiber reinforcing rods in neck Chrome Neck Mounting Ferrules /With stainless steel screws Tung oil finish on neck Cherry body Chambered 1 1/4" deep 2" overall body thickness Waterfall Bubinga cap with curly mpl. stripe JB Seymour Duncan in the bridge/with chrome PU ring L.R. Baggs T-Bridge/ Chrome(high-output piezo pickup) L.R. Baggs Control-X Preamp String through body design/ Chrome Shielded electronics cavity 1 Volume, 1 Blend to blend Chrome Metal dome knobs Three way selector switch/ Chrome 10-46 gauge strings 100% Handcrafted in the USA Pic #5 Pic #6 Pic #7 More pics here her are Steve's words on the guitar WOW!! THIS THING IS INCREDIBLE!!! I took possession of my new Rocksmith Genesis on Friday May 11 ... and gigged it twice over the weekend. Where do i start??? I guess the best place to start is with the neck. Mike had full and free rein to give me a fast, yet substantial neck. As I have been primarily an acoustic player for 38 years, I wanted to be able to play this guitar as a stage acoustic and be comfortable doing so. I own over 30 guitars, acoustic and electric, and have yet to find the perfect neck ... until this one. This neck is definitely faster than me! Another unique thing about my Genesis is the versatility of sounds. The best of both worlds, you might say. We chose a Seymour Duncan JB as passive pickup and added the LR Baggs acoustic bridge. Combined with the chambering (1.25 inches deep), the piezo bridge gives me an incredibly clean acoustic sound, suitable for finger picking or rhythm playing. The JB gives me what I need for electric rhythm or for lead riffs ... and this guitar allows me to change from acoustic to electric (or even a blend of the two) with just the flip of a switch. The craftsmanship on my Rocksmith is flawless. The book-matched bubinga top is perfectly matched ... so much so that it is impossible to even see the seam. All the joints are smooth and tight. And the neck to body transition ... WOW! You can reach the 24th fret without even opening up your hand. The first time I sat down with this guitar, I could not put it down for over 2 hours ... it really IS that good! Plus, the finish is deep and rich ... I can't wait to see how it ages over time. As a guitar store owner, I see hundreds of guitars each year ... imported and domestic. My Rocksmith will stand up against the finest USA guitars I've seen and played with no problem at all. And its comparably priced with machine-made USA's. Why not get what you REALLY want ... a hand-built, high-quality, USA made Rocksmith?? Steve Parnell Blue Rock Guitars Looks like some stiff competition everyones guitars look awesome good luck to all Mike

I have to thank everyone for all the votes that got me the win last month. My first win! My vote went to hooglebug - "Desiree" very ambitious carve on that beauty. Very clean work loved the entire thing. I do have to say that verhoevenc bass was kick a$$ loved the laminations and overall design. Very nice work my friend for your first bass keep up the good work..... Mike

Everyone has some great suggestions on this topic. I just use tight bond my self with a gluing wheel and a 4" wide by 8" tall by 4' long I-beam and crap load of clamps for my glue ups. To explain what I mean by a glue wheel this is what it is. It is a plastic box about 5"x5" and 3" side walls. It has a 4" round wheel machined nice and flat and it sits on an axle. The box is a reservoir for glue and the wheel sit down partially in the glue. So when I take a board and run it across the wheel it leaves a nice even thin layer of glue. Then I just glue and stack up my neck lams and clamp away. It makes really quick work of the gluing part of this process. That way you don't risk some dried glue in some areas, as gluing up several lams can take allot of time to get the glue on all your wood. The idea came from an old waxing machine for snow skies. Set up in the same manner but was heated to keep the wax at a workable temp to put on the bottom of the skies. I you love to work with Hyde glue you could make one that is heated and glue away the day. Anyway I hope this helps someone I know it helped speed up my gluing process. Mike

Glad to have you on board. Lube up the trem and tighten up the tuners for exiting ride on the lutherie express!!!!!! I hope you enjoy the forum. Mike

extremely clean work I love it! Nice job. Mike

Well here is my second entry for GOTM I hope you guys like it. This guitar was a blast to build. The whole thing was born out of a piece of padauk that I had. It called to me / Not. But I split it and book-matched it and the rest of it just fell into place. This guitar has been to both east and west cost for shows. First it went to the NAMM show in California and was in the AXE TRAK booth. Then it went to the DOA(Dean Owners of America) show / party in Tampa Florida where the owner of dean guitars got his hands on it, and he was very impressed with the guitar. A good friend of mine has a store in Perry Iowa where Michael Angelo Batio is going to do a clinic on May 11th, and I am going to see if I can get him to play the guitar. Anyway here are the specs: 5 piece curly maple and padauk neck-thru matching padauk cap on headstock ebony fingerboard bound with curly maple, ebony, and padauk 13 degree headstock angle 25 1/2" scale fingerboard 12" radius neck Abalone block inlay with RSG logo inlay at 12th fret Abalone side dot markers Jumbo frets Bone nut Sperzel standard tuners/ Satin Chrome Dual action truss rod Carbon fiber reinforcing rods Mahogany body sides Padauk cap with curly mpl. stripe JB Seymour Duncan in the bridge/with chrome PU ring STK-S2 Seymour Duncan in the neck Gotoh Tune-o-matic Bridge/ Chrome String through body design/ Chrome Shielded electronics cavity 1 Volume, 1 Tone, and Chrome Metal 'dome' knob Three way selector switch/ Chrome 9-46 strings Photo-5 Photo-6 Photo-7 Photo-8 More Photos Here is the build thread Thanks for taking a look! and good luck to all entries Mike

All three entries are as they say top shelf!!!!!! No really they are all so dam nice love the laminations and use of altenate woods keep up the great work, and I look forward to the next entries from all of you... What did PRS say about your bass??????????? good luck to all! Mike

I use friskit (not sure on the spelling?). But this stuff will work great for what you are going to use it for. I use to do a whole lot of airbrushing and this stuff was great for that sort of thing....... You could also try some ancent style texts as well........... mike

Nice job here is a pic of mine..... Mike

Really nice work well done my friend!!!!!!Keep up the good work.........!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mike

Yes I am finishing this with Nitro, my finish of choice! Well I didn't fill the grain with anything given the fact that I didn't want to try and match the color of the Padauk.....I thought the might be a problem if the wood did it's natural thing by geting darker with age, and I didn't want the filler to stand out!!!!!!!! So I just went with straight Nitro....Padauk is filling in slowly but it is coming along nicely, I really can't wait to play this thing, infact I was even tempted to string it just before I started to finish it............... Thanks to all for the awesome coments on my work, if you guys have any more questions just fire away.. Mike Prostheta I am unfamiliar with that finish and you might try asking someone who has used it before. But as far as the padauk goes the grain is very deep and open like the dam grand canyon but it has some beutiful grain, and sounds awesome..If you choose to use it you wont be sorry.....Good luck! Mike

Here are a couple more shots from the finish room...... Mike

Well what do you guys think???????? Mike

Well the finishing is still being done you know how that goes, one coat at a time.....one coat at a time.....one coat at a time.....one coat at a time.....and so on..Then sand and sand and sand.........you get the idea. The hardest part is filling in the pores of the padauk man they run deep......... More pics soon Mike

as far as the pickup routes that is easy. You just use a jig to fit the spot you will route.... Thanks for the great coments on my work................. Mike

Really nice work, and love to see people use alternitive inlay designs and materials...... Again really nice job.. Mike

Do you have a pic of this? Sounds like a roland midi pickup, but I would have to see a pic to be sure.If it is you can use this type of pickup for synth sounds of all kinds. Mike

Ithink it will go on some guitars, bases, acoustic, on my head when loose my hair, and so on. I would posibly sell a piece or two not sure of what price would be........ Mike Perhaps the highest bidder?????????????

No this stuff is absolutley Babinga here is a pic of the other board I got. Mike

Here is a picture of some beutifull Waterfall Babinga I came across.....Must have been some kind of screw up at the mill almost always this stuff get sliced into veneer stock. Someone must have been asleep at the wheel, but thats ok because I got some really awesome wood for tops..........Here is a sample. You guys will have to let me know what you think of it.....I used a little naptha to wet it down. Mike

That is some really nice work HuntinDoug, do you only work in maple fretboards? Really like the skull inlay... Mike

Yes I agree nice basses. What kind of woods did you use on the first bass you posted? I hope to see more of your work in the future. And welcome to the forum. Mike