HuntinDoug

Try Scott at www.Hembryguitars.com Tell him I sent you...... Doug

Yea... Been super busy. The papers on the CNC will be signed next week. Six weeks of build time, and a couple weeks of intense training, and I'll be ready for anything I will have the Pro ver of ArtCAM to work with....cant wait!

Looking good Carl! When you get it finished, please email me some good pics for my website: doug@parableguitars.com Thanks man! Doug

I like to recess my bridges & tailpieces. A lowered bridge has a different feel IMHO. Too low is not good though. I shoot for the bottom of the bridge to be flush with the body. Similar to a Carvin, but not quite as deep. Usually the recessed area is about .160" deep.

Lookin good Jon. Good choice on the scroll design for the inlay...It matches the lines of the body well.

I did the case tag for those. It was a small batch run of 10 pieces for Matt's music store. Painted by Mike Learn. The case tags had a bar code that matched the SN# painted on the front (which was actually the date they were airbrushed). I also suggested they use a welded chain for the case handle. You may still be able to find pics on the Jackson website.

Inlay teaser pic:

Cool...I ordered 3 sets for under $22.00 shipped. Cant beat that! Thanks for posting.

That is the perfect guitar Sir! I've been thinking about starting a V build.... I think seeing this just sealed the deal for me. Very nice work

Hey Guys, Thanks for the kind words! I cant wait to see this project come to life. Carl does great work! The inlay was somewhat challenging, but I think the finished product will look really good. I have a similar motif in a mirror top that will hang at the NAMM show. Not a biohazard design, but close. The company tells me I cant post pics until after the show in Jan....Mums the word. My web guru is working on my site, and it should be fixed up soon. When it is I will be posting some new services offered to small shops & individual luthiers. Including .15mm thick abalone & MOP logos. (Wez, you should really like the ones I sent you). They will give luthiers who don't like to be slowed down by routing inlay pockets the ability to have a true abalone & MOP HS inlays that when buried in clear, look like they are .060 thick, with no glue lines. And, the laser can cut them into highly detailed complex shapes...Pretty cool stuff. Here is a couple I did a while back for the J/C cs: The big news is I have a friend who owns a local counter top shop. I help him out from time to time as a consultant/rep. He will be purchasing a 144" x 60" CNC in Feb. I get to pick the machine & software. I will train people on it. He will get it from 6:00am to 2:00pm, I get it after 2:00 It comes with a laser duplication scanner (maybe). So, you can imagine the possabilities there. The next few months should prove to be fun

Wez, You may want tot try "Smith all wood epoxy": http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/thirdproducts....+All+Wood+Epoxy I have never tried it, but I have heard it works great on oily woods.

I havent done a lot with waterslides, but from what I understand, you can clear them with no problem. As far as cutting holes for pups, pots & switches, I always cut them after the decal is applied. One good way to learn is by trial & error. Get some waterslide paper, scrap wood, and some decal material, and experiment with it. Try different ways of applying them, and different clear coats.

I have a vinyl cutter in my shop that I use for paint masks, decals, headstock logo's, ect... Here is how I approach a full body decal: I take a straight on digital pic of the guitar body. I then trace it in a CAD software, edit the desired image to fit in the outline of the body, cut the decal, and apply it. The application is best done with a mist of water on the body & on the sticky side of the decal (this will give you the ability to "float" it into position). Squeegee it out, and on to clear coat, and you are done. If you plan on clearing over top of the decal, I would shy away from "printed vinyl" decals. They dont wear very well, And, some clear coats can smear the ink. You may be able to get a sample piece to see how it holds up to clear coats. Hope that helps.... BTW- Not everyone on the forum checks every topic on a daily basis. There is a lot of knowledge & experience on PG. A little more patients, and a little less sarcasm would probably get you more replies.

Wel...being an "inlay guy", my first thought is to do a top with a leopard pattern inlaid with 3 different wood types: Sycamore for the backgound (light colored with a lot of flash), maybe use a dark brown wood like walnut or indian rosewood for the dark areas on the outsides of the spots, and a medium color wood like mahogany for the insides of the spots. It is definately doable on the laser engraver.

Very nice work! Great design too... I like how you oriented the main piece of MOP you used in the dress. The natural pillowing in the piece gives it depth.

Wow Carl... This project is turning out nice! I'll shoot you an email about the inlay... Doug

Nice tight recess:

I have a vinyl cutter I use for masks & logos, and I keep gold in stock. Shoot me an email, I can help you out... doug@parableguitars.com Doug

Hey guys...Anyone who has tried to contact me by email, I'm not ignoring you...honest. My computer officially went to the big junkpile in the sky. It was a quick somewhat unexpected death which left my plotter & laser orphaned, as well as slowing down the CNC adoption. I have to go to my brothers house to check my email & posts. The worst part is... Less time to build. This all happened the day before FMIC calls me with an R&D order that is slated for the winter NAMM show. So, the next few days will be spent computer shopping, loading software, and configuring my machines...woo hoo! OK...enough whining =~)

Jon, Hey.... Forgot to email you about the boards I had you slot (my email's been all screwey lately). Anyway, I got them, and they look great. Two of them are going to Russ for a double neck project. Keep me updated on what you have coming in. Doug

Very cool & unique!

I have a brand new un-drilled Mighty Mite Jackson rev HS neck with sharkies I probobly wont use. I'm not really interested in a strat neck though...what else do you have?

I have to agree with Matt...That top is killer!

The epoxy set up quicker than I thought, so I skimmed it off in the planer. Here is what I've got: A vacuum bag would be great to have, but I dont know if it would work well with the flame tips. I will most likely grain fill the flames after I do some light carving. For now I plan on letting the body blank sit for a couple days.

OK...I have a new personal project in the works, so I thought I'd share. This model is the Parable "Paradigm" PD1. Here are the specs: Alder body w/ Padauk inlaid flames (thanks to Jon's Basses for the super nice piece of padauk). Set maple neck w/voloute & padauk FB TOM bridge Duncan SH13 As with all personal projects, specs are subject to change. The coolest thing about this build is the inlaid flames. The idea is to cover the neck & HS with padauk so it ties in with the flames. It has pretty good contrast with the alder. I purposely put a .012" black outline around the flames to tie in with the black hardware & black binding. I re-sawed a 12" wide piece so I could get the flames from one piece, and get the fretboard & headplate from the other slice. All the wood should match up well. On to the pics... Here is a test to see how the contrast & color looks with a satin finish. The padauk piece has a lot of flash in the grain, so I think the finished guitar will get a liberal coat of poly instead. http://members.aol.com/huntindoug/2.jpg boring glue up pic: http://members.aol.com/huntindoug/2a.jpg Pic of the body blank in the laser as the pocket is being cut: http://members.aol.com/huntindoug/2b.jpg .150" deep finished pocket ready to accept the inlay: http://members.aol.com/huntindoug/2c.jpg .150" thick piece of padauk in the laser as the flames are being cut. This is a single piece of wood with no seams. Very fragile: http://members.aol.com/huntindoug/2d.jpg Here you see the inlay after it was popped out: http://members.aol.com/huntindoug/2f.jpg Test fit: http://members.aol.com/huntindoug/2e.jpg Here is the mess I made epoxying the inlay in. It took 4 tubes of epoxy. Some of the longer flames warped slightly, so I expect the outline to be off in spots as much as .005" to .008". http://members.aol.com/huntindoug/2g.jpg http://members.aol.com/huntindoug/2h.jpg Now I just need to let the epoxy cure for a few days before I send it through the planer, and start cutting the shape. More in a few days.