Morben Guitars

Warmoth sells CTR brand switches, which should be similar to this diagram: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_p...91.html#details

Do you have any bits for installing binding? that would work. Stew Mac sells some that are for small rotary tools, they work pretty well.

I spent a good bit of time experimenting with neck finishes in an attempt to get away from the "lacquer" feel, but still provide adequate protection. Before Stew-mac carried it, I tried a Gel finish. Just wiped it on, let it dry, and buffed it back with steel wool. This stuff is great...I've been using it on every neck since my first experiement with it. Highly recommend that you give it a shot!

Drak, Awesome guitar bro.. I never get tired of a killer tele. That last one I did has Graph Tech GHOST system...my first experience with it. Sounds amazing. Let me give you a few tips.. Buy the push/push mid/dark volume knob. Kills two birds with one stone. (you'll want the deeper sound of the mid/dark switch) Also buy the quick switch. You'll want to use just magentic, just acoustic, as well as to blend them. Blend knobs don't work well with this system (many conversations with graph tech on this). The install of the saddles requires some pre planning. We used similar bridges, so here's what I found to work best. 1.) set intonation. If you have another guitar with a similar bridge, use the measurements from that. 2.) Drill six small holes in the bridge centered under each saddle. They should be staggered to the aproximate intonation settings. 3.) Align bridge on the body and mark location of the holes. Route six small "paths" from the marks straight up to the pickup route. Now you have a path for your wires to travel and duck into the pickup route. Here they will meet with the coupler and the single wire will go into your electronics cavity. Note, in order to get the wires into the small holes you drilled in the bridge, you'll need to remove the teeny-tiny black couplers. This is a real pain. I used a very small pick to gently lift the tabs (I broke one) and carefully pull out the wires. Be sure to check the orientation of the plug to the two wires (clear and blue). then immeadiatly reattach the coupler after i't through the bridge. Also...double check the width of the saddles!! I ordered the tele saddles, and when I put them on, they were too wide! Some quick thinking and some 100 grit sand paper solved that problem..They were also a bit shorter than my original saddles, so I *just* made the intonation... You'll be psyched when you plug this one in...they are super conviencing...and the blend feature is sweet as well. Good luck and again, killer guitar. -Ben

It's probably been discussed here before, but Fender gets **REAL** touchy about the headstock design...I know many individuals who have had fender-esque headstocks on their custom guitars online (for sale) and have received Cease and Desist letters from Fender. Apperantly they don't mind the body being copied, but the headstock design is trademarked...It's not illegal to use the shape, you just can't sell it.

Wow, plenty of competition this month...why not a little more? I finished this guitar over the weekend. It features the following: 30 year old Honduran Mahogany/figured maple cap Semi hollow construction Front/Back/F-Hole Cream Binding Gibson '57 & '57 Classic PAF Pickups Graph Tech GHOST piezo system w/internal preamp Stereo jack (magnetic signal to one amp, acoustic to another) Stainless Steel frets Pau Ferro Fretboard

You should be using this before you dye/stain the guitar. It also appears that you're using a white or "Clear" filler...I'd suggest using a darker filler. The filler will actually darken the wood a bit, and often I just go with that. There shouldn't really be too much filler to sand off...it's more of a flattening process rather than a removal process. 1. Apply grain filler and rub into the wood. Let this sit for ~5 minutes 2. using an old credit card, scrape the filler off the wood. You should be removing almost all of it, leaving only the portions in the actual grain. Let this sit overnight. 3. Lightly sand with 220 (with the grain!) using a block. 4. Repeat steps 1 & 2 until you can't see open pores in the wood when held to the light. Hope that helps, I'd tell you to sand that guitar back all the way and start over...sorry, probably not what you wanted to hear....

First, my condolences.. Lets see a picture of the damage...Having damaged more than my fair share of guitars, I can relate. It sounds like this is a guitar that you wouldn't be selling in the future - and with "monetary" value out of the question, it's often easier to handle. I've learned to live with, if not like the battle wounds on my guitars...SRV's Number 1 was once a brand new guitar...and he was probably upset the first time he chipped the finish as well. Contact the Custom Shop to determine what finish they used on this guitar. I'd put some similar clear coat on the area to prevent further damage... Hey, I cried when I got the first scuff on my sneakers as a kid...I know the feeling. But that guitar was built to be played...and play it you should!

You can sand in any direction that you want with the clear coat...it doesn't have a grain.

I watched that show from the stage when they were in Boston...during Yngwie's set, he came off the stage, pounded back a beer, and began talking to my friend (who's on the tour) and I somthing about his F***ing guitar this and that, then started laughing, finished his beer, and headed back out on stage...I was standing there with the deer in the headlights look...That guy is big! he was towering over me.

I'm not postitive about that...it was explained to me that they were - and I took it on that. Better to check with the company before using any fan.

I also use a box of 2X2's with clear plastic stapled to the sides...however for my "fan" I bought a $35 range hood at home depot and ran a 4" tube to the outside..Those fans are "explosion proof" since they are designed to handle kitchen fumes/grease, etc. works great and even has a light for when I'm spraying!

They're worth their weight in gold!! Anyone who goes from using spray cans to a spray gun will attest - night and day. I was scared off by prices, and if "santa" hadn't brought me an air compressor, I'd still be using the rattle cans...but I was very surprised what you can get for a reasonable price. You can spend TONS on an spray gun...and there's the whole HVLP set up that you can use - for under $200, I have been EXTREMELY impressed with the quality of my equipment. Also, check classifieds in your town for compressors...they pop up pretty often.. Here's my set up: Gun: http://www.grizzly.com/products/item.cfm?i...temnumber=G5352 Compressor: http://www.grizzly.com/products/item.cfm?i...temnumber=H4518 The quality is so much beyond a rattle can - and you can now control how thin you want the lacquer - or what type of lacquer you want...and even tint it! ok, too much coffee for me... -Ben

AWESOME FINISH DRAK!

It depends how "open" your grain is. Grain filler, while often cosmetically pleasing, does much more than look good. It prevents the finish from sinking into the grain over time. Mahogany is famous for this. Sometimes with Ash, you can get away with using a sanding sealer or even the lacquer itself to do a pretty good job of sealing the grain. It's worth the extra step to ensure a smooth surface for years to come tho. -Ben

You have the right idea... With Mahogany, you'll need to fill the grain (probably more than once), sand flat, then shoot some Sanding Sealer. Sand that flat and now you can begin your bursting. After Each color, I shoot another coat of Sanding Sealer to lock in that coat. This also helps if I screw up one of the color coats and have to sand back...I reduce the risk of sanding back through the previous color. After all the coats have been done, seal again (these are light coats - not heavy coats), sand flat - begin your lacquer coats. I've never used a small automotive spray gun, but I would imagine that if you set the pressure, nozzle, and fluid flow so that you're applying a very light coat, it would work well. Remember, test on a scrap! FYI, for the first color (red), you don't need to spray it on...you can just wipe it on with a rag. Much easier. Good Luck! Let me know if you have any other questions! -Ben

It depends on the product.. my experience is that most products offered by hardware stores are more for quick "weekend warrior" furniture jobs..they get the job done quickly with OK results to the untrained eye. Stains: Don't be tempted to use a Minwax stain. There is a big difference between a stain and a dye...stains are usually mixed in with a sealer, and as Seth said, don't do a good job of getting into the wood. A Dye on the otherhand has no sealers mixed in with it and will give you much better depth. Dyes come in a few types: Alcohol Soluable, Water Soluable (both powdered) and the liquid type that Stew Mac sells. These can be mixed into lacquer when spraying, but if you lack spray equipmnent, you can't do it that way. Sanding Sealer: This is always a debatable product...I'm a huge advocate of it. It's like a clear primer - fills small grains, flattens the surface, and sands/levels very easily. Sanding Sealer in a Rattle Can is almost always nitro based. It has more solvents that I would every mix in - and because of this, it can bleed a dyed finish. I've used it in the can in the past with pretty good results tho. Vinyl Sanding Sealer is the best bet - but I've never seen it in a spray can. Clear Lacquer: If you're using lacquer to finish your guitar, you want to use Nitrocellouse Based Lacquer. This may be difficult to find in a rattle can anywhere other than Stew Mac or ReRanch. Again, this is mixed with a lot of thinner, and takes a while to cure - but can yield a really nice finish. Avoid any waterbased lacquers. Polishing Compounds: These are going to be pretty much the same anywhere you go - I never use polishing compounds, rather I have always prefered to wet-sand the gleem out. A little more work, but much less of a chance for burn through. Granted, I don't have a nice arbor, and have used the "foam pad" on a drill that Stew Mac Sells...but if it's your first attempt, doing things by hand will reduce the "OH CRAP!" moments. My suggestions would be to buy a container of Alcohol Soluable dye (and some de natured alcohol to mix with it), Stew Mac Sanding Sealer and Lacquer, and the wet sanding paper. The dye and papers can be ordered through Re Ranch. FYI: experiment with applying the dye to the wood AFTER you've used the sanding sealer - you can get great depth and very even color (it doesn't oversaturate areas) Hope that helps and Good Luck!!

Phil, This is very similar to the project I'm just wrapping up now...The back of my guitar is mahogany and I wanted a nice burst (front it maple, so it wouldn't match). I decided to spray alcohol soluble Aniline dyes directly (w/o lacquer). This worked very well. Excellent blend. I sealed each color in with a coat or two of Vinyl sanding sealer. This gave it a lot of depth. For the back, I think I ended up using the "Red Mahogany" dye for the middle, then a Dark Chocolate Brown, ending with the Black. If you use enough coats, the black becomes pretty solid...a really nice look - I like it much more than a "black" nitro as the last burst color. Here's the tip if you're doing it this way...TEST ON A SCRAP FIRST!! I'm glad that I did - because I used a nitro sanding sealer first to seal my first scrap attempt, and it turned it to mush - color bleeding everywhere...took a while before I figured out I had to use the vinyl (and light coats). But all the time and energy paid off...I'll probably have it complete in a few weeks and I'll post some pictures then. Also, I used dark grain filler on the wood, then sealed it with the Sanding Sealer, THEN applied the dyes using an airbrush. Good Luck!!

I just did the sides of my guitar black. I went against everything I preach and used "Jet" Black Nitro in a rattle can...It really worked well. I've since used my sprayer to coat with gloss nitro and it looks great. I'm sure you can track down black nitro if you really try..but I looked for a while and couldn't come up with anything. Adding black dye to it will give you a translucent black, which I imagine you don't want. I'd consider using the rattle cans - it's quick and easy. Since you'll be using the HVLP gun for the clear coat - it will turn out fine. Yes, there is a difference between brands of Lacquer. I've been using Parks and having a good experience with it. McFaddens is the other brand favored by luthiers.

What's the general consensus on drying time for nitro? I typically shoot without any thinner, and have had good results waiting 3-4 weeks after the final coat. I know longer is better...but what are we thinking is a safe amount of time? FYI, I'm doing all the polishing via wetsanding by hand...no high speed polishers.

Great Job all around!! Love the matching headstock, inlay and finishing job. Keep building! On your next project, check out using ferrels instead of a neck plate...I'm experimenting with them now - it would allow you to use more of a "sweeping" design on the body between the two cutaways since you don't have to be limited by the bolt patern of the neck plate. On the pickups: I use Gibson '57's and '57 Classics on most of my guitars...I just love them. I've considered trying a pair of Burstbuckers, as I'm sure they are sweet as well. Gibson says they are a bit hotter than the '57's. Again, Awesome looking guitar!!

There's nothing that says you can't apply the dye on top of the sealer coat...infact that's my prefered way of doing it. It often yields a more "3-D" effect; espically with figured woods. Additionally it will give you a more even color. Somtimes dye is absorbed differently on different sections of wood giving you dark patches... I say give it a shot on a part of the guitar that will be covered by the pickguard as a test. If it looks good, then seal it in with sanding sealer or the like, and shoot your nitro. FYI: look at reranch guitar finishing online...they have what you need and some helpful tutorials.

There is some truth to the Home Depot Statement. "Honduran Mahogany" is a Type or Species of Mahogany - it doesn't mean that it's from hondouras. The Country of Houndouras HAS actually impossed export bans on their Mahogany. Most of their stock was cut sold off in the 60's/70's/80's. It's VERY rare to have a piece of Hondouran Mahogany that is actually FROM Hondouras now a days. But Hondouran Mahogany from other countries is plentiful - you shouldn't have an issue finding a nice piece.

You should have a better mask than that.. One that actually filters the contaminates, rather than block them. I have one of these: http://www.grizzly.com/products/item.cfm?i...temnumber=G7870 It's cheap and it works GREAT! I wear it very often. You don't notice the differance until you take it off and almost gag since the air you've been standing in is so contaminated... It's really amazing. Pick one up!

I've done this with many strat type necks. It's really quite easy. Tape off the edges first. I've come to prefer "pinstriping" tape obtained at a auto parts store. It leaves a VERY clean edge. After taping it off, just apply the dye. Use light coats to avoid runs into the tape. Once dry, remove the tape. Use a razor to clean up the edges if necessary. Not just spray with a finish and you're done! Good Luck!