JohnJohn

Very nice,I like the way you worked the pinstriping and ghosting into a tribal pattern.

Garrison's re pretty good,and come with the Buzz Feiten system. Seagull,Norman Art and lutherie,Simon and Patrick are all really good,especially for the money.They're all by the same company,(Lasido),out of Quebec so you can't go wrong.

You could also razor blade a small amount off of the surface of each fret area.But you have to be carefull not to do too much,just a light shave. And you can never go wrong with some lemon oil.

I'm glad to hear that,when I first read that one post by frank I started to wonder.

As usual a beautiful job. That wood is incredible,do you gert it locally or do you have to order it from someplace else?

Litchfield did a thread about making dyes and he was infusing right into the clear,(looked good too). There is an airbrush paint called Createx,(avail at most art stores). that has several different lines,but it's mostly water based.Part of the product line-up is a product called extender.This is added when mixing the paints,(the colours aren't true so you can get muddy colours),and as a surface prep and sealer. It dries clear and isn't very expensive for a large bottle.I wonder if adding some extender would help boost the dyes UV resistance.

Thanks Brian I'll have to try that No sorry no pics.I don't have a digital camera and my wife wouldn't let me use up the roll in her camera for guitar stuff

Update-used some water based acrylic paint and a standard brush and drew lines along the piece. The brush lines and the colour contrast made it look like natural grain.The blue was dark enough that I didn't have to go thick on the paint so it didn't produce any raised surfaces with the clear.

What kind of plastic did you use in you're tutorial Clavin?

A while back someone posted about compund veneering,there was some great info flying back and forth so I thought about giving it a whirl. First soak the veneer in a mix of vinegar,(I used rice wine),and deionied water,(distilled water that has gone flat). Allow it to soak for a bit so the grain swells.I soaked the pice for about a week. Pat the piece down so it's still damp and then steam it. Press over the shape with out any glue and hold it into place,(make sure that you've given about a 1/2" of overhang as it will shrink as it dries).A vaccum clamp would be best.I don't have one so I used tape,( clean-up was fun ).Give a while to dry,(i gave it about a week and 1/2 to two weeks. Pull of the holding material,apply the glue and reset. I pulled the piece I had setting out about two weeks ago and let it sit on a flat surface to see how much it would relax.Amazingly it held it's shape. To use a radical curve difference I formed it to the bottom of the neck over the corve and the flat of the heel. I was going to use it to inlay the bottom of the neck with a silouette,but know I'm wondering if that might look cheesy.

This I got from George Gruhn-in the 50's,(51 I think)Gibson was said to have made and shipped 110 Moderne's.But they've never appeared anywhere.The one that did sell at auction was later pronounced not authentic by Gruhn himself. Someone did claim to have shipping documents but that was later debunked. As far as anyone can tell the Moderne was made en masse in 1986,(I think it was later re-issued in the 90's). It appears to have been no more than an idea on paper in the 50's with perhaps a prototype or even a mock-up made.But as far as I ever heard that piece hasn't surfaced either. It was supposed to have been an evolution to the V. I worked at a shop that had one,to be honest it was an awful guitar.It had a strange feel to the body and it sounded flat.The splaying of the strings at the head,(which was small),really caused some tuning problems.It was a high maintenance piece. And the case had an awful pink satin lining.

Keep your sealer and basecoat layers seperate.Even if they are the same base and company there could still be some differences in shrinkage as it cures. I've seen handpainted guitars,first thing that I noticed was elevation in the finish.Unless you were to build the image up with washes,but that would really add to the time.

It is a good point,with wood thickness being different on both sides it could be that the neck would respond a little different between sides to tension changes.possibly lead to twisting. Hmmmmm,the neck that I did din't have a huge diff. from side to side.Just angled differently to mimic the hand.Still......

Do not spill acetone on the carpet right behind where you are sitting and not notice it until it has soaked through your jeans,(I must've gone around the shop at Mach 20 a couple of times.)

I just finished a neck for a friend of mine with an asymetrical neck and tilted it forward slighlty to the treble.Looks a little odd,but kinda comfy. I've always wanted to try this but thought it would look to goofy.

I love that fingerboard,great work.

Looks good so far.

You could use both.Brush on a few coats of poly to get a seal.Sand it flat and do a fine spray for top coat.

Welcome to the forum Even with support rods I just couldn't see Poplar being strong enough.

All I got was an error 404

Hey there,welcome to the forum.

A while ago Litchfield custom posted about a way to make dyes,(good info too-was that ever pinned?),and the topic came up about using black food colouring. I wrote about a black food colouring that I had found by Wilton Enterprises. DO NOT USE IT. I just finished drying,(air) some scrap maple I had soaking in it for ebonizing,the dye turned the wood a blue colour,(kinda cool looking really). The liquid looked as black as black can be.Maybe it oxidized in the air or maybe it needs a stabalizer added to it for long term.Whatever the case do not use it for transparent black dyes. I truly apologize for posting any info about this without doing all of the background first. John

Looks great. 'Only cut out the headstock"? That's still a killer design

I've used ivory to do inlays,(like on pool cue's).Right now I'm experimenting with some amber.