darren wilson

I like it. It looks well-proportioned to my eye, and is unique and different.

The shimmer and depth of figured wood is essentially going to get killed by putting a transparent white (which is essentially a milky translucent white) over top of it. It seems like a waste, to me. This is an example of a guitar painted translucent white. This particular one is white over ash, which is a relatively high-contrast wood (darker grain in a lighter wood). You can see how subdued the translucent white finish has made the grain. I don't think you're going to get the effect you're looking for.

Well, if you don't know how to solder stuff, my suggestion would be to start simple. My external box idea just takes what would normally be inside the guitar and puts it on the outside. You'll just have a couple of extra jacks and a short piece of cable in between. It shouldn't sound any different than if the guts were all inside the guitar's body. You should only get the "bright" effect from the direct-wired pickup if you bypass the external control box and plug your amp right into the pickup. But even that can be controlled with the right capacitors.

http://www.islproducts.com/prod/pots/ThinMicroSeries.htm http://www.islproducts.com/prod/pots/SlimSeries_a.htm You could do some really cool edge-mounted controls with either of those.

Another idea would be to build volume and tone pots into a little box that could be clipped to your strap. If you decide you want or need to use them, just plug that little box in between your guitar and your amp cable. Hard-wire your pickup to the output jack, then run a 6" cable from the output jack to your little control box. Then simply plug your amp cable into the little box. If you decide that you don't need the controls after all (for example, if you opt to use a volume pedal instead) you just leave the box out of the circuit and remove it from your strap, essentially plugging your pickup directly into the amp. Another advantage is that you could do some wild experimentation with preamps, filters, kill switches and other curcuits in the little external box without having to carve up your guitar any further or alter its clean appearance. Having only one pickup is definitely an advantage in this case!

Trans white is basically a whitewash, so you're going to want a wood that has a high-contrast grain (very dark grain on a very light wood) or it's not going to be very visible at all through the milky white.

It's a pretty cool idea, but with only two bolts positioned the way they are, why on earth did they leave so much bulk on the heel? They could easily have made that a much more seamless neck/body transition since there's no mounting hardware to get in the way.

Gorgeous work, David! I've just been browsing some of your other guitars, and my jaw literally dropped open when i saw this one. What a stunning top and finish!

Experience is the only way to do it, really. Start off by playing for family or a small circle of close friends, then build from there. When you're on a big stage, though, make sure you DO NOT look out into the audience (especially if it's a daytime show or in a well-lit room)... that'll freak you out. I used to get quite nervous before going onstage, but now i really enjoy it.

They're not "carved" they're cast in a mold from some composite material.

How did you come to that conclusion?

I was reading about dyes and stains just yesterday, and dyes are very prone to fading, whereas pigmented stains are a bit more fade resistant. Are you using UV light to cure your finishes?

Action is the height of the strings above the frets. Tension is affected by tuning, string gauge and scale length.

The shorter 24 3/4" scale length is also a contributing factor in the Les Paul's sound. In fact, some would say it's a major part of a guitar's sound. Construction and materials definitely play a role, but i don't think it's as significant as how those strings are vibrating in the first place, and the scale length plays a major role in the overtones present on the vibrating string. A set-neck mahogany/maple Strat with 25.5" scale length still won't sound exactly like a Les Paul.

That's fantastic! Hows all that other work coming along? (*wink-wink* *nudge-nudge*)

Crackle finishes are so '80s. And not in a good way.

Of all the oil-based finishes, tung oil is supposed to darken wood the least. The latest issue of Fine Woodworking has a whole feature on oil finishes.

You'll need to widen *everything* on the body... neck cavity, pickup cavities, bridge post holes will need to be filled and re-drilled, and if you have a tremolo, you'll need to widen those cavities as well. For all the work it'll take, it might be easier to just build a new V body from scratch.

Wow... those are some impressive guitars (Variax or not). He obviously has an eye for detail and considerable skill with tools. His PRS copies are fantastic. A Variax 300 isn't too pricey... less than $500.

Gorgeous figure on that neck! I'm really puzzled as to how/why you cut your scarf joint like that. Normally, a scarf joint is made something like this: When built like this, the "wedge" on the headstock portion of the neck is sandwiched between the neck portion and the fretboard, which in my opinion, might make it stronger and more resistant to breakage. I'm trying to figure out the cuts you made to get the result you got: Presumably, you started with a much thicker board and you made a couple more cuts to the headstock blank, then after joining it, you cut it down to the right thickness using a bandsaw in order to get the volute. The way you've made it, i'd be nervous about a good whack to the headstock face potentially causing the headstock to break off at the join. Or not. Depends on what kind of glue you use, i suppose... most of the things i've read say that properly glued joints are typically stronger than the wood they join anyway. I'm just curious as to why you built it that way as opposed to the "tried and true" method.

Impressive playing, but i thought the guitar sounded terrible. It sounded like a thin, tinny electric or a metallic, harsh-sounding acoustic.

That's seriously interesting. I didn't know Fly prototypes existed before about 1992 or 1993.

Primus sucks! (and i love 'em!)

That sounds like a really cool idea. A typical neck-thru blank isn't wide enough to mount a trem and pickups onto, but that's easily fixed. I think you should give it a try and report back. BTW, Adamas acoustics use a carbon fibre top and fiberglass back, and Rainsong acoustics are all carbon fibre. Can't sound all that bad.

You should probably start a new thread for your RG project so those of us looking for progress on your JS-7 aren't disappointed when we see new posts!