ToddW

Hi John, 2:1:1 was from the UC35 page in their manual. Pg. 30. Wonder if something has changed. I am going to stain my daughter's guitar top a light candy red with transtint, sand it back (quilted maple) , stain it yellow, and then I was going to go clear, do a kandy red burst with an airbrush, then clear coat over everything. The back is Mahogany, so I was planning to pore fill it with epoxy, sand to the wood, seal with dewaxed shellac and scuff it to 400 grit or so before I spray it. "best laid plans of mice and men" . . . lots of places to mess this up! The HOK manual says 2-3 medium wet coats, and I assumed that was per session. Then let it cure at least 24 hours, scuff it, and do the next session of clear coating ? I have no idea how long it'll take between the 2-3 coats but will talk to Coast about which RU and KU to buy and the timing/string test part. I just wanted to see how much I'd need, because the stuff is pricey, but it sounds like I could mix 3 ounces, spray 2 guitars, and then rinse the gun and mix another 3 ounces, then shoot a second coat on both, and so on. So that Quart of UC35 should be enough to do 1 or 2 electrics. 3 rattle can's of pre-cat cost me $25, so the cost isn't really that bad since I'll have the tools. You said if I wanted the wood to show, that you'd clear, then spray the candy, then clear again. Would you use UC35 for that first clear coat, or the SG100? (Edit: I called Coast, they had me call HOK. Thought the SG100 would cause the dye to bleed. Neither coast nor HOK had any experience putting SG100 or UC35 over shellac, but the tech guy at HOK said he'd go UC35, wait 2 days, flat it with 800grit, then do the burst with SG100. UC35 an hour later. Great people at Coast and HOK. Easy to reach and helpful even for a guy like me spraying a couple of small projects a year) Thanks, Todd

Syxxstring, The HOK stuff looks pretty amazing, and Coast sells "small" quantities. So can I ask you. I have a mini HVLP coming, 1mm tip which is about the same as a 1.3 on a full size gun. That seems like it'd work with UC35. To get a quart of Uc35 is about $30, catalyst 1/2 pint is $21, a pint of reducer is around $11 (figure I need some to clean the gun and to reduce the mix, right?) So for $70 I'll have enough catalyst and reducer to mix 1/2 the UC35 in a 2:1:1 ration. pint:cup:cup. giving me a quart of finish, and leaving a half quart of UC35 for me to store, or I could buy more reducer and catalyst . . . . If I buy just that, will that "quart" or 2k concoction be enough to spray 1 or 2 guitars, obviously I wouldn't mix it all at once since I assume I'll need to do 3 or 4 coats minimum over the SG100 they recommend for candy coating. Since I'm a beginner, I figure there will be a lot of wasted material, but I'm just trying to get a handle on how much of this stuff you need. I've only used rattle can's before this. Thanks, Todd

Avenger, are you going to e-mail that template so we can print it out, or were you going to actually snail mail it, which seems like too much work for you. I can wing it if that was your plan. Thanks, Todd

what would be the advantage over say Sherwin Williams CAB acrylic or a catalyzed lacquer? Are the 2K's more durable than a catalzyed lacquer? (My flexner book is on loan)

No Steinberger tuners on ebay right now, I already checked Saddly, there seems to be so much disagreement on the rules, that I don't know how likely it is that it'll happen. Think we need a "show of hands"? I'm game with or without a budget if enough people are in to make it interesting. Dirge? Ormorg? Wez? Komodo? Bueller Bueller Beuller Editing to add: That makes perfect sense Wez. Tried to check out your website. Looking forward to seeing your work when the site's up and running.

I uggrey, but if I put the tuners in the cut out, and slightly tweak the lower curve, it could be ergonomically hideous.

Hey Avenger, I actually have no problem with budget or no budget. If more people are game with no budget, then so be it. It's the builder's money after all, and there's no prize. I bought a lot of my electronics stuff on closeout, so a volume pot that sells for $5 that cost me $.25 is an edge for me if there's a budget, same with my $20 P90's that nobody else bid on. Realistically, we can't track the budget, and I don't think anyone is going to throw a $300 quilted maple top on one of these Here's an idea. How about we simply require the out of pocket/budget be disclosed? That way, the judges can award points for frugality. Todd

Hi Avenger, Guessing that's probably not fair. I have an extra slotted ebony fingerboard, all my wood, P90 pups, switches, pots from my amp building stuff, an extra earvana nut, a jack and plate, an extra truss rod from Grizzly, fret wire, a paduak/bubinga neck blank I never used. Might even have an extra tone-pros bridge if I can find some replacement pegs (those are still in the guitar it came off). So other than tuners, I don't need to buy anything. Not really fair if I don't count the cost of those accidental purchases. . . Setting a price limit is tough! Still, this is just a friendly "contest", so let's not get too hung up on the price part. Are you ok with: Corvus body, can't be heavily modified. Try to stay under $200 w/o PUPs. (The penalty for going way over is the judges won't think you played fair. . . ) Have fun. ? ? ? PS) Hope this happens just to see what Ormorg does.

You know, it's hard for me to look at the Corvus and not think Gibson planned it to be a headless guitar. That angle is just so convenient and lines up perfectly to let you use standard tuners.

Some of us are in the middle of other projects, so I propose: Entries due by July 1st 2009 Must be Corvus shaped with only minor changes to the body shape allowed. (I'd allow headless since the shape is so poorly balanced.) $200 limit +PUPs. This will be honor code. I wouldn't limit it to $150 because it cost more to buy stuff in some places than in others. There were at least 3 Corvus models made, so I wouldn't limit PUPs, because that limits sound and if we're going to put in the effort, we should be able to have it be at least useful to us. I've got 2 P90's sitting around and a lot of purple heart, so I know what I'll use Todd

I'm in, but I have two in progress right now, so I may not be able to complete it in time for the judging.

Is that why he's turning green? I thought he had Corvusophobia? Or maybe gets Corvusarrhea? I'm told you can treat both with Ativan.

20-30watts. Any pen type should work, so unless you're spending hours doing circuits, just get a simple one. You can pick them up cheap at RadioShack if you have one locally. Plain old 60/40 or 63/37 Rosin core solder should work. I can't tell any difference between 60/40 and 63/37, but 63/37 is in theory harder to get a cold joint with. Other than that, I'd get a bulb sucker/solder remover. Is that what you were looking for? Todd

Isn't most flamed maple from Sugar Maple, which is hard, and most quilted from Big Leaf Maple, which is "soft" maple? Funny that I've never really thought about it before, just figured, "Hmmmm, maple will look nice here", but this link was easy to find. Sawmill is a nice site. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=37186 If that's not helpful and nobody else posts a better answer, I can look it up in "Understanding Wood", but that'd require I get off my butt and go upstairs Found this too: http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Hard...soft_maple.html

You got big guys in suspenders in open public! The USA is more open minded than they let on... Ok...how about a suitable cavity, take a little blue pill and hold your guitar up for a good four hours (not recommended for people with high blood pressure, always seek medical advice before gigging) Ahhhh, now it makes sense why they keep sending me those e-mail links to discount "little blue pills". It's because I play guitar . . . You know, if Avenger builds the guitar you're describing, we'll need and emoticon like this : but with this face : oh, and in the south, suspenders are business casual attire.

Not enough support. It'd just twist the wool jumper. How about one of those hernia belts with suspenders that all the out of shape guys at Lowes and HomeDepot wear. You could have square peg on the front of it that could slide into a recess cut in the back of the guitar,. Just pull the guitar against your belly to put it on, push off . . . it'd even hold it at the right angle

Hey, I'd never seen a corvus before and wasn't even aware of them. Pretty amazing, it looks like some of the attempts at ergonomic guitars, but without any thought to ergonomics. The thing that I find amazing is that even the guys on Harmony Central don't give them good reviews. . However, if you chop the headstock off and sit with a foot stool like a classical player, it might balance ok. Well, if you could get that concave curve on the bottom to hook over your left leg. . . . This thread reminds me of that Eric Hoffer quote everyone paraphrases, "Nonconformists travel as a rule in bunches. You rarely find a nonconformist who goes it alone. And woe to him inside a nonconformist clique who does not conform with nonconformity." Anyway, Kudos Avenger, for being brave enough to build what appeals to you. I think it'll look cool hanging on the wall. Kind of like a fantasy novel battle axe.

I did and I think that was the only time Stewmac was less $ than ebay!

Dude.... I haven't played for over a year. When 4th edition came out, all of the 3.5 groups dried up. I just can't get a regular game together. It's killin' me! OK, I'll bite. What are you guys talking about? It sounds like some of the Saturday morning cartoons my 7y.o son watches.

Thank you for the explanation. It makes a lot of sense. Todd

Yeah, I thought of that after I posted, but then I realized the FB braces the scarf against creep. At least it does the way I did my last one.

I'm with westhemann on this. I'd go with mahogany too, although I'd use it because it's fairly light and it's stable. I'd probably add maple laminate to match the cap, to add stiffness and to tie it all together cosmetically.

Hi Woodenspoke, If a neck lamination isn't an area where shear forces are a concern, where would you be concerned about titebond II creeping on an electric guitar? On an acoustic I can see the bridge being a concern, but if not in a laminated neck, were would creep be a concern? Thanks, Todd

Steel city is fairly new, only been around for a few years, but they're probably made in some of the same factories as the Grizzly saws. They don't add a lot of fluff features, but they do seem to beef up the parts they could possibly break, like the tensioning springs and assembly. I have their 16" and love it. But I'd love the Grizzly too if I'd bought that. Woodworker's warehouse is only 20 minutes away from me, so that 5 year warranty was also a nice touch. However, given todays economy, I can understand being worried about new companies failing.

Because that wouldn't be as much fun Silly to say the wood won't affect the tone. How significant that effect will be is what is debatable. I have my doubts that in a blinded test, anyone could consistantly separate 5 guitars made of purple heart from 5 made of maple. That's if all other factors are the same. They're both hard and fairly dense woods and there's variation in each species. Yes, it's probably one wood species vibrates or dampens a certain group of frequencies differently than another wood of similar density and hardness, but I doubt it's enough for us to hear. I do think you could hear the difference between woods of vastly different densities and hardnesses if the guitars were otherwise identical.