mistermikev Posted March 30, 2020 Report Share Posted March 30, 2020 verry nice. if I did my guitar oustide with no protection like that... it'd have 2lb of dust bunnies by the time I took it in! looks lint free and coming along nicely! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusader Posted March 30, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2020 2 hours ago, Bizman62 said: I just realized how pretty the back is! Oh yeah I love the back, the last one I did also has a nice back. This timber came from the same piece of wood ...and when I'm spraying this lacquer in combination with the conditions, it dries quite quickly. Therefore the dust bunnies don't have a lot of time to ruin my day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusader Posted April 28, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2020 I have got tired of the wind ruining my attempts to get a decent coat of lacquer on my guitar. And the other day there was a flock of Carnabys in the trees, so it was raining chewed up honkey nuts So.....I made a spray-booth! And here's the Carnabys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted April 28, 2020 Report Share Posted April 28, 2020 Cool illusion in your first pic. the guitar is suspended in mid-air. I had to look up Carnabys and honky nuts. We don't grow either of them in these parts. I expect a flock of birds that big make one hell of a mess. Probably loud too.... SR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted April 28, 2020 Report Share Posted April 28, 2020 Must be a regional thing; I haven't heard of a Carnaby either. Down here we just call them Black Cockatoos or Black Cockies, although ours are a different subspecies that have yellow patches rather than the white of the Carnaby. Honky Nut = just known as a gum nut here, ie the 'nut' of a gum (eucalyptus) tree. 3 hours ago, ScottR said: I expect a flock of birds that big make one hell of a mess. Probably loud too.... I dunno if the Carnaby is the same, but our Black Cockies are actually gentler than more well-known Sulphur Crested White Cockatoo. Their call is quite polite and they tend to just perch in trees and 'talk' to each other. Urban myth has it that you only see flocks of Black Cockies flying overhead ahead of approaching stormy weather. The SCW Cockatoos, in contrast have a raucous screech that sounds not unlike Hollywood representations of flying Pterodactyl dinosaurs, and they aren't afraid to tear up the bark of tree branches in search of insects, making a huge mess in the process. Thread derailment complete, carry on... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted April 29, 2020 Report Share Posted April 29, 2020 11 hours ago, ScottR said: I had to look up Carnabys and honky nuts Same here! Searching for "carnaby" didn't give anything other than the street in London and a family with that name. Finally "Carnaby bird" revealed the secret: The name is "Carnaby's" or rather "Carnaby's black cockatoo". Funny how much a tiny little thing like an apostrophe can change! And yes, the levitating guitar looks cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusader Posted April 30, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2020 Yes I could have just called them "Big Black Cockies" LOL Yes they are loud and messy. The sound they make reminds me of the movie "The Birds" When they are in the trees its raining gum nuts and it makes quite a din on the workshop tin roof There are two species around here, white chests and red chests and they are endangered. There are people who do a lot to protect them. I think they spend most of their time up north. I have never seen so many of them congregate in our yard, so yeah I was thinking we are in for stormy weather (do do do looking out my back door!) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusader Posted April 30, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2020 Hey maybe "Carnaby" would be a good name for my guitars. There are a lot of Scottish people here in Perth and chances are high if I show them to people and say "hey look at my home made guitar" they will reply "Nooo, it Carnaby"!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted April 30, 2020 Report Share Posted April 30, 2020 Unless the Carnaby family has nothing to say against it. Anyhow, it sure sounds more PC than "Big Black Cocky" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusader Posted May 2, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2020 Point taken Well it was raining gum nuts on the shed roof again today and I thought it was 28’s but it turned out to be Pink Gallahs, which are quite smaller than Carnabys I can’t think how to make a joke out of that, but even if I could I better not go there... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusader Posted May 2, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2020 On 5/1/2020 at 1:45 AM, Bizman62 said: Unless the Carnaby family has nothing to say against it...... It certainly sounds better than another idea I had, which was "yES" - this idea came out of writing "My ES" in notes to differentiate between my Gibson, and just taking the "y" Imagine me saying to people "Hey I will play you a tune, I get some good tones out of my yES" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusader Posted May 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2020 Okay so nobody laughed at that one, never mind life goes on! So I got around to drawing up a wiring diagram for this ES type guitar. I like to keep things simple and with this one I've decided to go with the option of swapping the coils on the Neck pickup rather than out of phase If you have out of phase you get the other coil but I'm not all that taken by that sound, and when its combined with single coil I like it even less. But anyway nothing is set in stone yet I have the Neck black wire going to the Coil Split before the Coil Swap but I'm not sure if its necessary. I could just have it joining the white wire at the middle terminal of the Coil Swap but I think its better this way. Any suggestions or point of view about this? cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted May 5, 2020 Report Share Posted May 5, 2020 2 hours ago, Crusader said: Okay so nobody laughed at that one, never mind life goes on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusader Posted June 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2020 (edited) So an update to this troubled build. Here it is being polished looking good, then discovered cracks in the lacquer I concluded there were numerous reasons for the lacquer to go like this and it was suggested to leave it and spray again later but I decided to crack on with it and sanded it back to bare wood again. Here's a couple of shots and I almost decided to leave it natural rather than stain again.......... From this angle it has a cool natural appeal But this photo convinced me to put the stain back on again it just looks awesome I tried repairing the cracks... Later on I noticed there were cracks elsewhere in the finish. The one in the base you would think is a scratch but I studied it hard and its definitely a crack Not going for a Relic finish sorry! The crack in the base gave me a clue as to the main problem (spraying too thick on first coat) I remember I sprayed it over and over because its an area that sometimes gets neglected So the problems I concluded that caused the cracks were; Air pressure too low and spraying outdoors made it dry too quickly, which made me spray too thick to get a wet coat Spraying too late in the afternoon and storing in uninsulated tin shed overnight where the temperature drops too quickly And lastly, the timber is probably not suitable for guitar tops and needs time to adjust to its new shape Thanks to you guys for your comments and suggestions - it takes a while but eventually the penny drops. I sprayed it again today (inside under lights) so it will be hanging in the shed for a while ........the BIG shed which is insulated! Edited June 5, 2020 by Crusader neglected details 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted June 5, 2020 Report Share Posted June 5, 2020 That sounds like a plausible explanation. Kudos for going to the effort to re finish. I know how hard it is to back up and do something over.....I hate it. But often it is the best answer. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusader Posted June 6, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2020 I forgot to mention that I remembered to spray slower passes as you suggested. I used to always be scared of getting runs but now I'm using Nitro its not as big an issue. Thinking about it, I suppose I'm subconsciously copying how they spray on the Youtubes I've watched. As for the reason for the cracks, out of all the suggestions I think it was a case of "All Of The Above" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted June 6, 2020 Report Share Posted June 6, 2020 7 hours ago, Crusader said: As for the reason for the cracks, out of all the suggestions I think it was a case of "All Of The Above" Great shame about the cracks because it looked great otherwise! All I know is that folks who do this on purpose to 'tastefully relic' a nitro finish do often pop it in the fridge or freezer for a spell and 'pop' instant crazing. So entirely possible that the drop in temperature as the finish was naturally contracting in its curing sounds logical as a primary cause. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
komodo Posted June 6, 2020 Report Share Posted June 6, 2020 3 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said: All I know is that folks who do this on purpose to 'tastefully relic' a nitro finish do often pop it in the fridge or freezer for a spell and 'pop' instant crazing. So entirely possible that the drop in temperature as the finish was naturally contracting in its curing sounds logical as a primary cause. Thats what I did with the metal tele build, wrapped in plastic and stuck it in the deep freeze for a couple days. When i took it out, I hit it with a air dryer and big crazing appeared. They were so fine, you couldn't feel them. I've read about how they can seal themselves, so when you are trying to get them for effect, it's annoying. In this case, I believe @Crusader and my Black Queen had similar issues. His had the added temperature differences, but both of ours had heavy spraying with too thick of undercoats, and probably uneven curing stresses. I can say that with mine, I could definitely feel the crazing, and more appeared as I sanded the top. Mine was also only on the top, which makes me wonder about wood moisture? Blush eraser, thinner, nor a thinner/acetone mixture did little when applied to the crazing, even after excavating them wider. Just before I stripped it to wood and re-dyed and re-sprayed, I procured some Cellusolve as recommended by Frank Ford in the Frets article on fixing crazing, and to my surprise it actually worked. There was quite a bit of drop filling and leveling after, and it's not 100%, but probably 98-99%. High fives to @Crusader for the patience and resolve for that redo. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusader Posted June 7, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2020 On 6/6/2020 at 10:37 PM, komodo said: High fives to @Crusader for the patience and resolve for that redo. Thank you for your kind words Well its going to take even more patience now. Tonight I strung it up and did the nut slots and played it a bit. It sounded quite nice and was very playable. Then I did the saddle slots and when I re-tuned the last sting I heard a loud CRACK! But at least the Lacquer isn't cracked! I'm not surprised this has happened seeing how thin the top was. I was relying on the thickness going down the centre but the pickups took too much out. I have already contemplated what I will do in this situation. Replace the top? Is that possible? I've got ideas but on the other hand if I can strengthen the top along the pickup area I might be able to save it. I just don't know how I would get pieces of wood in there long enough Here she is lookin good.... And then kaplunk As I said I was half expecting this to happen so I was prepared and I'm not devastated I will get on with other things and maybe something genius will come to mind Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted June 7, 2020 Report Share Posted June 7, 2020 This guitar is possessed. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted June 7, 2020 Report Share Posted June 7, 2020 In violins they use things called sound posts which are just loose dowels between the top and the bottom to spread the pressure from the bridge partially to the bottom. They're usually snuck in through the f-hole but you might be able do that through the pickup cavity as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusader Posted June 8, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2020 7 hours ago, ScottR said: This guitar is possessed. SR LOL you’re absolutely right! 6 hours ago, Bizman62 said: In violins they use things called sound posts..... Yes I’ve heard of some guitars using them, trouble is they dampen resonance. Not a problem with a violin because they use a bow. And you know the sound of a violin being picked...? they go “plunk” i should be able to glue in something to strengthen it up, under or beside the bridge pickup “Its just a flesh wound” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted June 8, 2020 Report Share Posted June 8, 2020 Plunk indeed... Then again, a violin is very small compared to a guitar. The place where you pluck also makes a big difference like shown here: Last but not least, a sound post is just a loose bit of broomstick which you can easily remove if it doesn't do the trick. Wouldn't hurt trying as it only takes five minutes to make. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusader Posted June 8, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2020 4 hours ago, Bizman62 said: Plunk indeed... Then again, a violin is very small compared to a guitar... .....a sound post..... you can easily remove if it doesn't do the trick....... Interesting video it sounds like "slap bass" LOL I got around to having a look at it today and it seems the best way to reinforce the top is right under the bridge pickup which gets in the way when you're installing the wiring harness So just for now I made a block to act like a post as you suggested and it works! It does however dampen the sound. Its not as loud and its a bit dull, no top end. I know luthiers sometimes spend a lot of time putting a post in a violin because it has to be in just the right spot, so I don't know how I would go with that (I wanted this guitar to be more accoustic than electric) Oh and another thing, I discovered what I think made the "crack" - the glue joint at the end of the neck where it connects to the underneath of the top. So I think the top is okay, its not broken! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted June 8, 2020 Report Share Posted June 8, 2020 2 hours ago, Crusader said: So I think the top is okay, its not broken! Yay! Also, nice to hear that the post works, sort of. As you say the right spot is important. Also the thickness matters and logically thinking the material may have an impact to the sound as well. It's been a long time since I last have watched a Jerry Rosa video, but this one pretty much tells how he installs it as well as discussing the length, thickness and location. There's some ten minutes of fiddling with the bridge in between the sound post procedure so keep watching until you've seen the whole thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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