avengers63

+1 It's not NEEDED under normal circumstances. Some folks use it as a grain-filler, but the obvious question then is "Why not just use real grain-filler?" I've used it when I'm going to paint the body because it will make it easier to get a smooth primer coat without any grain showing through. If for whatever reason you wanted/needed to seal the wood before applying a clear finish, try looking into shellac. The main drawback with shellac is that it REALLY gums up the sandpaper.

If you're going to Kinman for the noiseless design, there's something you should know: Bill Lawrence holds the patent for the SCN Noisless design. He designed them for Fender, makes his own brand of them, and Kinman uses the same concepts. Now, I'm NOT bad-mouthing Kinman at all. I'm sure his pups sound great. All I'm saying is if it's nosless pups you're looking for, you might be better off going to the guy who designed them. They'd be a dang-sight cheaper as well.

Just make sure to give the bodies a good sealer coat of shellac. That'll hold in whatever may leak out of those knots.

That's how I paint everything - rattle cans. The tricky part would be getting the tip right against the hole and NOT getting paint on the surface. Clearly, I'd be taping the heck out of the surface. Another thought I had that would be a LOT less risky would be to pour some black paint into the chamber through the back, then "rolling it around" while looking through the f-hole for coverage. It might be easier to funnel it through the dragon. I COULD try to stick the spray can through the back and spray in that general direction. I still gotta think about it for a while.

Those ARE drips from the poly. There aren't any "stalactites" of finish hanging there, but there are two drip spots on the inside.

SJE: I cave serious consideration to those knobs. The whole piece is a mix of traditional and aggressive. In the ned, I felt the metal-topped knobs were to traditional. Yours aren't a BAD option, just not the right one in my mind. Thanks for the input though. Prostheta: I'm not sure what you're seeing. Chops: That's been suggested before. No air gun, not thrilled with sticking the tip of a can up to the holes. I honestly think that the holes are being highlighted by the flash. This just brought up a thought - when it's all done and the control side is covered in shielding foil, that will really reflect light and show through. CRAP ON A STICK!!!!!!! Can the foil be painted? I'm not getting black shielding paint, so please don't suggest it. If spray painting the foil will work, that might just be the route to take. On the other side of the body, maybe I'll have to tape the edges of the dragons and spray into the holes anyway. Without an air brush, does anyone have any other suggestions?

Poplar is great for a body. It's light, east to work, middle-of-the-road tone, and inexpensive. All that being said, I don't know if I'd go to a box store for the lumber. You'd get a much better deal and selection at a local lumber yard. That being said, if HD is where you want to get it, it should be fine so long as it's clear, flat, straight, and knot/crack free.

All I can say is thank you for not being afraid to hurt my feelings by telling me the truth.

I'm there dude. I can see it too. A big plate made from ebony with bloodwood covers or just the ebony cutouts as covers... Overlays made from the bloodwood cutouts... The body is an actual semi-acoustic, probably ebony... Lindy Fralin pups instead of Airline repros... Ebony TP with a dragon inlaid into it... Holly & ebony multi-layer binding... He probably would have been able to find figured bloodwood somewhere. I've seen it, but it's rare. Too bad I ain't even half the luthier Myka is.

I don't want to be an ass, but....

All three are cut, shaped, and tested with the pup. They're currently being primered.

Take another look. There's 7/16" of wood between pup routes, and 1/2" between the edges of the pups. It looks like they're right next to each other because that space is taken up by the rings, and nearly the entire area from neck to bridge is filled.

Someday I'll be where you are with it. Someday.....

Well, switching the actual pups at this point isn't an option. I just called around, and nobody within striking distance has any dog-ears in stock for me to check compatibility. So.... I believe I'm going to make some from wood, paint them black, and then see what it looks like. Maybe the white pups with black rings will help it out. Absolutely. This is another reason for us to post progress pics. Sometimes we just need another set of eyes. When I did the first mock-up, I though there was too much white as well, but I wasn't sure how to get around it. I knew that when I got to this point, someone would speak up and ideas would be sparked. It's all good.

I honestly don't know if black dog-eared covers would fit or not. I don't have any to try out. I also have no idea if these pups would fit or be mountable with dog-ears. Maybe I can give a couple local shops a call. And thanks, but it's not paduk - it's bloodwood.

If I seem sensitive to day, then it's all in the delivery. I can accept an honest criticism and a difference in opinion. Like you, I'm not diplomatic, but pretty straight forward. We all know that a LOT of the communication process gets lost over the net. No worries. You didn't see the purpose in 3 pups. I do, with both historic reference and new. And you're right - it doesn't look anything like the Airline. That is indeed just where it started. It clearly went in it's own direction since then. Truth be told, it all started with three things. 1) I saw these pups available on eBay, so I did some investigation on them. 2) I saw a pic in this book of an acoustic with a soundhole shaped like a carp, cut with the scroll saw. 3) I wanted to experiment with super-chambering a body and putting a cap on both front & back. I wanted a big semi-acoustic, a guitar with a bloodwood top, I like a trapeze TP, I've developed a liking for odd pups, and a few other things. All of these things came together at the same time, so out popped this project. On a different note.... I believe I'm going to do some experimenting with making some thin rings and painting them black. I agree that the white rings are a bit much. Maybe black rings will help tone it all down a bit and tie it all in with the back of the guitar.

Heck yea I want pics of the insides! Stenciling the control labels isn't a bad idea either.

These are thinner than a Gibson P90, so the tone won't be the same. They're supposed to be modeled after the Kleenex Box pups. From the sound clips I heard, they're about halfway between a Strat s/c and a P90. With the 5-way switch, I'm envisioning a growly Strat with a slightly warmer bottom end. Consider the ES-335 and other archtops & semi-acoustics for a moment. They're nowhere near the bridge, yet it seems to have worked out fine for what... 60+ years? These guitars were part of the inspiration for this build. I don't like the controls right next to my hand either. Strats aren't my favorite precisely because of that. So, considering the long standing placement of the controls on similarly shaped guitars, I don't understand the comments. Clearly, the placement of the dragons and the tailpiece defined what space was available for the controls. To say they decided where the controls went is a bit extreme. I intentionally angeled them to fall in line with the dragon, which helped define their placement as well.

Here's a couple of cover-less P90s I have. They're not going to give a clear representation, but they might help you imagine. A pair of black coverless HBs And everyone's favorites, just for silliness sake.

As a reminder from page 1 of this build, part of the inspiration for this build was this style of guitar, reproduced by Airline: As for the rings, that's what came with them, that's what they had originally, and that was the plan from the get-go. That being said, plans can change, though in this case, because the routing has been done they only have limited possibilities. Looking at the pups from the bottom, they have tabs and spring.screw mounts instead of your "normal" P90 mounts. this severely limits what can be done. Not a bad idea. First, let's see it laid out again, but with some finish on it.

How would it help you play softer?

What's a ramp?

Amen, brutha!

I just couldn't resist one last mock-up before laying the finish. FWIW: These pics were taken on the 23rd. From that point on, it's been laying the finish and letting it cure. I had a major setback with the top though. There was a bad reaction between the sanding sealer and the water-based poly. The finish got really dark, but only in some places. I had no choice but to strip it off and start over. Today I'll be applying coat #4 of 5. Tomorrow is #5, then it sits until Monday at the earliest, maybe longer.

Thinking outside the box is hard enough on it's own. When someone does (Steinberger, Teuffel, Klein, etc.), their designs seem so radically different that they're almost rejected out of hand. It's almost like we want different, but it has to be so familiar it doesn't feel different. At this point, just about any design will be able to trace it's inspiration from an existing shape. If you've made it your own somehow, or if there was honestly no copying, that really should be good enough.