avengers63

Well, it's finally all done. There were some hickups along the road which resulted in some flaws. I'm 100% NOT happy with them which is why this one will never see GOTM. Construction issues aside, it sounds pretty dang good. I still need to set the intonation, set the action, and raise the bridge pup a little. The strap buttons are on the way. It's pretty interesting to me that despite the fact that the base & top of the body came from the same piece of wood, the back is a lot more orange than the blond face.

For a "lazy build" as you named it in the title, you sure are working your a$$ off.

Can anyone help me positively identify what this trem came off of? I looked on a couple of vintage guitar galleries but I didn't see a definite match.

I decided to give one of those Asian sellers on eBay a shot. I've seen too many reports about the full inlays being junk, but I didn't figure there was too much risk in trying some dots. Here's the auction I won. Even if only half of them were usable, I'd still get my $8 worth, so I was gambling it'd be worth it in the end. As expected, the quality is kinda shoddy. The thickness is uneven across the lot, some of them aren't totally round, and most have some kind of uneven-ness on one face that resembles saw marks. Still, more than half have been usable so far, so I'm calling this one a win. That's the long way of saying that my dot inlays came in and I got both necks inlaid. Tomorrow I should be able to get both fretboards polished & fretted. Wednesday should see the necks getting shaped. As for the bodies, I'm still working on the lacquer/sandback for grainfill. It's taking longer than I thought it would.

Are you meaning the top near the binding or the edges you can see THROUGH the top? Someone mailed be a package of puppies the other day. I put their collard on, but they have to stain in the kennel for a little while longer. But it won't be long before they can run and bark.

I don't believe he's 1) glued the neck in yet or 2) finished with the body shaping, which would most likely include shaping the heel.

FWIW: I'm about to take on my second commission. The 1st was for my brother-in-law. This one is for a dude at my church. The 1st I did for cost. Because this one is for a church brother, I'll give him a good price, but he fully expects to pay me for the work, so it's all good.

I appreciate the responses and attempts to help. I really do. I know it wouldn't be that hard to glue in limba shims and that they'd be nearly invisible. Almost isn't good enough for me anymore. If I were painting them, I'd probably have gone ahead and done it because they'd be completely invisible. Since that isn't the case, and it'd be glaring at me every time I saw it, the decision was made to go bolt-on. As I said before, these are supposed to be fraternal twins, as identical as humanly possible given the different shapes and instruments. The choice to make the bass a bolt-on is 100% cosmetic. It is very important to me maintain the overall theme. I honestly don't see this as a bad thing. Plans often change mid-stream. The important thing in my mind is that the quality level will still be where I want it to be. HOCKEY: I'm glad you like it. Thanks.

kewl I didn't know if anyone was still paying attention. The lack of comments can be deceiving sometimes.

I changed the V over to a bolt-on. I got the neck route just a hair too wide - just enough for it NOT to hold in without support and to have an ounce of play. I'd rather not glue in shims and re-rout because I'm fearful of them showing. I'd rather change the plans than to have it look like I was trying to patch it up. Because they're supposed to be twins, I'm giving serious consideration to having the bass become a bolt-on as well. The tenon is really long - only an inch or two from the pup - and it fits like a glove so a set neck is still completely feasible. BUT.... then they wouldn't be twins. Bolting it in wouldn't be the worst thing in the world and in my opinion would be largely cosmetic. If I don't bolt it in, I'll always look at it as a fault rather than a feature, mainly because of the 'twins' thing. Oh well. This is one reason I keep an open mind with my builds. Things happen. You need to be able to adapt rather than blow it up. On a different note, I started the finishing process on the V. The Explorer will be starting later this afternoon. I'm doing them both in lacquer. No particular reason; I just haven't used it in a while. For the grainfill, I'm sanding back at 220 grit between coats. I'm only brushing on one coat per day, so it should be dry enough to sand back even though it's not dry & cured. I did some experimentation with colors on some scrap. The original '58s are slightly orange. i experimented with some yellow & orange dyes and some amber shellac. I hit the various shades with lacquer, oil based poly, water-based poly, and clear shellac. I came to the conclusion that the darker color is from age, not some added colors. The newer korina re-issues aren't dark like the originals, so this backs up my conclusion. I believe that were the originals colored, the re-issues would be as well. I'm still waiting for some pearl dots to come in before I can finish up the necks. They'll simply be polished up to 12,000 and oiled.

Any particular reason you're wanting to show off your guitar mags? There's a different set in dang near every shot.

If you're going to hit them with the router, why bother with the laser cutter in the first place? If you aren't looking at it, I'm doing a mirored acrylic top on an Iceman. RULE #1 - reduce the cutting speed. RULE #2 - high TPI. The big thing to remember with it is that it's plastic. Plastic melts. Cutting causes friction which generates heat, which will melt the plastic. Plastic is also a little bit brittle, so it can be prone to cracking & chipping. When cutting, use a blade with at LEAST 12-14 TPI. I cut mine out on the scroll saw. When you route to the template or to bevel the edge, take as small a bite as you can - smaller than with wood. You REALLY need to creep up on the final shape. This isn't wood. You're not slicing away thin layers of the natural fibers. You're slicing/chipping away at a hard, man-made substance that doesn't want to be cut. I'd say if you have access to a laser cutter than can do bevels and work at a lower heat, then that's the best way to go.

Pickguards & cavity routing

I finished off the headstock too. I scraped the binding flush, then buffed it up to 1000 grit. Putting the tuners on is a no-brainer. Just a little measuring and some recessing for the nuts & washers. The TRC took a little effort, but it's all good in the end. A small crack happened, probably during the routing. You can't see it from too far away, and even then only at the right angle. I can't do anything about it anyway... NOT SCRATCHES!!!! It's lint from the windex-paper towel. Behold the maker.....

Time to epoxy the mirror to the face. I believe I transferred all of the info I need to do the pup routes. It's a good thing I'm not gluing anything else today, because that's all of the really useful ones!

B, C, D, and E are just graphic pickguards. That doesn't seem like much effort for a tribute to me. F, G, and H are full body graphics, which I usually don't care for. That only leaves A for me. Also, A is the most generic Eddie, and thus mor able to be applied to the band as a whole rather than to one specific album. Lastly, I give you my favorite Eddie image:

A template, double-stick tape, and the router.

Handmade from Spoke's design. http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...p+ring+tutorial I tweaked it slightly for use with a miter saw instead of a table saw.

Can't get clear 4/4 alder around here much less 8/4, so I haven't had the opportunity to work with it yet. Sapele is NOT African mahogany. They have a similar appearance, but they're not the same wood. That being said, sapele is GREAT to work with and has a LOT of bottom end to it.

Wenge pickup rings for the V.

I got the binding all welded together with acetone and the binding laminator. after some testing with the other piece, I did the binding channel for the headstock. And because I'm a little obsessive, I had to ebonize the inside of the channel as well. Just in case, ya know? Right now, the binding is in place with the glue drying. Even though it's c/a, I'd rather let it sit for a while.

You have the projects crossed up. The Iceman has the ebonized neck. The twins are wenge/limba.

So here's the thing..... The string spacing on the guitar headstock is pretty narrow. I'm going to add a "nut" right behind the zero-fret. It'll be more of a string-spacing guide than anything. I'll be fashioning it from either wenfe or limba. The limba will stand out like a sore thumb, but it'll match the woods. The wenge will blend in much better, but won't grain-match. Which would you go with?

FWIW: Poplar is the easiest of those to work with. And the ugliest.

I was talking with the wife about getting the caul and buying an arbor press locally (and paying $50 less for it!). She's the one who suggested I do the "block of wood" thing and still hammer them in. And that's why I love talking it all over with her. She thinks further outside the box than I do. The insert was only $5 or so. Which one - the press insert, the back bolt, or ebonizing the wood?