demonx

Looks like you some some more seriously nice timber coming your way. Another thought for the hollow logs - you could cut them up and use/sell them as decorative pots, for plants?

I forgot to update - there was a couple NGD's just before xmas! Simon (guitarist from Scar The Surface) picked up "darkhorse": Tim picked up the all Aussie timber 8 string:

WOW... I can't believe the price of that Lumbersmith. Over here in oz that type if hobby machine starts around 5k! I wonder how much postage is to Australia!

Probably. Its not a massive forum. If you look at how many regulars are here, maybe a dozen or so "elders & mods" and then add a couple dozen newbies and medium posters then it seems to add up. If it was a huge forum we'd never be able to follow any of the build threads!

I think it's clear by the voting that chris kicked everyone's arse this month and the guitar (minus ugly blue contamination!!) truly deserves it! Congrats on the win. Not many acoustics get wins in GOTM so by the scale of the voting it's obvious this one stands out. Well done!

Looks great! Nice body carves and a continuous theme in the coloring makes it look like a stunning guitar. I'm sure it plays as good as it looks

Welcome to the forum!

"Darkhorse" More pics here: http://searlsguitars.com.au/Gallery/022/022gallery.html Build pics on my facebook page. Tele 6 Neckthru. I have completed about a dozen guitars since I started this build. Every time I got stuck into it a customer order required this one to be put aside until recently when I had time to get this and another one done. As it was long and drawn out over a couple years the specs changed quite a bit but it got there in the end. The guitarist from "Scar The Surface" ended out snapping it up as soon as it was available for sale last week and he seems quite happy with it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Specs: African Mahogany neck with Maple and Brazilian Rosewood highlights Tasmanian Blackwood headstock with maple highlights and Indian Rosewood caps African Mahogany wings with Bookmatched Master Grade Indian Rosewood cap Indian Rosewood scarf joint laminations Indian Rosewood fingerboard with small Black Peal inlays Ebony binding Gotoh GE1996T Tremolo Bareknuckle Warpig Bridge Pickup - open Bareknuckle PAT63 Neck pickup - open Three way selector switch CTS 500k pots 0.022uf Paper Dipped in Oil Capacitor Switchcraft output jack Schaller style strap locks Grover tuning Machines 12 degree +/- headstock angle 16" fingerboard radius 25.5" fingerboard scale 24 frets 6150 Dunlop fretwire White side dots Comfort curve rear

Thanks RAD. You're not wrong about that feeling when building a lefty. I had to check and double check everything as my senses kept telling me "it's backwards", "you're doing it wrong" !!! I managed to get through the build, paint etc all well until assembly where I became a bit too complacent. Flipped the guitar over, pre drilled the strap lock hole in the horn only to realize I'd drilled it in the lower rather than upper horn by habit. Felt like a complete idiot. A bit of saw dust and color matching to fill the hole, sealed it with superglue, gave it a quick sand and buff/polish and it's nearly invisible until pointed out. I explained to the customer and took money off the end price because of this. He laughed about it saying such n such (a big name respected builder) did the exact same thing! The customer also payed me more than I wanted rather than the reduced price as he was so happy with the guitar, then tipped me a bottle of gentlemans jack! I'd love to build another guitar for this guy, just wish he wasn't a lefty so I could play the thing!

Chris: that pic completely kicks arse over the burst! I like it a lot! One thing I find though is you're never going to please everyone. There's always gonna be haters. Do something to please one crowd and the other crowd will skin you for it, so yeah, do the blue, do one without the blue! Everyone's happy!

The neck was fine.

Chris: Heres the pics I said I'd post for you of the 1983 built guitar I used to have, I thought I had more pics, but it's been a while since I sold this one so the memory was a bit rusty. Hope you get something from it anyway. It's from the same company that created/pioneered the "heeless neck joint" in electric guitars which has now been duplicated/ripped off by nearly every neckthru guitar builder on the planet. They stared doing this on their accoustics in the early 80's.

I don't want to sound like a kill joy on the all access heel joint, but Ive owned 30yo+ acoustics with heels like that myka, however these were even more contoured. So it's not a new thing. I'm out of town at the moment but when I'm home I'll post a pic for Verhoevenc to check out. On the topic of your build though, i like it very much, however the blue to my tastes turns it from desirable to un! No blue!

Looks great, nicely done!

What he said, also about the pickups, always cut the wires leaving the longest possible amount of cable. Better even is to in solder them so you're not cutting them at all.

Simply put, just do it! That is exactly how I started twenty two years ago. I bought a strat copy, made a flying v body and swapped all the parts over. A lot of time in between and mostly learning by doing repair work, refurbs and various mods and then in more recent years full blown builds completely from scratch. What I'm saying is, you have to start somewhere and if that's how you want to start then it's as good place as any.

Those chinaberry (never heard of it) blanks look awesome! I can imagine you'd be pretty excited!

A couple of the new ones in their early stages. The first two I'm just building for stock: This one is a customer order:

Best freight quote I've had so far from Australia to USA for a neckthru is around the $700.00 mark (just for freight). That was Fedex. I cannot use the postal services as the dimensions are too large.

Ive always had a soft spot for white ebony, it always looks so amazing. Never had the priviledge of working with it though. I'm pretty sure this will be a stunning guitar when finished.

Looking good as usual. Congrats on the CNC. I only wish I could afford one.

Favorite part for me is the inlay on the rear, very classy. Overall great looking guitar. Good work!

Thanks guys. The tele gets picked up on Saturday if all goes to plan and hopefully I'll get some cool stage pics as the guys band is about to release another CD so I assume they'll be touring. I haven't advertised the 8 string yet. Tyler: with that multi lams I just used two dowels, one at either end and then just added the wood like a big kebab! It makes glue ups nice and easy with no slipping or movement and no jigs required. Re The back carve: it just happened. I was chiseling away and feeling the heel as if I was playing the guitar and marking where it felt uncomfortable and I kept hacking and hacking and then this popped out. Re the decals: glad I could help Tyler. The last lot I got from them was much thinner vynil than in the past, which has made it easier to clear over but have to take a bit more caution in the application. I do like them better though.

Another one finished this week: Tele 6 Neckthru African Mahogany neck with Maple and Brazilian Rosewood highlights Tasmanian Blackwood headstock with maple highlights and Indian Rosewood caps African Mahogany wings with Bookmatched Indian Rosewood cap Indian Rosewood scarf joint laminations Indian Rosewood fingerboard with small Black Pearl dotinlays Ebony binding Gotoh GE1996T Tremolo Bareknuckle Warpig Bridge Pickup Bareknuckle PAT63 Neck pickup Three way selector switch CTS 500k pots 0.022uf Paper Dipped in Oil Capacitor Switchcraft output jack Schaller style strap locks Grover tuning Machines 12 degree +/- headstock angle 16" fingerboard radius 25.5" fingerboard scale 24 frets 6150 Dunlop fretwire White side dots Comfort curve rear

8 String All Aussie Timber Neckthru Queensland Maple neck Tasmanian Blackwood wing caps and matching headstock Tasmanian Oak for rear of wings Figured Jarrah fingerboard with small gold pearl dot inlays Soap Box timber binding Kahler Tremolo Lundgren M8 Bridge Pickup Coil split switch CTS 500k pots 0.022uf Paper Dipped in Oil Capacitor Switchcraft output jack Schaller style strap locks Gotoh tuning Machines 12 degree +/- headstock angle 16" fingerboard radius 27" fingerboard scale 24 frets 6150 Dunlop fretwire Black side dots Comfort curve rear Top carve