mdw3332

Very nice! My first one came out OK, but it was not nearly as involved. Great work.

My guitar guy told me to set the saddles at about 2/3 of their extension and set your high E to your scale length. The bass side is set back 1/8" from there.

Oops these must have crossed in cyber space. Thanks. That's beautiful. I was curious about the brush on nitro too. Can you tell us more?

Marty

My son just suggested the microwave. How long should I nuke it???????

I found a PRS CAD download at the site below.

Marty

PRS CAD

Very nice work - especially for your first. Keep it up. One bit of advice - mahogany is tricky to finish, you need to seal it really well. One of my first was mahogany and it took me 4 or 5 times to get the finish decent. It is worth it when you get done though. If I were you, I would go through the finishing forum here for advice. I used a mahogany grain filler and sealer but there are lots of people here more talented and experienced than me.

Good luck,

Marty

Hey guys, It was about 90 here today and the Santa Anas were up. (Those are the hot dry winds that come in from the desert) I left the walnut out all day so it should be OK now - right?

How about a hair dryer?

A big Fan?

Wrap it in sponges?

OK, I'll be patient.

I wanna start cutting and stuff!

Marty

Lex, thanks - I'll let you guys know. Damn, I want to start doing something with it. Oh well, I guess if the other projects don't keep me busy, my wife will find something for me to do.

Marty

I had always heard that Craftsman tools were great and I have had some good ones - a bandsaw etc. However, when I got into building guitars I wanted a better router and bought one of the "Professional" models. I went through about 4 of them - 2 HP, variable speed with 1/4 & 1/2 collets. Something bad happened to each of them. I bought a Milwaukee and have used it a lot with no problems.

Drak,

I just need to set up a automatic e-mail to thank you every few days - save me some time.

I agree about buying locally - this place has a great selection, knowledgable people and it's close. I also have made friends with a couple of the managers at the local Rockler's. I built a Tele for one of them and he gave me one of their top of the line router tables. I also get some pretty nice discounts. Incidentally, the place I bought the walnut is Austin's in Santa Ana, CA. I'd recommend it highly to anyone in the area.

BTW - congrats on GOTM. Well deserved. Duke Snider used to be my hero, but you're the man now. I'll keep you posted.

Marty

Drak, Wow, thanks once again for probably saving me from a terrible fate. I thought about that and the one thing I noticed that it seemed to soak up naptha much more quickly than other woods I have used. Does that mean anything?

The good thing is that I bought it from a very big, very reputable hardwood dealer here locally. I shop there a lot and on of the managers has become a friend (he sold me this one) and he builds guitars and knows just about everything about wood. I'll call him Monday and I know he will give me a straight answer. BTW - is $40 cheap for this? I don't know - it was an impulse buy as I had been thinking about doing this type of project and I love walnut. Also liked working with the Lacewood and doing chambers.

Thanks for the heads up.

Marty

Found this today for $40. It's Crotch Walnut and it is 10 X 20 X 1. I'm going to have it resawn and use it bookmatched on something. The color is a little more even than the pics show. I had sprayed in with Naptha and it was drying fast. Any advice? I first thought of a thin-line Tele, but I already have one of them. Thinking of maybe a hollow body/thinline Strat? Suggestions are welcome.

Marty

I just did it on a $25 LP copy. I took the binding off mostly so I could try putting on new binding. I used a router set-up on a Dremel to remove the old - heat just melted it. I then used the Stew Mac 2 piece router set to clean up and widen the channel and then glued the new binding in with CA. Probably would use the stuff Stew Mac recommends next time. It came out about a "C-", but it was good practice.

If I were doing it again, I would buy some extra binding (it's not expensive) and practice on some scraps - with curves, bouts and all. A good scraper will fix quite a few little glitches.

I did a similar thing to my '91 Am Strat. It is sunburst and everyone I talked to said the only thing to do was to have it re-finished. It was in virtually perfect shape before this but not worth $400 for a refinish. I've never really liked relics, but I better adjust.

DRAK, Can't you get somebody to help you so you stop buying this junk? When you decide that it isn't worthy of your talents, I'll pay to ship it to me. I can use in when I screw up the Lacewood!

With your finishing touch, that is going to be incredible.

Marty

Thanks guys. I'm not quite sure about the neck yet. It will be a bolt-on. I have a few and figured I'd use an old one but it's coming out real nice so far so I may have to invest in something a littler nicer.

Absolutely go for it - and pay attention to what everyone has said. Also, check through this site (tools, works in progress & finishing) for tips.

My only advice would be to start with something a little simpler than a double neck. Not that it can't be done, but you will learn a bunch doing every one and I would work up to that. Plus, it will be more expensive. As far as fretting, you can find good deals on complete necks. I just ordered one from Brian's site.

Planning, Precision and Patience

Good luck,

Marty

Progress on the Lacewood. So far, no major screw-ups.

Marty

Really nice DRAK. Now, if you only knew anything about finishing.........

Marty

What kind of wood is that?

Jeff, yeah, I have done a couple with DRAK's method. I love it. He's the one who turned me onto this site and he helped me a bunch with an early Zebrawod Tele. His work, and yours, is incredible. Your DC is gorgeous. Did you use black stain under the green? Did you use fillers and/or sealers?

Cool cat - I don't think I could trust our two monsters around my projects.

Marty

I'm figuring I'll just sand it some and send it to DRAK to let him do some of his magic stuff.

If that doesn't work out, I'll probably stain it a deepish red and use lacquer clear coats. I've had good luck with that so far. When I get it sanded a bit, I will see if I need grain-filler. I did a sample where I mixed a dye with natural filler and it looked pretty good. Anyone done this before?

Thanks,

Marty

MKG - I not going to try a carved top on this one - never done one before. I will take the edges down a little and maybe do a bit of contouring. It is right at 1.75" now so it's not too bad.

Setch, yeah, both of them will be opened up a bit. I routed the opening round and haven' cleaned those up yet. I've just finished gluing the top on so I can probably get closed to a finished shape tomorrow.

Thanks for the help,

Marty

Here's the newest adventure. 1/2" Lacewood over and under chambered Beech. Yep, it's gonna be an SG shape with an f-hole. We'll see.

I built a cube out of 1 X 2s about 2 ft on each side. Stapled painter' clear vinyl over it with a flap on the front that is secures with velcro. The vinyl lets light in and it is portable. Works pretty well.

That is incredible. I love it.

Marty