Days 4, 5 and 6.

It's been a busy few days since the last blog. I blame the silly season. But to much fanfare, provided by yours truly, here are the photos of the progress so far...

Here is 39 with 2 coats of acrylic lacquer over the top of some ColorTone Medium Brown.  I just rubbed the Medium Brown on top of the TimberMate mixed with Medium Brown. Then a day or two later I started on the lacquer. I'm using a brush just to be different. I think the strokes of the brush hairs nicely highlight the wood grain. Another couple of coats of lacquer and the chocolate brown finish shall be, well, finished. Next is the Flash...

Here are 3 coats of Duplicolor Marinello Red spray. There are a few runs under the tape, but I'm sure I'll figure something out when the time comes for the white spray.  Now, it's just a matter of waiting for more cash to get it - like everyone else at this time of year.

Lastly and unfortunately, a low note to finish on.

A broken headstock. I know that no-one touched this (read: mucked around with - ie: kids). The only thing I can think of is the extreme heat we've had lately weakening the glue (Selleys Liquid Nails of all things) and the tension of the strings lead to a catastrophic failure of the bass-side ear (I don't know what else to call it). Looks like I'll be re-designing and repairing the Rego-Plate bass over this holiday period. What will you be doing?

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Red Swan.

Flash, forward to 39.

Today was day 3 of the dual build challenge. I started off with sanding down the Les Paul copy that I have named "39". This is because it was a present for my 39th birthday. Boring, but it's better than "the Fire Blaster" or some such rubbish and it's meaningful to me.
In the post today I also received a major piece of the decorative artwork to be placed on this guitar.

I plan on it going in between the four knobs on a 45 degree angle.
After sanding down the back of the beast I rubbed in some ColorTone medium brown. See photos below. Unfortunately I had a little of the brown on my glove and it came off on the front of the guitar near the top pickup cavity. See photo for this epic fail/fix up. Firstly I rubbed it down with water as ColorTone is water soluble. Then I went mad with 60 and 80 grade sand paper. Now you can just see it. The bottom stain I'm not too worried about as it will be covered by the humbucker cover and ring.

So I think it's looking good so far. Here's the dark brown I was aiming for.

 This is one of Billy Duffys' (from The Cult) custom made guitars in the factory.
Actually, it's a little too dark for me. It's the deep red of the Mahogany I wanted to minimise. It's just a quirk of mine that I think quality heavy woods should look more brown than red. When lacquered over, my 39s' backside should look nicely dark, but not so dark the grain disappears.

The only other thing I did today, besides watch the cricket, was tape up the Flash. It's now ready to be sprayed red. I'm a bit nervous, having never sprayed stuff this expensive before. I guess the worst that can happen, is that I end up having to sand it all back and start again. Not really looking forward to that - damn those Fender curves!

Hello World

At the moment I have two (solid body) guitars being produced at the same time. They are a Stratocaster copy and a Les Paul copy. Two very different guitars and I've never built a Les Paul style before. This is going to be an adventure! Below are the front and back of the Stratocaster copy, that I've named "The Flash". Also, there is the draft of the Flash in it's final form. Note that the two single coils will also be gold and the headstock will be the usual swan head. To those who say it looks ugly, I say, get used to seeing more of it. That is one of my 'makers marks'. (The other being the engraved neck plate on guitars that have one.) Besides, it also serves a musical purpose. From my basic knowledge of physics in music, Mass = Sustain. Therefore, the more headstock wood (than say, a Fender headstock), the more mass, the more sustain the guitar has. It's not so much wood either, that neck droop is an issue. You can't argue against science.

The pickguard came from a mate on the guitar forum I choose to participate in from time to time. He did a great job, for a really good price. The Flash will also have Entwistle pickups in it viz: HV58 in the neck and two AS57's. I plan on drilling out the plastic fret markers and replacing them with red Abalone.  The switching is as follows:

1. Bridge Single Coil
2. Bridge and Middle (series)
3. All (series)
4. Middle and North Single Coil (series)
5. Neck Humbucker (series)

Lastly, (at this stage) I will put in a brass trem weight (I buy these from Guitar Fetish) and roller saddles.

Then the only thing left to do is get the neckplate engraved by the good Canadian folks at Greasy Groove. When I receive that, I number stamp it (this will be "00000003") and then she will be for sale with her matching artwork.

The next post should be all about the Les Paul copy - "39".