Sometimes it's a breeze, but sometimes - it's a...

Welcome back blog readers! I trust you had a fun and wonderful Christmas and New Year. Now, straight into the action! 39, the LP copy, has been a bit boring really. I'm using DingoTone, an all natural stain on the quilted maple veneer. It takes about 5 - 7 days to cure (with temperatures 25 degrees or higher mind you - something that hasn't happened too often around here in S.W. Queensland). So this picture looks remarkably like the last posts, but I have darkened the outside with another colour viz:gold. So when I get the shiny coats on, it should turn into a nice gold to yellow burst.

Now for the Flash! Exciting news at last. The red paint has cured and so I masked up the guitar and gave the centre stripe the once over with "Diamond White" a DupliColor colour. Never mix and match. I'll probably end up giving it at least three coats and then I'll move onto the thinner stripes.

Now for the bad news... I had a guitar called the Boss (named after Bruce Springsteens nickname, obviously). I wanted to improve it by replacing the plastic nut with a bone one. In retrospect, I probably should have read abit more on how to do that. Instead when I got the plastic nut out, a chunk of maple came with it. So I did something really stupid. I took out a chisel and tried to fix the problem. Then I hit the truss rod. Then I got really mad. Realising that I had effectivly broke the neck (which I thought looked really cool), I started taking the guitar apart. I will not show you the 'neck', but I will show you the body. I think I'm just going to make it into a clock (One of my good friends over the interwebs, 4DGuitars, does this, and they look cool.) If you want it now, as is, or when it's a clock, make me an offer.

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".