Members missedmyexit Posted February 29, 2008 Members Share Posted February 29, 2008 Gorgeous and I never realized how much finish work goes into this. 15 coats! Thanks again for sharing. I like the belly bridge myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted February 29, 2008 Author Members Share Posted February 29, 2008 re: the bridge. I think I will try to cut down the belly bridge a little keeping the same shape and proportions. I'm going to build a little template that I can clamp on it to try to keep it symetrical. It was obviously made on a CNC mill and my big fear is to destroy the symetry. If I'm not happy with it I can always use the pyramid. Unless I change my mind again and thank you everyone for your kind comments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hudman Posted February 29, 2008 Members Share Posted February 29, 2008 I think the pyramid bridge looks right with paddle heads. It has a more traditional feel to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Samilyn Posted February 29, 2008 Members Share Posted February 29, 2008 re: the bridge. I think I will try to cut down the belly bridge a little keeping the same shape and proportions. I'm going to build a little template that I can clamp on it to try to keep it symetrical. It was obviously made on a CNC mill and my big fear is to destroy the symetry. If I'm not happy with it I can always use the pyramid. Unless I change my mind again and thank you everyone for your kind comments. From what I see of your work, I'm positive the cut-down will go well and the bridge will perfect for that sweet git. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jd-drafter Posted February 29, 2008 Members Share Posted February 29, 2008 for what it's worth- i think the trimmed belly bridge will be the right fit... and that is a great looking instrument- tasteful- yet elegant... appointed yet demure... a tiny waste and a round bottom 8^) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AugTPD Posted February 29, 2008 Members Share Posted February 29, 2008 I think the pyramid bridge looks right with paddle heads. It has a more traditional feel to it. My thoughts exactly. And this guitar is looking even more amazing with every step. I still want to buy it when you're done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members markwayne Posted February 29, 2008 Members Share Posted February 29, 2008 Top notch work as always. I really don't need to be thinking about doing this. IMHO - You will need to cut that belly bridge down a lot or you're gonna suck up a lot of top resonance on a top that doesn't have much to spare. just a thought,Wayne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pk1fan Posted February 29, 2008 Members Share Posted February 29, 2008 Thanks for the update ! Pyramid gets my vote for bridge of choice . Can you let us see the cut-down belly bridge before install so we can have final say so;) ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members happy-man Posted February 29, 2008 Members Share Posted February 29, 2008 Beautiful work. I love the inlays. I can't imagine I'd ever have the patience (or talent) to do finishing work like you do. I also for size reasons prefer the pyramid bridge. Scott O Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoboPimp Posted February 29, 2008 Members Share Posted February 29, 2008 looks neat, is that a uke? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sk8r72 Posted February 29, 2008 Members Share Posted February 29, 2008 It's beautiful man. If its sounds as good as it looks, your golden. Great work man!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members melandy Posted February 29, 2008 Members Share Posted February 29, 2008 Another vote for the belly bridge if you can get it trimmed down okay. The pyramid is a little too plain for the blinginess of the binding. However, the pyramid looks to be in better proportion. -A P.S. I assume that the answer to this would be coming in a later installment, but I'm curious how you work out exactly where to place the bridge. Do you just use some sort of template that says where it goes, fine-tune it from there, or just eyeball it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mymindsok Posted March 1, 2008 Members Share Posted March 1, 2008 I've been following this build for a while and I'm very impressed! Myself? I wouldnt even consider that belly bridge on a traditional little guitar like that! To me it just screams out for the traditional pyramid bridge. Just last night, my significant other and I were watching the "Bob Dylan at Newport" special and he was playing Joan's beautiful little '45' Martin. Ya just gotta go pyramid! Loll!! Mymindsok Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted March 1, 2008 Members Share Posted March 1, 2008 re: the bridge. I think I will try to cut down the belly bridge a little keeping the same shape and proportions. I'm going to build a little template that I can clamp on it to try to keep it symetrical. It was obviously made on a CNC mill and my big fear is to destroy the symetry. If I'm not happy with it I can always use the pyramid.Unless I change my mind againand thank you everyone for your kind comments. It's your baby Freeman, but I'm kind of skeptical about that. Of course, I'm being biased here because I already put my 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted March 2, 2008 Members Share Posted March 2, 2008 I vote for pyramid bridge too. It's smaller and will free up more of the top to vibrate...and with a small guitar like that, spruce real estate is scarce. I'm dying to see how you get the finish off where you glue the bridge on. I always hate that part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ceenare Posted March 2, 2008 Members Share Posted March 2, 2008 One more vote for the pyramid bridge. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted March 3, 2008 Members Share Posted March 3, 2008 I'm thinking that if you like the IDEA of a belly bridge, but want it smaller, you might try getting one of those Dremel tools with the abrasive drum and sort of work it down all around a little smaller. Then clean it up with hand sanding. Maybe also use a flat file to keep things straight and square. The string spacing wouldn't be effected. I still think the pyramid one is nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hudman Posted March 3, 2008 Members Share Posted March 3, 2008 looks neat, is that a uke? It's a parlor sized guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chirpy_72 Posted March 3, 2008 Members Share Posted March 3, 2008 WOW ... beautiful. My first choice of bridge is the pyramid. Second choice would be a Bigsby ( jk ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members redhawks2 Posted March 4, 2008 Members Share Posted March 4, 2008 Another thought would be a cut down stauffer style bridge that Martin offers. I almost had one of those put on my Martin custom but it cost an additional $250 so I passed. Yikes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 12Pack Posted March 4, 2008 Members Share Posted March 4, 2008 Nice work Freeman - When I come back in my next life I want to be you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members missedmyexit Posted March 13, 2008 Members Share Posted March 13, 2008 How do you do the inlays? Was that a pre-ordered butterfly or did you cut it yourself? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted March 13, 2008 Author Members Share Posted March 13, 2008 How do you do the inlays? Was that a pre-ordered butterfly or did you cut it yourself? That was episode #11 Lets Build a Little Guitar #11 All of my other inlays (the K and FK initials in my avatar, the scrolly stuff on the mando) were stock items from Andy DePaule (link in the other post). The initials are cheap - something like 5 bucks each, so I order a few from Andy and choose a color that looks good on the headstock wood. The dragonfly was a little different - Andy had butterflys and roses and naked ladies and all kinds of other precut pearl, but he didn't have a dragonfly. I just googled "dragon fly" and found a dozen nice pictures on the net - choose a drawning of one and printed it out. Took that to a copy machine and reduced it to a size that seem to fit the headstock, then e-mailed that and the picture of Tina's tat to Andy. Within a day he had a design worked up and a one off price (basically cost me $60 for that pearl). He sends the design to his cutters in Viet Nam (were is Marcellis?) and in 5 weeks the package arrived. Interestingly, I "own" that design as far as Andy is concerned - it won't appear in his catalog without my permission. A production shop would use a pantograph engraver to route the channels in the wood (like is used to engrave trophies or plastic name tags). I just trace the pearl with a razor knife, then excavate the channels by hand with a router base on a Dremel tool. You get as close as you can, but it will never be perfect, so the trick is that when you glue the pearl in you mix powered wood (rosewood in this case, ebony for the fretboard) into the epoxy. That fills the little gaps with exactly the same color as the headstock - you can see it if you look very closely. Scrape and sand the pearl and epoxy smooth and bingo - dragonfly inlay. Some inlay artists (Wendy Larrivee) then scribe into the pearl fine little detail lines - theoretically I could have put veins in the wings of the dragonfly (yeah, sure). These are filled with ink to make them stand out - Wendy's work, the "Cindy" inlays on expensive Taylors, etc all have this detail. I'm just happy to put the basic pearl into the wood. I practice a lot on scraps of wood, but it really isn't all that hard and it adds a lot to the final product. I can't view the pictures in the on my work PC but I think it shows the traditional vine inlay that I did on the mando http://www.kitguitarsforum.com/forum/threads.php?id=763_0_9_0_C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members missedmyexit Posted March 13, 2008 Members Share Posted March 13, 2008 That was episode #11Lets Build a Little Guitar #11All of my other inlays (the K and FK initials in my avatar, the scrolly stuff on the mando) were stock items from Andy DePaule (link in the other post). The initials are cheap - something like 5 bucks each, so I order a few from Andy and choose a color that looks good on the headstock wood.The dragonfly was a little different - Andy had butterflys and roses and naked ladies and all kinds of other precut pearl, but he didn't have a dragonfly. I just googled "dragon fly" and found a dozen nice pictures on the net - choose a drawning of one and printed it out. Took that to a copy machine and reduced it to a size that seem to fit the headstock, then e-mailed that and the picture of Tina's tat to Andy. Within a day he had a design worked up and a one off price (basically cost me $60 for that pearl). He sends the design to his cutters in Viet Nam (were is Marcellis?) and in 5 weeks the package arrived. Interestingly, I "own" that design as far as Andy is concerned - it won't appear in his catalog without my permission.A production shop would use a pantograph engraver to route the channels in the wood (like is used to engrave trophies or plastic name tags). I just trace the pearl with a razor knife, then excavate the channels by hand with a router base on a Dremel tool. You get as close as you can, but it will never be perfect, so the trick is that when you glue the pearl in you mix powered wood (rosewood in this case, ebony for the fretboard) into the epoxy. That fills the little gaps with exactly the same color as the headstock - you can see it if you look very closely. Scrape and sand the pearl and epoxy smooth and bingo - dragonfly inlay.Some inlay artists (Wendy Larrivee) then scribe into the pearl fine little detail lines - theoretically I could have put veins in the wings of the dragonfly (yeah, sure). These are filled with ink to make them stand out - Wendy's work, the "Cindy" inlays on expensive Taylors, etc all have this detail. I'm just happy to put the basic pearl into the wood.I practice a lot on scraps of wood, but it really isn't all that hard and it adds a lot to the final product. I can't view the pictures in the on my work PC but I think it shows the traditional vine inlay that I did on the mandohttp://www.kitguitarsforum.com/forum/threads.php?id=763_0_9_0_C Somehow when going through the Lets build I totally skipped that one. Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted March 13, 2008 Members Share Posted March 13, 2008 Freeman: You mentioned that you chose to forego the option of inking in the little fine details on the inlay, but how hard would that to do after everything else's all said and done? Would you have to sand off the finish on the headstock or something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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