Members Freeman Keller Posted September 6, 2016 Author Members Share Posted September 6, 2016 Koiwoi, they autopsied a bunch of 50 year old men (who died of various causes) - half of them had prostate cancer. They autopsied a bunch of 80 year old men, every one of them had it. Get screened periodically and yes, get a mandolin. BP, they told me no heavy lifting for six weeks. The banjo is definitely a no-no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Les Paul Lover Posted September 7, 2016 Members Share Posted September 7, 2016 Yes, prostate cancer is a classic exclusion on life insurance policies until it reaches a stage defined as life threatening. As FK said, most older men die with prostate cancer, but not because of it, it is very often symptomless and stays that way. Oh, and that ES335 I'm pretty sure has properties that will be known to cure prostate cancer. That build is too good not to cure prostate cancer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted September 13, 2016 Author Members Share Posted September 13, 2016 OK, time to stop complaining about plumbing and get back to building. It seems like if you were giving me a bunch of money to build something for you I ought to personalize it a little. When I built my daughter's parlor I put her spirit animal on the headstock For Jesse it was the skulls (remember the skulls?) T_e_l_e plays in a band called Raining Sunshine Since this guitar is going to a guy named Jac, and in the local music circle he has a bit of a nick name Ebony pickguard inlayed and bound. It need a dozen coats of lacquer - that's pretty easy. That was good therapy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted September 14, 2016 Members Share Posted September 14, 2016 ...and you make it look so easy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted September 18, 2016 Author Members Share Posted September 18, 2016 Its been two weeks and I'm feeling good enough to go stand in the shop and sand guitars. I was pretty happy with the last couple of coats so I'm starting sanding at 1000 grit, and went up thru 1200 and 1500. The wet and dry paper (wet) removes any scratches from sanding between coats and the tiny bit of orange peel (from my bad spraying technique). The goal is that it be uniformly dull with no orange peel or scratches Then polishing with Meguiars number 2 and 3 compounds and a foam pad in the drill. I've got a pedestal buffer but I think I get better results with the drill and its not nearly as dangerous. Whew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted September 18, 2016 Members Share Posted September 18, 2016 Wow! Looks beautiful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gdsmithtx Posted September 18, 2016 Members Share Posted September 18, 2016 Damn that is classically gorgeous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted September 18, 2016 Author Members Share Posted September 18, 2016 I've been dreading/worrying about/looking forward to this next step for a long time now. As you probably know, the ES335 and its brothers don't have access to the insides for things like wiring and electronics. The traditional way to do this is to build some sort of jig to holds the pots and stuff in their relative position (a piece of cardboard with holes in it works pretty well), then you try to fish the whole thing in thru the f-holes, get all the pots to line up with their holes, somehow hold them while you screw the nuts on. I hear stories of chop sticks and strings and all kinds of gyrations. The last time I did this I put the electronics in while the back was off, then tried to finish around the shafts. It worked, but it was pretty ugly and I thought there must be a better way. This time I also mounted and wired everything with the back off leaving a little slop in the wires. Then I tied a piece of string (actually dental floss) to the shaft of each component and put masking tape inside the f-holes and holes for the shafts. I threaded the dental floss thru the masking tape and tied a knot in the outside. Closed up the box, did the finishing, every time I would turn it over I heard the pots banging around inside. Finally after all the painting and buffing was done I removed the masking tape (a dental probe worked pretty well) while I held on to the floss. Carefully pulled each component into place, put the nut on it and Bingo! Last thing was to hook up the pups (remember that I put terminal blocks in the bridge pickup cavity 'cause I can't easily get into the wiring chamber) and tested everything Tone and volume works, the switch goes the right direction, life is good. Whew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted September 18, 2016 Members Share Posted September 18, 2016 I've often wondered why more ES3XX guitars aren't made like the Tom DeLonge sig model: Seems like it would make repairs, upgrades, etc. much simpler. Heritage makes--or, anyway, used to make--one or two semi-hollows with access panels on the back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Les Paul Lover Posted September 18, 2016 Members Share Posted September 18, 2016 Really lovely work. Thanks for sharing!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted September 18, 2016 Author Members Share Posted September 18, 2016 I've often wondered why more ES3XX guitars aren't made like the Tom DeLonge sig model: Could it be because its butt ugly? If I had a really good laser I might consider cutting the beautiful flamed maple to make a cover but I would want the grain to match perfectly and I'm not good enough to do that by hand. I make wood cavity covers for mahogany guitars but the back on this is fairly spectacular. And, fwiw, I paid more for the maple alone than the whole DeLonge guitar costs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted September 18, 2016 Members Share Posted September 18, 2016 Could it be because its butt ugly? . . . Yeah, you're right. This Heritage Millennium DC looks like ass: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted September 19, 2016 Author Members Share Posted September 19, 2016 I can't imagine doing that to a nice piece of maple. Here's a LP Jr but I didn't get a great grain match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thatsbunk Posted September 19, 2016 Members Share Posted September 19, 2016 Love the binding around the f holes... looks awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted September 19, 2016 Author Members Share Posted September 19, 2016 Thanks, Bunkie. I like doing little details like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted September 22, 2016 Author Members Share Posted September 22, 2016 Lots of odds and ends. Mount the Bigsby and other shinny stuff Final fret level and crown Put some strings on and make a nut mmmm, I don't like that plastic truss rod cover. It looks, well, plastic. Put that on the to do list. Knobs and pick guard and strap buttons and whatever.... Took it inside and plugged it in Wow, I kind of like this thing. Impressive sustain and almost a natural reverb. Tomorrow it goes to its new home so I better play the hell out if tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members t_e_l_e Posted September 22, 2016 Members Share Posted September 22, 2016 well done mr freeman i can spot some differences to mine, but i guess it plays at least as good as mine, and if your customer is not pleased this time you can keep it yourself Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Les Paul Lover Posted September 22, 2016 Members Share Posted September 22, 2016 Very very nice. That top and back really are lovely. I really dislike gold hardware, but with chrome hardware, I'd be on a plane to get this beauty of your hands. Good thing you went with gold, thinking of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted September 22, 2016 Author Members Share Posted September 22, 2016 The customer is always right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thatsbunk Posted September 22, 2016 Members Share Posted September 22, 2016 Outstanding! Hopefully you'll be able to find another top & back so you can build one for yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted September 22, 2016 Members Share Posted September 22, 2016 Fantastic work and looks amazing! I hope your customer is thrilled! I like the gold hardware a lot in this context. If you have the balls to put your stage name on the pickguard you deserve gold baby! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Les Paul Lover Posted September 22, 2016 Members Share Posted September 22, 2016 Fantastic work and looks amazing! I hope your customer is thrilled! I like the gold hardware a lot in this context. If you have the balls to put your stage name on the pickguard you deserve gold baby! Ah ah!!! Yeah, my previous comment could be interpreted the wrong way. It's very much own taste and clearly is irrelevant to this guitar. And what a lovely guitar! I keep looking at that top and back and drool.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted September 23, 2016 Author Members Share Posted September 23, 2016 A couple of glamour shots Gotta do something about that truss rod cover. And the best one of all (altho its a really crappy cell phone picture), here's Jazz Jac with his new toy Guess I'll just have to go to a few of his gigs until I get one I like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted September 23, 2016 Members Share Posted September 23, 2016 Awesome. I hope he likes his new guitar as much as we've enjoyed watching the build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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