Members Axisplayer Posted February 3, 2018 Author Members Share Posted February 3, 2018 I'm going to further muddy the waters by going with #5: Tortoise. Split the difference between a pickguard and none. That said' date=' I don't care for #2 cream/ivory at all.[/quote'] So this is tortoise with a split the difference PG. LOL! (I like it) [ATTACH=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","data-attachmentid":32156436}[/ATTACH] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Axisplayer Posted February 3, 2018 Author Members Share Posted February 3, 2018 In seriousness, folks have said PG and NO PG. Also, darker PG than I started with. Ebony trim rings. Here is a compromise based on these comments and I do sort of truly like this and the tortoise one above. It is different without being nuts. [ATTACH=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","data-attachmentid":32156443}[/ATTACH] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted February 3, 2018 Members Share Posted February 3, 2018 I would go with cream to match the bindung Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted February 3, 2018 Members Share Posted February 3, 2018 We may have a winner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted February 3, 2018 Members Share Posted February 3, 2018 The pickgaurd is an easy change. buy more than one and change from time to time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted February 3, 2018 Members Share Posted February 3, 2018 I like it. I also like the cream rings but really, its your guitar, pick what you like. Also, of course you can change them easily and/or add the p/g. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Axisplayer Posted February 3, 2018 Author Members Share Posted February 3, 2018 I am starting to agree. I was just laughing at "split the difference" when I first posted this, but now it has become my favorite. I love the pick guard shape, strikingly simple. And the tortoise adds a hint of color, not taking over the entire guitar. 95% to final winner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Axisplayer Posted February 3, 2018 Author Members Share Posted February 3, 2018 Yea, color is one thing. Having one or not, and the shape don't change as easily. Leaves all the extra holes in the body you start with one and then take it off. Ot start full size and go to the small one. I am trying to get it right the first time so I can just leave it and play. But of course, none of that really matters. It is just tone and comfort that matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Axisplayer Posted February 3, 2018 Author Members Share Posted February 3, 2018 And the winner is..... Thanks Deepend. After all was said and done, the pick guard size is a great compromise, and the color grew on me. It has black from the neck and cream from the binding. Understated elegance. Thanks to all. Now to wait it out. Real pix and not mockups coming in 5-6 weeks after everyone has done their part of the project, and I actually have it in my hands. [ATTACH=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","data-attachmentid":32156436}[/ATTACH] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted February 4, 2018 Members Share Posted February 4, 2018 So this is tortoise with a split the difference PG. LOL! (I like it) [ATTACH=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","data-attachmentid":32156436}[/ATTACH] Erm, that's cool but what I meant was that a pickguard that was close to the color of the body would be a compromise between having a pickguard and not. Your idea looks cool though. I get wanting a pickguard with a bevel. I prefer a bevel too unless it's a very thin pickguard like on an acoustic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Axisplayer Posted April 15, 2018 Author Members Share Posted April 15, 2018 Well here is an update after quite some time. All of the parts are in. Luthier starts assembly tomorrow at 10AM. Of course we still need to dye the body first. I have spent more than I anticipated but I think it is going to be worth it. So far, I love every part that has come in. Here is a picture of the parts laid in place but nothing is really fastened down. I think it turned out to look an awful lot like the mockups above.[ATTACH=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","data-attachmentid":32204810}[/ATTACH] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted April 15, 2018 Members Share Posted April 15, 2018 Nice, but this would have been more my style. Hummbuckers are for Gibson's, imo. But to each their own.Brian Baggett at MF does some real great vids, he's spot on with the tones too. [video=youtube;TNI2dit1Vi8] [ATTACH=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","title":"maxresdefault.jpg","data-attachmentid":32204819}[/ATTACH] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted April 15, 2018 Members Share Posted April 15, 2018 That did turn out nice, didn't it? The color is a bit lighter than in the mockups right now but it still looks good. Happy (Pending) New Guitar Day. Be sure to keep us posted. Trying to remember the story on the mini trem bar though. It's been a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted April 15, 2018 Members Share Posted April 15, 2018 I really like it but I can only push the like button 1 time Can't wait to see the body color. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Axisplayer Posted April 16, 2018 Author Members Share Posted April 16, 2018 Gardo, actually me too. I am not firmly decided. The original plan was to be cherry red like the mockup. Then I thought Cherry Burst so I ordered Crimson Guitars Cherry Red, Amber, and Yellow dyes, as well as their finishing oil. Now that I see the grain, I am tempted to either yellow it a little and leave it like a Korina V, go with the Cherry Burst, or do a light solid Cherry. What do you think would look good with it? Open to suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Axisplayer Posted April 16, 2018 Author Members Share Posted April 16, 2018 Yes, we still have to do the body dye. Thats just the plain mahogany body. The original cherry body kept being problematic. Luthier made two and I didn't like either so we went with mahogany. It is one piece cut down from a 3" thick board. We have not done the finish work but that is step one tomorrow. The mini trem bar is like David Gilmour's. It is a Callaham arm and I put a Callaham block on the Fender Jeff Beck trem. Now the arm sits in a sleeve so there is no wobble, and it stays where you put it without fail.I do suspect it will be a bit harder to use since the leverage is less, but I read from a number of folks that the Jeff Beck trem was smoother than a standard Fender trem so I am speculating at best. Once it is together I will post the review of my work (honest review too.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted April 16, 2018 Members Share Posted April 16, 2018 Yes, I saw the part about needing to dye the body. I'm sure it'll turn out great. Best of luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted April 16, 2018 Members Share Posted April 16, 2018 There is a fairly good thread going on at OLF right now about dying vs staining http://luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=50494 I can offer some advice here if you want it - the main thing is to first decide on your final finishing product and how you will apply it, decide if you want to stain the wood or tint the finish, choose products that will be compatible and not bleed into each other, and if you decide to stain the wood directly, know how to control the absorption into end and cross grain. I hope you saved all the cutoffs from your body to practice on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted April 17, 2018 Members Share Posted April 17, 2018 Also, don't forget that mahogany is normally pore filled as part of the finishing process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Axisplayer Posted April 17, 2018 Author Members Share Posted April 17, 2018 Thanks for advice Freeman. We were pore filling today. Started with wetting the wood a few times so grain would raise and then we could knock it back down. We are using Crimson Guitars Stunning Stains. They are actually dyes. We are dying the wood. We saved the cutoff wood and were trying various colors today. I had bought amber, yellow, and cherry red hoping to try a cherry burst. However, since the mahogany darkens so much from anything put on it, the amber disappeared without a trace. The yellow did give a decent yellow. The red was very nice, which was expected on mahogany. A smooth transition of red to yellow on mahogany seemed like it would be tough. We decided to go pure cherry red on the tops. The binding shown was taken off because luthier #1 that built the body did work that did not satisfy luthier #2 (my local friend.) We are going to dye while we have the break at the routing. The back is going to be several coats of the amber which when built up produced a nice light transparent brown on the wood. The front will be solid cherry although we hope to get the outer edges just slightly darker than the main part of the face. I reordered binding, but switched it for a nice tortoise shell to match the pick guard. Also the slight red in it picks up the exact shade of red the guitar will be. We did a number of test blocks and liked the results. If you have more suggestions, feel free to help us out Freeman. I value your expertise and input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Axisplayer Posted April 17, 2018 Author Members Share Posted April 17, 2018 Freeman, we went with dye primarily because my luthier works from his home so spray was difficult for him, and because I have stage 4 emphysema (this guitar is my parting gift to myself after a good life) anything floating in air or with vapors is dangerous for me. Dye seemed like the safest way for me to get the color on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted April 17, 2018 Members Share Posted April 17, 2018 Sounds good - I'm looking forward to the final product. There is a bit of semantics here - the way I was taught to use the terms is that "dye" is the concentrated chemical that is used to either "tint" finish (you would put a few drops in lacquer to change its color) or to be made into a "stain" that is applied directly to the wood and is absorbed by the fibers. Blueberry juice is a "dye" that "stains" my fingers (or my shirt). Dyes come in various forms - the old aniline dyes that Gibson used on their beautiful sunbursts have a habit of fading with age - there are modern dyes that are much better. To make a stain, the dye is usually dissolved in a solvent that is compatible with the final finish (you don't want your finish sucking the color out of the wood). Water and alcohol are commonly used to dilute the dye. You can (somewhat) control the darkness of your stain by how concentrated you make it. I only work with solvent finishes (lacquers) - I did two guitars with oil based finishes and while they were acceptable I like lacquer much more. You are correct that it is a health and environmental nightmare to shoot - at minimum do it outside wearing a full respirator. As far as the oil based finish, the general advice for a product like TruOil (a polymerized tung oil designed for gun stocks, I assume your product is similar) is to apply lots of very very thin coats and let them dry thoroughly, then buff. With Grant's barncaster I think I did 20 or 24 coats, 30 days of cure, then the buff. He has told me that he's done some damage to the finish and thinks he needs to add a pick guard. As far as working with the mahogany, it will darken with any finish you put on it and stains will only highlight that. I've had pretty good luck staining mahogany necks to match rosewood bodies, here is a neck before and after trying to match some coco Be warned that end grain just sucks in stain and will be much darker than side grain. It really hard to control. Also wood just wants to be blotchy when it meets stain - sometimes several dilute applications are best. If you have any glue residue on the wood the stain will just make it stand out (I'm thinking binding glue). Plastic binding will not absorb stain like wood will but its a good idea to put a coat of shellac on it - you can scrape the shellac off and that will clean the binding. Gluing binding on after stain is a mixed bag - with an alcohol or water based stain you should get good glue adhesion, with oil based I would worry. On that guitar in the above picture I did glue the neck binding on after staining, but I used alcohol based stain and CA for the glue. Good luck, I always contend that finishing is the most difficult part of building a guitar - we often have a picture in our mind of what we want but its so hard to make it happen. You've put way too much time and money into it so far to rush the finish - take your time, practice on every scrap of wood until you get it dialed, then show off the results Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Axisplayer Posted April 17, 2018 Author Members Share Posted April 17, 2018 Freeman, once again thanks for weighing in. I bought dye, a concentrate, that is water soluble. It is advertised as a modern formula, less fading, aniline dye. The body darkened nicely to match my bloodwood neck when I applied just Cherry Red . Yes, the oil for the final lustre is like Tung oil. Manufacturer says there are two ways to use it. One is apply 6 coats, allowing 2-4 hour drying time between coats if you want a flat finish. They suggested that if you want a high gloss coat, apply each coat, allow to dry as before, and then lightly sand or use steel wood. It will take a minimum of twelve coats and then the final buffing and polishing after a month roughly. We did notice that end grain absorbed more than side grain. Luckily the top is Cherry Red which is probably the easiest color to work with on Mahogany, and the sides and back will be translucent brown. The binding is a plastic Turquoise and we did talk about whether to stain first and then apply the binding. I liked that idea because it left a much bigger color break to work with while applying. I have not yet had the pleasure of knowing the difficulty, but I can unequivocally say it is the most time consuming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted April 18, 2018 Members Share Posted April 18, 2018 Take your time and go for the gloss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted April 19, 2018 Members Share Posted April 19, 2018 I love to see the grain .. That's the beauty of the wood.,so I would go with whatever will bring it out the best..Like Freeman said ,take your time and go for the gloss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.