In the shop

[lachupakabra361]

PH is a wonderful wood!

For some reason purple heart has never appealed to me. i like your PB&J body style. i would love to do something like that with mahogany and maple... or maybe just different shaded mahogany since i cant find maple here to save my life

 

 

P.s. yay! multi-quote works

[lachupakabra361]

Okay heres what i finished this weekend.

Before:

 

 

After:

 

 

Fabricated the pickguard out of aluminum diamond plate and swapped out the pickups to EMGs. this thing is a metal machine! Chuga chuga chuga metal.

[meandi]

Okay heres what i finished this weekend. Before: After: Fabricated the pickguard out of aluminum diamond plate and swapped out the pickups to EMGs. this thing is a metal machine! Chuga chuga chuga metal.

Nice work!
The tread plate really fits the persona of that guitar.
The dull black looks no nonsense/strictly business.
Pretty is over rated at times.

[meandi]

I've had some tung oil finishes take more than a few days to harden up, especially if I was too quick between coats but when it eventually does, you can buff it up with 0000 steel wool or 800-1200 sandpaper to a pretty nice gloss, hard as nails, too.

Hey Jimmy how've ya been?

[Jimmy Chitown]

Hey Jimmy how've ya been?

 

Busy as a one-legged man in an ass-kickin' contest.

The usual holiday flurry of activity, multiple projects at work, including relocating our office, helping the wife with her business, intermittent traumas of post-adolescent sons (I almost typed 'assolescent' ), keeping multiple vehicles running, etc., etc. MINIMAL guitar-time. Sux!

 

However, Duke Robillard will be in town next week, offering a master class plus a concert. I may just have to treat myself.

 

 

[YOUTUBE]f4f8uH9klmI[/YOUTUBE]

 

 

[YOUTUBE]lipeeFqNVrs[/YOUTUBE]

 

Waddya think?

[lachupakabra361]

Nice work! The tread plate really fits the persona of that guitar. The dull black looks no nonsense/strictly business. Pretty is over rated at times .

I love flat black guitars! they just scream "im here to rip faces off. plug me into something huge and mean!"

Here is a project i did earlier this year. bought this on ebay for $12.



Turned it into this!

[Jimmy Chitown]

^^^ Very nice, Lachupa! $12!

[lachupakabra361]

^^^ Very nice, Lachupa! $12!

 

I know right??? i bid on it jokingly and forgot about it till i got the email saying i had won it! turned out i scored. 2 piece maple body, maple neck perfect fretwork, all dimarzio pickups and electronics. i dont know what kind of guitar it was originally, but as far as i can tell someone spent a ton of money/time converting it from an open front "swimming pool" strat style routing to a rear route control cavity. also the original headstock was cut and a piece of maple glued on to cut a new custom headstock shape. no markings as far a could tell and i stripped that sucker to the wood. i think it was originally black, then red, then they did all the mods and painted it a green and black crackle finish. then some idiot eventually went to it with silver paint.

[meandi]

Waddya think?

That's some cool playing, I've always admired his work!

And yes, you should give this class/concert experience to yourself.
My wife & I have a saying..
"I can't be the best I can be for you, untill I am first, the best I can be for me!"

[meandi]

I know right??? i bid on it jokingly and forgot about it till i got the email saying i had won it! turned out i scored. 2 piece maple body, maple neck perfect fretwork, all dimarzio pickups and electronics. i dont know what kind of guitar it was originally, but as far as i can tell someone spent a ton of money/time converting it from an open front "swimming pool" strat style routing to a rear route control cavity. also the original headstock was cut and a piece of maple glued on to cut a new custom headstock shape. no markings as far a could tell and i stripped that sucker to the wood. i think it was originally black, then red, then they did all the mods and painted it a green and black crackle finish. then some idiot eventually went to it with silver paint.

Treasures are where you find them, eh?

[lachupakabra361]

Treasures are where you find them, eh?

 

haha seriously! the first thing every single person who picks it up says is "wow, this thing is really heavy!" i wouldnt mind replacing the bridge... any ideas what might fit? i think its a Chinese kahler knockoff

[meandi]

haha seriously! the first thing every single person who picks it up says is "wow, this thing is really heavy!" i wouldnt mind replacing the bridge... any ideas what might fit? i think its a Chinese kahler knockoff

Ya, maple bodies are heavy.
I use to have an early '80s USA built Kramer baretta with a maple body.
I never did weigh it, but it was the heaviest guitar I owned at the time.

Kahler to kahler would be the most straight ahead retrofit.
However, nothing works like a floyd, if you're into tremelo guitars.

[ZombieCat]

I love flat black guitars! they just scream "im here to rip faces off. plug me into something huge and mean!" Here is a project i did earlier this year. bought this on ebay for $12. Turned it into this!

Amazing transformation!

[Elias Graves]

Good news on the painting front. I decided to make an attempt at saving the cherry on the PRS. I mixed up some red lacquer with a wee bit of black. I've been brushing it on, heavier in the sandthroughs, lighter elsewhere. It's taking numerous thin coats to get there but I think it's going to work.

I'll know more once I get to sand it and hit it with some clear.

Fingers crossed.

 

EG

[meandi]

Good news on the painting front. I decided to make an attempt at saving the cherry on the PRS. I mixed up some red lacquer with a wee bit of black. I've been brushing it on, heavier in the sandthroughs, lighter elsewhere. It's taking numerous thin coats to get there but I think it's going to work. I'll know more once I get to sand it and hit it with some clear. Fingers crossed. EG

[meandi]

Waddya think?

Thanks again for posting the vids!
I've gone over the lesson vid several times...Duke's talking & illustrating exactly what I've been working on...jazz style chord comping.
If this turns you on, you should listen to some Bob Wills & the texas playboys.
Some seriously killer players in that band.
Aside from the silly e-haws that get tossed over the top, all of wills players came out of jazz & '40s style big bands.

[meandi]

Amazing transformation!

How's your new git project playing/looking?

[Jimmy Chitown]

Long-time fan of Bob Wllls. And for that matter, Asleep at the Wheel, who are still going strong, most recently nominated for a 2010 Grammy Award for Best Americana Album, an album they did with Willie Nelson featuring Vince Gill.

 

Like they say: "Western Swing ain't dead, it's Asleep at the Wheel!"

[ZombieCat]

How's your new git project playing/looking?

 

It plays great. I was able to get a better action on it than I ever could with a tremolo. Stays in tune a lot better and sustains as good as my Les Paul copy now. Everyone that has seen it loves it. The only thing I need to do is find some replacement springs or cut down the existing ones on the saddles. After setting the intonation a few of them are compressed pretty tight.

 

It still looks good but I can already see some pick scuffs on the finish and last night noticed a weird "scratch" on it. More like a depression in the tung oil coats. Nothing that buffing out and a new coat of tung oil won't fix. I might tear it down over Christmas and put a few more tung oil coats on it for more protection.

[Ital_Stal]

Can anyone help me out with this?

 

cYSFS_JvNdE&feature=player_embedded

[Doctor49]

I am just starting on a similar problem where the bridge has rotated forwards due the top bellying in before the bridge and bellying out behind.
You should take a look inside at the bridge plate inside beneath and in front of the bridge in your case to make sure nothing has happened to that before you start putting stuff back to gether.
MeandI has a great thread on this already here if you sift through it and another on a damage repair that has loads of info in.

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/showthread.php?2636879-Repairing-a-Gibson-acoustic-12-string-with-a-crushed-top/page9

My advice is search through before you do anything else. You may be surprised at what you can do!

[meandi]

Can anyone help me out with this?

The doctors advice is spot on.
Mirror on a stick & a flashlight to check out the inside.
Lachupakabra posted some in-body shots of a similar project that he's got coming up on a fender flat top.
Very repairable situation.
Anything I can do to assist...

[Ital_Stal]

Thank you gents! ill be sure to check into that and will keep you posted with any progress/questions

[Ital_Stal]

I took a look inside, the bridge plat seems to have a slight arc to it, but isn't cracked which seems to all be caused by bellying.

So what do i do now?

[Doctor49]

Did you check the thread?
It is hard to advise you without seeing any pictures.
You need to put a straight edge across the top and see how far it has sunk in front of the bridge. Then it is possible to see what, if anything you need to do with it.
Pictures would really help here.