060311

Sunday the 6th of March 2011

The worshop is very very dusty after last weeks carving fest, in the interests of saving time I’m not going to tidy up :)

Instead I will add to the general mess.. This is Robert Fripp/PAF Hollow cross-breed we’re building..

The tuner holes are drilled, from both sides so as to reduce any tear-through..

Now to the dust.. the back and neck are rather square!

Firstly the neck is rough carved with the grinder and then is finalised with the Japanese saw file.  (A lovely tool!)

The all-access neck joint is next, both functional and pretty..

Belly carve..

Until there are no flat surfaces anywhere on the guitar… ideal!

Now the back plates are roughed out on the bandsaw..

And then the final shapes are ground in on the disk and bobbin sanders…

A small gap is left to guard against the wooden plates expanding and getting stuck in place..

Finally they are all carved to match the ergonimic contours of the rest of the back..

Ok, the stock range.. this bubinga blank is massive!

The myriad of controls are marked and drilled out..

and then the back carves are drawn

Meet my Holey Galahad grinding tool.. it is a real hard arse!

Firstly the top is carved

and then, the more interesting, back is.. very pretty grain around the lower horn, the angles just add to the whole effect!

The shape is finalised using a rough grit paper on the big random orbital sander

More templates are needed..

This one allows for a stratish control layout if needed but works just as well with my preferred volume, tone and three way toggle

Looks good though!

Now, the reason for even thinking about strat controls is this.. I’m making a few Dissidents with trems and single coil pickups.. the control cavity is pre-drilled

and the new cavity is then routed

..yes, pretty!

Now, this one will have a drop top, so this is carved in.

The belly contour

and an all access heel joint..

Now, more bubinga..

The router is set up with a new, sharp, bit…

And I finalise the outline of this pallet of potential guitars!

Next the Dissidents all go through the same process.. this is definitely a quicker way to work!

While I go I try and keep tabs on the center line.. once carved this is a bugger to find again!

:)

Ok, I’ll be direct mounting the single coils in the Dissidents.. I just can’t brig myself to having a scratchplate yet..

..like so!

I also need a new, shorter neck pocket.

Everything is marked out

and the pre-drilling begins again.. I’m on a roll!

Bubinga, pretty but very very hard!

Neck pockets are first to be routed

Followed by everything else!

The chestnut looks great and is very lightweight!

I love the shape of this control cavity.. It’s almost tempting to give the recessed control cover the same curves.

..

This chunk of elm used to be a coffee table.. this is the third guitar built from it!

much softer than the bubinga and thus easier to rout the elm guitar takes shape..

The drum sander finalises the front and back surface of the rest of the blanks.. including a number that will have tops attached later

A simple control layout is drilled into this bubinga paf

and carving begins.. not my usual ‘gibsonish’ carve this time.. we’re trying for a more modern feel here

something similar to a few other uk companies who pretend to make ‘custom’ guitars..

The arbortech.. the blade is pretty similar to chainsaw teeth on a metal circle.. and it certainly acts like a chainsaw!

just a little protection required!.. two minutes after this photo I changed the glasses for a pair of fully enclosed ski goggles.. and still the chips got in my eyes!

This is not a tool that has much.. finesse, but it gets the job done.. in Bubinga this would have taken much much longer using the grinder and sanding disks…

It’s funny how from some angles the carving kind of disappears.. I’m liking the neck joint…

The elm guitar will have a much more traditional carve..

and I love it!  It’s nice to see the grain properly after finally removing the old lacquer…

I will be continuing on with the stock range for the next week, adding tops etc to the various bodies that need them and creating a few hollowbody paf and rf instruments.. Once done there it will be back to normal production and I will be doing some inlays and prepping the current batch of custom guitars for finish application..

All my best,

Ben

Crimson custom Guitars UK

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