071110

Sunday the 7th day of November 2010

After a trip to DGM HQ last week to visit with Robert Fripp and revibrate some of his guitars.. including his Crimson Hollow.. it’s always worth it to see him play

Now, the entire workshop is in a state of complete disarray following the departure of our Igor.. the long journey has put an end to our relationship unfortunatly, though no doubt a new guitar builder will be appearing near ringwood in the not too distant future..

now.. my main benches are pretty much the same.. though tidy and clean..

the machine room however moves rooms and takes over igors old space.. I’m having a very good think about optimising our production techniques.. falling short of buying a cnc machine of course but I plan on building a copy router and a new pin router in here some time soon!

the old machine room will be split down the middle and turned into an office on one side and an environmentally controlled timber store.. :)

now, to work.. the paf blackburst needs rubbing down.. here you can see the difference between the sprayed lacquer and the required flat areas..

the lacquer is cut away from the frets..

and here she is.. only rubbed down to 800 grit so far..

the stock range of guitars is going to be instrumental in our reincarnation and continued success.. here is the prototype for the cheaper paf model

the neck heel is planed flat and to the correct angle

and the neck is glued in place

now, Dave’s guitar, the inner bands of binding are glued in

and cut through with my Japanese saw.. this is to give the slot more length and thus the fret tangs more area to bite into..

the end piece of binding is glued in next

and eventually the excess is chiseled away.. obviously a very sharp chisel is essential here!

some setup work on this strat..

the main requirement is that when bending the strings there is no fretting out..

the neck on the prototype has cured and the final shape is rasped in

the cutaway is shaped on the bobbin sander, the angleable table is very very useful.. once or twice a year at least..)

now, we’re using a wrap around bridge/tailpiece combination on this one..

the bridge positioning holes are drilled along with the control positions..

now, the inlay logo for the stock range will be cut from aluminium.. quicker and easier than shell

..like so..

the cavity is routed out and then tidied up with a sharp chisel

and glued in place..

while that cures the sanding begins.. and this is where an apprentice would be HANDY!!

the detail is engraved into the logo

and the oiling begins.. I love this part of he job!  the wood just comes to life!

back to Dave’s guitar.. the fretboard is sanded through the grits

the frets are cut to size and fixed to the bench with some masking tape

the frets are glued in

and then it is back to rubbing down the paf blackburst..

the fret ends on Dave’s 45 rpm are snipped off and profiled for comfort, finally the edges of the fretboard are rounded over, this will make her feel as comfortable as if it was a guitar that has been played for 50 years!!

buff buff buff buff!!

oh yes!!

I am rather happy with the quality we’re getting from our lacquer now!!

..the post arrives and with it some binding!

another photo from my visit to DGM of Robert playing his newly revibrated tokai.. he is a genius!!

..binding.. a sticky messy job

but the end result is very very pleasing!

..one of Roberts fans, and a loyal Crimson Guitars customer, has provided this old photo of Robert with the Tokai..

headstock..

this is the new headstock and it was designed specifically to look good with binding..having one less corner helps make it an easier job too!

something here makes me think I’m doing to many les paul type guitars.. what do you think?

speaking of les pauls.. here’s our sexier version!

the fretboard is masked off

and the frets leveled, shaped, profiled and buffed to a high shine!

the pickups and bridge are next,..

we’re using gotoh tuners with this range.. they’re rock solid and the industry standard!

an ebony nut for this prototype.. though I will try brass as well to see the difference

and here she is strung up for the first time!

the wiring is pretty straight-forward.. but then all the best wiring is!

and finally she is put through an amp!  Set neck, solid one piece body, direct mounted pickups and a light oil finish.. this is an amazing guitar and I love her!!  We’re thinking a retail price, including hard case by Hiscox, of £1295.. and we’re taking orders right now!

All my best,

Ben

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