Thursday 13th November ’08

Tuesday morning begins with a rather beautiful chunk of rippled sycamour.. Andrew picked it out for his custom 8 string creation…

..complete with fanned fretboard..

the excess through neck material is removed

and a new template is begun.. each guitar needs at least two templates built at this stage..

the excess MDF (is this stuff really banned in the USA??) is bandsawed away..

..a bearing cutter is mounted on the router and a carbon copy of the first template is built..

a recess is cut for the end of the fretboard.. and a new outline is marked on the body..

and, with the template attached, the excess mahogany is bandsawed away..

unfortunately at this point my newly sharpened wide bandsaw blade snapped.. with a very loud and scary bang!!  .. this means that I’m unable to split the bookmatched top until a replacement blade arrives..

so, since I’m feeling productive for the first time since Jasmine was born, I move on to Charlies next custom Perspex bass..  the tuner holes are drilled.. from both sides of the headstock to reduce the risk of shattering as the drill-bit comes through..

the truss rod access cavity is tidied up

and the whole headstock rubbed down with various grades of wet and dry paper.. a long, but rewarding, process..

the back of the neck has just a little more carving to be done..

and then the side dots are installed..

while they dry a little inlay work commences.. the sharp protractor is used to mark out the ‘Crimson’ logo..

which is cut out of the abalone with a jewelers saw.. you wouldn’t believe how many blades I go through, even cutting such gentle stuff as this shell..

the cavity is marked out and then recessed with a mini-dremel type tool..

..glued in.. I do love this material!

back to Charlies bass, the neck is sanded through the grits

prior to polishing on the buffer..

the frets are blackened with permanent marker so we can see which frets are higher than others..

and each fret is stoned, profiled and polished..

the logo is etched into the back of the headstock (why not when it’s see-through..?)

..and the result.. it’s a fairly similar process to tattooing..

Gypsy (the black puppy) and Rosie relax away from the boys.. the workshop is one of the warmest places on the property now!

back to Jason’s bespoke guitar.. the logo is sanded fkush with the headstock..

and the whole guitar sanded through the grits..

prior to the first coats of finish being applied..

what do you think Jason?

the neck of Charlies bass is bolted on

and she is now ready for hardware and strings.. she’ll be ready for stage in the next week or so..

Dave’s red Vanquish is stuck in her case..

and it’s time for an early morning road trip.. now, I’ll set the scene.. as you know I have a three week old baby.. knowing I had to be up at six in the morning it was rather inevitable that I was kept up ’til 2am.. the absolute kicker was when a pipe burst in the bathroom at 3 am that I had to sort out.. I’m not at my best on that little sleep..

still.. the views start out rather well..

I really enjoy living in the country..

the cider brewery is just an added bonus.. that is a lot of cider!!!

..?? that’s Bristol for you..

..at a Moterway service station 200 miles from home a new relationship is forged between a man and his new guitar!!!

All my best,

Ben

Crimson Custom Guitars UK