Tuesday 17th February ’08

the plagiarist.. my tribute to PRS.. one of the inspirations behind Crimson Guitars..

the frets are blackened with permanent marker and they are then flattened

and profiled..

several coats of lemon oil are applied.. after cleaning away the dirt left by the profiling of the frets..

finally the entire fretboard is buffed up on the modified grinder

the tuners are installed, note the recessed washers.. I’m not too sure how I feel about the effect..??

the bridge positioning holes are drilled as is the hole for the bridge grounding wire

finally the pickups and hardware are installed.. normally at this stage I spend a happy half hour plinking away.. this beastie is a left hander and I’m not smart enough to play upside down!!

the jack plate is made..

and finally the last few pieces are installed.. prior obviously to wiring her up in a week or two of course!!

nearly there..

Rosie’s puppies are now ready to go.. if anyone wants a pile of cuteness?

..now, a new guitar often as not begins life on a small scrap of paper…

the fanned fret system is drawn out as a begining..

as is the custom made bridge..

and here is the end result.. ergonomics and stability are the prime factor here..

though in the end she will have a bespoke wizard paint job by Jim Fogarty

on with Tim’s bespoke 45rpm model.. the south african mahogany body is planed flat

then, as ever, the bearing cutter is blunt and needed a quick sharpen using a diamond stone..

zoom… and the body is ready..

the top, bookmatched flame maple, was prepared a few weeks ago

she is flattened with a very sharp jack plane (the shavings make for a great fire and also end up as mulch on my veg patch)

a half completed neck is used as a guide for the routed wiring chanel..

the top was cut roughly to size on the bandsaw and covered in glue..

finally the whole thing is put under a load of pressure and left to cure..

a massive plank of padouk will soon become the begins of one of Nimrod’s guitars..

the bandsaw is brought to bear again..

as is the planer thicknesser.. creating a mess of padouk and purpleheart shavings in the process.

the figured purpleheart body, soon to be the twin of the padouk guitar, is jointed first

then the padouk..

the day ends with most of my clamps in use… but several more guitars begining a begining..

All my best, Ben

Crimson Guitars – the bespoke guitar company