191010
Tuesday the 19th of October 2010
We’ve been losing workshop time over the past few weeks to various other responsibilities but things are looking up and we’ll be getting really stuck in again! ..I may even get caught up with my emails!!..the joy of trying to run the business and build the guitars, there’s just not enough day!!.. anyone want a job managing a custom guitar workshop?? :)
so, we start by filing the fret ends on DS’s Slim flush with the fretboard
each end is the rounded over with a small customised file and then brought to perfect comfort with a light touch with some sand paper
this bass has come in for repair.. the most obvious issue is the fretboard that’s coming lose up at the nut.. the old glue is scraped away with a sharp scalpel blade..
a bit of thin binding to apply the glue evenly through the joint and some clamps.. throw in some time and we’re cooking on gas!
someone has been to Maplins and then proceeded to do a hatchet job on the wiring.. in the mean time leaving the really really cheap and defective pots.. what can you do!?
the old nut is.. well, old, and a bit cracked.. a new bone blank is brought out and the copying begins..
this little record imp vice has been modified for nut making.. the curved jaws only took a few minutes with an angle grinder and a coarse grit sanding disk!
the end result is a playable old Ricky copy..
mmm.. we’re thinking something a bit fun for the twins.. photoshop’s a great tool but doesn’t half take up some time!!
swarf… I love that word!
this plate will end up being the floyd rose mounting in the new paf hollow..
once all the mounting holes are threaded and she’s anodised of course..
the two bolt fixing it to the top are really just for alignment, the real structural strength will come later with two alloy tone bars joining the front and back.. via the bridge plate.. think a cross between violin building and a crazy engineer..
..just a quickie rant!! Do not put batteries under a strat scratchplate if you want a happy luthier, at the very least load it somewhere in the spring cavity.., much easier to get to!!!
Ah, some real work, this will end up as a cross between our paf hollow and Robert Fripp slim models.. fun fun fun
the neck blank has her break angle etc marked out
the back of the neck joint is planed flat
some acid, some electricity.. anodising at its simplest!
we pre-drill every cavity we will rout out, this makes life much easier down the road and also saves on router bits!
a rough idea of the positioning of the f-holes.. then the tone chambers are drawn out
it appears that my last sojourn in the spray booth was to short and not enough lacquer went on the guitars.. getting used to the overspray of the new guns I think..
pretty boy.. some Pendulum on the MP3 player helps get me in the right mood though!
in between coats of the acid catylised lacquer I start marking out Mike’s layout..
as ever the most fun is had with the control layout..
the final layout is drilled..
and then a start is made on a new control cavity template to match..
this jigsaw comes out every once in a while and is most useful indeed.. the rest of the year it’s just in the way, what can you do??
the entry point is filled with a piece of veneer and glued.. leaving the outside shape of the template unchanged..
at the end of the day it is extremely important to clean your spray gun out properly, it’s not that hard with the right tools
at the end of the day the lacquer is finally where we want it.. now just a week or so to cure properly..
the new template is rasped to shape
but the next guitar we get to work on is the rf/paf hybrid.. before getting to the tone-chambers the neck pocket needs routing
and the dust flies
the excess is cut from the neck
and it is fine-tuned for a perfect fit.. I always rout the cavity ever so slightly too small..
:)
the tone chambers are pre-drilled and then I rout the final shape freehand.. not as crazy as it seems if you’re really really careful!
..the bearing cutter follows the first cut.. and the dust flies
finally the neck is glued in
on to Mike’s.. the control cavities are routed
as are the pickups and the trem rout.. I’m looking forward to seeing this one completed!
All my best,
Ben
the UK custom guitar company
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