Wednesday 23rd January ’08

More resin has to be mixed to fill in an area where the first load has sunk a bit.. so it is mixed with more crimson stain

tomorrow I hope to do something a bit more constructive with this beastie.. perhaps I’ll try and make the acylic bridge..?

On to Paul’s baritone.. (the extra-big cavity is so that I can fit a full size humbucker in next to the sustainer!)

the Kahler trem needs recessing into the top..

like so, we’ll end up with a beautifully low profile on her.,

next up the entire top is rough-sanded

spalted beech, due to the spalting, often has quite a few shakes or cracks.. here I fill them with very thin super-glue

and then with thicker super-glue mixed with dust from the sander.. ie spalted beech dust!

the carving has now been finalised so I drill through where the controls are to give them enough clearance through the cap

the back-plates are also going to be spalted beech, I mark them out using the routing template

cut them to size on the bandsaw… it feels SO good using the big tools again!  It has been a while!

the plates are carefully fitted into the back using files, rasps and finally sand paper

and then carved to fit the shape of the belly-carving

the back is then rough-sanded.. I still have some minopr shaping to do here.. the brief is to make her look like a half-sucked lozenge!!

a chunk of purpleheart is cut in a wedge shape for Tim’s Multi-laminate RF Slim..

the chunk I want is run over the planer to roughly smooth it out

and then both sides are plane by hand to ensure a perfect joint

Zebrano is next… thee two bits go through the same process as the purpleheart prior to

becoming a proto-neck!!  This beastie will be a mix of purpleheart, zebrano, spalted beech, flamed maple and bubinga… (or padouk..?)  .. phsychodelic much?

You’ll recognise this symbol from a myriad of disaster movies.. it’s suposed to mean danger etc etc.. actually it is an ancient symbol for the female Goddess… one for the virgin, one for the mother and one for the Crone… it fits quite well with guitars since they are so obviously of the female persuasion!!

I think that Jasper thinks the pint brush here is a mouse…?

after playing around with the symbol for a while she is ready for tomorrows first jobs..

till then, have a good one!

Ben

Crimson Guitars HQ