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Tuesday 24th November 2009

and here is where we left off last week.. Kirk’s ‘moonshine’ model…

the excess glue is chiseled away

now, on to the defining character of this diary post.. custom guitar hardware..

this is an extended saddle for tunematic bridges..

aimed at those enlightened people who love playing with extra low tuneings and string guages

and for a start these two saddles end up on Nimrod’s Paf Hollowbody

.. more hardware.. a ‘back of the envelope’ design for a headless tuning system..

before changing the bandsaw blade to the metal cutting one I cut out Kirk’s Elm top

which is going to be a particularly beautiful thing!

a start..

the end holes are drilled…

and the milling begins..

and so..

the saddle piece here is basically right.. the only thing missing now is a base plate…

lovely!

Igor has been working on Laurences guitar.. so far we just have a shiny headstock, the rest is still to be rubbed down and polished up!

the paf doublecut is out for a bit of a rub down in between coats..

Archies Robert Fripp Hollow is nearing completion.. the oil build up is really effective!

the spraybooth.. with a view of the trees through the roof.. there’s no electricity in there at all to guard against explosions..

the left handed PAF Hollowbody..

after the excess oil is reamed out of the tuner holes

the locking tuners are installed.. (I love that flame maple multi-laminate look!)

here’s the set of custom wound wizard pickups destined for this baby..

Igor continues work buffing up Laurences guitar..

while I move on to some padouk..

mmmmm!

custom padouk covers for the P-90′s.. curved to match the rest of the guitar.. I’m not really a fan of straight lines!

and of course they match the fretboard.. or at least they will when the colour dulls down a bit..

now.. Laurences guitar has been handed back to me.. the reaner is brought out and the tuner holes cleared of lacquer..

..g’nite..

the locking tuners are installed..

and I take a look at the custom wound distressed pickups..

an aside.. Frieder Zimmerman with his favourite guitar.. a Crimson Guitars Robert Fripp Slimline..

Igor has been working on a new backplate for the ERB.. again..

the custom inlay on Laurences guitar.. the fretboard needs cleaning up..

and then masking off.. carefully..

after leveling the frets each one is profiled and highly polished!

the fretboard is oiled.. repeatedly.. there’s nothing worse than a dry fretboard!

now.. my eureka moment of the day.. a replacement for a tunematic with much much more adjustment potential.. again for those of you who love playing around with your extreme tunings!

I can’t wait and therefore start building..

taking a leaf out of ,y woodworking I predrill the aluminium blank..

and then mill.. much quicker than if it was still solid..

and so!  The prototype saddle is pretty much it.. but we’ll see what happens tomorrow..

of course the bridge is carved with the same aesthetic eye as the rest of the guitar.. she will be finished up tommorow.. you can follow up on Twitpic.. All my best..

Ben – redefining luthiery