Wednesday 27th May ’09

another week begins.. the bookmatched flame maple top is planed perffectly flat.. by hand of course..

and then rough cut..

the end profile of the neck is marked onto the cap

which is then carefully fitted

the last little bit of routing is the wiring channel

and the top is then glued in place and left to cure..

Nick’s custom 4 string les paul type bass goes through the sanding process..

and the staining begins.. black for the headstock

and blue for the pearwood cap..

the first coats of oil are lemon oil which is thin and penetrates very well

bringing out the stain nicely..

back to the bespoke 8 string guitar.. the veneers etc are prepared

and the width of the headstock is brought up to spec..

Sandra arrives with the NST acoustic two years on.. she needs a set up, and I’ve updated some of my ideas..

the milling machine comes into her own as I machine the lip into the bone nut..

an antique ivory.. thingy..? is cut up to machine the saddle with..

the replacement is the one on the left.. the viaduct type carving is a more ekegant way of keeping the string to body transfer while minimising string to string vibration.. basically theory says that this will give a cleaner more bell-like sound while playing chords..

the begining of the nut..

and the end result..

..note I scalloped the bottom of the nut as well.. and she sounds great!!

on to the camo 45 rpm..

the fretboard is cleaned and oiled for the last time

and all the wiring is begun.. sustainer included..

the final bits are added, the battery box etc

 and she is ready for her final setup and delivery..

more coats of oil, teak this time, are applied to the 45rpm bass

the hollowbody PAF.. half the price of an equivalent PRS Hollowbody but so much better!!

the bubinga backplate is marked out

fitted and carved

and on to the MOP Crimson inlay..

which ends up in the headstock’s bubinga cap..

and the whole guitars begins the sanding process..

due to fading light we only get to 120 grit on the random orbital sander

every coat of oil is left on for about half an hour an then the excess is rubbed away.. leaving something close to the final finish..

All my best, Ben

Crimson Bespoke Guitars