Friday 28th November ’08

back into the fray with Amit’s bespoke Soft-top.. this is a guitar I’ve been waiting for with bated breath!! .. the curves!! MMMM!!

with the strings in place I carefully check the positions of the pickups before screwing them in place for good

and then the last little bits are completed.. strap buttons, back plate screw etc..

the ebony truss rod cover is cut out and installed

and the back plate (forgotten in the first polishing round, is rubbed down

and buffed to a lovely shine!

.. this is the most comfortable guitar I’ve EVER built!!  And funnily enough the outline was my first ever attempt at designing a guitar all thos years ago!

Bud, Jasper and Gypsy enjoy the warmth of th office.. and each other during this cold snap!

the control cavity is shielded

and I start the wiring.. she is a rather deep guitar so I’m using mass production methods here.. makes it easier in the long run!

in the end the earth, output and pickup wires are soldered in and we finally have a finished guitar! .. a bit of a setup in a week or two and she’s going to blow everyone away!

back to Charlies custom Perspex bass.. #3.. the custom wound and cast pickups from Andy at Wizard pickups are installed

and I take the strings off again to flatten and profile the frets..

and she is set up..

I love drilling through perspex, it can be a bit disorientating but looks cool!

the barrel jack socket is installed

and it’s on to the control plate..

after cutting the plate out the edges are filed to shape and rounded over, the position holes drilled etc..

and then she is rubbed down through the wet and dry paper grits..

before more buffing on the wheel.. another fun job.. the transformation is always fun to watch!

here she is ready for wiring..

pretty no?

the last bit of setting up the nut slots are lowered

and she’s now done for the day

as are these three sleepy pups

back to Andrews 8 string custom guitar.. the headstock is in a redsign stage.. we’ve just got to get it right..

and I take the opportunity to remove the excess timber from the bookmatched top..

on to some repair work.. this bridge was glued down the other day, here I remove excess glue, sand the bridge down and apply some polish..,.

the saddle is way to high and is cut to size before

cleaning and oiling the fretboard and installing the strings..

this Epiphone is a cheapy.. but desperately needs some love..

the fretboard is restained (fake ebony with the boxwood showing through) and the frets cleaned before oiling the whole thing

here you see the massive amount of relief in the neck.. with the truss rod turned to its limits we still have too much!! .. don’t buy cheap if you can help it!!!

anyway, with the strings on I do my best to get a playable action..

and then move on to Jason’s custom guitar.. more natural wax finish is applied and polished up

bringing out the various timbers used in the construction.. she’s going to be a nice one!!

All my best,

Ben

Crimson Bespoke Guitars