300410

Friday 30th April 2010

some work on the Dissident for starters, we finished her a while back but the sound needs tweaking somewhat.. that spalted beech is a bit more resonant than I had originally thought..

also a few small cosmetic changes.. custom aluminium control knobs are turned..

and for this we need some protection of course.. tool safety is of prime importance if you value your sight!

the knobs are knurled.. cool tool..and even cooler word…’knurled..’ sounds like something a surfer came up with..?

cheesy igor.. he’s back from his biking holiday.. without the bike!!  It ended up staying in a nice Frenchmans garage for an extended stay..

sound manipulation.. the old ebony nut has to go..

and while the igor starts work on a new trem block he cut’s out some aluminium for me..

e voila.. (while the French escapades are on my mind…. sorry..)

the nut is shaped with a purpose made file

and scalloped

and polished..

here is the last process of the anodising..

whick gives the nut a lovely antiqued kinda look..

which matches the rest of the distressed hardware and the custom wound pickups..

the bespoke knobs are also in place..

the time comes for a final setup.. the string height at the nut is of prime importance to playabililty!

and a final tweak on the custom bridge,

a few grub screws are added to lock the saddles off, helping to keep the intonation stable and also adding a bit more bite to the tonality!

the peterson tuner comes out and she is ready to go..

quite literally as Laurence shoots on over to pick her up!

we’re going to miss this baby!

a bit of organisation..

and the workshop looks great.. only took a few long hard hours!

I rub down the eight strings lacquer

while our new aprentice Caroline glues a new headstock veneer on the soft top

next up I move on to the Muse descendant.. this led block has to be recessed behind the touch pad..

and this vexter fuzz box needs an onboard home too!

we work out where everything will fit and drill the holes in this customised custom guitar..

the headstock veneer on the soft top is dry now and carolin begins the tidying up process with a sharp scalpel blade

the igor meanwhile continues work on his new left handed trem block..

I set up the old modified wadkin pin router

and start enlarging the cavities in the Muse descedant guitar

including the led cavity

and one for the zvex fx pedal

the word ‘huzzar’ actually passed the igors lips when he finished this!! I’ve created a monster!!

Caroline moves on to some tidying up

and reaming of the soft top.. pretty soon we’ll let her loose on some non-stock guitars, she really is good!

the final pieces come together as I cut the five way switch position

and this old old guitar of ours is turning into something new and exciting!

the igor back up to his old tricks.. oiling..

and rubbing down lacquer..

recycling at it’s best, the sides of an old desk drawer are turned into a headstock clamping caul..

for this walnut veneer..

the green foam padding removes air bubbles and spreads the pressure evenly.,.

now, back to the softtop.. the logo is printed off

and cut out of some aluminium plate

I mark around the shape carefully with a sharp scalpel blade

recess the cavity

and it is glued in place and a dust/glue mixture fills the gaps.. much better than the old logo!

finally a quick look at Nick’s 45rp,in the spray booth.. she’ll be ready for polishing soon!

All our best to you and yours!

Crimson Guitars… HQ  (..geek..)