Saturday 31st January ’09

a begining is begun on the next one to be done.. (I should be a bloody poet!)

the control cavity on Nevio’s bespoke guitar has to be carved to match the top carve.. it is drilled to within 5mm of the top

and carved by hand..

the control layout is marked out.. it is an RF slim model but without the MIDI..

the control plates are carved to match the ergonomic carving on the back

and finally the bobbin sander is used to start the sanding process..

sides first..

while bud and Gypsy sleep through the racket!

and eventually, after an hour or so with the random orbital sander she ends up looking a bit finished..

the control plates are drilled etc

and a stain is mixed up… 

and applied.. the end result needs to be much lighter

so the excess stain is removed

and she ends up looking like this..

and on to Archies Robert Fripp Hollow.. the headstock is routed for multi-ply binding

..which is a messy, but rather fulfilling job..

the same process with the control cavity begins while the binding cures

.,.the binding really shows the English Elm off quite nicely!

back we go to Thomas’ custom guitar.. she’s ready for final sanding..

the dust of which shows up in the first ray of actual sunlight I’ve noticed this year!!!!

eventually, after using many many disks, she too is nearly done..

the edges are all smoothed over and tidied up

and the oil is applied,.. bringing the flamed pearwood to the fore..

and really really improving the look of the English Elm top!!  I love the feeling of seeing the wood come to life!!

she’ll be left to cure for a few days

and then the finishing process will begin in earnest alongside the 8 string and blue plagiarist..

All my best to you and yours!

Ben

Crimson bespoke Guitars HQ