MIMF

Just finished my first electric guitar over the weekend. It is a lefty that I built for my brother. Curly maple top, gloss black finished mahogany back, curly maple neck, ebony fretboard. Quite the learning experience. I chambered the body to keep the weight down (9 lbs complete). https://i.imgur.co...

I'll add a plus one for Brite Tone. I have used KTM-9, and EM6000 in the past, with great results, but they do have that bluish tinge. I sprayed the Brite Tone right in my basement shop with an HVLP conversion gun (the Iwata LPH-80 - fantastic gun) and a small pancake compressor. I had a small fan b...

I used a two way truss rod from Mark Blanchard. It is similar to the Allied Lutherie two-way truss rod with Allen head adjuster. To be honest, I have had Allen head adjusters strip out, and the only solution is to remove the fretboard and replace it. Although I did give the owner a ball-head wrench....

The pickup is pretty hot, being active, so it should be loud enough. I don't really use an amp for playing, and I just have a little Roland Cube I bought to mess around with. It sound good out of that, but somebody who plays professionally will get a much better sound of it with the right settings a...

I am working on that right now. Sorry about that.

Just finished this electric bouzouki. Master grade curly maple carved top, mahogany body (weight relieved), ABS plastic back support covered with master grade curly maple veneer (this places the instrument in the same position as an acoustic bouzouki), master grade curly maple neck with truss rod an...

Stunning! Fantastic job. I am almost done with the two I am building. I can attest that this is a huge amount of work. I was able to spray the Brite Tone. Hope mine come out half as nice as yours. Congratulation.

Great idea Bob. I have one of the those steamers. I'll give it a try. Thanks!

That top looks great. It will be awesome. So, is it a flattop veneered, or a carved top veneered. I have seen both done.

Steve, that is stunning. I didn't notice it before, but looking at the pictures more carefully now, I see some very cool stuff on this guitar, like using different colored woods for the headstock and heel. So the neck is sapele too. Is there a light sapele, or is this heartwood? The jig looks great ...

That is a great idea! By the way, beautiful top wood, what is that? I just sprayed the finish on a walnut set neck like that, and I can tell you, finding a way to hold it with one hand while spraying with the other is a workout!

That looks crazy nice. Are those Sperzel tuners? What did you use to put the serial number on the back of the headstock?

Really nice guitar. Just beautiful.

The comment about the 90 degree angle didn't really sound like something Bob Benedetto would make, because he is very sensitive to what players feel, and how the player interacts with the instrument, and I think that change in angle (although blended with the neck extension) would be noticeable. How...

Clay, I totally agree. The tendency, at least for me, is to get all the building done, and then be really excited to get the finish done, and put the strings on. I have to really force myself to slow down, do the extra day of sanding, the three pore filling treatments, and then the sanding sealer, a...

Not familar with these at all, but they look like rocker switches to me. https://www.mouser.com/Search/Refine?N= ... ker+switch

Or am I totally off my rocker (sorry I had to go there)?

Ron Hock, Hock blades, make a great product. They sell some instrument making and marking blades, which you can use as they are, or attach a handle to. Great steel, great company, and made in the USA.

I know I bought some a number of years ago, but I wouldn't even hazard a guess as to where I bought it. I just Googled "celluloid abalone binding" and got a bunch of hits. I can't vouch for any of the sellers, so you will just have to take a chance. Usually, when I need something like this...

I am working on an electric solid body right now, and am just about at the finish stages (need a little more time with sandpaper). It is a carved top, curly maple guitar. I have dyed the maple black, and sanded back twice. Then I dyed it blue and sanded that back several times, with different shades...

I have quite a bit of the Mirka discs, but I always reach for the Abranet now, as it tends to leave less swirl marks than the paper.

I tried soaking some curly maple in a long PVC tube of ammonia, and it worked, although it did slightly change the color of the wood. It was still a bit hard to bend around a tight horn of a cutaway, so what I did was hold the body and the binding against my bending iron, and slowly rolled it around...