# A couple of works in progress



## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

My daughter decided she wanted to learn how to play guitar. I've been piddling with one for many years (still can't play a whole song but lots of song snippets) and always wanted to build one.

Let's kill two birds with one stone, I thought, so we started making plans to build some guitars. The key was she had to do at least some of every aspect of building the guitar, from design, to plan drawing, to wood selection, cutting, glueing, you get the picture.

So here are the stats so far. 

Her guitar is the "extreme" body shape. Body is a basswood core with quilted maple top and back. Neck is a through neck with three layers of laminated purpleheart. Fingerboard is macassar ebony bought on ebay pre-slotted for a standard 25.5 inch scale.

My guitar is a big body chambered guitar (mostly because of weight) with a red cedar body and a quilted maple top. 3 inch wide 3 layer padauk neck (very heavy) with a macassar ebony fretboard. I'm making it a 28.5 inch baritone scale so it has a cooler "growlier" sound.

We attempted to bookmatch the tops for each guitar, and they are close but not quite perfect (hers had to be offset a quarter inch or so due to her body shape and mine wasn't quite wide enough so I had to add some "wings" on the outside edges.) Plus, you can definitely see the seam on each guitar.

And here are some pics... her guitar front/top, both guitars front (hers sans top in that pic), both guitars back (haven't finished with the chambering of mine) then my guitar front/top.

Once we've gotten a little further along, I'll take some better quality pics of the grain in the tops and the finer details.

FrankP


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## TS3660 (Mar 4, 2008)

Looks good so far Frank. I'm a banjo player but I bought my banjo. That was BEFORE I was a woodworker. So, a banjo is on my project list....


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Looks great so far Frank. The quality time with you daughter is a bonus as well. Keep us posted.
Ken


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## The Everyman Show (Jul 10, 2009)

Frank these look fabulous. What a great endeavor and a cool project to work on with your daughter. And kudos to you for actually moving forward and doing it. When you're all done I would love to pick your brains on what you did, what worked, what you'd do different next time, where to buy all the bits and bobs and twisty things (obviously my suppressed musical technical side is spilling out here). I was talking to my son about making a guitar for him about 3-weeks ago and I tasked him with making a design and we'd see how we could build it together. Alas I am still waiting for the design, this is a good motivator to prod him along. Frank I am both envious and extremely happy for the progress you’ve made so far. Excellent work and great choice of exotics.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Bud, I'm no guitar player but I've always thought they couldn't be too hard to build and it would be a cool project. So far, so good. I messed up a couple of my fret slots for my guitar, but I figure no biggee, if it sounds horrible, I'll pull the board and do it again. That's the great part about building these ourselves.

Ken, thanks for the encouragement. Definitely the best part is getting to do this with my daughter.

John,
I got a few parts from stewmac.com and borrowed several library books about building an electric guitar. There is also LMII.com which also sells luthier equipment and the mimf.com forum (which I'm not too impressed with the attitudes there) as a couple of other resources. I actually bought a couple of cheap used guitars to yank parts and components from ($140 total for two guitars and a case) because I don't know enough about guitars to know what brands are good but inexpensive and I wanted to do this as cheaply as possible. I bought the fingerboards on ebay for really cheap as well as the green abalone we're using as inlay material. I recommend doing this and I'm happy to forward info on who I bought from if you decide to build with your son. As for the exotics, I used what I had on hand except the maple and the purpleheart... my daughter has always really liked purpleheart and we both decided we liked the look of the quilted maple tops we had seen more consistently than any of the other tops.

I'll have some more status later tonight or tomorrow, I suspect. Feel free to ask me any questions and I'll try to answer them if I can.


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## rocklobster (Jun 18, 2008)

I like everything about this project. Looking forward to seeing more.

Rob


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## Steve G. (Oct 4, 2007)

Is it alot harder to build an acoustic guitar than an electric? I've never played an electric guitar before so I'd be interested in building an acoustic.

looks good, how many hours have you put into it so far?


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Yes it's definitely more detailed and intricate work to build an acoustic. Sound boards are more particular than electronics are to thickness, placement, tolerances etc. There is a thread on here that has been a fantastic "step by step" of an acoustic build, though. It's doable, just takes a little more care and planning.

I already have an acoustic and wasn't really as interested in building another one of those as I was building the "easy" electrics.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Okay Frank, enough talking!! Get back to the guitars!!! :laughing: Some of us, on this forum, are dying to see the finished product. :laughing:
Ken


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Ken, 

I routed out one pickup pocket, finished (mostly) the inlay and did some sanding on my guitar. As you can see, it's not a perfect job and I need to go back and fill in a little with epoxy around the inlay, and possibly sand a bit more (only sanded with 220 and was planning to go to 600) but so far I'm fairly happy with it as a first effort.

My daughter dyed her fretboard and finished cutting her inlays today and we'll try and get them put in her fretboard tomorrow. Company coming over to see the new baby though, so who knows how much we'll get finished. Here's a pic or two of the latest status on mine... no significant visible change on my daughter's...

I have found a couple of issues-
1) cedar is a very soft wood and any time I do some work on the top, I have to be very careful not to dent the body on the back side. 
2) It's easy to get ahead of yourself with these projects and then make the "next" step difficult for yourself. Note my neck pickup pocket hasn't been routed yet--that's because I have to make a jig to route that pocket because the fret board is in the way and my router won't sit flat now. Careful planning is important in a project like this.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Looking great Frank. :thumbsup:


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

So not a lot of progress on my guitar since my last update. My daughter's guitar, however, has some significant changes. 

On my guitar, we got a little more sanding and routed out the neck pickup pocket. On her guitar, we routed all the pockets, did a ton of sanding (220 on the body and 600 on the top) , the fingerboard inlay (and more dying) and dyed the top and body. Tomorrow we dye the back and then finish with KTM-9 and fill a couple of other details in before putting in the electronics. A couple of progress pics...

5 points for anyone who can spot the error (a guitar error not a woodworking error) we made.


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## Steve G. (Oct 4, 2007)

the bridge is not centered?


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## Ella Menneau P. (Jun 7, 2009)

What a couple awesome projects, Frank! Of course, we'll need some Utube video of you and your daughter rockin' out!:thumbsup:


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Steve, that's partially an optical illusion, and partially a screw up. It's a Strat-style tremolo bridge so the bridge itself actually sits in front of that hole... that's the hole that the spring tremolo "bar" runs through and it's wider than the actual saddle area of the bridge. It is slightly off-center but the screw holes for securing everything were aligned properly.

Either way, here're today's updates--all for my daughter's guitar: 
Sanded and stained the back, finished sanding the neck, filled a couple of mistakes and put in the tuning machines, the nut, the strap buttons, drilled a hole for the jack, and put the first layer of epoxy on for filling the pores. Here are a few shots...


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## Peter Benders (May 31, 2009)

*Oh my god*

this is probably the most wonderful thing i have ever seen in my life. those guitars are awesome. very good work of art.:thumbsup:


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Okay, so today's progress is fairly significant since it now looks like a nearly complete guitar. Again, just progress on my daughter's guitar, but we got the frets on, tape-lined the pick up pockets, waxed the neck (no other finish for the neck) and put another layer of epoxy on the top (KTM-9 needs a sealant before application) and a first layer on the rest of the body. 

Since no-one seems to have figured out the correct goof for the 5 points... here it is. The second octave abalone (supposed to be the 24th fret) is inlayed one fret high, in the 23rd fret. My daughter layed it all out and I routed the pockets without ever checking them, because we had checked twice already. Clearly we didn't check enough times and I noticed it after everything was already glued in place.

My daughter wishes me to remind everyone that though these particular pics make the guitar look a reddish color, it's quite purple.

A couple of progress pics...


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

All I can say, is that guitar is positively............
SWANKY!!!!!!!!!!!:yes:
I'm loving this project Frank. Great job.
Ken


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

We 'finished' up my daughter's guitar yesterday. I say 'finished' because it's not completely finished (still needs a couple of coats of KTM-9 on the back and then some good buffing) but she had to go back to her mom's so it's finished for now. Sounds great after a little bit of setting up (another new experience for me, but not difficult at all) and she's pretty stoked.

The electronics for her guitar are 2 single coil pickups (neck and middle) and a humbucker (bridge) pulled from a Yamaha EG112 guitar. Master volume and master tone. The bridge is a standard strat style tremolo bridge, and the tuners are inline cheapo tuners also pulled from the Yamaha.

The volume and tone knobs, I forgot to mention, are my first turning effort on my new lathe. They are Macassar Ebony died for color consistency and then varnished with 3 coats of varished thinned with mineral spirits.

Pick guard and back plate are 80 mil lexan that my daughter painted black on the back side using black acrylic paints that we bought to paint murals in the baby nursery. She wanted it to stay "shiny" and it turned out quite well.

So without further ado, I present Zen Guitar's first offering, the currently dubbed "Purple Lightning" S/N 001 as it is right now...


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## Chad (May 10, 2009)

Awesome. Rock on!


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## The Everyman Show (Jul 10, 2009)

Truly phenomenal Frank. A great story, a fantastic project and a summer with her dad that she will remember for the rest of her life.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

I don't need to say anything about this project. The look on your daughter's face pretty much sums up how good this project really is. 'nuff said. :thumbsup:
Ken


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## jdixon (Nov 21, 2007)

Frank that is just too cool. What a great couple of projects! The best part is when your all done the fun really begins because you guys can jam together!

I just ask you make me head of security when you guys start touring.:laughing:

John


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Not too much to update as my mom has been in town to see the new baby and I haven't gotten much done. MIMF, however, is having a $100 telecaster challenge... build a telecaster guitar for $100 or less. This inspired me to add one more axe to the mix. I am currently designing (mostly finished with that part) a "baby tele" for the baby to play as he gets to about 4 years old or so. In the meantime, I'll use it as a travel guitar so I can try to practice when I'm on the road.

21" scale (standard is ~25-26", half is 19") with a basswood body, walnut top, mahogany and walnut neck, and cocobolo fretboard. It will be a thinline style tele (means it's hollow) to save on weight and the whole thing will be less than 36 inches in length and about 9 inches wide. On paper the design looks great. I'll take some pictures tonight (hopefully) of the start woods before making any cuts.

In the meantime, I rewired the pickups for my guitar to "tap" the coils of the humbuckers so I can select them as individual pickups or as a humbucker. I also drilled for the strap buttons and added one. I need to fill the other with epoxy and re-drill a la drill-fill-drill style used in making boats, because I don't think the cedar will hold the screw without stripping in short order. I'm going to try and route all the channels for the wiring tonight and maybe do some sanding. Can't do too much though because mom is still in town. Pics as I get some noticeable progress.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

*new pics*

Not a huge amount of progress because I was dealing with some other new things tonight (pallet wood... what a find).

Anyway, here's a shot of the plan for the baby tele (if it can be seen at the smaller size) and a shot of the woods I'm going to use for it.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

So I got some more work accomplished on my guitar(s). I drilled the wiring channels on my big body and got all the holes for the knobs and switches drilled. Sanded the body to 600 and it's almost ready for stain and then finish. Just need to install the frets and sand the headstock and neck to 400 and she'll be completely ready for final finishing.

For the baby guitar, I got the neck glued up, built a truss rod, routed a truss rod channel, and prepped the body blanks for gluing. Also planed the fingerboard and got the fret slots cut (not shown) in it, so once I finish getting the neck completely ready (have to fix a fairly significant mistake first) I'll glue it down and then radius the fret board.

A few pics... fingerboard1, fingerboard2, neck and truss rod, neck and wings, big body:


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

And a close up of the big body as it is right now.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

And here's an "artist's rendition" of what she might like look finished. The finish plan doesn't really match with the wood selection for the neck, but I'd always planned on the prismatic effect for the top, the woods were just what I had on hand. As such, the color scheme wins out. The idea is that the colors look like prismatic water drops on a pond surface or something like that. It's supposed to be in keeping with the "zen" and "balance" theme of the guitar.


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## garryswf (Aug 17, 2009)

*Those are great*

Frank,
It always amazes me the things folks do with a simple chunk of wood. They look great. Is that the first time making one, and, did you have a plan.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

garryswf,

Yes these are the first I've made. We didn't have a plan from someone else, but I checked some library books out that gave the basic steps and we drafted our own plans. I think there may be a picture in this thread of one, if not I'll add some pics later for others to look at. At least make them dark enough that people can see the details of what's in the plans. Basically they are just drawings of the guitar face with a few key dimensions included. Pretty simple, really. I don't usually work from anything other than sketches and my mind's eye anyway, so this was actually more detail than I'm used to working with... so far they've turned out fine.

My daughter's guitar plays well, smoother than the one we took the components from, anyway. I'll reserve judgement on the other two until I actually get them strung up.


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## jdixon (Nov 21, 2007)

frankp said:


> a "baby tele" for the baby to play as he gets to about 4 years old or so.


You know what they say The family that rocks together, *rolls together! *

Awesome work Frank. Look forward to the progress pics.

John


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

So I finished fretting my guitar last night, and stained it psychedelic dots similar to the "artist rendition" I put up yesterday. I'm not sure I'm going to keep it though, and may go with a two tone kind of thing instead... we'll see. Pictures later.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Latest update: I got the neck finished on my guitar, and waxed it. I won't put any other type of finish on the neck but will be adding some pore filler (epoxy) and KTM-9 then install the electronics and it will be finished. My wife ended up really liking the "drops", which I'm surprised about. You can't really tell from the pictures but the top is quilted maple. I'm thinking perhaps putting something to help bring out the grain a bit, anyone have any suggestions as to what might be the best method of doing that? I was thinking Boiled Linseed Oil (BLO) or Tung oil but I'm open to any finishing suggestions as I feel that's perhaps one of my weakest points.

So the details: neck and head stock were sanded to 400 and the body is sanded to 600. Two coats of color. Electronics will be split humbuckers (I don't know what brand) configured for neck humbucker, bridge & neck humbuckers, bridge humbucker and then some verson of the neck split with the bridge humbucker, bridge split with the neck humbucker and then the neck north coil with the bridge south coil. I haven't decided whether I can include some phase changing in the 5way and 3way switches that I have, but I probably won't bother. Too many sound effects and I'll never actually learn how to play this thing.


Now, on the baby/travel tele, I had some minor issues... I was sanding the transition from the neck to the headstock and got a little overzealous. I ended up sanding into the nut and truss rod area so I'll have to repair that. I did get the frets slotted though, so when I get back from my travels I'll finish up the repair and then continue with that project. The "challenge" deadline is Oct 31 so I should be good to go. I bought tuners and a pickup on ebay and got some brass door hinge pins to use as a bridge and a nut, so that should work out pretty well.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

So this weekend I got back to work after a few weeks away on business. I ended up using Boiled Linseed Oil (BLO) to bring out the grain of my psychedelic water spots top a bit, and then put a couple coats of epoxy on it. One coat of epoxy on the back. 

I also took the afternoon yesterday to put the body wings of the "baby tele" on the neck and start the repair of my mess-up on the headstock. Pictures to come later today or tomorrow.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

And to prove all this hard work, a few pictures. Latest progress is hollowing out the body cavity for the baby tele and putting the fingerboard on the neck. Pictures are 1) body cavity, 2) Neck repair, 3) full body with fingerboard, and 4) full body without fingerboard.


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## slabmaster (Mar 30, 2008)

That tele looks like it's comming along just fine.I like the neck through body idea alot.I'm finishing up two strats right now myself.They have a one piece figured maple bodys with birdseye maple necks with rosewood fretboards and ablone inlays.I'm just waiting for the nitro to cure so they can be polished and assembled.It always feels better playing a guitar you built yourself.:thumbsup:


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

slabmaster, so far all three I've built have been neck-through and I like it as a build method. I don't think it's particularly hard to do, though I read in some book or another that it's considered one of the more complicated neck designs. I'm not sure why as I think routing a pocket with the right angles and such would be much harder than shaping a neck in place. Maybe it's just me.


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## slabmaster (Mar 30, 2008)

You are right about neck through body necks being harder to do.But i think it's well worth it because the better sound transfer and tone they produce.I plan on building my next that way too.It does take more wood for the neck, and the top is harder to sand flat with the neck being there, it can't be run through a thickness sander.I think that's why most factories don't build them that way to often.But even Gibson knows they do sound better as they have lenghtened the neck tenon on there Les Pauls since 08.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

*taking Frank's advice*

Okay, so here I am on Frank's advice to try and get out of a posting slump...................um................nope, I got nothin'.:laughing:


Quite seriously though Frank, the guitars are looking great. Keep posting photos. I always enjoy the guitar build threads. They are like watching a good television show......you just can't wait until next weeks episode to see what happens next.
Ken


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Just for you I'll put up some more pics tonight, Ken.

For now, it's just words:

Got the inlays finished on the baby tele. Also came up with a couple ideas for how to do the bridge and tailpiece, as well as the electronics panel. Should be able to make some more progress on that this week, and hopefully get the top on as well. Almost out of time so I need to do it soon.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

I promised pictures and here they are... first is the back of the neck after rough shaping. Second is the front (still no top on it) with the fretboard and inlays, third is a closer shot of the inlays.

Tonight I routed a piece for the electronics panel (front) and also cut the F-hole design into the top. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get the bridge and tailpiece finished and can then glue on the top. No pics of tonight's work yet, but hopefully after tomorrow I'll have more.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

So a little more progress today. I cut the tailpiece and routed all the pockets in the top and started the nut. Now I just have to figure out exactly how I'm going to do the bridge and finish up the nut then put the top and frets on it. I think I'm just going to finish this with some Danish oil and see how that goes. I can always refinish it later...

Here are a couple pics with the top taped in place. The tailpiece and the controls panel are both cocobolo, like the fingerboard. First pic is obviously the whole guitar and the second is a closer shot of the top with the pockets routed out.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Okay, I didn't (and won't) finish my babyTele by the October 31st deadline (away on travel this week) but here are a couple of updates.

I finished putting the top on and final shaping of the guitar. I also added the nut. The tailpiece and bridge standoffs were shaped and I added the control panel and put in the pickup. The only thing left is to put in the frets, tuners, the jack, and finish the guitar.

The Bridge is actually a door hinge pin just mounted in rabbets in the bridge standoffs. The vertical position of the bridge is adjustable with two screws that go through the body of the guitar and are adjustable from the back. (I got that idea from someone else's Tele challenge build on mimf.com)

Overall, this has been a great fun build. Should be very interesting to play once it's complete. I still haven't worked on my baritone since putting on the second coat of epoxy other than some light sanding. I've gotten a couple of suggestions on how to finish up the wiring for it though, so I'll be finishing both guitars when I return home.

For now, a full BabyTele pic and a closeup of the top and components.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Yet another pictureless update... Radiused the fret board on the baby tele, killing two of my inlays in the process. I've decided to leave them be as trying to add them in now will be more trouble than I want to commit at this point. Now it would be very difficult as I've also fretted the thing and added the tuning machines. Only thing left to do is a finish coat and the wiring of the electronics, which should be complete this weekend. Pictures to come tonight of the progress to date.


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## Colt W. Knight (Nov 29, 2009)

Looks good Frank, wish you could see the pictures in my thread. 


Neckthrough body construction becomes way more difficult when you start trying to conceal the neck through construction on the top and sides. Neckthroughs, are also a bit tougher because you cant use fancy neck carving jigs.


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## RDK (Jan 31, 2011)

wow....did you clear coat the fret board also? as in on top the frets and everything?


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

RDK said:


> wow....did you clear coat the fret board also? as in on top the frets and everything?


RDK, no, the fret boards have nothing on them except the one we dyed. That one has a very light coat of something just to keep the dye from wearing off through use. I believe you want to leave the fretboard as "unrestricted" as possible to let the notes really ring out. Other people have different opinions about that, though, so maybe that's just my bias.

You definitely don't put anything on after you fret the board, though. If you do that, any fret repairs will also require a complete fretboard repair, which is generally unnecessary.


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## JohnWP (Jan 18, 2011)

Just an off the wall question - You don't happen to be a bicyclist in your spare time, do you?

John


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Nice work Frank. I didn't realize that this post had new stuff in it until my iPhone squawked at me that it had been rejuvinated. Loving these builds buddy. Keep up the great work.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Thanks, Ken. I actually haven't done anything with the guitars in a long while. I ended up pulling the frets off the baritone and need to refret it, one of these days. They had sharp edges that were cutting my fingers, which is never pleasant. I'll see if I can take some "finished" pictures of all the guitars together and get them up here.

JohnWP, I'm not sure what inspired your question, but yes I do cycle. Well, not so much lately, but I've been known to ride a couple of hundred miles a week regularly in the past. These days it's a 9 mile commute to work and back again, once or twice a week if I'm lucky.


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## JohnWP (Jan 18, 2011)

frankp said:


> JohnWP, I'm not sure what inspired your question, but yes I do cycle. Well, not so much lately, but I've been known to ride a couple of hundred miles a week regularly in the past. These days it's a 9 mile commute to work and back again, once or twice a week if I'm lucky.


I do cycling and triathlons, and my first degree was in kinesiology. People that cycle regulary get this "teardrop" shape to the inside of the knee from their innermost quad muscle. One of your original pictures shows your knees.

I was curious, it's always fun to run across people that share a lot of the same interests.

John


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## Drillbit (Jan 13, 2011)

I can't believe you actually made a guitar. That's like someone in a metalworking forum just casually announcing they made a Saturn V. The whole thing is beyond cool.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Thanks, drillbit, but it's actually a remarkably easy project, from a woodworking standpoint. It's very straightforward.


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