Maricopa's 2012 Challenge Build Thread -- COMPLETED

No time and 2 guitars so overdue the buyers ought to be coming over to kick my ass any day now but.....what the hell, I got two months.

Plan is some sort of radically hollowed, very light Thinline-ish thing. Body and neck from sapele, top either maple or a piece of Aussie eucalyptus. Fretboard TBD but likely rosewood.

A pickguard from that uber-cool Stew-Mac acrylic tortoise stuff and celluloid tortoise binding.

My pickup guru Clint Searcy is searching his nooks and crannies for 'something cool' but the fallback will be twin P-90s with vol/tone/blend controls.

Wilkinson tuners and Tele half bridge.

I knew you couldn't resist :razz:

Everything but temptation....

Awesome.. the gang's all here! Good luck, man!

Good to see the "elder" statesman represented :smile:

Welcome back Mike, and good luck! :grin:

Dave

Should be a good one!

You really should decorate it with some happy trees, y'know.

Don't make me come down there. :mrgreen:

Well here's 'da goods'. A sapele plank, some nice maple and some insane Aussie eucalyptus. Still can't decide which top to go with.

Nice wood (enough said :lol:)

No time and 2 guitars so overdue the buyers ought to be coming over to kick my ass any day now but.....what the hell, I got two months.

Plan is some sort of radically hollowed, very light Thinline-ish thing. Body and neck from sapele,.

Great minds think alike:mrgreen: First I have some finishing to do...

Well here's 'da goods'. A sapele plank, some nice maple and some insane Aussie eucalyptus. Still can't decide which top to go with.

Nice wood. Where did you source the eucalyptus from?

Good Luck Mike.

I wish I could join in the fun but I just can't make the time this year.

Wow, tough decision on the wood choices. Good luck, and I'm really looking forward to watching!

Incredible looking wood, look forward to another beauty!

Thanks guys.
Sorry you won't be joining in John.
Novice, I got it at a local place here in Phx. They usually have tons of the stuff but almost all of it is checked, cracked and warped. This is the largest 'solid' piece of it I've ever seen and it will still require a bit of epoxy filling.

man that is some great lumber, I wish I was going to have that tough of a time trying to decide what wood to use...:lol:

I don't want you disqualified on a technicality, so please change your title in case of nitpicking.

Oh, and +1 on the lumber!

I won't even show youse guys the stack on the other side of the room. Koa, walnut, mango, quilted mahogany, flamed redwood, etc. I wouldn't want to be responsible for any fits, convulsions or drooling. :wink:


I don't want you disqualified on a technicality, so please change your title in case of nitpicking.

Thanks, nits are hereby picked. :mrgreen:

Well here's 'da goods'. A sapele plank, some nice maple and some insane Aussie eucalyptus. Still can't decide which top to go with.

Good idea, building with eucalyptus. Then, getting a cold won't keep you out of the shop, in fact, it will be good for you to be in the shop. Is there such a thing as menthol wood?:lol:

Looking forward to watching this one. Go with the euca but of course I'm biased.

Since you are the senior leader for the Arizona woodbeaters union I will expect some leadership in this challenge? I know we can all count on you.

Eucalyptus is twisty inside, sands better than it cuts... just a thought. Back of mind thought, it'll be 100 b4 we know it.

looking forward to reading your build and learnin' sumthin'.

Senior? Hey I'm only 45! :wink: I don't know if you'll learn much but I'll try and do a better build thread than I usually do.

Yeah this stuff is super-chippy. I had it re-sawn at Woodworkers Source and before I knew it the guy was running it through their planer!!! :shock: Fortunately they have some helical uber-blade in it and it did pretty well but I stopped him right away and told him I'd bring it down the rest of the way with my sander.

83º or more today so yes summer be knockin' on our door. I've got to get these finishes done this weekend but I'm going to try and get some of the basic stuff done in between spraying sessions.

That is one nice flock of wood...or is it a heard. Anyway, I can't wait to see what you build.

Baby steps. Trimmed off some of that maple for the top and joined it up.
I decided to save the Euc. for something else and figured that maple would give me a little more latitude on how dark to make the top. Also think I'll do a 'PRS' edge treatment rather than binding and the other stuff is too dark for that.

Here's a shot of the re-done workroom where I moved all the 'dusty' tools. The router table I made from the remnants of the workbench I ripped out of there. The top is 1/2" mdf laminated to the 3/4" ply top and covered with about 10 coats of poly and some paste wax.
There's also a spindle sander hiding off to the left.

Nice. As I said in another post elsewhere--clean, organized shop--I'll have to look into that. Must be something new. Looking forward to seeing the PRS edge treatment, as binding seems kind of intimidating to my inexperienced sensibilities.

(Not even a little happy tree?):sad:

Thanks. My shop is slowly getting there. It's actually a very large garage, 1,200 sq ft but it's filled with screen printing equipment, an office, a car and all the guitar stuff. Before I cleared out that room everything was tucked into corners etc and it all had to be hauled out or uncovered to use...and be put back away for work the next day. which was a big PITA.
Now I've got to get some ducting run to that room so the swamp cooler reaches it or I won't be able to use it this summer. It was 85 today and already starting to get uncomfortable.

A little more progress. The sapele was 8/4 (1-7/8") so I re-sawed off a bit and joined the body up. Need to lay out the cavities and do some drilling, it'll be at least tomorrow before I can run the thickness sander.

Last is a shot of the happy little top and back. :wink:

Did I say, 'radically hollowed'? Wish I could lose weight this easily. :mrgreen:

Roughed it out with Forstner bits and will clean it up with the router later.
The pickups will be surface mounts attached to the top. Looking for a very woody sound.

Looking for a very woody sound.


Gorn...

T70-HTlKRXo

I love that one. Tinny, tinny!

Wow..
And I thought my design would be hollow, but this is about as hollow as it can get.
I'll keep an eye on this!

I won't even show youse guys the stack on the other side of the room. Koa, walnut, mango, quilted mahogany, flamed redwood, etc. I wouldn't want to be responsible for any fits, convulsions or drooling. :wink:



Mango? :shock:

Mango (note, not one of mine, just an example).
http://www.acguitar.com/media_files/articles/218/BearCreekMango.jpg

Nice! That is definitely some radical hollowing.

A little more done after work today.
First I hauled out 'Bertha' the 600lb, 36" drum sander and ran the body and top down to size.

The dust hood was damaged before I bought it so it gets rolled out into the driveway outside the shop (note: do NOT wear a tie when operating!). :shock:

Then I put the new router table to use cleaning up the body cavity and designed and cut out an 'f' hole.

After I get it cleaned up I'll glue on the top.

600 lbs ?:shock:
I guess Bertha's first name is BIG.

Nice looking F hole. Did you freehand it? :?:

600 lbs ?:shock:
I guess Bertha's first name is BIG.

Nice looking F hole. Did you freehand it? :?:

OOh :shock:

:mrgreen:

I did a Google image search on archtop f holes and went from there. Not totally original, but not totally ripped off. I never liked the Fender ones but wanted to keep it somewhat traditional/classy.

Here's the obligatory 'loothier' shot of me doing the final tap tone adjustment. This top should be perfect for Open D slide tunes....

:mrgreen:

I did a Google image search on archtop f holes and went from there. Not totally original, but not totally ripped off. I never liked the Fender ones but wanted to keep it somewhat traditional/classy.

Here's the obligatory 'loothier' shot of me doing the final tap tone adjustment. This top should be perfect for Open D slide tunes....

:mrgreen:

I think the caption should read "I love you baby!" :wink:

Barncaster

Well how could you not love that maple?

Didja tap tunit to Bflat or open G... ?

D minor of course, the saddest of all guitars.

One more before bedtime, all trimmed out. I cheated a little with the exposure to show the grain, even wiped down it just wasn't showing very well with my crummy flo lights. I don't have a small scale but this weighs almost nothing. Not quite as light as the 'Acousticaster' of two years ago, but close and it's super lively when you rap on it.

My goodness, that's looking stunning. Awesome stuff.

I agree - lookin killer already - you got me hooked!

Nice... REAL nice.

Gracias amigos.

I'm glad I decided on faux binding, the edges are very flamey and should look pretty cool. Managed to get a perfect fit between the top and body too, something that doesn't always happen, so no gappage to worry about.

Got a little more done today. Yesterday's wind and today's 50ºs, wind and rain made it a good day to make sawdust instead of trying to spray the other guitars.
Started the neck, here it's been roughed out, slotted for the double-action rod and I'm using the bandsaw and sanders to thickness the headstock. I adjust the fence to a little thicker than I want it, run it up to the line and then, carefully, loosen the fence and exit the cut. The I use a fence on the spindle sander to thickness it and give the radius going up to the nut.

Yesterday before our St. Paddy's Day gig I made up a pickguard. It's tough to see with the bad lighting and plastic still on it but it's Stew-Mac's acrylic tortoise. Really nice looking, about .120 and not a laminate. You can see the grain under it if you look close. Very cool stuff, they just need to offer it in larger pieces.

Also bought some jacaranda for the fingerboard. Real purty stuff.

Nice pickguard shape!

Love the pick guard. This is going to be a great build!

That is beautiful! The top and fingerboard go together very well. That's a winner.

beautiful guard and control layout maricopa... and top obviously. no neck PU? looks cool without it.

That is a REALLY sweet guard! The creativity and artistic eyes on this forum just floor me

Not to beat the horse but seriously, everything about that guard and controls is just perfect. It flows together so nice. Great work.

edit: Will there be a switch? If yes where?

Thanks all, I'm really liking this one too.

There will be a neck pickup and it's drawn on there, just doesn't show very well. My buddy Clint Searcy is sending me one of these Kay 'Zippos' for the neck. Here's one in action
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RNznKHp3oA&feature=related
and here's Clint fixin' one up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-32k-U3yIA

The bridge will be a dog-ear P-90

As far as controls that's still up in the air. Either a three-way switch or a blend pot along with the vol/tone.

Did a couple more things before bedtime. Drilled the tuner holes and for fun (and because I thinned the headstock just a little too much :wink: ) I added a matching piece of jacaranda on the back of the headstock. When the neck gets carved it should look pretty.

Very nice design! This is what "quality" looks like.

Yup. Super elegant, I love it.

Beauty , elegant , classy , send it to me :lol:

Well poop, just found out the Zippo is a no-go so unless I stumble across something else it'll be two P-90s. Not that that won't sound great, I was just kind of itching for something oddball.

Adirondak, love your sig line but you should change the end to, 'stay twangy my friends'. :mrgreen:

Hey Maricopa,

I have two Fralin Steel Pole 43s that I'm not using if you're interested. Kind of P90 in Fender form.

Barncaster

Interesting pickups. Very much appreciated but I don't think they're quite what I'm looking for.

...I added a matching piece of jacaranda on the back of the headstock. When the neck gets carved it should look pretty.
Cool idea - ya the transition will be interesting.

Only one way to describe this build....'real nice'

http://nuin.pair.com/kme/cousin%20eddie.jpg

Thank's Uncle Eddie!

Adirondak, love your sig line but you should change the end to, 'stay twangy my friends'. :mrgreen:

O.K. , edited my sig , now will you send the guitar:lol:

I'll think about it.... :wink:

Man,

watched the vid of the Kay pu's. Youtube sucks in terms of compression and sound quality, but those pu's stank all on their own. Everybody has their own opinion on sound just like belly buttons (they all stink) but from my perspective, you're lucky not to have to put one of those nasty things in your purdy guitar......Just sayin.

As always, it's my opinion only, and you know what that's worth. If not.......see above.:razz:

I really like your hollow concept and I think p-90's will really shine in it. I have a late 50's hollow body Gibson with p-90's and it is like the voice of God Almighty through a cranked amp:twisted: You gotta keep playing all the time though because it will squeal like a pig stuck under a gate if you give it half a second.

Interesting pickups. Very much appreciated but I don't think they're quite what I'm looking for.
Too bad my son and his friend fell out, I could have gotcha some harmony hershey bars :sad:

All I can say to that Dave is, "Mmmmm!" Those would have been tasty!

Cap'n, I loved the tone that guy was getting on that video.
I have several P-90 equipped guitars including an old plastic Maccaferri that sounds amazingly like an old Gibson archtop so I know P-90s are a great fallback, I just have something funky in mind for that front position and honestly a big part of that is the look. Right now I'm eyeing some Teisco gold foils on eBay. Unpotted pickups on a semi-hollow guitar are hard to beat for the grungy slide sound I like.

You do some great work, Maricopa. That body is going to look great.

Dep

You do some great work, Maricopa. That body is going to look great.

Dep

A work of art!!

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/532560_406194929409966_205344452828349_1471615_478 988244_n.jpg

LMAO!

A work of art!!

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/532560_406194929409966_205344452828349_1471615_478 988244_n.jpg

Now that's funny :lol:

That is beautiful! The top and fingerboard go together very well. That's a winner.

What he said. The flowing quality of the fretboard to the neck is outstanding.

A work of art!!

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/532560_406194929409966_205344452828349_1471615_478 988244_n.jpg

I knew that if I hung around here long enough I'd get me a happy tree.:grin:

Now that's funny :lol:

:lol::lol::lol:

Dude...this is the most elegant pickguard shape I've seen. It makes the Tele shape much, much more interesting!

Yesterday before our St. Paddy's Day gig I made up a pickguard. It's tough to see with the bad lighting and plastic still on it but it's Stew-Mac's acrylic tortoise. Really nice looking, about .120 and not a laminate. You can see the grain under it if you look close. Very cool stuff, they just need to offer it in larger pieces.

Also bought some jacaranda for the fingerboard. Real purty stuff.

Thanks, I spent a bit of time on it but I think the reason it works is that it's still got a little Fender DNA in it. I just added a bit of 'swoosh'.

I just added a bit of 'swoosh'.
"Just do it!" Ehhh? :lol:

Looking fine Mike :wink:

A work of art!!

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/532560_406194929409966_205344452828349_1471615_478 988244_n.jpg

Now this is a arcane reference! My dad used to watch that brush guy on TV for years.... what was his favorite color....Prussian Blue!

For some reason, I'm starting to believe that picture of the tree painting a man isn't real.
You know, there's people these days that will use a program called, "Photoshop" and just
make this stuff up. I could be wrong, but I'm really having my doubts.

(love the build thread, btw)

What shape pickup are you going for at the neck? I'm planning on trying a set of Kent Armstrong P-90's in my build. They are P-90's inside a standard humbucker sized housing. Not sure if the humbucker shape is what you are after or not.

Just bought a couple Teisco gold foils on FleaBay and am having some dog ear P-90s made. Originally was thinking P-90 rear and Teisco front but might just go double Teisco....Or double 90s.....or....

Oh hell, I don't know... :wink:

Makes note " add swoosh to build "

Looking real nice man, are the tiesco's toaster style? Ah! whatever you decide, its looking great

The ones I found aren't exactly the same as the 'legendary' one that Ry used on his Strat. They use the same base plate and cover but with a different layout of 'holes, slots and screws'. I've built several guitars with various Teisco foil pickups and they all sounded good but I'm hoping these are closer the holy grail one that I used on this guitar.

PS, Be the Swoosh!

^ That's hot!

Beyond craft, art is creeping in (do not tell the tree)... this is a very classy build. Supro/Teisco pus always have their own sound. Good choice for a pair maybe? P 90s are great but it's been done a few times.

Looks like this is gonna be a real cool guitar. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

After a miserable afternoon of 'finishing' (why do they call it that if you never get finish? :roll: ) I went back to the Challenge tonight.
I started by cutting the fret slots with my uber hi-tek slotting jig. Then I aligned the board with a couple drill bits, glued it up and after unclamping ran it over the router table to flush the neck to the board.
Mmm a nice, even fit. After finishing it should just push in.

Then we go after the neck. After drawing a center line and starting off the transition from neck to headstock with the oscillating sander I create my facets with a small hand plane and 1"chisel.
After that I switch to one of these files that look like a bunch of hacksaw blades.
This makes short work of the initial shaping, especially on mahogany. What a joy to carve compared to maple!
After that it's a scraper and various files and a sandpaper to clean it all up.

I'm liking this jacaranda stuff. The color is much nicer than about 90% of the Indian rosewood I see and I'm real happy with the way the backstrap on the headstock looks.

Not shown but I also used the belt sander and a 12" radius block to do the fretboard. Too tired to do the side and face dots. Maybe manana.

That's beautiful, Mike. I like seeing acoustic treatments like that backstrap being done on electrics.

Thanks Roger. I'm re-thinking my 'no cavity cover' idea (was gonna fish the controls through the rear pickup route) and now I'm thinking of using the jacaranda for the cover too.
In fact if it wasn't for the PITA factor I'm thinking jacaranda binding would look sweet. I need to stop thinking....

:shock: ooohhhhh that would make some spectacular binding! DO IT!!! :lol:

Wrapping it around that horn/cutaway would make for some spectacular cursing is what it would do.
Fortunately for me I think my leftovers are too short. :mrgreen:

Did a little more last night. Fretboard and side dots, mounted the neck and added a cavity cover on the back.
I use this little jig quite a bit. A combo of a clamp and some double-stick holds it on just fine.

Here's a couple of it together. I tried to weigh it but it didn't want to move my bathroom scale much at all. My guess is @ 3lbs at this point.

Been thinking of adding a matching maple veneer to the front of the headstock, any thoughts on that?

That's superb, Mike!

Maple on the headstock would look great and also echo the look of the back of the neck. Lovely guitar!

i think maple on the headstock would look very cool.

Agreed

+1 on the maple headstock - this is great work.

looking good, maricopa. flame up the headstock.

It's decided then!
Thanks for the comments.

We'll let you do the maple! :lol:

Yes maple on the headstock and a tropical burst on it as well. It's all the rage now!

Barncaster

It's all the rage now!

I'm nothing if not unconventional, tobacco burst it is. :wink:

Looking Gooooooooddddd!! You'll be done in no time.

Did some sanding and messing a bit with dyes on the top. This is after wiping on tobacco and amber dye, wiping that off with a cloth soaked in alcohol and then sanding back with 400.

Nizzzze. That'll look good on the headstock, too.

This guitar is going to make me drool on my keyboard isn't it :mrgreen:

Did my grain filling and stained the neck and body. The full back picture is pretty close to the actual color. A dark, reddish brown. The sapele should pop pretty good under the finish.

Very sexy......

how cool would it be to have a store where one could buy all of these cool, beautiful, one-off creations! Mike, your's would definitely sell quickly

Did my grain filling and stained the neck and body. The full back picture is pretty close to the actual color. A dark, reddish brown. The sapele should pop pretty good under the finish.
Superb Mike! Agreed on on the headstock veneer. You need a little more maple to break up all that dark backround. One thing I've always liked about your builds, you don't overload one way or the other :wink:


Sweet build!

Well who the hell decided doing a veneer was a good idea? :wink:

I've done a few of these and every time I seem to forget what a PITA they are. Ahh well, it's done now and I'm sure I'll forget next time too. Here's a rundown:

Start with the bandsaw and slice ya off a nice, thin piece. Double-stick it to the original piece and thin it down on the belt sander.

Then break out the small heat blanket and clamp a large socket into the vise. Let it heat up and start your bend. No water with flamed maple, just a little spit right at the 'hot part' (Gross, I know). Wetting flamed maple makes it come apart and this piece already wanted to split. I did get two small cracks but they glued up invisibly.

After it's close clamp the end to the headstock and use another clamp and the blanket to bend it right up onto the curve.

Afterward glue up the curved part first and when that it's tight, add more glue and clamp up the flat part (no photos of this, sorry).

Here's the results after some dye and sanding back. All that's left now is to re-stain the edges of the headstock where I sanded the overlay down to size.

One more pic. I'm liking it and can't wait to do the 'burst.
I'm seriously thinking of going with a Tru-Oil finish on this one (I can hear Mike Simpson screaming from here) and (get ready) not doing it as a string-thru but running it as a top-loader (sacre' bleu!). Why? I dunno, just because I've never done neither and I'm curious.

One more just to say, "This is my one-thousand-and-oneth post, where's my free Tweed Deluxe?" :mrgreen:

As to the veneer, this is exactly the reason I 'prefer' a tilt back headstock....no curves
on the top plate, lol.

This thing is so beautiful, you could finish it in Krylon primer and it would look sharp. As
to your "Tweed Deluxe", you don't actually WIN one, you win the opportunity to BUILD one
and, of course, share the thread when you do so. Congrats.

One more just to say, "This is my one-thousand-and-oneth post, where's my free Tweed Deluxe?" :mrgreen:

I hit 1000 yesterday, so :razz:

Mike, I didn't get a good view of it, but what do you use to heat the socket for bending?

The red thing between the socket and the wood. It's a small heat blanket used for repairs like removing acoustic bridges and stuff. Comes in handy for bending binding and things.

This thing is so beautiful, you could finish it in Krylon primer and it would look sharp.

I would but I think it might obscure the figure. :wink:

...
This thing is so beautiful, you could finish it in Krylon primer and it would look sharp.

I would but I think it might obscure the figure. :wink:
Last year when I started finishing this guitar I sprayed a layer of primer on it:
http://www.mojotronics.com/images/Guitar_builds/2011_TDPRI_Challenge/4_16/IMG_3337.jpg

And, when I came back after an hour I took about 15 minutes to check out the finish. I loved it - but then covered it with a ton of CAR. One layer of primer can be kind of a cool "blonde" like finish though.... Primer is under-rated, but Brent Mason loves his primer finish :lol:

I'm going to do this again on the next Poplar body I make - that would do wonders to even out the weird colors on otherwise decent grain in that wood.

Yeah that makes sense on Poplar since it can have those odd streaks and such.

These came today....I think I'll be saving that P-90 for the next project. :mrgreen:

You sir are a pickup connoisseur! I thought the gold foil in your last build sounded fantastic!

Thanks, I hope these sound as good too. I'm just a sucker for cheez!

Now I'm thinking dual vols, one tone.

Fit up the pickguard and the pickups tonight.

This is a neat little bit I found at Woodworkers Source. 3/8" dia. and perfect for fitting pickguards to the neck pocket and pickup cavities. Just screw down the guard and buzz away the plastic.

Fit's nice!
With the neck pickup I had to trim the guard around the baseplate so I made a little MDF pattern and did the same thing. No pics of that but here's a couple with it all fit up.

That guitar is beautiful :)

That's stunning! Really love the shape of the pickguard - really elegant and yet with a 60's wackiness too. Don't know how many could pull that off. Great work - as usual.

:shock: Every detail is dead on, Mike. Beautiful

That is one classy guitar. Great job so far!

Decided to go with the Tru-Oil finish. Put one coat on and let it dry, then fired up the compressor...Time for some burstage!
First, oil only.

Looks good but I've never sprayed over oil....So here goes nuthin'.
Mixed up some vintage amber for a base color, going over the edges many times, but very lightly, holding the gun 18" or so away.
Then I add tobacco brown and a couple drops of red to the vintage amber and very slowly start dusting the edges, allowing time for the previous coat to flash off. If you get a run, as I did on the headstock, it's time to grab a rag, soak it in alcohol, wipe it off and start over.

Here's the final result. The headstock was a little too close to the camera (need longer arms I guess :mrgreen: ) and it got washed out by the flash a little. Actually everything looks a bit lighter in the pics than in real life.

Now I'll let it sit while I eat lunch and I'll try and clean up the revealed edges. I ended up rolling them a little more than I should have and getting a clean line is gonna be a bit of a pain. :roll:
The real test will be to see whether the Tru-Oil messes with the color. I didn't seem to pick anything off the back when I did the first coat so I'm hoping for the best.

Boy, that is a nice classy finish. I like it alot:mrgreen:

Thanks man.
Here's another after scraping and another coat of oil. Wooooooodooogies that looks good out in the sun!

Whoa... that's a stunning finish. Nice work!

That really popped the grain beautifully, I especially like the way you did the top edge almost like binding that matches the top grain perfectly. Impressive!

Holy moly, that is something else. Great work, man.

My favorite burst ever, Mike. I'm serious. I'm very particular about bursts, and you've got the "art" part of it down!

(post deleted, stupid misunderstanding..)

This is why I check in everyday at tdpri. Great work You can learn so much by watching and asking.Those pick ups, what are they?

Maricopa

Mmmmmmm, tasty. But just remember, Herb put the burst on his headstock first so he is the president of the Burst Head Club.... Is there a handshake?

Barncaster

Who is this 'Herb' that keep stealing my ideas? ! say pistols at dawn!

Thanks guys.
Acalan, they are Teisco gold foils off of FleaBay.

Now to put on eleventy-seven more coats of oil....

Who is this 'Herb' that keep stealing my ideas? ! say pistols at dawn!



I say Teles at 10 paces ! :D

it keeps getting better.

Vurry purdy! Actually, it's more like, "super sexy" but you know what I meant.

I'm afraid, however, that there may not be a number "eleventy seven"....spell check, definitely
doesn't like it.

Popped it back together this morning for some pics. Got about 5 coats on before the (very) old bottle ran out, time for a run to ACE for some more. I added a water slide decal to the headstock after the 2nd coat and will be interested to see how well it can be buried under Tru-Oil like they can under lacquer or poly.
I like the oil, it's different than lacquer, very organic looking and rich. Really popped the sapele, especially on the sides.

PS, eleventy-seven is too a real number!

That's freakin gorgeous Mike.

man that's gorgeous. i would be nervous as hell drilling holes for pots into something that pretty.

Beautiful Mike, just beautiful :grin:

That finish is gorgeous. For the color, did you spraying
alcohol-thinned dye, or tinted lacquer, or ...? I'm guessing
dye from what you wrote.

Thanks guys.

No problem drilling the oil finish. Actually there's usually no problem drilling a lacquer or poly finish either unless you have adhesion issues.

Flat, yes, analine dyes in alcohol.

Wow, love the wood choices and that finish, awesome guitar

That looks awesome.

I'm glad to know I'm not the only person that doesn't care for the fender F hole.

Stunning! Just stunning! Can't wait to hear it.

Mike, your builds are by far always my favorites. Your style is impeccable and I love that you do allot of semi-hollows.

Loudog, I hear you on semi-hollows. Besides the tone my band plays pretty much every weekend the last couple years and I've grown to really appreciate a light guitar during those 4 hours.
My favorite tone-wise is still my 'Plastiferri' which weighs almost nothing but is deep bodied and also doesn't stay tuned very well in outside gigs which we seem to do a lot of. My Old Teiscos are fairly light and so is the first Challenge build I did but I'm thinking I may keep this one for myownself. It has a couple small issues that bug me (a couple of the fretboard dots are off) and I'd like to see how well the oil finish wears before I think about doing them on customer guitars.

Man who could blame you for keeping this one?! It must be an "over 40" thing, because
that's exactly the way I think when it comes to appreciating light guitars. Every time
we buy a new calender, seems like I need my guitars to shed a 1/2 pound or so.

This is one stunning guitar, and I can imagine it's tone will do it justice.

That guitar just looks like it was meant to be. Everything is just right.

Nothing much new to show, just more coats of oil. Getting a good build and better visual depth now.
I emptied the old bottle and it took a couple days to find a new source but I'm back on track. The new stuff is a LOT thinner than my many years old bottle and smells a lot worse so I guess most of the turpentine or whatever's in this stuff had evaporated, or polymerized. The new stuff sets up faster and it's nice to use. I just wipe it down 4 times a day and the next morning scuff it up with 2400 Micro Mesh. I'll give it another week, sand it smooth and after drilling the last of the holes spray the last couple coats per Tom Pettingil's advice. Let that sit a week and buff it out.

In the meantime I still have two customer guitars to finish up and I've been thinking about using some old epoxy to try casting my own tortoise pickguard. I think the one I have is a bit too dark.

Mike, that's just stunning. Like rcole said, everything just fits perfectly.

This guitar is stunning. Congrats.

Mike, that's just stunning. Like rcole said, everything just fits perfectly.

+1 - I really like the dark transition to the dark wood on the back of the neck! :grin:

That's a little bit of an effect of the picture happening there. There is a slight 'burst' to the neck but most what you're seeing there is part shadow and part the extreme angle of the neck where the end grain starts to show.

The only thing I'm really not happy with is the headstock, especially the logo. The stupid transfer didn't disappear as well as I'd hoped but it was my last one and I just didn't want to either wait to get more paper or go without. You can see a little of the 'ghost' at the bottom of it.

Well Mike,

It still looks spectacular to me. We are our own worst critics. If it bothers you that much, just send it to me so it won't bother you any more. I hate to see you upset.

Barncaster

Oh no, it's good enough for ME, just not to sell. :wink:

Oh no, it's good enough for ME, just not to sell. :wink:

Crikey if thats not your best work, we're all in trouble:lol:
Stunning looking, its a hard life having to keep somthing like that for yourself

Heh-heh, yeah I usually just keep the 'beaters' and the early builds that were somewhat rough around the edges.

I don't think I'm a 'contendah' to win so don't worry. Typically the top dogs in this contest have been the more original builds, either in style or materials. I'm sure this year will be the same.

Well Mike,

It still looks spectacular to me. We are our own worst critics. If it bothers you that much, just send it to me so it won't bother you any more. I hate to see you upset.

Barncaster

Hey , I asked first :lol:




I don't think I'm a 'contendah' to win so don't worry. Typically the top dogs in this contest have been the more original builds, either in style or materials. I'm sure this year will be the same.

I don't think I agree with you here Mike , thats a fine and beautiful guitar you've built there and I always considered you as one of the top dogs in the challenge :smile:

P.S. now will you send it to me ??? :lol:

but it was my last one and I just didn't want to either wait to get more paper or go without

Evidently I don't know what I'm asking for, or asking in the wrong place. Everytime I ask for water-slide/decal/or transfer paper (office max,office depot,walmart) all I get are sticker paper and dumb looks. Now I'm in a good place for dumb looks but it looks like someone would know what I'm talikng about. Worse, I don't even know what it looks like,guess I'm trying to get outta' going to Michael's :lol:

Evidently I don't know what I'm asking for, or asking in the wrong place. Everytime I ask for water-slide/decal/or transfer paper (office max,office depot,walmart) all I get are sticker paper and dumb looks. Now I'm in a good place for dumb looks but it looks like someone would know what I'm talikng about. Worse, I don't even know what it looks like,guess I'm trying to get outta' going to Michael's :lol:

Hobby stores, Dave. I got no idea what "Michaels" is, but if it's a hobby store, go there!

Here's a link Mike Simpson sent me for transfer paper.
http://www.decalpaper.com/Default.asp

You can hardly find 'the stuff locally and when I did a couple years back they only had half sheets which my laser printer doesn't feed very well. This place sells 'em in large quantities and they have a good selection.

I don't think I agree with you here Mike , thats a fine and beautiful guitar you've built there and I always considered you as one of the top dogs in the challenge

I appreciate that and one year I got close, but look what wins. Skeletonized guitars, lucite guitars...I think Scatter's first one with the Marilyn airbrush was probably the only 'traditional' win. I'm not bitching though, I do these for fun and don't care much about the contest part. So far I've kept the first one, donated the second to an auction and sold last years. That's more than enough incentive for me to keep doing 'em. I also enjoy the hell out of the build threads although I gotta admit this year there's so many I've had a tough time keeping up with them.

P.S. now will you send it to me ???

Still thinking about it.... :wink:

Mike, ending up with a guitar that looks that nice IS a win in my book!

Beautiful Work as usual. I'm a fan.

Mike, ending up with a guitar that looks that nice IS a win in my book!

Yup, I think we all end up winners....now let's gather for the group hug. :mrgreen:

I appreciate that and one year I got close, but look what wins. Skeletonized guitars, lucite guitars...I think Scatter's first one with the Marilyn airbrush was probably the only 'traditional' win. I'm not bitching though, I do these for fun and don't care much about the contest part.

I also enjoy the hell out of the build threads although I gotta admit this year there's so many I've had a tough time keeping up with them.



I agree, I think the last couple of years there have been a few "sensational" type builds in terms of materials/design/concept...but this year seems to be off the charts in terms of top notch professional looking guitars.

I'm still finding builds that I haven't checked in on and thinking, "this is amazing work." I would say overall this years combined effort has far surpassed what we've seen in past years collectively. The first time builders are no exception.

Yours sir is yet another notch on that belt, just beautiful work.

That is one pretty guitar.

Dep

awesome looking guitar (and burst)

Absolutely top notch work. It's beautiful.

I can't speak for the other guy, but for some of us the unusual builds are the only thing that ensures some of us stand some kind of a chance against builders of incredible quality like yourself, because clearly there's a massive difference in build quality between one such as yours and either of mine from the 2 years I've participated.

At the end of the day I'd far rather own a beautiful instrument like yours over a skeletonised plexiglass model anytime.

FWIW, this year I'm in it for the fun, and to pay homage to the TDPRI in general. I have no designs on any of the prizes, but i know my strengths, and quality woodwork sadly ain't one of 'em. :wink:

Next year, I hope to have developed my skills enough to try and make a quality instrument. For now, I play to my strengths.

Btw, you've definitely got my vote.

Can I have your guitar now? :mrgreen:

Mike, ending up with a guitar that looks that nice IS a win in my book!

Yup, I think we all end up winners....now let's gather for the group hug. :mrgreen:

Ummmm....yeah.....I don't like people....well.....ummm....touching me.
But thanks:lol:

Don't worry, it's a 'virtual' hug, no actual contact!

Kwerk, stop it or I'm gonna have to give you the guitar.

Don't worry, it's a 'virtual' hug, no actual contact!

Kwerk, stop it or I'm gonna have to give you the guitar.

Ha :D

now let's gather for the group hug. :mrgreen:


http://www.classicalguitardelcamp.com/images/smilies/icon_discussion.gif

I can't remember if we were supposed to post once-a-week or what but no new progress, just been putting on 3-4 coats of oil during the day and scuffing it up the next morning. I was planning on spraying a couple coats this weekend but the weather turned and it's been windy, wet and cool so I'll do it next week sometime.

That's a really masterful finish. Humbled.

Thanks!

Wow! Very nice! The work of an artist. Can hardly wait to see the finished guitar.

Yeah, and we're much ready for a video!

Uggh, had so much going on the last week. Lots of shirts to print, an exploding septic system and customer guitars have kept me jumping so the SapeleTele has just been staring at me from across the shop, patiently waiting for it's last couple coats of Tru-Oil to be sprayed. Unfortunately some dumb-ass bought turpentine to thin it instead of mineral spirits so that's been on hold too.

Being many levels of experience and skills below most of you I have declared myself the winner. My goal was to finish and have a guitar I could tune. Done, but certainly not the level of creativity and skills you have. I am learning so much, especially now that I am done except for compulsive tweaking, from you guys who have been doing this for a while.

Its a beauty and thanks for sharing.

Thanks Chuck.

Against my better judgement after a day of $*#&ing stuff up I decided to level and buff the challenge guitar. I never got around to spraying any of the Tru-Oil so I just leveled with 3200 Micro Mesh, buffed lightly with a fine Menzerna compound and finished by hand with rubbing compound.

Conclusion...Mmm, it's OK but I don't think I'll use TO on anything for customers. After some frustration with polys I'm planning on going back to nitro in the future.

Anyway, I mocked it up once more with the shine on it. My favorite picture site Picnik went away this month and I haven't gotten the hang of FotoFlexer yet so the pics are a little, well, crappy.

I'll just say it again-- Beautiful finish, Mike! That's the kind of stuff I aspire to at some point.

Man I cannot wait to hear this thing! Fantastic job!

Barncaster

Understated elegance. Very, very nice build, thanks for sharing it.

Looks beautiful to me!

Outstanding! That's really really beautiful! That binding pops like crazy!

Simply exquisite.... nice job!

I'd love to be able to make such an amazing instrument. Kudos, sir.

It looks beautiful Maricopa, I would love to be able to build something that looks like that. Oh well, maybe one day. :-)

wow - your guitar looks amazing

Thanks for all the kind words guys.
Got a little more done tonight after dinner. Didn't have all the goodies I needed to wire up the controls but I added leads to the pickups (they both work :mrgreen: and are 5.5 and 5.7K), got them and the bridge mounted, did the frets, roughed in the nut and added the strap buttons. Still need to drill for the pots, clean up and drill the pickguard screw holes, make a cavity cover and add a string tree.

Great work, man!

Stunning guitar, can't wait to hear it!

Stunning guitar, can't wait to hear it!

+1

That looks like it came off a showroom floor. Outstanding!!!

Man, if I could do work like that I would retire early and make my living in woodwork! Might even specialize in guitars. Amazing how many people make guitars for a living and there is still a market for them. I will keep my day job.

Beautiful work.

That looks like it came off a showroom floor. Outstanding!!!

Absolutely sweet build :grin:. If that's you sub-par finish, then I never need to bother. Really classy :wink:

Pretty much done so I wired it up tonight and took it out to a jam. Went with the vol/tone/blend controls and I'm pretty happy with that set-up except that I accidentally used 500s instead of 250s on the vol and tone...D'oh! That's OK, it just takes a bit more twiddlin' with the tone control and I'm not changing it.
I tell ya I can't wait to do the vid because this thing rips! In the center detent it gives a cool out-of-phase tone even though I didn't think I wired them that way. The rear has a very Tele-ish quack and the front is full, bassy and has that nasty Teisco grunge. I'm in love. :mrgreen:

Still need to finish out the nut, fix a buzz on the low E and put on the string tree. Also still have a bad spot on the edge of the pickguard but I'll get to those later on.

One day I hope to stop building toys and have the skills to build a real guitar like this.

What an inspiration. Utterly exceptional work.

One day I hope to stop building toys and have the skills to build a real guitar like this.

What an inspiration. Utterly exceptional work.

Here here!

One day I hope to stop building toys and have the skills to build a real guitar like this.

What an inspiration. Utterly exceptional work.

+1
That is one cool guitar!

Pretty much done so I wired it up tonight and took it out to a jam. Went with the vol/tone/blend controls and I'm pretty happy with that set-up except that I accidentally used 500s instead of 250s on the vol and tone...D'oh! That's OK, it just takes a bit more twiddlin' with the tone control and I'm not changing it.


As in blend between the two pickups presumably. Is that one of the stewmac pots? What do you think of it compared to just using a regular toggle switch?

Stunning looking burst, by the way!

One day I hope to stop building toys and have the skills to build a real guitar like this.

What an inspiration. Utterly exceptional work.

Here here!

+1
That is one cool guitar!
+ another 1

Thanks guy, much appreciated.

As in blend between the two pickups presumably. Is that one of the stewmac pots? What do you think of it compared to just using a regular toggle switch?

Yes a S-M pot and frankly, I think it's 6-of-one, etc. There's really not much 'blend' effect, or at least I can't hear it with these tin(nitus-y) ears. Once off the detent you lose the out-of-phase thing and the tone pretty quickly reverts to the bridge or neck sound.

Friggin' beautiful as always Mike.

Another first class build. Guitar looks better than any custom shop.

This years challenge has so many great guitars.

Cheers

Sweet guitar, elegant and rich with bags of character.

Thanks guy, much appreciated.

As in blend between the two pickups presumably. Is that one of the stewmac pots? What do you think of it compared to just using a regular toggle switch?

Yes a S-M pot and frankly, I think it's 6-of-one, etc. There's really not much 'blend' effect, or at least I can't hear it with these tin(nitus-y) ears. Once off the detent you lose the out-of-phase thing and the tone pretty quickly reverts to the bridge or neck sound.



Hi M when I built the Maton G240 copy I originally had a blend pot as part of the setup but it never really did what I thought it should so I went for the 3way switch instead. Much better tone and seperation. I also experimented with about 4 different size pots getting down to 10k as the lowest. Didn't seem to make any difference. Tinnitus is a wonderful affliction isn't it? I have had it all my life and thought everyone had that sound in their head. Then I went to work for a Government Hearing Service and found out that most people don't. Some totally deaf people have it some don't.

Yeah the big 'T' sucks but I guess that comes with the cars and the guns and the amps. :cry:

Thanks for the comments on the switching.

Yeah the big 'T' sucks but I guess that comes with the cars and the guns and the amps. :cry:

Thanks for the comments on the switching.

I blame the drummers...

Nice! Can't wait to hear the gold-foils!!!

The guitar looks really beautiful Maricopa. Very much my taste in just about everything. I'll send you my address for the shipping :mrgreen:

Video is up, hope this embeds correctly.
RKGcpRkDoDs

The sound was giving my fits. I haven't used the iMovie program in a while and I guess I had the input set too high. The sound is quite a bit cleaner than it sounds like here. The guitar is plugged directly into a Valve Jr. set about 9 'o clock. No pedals, reverb, etc. Not real happy with the recording, but I'm tired. :wink:

Sounds fantastic, man.

Course, everyone knows Valve Jrs play better after 1am. Perhaps that's the problem? :wink:

Sounds like a piano on that front pup. Beautiful and classy; you did an incredible job.

Sounds great Mike , congrats on a beautiful guitar.
Will you send it to me now ?? :D

Great guitar Mike! Those Teisco pickups are not bad I used them on last year's build from an old HOS it bought from the Sunday Markets for $20. It would have been a good restorer except someone scalloped out the neck.

Great looking and sounding machine you have there.

Terrific job, Mike! Looks perfect, sounds incredible.

Aw yeah!!! It sounds as good as it looks, and that is very good!

Really beautiful work, and a terrific sound!

Maricopa, this is my favourite build this year - the recording makes it hard to tell, but from what I can (tell) the sound is gorgeous (and in tune!). The aesthetics are great as well (very much to my taste)! Beautiful. I hope you win (with all due respect to the other builders!)

Great looking guitar, and it sounds great too! Actually when you first started playing just "acoustically" it sounded really great, the hollow body really does resonate well. Looks beautiful too, great job on the finish.

From your Avatar I was expecting you to look a little different in the move though ;)

Great guitar, good work!
Cheers

From your Avatar I was expecting you to look a little different in the move though ;)

Disappointing eh? Think of how my wife must feel every morning. :neutral:

Nah, you look just like one of my brothers, and he's almost as handsome as me! The video is great, nothing to be ashamed of.

I just really liked that PBS painting show I guess, used to watch that as a kid all the time ;)

Nah, you look just like one of my brothers, and he's almost as handsome as me!

Ha! Poor guy. :mrgreen:

I like Bob too, along with the earlier German guy.

WOW Mike!

That thing has tone for days! Well done.

Barncaster

Think of how my wife must feel every morning
I was going to say, "At least your still alive", where Bob sadly isn't. Then it occurred to me, my ex-wife wouldn't consider that a selling point :roll: :lol:

Great work, AWESOME guitar!

Super nice! I really like it. Hope to do work like this some day.

Final pics and a re-post of the vid.
RKGcpRkDoDs

Sweeeeeeeeet!

Great work maricopa. Love that headstock and the lines on the body and pick guard.

we have one of the winners here. Awesome.

Sounds and looks superb, Love it!

we have one of the winners here. Awesome.

Ha-ha, not even close. But thanks for the support. :wink:

Yours and Mojotron's really threw a monkeywrench into my voting process.