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  #181  
Old 11-03-2015, 10:15 PM
printer2 printer2 is offline
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There really is a good reason why I have not been working on my amp (drew up a schematic and posted on some electronically oriented guitar sites). Has some raw oak that I though I could cut up for some small guitars. Spent today cutting up and sanding down to thickness a section of it.



Going to build a couple of parlor guitars as gifts for Christmas if all goes well.
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  #182  
Old 11-04-2015, 07:00 PM
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Know what? When you search for 'live edge acoustic guitar' you get a lot of pictures of that guy in U2, not very helpful Mr Google.

More or less made up about four sets of oak back and sides. One is a three piece back. I want to do a live edge between the sides and the middle piece. Now the easy thing would be to cut the live edge straight to mate up with the middle piece. But trees are not known for keeping their lines perfectly straight and cutting the live edge would result in an edge that is wider at the ends and narrow in the middle.

Now if I cut the middle piece in an arc to match the curve of the live edge I think it might look better. Or maybe I am being too artsy fartsy about it (oh, lets do some wild sweeping arches with glitter and... ..well you get the idea). Would be harder to do, need to hold the two pieces down and run a router between the edges while following a guide with the right curve.

See what I mean, artsy fartsy. So have I really gone off the bend this time? Anyone?

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  #183  
Old 11-04-2015, 10:12 PM
Sam VanLaningham Sam VanLaningham is offline
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Well you are staying different. Well done!

What kind of amp you building? Several years ago I did a '59 bassman that to this day sounds absolutely incredible. It's actually a phenomenal acoustic amp too.....cool.

Sam
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  #184  
Old 11-05-2015, 07:05 AM
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Decided to go straight cut on the back.

Hey Left,sort of a Frankenstein early Gibson amp, similar to the BR-6F. Ignore the first triode, a guy wanted to do it to his amp and I showed how I would do it. The input of the 6SJ7 is switched between grid leak operation and cathode biased (love multi-pole switches). Also it has a Tweed type of volume-tone control that can be switched to a Blackface Bass and Treble control. Will be using 6W6 tubes for the output, not the 6K6 as in the drawing. They are a 6V version of the 12L6/25L6/50L6 family of tubes. Hope to get about 8W out of the thing. The power supply components are probably going to be adjusted, going to go solid state diodes.

Depending if I can swing it I would like to add reverb to it. A quick idea is to change the 33k grid stopper before the first triode to a high value and use it for the input output of the verb. Not sure if I have enough gain in the circuit though, might have another trick up my sleeve but we'll wait to see what I have before I go down that road.



Starting to turn cold out so this project is on hold for now while I get some of the yard and garage stuff done. Cut and sanded four oak sets and two maple. Want to build some small guitars for people. All kicked off by another forum where they are doing a 2x4 (as in stud) ukulele challenge. Thought it would be a quick fun thing to do. So a few things to work on when it gets all cold and snowy out.
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  #185  
Old 12-30-2015, 09:22 PM
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Wow, it has been over a month. Or looking at it another way, it has only been a month? Seems so much has happened since the last time I posted and little to do with building. Even looking at my last post, put aside the oak for a while, went almost a 180 degree turn on the amp. Did get a wall up and a door framed to separate my workbench from the rest of the house. Maybe less dust will get out. Health has been an issue, sometimes wonder why I don't just do things the easy way. Probably get bored, right?

Have a rotating oscillating sander that have caused me some grief. Spent more time fixing it than using it. Rebuilt the frame for the oscillating part of it. After got it going I went to use it and... ...no nut. Could not tighten the drum section. Of course the thread was not a common one I could get at a normal store. Finally got to a bolt supply store and got a nut to fit. Problem now was the first couple of threads were a little damaged from always being in the way and not being of any use.

Went to get my tap and die set to chase the threads, no metric. Right, my brother has my full set (pretty much permanently borrowed) and I just have a standard set. Well it is a good thing I bought a few extra nuts. I took a needle file and took care of the major dents. Then I took a hack saw and cut a slot in the nut. Jammed a flat screwdriver into the slot to expand the nut a little and spun it over the threads to the undamaged section. Removed the screwdriver, shot the threads with some cutting fluid, unscrewed the nut back over the damaged threads.



Went back and forth a couple of times, a normal nut goes on it now with no problem. I needed that, something to go right for a change. Won't be working on guitars for the next while, more making things to make building more easy. Proper clamps, good dust collection, tools have a place to go once they are not in use rather than piled on the bench. Looking forward to it.
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  #186  
Old 05-19-2016, 04:53 PM
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Oh boy, sure have not done any building for quite a while. Lately been in the dark side of town, building some guitar amps. Got to get back to the wooden side of things. Picked up some tops today. The only local store that sells more than big box fair had a pallet of rejected tops in. Some had defects like pitch pockets, knots, the whole assortment of issues. Actually educational looking at wood with problems. That being said I managed to find a few tops that looked promising. Smaller bodies for some, some stuff looks like it can be sanded out, some painted. Others I could use to experiment with bracing. $2.60 a top is cheap entertainment I guess.


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  #187  
Old 05-20-2016, 08:20 AM
Truckjohn Truckjohn is offline
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Where in the world are you that your local discount and salvage lots sort of place sells guitar tops? I have never seen anything resembling this at our local stores..... And it's probably a very good thing too .... Or my stack of low grade guitar tops would be even bigger than it currently is.

I gotta say.. Stuff like that is super fun for giving you an excuse to do quick and fun projects that you wouldn't touch if you had to sacrifice $40.00 tops...
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  #188  
Old 05-20-2016, 12:58 PM
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Center of the continent, about as far away from where good spruce grows. Another guy figures that their store in Vancouver got some and shipped some here. Once in a blue moon opportunity, usually I complain that they rarely have guitar suitable wood and what they have they want a good buck for it. Crazy that they would send it here though.


I no longer have to worry about wasting a top on a frivolous build.
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  #189  
Old 06-11-2016, 08:49 PM
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Would it be a little excessive if I went back for some more?



Also found myself a Bailey no 5. Will need a little TLC before I use it.
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  #190  
Old 06-26-2016, 07:44 PM
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Have a build challenge on another forum, the theme is building a parlor, I decided to use some birch I snagged off a pallet and torrefied it. Did the same to some maple, making a wee little guitar out of it also. I made the bending mold shape assuming some spring back and I ended up having a shorter body once the neck and tail block was on. Had to rig up my new bending iron to narrow the lower bout which lengthened the body. Scorched a few places, should sand out.



Here is the body and the top and back of the birch, will be building the guitars in tandem. At least I will not need to find the right tools for the operation on the second guitar. The table mahogany leg I found at the side of the road. Cut it into three strips, relaxed the stresses and did a little banana effect on them. Should have enough thickness to plane them up. They sat around for a couple of years so hopefully they are stable enough.

Glued up the sides and thicknessed the back pieces. Did a lot of flipping around and tried different combinations, not really book matched pieces. A wonder that I got what I have, the pallet had been used hard and put away less than gently. Three piece back with the nail holes lined up at the lower waist. Will be using a rejected spruce top, has a little color to it.



The back pieces are about 0.070", same with the sides. Might double them up with a thin sheet of spruce to give them a better chance of not splitting over time. Should the back radius be 15' or go for 25' since it will have the spruce laminate? Not sure, uncharted territory for me. Oh sorry that was a bad word. Double back and sides. Don't want to sound too common.

Still need to decide whether to call attention to the three piece back with a strip between them or just join them. Will be doing maple binding. The fretboard and bridge probably jatoba, the piece to the left on the spruce.
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