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  #61  
Old 06-14-2013, 03:54 PM
naccoachbob naccoachbob is offline
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I agree with everyone, nice work on carrying that theme all over the guitar. It's not too little and it's not too much. Really well done.
Bob
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  #62  
Old 06-15-2013, 09:27 AM
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2 words...holy cow!
That's throw in the towel stuff.
(Ok, 6 more words, but they needed to be said.)

Steve
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  #63  
Old 06-15-2013, 09:56 AM
D. Ramsey D. Ramsey is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Kinnaird View Post
2 words...holy cow!
That's throw in the towel stuff.
(Ok, 6 more words, but they needed to be said.)

Steve
This is so nice! I love nice clean work like this....
Can't wait to see the finish.

Dennis
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  #64  
Old 06-15-2013, 11:56 AM
painasusual painasusual is offline
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Now that's going to be a fine guitar.
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  #65  
Old 06-15-2013, 04:00 PM
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Thanks everyone! It's good to be back to work on this guitar -- the big excitement will come next week when I should finally be able to start french polishing. Really curious to see how this one will look under finish.

Still working away on neck prep. Here's my setup for drilling out the holes for side dots...



And the fingerboard is currently in the midst of getting glued...



Tomorrow will be a little be more prep work and then hopefully I can start carving the neck!

Mike
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  #66  
Old 06-17-2013, 09:18 PM
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I'm sure I'll nitpick over it tomorrow, but for now, the neck is carved! As you can probably guess from the picture, I still need to glue the heel cap on (after the final adjustment of the neck angle). Here's a shot of the neck with my favorite and most advanced neck shaping tool... the mighty pad of sandpaper...



A sandpaper pad like that really is quite handy. By flexing the pad you can create many many different types of curves for different parts of the neck and it's great for transitioning between sections.

Getting ever closer!



Mike
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  #67  
Old 06-18-2013, 07:51 PM
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Looking great, Mike! Another stunner from your shop.

JR
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  #68  
Old 06-21-2013, 11:27 AM
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As expected, lots of picking nits this past week as the woodwork finishes up but there are still a few more surprises left for this guitar. My shopmate Jeremy Clark researched and mixed up a batch of "Magic Old Juice" which is based on an old recipe used to "age" violin wood. It's a combination of Boric Acid, Potassium Chloride and third secret ingredient (mostly it's secret because I can't remember what it is and Jeremy is out of town).

Here I'm ever so carefully and lightly applying it to the sides while keeping if off of the purfling lines...



Just before french polishing...



And after the first polishing session...



I decided to leave the center section untouched to add a subtle "pop" to the design while keeping everything in the same color palette. It also seemed appropriate to "age" the wood to fit in with the overall theme I was going for with this guitar. The treated wood should continue to darken/brown slightly over the coming days and weeks as it is exposed to more UV light.

Mike
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  #69  
Old 06-21-2013, 12:41 PM
JamesO JamesO is offline
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Wow! Whatever the magic juice is, the effect is incredible.
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  #70  
Old 06-21-2013, 02:12 PM
Luca Canteri Luca Canteri is offline
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incredible work! love it.
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  #71  
Old 06-21-2013, 06:58 PM
haolebrownie haolebrownie is offline
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Looks great. I like the decision to leave the center section untouched. It makes it stand out just the right amount.
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  #72  
Old 06-21-2013, 07:01 PM
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Looking schweeet! I do like the magic juice.
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  #73  
Old 06-22-2013, 07:55 AM
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Thanks everyone! It's really interesting watching the wood "age" from day to day. My big dilemma now is whether or not I should apply the Magic Old Juice to the binding or not. I'm definitely not going to put it on the purfling strips, but I think everything might tie together a bit tighter with darker binding. I'll have to see how I feel in the shop today!

Yesterday was more french polishing and finishing up the neck adjustment. Here's a shot of how I do my (semi) final neck adjustment for this type of neck...



The idea is pretty simple and probably very similar to how many of the other builders on the forum do it. I have four pieces of sandpaper under each section that needs to be adjusted and wax paper to protect against scratches. The neck is bolted on but not at full tightness to allow the sandpaper to barely be able to move. Sanding more on one side or the other shifts the angle left to right or front to back and after a bit of messing around....

Voila!



Mike
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  #74  
Old 06-22-2013, 10:26 AM
KevinLPederson KevinLPederson is offline
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Awesome piece of maple for the b/s. Looks really great with the clear on it. I like how you decided to leave the back detail to be set apart. Good call.

I like these detail concepts. I think it brings individuality to a piece like this.

Nice work Mike!!

Kevin.
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  #75  
Old 06-22-2013, 01:54 PM
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Of all the build threads I have looked at, (and drooled at) this guitar is by far the best one I have ever seen.

Mike you are truly a artist and a craftsman beyond words. Wanna be guitar builders like myself will keep this build in their minds forever to judge what we can and hopefully produce down the road.

Outstanding work, and thank you so much for sharing the build with us. Who ever ends up owning this guitar best treasure it like it was the Mona Lisa.

Stu
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