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  #16  
Old 10-25-2022, 08:53 AM
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IndianHillMike IndianHillMike is offline
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Greetings everyone! Sorry for the long break in this thread -- it was a busy summer with lots of shows (5 this year!!) along with having to let the tamarindo sit and oxidize a bit before carrying on with finishing. So, let's get you all caught up on where this one is at...

One challenge for this build was to incorporate the art deco-ish theme into the fingerboard. I didn't want to have a design just randomly plunked down, so made sure to have the various "junction" points sit at the frets that you would typically see dots. With such a linear design I also wanted to make certain that things stayed symmetrical which meant some careful prep before routing. In the picture below you can see an aluminum track that my laminate trimmer slides in that is positioned by a brass pin (with another mirrored on the opposite end, not in the photo). With identical holes in a spruce spacer on either end, all I had to do was flip the spruce over and voila, symmetry!





Fully inlayed...





The first slot head I've done in a couple of years...











This guitar also marks the first time I've tried a hand-rubbed burst on a non-spruce top. A little nerve-wracking heading in, but I'm super pleased with how it turned out! First up is sealing the binding/purfling with a coat or two of laquer...





My highly sophisticated color application setup...





And the final burst...




Most of my guitars these days are getting sprayed, but this one is french polished and having any type of color on the top makes french polishing.... a challenge. This one took a long (long long long) time but I've finally got it!








I hope to get the bridge finished up this week and move on to finally assembly. More soon and thanks for looking!
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  #17  
Old 10-25-2022, 10:25 PM
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Looking fantastic under finish and nearing the finish line, Mike!
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  #18  
Old 10-26-2022, 07:33 AM
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Beautiful work you’ve done. Your inlay is especially nice. It’s going to be a
very classy guitar when finished.
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  #19  
Old 10-26-2022, 07:36 AM
Treenewt Treenewt is online now
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That is beautifully done, Michael! The burst turned out really well! And I love the inlay work with the Art Deco theme.
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  #20  
Old 12-15-2022, 11:08 AM
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Time for some final pics for this build! There were a lot of challenges to figure out over the course of this one but I'm beyond happy with how it came out and definitely feel like I learned a bunch of new tricks and techniques that I'm sure will appear again down the line.

First up we have one more in process shot with the fingerboard slotted and ready for frets...





And all done!




















Thanks everyone for following along and I'm looking forward to sharing some exciting builds in the new year!
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  #21  
Old 12-15-2022, 12:10 PM
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WOW, that is super cool!!! You should feel could about that one!
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Old 12-15-2022, 12:12 PM
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Looking very sharp, Mike! Congrats!
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  #23  
Old 12-15-2022, 03:51 PM
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Yowzah--beautiful work, Mike!
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  #24  
Old 12-17-2022, 10:35 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TomB'sox View Post
WOW, that is super cool!!! You should feel could about that one!
Quote:
Originally Posted by dcn View Post
Looking very sharp, Mike! Congrats!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nemoman View Post
Yowzah--beautiful work, Mike!

Thanks everyone!
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  #25  
Old 12-17-2022, 11:26 AM
NTS NTS is offline
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That is a beautiful guitar. Congratulations
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  #26  
Old 12-17-2022, 05:19 PM
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It's gratifying to see so many talented luthiers making smaller guitars. Mike had some beauties at BIG that I quite enjoyed playing. Oh right, his guitars are wonderfully playable. He has a way of very subtly rolling the fingerboard edges that somehow makes a big difference in the feel. And his guitars do sound incredible (that's the baseline, for me).
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Old 12-17-2022, 10:49 PM
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Smile Well Done!

Looking sweet indeed

Congratulations on a very unique instrument!

Merry Christmas, too…

Paul
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  #28  
Old 12-18-2022, 05:57 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NTS View Post
That is a beautiful guitar. Congratulations
Thanks!


Quote:
Originally Posted by soma5 View Post
It's gratifying to see so many talented luthiers making smaller guitars. Mike had some beauties at BIG that I quite enjoyed playing. Oh right, his guitars are wonderfully playable. He has a way of very subtly rolling the fingerboard edges that somehow makes a big difference in the feel. And his guitars do sound incredible (that's the baseline, for me).
It still surprises me how much rolling the edges changes the feel of the neck! I probably mentioned it at BIG, but one of my shop-mates (Nic of Island Instruments) got me on to doing that and likes to say it "makes it an old friend".


Quote:
Originally Posted by Guitars44me View Post
Looking sweet indeed

Congratulations on a very unique instrument!

Merry Christmas, too…

Paul

Thanks, Merry Christmas, and happy holidays to everyone!
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