Official Luthiers Forum!

I'll have 3 of whatever you had, they seem to be working

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http://www.PeakeGuitars.com

Gee Parser,

Me don't drink and don't do pharmaceuticals...if thats what you referring too.

You can't be referring to me wives as they all abandoned ship years back.

However I do have very other vice known to man so just take your pic.

blessings

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Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


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Ya your right Chris, if your into E type tuning.

However

BONDO works magic

Slap it on, grind it out, splash on some paint and send on down the line.


Yay BONDO...works on cars real gooder too.

_________________
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Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


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Bondo....
It's what lives under those fancy Electric guitar finishes....

Ever have a delusion that there is something beautiful under that Peavey's Blue with Skulls finish.... Rumors of top grade wood being painted...

So you think to yourself Surely stripping off this finish will Reward me with some Beautiful wood... or at least not crappy looking wood.... and so you do....

and find that there is a good reason they painted it!
Big, Cracky, Open Knots
Mismatched end grain, long grain, cross grain, swirly grain...
Mismatched wood colors
Sapwood, Heartwood, Bark,....
Saw marks, Router marks, Sap pockets, Funky glue joints...
All Slathered with a nice thick layer of Bondo!

Yep... I would do it too if you were just going to shoot 1/4" of Paint and Epoxy over it...

Thanks

John

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Ya, ya just gotta love bondo to really get it, eh?


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Thought some might light to see todays progress. Was raining so me worked inside.

You can see some slight burning here and there were the wood was coaxed a bit.

"S" shaped and curved ribs just won't go through a thickness sander...so its planes,
draw knife and scrappers and the ribs are taking shape.






















Gonna break the neck out some more tomorrow, fashion the heal block, its mortise
and the necks tenon. Then I'll get a better idea of how the ribs are to be fitted
to the heal block.

Is going at a nice pace, no machines wailing away, nice peaceful and quite work. Yay!


blessings
the
Padma

_________________
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Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


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I like what you're doing. Thanks for posting the photos and progress reports! Beautiful.

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Tom Krebs

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Its coming together.

Fashioned the heal block and the necks tenon. Made the tail block mounting plate.
Cut some dove tails. Ya,why not!

The angles of the 4 joins are different on both sides of the heal and on 2 corners, which are
compound curves and of various thicknesses. Pretty gall darn uniform fingers for no measurements eh!
Is simple, just eyeball, scribe cut and fidget.

Only gonna smooth down about half of the inside surface of the ribs, leaving the rough surface that frowing slabs of a billet produces, just in case anybody down the road ever take a notion to look inside. That should pop their eyeballs. But the burn marks will be removed.



















Box is closed at the heel but not the end rib which has dove tales that need just a bit more work.







By looking at the ends of the finger joints you can see the different thicknesses of the side ribs, which varies depending how round I wish the edge to be in the final sculpting of her shape. The ends of the fingers have all been 1/4 rounded over...its sorta taking on the Green and Green look of early last century not to mention a strong Heida quality to her is emerging.


The end block has to be added to the two 1/8th inch end blocks plates which were flexed glued into the compound
curve of the end rib. They will then be planed flat on the inside to accept the actual end block. Then its on to the kurfing.


Yesterday I could no longer work. Head drowsy, lethargic, stomach squeeze....good old cedar reaction. I love
to tool cedar but sometimes the allergies can get to me. Sometimes, not...depends I think on the individual
pieces of cedar being used....had hoped to work outside to avoid the dust but its been raining. I got an 8 inch
turbine exhaust fan in the wall, yet that just ain't enough.
Can't wear a mask because me ain't never shaved and don't plan on shaving.


So slept most of the day, slept most of the evening, slept most of the night. In fact, me
basically been sleeping since Monday, is now Wed.

Been getting messages left right and center...most of them personal directions, which is what I was hoping for, so I
will not babble on them.

One vision I had was of two wooden bolts and nuts of hard maple, walnut or coco with African black wood washers instead
of just the two dowels. Gonna ask my son if him into machining them wooden bolts for me. Or if he will
machine me a square thread die cutter and tap.
Looks like its gonna be a cedar top and a Larch back with no banding.

Another vision I had was the
snake biting its tail and the question in me head was
"What is it about life that we are willing to devour ourselves in order to live"
When you think about it, seems the consciousness of this planet has always
been doing just that.
Oh well.
I wonder, can we as part of the consciousness of this planet evolve past that?

Ok, today me clean shop, blow out the sawdust, and goo up a top and back. Want a nice clean dust free
shop to carve the tops. Carving cedar don't bother me...its the dust.


blessings
the
Padma

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_________________
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Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


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"Carving cedar don't bother me...its the dust."

Nice allegory for "it's the little things in life that...."

Lovely joinery and story you make. Thanks for sharing.

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

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Thanks guys for your comments.

Sun don't shine every day so I took advantage of it and worked out side.

Woodn't you know it but out of my stash of cedar tops, only one was long enough and wide enough
and it happened to be the ugliest, twistedest, nastiest run out every which away top me got ~ go figure.
Spirit is trying to tell me something I'm sure.










So I start with my trusty hand held jointer for bulking the shape.






Then its on to a closed or hooped draw knife.





The run out ain't the problem ... its getting it to fit on the rim as you can see in these pics. Scribe cut and fidget,
scribe cut and fidget. Did I mention that its scribe cut and fidget all the way...oh ya and pray.







This is the only gap that may give me troubles in getting it closed... I won't know until the back
has been scooped out as to weather or not it can be flexed down. Thing is I gotts to carve the whole
top to really find out. Is a good chance that it will. Is near feeding time and me tired
so I will leave the scooping out till tomorrow and then we will know for sure.






This is as far as me got today.


blessing
the
Padma

_________________
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Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


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Another sunny day.

Got the back bulked out, and managed to close up that gap.

Contact cemented some 80 grit paper to both sides of long thin spatula and
kept pulling it through between the tops lip and the rim on the ribs till the top
fit nice and tight ... no light coming through. Yay.





Tomorrow its on to carving the back out of larch. Should be a piece of cake compared to
the top.

Could done half of the back today, but just had to go down town to walk the main drag. They had it
closed from one end to the other for all them old car hotrod annual show and shine dudes.

And there it was... all nicely restored.

Mom use to say, "boy, don't sell that car"
and I said " but mom, is all smashed up."
"Don't sell that car!"
"But mom, the interior is all trashed"
"you'll be sorry"
But me being a dumb ass kid sold it for 75 bucks.
Oh ya it was a 1965 red mustang convertible.
Sure was nice to see it again though.

Just another one of them lifes "oh wells"


blessings
the
Padma

_________________
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Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


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So like the Padma, him real happy him pulled off this top out of the nastiest, twistedest, runoutiest piece of ceder (it was the only one that me had that fit)...other than that really nice billet from the Bear that me decided to save for that real special bling build.

So me figure a bit of scraping here and there and and next thing you know this top is about as thick as toilet paper

....ya me really scraped her too thin. Something about not paying attention...went got six pack and cried in it. Didn't wanna use the special chocolate cedar billet. No! Save for something special...Yes. Well as the beer took its tole me realized a few things.

One: that this NO NOthing build IS special. Is unique. Is full of bling all of its own kind. So after sobering up a bit, me pulled out the billet, split it, jointed it (both by hand) and gooed her up.

Two: that I have not been paying attention in my own life and as such have been spreading self pretty thin. And that I had better switch/change to a better methods and gives me self an attitude adjustment
or like that top, fail the second the tension gets turned up.

Seems we are a reflections of what we produce.

So now, look around in your shop, your home, your work... what is it you seeing back?... and lets not stop there. What about your community, town or city... what have we produced on this planet as humans eh? Just look at the reflections of the peoples on this planet. How come the planet provided for all at one time, and now its only the west that got and the rest not? Hmmm?. What is that a reflection of?


Mirror mirror.


anyways....thank you dudes for reading me rants. Here be some eye candy for you.



And now...
the NO NOthing Build
DISASTER STRIKES!



.......................



Can he pull it off? Will it work?

. Log on again and find out as the sage continues...



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Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


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Padma,this is the most enjoyable post we`ve had in quite awhile.Intelligent humorus,and definetely creative.Keep it up.
Thanks James

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James W Bolan
Nashville Tennessee

Yo, Filippo

That there chocolata cedar comes form Mario Da Costa up in Terrace B.C. in the Great White North (Canada dude, Canada) and is from a bridge stringer that is 5O or so years young that him cutting up and offting to us luthiers....It ain't cheap...but tell him the Pamda sent you...well then umm mayby not.

You can get through to him at

http://kermodie.com/

or

http://tonewoodauctions.com/custom.html

Or just gives him a call

250 - 615 - 2800 ask for the Bear.


blessings
the
Padma

_________________
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Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


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Thanks duder,

Anybody who lives in picker land and can carves an neck with a chain saw's gotta have sumpthin on the ball.

If you likes me stuff ...go here

http://www.luthierforum.com/index.php?showforum=126 ( you may need to register to get logged on)

There be pages and pages of me insanity and me builds. And no need to worry, is all GP rated and in accordance with the prophet.


blessings
the
Padma

_________________
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Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


.

Hey, Padma, I am very happy to see you back with another instrument in progress. This is perhaps the most intuitive instrument I have seen from you, although they are all fairly organic. I like the vision quest at the start of your project--and the fact that you listen to what your inspirations are saying to you. Sorry about the top, but there you go. It could happen to anyone. Now...regarding this whole frets thing: Have you considered just making it a fretless bass? Those are cool, and accurate stops are derived from the position of the player's fingertips. What could be more natural?! Regardless of where your inspiration takes you, I will look forward to following your progress. Blessing to you!

Patrick

Ah Patrick,

Thank you for your kind words ...them do this old mans ego good.

Yes me must confess, the thought of leaving it a fretless has crossed my mind.

Glad you enjoy my follies.


blessings
the
Padma

_________________
.

Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


.

I'm pretty sure Martin made one of these in the 80's.

Thats a shame, that was a pretty handsome top. Really enjoying seeing this coming along though Padma.

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Here are progressive pics of the suclpted ribs taken from the neck joint to the end rib. I am only gonna show one side but the other is quite simmilar.

This is the side...



and this is the progression of sculpting



The sculpting is best seen in the shadow cast by the sand paper. It is up to 1/8 inches deep down by the neck joint and changes gradually to a 1/8 buldge at the widest part and then goes almost flat at the other end with the dove tailing..quite difficult to photograph. Note the edges have been rounded over which will enhance the visual overhang of the rounded proud violin edge of the plates.



This is a shot of the end rib showing its voluptuous compound "S" curve and the finger jointing of the side and end rib.

Gonna finish scrapeing the ribs, add the bracing and attemp to glue the plates on, closing up the box befor the end of the month because I will then have to hang this build up for a bit to take care of other stuff. You know the stuff that gets in the way of building. Oh well.



blessings
the
Padma

_________________
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Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


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Hey, Padma,

So....your most recent post implies that you have made a new top (or figured out an ingenious way to salvage the previous one) ...so... when you post pictures of the closed box, please be sure to explain how you solved that top problem.....okay? I'll tell you, man, there are a lot of people out here who enjoy seeing where your inspiration takes you. And I could be a cheerleader for all of them. No one will ever accuse your current design explorations of being "conventional." But, in my view, that is the beauty of your current path. Just my opinion. My way of saying: Press on. I love it!

Patrick

Ok,

the back is on.
the top is done.
me gonna install the transducers next and close here up.

see me in show and tell pic...




blessings
the
Padma

_________________
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Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


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Something like this?


The True Temperment Fretting system.
http://www.truetemperament.com/site/index.php
I would love to give one of these a strum. But I would be worried about bending notes.
Also, I wouldn't want to cut the fret slots.

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By all the self inflicted illusions and delusions of power and grandeur vested upon self of
being some sorta luthier,

I, the Padma,

after a 4 month retreat into my other insanities,
do here by dispense with all rights, rituals and formalities of "Officially"
opening my shop for the purpose of sawdust making,
and as such,
take up the tools of our ancient craft,
declaire the shop opened and
commencerate a
return to practicing luthierisem on this,
me "No NOthing Build"



















That's it for today.

Shop closed till tomorrow.



ICU,
the
Padma

_________________
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Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


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Adi Spruce top 140.00
Waverly tuners $200.00
BR back & side set 600.00+
Padma's Thread priceless

Tim

Yes it is!!!! Well said Tim!

I love this thread and it's great to see you back at it Padma!!!

It's like having something positive, interesting, and posted with good karma to tune into when ever something is new.

I have never watched carving being done but I am fascinated by what I see you do Padma and also Kent Baily too. You guys make it look easy as you turn lines into 3 dimensional carvings - very cool!