Official Luthiers Forum!

And a hello to Everyone,

I've been lurking on the forum for a little while and, now that I've finally bought some materials to actually start my first (and second), I figured it's time to take a second to introduce myself.

"Technically" these aren't my first builds, when I was in high school, I pieced together a kit and assembled my own Strat (routed/hollowed mahogany body with lacewood top, Goncalo neck with Pau Ferro Fretboard), and in College, a 5-string bass (Bookmatched Bubinga Body, Wenge/Bubinga laminated neck - it's a monster among monsters, lol). I still play them regularly & love them like they're children.

About a year ago, I started thinking about upgrading from my Martin DX-1 to something a bit (ok, a lot) nicer. I played a quite a few in my price range from the usual suspect mfgr's, but nothing really struck me. One would sound great, and not play well, the next would play well and sound merely 'ok'. Then one day about 4-5 months ago, I had my Martin in a stand between my strat & bass and the light went off... I've been mildly obsessed with the idea of building an acoustic (or, hopefully multiple acoustics) since. I have zero expectations of hitting a home run on my first try and getting that perfect balance of tone & playability I'm looking for. But, I figure it'll be WAY more rewarding if/when I do a few guitars down the road.

I have a tendency to dive head-long into hobbies, then lose interest quickly, so I've been trying to temper my early enthusiasm a bit (i.e. not going out and buying a bazillion tools & such without a real need for them - yet). I've been doing a LOT of reading and research on building, and am just about to 'take the plunge' per se. I have two back and side sets on their way to me - one Ambrosia Maple set, and one Figured Bubinga. I wasn't really intending on buying the Bubinga set, as I've read that it can be a bit of a bear to work with, but based on my 'pricing research'/window shopping, it was a price that I couldn't pass up. At the moment, I'm thinking of making OLF MJ's out of both of them.

So, that's my skinny... As the thread title says, I'd also like to extend a thank you for all the information on this board, I've already been reading through what seems like thousands of threads, and will no doubt be reading through much, much more as my endeavors into luthiery continue.

Take Care,

Timbo

Welcome Timbo . And Ya may not hit a Homerun , But as the wise man says " Swing Hard IN CASE ya hit it ! Look forward to seeing your work .

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

Timbo;
welcome to guitarmaking -"The addiction"

Just a thought;
You may want to start with a kit from Lmii or Bluescreek.
You'll find it much easier to put that first acoustic together
plus you'll have very good instructions.
Save your new sets for the 2nd one-or 3rd.

Mike

_________________
Mike Collins

Welcome!
If you get a chance - post pix of your "kids".

_________________
"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

WudWerkr - Solid advice!!! Thanks!

Mike - the thought has crossed my mind more than once, and I may do just that. But every time I think about it, I'm leaning towards a "ground-up" build... Hard to know if you've bit off more than you can chew if you don't try to take a bite... lol.

Chris - I'll try to remember to shine them up and take some pics when I get home from work...

As requested!!! (I lowered the resolution of the pics a bit, so hopefully people can load them up with no problem...)

Here's the Freshman effort:






Routed Mahogany body w/ lacewood top, Goncalo Alves neck and Pau Ferro Fretboard. SS Frets, Wilkinson trem... I built it in the midst of a "rock and roll" phase, so it's got Carvin humbuckers front to back. I've been meaning to pull the pickguard and put in some Lindy Fralin's and a brown tort pickguard - I think it would look and sound MUCH better... Just haven't gotten around to it.

... & the Sophomore effort:





If anybody has looked at Warmoth's site, this should look familiar as their "Gecko" series basses - a "Wide 5".
Solid Bookmatched Bubinga body, Wenge/Indian Rosewood laminated neck (for some reason I said bubinga/wenge before...) with an ebony fretboard. 35-1/4" scale, wide nut (don't remember how wide off hand...). EMG 40DC (bridge) and 40CS (neck), w/ EMG active pre (vol, vol, 3-band w/ mid sweep) wired @ 18V. I was a little inspired by a Warwick Corvette I had played about 2 years earlier. Simple Danish oil finish on the body (which, I need to clean and re-apply before too long...)

... not to be played by anyone with a bad back, as this one weighs in at somewhere near 18lbs if I remember correctly... lol.

AND - a present came in the mail yesterday!!!!

Welcome Timbo! Nice strat and bass. What finish did you use on them?

_________________
http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

Thanks Tony,

The Strat body was finished by Warmoth when I ordered it - It's whatever they use for a "standard clear gloss". To be completely honest, I don't know what their process is. I can tell you that the body looks today like the day I put it together, so whatever the finish is, it's pretty durable. The neck is unfinished. Both the Goncalo and Pau Ferro have held up quite well, though the Goncalo has oxydized to a much deeper brown than it was originally. Which, doesn't hurt my feelings, I like the look - & personally love the feel of an unfinished neck.

The Bass, both body and neck, are a simple Watco danish oil finish. Nothing fancy - no sealer or pore filler. It's held up pretty well, but before too long I really need to strip/mask the hardware off and re-apply.

Welcome, Timbo! I'm a newbie too (just finishing #s 3 and 4, with 5 not far behind), and as you've already seen, the people on this site are incredibly talented and generous with their time and knowledge. Before long, you too will have a serious case of WAS (wood acquisition syndrome) and be stickering wood in that "special room" of your house.
Good luck with your builds. Nice job on your strat and bass. Beth

Wow those electrics are awesome! If you haven't already you're sure to get people asking you to build one for them.