No rest in January - Two guitars & a bass [three down!]

[hexes]

that looks stunning. I especially can't wait to see the last shape get built!

[epizootics]

"What are you going to do now that most of your symptoms from the virus are gone?
-I'm going to...etch.
-...bless you."

...and here's for the lame-ass pun of the day. But after 15 days on lockdown, what do you expect?
I'm actually feeling a lot better (no more fevers, chills, coughs, and the exhaustion is on the way out) and got back to the Minotaur Mystery guitar today. the neck plate finally got some attention.

In order:









I can't believe I hadn't tried etching before. This stuff is stupidly fun. I used the 12v (DC) wall-plug adapter from some unknown appliance, Q-tips and a solution of white vinegar and salt.

My friend's band is called Michel Mystère ('Michel Mystery') ( https://soundcloud.com/michelmystere/vivre-sans-vous ), hence the question mark on the minotaur's belly.

I can't decide if the whole thing looks cool or tacky. Probably both.

[Rgand]

I like the etched plate. It's unique and interesting interesting. I may have to give that a try myself. Is there a video tutorial on this?

[epizootics]

I like the etched plate. It's unique and interesting interesting. I may have to give that a try myself. Is there a video tutorial on this?

It's a very simple but effective method. There are a lot of videos on YouTube about it, they're all about the same since the process is kinda hard to screw up. Here's one of the few I watched : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbUilq_gWpQ

[Rgand]

I like the etched plate. It's unique and interesting interesting. I may have to give that a try myself. Is there a video tutorial on this?

It's a very simple but effective method. There are a lot of videos on YouTube about it, they're all about the same since the process is kinda hard to screw up. Here's one of the few I watched : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbUilq_gWpQ

Thanks, much appreciated.

OK, I watched the video and it looks simple. I think the guy might have been able to do a cleaner edge on his mug had he cut the stencil after it was stuck on the mug.

[LVC]

I can't decide if the whole thing looks cool or tacky. Probably both.

I think it looks awesome. I really love the simplicity of the drawing. Reminds me of Neolithic petroglyphs



Or maybe also of Picasso, both stylistically and thematically.

[Amon 7.L]

I can't decide if the whole thing looks cool or tacky. Probably both.

I think it looks awesome. I really love the simplicity of the drawing. Reminds me of Neolithic petroglyphs

I'm with LVC on this, it's completely awesome.
There's nothing tacky about this. I'm actually finding very powerful in a raw primordial fashion. Which is what Minotaur is all about.
To me is a win-win.

[epizootics]

Thanks guys - that's kind of what I was going for. We had a cool surrealist paper in the 30s called - well - 'Minotaure', which was written/edited by the likes of Georges Bataille, Andre Masson, Picasso, etc. and that's what had me choosing the name for my guitars & pickups. Plus the song by the Drones, of course.



Wet sanding/polishing is out of the way now. I now have something close to a guitar kit
All that's left is polishing the neck (which got a CA glue / Tru-oil finish - yup, CA glue absolutely rocks as a grain filler / base coat), levelling the frets, making that stupid logo plate (I'm really struggling to find a shape that works with that headstock), potting the pickups and hopefully I can start to assemble. Geez. This one took a long time to put together. Hopefully the bass will be more straightforward.

[Rgand]

Damn nice. I'd say this is certainly worth the time it took.

[antisymmetric]

Awesome, and great idea on the etching too btw...

[OV7]

nice guitars! I love that green one. I had to comment so I could follow the progress.

[Scout]

Beautiful! What material are the neck and control plates?

[epizootics]

One down...Three to go!







The hardest part turned out to be the neck. I swear I did everything twice on this one. It genuinely did NOT want to have a finish. I went for a quick satin wipe-on poly in the end, I didn't like the gloss at all.
Everything works well - especially the Les Trem, what an awesome little unit! It pairs great with the rocking bridge, too.
The pickups were something of a question mark - essentially a very low wind P90 with a slightly taller bobbin. I wound them to the spex of the old Carvin AP-6, but used humbucker slugs instead of the screws. I had never put so little wire on a pickup (3.7kOhm's worth of 42 AWG) and was a bit worried about the output being tiny, but they turned out really dynamic, with a strong attack and a very rich, picturesque sound. I think I just found my new favorite surf pickup.

It still needs a few tweaks here and there but I'm really pleased with it overall. Phew. I'll breathe for a couple of days and get started on the bass.

Beautiful! What material are the neck and control plates?

Both are reclaimed stainless steel. I always keep an eye on the bins outside the building sites in my city and it has been an inexhaustible source for materials

[Rgand]

Just beautiful! What a cool guitar. Love that Les Trem.

[antisymmetric]

Looks really cool. The pickups sound intriguing, if you can put up some sound samples it would be great. Nothing wrong with low wind pickups, I have some Teisco square poles that measure around 3.3k. I was surprised to find that out, as I have others at around 7k, and the low wind ones don't have as much punch but are not gutless either and have a different quality to them. Somewhere in the Lipstick zone (another nice low wind pickup).