What's on your workbench right now?

[Dr Tony Balls]

damn those look great!

[repoman]

damn those look great!

Thanks!

I just got the aluminum pickup covers and rings I had made through aliexpress. This is the 2nd thing I've had manufactured through Chinese manufacturing and it is truly frightening how cheap this is to have done, how well the stuff is made, how professional they are in correspondence, and how fast they work. I have 10 sets of these (will make 10 guitars) and it cost me less to have them CNCed, sand blasted and shipped over here than it would for me to buy the material alone. Unreal. I still have to drill the holes and sand/polish them but still...

I had attempted to have some stuff made through US manufacturing/shops (specifically low volume/prototyping) and after about the 30th attempt of not even getting a response I went on aliexpress...within 1-2 hours there were about 25 different offers with quotes prepared to do this job.

[Jazz Master]

The Parker Fly Deluxe is on the bench currently...
I will make this thing into a piece of artwork
Just needed a bunch of love
ROCK ON!
Gary

[Surfysonic]

I'm working on 3 different refinish projects at the moment. First is my Squier Classic Vibe '70s Jaguar that I had sold but was damaged by UPS during its shipment. I refunded the buyer and took back the guitar to have a go at fixing it. Here is the lovely hole they added.



In hindsight, I probably should have used resin, but I had wood putty on hand and sealed it with laquer - not pretty but it got the job done.



Using the same Gracey's Vintage Finishes' Daphne Blue, at least now I can match the body to the headstock. This is actually my 2nd attempt. The first attempt was a few weeks back - the first rattle can's nozzle caused a lot of droplet problems. After scuffing it back up, I had another try today. New can also had some droplets even after shaking it well and soaking in warm water between each usage. Maybe since it was a decent warm day, it turned out better (albeit with one or two (or three) minor imperfections. At this point, I'm just moving forward.





I have more blue guitars than I should, so I decided to give my Squier Classic Vibe '60s Jazzmaster (Daphne Blue) body a Burgundy Mist makeover with a matching headstock using Gracey's Vintage Finishes' Burgundy Mist. The neck is actually a Squier Vintage Modified with Roswood fretboard, so this one is a keeper. Fortunately, I had no droplet issues with the Burgundy Mist rattle can that I had with the Daphne blue one. I'm quite happy with how this one turned out.













I'll do the clear coats on both bodies next Tuesday after 4 days of forecasted rain. I went ahead and did 2 coats of clear on the headstock. I'll wait a few weeks to put on a decal, then do another coat or 2 of clear on it. Prior to putting on the clear coats, the headstock was stunningly perfect. Unfortunately, I overdid it a bit with the first clear coat. I was much more conservative on the 2nd clear coat. It looks like it got a bit cloudy on the headstock now.



I may end up scuffing it all back up and having a redo next week when the weather clears up.

The last guitar body I worked on about week ago was my Tele Cabronita build. I did it in a General Finishes Stain Whitewash and then used General Finishes High Performance Flat Clear Coat. It's my first attempt at a whitewash and I probably didn't apply enough of the whitewash stain but I was afraid to overdo it. I did 3 coats. This Cab build will have Gretsch Filter'Trons in it.

Burgundy Mist refinish job not quite ready yet, but I finished my Daphne Blue refin on the CV '70s Jag and the whitewash stain on my Cabronita (with Gretsch Filter'Trons pickups and Decoboom pickguard & back panel) build. Not quite fully cured but I wanted to put them back together.

[UC3]

Pickguard blank - keeping with an end-grain theme on a tele/mustang mash-up. First time using Keda dye. Green got away from me - too dark. Orange and yellow could use a spritz. Have a lot to learn...

This has just been hit with a little DNA to see how finish might look at this sanding level.

[Shadoweclipse13]

That is gonna look super rad!!!

[hexes]

6g9-B blonde tremolux. normal channel delete with switchable bright cap. fits in a princeton reverb chassis with some power transformer mounting adjustment. woo! bias vary tremolo is the best tremolo in the world and you cannot convince me otherwise.

[JSett]

bias vary tremolo is the best tremolo in the world and you cannot convince me otherwise.

You're not wrong.

[bodhi]

6g9-B blonde tremolux. normal channel delete with switchable bright cap. fits in a princeton reverb chassis with some power transformer mounting adjustment. woo! bias vary tremolo is the best tremolo in the world and you cannot convince me otherwise.

Looks like there's a cathode resistor and bypass cap on the bright channel but not the normal one, did you add a switch for that as well?

[Dr Tony Balls]

6g9-B blonde tremolux. normal channel delete with switchable bright cap. fits in a princeton reverb chassis with some power transformer mounting adjustment. woo! bias vary tremolo is the best tremolo in the world and you cannot convince me otherwise.

NIIIICE. I built a 6G3 style head a few years ago and yep that tremolo is great.

[marqueemoon]

This looks incredible. When will you be taking orders?

[hexes]

Looks like there's a cathode resistor and bypass cap on the bright channel but not the normal one, did you add a switch for that as well?

on the schematic, v1 is jumpered to v2 and they share a cathode resistor (820) and bypass cap. I swapped in a 1k5 resistor and kept the bypass cap the same (for now). cathode bias values may change further based on the loss of the normal channel, but it’ll get me close to start.

the bright cap is just a treble bleed so I can play at apartment levels.

[hexes]

NIIIICE. I built a 6G3 style head a few years ago and yep that tremolo is great.

that’s awesome. the 6g3 are mean! I may try one after these next few. i have the princeton reverb to finish, this tremolux, and my slow brewing 6g4 Super.

[bodhi]

Looks like there's a cathode resistor and bypass cap on the bright channel but not the normal one, did you add a switch for that as well?

on the schematic, v1 is jumpered to v2 and they share a cathode resistor (820) and bypass cap. I swapped in a 1k5 resistor and kept the bypass cap the same (for now). cathode bias values may change further based on the loss of the normal channel, but it’ll get me close to start.

the bright cap is just a treble bleed so I can play at apartment levels.

Oh, right, wasn't paying attention and didn't realise they're sharing the cathode connections when I was looking it over...

[UC3]

That is gonna look super rad!!!

Thanks Shadow.

Excited to see if it makes it to the finish line all in one piece

Almost lost it on the router sled when the wood got warm, warped, and pulled the tape that was holding it down off the work surface.

That's why it has a border and screws in the photo.

Nothing beat a trial, but a failure!