Friday 5th April '08

You tend to see more of the dogs than the rest of our wildlife.. here I start off by chucking a few handfuls of food to the fish.. they're starting to wake up after winter..

Chris' PAF has her bridge in place while I check the string-break angles

and it's on to the inlay.. made out of an abalone shell laminate

after cutting the inlay to size a sharp knife is used to mark around it and then the cavity is recessed

and she is glued in

.. while the inlay is drying the rest of the guitar is sanded through the grits

the serial number etc is engraved on the back of the headstock

and the wiring holes drilled

next up I mix up a batch of grain filler.. oil paint, refined linseed oil and...

mica (ground up stone.. used in make up) .. this recipie has been used by violin makers for hundreds of years..

it is applied horizontally to the grain to stop it pulling out of each grain as you go along..

once dry the excess is sanded away

..Jasper has taken to barking at anything in the sky.. and this balloon scared the hell out of him!

next up I play around with various stains.. and the rag used to apply it ends up looking very ....um... 60's...  cool!

the yellow is chosen and applied

and once dry the excess is sanded from the fake binding

and here she is!!

next up the rest of the finish is applied.. or at least the first few coats!

.. however I did end up covered in various stains.. unfortunately it melts through the gloves I was wearing!!

while the other is drying I move back to Paul's Baritone.. one of the final coats of wax is applied.. and with this beast the finish needs to be very matt and therefore the final coats are applied with very fine wire-wool!

more coats of finish are applied to Chris' beastie.. and this will continue three or four times a day through the weekend!

Come Monday these beauties should start becoming together!

VB, B

Crimson Guitars HQ