Friday 22 June '07
I begin the day two hours earlier than is the norm in a defenit effort to increase the amount of work that can be done in a day.. i think that todays diary should prove that that is a possiblity... this is the headstock cap being cut out fir the Extended Range Bass..
the headstock is sanded down and flattened in readiness for the cap
and it is glued!!
on to Sandra's crafty acoustic... the area where the neck joint shall be is filed flat in readiness for the joint..
and then I roughly sand the whole back
and in the process finalise the shape by working out any small irregularities left by the carving..
a coat of sanding sealer is applied to protect things...
and to be honest I just wanted to see what it will look like when finished!!
I like..?
some photo's from the last few days are here direct from the sprayer.. the fingerboard of this RF Slim is masked off.
as is the abalone logo
and then stain is applied over the whole beastie
including the backplates...
followed by a lovely take on a sunburst effect
and on the front..
and headstock... some very talented airbrush work here.. I can't wait to see the laquer going on!!
the headstock of the ERB is now dry and I rasp and file the rough edges to shape
the string positions are marked on the top and the individual bridges are positioned and marked out..
as is the 'handle'?? and the carving neccessary to lower the bridges down enough to give a good action.
the hole is pre-drilled
and routed and then the holes for the string ferrules are drilled on the pillar drill
and here it is after carving..
followed by three or four hours of fine sanding and tweaking.
the edges are all rounded off.. no hard lines allowed, part of the design brief on this baby!
sanding..
filing..
pretty curve...
and on to the ebony nut... cut roughly to size on the bandsaw
before sanding sealer..
and after..
it picks out the flame in the maple very nicely.
the scallops are put into the nut..
and tuners and nut finally attached...
and the bridges are each screwed to the guitar..
string ferrules are tapped into the back..
the fingerboard lemon-oiled and buffed up..
and here she is.. obviously prior to strings being attached etc.. that will be done over the weekend when we meet with Ric.. our new endorsee and the designer of this beauty
you might notice the lack of pickups.. they will be added onc we have designed them and had them built.. however not much is going to change on the front of the bass as the pickups will be mounted from the rear and will be invisible from the front.. neccesitating very powerful magnets.. I can't wait..
More from me and this ERB on Monday, till then... have a blinder of a weekend!!
Ben
redefining custom - crimson guitars | 
