Tuesday 3rd April '07
23 days to the London Guitar Show - Stand 244
We're getting close!
I begin the day with completing the preperation of Fabio's signature guitar for finishing.. the binding around the headstock was done late last night and here I scrape it clean of glue and tape etc..
and then it is back to sanding down through the grits.. a job I'm doing way too often these past few weeks..
all the binding around the body is prepped and scraped..
and the final process is masking off where I want to laquer finish to end and the oil to begin.. we're going gloss black on the headstock and front of the body with natural oil on the back and the neck... the perfect compromise betwen looks and sound..
and on to the bass.. I'm thinking of calling this the 'Classic Re-wound'??? Questions? Comments?
I developed this bass in collaberation with Charlie Jones who plays with Goldfrapp among many others.. I'm building a surprise bass to be unveiled at the show..
the cap is American Black Walnut that I lifted from a furniture designer friend, I figured I could put it to much better use!! Here I mark out where I want to put the 'accent' carving.. bearing in mind that the whole top is a 'drop-top', meaning it has a built in curve anyway..
carved and rough-sanded..
the headstock with a walnut veneer being glued in place... wait an hour or two before I can move on..
therefor all the guitars that are currently undergoing the oiling process are oiled...
and oiled.. I'm trying to add at least three coats a day now.. most of it will be sanded off in the polishing stages..
like this... here is Archies guitar.. carefully I use various grades of wet and dry paper to flatten out the oil finish.. as we move up the grades I use more oil as the 'wet..' and it will build up a lovely sheen..
the contoured back recieving the same treatment...
and then I add another coat and hang her out to dry...
the veneer on the bass headstock is dry and needs trimming and tidying up..
I filed away the accent sections on the headstock too, got to keep the theme going, I find that most makers have really boring headstocks..
the tuning holes are reamed out
and then I mark around the inlay template.. though this will not be an inlay..
I recess out the cavity and fill it with Mica dust and glue.
which is trimmed and sanded down to give the shape I want in a lovely sparkly finish
No Question of the day today.. not enough challenging queries coming through... hint hint!
Till the morrow..
Ben | 
