Monday 6th October '08

Archies next bespoke guitar is coming together now.. the binding chanels are routed out

fret's marked out ffrom the center line .. very carefully..

slots cut

and finally the black and white binding is glued in place.. a fiddly job but well worth it!

..when everything is dry the excess material is planed off..

the end piece is mitred to fit and glued in place

the whole thing is sanded through the grits, the Brazilian Rosewood is going to look phenominal in the end!

the fret ends are nipped and then they are glued in..

the sharp edges are removed and champhered

and she's oiled and ready for a body!

Every month or so a timber buying trip is called for.. luckily the local timber yard has a gallery attached full of very cool things..

this type of art is done with wax and a hot iron... can you see this effect on a guitar??

this is one of my favourites!!

the penguin reminds me of me!

..now here's the fun part..

..he saw the camera.. this is the quality of service you get in some places!!

this is the dangerous bit.. the first time I walked in here I spent around £3000 on assorted machinery..it's all still used daily!!

..as you know we're expecting our first child any day now!! .. so the nesting has reached a climax.. it makes a change to be chipping away with pine..

but the end result is quite pleasing!!

back to the workshop.. Andy's 8 string guitar is also ready for a body.. but first off we need a template.. it is roughly cut to size on the bandsaw

and then rasped and filed to a perfect shape

the fan fretted through neck is put in place, since this is a through neck design the body pieces don't have to be as big as the template.

and this is where the fun begins!! .. every body is marked out..

and the blanks cut to size, very roughly as we have to take into account the jointing process..

and here we end it.. a pile of soon to be guitar bodies and a box full of exotic firewood!

All my best,

Ben

Bespoke Guitars UK