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Archive for August, 2010
Rock Radio’s Bailey Acoustic – Signed by the stars!
Aug 30th
Thanks to everyone who has played and signed it!
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- Billy Rankin and his trusty 12 string are reunited
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- Rock Radio’s Bailey acoustic
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- Signed by the stars!
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- Billy Rocks!
We went over to Rock Radio today to return Billy Rankin’s 12 string Washburn acoustic. It had been knocked over and suffered a bad break – the headstock had completely come off. I glued it back on, put on a new headstock veneer, re-bound it, put a new logo on, and refinished it. I was quite proud how it came out, and Billy was chuffed to get it back in one piece!
While we were there I had a look at their Bailey acoustic. We left the guitar with them a while back in the hope that it would get played by some of their rock star visitors, and it has. And they’ve signed it as well! How cool is that?
Billy told us that Donald MacLeod was playing it when the string broke, and then the bridge pin had got lost.
By the state of it, it looks like it’s had a bit of a hammering too, so I decided to take it to the workshop for an overhaul.
Let me know if you recognise any of the signatures! 
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My Dads Guitar
Aug 24th
…Dale credits us as the inspiration behind his book!
Coming Soon….
Dale came on our course when we were back in Coventry. In fact he is in our film ‘Guitar Magic’ building the very guitar which inspired the book! At the time he was a manager for a well know soft drinks company. Look at him now…..
Check his website for release dates…and we’ll keep ya posted!
BIG THANKS and hope it goes well Dale!
Stephen’s Guitar-Red Wine Burst-cellulose gloss
Aug 22nd
…Stephen built this guitar on our BYOG course…. he wanted a stain and full gloss so he left it with us to spray.
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- Sanded with 320 grit
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- Masking front neck and headstock
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- Waiting for sealer to dry
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- Stain applied with soft cloth
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- Stain sanded with 400 grit
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- Stain wiped on not sanded
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- Dark cherry red stain is applied not sanded
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- The colour is sealed in
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- Colour is masked to prevent overspray
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- Masking done ready to spray colour
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- Before the dark red
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- After the dark red is sprayed
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- Sanded with 800 grit
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- Burst sprayed and sealed in
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- Sanded with 800 grit then glossed
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- Time for lacquer to fully cure before polishing
When a body is made by joining a cap onto a base wood and the cap is painted, the edge of the cap can be used to give the appearance of the guitar being bound, usually called fake or faux binding:
Steve wanted a dark red colour “think red wine” with the flame pattern in the wood to stand out, finished with a dark burst, and the back sides and neck were to be painted dark red.
After a final sanding with 320 grit it’s ready to prepare for painting. I masked the front of headstock, fingerboard and top face of the guitar. The top face will have the stain wiped on with a cloth directly onto the wood, and the rest will be sprayed with sealer, before spraying the colour.
The back sides and neck are then sprayed with sealer.
When dry the masking is removed from the front then a black stain is applied to the bare wood. When dry it is lightly sanded off. The black stain sticks in the ‘figure’ of the wood and comes off in between. It’s then given a coat of cherry red. This is called double staining.
It’s then sprayed with a coat of sealer.
Once dry, the top and bindings are masked. The edge of the binding on the sides is masked using fine line tape which leaves a perfect line when removed. The rest of the guitar (back and sides) is then sprayed with dark cherry red. The masking is removed and it is left to dry.
Next the sides, back, and neck, are masked in order to spray the burst. The sides are masked up to the still sharp edge between the sides and top, and the burst is then sprayed. When dry the masking is removed, and the sharp edge is then rounded off with 320 grit to finish the ‘fake’ wooden binding effect.
The whole guitar is then given two coats of sealer.
When dry the guitar is flattened with 800 grit, being careful not to rub through to the colour. It’s now ready for the gloss coats.
It’s given six coats of gloss, light sanding between coats. Now it will hang for a few weeks to fully harden before polishing.
Alone in the Workshop – Part 17 – Ziricote guitar finished!
Aug 19th
…On schedule – just in time for Rich’s birthday!
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- Mother of Pearl logo and tuning buttons
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- Bearclaw Sitka Spruce top, Ebony Pyramid bridge, Koa Rosette
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- close up of ziricote back
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- It sounds as good as it looks…
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- Neck laminated with mahogany, jarrah and 2 black pinstripes
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- Snakewood binding
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- 12 fret neck body join…
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- Ziricote back and sides
You may remember some time ago I started making four guitars – well I finally finished one of them today – bang on schedule. I have been concentrating on this one because of the obvious deadline….We are off to deliver it tomorrow….
The Ziricote that Rich chose for his guitar looks and sounds really stunning….I’ll have to get some more now!
If you are interested in me building a guitar for you: contact us
Alone in the Workshop – Part 16 – Gluing the neck and bridge on
Aug 18th
….The ziricote guitar has been sprayed and polished…
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- About to join the neck to the body
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- There’s no going back now!
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- It’s a beautiful moment…
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- when two becomes one…..cue song…
The guitar has to be finished tomorrow as we are setting off on Friday to deliver it for Rich’s birthday. It has been left as long as possible for the laquer to cure before buffing.
The neck and bridge were glued on as usual – no problems there. Now it will sit over night to dry off before it is strung and set up. Can’t wait to hear it!!!!
