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Archive for December, 2010
Bailey Custom Carved Top – Faded denim – finished
Dec 31st
Hope you like it Tony!
Yesterday we took advantage of the thaw to courier the guitar. Fingers crossed, Tony should be recieving his new custom Bailey right about now….It was supposed to be with him for xmas but unfortunately the weather put a stop to that.
Hope you enjoy the pics – As usual when I am making a custom guitar I took way more pictures than this. I will put them on a cd and post them to Tony so he can see the whole build.
Happy New Year!
Bailey Custom Carved Top – Faded denim – 4/4
Dec 20th
…Putting it all together…
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- The guitar is sprayed and ready for assembly
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- Tuners on first…
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- The bridge posts are tapped in….
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- These were recessed so the bridge goes down low enough….
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- Test fitting the bridge
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- Next job is to wire it up…
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- This guitar has a rotary 5-way selector switch.
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- The two outside strings are put on….
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- The pickups are carefully aligned while the mounting holes are marked and drilled
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- Then the rest of the strings are put on
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- The old packet protects the top while the strings are put through the wrapover bridge
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- The electrics are tested and it is ready for final setup.
After assembling and fret dressing the guitar it’s time for the final set up. This is basically setting the action and the intonation which didn’t take more than 15mins.
So there it is -Tony’s new custom Bailey guitar all finished….I will take some proper pictures of it and make another post in a couple of days…The guitar was supposed to be with him for xmas but the whole country is at a standstill due to snow so the couriers can’t do it. Hopefully things should start moving again between xmas and new year but until then he’ll have to just look longingly at the pics – sorry Tony…..
Bailey Custom Carved Top – faded blue denim – 3/4
Dec 19th
…This colour is very cool and quite easy to do…
The back and sides were first sealed so if any colour runs onto these areas it will easily come off. Then colour is applied to the front of the body and the headstock. In this case it is just ordinary water based blue dye. After it has dried it is carefully sanded with fine (320g) sandpaper. This removes most of the blue but some of it ‘sticks’ in the figure of the wood because the stain penetrates deeper in these areas. The tricky bit is getting it all to look nice and even with no dark or light patches. The more highly figured the wood the better the result. It works on both flamed and quilted maple. You can also use black for this.
The colour is protected with a sealer coat which must be dry before the logo is applied to the headstock.
The guitar was then sprayed with a couple of coats of matt lacquer.
All this happened last week so it has had enough time to dry before assembly next week.
Bailey Custom Carved Top – Faded denim – 2/4
Dec 19th
…..Carving the top…and the ‘belly carve’…..
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- Clamped and starting to carve
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- The first stage is to carve a facet
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- …joining up the two lines…..
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- Stage 1 complete
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- Stage 2 is carving a shelf all the way round the edge
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- The flat area starts and finishes at the tip of each horn – the inside of the horns are left
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- I used a gouge to make the re-curve
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- and some carving planes seen in the background
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- Any lumps are removed with the planes and its ready for sanding
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- Sanding the body with the air sander
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- The top is sanded with 80g
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- Ready to carve the back
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- The belly carve is roughed out with a gouge
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- Then smoothed with a rasp before sanding
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- Drilling the pickup link holes
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- ..and strap stud holes
This is what I call a full carve – it works on virtually any shape.
Carving the top like this a 3 stage process:
- Carve a facet – I use a rasp and flat plane for this.
- Carve the re-curve – The flat shelf all the way round the edge
- Blend in – The first two stages leave a lump all the way round which is easily knocked off with a curved plane
The belly carve was roughed out with the gouge then tidied up with a rasp before sanding.
The air sander certainly saves a lot of time :)
Bailey Custom Carved Top – Faded denim – 1/4
Dec 16th
…Tony’s Custom Bailey Xmas Special….
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- Routing the truss rod slot
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- Cutting out the neck
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- The fretboard is ready to fit
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- The truss rod is ready to be fitted
This is a custom job for Tony – he came on the course a couple of times and saw one of my guitars which is now sold. Now he wants me to make him one just like the one he saw and tried last time he was here.
I started this a while ago but I have been so busy that I haven’t had much time for blogging – now trying to catch up!
It is going to be a double cut with a carved top, two humbuckers and a wrapover bridge. The colour will be faded blue denim with a matt finish.
At this stage the truss rod was ready to install and the fretboard ready to be glued on…..It was then left for a few weeks to relax but I was not so lucky…..
The guitar has to be finished next week so it can be sent in time for xmas!
No pressure……
