a key member of the build!

Now everyday I drive out to PA to work on my sweet triple 0, I wrap 'Ms Guitar TT' around me and she delivers me sweetly to my build. (some cars you just drive in,  Ms Guitar TT you wear, she forms to you  a perfect fit and says lets drive today might be our last so lets enjoy it!)

She is just all love and treats me great, all wheel drive and a turbo, when she draws air in and I shift from gear to gear , its more like when she sips air in and the gears dance in perfect rhythm, like a  beautiful Yogini breathing and floating from asana to asana. It is pure magic and every moment is bliss, and on my return she is there waiting to deliver me home. She is a key part of the magic!

ms Guitar TT

This week was a non build week, Ed, Chris G and I with some help from Dave and a ladder leant to us by Mike who has been doing video web a sodes (soon to come out). have been re doing the work shop (I mentioned earlier a few things i wanted to do) Ed and Chris wanted to do the same so we built a loft area for guitar cases Ed got a great work bench and we now have a lot more space to work and it is exciting. A lot more to do to get the shop more amazing and it will all happen. Next week back to the build.

Another great moment was  when another Mike a long time friend of Chris A  came in late friday and bought an incredible Koa cutaway Martin guitar and  sounded great with it and Ed was happy the two met! A great day and a lot of happy people and more music to be made! I was bummed I didn't get a picture of Mike and his new ax, so Mike when you read this send a picture! better yet come back and play some more.

Chris  Playing Danny's 73 les paul, (playing AC DC or Hendrix!)

 Today Saturday was also great Chris A drove out with me and we talked a lot and he played DJ with his I pod and kept trying to play things I hadn't heard! Good luck, man! that was great good talk great music and my sweet Ms Guitar TT holding the road in the snow and letting us know all was perfect, just another great day.

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   dagger@highvibe.com

day 11, 12, Binding and bonding with Justin!

go to my fb page or just e mail me with comments

   dagger@highvibe.com

Binding bound

Ok Kids here we are day 11 and 12 I believe , there all a blur at this point, the commuting is having its toll!
Ed suggested to bring Justin in to help me with this point of the project as Justin is an incredible Binder and guitar builder, before he worked in repairs at Martin Guitars he was a binder there and could do up to 25 guitars in a day!.
I have chosen a wood binding which is much harder to do and really needed his expertise.
I first started with bending the Bloodwood as I did when bending the sides,
wrapping the Bloodwood in hot wet rags, getting the mold hot and then clamping them in and letting the mold and heat bend them to shape. I did 2 at a time and they were done.
After this I routed out the top and back sides with the channel the Binding would sit in.
I as in every step using a router was nervous and as usual Ed took the guess work out of it and it went smoothly, Justin was very concerned with the grain of the Maple and didn't want me to have any tear out so we marked the directions carefully on each side, not the quick turn on and go around one way that I would have loved to do.
The router loosened up at one point and my cut was less then perfect, and as everything else at Ed Golden's guitar gallery (I Should say " Chris G's" goldenguitargallery.com ha ha Chris is the best and all the photos with me and many others he took)
there was a way to fix it.
So I am now routed My binding is bent and now as always the FUN part begins, (that's sarcasm FYI) Justin gets me started on the filing of the rout to get the Binding to sit perfectly in the route, this task was long and tedious and I am glad Justin was there to guide and finish up what I did to get it as perfect as I could.
The back side rear bout is pretty straight forward and the front bouts need more work as the angle is different and needs to be leveled and deepened more, I was reading in a book The Kinkead book that he uses a table router and changes the angle for both sides, I mentioned this to ed and he showed me a jig he had there and said It was Danny Browns who hated it and there we have it hand route and then file!. I am still going to experiment with adding a thin wedge to router base to create a slight angle to help get closer to a fitting route and will see if helps with cutting out enough of the filing to make it worth it.

routing top side

checking binding to the route

I am about to start gluing the binding on
Here it takes a lot of tape and thumb strength
It takes firm pressure down and in and pulling the tape taunt.(sorry no pictures here but it takes a lot of small pieces a tape!)

routing top side

Chris grabs an intense view of me routing, we had 30 takes to get the right  mood and feeling and proper lighting.  ;-)

Justin Explaining The filing

Justin checking my work

Justin Filing and showing a high spot

Getting ready to Glue!

Here we are Justin showing the taping and me being a tape dispenser.

Justin showing the start of taping

Actually before the taping I cut the end of the binding to the center of the back giving a little leeway so when the binding is tight it will still line up straight and centered (which it did woo)

Ed In his Confederacy of Dunces hat.

Gluing and Taping

Justin showing how to wrap

Nice Biceps! his girl Jess was there so he was pumping them!

Me and my mummy

Thanks Justin!

My Kinda Town

Check out this cool little video by John Huba.

I love woodstock it's my kinda town.

https://vimeo.com/53968247

 

johnhuba.com

So to add a bit to this post, On this video and the creator of this sweet vid are some of my favorite people in the world and they all make my life richer then any amount of cash or prizes or objects.

I am truly blessed

Yes I saw the STONES

Not much to say but Fuckin great show!!!

Thanks Richard Thanks Ian!!!

Bad Boy Richard,

Stage, simple

Fat Cat

I was just another person having a great time with one of my hero bands of a lifetime.
long live rock and roll
best song for me was when Mick Taylor sat in and played Midnight Rambler!  I would have liked him playing the whole show.
Was as good as when i saw them in 79 not as good as 75 or 72 but Fukn great.

Some of the Golden Guitar Posse

Dave S

What a great guitar that came into the shop today!
Guy that brought it in got it for his 10th Birthday in 1958 and decided he wanted to sell it!
There is a picture of him playing it in 1958, I will get a copy hopefully and post it.
Both Dave S and I want to buy the guitar but neither of us have the dough!

Dave S playing 1957 Gibson 125

Ed and Dave

Chris G

Chris G

Chris G, Ed and me were jammin a bit today, was really fun, I was playing Angelos Guitar Ed was playing Daves Melody Maker that he is trying to sell and Chris was playing Bass and Drum.

Angelo
Angelo Playing the first guitar he ever built

Sam

Sam was playing some really beautiful deep and percussive songs on a guitar made by another Martin emplyee Danny Brown.

Ed Goldin

Ed playing some Led Zepplin and things

Jorge Torres, great classical, flamenco and i heard him rocking out earlier on Dave's 73 Les Paul custom.
he is a professor of music at Lafayette College in Easton PA and a gallery "regular."

sexy body Day 10 (guitar timeline also)

Day 10

Finally have a body and a sexy one, pulled her out of the mold while being Filmed by Michael for a you tube video for golden guitars on my guitar build.

Cant wait to see footage.

Today i trimmed the sides and did some sanding,

I was so fried from the long week I didn't do much today.

Saw Stones on Thursday night, then two days commuting to Nazareth

We did jam a bit I was Playing Angelo's guitar which was the first one he ever made!

(Picture of him Playing it in the Golden Guitar Posse post)
guitar is really coming along and it is one of the first days since i started that i feel I can do this guitar making hobby, which is big for me as i haven't done fine work since making jewelry (and that i did quite roughly like a cave person banging out  metals to attract hot cave woman babes!)
It is all coming together and soon I will be playing this sweet 000 and singing songs to attract modern cave woman.

You Sexy Thing

Proud Papa

Jammin a sweet love song

Portrait of a Happy Person

Guitar body day 10

Portrait

Day 9 of build (also in guitar build timeline)

Day 9

Clamping top

Clamping Top

Justin and me checking clamps

What a great day, I first routed the excess back piece to the sides going with the grain of course to not have any tearout, that went smooth enough, then cleaned up the inside back and fixed kerfs and added glue to fill in where needed, sanded to make look nice and was then ready to get top ready to glue on.
I then clamped top on which was a bit of guitar wrangling to keep the sides straight so as to not have a off centered and twisted body, no easy feat and had to make sure the top and sides met without any gaps, fine little chiseling and sanding to get it right.
very satisfying.
Then lined up tail and proceeded to add glue and clamp, Justin helped get clamps on, I have to say working at Ed's is amazing whoever is there usually helps and has something to say to help, unless its Chris G he is there to have fun at your expense. He is a great guy and adds a cool vibe to the shop oh and has taken most of the picts with me in it actually all of them! Thanks Bad boy!!
When i get my shop together i am going to have 1 million clamps! cant ever have to many.

I also re did the veneer on the headstock i had some tear out and wasn't happy with my execution so I heated the rosewood and chiseled it off, I then added a Red type wood with a cool look and sandwiched a rosewood piece under it so there will be maple, rosewood then red wood peaking through the slots. hope it looks good.
well its glued and will see how it looks when cut and sanded.

back glued on

we're jammin

love the inside!

Routing back

routing back

checking the route