# Any luthiers in?



## ashfinlayson

I'm about half way through making my first guitar which is A LOT of fun. I figured if I started practicing now, I might be good enough to have a cool retirement job in about 30 years. The downside is that my garage, now full of tools and dust, is no longer a safe house for the TTS


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## Stiff

That's very neat! Outstanding work 8)


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## ashfinlayson

Thanks dude  There are several disciplines involved and I'm a complete novice having not done any woodworking since year 9 at school, so it's a massive learning curve and requires a lot of patience. Made some more progress though - neck's glued on and I've done some grainfilling and staining. I just hope I can get the thing to stay in tune.


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## Stiff

I wouldn't worry about the tuning - that thing is going to be a work of art judging by the craftsmanship up to now


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## John-H

Have you done it all by hand or were machines involved?

How did you set the frets?

Have you added a steel bar up the neck to compensate for warping?

Looks good rewarding fun. I expect an electric sound more depends on pickup and machine ends etc.

Glue is good. I once had a borrowed guitar sat on by a drunken friend. The neck snapped beyond the bridge so as he did woodwork for a living he said he could repair it.

He glued it back together with EvoStick wood glue and went on about the bond being stronger than the wood itself. I was impressed with the join but he went further and demonstrated by pressing hard on the machine head whilst pulling the neck - SNAP!

The guitar was broken again but he triumphantly said, "Look it's broken at a different place - that proves the glue is good stuff!"

A second repair wasn't tested but the guitar was restored - phew!


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## ashfinlayson

Stiff said:


> I wouldn't worry about the tuning - that thing is going to be a work of art judging by the craftsmanship up to now


Even if it doesn't work, it will hang on the dining room wall with pride 



John-H said:


> Have you done it all by hand or were machines involved?
> 
> How did you set the frets?
> 
> Have you added a steel bar up the neck to compensate for warping?
> 
> Looks good rewarding fun. I expect an electric sound more depends on pickup and machine ends etc.
> 
> Glue is good. I once had a borrowed guitar sat on by a drunken friend. The neck snapped beyond the bridge so as he did woodwork for a living he said he could repair it.
> 
> He glued it back together with EvoStick wood glue and went on about the bond being stronger than the wood itself. I was impressed with the join but he went further and demonstrated by pressing hard on the machine head whilst pulling the neck - SNAP!
> 
> The guitar was broken again but he triumphantly said, "Look it's broken at a different place - that proves the glue is good stuff!"
> 
> A second repair wasn't tested but the guitar was restored - phew!


I measured frets with a metre rule and cut slots perpendicular to a centre line using a purpose made fret slotting saw (any regular wood saw, even most pull saws have to bigger cutting kerf) and cut them buy hand, used a small hammer and super glue to install frets. I still need to do fret levelling and crowning which will need some research before I actually do it.

Yes it's called a truss rod, anything with steel strings needs a truss rod - Borrowed my dads router to create a cavity up the centre of the neck to install the truss rod, then stick the fretboard over the top. I bought a hobby series band saw which is fairly essential for rough cutting but made MDF templates and routed the final shape of the neck and body with a flush trim bit, everything else is carved by hand with rasps. The little recesses for control knobs I did with a couple of gouges oh and hand planes to do the jointing.

All my hand tools are cheap Chinese from ebay or bits and pieces from screw fix. The only essential high quality tools I've needed to get so far was a good levelling beam, straight edge and the fret saw, and you're definitely right about the main impact on tone being the pickups. I've got some second hand PRS USA pickups that sound extremely good, the type/quality of the wood affects sustain and weight more than anything else e.g. I could buy a bit of oak for half the price of a piece of Sapele but it would be insanely heavy. Also how the wood is saw, you see I've got 2 black stripes, running up the neck, that is because the Ash I used is flat sawn, not quarter saw therefore weaker. So I split it into 3, flipped the grains round and laminated it back together for strength (and go faster stripes)

I'm pretty sure I've spent enough to go out and buy another prestige guitar just on tools but they are there for the next build too. which I've already got the wood for (much the the mrs disgust)


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## ashfinlayson

And she's finished


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## Stiff




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## ashfinlayson

With the roaring success of the mk1 behind me, the mk2 is well under way


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## ashfinlayson




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## Stiff

That looks fantastic. I hope the colour is going to be something like that once finished?


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## ashfinlayson

Thanks dude, the top is spalted and flamed so it gives a crazy figure, but yeah thats pretty much what it will look like, chuck a bit of white spirit over wood and and you see roughly what it will looks like once it's been oiled/lacquered.

I'm still figuring out how maple response to die. I stained in black first, sanded it back to bring out all the flames, then stained it red and sanded it back and it was pink. My mrs came in the garage and said _"You're making a pink guitar, it looks gay"_  Then I chucked some spirits over it and it went orange, go figure.


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## cpfcfan

That guitar is looking pretty good!


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## ashfinlayson

cpfcfan said:


> That guitar is looking pretty good!


Thanks, I've been meaning to get the all the electronics out and get it clear coated but the trouble is I can't put it down. In the meantime I've bean building an exotic Les Paul entirely out of Ovangkol. I've also got my first commission build to start after this one which will be another Les Paul made from Wenge, Ebony and flamed Sycamore. So stay tuned for more pics


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## Stiff

You'll be opening up a shop before too long if you're churning out work like that. I can see you being quite busy. 
I don't (can't) play a guitar but there is something beautiful about them to look at. I got a nice mandolin a few years back but never tried to play it. It's nice to look at though, lol.


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## ashfinlayson

Ha well that would be great, I think I'd have my work cut out making a shop full, maybe one day. For the immediate future I'll have to settle with building instruments to order because they cost so much to make - I've sunk about £750 (give or take) into the mk3 that I'm currently working on, that's literally just components and wood, tools and consumables are an additional expense, so it's an expensive hobby.

Here's a video of the mk1 in action [smiley=guitarist.gif]

https://www.facebook.com/ashfinlays...191607316/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tab

and some shredding on the mk2 [smiley=dude.gif]

https://www.facebook.com/ashfinlays...805007316/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tab


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## Stiff

Wow, that's pretty neat and that mk2 sounds awesome! Keep that up and you'll soon be having Alex Lifeson ringing you with commissions


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## SwissJetPilot

Hey Ash - Wow that is truly stunning work!! I don't play an instrument but I can certainly appreciate craftsmanship when I see it!! Beautiful! Thanks for sharing.


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## ashfinlayson

Thanks chaps 

I've finally put a proper finish on the mk2, went for a tobacco/burst finish using oil paints and about 5 or 6 coats of oil. Feeling very smug with how well that instrument has turned out. I've got a £4,000 PRS which I used as my every day guitar, since this was built 6 weeks ago, I haven't had the PRS out of it's case.

I've also go the mk3 together, but I will need to strip it down, fine sand, finish etc. I also need to come up with a way of reducing weight because it needs a crane to lift it onto the player currently, sounds good though  I've had a go at doing some more elaborate inlay work too, I've come up with a logo which I cut out of some Ovangkol/Ebony and inlayed into the headstocks - seriously fiddly work but a lot of fun.

It is an enthralling hobby and in danger taking over my life, I'm currently 1/3 way through a commission build, once finished I'm going to have to knock instrument making on the head for the rest of the year and concentrate on other things. I can't believe I've got from attempting to make a guitar, expect it to take a year, to have build 3 in 6 months


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## ashfinlayson

My 4th build and 1st commission getting assembled. Probably my last guitar of the year, at least last to complete. Still, I'm amazed that I've gone from complete novice to 4 completed instruments in 6 months!


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## Stiff

Fantastic. You have a real talent there.
My 16 yo son has took an interest in playing the guitar. Well, bass to be specific but he's got an electric guitar and amp and is learning bit by bit. I know a guy who plays bass in a band and is knocking up one of the decent bass's he doesn't use for me to buy for my boys birthday.
Have you thought about building a bass? And what kind of money are these kind of things, commission wise? I'm guessing it would vary a fair bit depending on specifics.


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## ashfinlayson

Good on him. The bass player in my band has been on at me to make him a 5 string bass ever since I started the first guitar  I've put him off for a while because I know a lot about playing the guitar, what a good one feels like etc, while I can knock out a tune on a bass, I'm not a bassist, so want to get more comfortable as a maker before I undertake and instrument I don't play myself.

Basses tend to cost a bit more than guitars because there is more wood for one, but they also tend to have fancy electronics, active pickups running off 9v batteries and preamps built in.

It cost about £900 in wood, parts and consumables to build the last one and recently I saw a similar instrument from a pro luthier in Shropshire (better made obviously) for £4800.

It takes 100 hours give it take, so if I was charging £20/hour, that would be £2900 probably a bit more when factoring in blunting bits, snapping band saw blades etc.

But I wouldn't entertain spending that sort of money on a 16 year old who's just started, all my guitars got knocked to bits when I was a teenager. Commission him a good one for his 25th if he's still serious.


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## SLine_Tom

Im no expert, dont play the guitar, but they really are a work of art ! Its nice to see an actual practical skill these days.


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## Stiff

Good idea Ash, I think I'll see how he gets on with the one(s) he's got for the time being and see if it's just a fad before splashing out on something more serious.  
Those are worth every penny and like SLine_Tom says, a work of art


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## ashfinlayson

Thanks chaps, yeah Stiff, if he's still playing in 2027 come and see me and I'll make him a bass 

I said that the current one would probably be the last of the year but I've just had a new commission come in so it looks like I might be squeezing one more in before xmas


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## ashfinlayson

Full swing into my second commission. I thought I might show some photos of the earlier processes, it's interesting (to me anyway) seeing rough sawn timber gradually transform into something that vaguely resembles a guitar after 17 hours of work.

I started off with a 2.5m plank of flamed maple, a slab of mahogany for a body and some mahogany offcut strips from a previous neck (the mk2). After cutting the maple plank up and leaving it for a few weeks to do it's twisting and warping, I jointed and laminated a load of pieces to make a maple and mahogany neck blank with go faster stripes 










Cut up some more of the maple plank to make a flame top for the body



















Rough cut the mahogany body and the maple top on the band saw



















Then roughed out the profile of the neck, always have to cut a bit proud of the actual dimensions here, when you cut away this much from a plank of wood, it may will do some more twisting, so it has to be left for at least a couple of days before reducing to final dimensions.










Sanded the profile of the body down to final dimensions, which revealed some very tasty figure 










And finally, started messing around with inlays, these are crown inlays that you would find in a gibson les paul standard, only difference is that I've cut them out of leftover maple into a streaky ebony fretboard, waste not.










This should be the nicest build yet, at least it's certainly the nicest wood.


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## Stiff

Fascinating. It's amazing to see what the separate chunks of wood look like before being shaped and moulded into their intended final joined together shape. I don't think most people realise just how much effort goes into making something like this. I certainly didn't and hadn't even thought about it until this thread. 8)


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## ashfinlayson

Oh there is a hell of a lot that goes into it.. I'm now 38 hours in and it still looks like a dogs inner  plenty of progress made though.

I've shaped the headstock and stuck an ebony top on it, bound the fretboard twice, using offcuts from the maple neck and ebony fretboard to make what they call pinstripe binding, these little strips had to be cut down to size on the bandsaw, then planed my hand so they they were completely flat for a good glueing surface. Then once all the inlays are finished, I need to use a tiny saw to resaw all of the fretslots because glue seeps into them when the binding is glued on. One of these crown inlays takes about 2 hours, half an hour to cut out and file down to the correct shape, then another hour and a half to inlay by scoring round it with a scalpel then carefully removing the fretboard inside scalpel line until theres a good 2mm depth for the inlay to sit in to. So far I've done 3 inlays of 10, so I shall be here a while :lol: I've also test fitted the neck and started carving the body - my favourite part of the build, but also very time consuming, each one of those chips of wood on the bench represents one stroke of the mallet.

At a guess, I'd say when I've finished the inlays, I'm probably halfway through the project.


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## ashfinlayson

About 65 hours in and somehow storming ahead of schedule. Finished all the inlays which took 14 hours in total, carved the top and back of the body and sanded it all to 320 grit ready for finishing, stained the body with oil paints which will need a good week at least to dry in the cold weather before I can oil it and glue the neck in place. That gives me some time to finish working on the neck; It's all carved, just needs lots of sanding and fretting. Looking like we're 85-90% through and I've already got another couple of commissions in the pipeline for next year as well as another one for my self  [smiley=dude.gif]


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## Stiff

Marvelous.
I bought a bass for my boy last night but it don't look nowhere as pretty as that thing is gonna look 8)


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## Andywill

I can't play any musical instruments, but I can appreciate craftsmanship, especially in wood. It looks stunning, well done  .


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## QS Luke

My mrs calls her self a luthier...
Rightly so I guess seeing as she has made guitars, acoustic though.
I can grab a picture if you're interested?


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## ashfinlayson

Thanks Andy, Stiff, what did you get him? I've had a couple more enquiries about basses so I expect I will be building one in the near future.

Absolutely Luke, always interested to see what other builders are making, I'm hoping to have a go at an acoustic build myself sometime next year, probably not until later in the year as I'm about to start building myself another electric and I've just had another commission come in for a flying V [smiley=dude.gif]


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## Stiff

I got him a Tanglewood Rebel 4K. It's a pretty basic thing really and fairly cheap (like £100  ) so we'll see how he gets o with it. It sounded pretty good when I went to pick it up as the guy plugged in and started strumming 'Spirit of Radio' but my attempt at Geddy Lee's vocals made his Huskies start howling so he moved on to another riff rather rapidly




































It's not a tiny guitar btw, it's just a big shoe-box that it's sat on


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## ashfinlayson

I just assumed your family were borrowers :lol:


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## Stiff

ashfinlayson said:


> I just assumed your family were borrowers :lol:


Oh they are - but we always give things back


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## bhoy78

Very impressive Ash, sounds as good as they look! Almost makes me want to climb up the loft and find the guitar I left up there 20 years ago :lol: I cant play like that though!


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## ashfinlayson

bhoy78 said:


> Very impressive Ash, sounds as good as they look! Almost makes me want to climb up the loft and find the guitar I left up there 20 years ago :lol: I cant play like that though!


Thanks dude, when seeing that @bhoy78 had responded to my thread, I thought it would be appended with _'The bimmer was shit, I'm back in a TT'_ :lol:


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## ashfinlayson

I said I wouldn't be making any more guitars in 2018, but it appears I have a problem :lol: I aquired some rather exotic and extremely expensive Ziricote and Black Limba a few weeks ago and started building this monster just before christmas - Ziricote is the dark brown stuff on the top and the limber is the cool two-tone affect where the heartwood meets the sapwood.

Ziricote comes from Central America so I thought it'd be cool to go for a Aztec theme (I like my history) and inlay a 2-headed snake on the fretboard, this time with white mother of pearl. Still a lot of work to do on this one but it's going to be a one of a kind 8)





































I've just had another commission come in as well so I'm going to be building a through-neck flying V out of American Black Walnut. 2019 is going to be a busy year in my garage. Oh and I've just finished Luke's guitar too, he's well chuffed with it.


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## Stiff




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## Stiff

Saw this earlier and thought of you. Nowhere near as nice as the stuff you're building as this is more 'novelty' but still kinda cool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... BWc5Ye-uLU


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## ashfinlayson

I saw that the other day, rather cool although would have taken forever to do. This crazy person made a guitar from matchsticks. I bet the price of that many boxes of matches wouldn't have been far off the price of some high-end tone wood.

https://newatlas.com/dean-fraser-matchs ... ter/43728/


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## Stiff

Most probably done for the pure passion of it and 'because I can' kinda outlook. Neat for playing the 'Doors' biggest hit


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## ashfinlayson

If I had a quid for every time someone tagged me with that crayon guitar since you posted it, id have at least a fiver.

Finished carving my dream guitar, looking a bit tasty


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## Stiff

It reminds me a bit of a Fodera bass. The colour maybe? Looks like you're going to be hot on their heels the way you're going!


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## SwissJetPilot

Okay, I'll be the first to admit I had never heard the word 'luthier' before, and assumed it was some colloquial British term. I just love this forum, learning something new every day. Brilliant! 

_A luthier (/ˈluːtiər/ LOO-ti-ər)[1] is someone who builds or repairs string instruments generally consisting of a neck and a sound box. The word "luthier" comes from the French word luth, which means lute. A luthier was originally a maker of lutes, but the term now includes makers of stringed instruments such as the violin or guitar. A luthier does not make harps or pianos, as these require different skills and construction methods because their strings are secured to a frame.

The craft of making string instruments, or lutherie (sometimes spelled luthiery), is commonly divided into two main categories: makers of stringed instruments that are plucked or strummed, and those that are bowed.[2] Since bowed instruments require a bow, the second category includes a subtype known as a bow maker or archetier. Luthiers may also teach string-instrument making, either through apprenticeship or formal classroom instruction._

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luthier


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## Stiff




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## ashfinlayson

Yeah I'm not sure that the term luthier is accurate for those like me that build solid-body electric guitars, but it is the term that everyone body uses. I guess I need to build a lute so there can be no argument 

Put the current one together a couple of weeks ago and have been playing it ever since. It still needs finishing, but I'm experimenting the clear coat polyurethane this time, which is a bit more toxic that previous finished. So I need to apply it and hang the guitar in the garage and waiting for better weather.























































And I went to see the blue one play it's first gig on Wednesday night which was kind of a big thing for me and resulted in another couple of enquiries  I seem to have more to build than I have time for now.










The flying V is well underway now too. The inlays are going to be a bit more elaborate than anything I've done before and I've been struggling with the artworking side of it so my tattoo artist friend is going to design something for me to inlay. Should be interesting!


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## SwissJetPilot

Hey Ash - not sure if you like this sort of music, but the guitar is pretty cool!

https://www.wimp.com/man-invents-a-27-string-guitar/


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## ashfinlayson

SwissJetPilot said:


> Hey Ash - not sure if you like this sort of music, but the guitar is pretty cool!
> 
> https://www.wimp.com/man-invents-a-27-string-guitar/


Keith Medley is a wizard, as both a player and a maker, and a lot of hours would have gone into making something like that


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## ashfinlayson

This one is coming along nicely and now sporting crimson [smiley=dude.gif] It will have a high gloss clear coat


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## SwissJetPilot

Thought you might enjoy these if you have not already seen them...

https://laughingsquid.com/games-of-thro ... r-guitars/


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## ashfinlayson

Another one finished. Did a clear coat poly finish over water based stain this time - no spray guns, just wiped on 20 odd thinned down coats and lots of level sanding up to p3000 and buffed by hand with some car polish, came out great! Nice and glossy but very hard wearing - I've found oil finishes, although the look and feel lovely, they scratch too easily from plectrums and fingernails.

I haven't owned a Les Paul in years, so I'll be keeping this one


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## Stiff

Pic not showing at this end Ash :?


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## ashfinlayson

Cheers bud, I forgot the forum doesn't like embedding photos!


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## ashfinlayson

There we go, I'll do pics properly.

It's my third build that I finished last summer, but weighed more than a bass ( a lesson about wood selection and regular weighing during the build process learnt) so decided to unset the neck, skim the top off the body, hollowed it out and carved a new top on it which got the final playing weight down from >13lb to just under 9lb Also made a new neck for it because the last one was a bit shoddy. So this one has the serial 3.2


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## Stiff

I'm liking that. That colour really does come up well! 
Top notch


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## SwissJetPilot

Dude, that is one sweet guitar! Nice!! [smiley=thumbsup.gif]


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## ashfinlayson

Thanks chaps, really happy with this one - It'll be my go to guitar for a little while

Quick bit of noodling recorded at the weekend:


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## Stiff

Nifty work! 8) 
I hereby confirm your new nickname to be 'Fingers' Finlayson


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## ashfinlayson

Stiff said:


> Nifty work! 8)
> I hereby confirm your new nickname to be 'Fingers' Finlayson


Haha thanks Stiff. Finished up some inlay work last night, a bit of an arty-farty departure to the guitar building I've done so far. I haven't done any art since school GCSE so this was good fun. But the end result is pretty awesome and not a million miles from the original sketch.


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## leopard

Looking good.

Do your pieces have distinct sounds from each other and how do they compare sonically to an off the shelf item ?


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## ashfinlayson

leopard said:


> Looking good.
> 
> Do your pieces have distinct sounds from each other and how do they compare sonically to an off the shelf item ?


Some do, some don't @leopard, with electric guitars, most of the "tone" is influenced by the pickups, and on several instruments I've used the same pickups so they will sound similar. The semi-hollow guitar sounds quite different to any of the solid ones as there is acoustic amplification happening in addition to the pickups. I've found that harder woods tend to resonate better than softer woods but results in a heavier guitar. Every guitar sounds different in a way, whether it's 2 identical Gibson Les Pauls or 2 luthier-made customs.

In terms of tone, sustain and comfort, my more recent builds wouldn't be out of place hung up in a music shop next to £2k-£3k Gibsons or PRS', it's getting the finish to a professional level that I find most difficult, but each one is better than the last.


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## Stiff

ashfinlayson said:


> it's getting the finish to a professional level that I find most difficult, but each one is better than the last.


You certainly seem to be doing a pretty good job of getting a professional finish judging by the pictures!
If you really wanted to get that 'mile-deep' finish though you could always ask a local bodyshop to clear coat it/them with 2k, then flat and polish it. It would mean taking off the ancillaries and building back up again afterwards which would be a pain but in my opinion, after the work you've put into them and the amazing results you've achieved, it would be worth it. 
They'd also be more durable as 2k is _extremely_ tough. Unless of course you're going to grab it by the neck and swing it into the drum kit.


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## ashfinlayson

Stiff said:


> ashfinlayson said:
> 
> 
> 
> it's getting the finish to a professional level that I find most difficult, but each one is better than the last.
> 
> 
> 
> You certainly seem to be doing a pretty good job of getting a professional finish judging by the pictures!
> If you really wanted to get that 'mile-deep' finish though you could always ask a local bodyshop to clear coat it/them with 2k, then flat and polish it. It would mean taking off the ancillaries and building back up again afterwards which would be a pain but in my opinion, after the work you've put into them and the amazing results you've achieved, it would be worth it.
> They'd also be more durable as 2k is _extremely_ tough. Unless of course you're going to grab it by the neck and swing it into the drum kit.
Click to expand...

That is a good suggestion and I have thought about taking it down to my usual body shop (they've sprayed a mates guitar electric blue for him and it looked great). But what concerns me about that - when I recently did a poly finish, I had to level sanded between coats in order to get a good finish which was a lot of work so there would be a fare few hours involved in getting a good finish so £ would be an issue. Also, when I was level sanding, I ended up sanding through the sealer a few times and had to spot restain, reseal and then apply more poly coats, I'd worry about someone else doing that job for me! I'm sure I'm over thinking it but there seem to be too many opportunities for error. Ultimately I want to get myself set up with a decent space a compressor and a gun, and learn to do a proper job myself


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## ashfinlayson

Another one finished


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## Stiff

Another masterpiece. Stunning!


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## SwissJetPilot

@ ashfinlayson - Thought you might enjoy this little engineering masterpiece -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjpyI1f ... e=youtu.be


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## SwissJetPilot

You can't tuna fish, but you can tune a piano. Or in this case, a shovel....


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## ashfinlayson

SwissJetPilot said:


> You can't tuna fish, but you can tune a piano. Or in this case, a shovel....


Awesome stuff, at least if I can't get hold of any maple or mahogany after Brexit, I've got a couple of spades in the garage


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## ashfinlayson

I finally got round to finishing this one earlier in the summer, used clear poly again. This is hands-down my favourite build and pretty much the only one I play at the moment. It also won August's Guitar of the month competition on project guitar 


































I've recently started having a go with nitro - The blue one below is in the process of getting wet sanded (which appears is it's own art form). This was done with spray can lacquer, which I've getting fairly good results with considering, but I've just purchased a HVLP spray system so I can do a better job. I'll be building a spray booth at some point - I guess I will be finishing guitars in nitro over the summer months and using poly in the winter. In other news, I've now got enough commission builds booked in to see me through 2020 8)


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## Stiff

Congratulations on the the competition win, very well deserved.
I can see you doing this as a full time career before long. The workmanship is outstanding.


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## ashfinlayson

Stiff said:


> Congratulations on the the competition win, very well deserved.
> I can see you doing this as a full time career before long. The workmanship is outstanding.


Thanks bud, I would love to agree with you but the earning potential is so small compared to IT that it's not going to be something I can seriously consider until the mortgage is paid off.

I'm going a bit further down the rabbit hole of finishing, after starting off with spray can nitro, I've just got myself a HVLP system










I had a go spraying some clear gloss nitro with it, the difference in results compared to rattle cans are night and day 










couple of clips taken an hour or so after spraying, so it's dry but looks like glass 8) The cost of 2 rattle cans is about the same as 5L of pre-cat nitrocellulose so it won't take long for this machine to pay for itself either. I now have the option of tinting my lacquer too, so I shall be building a proper spray booth at some point.


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## Stiff

Brilliant. And yes, although a rattle can _can_ achieve good finishes on small areas, a proper gun will always achieve a much, much better finish than rattle cans over larger, more intricate areas like these.
I'm gonna guess here that 'nitrocellulose' is cellulose based purely due to the name itself. Whilst this is obviously given a fantastic finish, cellulose (single pack system) _does_ have a tendency to 'yellow' over time. Trying some 2K (2 pack system) will again, give you 'night and day' differences and will give an even smoother, 'deeper' finish. Just use a carbon-mask (around £10) to filter the isocyanate fumes when spraying. The filters are good for 20 mins worth of diy spraying and are cheap enough to replace.



ashfinlayson said:


> I now have the option of tinting my lacquer too


Great idea but bear in mind, spraying tinted lacquer is notoriously difficult unless you're an experienced sprayer. It's a similar process to 'Candy Apple' paints where they are, essentially, a tinted lacquer sprayed over a metallic base to give a real 'lustre' finish. If the spraying pattern isn't absolutely perfect then you will get a 'tramlining' effect which is where more of the 'colour' in the lacquer is being sprayed onto certain areas. Just by virtue of the type of paint it is (translucent), any inconsistencies in the overlaps are going to be visible. Very hard to explain in text. Just shoot a couple of test panels beforehand to get the gist and 'feel' of it.


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## ashfinlayson

It never occurred to me that a car forum is probably one of the better places to get advice on spraying  most of the amateur luthiers I speak to use rattle cans or do oil finishes. Yep, I've got lots of experimenting to do. This is what I'm using, I've got 5L of it (90% sheen) to use up so I'll be sticking with it for a few builds.

https://www.morrells.co.uk/products/woo ... -lacquers/

I'm working on a couple of vintage style guitars at the moment, both made from mahogany and planning to do one in a transparent cherry and the other trans yellow. Interesting what you say about the tram-lining effect, I guess from overlapping with passes with the gun. Sounds like this will be a lot more obvious on some colours than others. But I guess spraying with the direction of the grain might help so taking vertical passes instead of left to right. No 2 areas of a piece of wood are identical so it's got to be easier to pull off on wood than metal. Better rescue some offcuts from the dog so I can do some testers.

Cheers Stiff, some really useful info there.


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## Stiff

Yes, very good point, painting over wood grain will be much easier than a blank canvas and definitely go _with_ the grain.
Try to use the gun (with a wide fan) slightly further away than if you were going for a finish as being _too_ close will give more potential of tramlining when overlapping. Then, once you're happy with the desired effect, empty the gun and replace with clear, untinted lacquer for the last couple of coats. 2 reasons here. 1 - you can now concentrate on getting that nice, flat finish without worry of tramlining and 2 - it will seal in the tinted lacquer giving a nice even and deeper finish. 
Oh, and if you're going to do the vertical passes, just loosen the aircap and twist it 90 degrees then tighten it up again. Your fan will then be vertical as opposed to horizontal so you don't have to tilt the gun sideways. Sounds obvious but it's surprising just how many people who use these guns don't realise.


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## ashfinlayson

yeah I've already tried turning the nozzle actually, I found I get much better coverage on the sides and the edges if spraying vertically, the big concern is getting enough lacquer on the very edges so I don't sand through when levelling. Speaking of levelling, the Morrells lacquer was an absolute doddle to level sand, barely had to do any wet sanding, I just scuff sanded with 1000 and 1500, then did a quick wet sand with 2000 which got rid of any light scratches, where as I must have spend 2 hours wet sanding the clear I sprayed out of the cans.

I'm not a fan of wet sanding, trouble with wood is if water gets into the bridge holes, can cause the wood to swell and crack the lacquer, which I'm not sure how to recover from without starting over, not so bad on the back, but a lot of time went into the stain job on the front.


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## ashfinlayson

Another one finished. This is the clear gloss nitro lacquer finish I was talking about over the summer. This is as close as I was able to get to a mirror finish by hand buffing - Used Chemical Guys polishing paste and some elbow grease. So I need to make myself a proper buffing wheel. I need a low speed motor, ideally around 750rpm, but the slowest I've been able to find is 1500rpm so will need a belt to slow the wheel down, that will be a project for the spring.


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## Stiff

Another beauty!


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## ashfinlayson

There are a few swirl marks in it, so I will get a bit more practice in before I have a go at detailing the TT :lol:


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## ashfinlayson

I'v had a fair few enquires lately that have started with, _can I have your website URL_. So I've made myself a website to up my marketing game.

http://www.adfinlaysonguitars.co.uk - it's a work in progress so any feedback is welcome.

I'm now working on my own model, hoping to have a few variants made up to attend some guitar shows with either late next year or the following


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## Stiff

That looks great. _Very_ profesional.


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## ashfinlayson

I've been a busy hermit over the last couple of months, focusing a lot of time on inlays. One customer wanted a celtic knot style inlay, another one want's a les paul with a couple of monkeys and there's a bass for a friend that likes skulls as much as he likes food  I've got a few other guitar builds on the go including a walnut telecaster and a couple of Gibson DC style guitar (for those that know what those all are). I'm trying to plough through as much woodworking as I can while it's cold so I can focus on finishing when the temp and humidity are suitable for spraying lacquer.


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## SwissJetPilot

Just stunning work. Really. 

You should make yourself a YouTube vlog and start posting each guitar as you go. As they say, build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door!


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## ashfinlayson

SwissJetPilot said:


> Just stunning work. Really.
> 
> You should make yourself a YouTube vlog and start posting each guitar as you go. As they say, build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door!


Thanks Swiss, ah I must have neglected to mention that I started filming a build series on youtube last year and have done 20 odd videos, the first few videos are a bit ropey but here's the latest


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## SwissJetPilot

Cool!


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## ashfinlayson

I don't think I've ever known it be so warm in early April, but I've been making hay while the sun is shining. Got the spray kit out and sprayed some cellulose on a couple of the guitars I'm working on. These two are both commissions which I'm ahead of schedule on as I wasn't expecting to be spraying anything until May. I've picked up another few commissions recently so I've got plenty to keep me busing during the lockdown, not that I didn't anyway :lol:


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## Iceblue

Very nice particularly the blue purply one that pops and accentuates the grain and knots


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## ashfinlayson

Iceblue said:


> Very nice particularly the blue purply one that pops and accentuates the grain and knots


Thanks Iceblue, yeah expensive piece of wood that :lol:

I've finished my first bass for my mate Snuffy, he's very happy with it. I've also got a new photographer friend, he's taking snaps for me and I'm working on his guitar for him as payment, so that's upping my marketing game a bit


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## SwissJetPilot

Just. Wow! [smiley=thumbsup.gif]


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## ashfinlayson

Thanks Swiss, another one just finished and delivered to a happy customer, I've got another blue double cut nearing the finish line a walnut telecaster in progress, and I'm just starting on my first acoustic build


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## ashfinlayson

My latest one, this is the first one from my new workshop. I moved house in feb, was furloughed for 2 months so Instead of twiddling my thumbs, I turned my new double garage into a fully fledged workshop - my first real diy project. Cost an absolute fortune with the hike in building materials, especially CLS and Sheet ply. But I now have a fully insulated, climate controlled 26sqm workshop and wood storage. I've also made a spray booth. When I moved here there was a electric up and over door which let all the heat out so I sold it on ebay and built a wall with barn doors. Still needs painting.

TT lives outside, until I'm spraying, then I park elsewhere :roll:


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## anderrrson2011

I think I know where you could find a guitar maker. Specifically, you should check out this website hire a massage therapist in London where you can find a range of different services in the UK from other specialists. It could be a massage as well as making guitars according to your idea. The service itself provides the ability to quickly find someone to do a specific job for you. I think that with the guitar you can also help there. Try that option.


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## cb550

Hi Ash trust you're making 6 string electrics. In the new year I'm hoping to look for a Rickenbacker 660. Do you or would you build a guitar with a similar nut width plus the tones similar to a Rickenbacker. Maybe even in a fireglo colour scheme.

Maybe advise on a pm with likely prices etc. Thanks!


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## ashfinlayson

cb550 said:


> Hi Ash trust you're making 6 string electrics. In the new year I'm hoping to look for a Rickenbacker 660. Do you or would you build a guitar with a similar nut width plus the tones similar to a Rickenbacker. Maybe even in a fireglo colour scheme.
> 
> Maybe advise on a pm with likely prices etc. Thanks!


Hello mate, sorry I haven't been on TTF in ages. If I can find the dimensions, I'm sure I could make you something Ricke inspired. IF you're still in the market then send me an email [email protected] and we could work something out.


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## ashfinlayson

I've churned out a fair few so far this year, to make up for my lack of output last year. 4 of my own model that I designed in December a few commission builds


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## cb550

ashfinlayson said:


> Hello mate, sorry I haven't been on TTF in ages. If I can find the dimensions, I'm sure I could make you something Ricke inspired. IF you're still in the market then send me an email [email protected] and we could work something out.


Hi
Thanks for the message and the offer.

In the messages time interval, I've bought a Les Paul Standard and as a result the guitar collection is 'completed'

Guitars look superb, especially the Bass. Good luck for the future making great guitars


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