I've been building electric guitar necks recently using my CNC router. With the higher heel and 15 degree headstock angle plus the bolt on neck approach I've decided to hand build it mostly. I've been having registration problems with my CNC or possibly software so this seems to be the best approach for just a few instruments. The precision required on the neck is really challenging across many dimensions and there are more than 35 steps in my build checklist so this is a pr

I run multiple projects at one time often because there's always waiting involved, for glue to dry or a CNC program to run. Today is no exception: I'm getting close to finishing a new pedalboard just for my looper, drum machine and MIDI controller that will be closely associated with the looper and control many of my effects on my other analog pedalboard. I expect to be much more feet-on with this pedalboard so I'm kind of laying it out in an arc like an organ pedal bank. A

Just about any build of any physical thing for me usually starts with a 3d model. I'm very excited to be working on this new direction: A guitar based on the Orchestra Model (OM) style but with some big twists. Modeling and thinking about every little detail is a great way to set things up in my mind. I downloaded a very nice quality PDF design from Electric Herald , my regular go-to for starting points for guitars of traditional designs. 3d model of OM style guitar I'm

Does it get any better than this? Working on a new pedal. Hoping you have a productive weekend too. By end of week about done with prototyping... I fiddle with this when I'm not feeling like getting dirty in the shop in the evening. For all of you following along I'm using this excellent schematic as my starting point https://www.valvewizard.co.uk/engineersthumb.html I'm validating the corcuit step by step and downscaling all pot to 100k or lower because you just can't get

What would life be without some rabbit-hole distractions and shiny things to chase? Well my pedals exceeded my boards regulator capacity so I had to build an extension board with a few more, better-filtered outputs. I need to compute my power budget in detail to confirm that my 12v supply is still enough. I think I'm good .. And I'm going all-in on MIDI because. So I put a MIDI port on the side to make the cross-jumper to my next pedalboard for my looper and Morningstar MC

My loooong time friend Mark Mayhle introduced me to the celebrated Luthier Roy McAlister, known for his exquisite acoustic guitars, cherished by the the likes of David Crosby and Jackson Brown. It was great to show him what I'm working on and see his shop and play one of his delightful smaller body instruments. I think that Roy finds the bombast of big guitars to be impressive only to the less sophisticated musical palette. His instrument definitely impressed me with it's b

Thing about electric guitars is they aren't that much fun to play without amplification. Yesterday and today I've been working on pickups in spare minutes. I'll admit my custom coil winder was giving me fits but I got it tuned. It needs a software upgrade pretty bad but now it's not the time. Custom winder, with all custom controller and GUI of course. Coils! Hardware. Custom hot pickups with asymmetric humbucker bridge pickup for extra bite!

Glyphstone LPS M1 serial #001 is almost done. The pickups need to be built, electronics wired up and a few other details and it's been a long process. More are on the way quickly however.

You are witness to a first test of the bench buffer I've been building. I was damned if I was going to pay the price a certain luthier supply (that will remain nameless) is charging for this really very simple machine. Of course pulling the pieces together delayed things a bit but it's about ready after the finer details are put together. Then I can buff out the guitar that's been hanging on my wall curing for weeks!

Just a peek at two parallel projects in-process right now. To the left is the serial #002 body of my "LPS" model electric. To the right is the soundboard of an experimental acoustic project I've revived, the parts of which I've been dragging around for over 30 years. I'm using the carcass of a cheap dreadnaught 12 string I got which had a destroyed soundboard, to try something that I think is new. I may not post a lot more about this as it may well be patentable so I need

This step is still a bit nerve wracking because it's a large glue surface. This time it's 3x the surface area because I glued two layers of black-dyed vernier in-between the lower body and the figured maple top for a pinstripe contrast.

Not a new tool but a rolling stand and tool storage for my little lathe.

I cut some thin verniers of spaulted maple to adorn the experimental acoustic guitar I'm working on, one for the headstock, another for the soundhole rosette. They are so soft, they have to be stabilized with low viscosity epoxy that soaked them like a sponge. Book matched wood vernier with round template

Multiple projects in process... The guitar on the left is a "dummy" made of parts to test out cnc programs and techniques. The one on the right is sanded and ready for final coats soon. Acoustic soundboards are so thin and fragile! Test fitting with removable half dovetail joint.

It's been a definite learning experience with my new spray gun and spray booth. It takes a lot of experimentation and I'm not done yet but here is a progress pic: Electric guitar laying on table I finally got the spray fan and atomization settings about right to reduce "orange peel" roughness, but on the last few coats, small pieces of dried finish in the booth started getting blown up and maring the finish. It's not a big deal as I sand before the next coats but I need to a

Ok I finally had a big enough block of time to do my research and do a test in the spray booth. I used a test guitar, that was the product of testing the CNC programs and processes for the guitar time. It's not a usable guitar as it as no truss rod in the neck and I didn't install frets or do the final inlay design. The body is glued up alder utility wood which is far from perfect but I glued and sanded it up so I didn't have to do this test on the real guitar. I put a dro

It's been a long process but I think worth it to make my guitar finish first class.

I've been putting this behind all my other projects but no longer. Though the van build is actually higher priority because of our trip this summer, I can always slip in a little time to move a new guitar along. I'm planning a set of guitars in the style of the Les Paul Special, which was originally a down-market style. I'm going to sharpen up the body profile just a little and make them with Sapele body with feature wood tops. The first will be curly big leaf maple. Fretbo

Wow, this project took a long time from start to finish! I can't count the number of other projects that inserted themselves into the queue but it's done and ready to sell. This is the first time I've done a large project on spec but now it's done, shot and we will see how this experiment goes!