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What a difference a day makes

Well,....WOOT! Success!

Here's a bunch of pix. If Shane built his in 1 hour, well, he;s a far better man than I. This took about 10 hours.

It ain't perfect, but that was not the goal. All the goat staring allows me to sift thru the endless plans and variations my brain creates, all the while distilling down to "Keep It Simple, Stupid",

What it is:

Doug Fir 2x4

"Gold Foil" p/u (hot-glued down)

Hardtail bridge (with ground wire)

Oval jack plate

Cavity cover from PVC conduit pull corner (3/4")

All-thread nut (cut to fit, ground (stone, not electrical) ends, wire-wheeled to hell and back, set in shallow routed groove.

Cheap machine heads.

Modified steel mesh (wide head) screws, chucked in drill press and the shank near the head de-burred with jeweler file, used as string guides.

Burnt finish, Satin poly coat.

Rubber feet on butt end for propping against wall.

There will be others made. And yes, it makes noise.

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Permalink Reply by Taffy Evans on September 8, 2019 at 5:45pm

Hi James, that looks great, I can see more than an hours work in that for sure. How do know where to position your bar, I can't see any fret markers? Ten hours fun is better than one hours fun, I recon.

Taff

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Permalink Reply by James Pobog on September 9, 2019 at 6:13am

Thanks. I'm a semi-talented hack.

No fret markers 'cause that ain't done yet. Have a plexi coming from =

Gitty, plan B is unsettled as of yet.

I followed the basic plan from here (Shane Speil). It's a 23" scale, so the=

nut is 23" from the bridge....which I upgraded to the hardtail bridge.

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Permalink Reply by Poorness Studios on September 8, 2019 at 11:33pm

That looks great James. Nicely done. Amazing for your first lap steel. You should get one of those CB Gitty acrylic fingerboards for the fret markers.

https://www.cbgitty.com/made-in-the-usa/clear-acrylic-fretboard-for...

I'm curious as to what is under the plastic cover. I'm assuming you just routed a channel to make it easier to connect the pickup, jack, bridge.

Got any sounds clips? I'm anxious to hear how it sounds with that gold foil pickup.

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Permalink Reply by James Pobog on September 9, 2019 at 6:18am

No clips yet, still sorting last details out.

Yep, have a fretboard on order. Going to Home Depot today to look for wood to make a fretboard. They have some nice walnut hobby boards...

The cover is for a cavity. Experimenting with routing techniques and non-standard guitar pieces. Part of my navel gazing is how to get there from here. Over the 2 weeks, I have refined ideas down towards simplicity. My most dedicated tools are a set of Forstner bits. Not particularly sophisticated construction.

Next will probably be 2x6 Doug Fir. I have to get the process down before I tackle my very nice piece of redwood.

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Permalink Reply by BrianQ. on September 9, 2019 at 4:19am

Well James, you see how easy it is for us to get way ahead of ourselves while building something? It’s good you came out in the end tho? That flame finish is kickin’, good luck on your next builds, now you’re official with your 1st build out of your way, next.........

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Permalink Reply by James Pobog on September 9, 2019 at 6:15am

Many thanks.

Get ahead of oneself? Welcome to my world. That's why a previous post was called "A mind is a terrible thing..."

Yeah, they'll be more builds. Not sure what I'll do with them since I don't play....

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Permalink Reply by Myron Joe Hickel on September 10, 2019 at 8:29am

Well done, James

Nice burn in, I tore apart a microwave to get the transformer to make a wood burner never got around to making it. But now seeing how nice yours is I may have to make it and give it a try on a lap board neck.

Joe

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Permalink Reply by James Pobog on September 10, 2019 at 9:22am

I just used a propane torch with a flame spreader. I found that with the edge of the spreader about a half inch away from the wood, the burn was not too fast and gave good control. Smooth movement of about 1" per second (YMMV) gave very nice consistent results.