Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: hooglebug on November 07, 2010, 03:47:11 PM
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thought some people on here might like to see this one. its been in progress for a little while off and on, so theres a bit of catching up to do.
one of my designs is called 'sakura', which is japanese for cherry blossom. a few years ago i had an idea to do a fhole/inlay on that theme but put it to the back of my mind thinking it wasnt really feasible. but then earlier this year (i think) someone on pg went and did a whole 'f'hole of a cherry blossom branch. this led me to did out my old drawing of what i wanted to do and clean it up a bit.
once i had done this i got excited and thought it should also have a nice back as well. and since i had a nice one piece bit of rippled sycamore, got excited and made the back. (not engraved as yet)
(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h284/hooglebug/sakura/SAM_1048.jpg)
i then spent some time cutting out all the little pieces for the inlays (turned out to be almost 200 in the end). here's (http://"http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h284/hooglebug/sakura/13-2.jpg") a nice little pic of SOME of them.
a little while later i then set about with the rest it. here (http://"http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h284/hooglebug/sakura/27-2.jpg") are the component parts. the neck and body core are mahogany - the former has a maple veneer between the neck and fretboard, while the body has maple/black veneers on both sides.
this pic (http://"http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h284/hooglebug/sakura/28-1.jpg") shows the same kind of thing on the headstock.
here's the fretboard. the 12th fret inlay is the kanji for sakura, along with the start of the body inlay below it.
(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h284/hooglebug/sakura/SAM_1109.jpg)
heres the top
(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h284/hooglebug/sakura/50-2.jpg)
got the fretboard on and the neck shaped
(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h284/hooglebug/sakura/52-1.jpg)
heres the back. the back plate isnt glued on yet - will have to wait for that to be on before finishing up the neck heel
(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h284/hooglebug/sakura/53-1.jpg)
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Wow, really beautiful inlay work! :D
I wish I had your energy and patience!
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I'm looking forward to seeing that finished!
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awesome :)
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very tasteful, the zen(ith) of guitarmaking!
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Very zen. Nice.
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WOW :o
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WOW :o
+1. Beautiful work, very much worth the effort.
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Very nice indeed.
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all ready for sanding now. heres a shot showing the treble side to see the veneers
(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h284/hooglebug/sakura/54-1.jpg)
and heres the neck/body transition
(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h284/hooglebug/sakura/56.jpg)
obviously LOTS of sanding to do!
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wow, that looks awesome!
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wow! you really have got patience! :o
Awesome work!
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well sanding has cost me a few very stingy ouchy moments on my fingers - which are now also stained pink!!
(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h284/hooglebug/sakura/57.jpg)
this is obviously not the final colour. there'll be transparent coats shot over this to make it more like the rose colour from the photoshop, then a kind of sunset thing making it a little darker at the bottom, then the burst.
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Very tasty look forward to seeing how this develops.
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Wow - some beautiful work - (although I'm not a big fan of the 'Muse/Manson' type carbuncle !)
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WOW! Even the pink worked!! :D
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couple of sealer coats on. more colour coats on the front back and headstock next, then a cherry red on the mahogany (looks too brown next to the other colour), then more sealer, then burst, then clear coats.
(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h284/hooglebug/sakura/58.jpg)
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Isn't that normal cello-tape? Doesn't that leave a residue onto the fingerboard?
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Isn't that normal cello-tape?
No, it's viola-tape. Easy mistake to make.
(Sorry. :oops: )
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Isn't that normal cello-tape?
No, it's viola-tape. Easy mistake to make.
(Sorry. :oops: )
hehehe
its fine line tape - used for masking fine lines (obviously) on cars and such. and it doesnt leave any residue no
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Those inlays must takje you abso-frigging-lutely AGES!!!
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Those inlays must takje you abso-frigging-lutely AGES!!!
o yes. along with blurry eyes from cutting them out!
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it doesnt look THIS red in real life. theres still some of the pink showing through.
(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h284/hooglebug/sakura/59-1.jpg)
obviously theres lots of scr@ping to be done to get those inlays clean again
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I think I'm one of the few who would love doing that. The whole precision thing.
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nearly two and a half hours of scr@ping later and all the inlay is clear again. still have to scr@pe the edges of the wood and inside the f-holes (yikes), and will have to do most of it again after further colour coats as well.
(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h284/hooglebug/sakura/60.jpg)
(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h284/hooglebug/sakura/61.jpg)
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the sunset part of the sunset rose finish. more scr@ping to be done!!!! got some colour on the mahogany today as well but i'll have to see what it looks like in the daylight tomorrow before i make up my mind about it
(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h284/hooglebug/sakura/62.jpg)
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this is a lot darker than it looks in real life. theres been a bit of a run on the shoulder where the burst is so after flatting it down a bit tomorrow i shall have to redo that part of the burst
(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h284/hooglebug/sakura/67.jpg)
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heres the back and the headstock. the burst on the headstock looks washed out due to the flash.
(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h284/hooglebug/sakura/68-1.jpg)
(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h284/hooglebug/sakura/69.jpg)
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It looks a very beautiful guitar, not my style with so much body inlay, but I can appreciate the work that went into it. What sort of pickups are you putting on this (don't say warpigs because then it will turn into Spinal Tap - "B minor the saddest of keys. I call this Lick My Love Pump")? How much would you charge for a plainer one?
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haha no, no warpigs for this. im thinking mules.
and it would depend entirely on spec. the blue one on my site was around the £2000 mark if i remember right - cant find my book
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well its been an awfully long time since i posted on here. there have been many many problems - i've refinished it twice!!!!!! - but finally after many trials and tribulations
(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h284/hooglebug/sakura/87.jpg)
(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h284/hooglebug/sakura/01002.jpg)(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h284/hooglebug/sakura/01007.jpg)
(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h284/hooglebug/sakura/94.jpg)
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oooo. very pretty! nice job!
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Holy $%&# that is gorgeous. I'm not the type for rounder guitars whatsoever, but that is absolutely stunning. I really like the "branch holes."
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pretty plank, very nice!
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Great work, however the carve on that top bought seems not to flow with the rest of the lines.
Not that I could do any better! ;)
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That's a thing of true beauty. I really love your work.
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Wow! :D
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Very cool!
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I'll be honest, I didn't really like the solidbody versions of this (not knocking the craftmanship at all! Just not my kinda design), but this is really really good, it's a fantastic looking guitar, and the inlay/ f-hole is a great idea-- really rating this one, would love to have an instrument like that!
How hollow is the body-- do you have a picture of it without the front/back on?
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here it is before it was put together. theres a block under the bridge as well
(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h284/hooglebug/sakura/27-2.jpg)
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Looks lovely, but I wonder why it needed so many refinishes?
I like the choice of hardware too, I must try one of those Gotoh bridges sometime.
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because the first time i used the same type of finish but a different maker to do the last few coats and it reacted. the second time it just flaked off for whatever reason
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Ah, I see! I had something like that when I tried to finish a guitar in metallic blue - when I sprayed clear coats over the top they "crazed" after a few days, almost like an old nitro finish. I ended up stripping it and finishing in plain blue.
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That's one hell of a guitar you put together. It is just beautiful. I love the shape of the body, It has a similar vibe to the idea I had for a custom built guitar, which would basically be a mix between a tele, a Les Paul and the Billy Bo guitar with the all thing squinted to give it a bit of dynamic.
The inlay work is just amazing, quite stricking and yet subtle... I think you shoudl start a production line :D
Congrats, and loads of kudos for all the effort and passion that went into this guitar... I think I want one like this now.
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Beautiful piece of functional art there, dude, well done! It looks like the kind of guitar that you would pick up after a stressful day and just instantly feel chilled and relaxed, heh. I love the aesthetic of it all.
Nicely done, sir! :)
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Absolutely superb - such a marvellous application of the skills [and patience] you obviously possess - thank you for sharing 8)
David