the guitar builders blog | 16th April 2012
At Crimson Guitars we are constantly evolving and improving, the last few months we’ve been shooting a video blog over-view of each of these wrkshop diary blog pages, this is not really an economical use of our time so the video below is the last.. the last that is that is merely a moving repeat of this blog. We will continue to create unique videos as much as possible to keep you satiated.. having written this I will now illustrate my point by asking you watch the video below.. and hear me say it all in person 
Now to the real guitar builders blog.. The Elm bodied PAF Guitar has been strung up and needs an initial setup.. These wrap around bridges from Gotoh are great.. mostly, the intonation screws are on the side of the pickup and the lower the bridge is the more of an access issue you have.. annoying but not a deal breaker!
The ergonomic bass section of the new detachable twin neck guitar has been lacquered and the flattening of the lacquer begins..
I do love this headstock!
Here is the guitar section of that double neck in the same state..
Now, I like using custom leather pads beneath my strap buttons.. they have to be cut by hand but really work well and look great.. 2 things I don’t argue with!
On top of that I fix all my strap buttons into the body with threaded inserts and machine bolts.. I do not ever want see one of my guitars take a nose dive off a stage!
The controls are installed next.. cts pots and switchcraft switch of course (though I’m hearing that there are better quality units available used by the military that I am trying to find a supplier of!!)
Wired for sound!
I couldn’t put boring chrome knobs on this guitar.. custom purpleheart turned on our lathe set things off nicely.
Richard is still working away a few days a week on the stock(ish) range .. you can see some of these coming together on this page. alomg with the Conspiracy guitar that is now for sale at £1175 if you like strat type guitars, albeit with a custom twist
Home sweet home.
The lacquer is flattened down right up to 1500 grit.. a long process indeed.
but once the buffing begins it pays off in spades.
The necks are to be slightly more matt than the rest of the finish for comfort.
shiny..
shiny and very very light.. try and pick up any other guitar this way and marvel!
The Elm PAF is settling into its new life under string tension.. I love this guitar very much!
It does however lack one final piece..
an offcut of padouk is band-sawed to thickness.
shaped
and fitted carefully.. both grain and wood match the neck nicely.
Here we go again.. did I say it was a long process?
Here’s a bit of beautiful from my weekend trip to Intech with the kids.. a real life periscope, I felt like a child myself!! It sticks out the roof of the building and only bloody works!
The bass headstock glossed..
It is at this stage, when the buffing begins, that you start to find little impurities in the finish that require filling, the softer patches from the spalting suck in more lacquer than the rest of the wood, that combined with the inlay joint gives me a hard time.. the final result will be worth it though!
Now.. I make large blocks of MDF with cork backing and cut them down, as needed, to make sanding blocks of various sizes..
this time I drill a hole through a piece, the tip of the pencil extends to the corner of the tool and I can now draw around a carved guitar and be assured of a perfect outline!!
Like so.. the twin neck will need a custom case of course and here is where we start.
Old, failed, fretboards are used as clamping cauls while I glue headstock veneers on to some of the stockish guitars..
Slowly these are brought down to match our custom headstock design.
The tuner positions are drilled
Now.. don’t forget that wood dust is carcinogenic!!
The headstock/neck joint is carefully carved to be as comfortable as possible.
I’m working on the neck joint as well!
The extremely carved body though is all done and is so comfortable!!!
More veneers are glued.. we have a regular little production line going here!
While Richard works on the big things I get down to specifics.. the champhering
and fine sanding
The binding is scraped clean of the worst scratches
The best bit.. the oiling begins and the bubinga comes to life!
A few coats get sucked into the wood pretty rapidy, the excess is rubbed away and the guitar is left to cure for a day.
Over the next week or so we’ll get a lovely gloss build up.. oh.. here you can see how I ended up carving the neck joint, it’s practically invisible to your hand!
This guitar needs something special..
a black stain
which is partially rubbed back to create a slight sunburst.
a trip to the spray booth and the final blackburst is applied.. it takes longer to clean up the airbrush afterwards that it does to apply the paint!!
To releave the severity of the finish I scrape back the binding..
And I’m in love.. there’s still a few holes to be drilled! 😉
All my best,
Ben
By crimsonguitars | April 16, 2012
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