I just came across this inspiring video by a Belgian amateur woodworker and guitar player named Tchiks, in which he details his custom semi-hollowbody build. The video is well-paced and clearly edited, and if you’re at all like me, there’s lots of ooh and ahhh moments, and it’s hard to stop until the end.
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I’m massively downsizing my stage footprint! This new pedal board will be much simpler- focused around my new Line 6 HD500X, and the footswitch controller for my Blackstar Stage 60.
The only pedals left on the board are my Planet Waves Tru-Strobe tuner and DIY clean boost. More
This was my old SKB PS-25 pedal board, mid-2012.
After the pedalboard power supply died last year, I purchased a Visual Sound 1 Spot, and continued using the old SKB just as a convenient velcro surface to hold my pedals.
As the Drop Daddies’ repertoire of cover tunes has expanded, so has my need to produce an ever-increasing variety of sounds. So my complement of pedals has gradually been expanding. I’m generally not a big fan of modelers, but I added the Zoom G3x for flexibility with delays, choruses and phasers, etc. It has a fairly sizeable footprint, so I pulled off my Ernie Ball volume pedal, since I could use the G3X for volume if necessary.
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A carpenter once showed me a great trick with a toothpick. One of our doors was sagging, because the screws in the hinges were loose, and couldn’t be tightened. With a glint in his eye, he pulled out a handful of toothpicks from his pocket, saying “my secret weapon”. After removing the loose screws for the hinge, he stuffed a few toothpicks in each hole, cut them off flush, and then re-tightened the screws in the holes. Presto chango- it was all nice and tight. Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best!
In this video, I apply this simple trick to the tuners on my Epiphone Riviera P93. Some of these screws have been loose since day one – the kind of loose where no matter how much you try to tighten the screw, it just spins freely in the hole. The wood fibers in the hole are stripped out and no longer gripping the screw threads. One simple toothpick, inserted in each hole and cut off flush, just like that carpenter had shown me- and now the screws go in nice and tight. The soft wood of the toothpick makes the perfect filler. No glue necessary.
That same carpenter also shared these fine words of wisdom: “Caulk and paint are what a painter ain’t”, but that’s a story for another day 
In addition to my usual guitar studies and projects, I’ve been working on some other projects over the summer. I thought I’d share some details of what’s been keeping me busy.
At the beginning of June, Chunling hinted that she’d like something to go between these two Tristania Laurina trees along our fence – perhaps a nice shady place to sit.
One morning, she pointed out a design she liked from Sunset magazine: More
Some day I’d like to build an all-wood enclosure for my amp. These beautiful cabinets from Matchless, Fuchs, and Mesa/Boogie are really inspiring. Check out the nicely figured hardwoods and dovetailed joinery. Those Matchless speaker grills are really cool too.
These amps are not standard production models, but can be built custom at Mesa/Boogie (and possibly at Matchless too?)
The Fuchs Overdrive Supreme is a 10th anniversary limited model, with only 10 being made.
Marc at The Wood Whisperer has posted the final part in the video series Birth of a Guitar, documenting Rick Urschel’s classical guitar project. If you’ve been watching, part 2 ended on a cliffhanger, Rick having mistakenly glued on the fretboard before tapering it. Disaster! This video starts with Ricks laborious fix with Japanese saw, chisel, scraper and sandpaper. Then Rick goes on to shaping the neck with a spokeshave, installing fret wire, and positioning the bridge. The finish starts with pore-filling with pumice, then applying 5 coats of shellac and 5 coats of satin polyurethane. Finally, Rick installs the nut, tuning machines, and uses a fancy vacuum press to glue down the bridge – how cool is that!? You can also see Rick’s homemade walnut guitar stand.
The final result is beautiful, and a testament to Rick’s persistence, patience and determination! This really makes me appreciate how much effort goes into building a handmade guitar. Even after all that effort, there’s some kind of “rogue” harmonic thing going on with the open G string that he was unable to figure out. If you have any ideas, contact him!
Take a look:
In years past, Grizzly had an enormous booth at the NAMM trade show demonstrating all their power tools, table saws, planers, sanders, shapers, etc. While they were absent this year, there was still plenty to excite and inspire.
For the aspiring luthier or woodworker, there’s nothing more appetizing than stacks of gorgeously figured exotic hardwoods.
Some of the guitars I saw at this year’s NAMM trade show are true works of art. Masterpieces of woodworking, incredibly fine detail, yes. But, I must ask – have these instruments lost sight of their own musicality? Do they sound any good?
I was afraid to (or not allowed to) play many of these, so I have to wonder. I imagine that some of these do indeed triumph both as musical instruments and as works of art, but perhaps others will be better as pieces of furniture or wall art, rather than playing instruments…
Marc over at The Wood Whisperer has posted part 2 in the video series Birth of a Guitar, documenting Rick Urschel’s classical guitar project. This time, Rick makes the kerfing, builds the back and the sound board with rosette, all the bracing, bindings, the bridge, fretboard. If you thought from part 1 that it was gonna be all power tools, you’ll find a lot more hand tool and finesse work in this video. Really inspiring stuff. We get to see some of Rick’s clever jigs – like one to produce a raised curve in the top, a diy tilt-base for the trim router, a fret-slot cutting sled, and again the hot lightbulb-in-a-pipe wood bending jig. Warning, massive amounts of blue tape will be consumed 🙂
One of the most interesting parts of the video is how Rick recovers from a couple big mistakes. Every woodworker, from beginner to expert, makes mistakes, in every project. I’ve heard said that the measure of a fine woodworker is how well they hide their mistakes.
There’s a huge amount of material here, and Marc has sped up a lot of of the video to almost comical speeds. And best of all, it ends on a cliffhanger! Take a look:
