My First (Partscaster) Guitar Build!

(Click on any picture to enlarge) 

Real talk: with the amount of effort and learning I put in, this should be considered a Partscaster+ build.

Presenting: BB!

While I didn't make the body from a block of wood, I did make additional carves and routs. I completely restained it and did the finish on my own, and custom wiring as well. But I'm getting ahead of myself....

Last year, Lance Gregory of Rebirth Guitars posted a pic of a guitar body on the Amateur Luthier Facebook group, asking if he should start over from scratch. It looked amazing. I joked that he should just mail it to me to throw in the trash for him! We started a conversation, and he sold it to me at a good discount along with some hard ware. It arrived in great shape. I knew about the stain errors as he already sent me multiple photos.

Stain seeped a little past the masking tape in a few spots

I got to working on the clear coat. I've done some woodworking around the house, so I just started with Varathane. I didn't realize it at the time, but it is one of the harder coatings to get a mirror polish from.

Here's the tripod jig I made during the hand brushed coating stage:

I knew it would need sanding and polishing, but this was bad.

After spending a few weeks coating this and letting it dry before adding another coat, I went to polish it. I went through the polish in a spot and took out some of the stain. Lance gave me repair some tips, and I fixed those areas. So, a couple of weeks later and... again I burned through the polish. In retrospect, I think some of the stain lifted into the polish. It should have been fixed with lacquer first. I had no idea at the time! After all that work and after a long and exhausting day, in a fit of desperation I threw the body on the ground. I shouldn't have done that and I won't again. First and last time for everything. But its good to own your mistakes, so you can learn from them and do better.

Hey, at least I found out it's a semi-hollowbody!

 
I immediately set on gluing it back together. I intentionally carved out the breaks to make them more noticeable. I sanded off the rest of the finish and stain, and then glued it up (my first guitar glue up)

While I was at it, I carved the horn for comfort with hand chisels, and then painted the gouges gold as would be done on a Japanese vase.

I tested a tested on a board to make sure it would work:

And then I applied the same technique to my guitar. Almost... I should have stained it first:

I used copper tape to make the dam.

Before additional sanding

I then did some additional stain tests with the new clear coating I chose. Crystalac was recommended by several luthiers because of how well it polished. It's a small business too, so that's a bonus. But, it was causing the TransTint stain to act like watercolors on my tests:

 
I contacted them, and they immediately gave me a tip on how to prevent this: spray lacquer over it first. 

After that, I was able to get my staining and clear coating done! This still took a long time. After the lacquer, there was a grain filler, then over ten airbrushed coats of Brite Tone, with at least four hours between coats.

You can still see the epoxy trough lines. That grain absorbed less stain

I then gave it a couple of weeks to cure before polishing. At the time, I just had a random orbital sander, and I had no idea at how bad it was for this job, even with the foam pad attachments:

I got to wiring it up. These are Lollar Imperial pickups, handmade in Tacoma. I decided to keep all the wiring, in case I want to put them in something else:

I got a laugh out of this temp rig!

I then cut, stained, and clear coated the body cavity cover, using red oak ply. Around this time, I found a buffer attachment for my drill. It worked so well I repolished as much of the body as I could:

Cover is buffed with drill, body was buffed later. What a difference!

I got a Solo guitar neck with a paddle head so I could make my own shape:

Sketched these ideas on my phone!

I settled on this design. I created the logo based on how I've signed hundreds of video game posters, then printed it onto decal material. It was also covered in several layers of Crystalac... and I had to try this technique twice to get it to work. Turns out if the decal is on a matte surface, when gloss goes on top of it, there is a visible line. I'm glad I took the time to fix that problem!

I then worked with my friend Josh Jones at TablePlay to get the serial number engraved. While his main business is laser cutting and UV printing things for the table top world, he was also happy to take on a custom job!

BB stand for "Bar Brawler" since it looks like it survived a big fight

The second to last thing I needed to do was to either get a new 3-way switch or fix the one I had. It's a brand new Fender switch, but it was designed to be mounted on much thinner material. Wanting to wrap this up before the holidays, I found some square stock in my garage, hacked off a piece, and soldering iron 'brazed' it onto the existing switch. Works! I'm not planning on selling this, so I don't mind it having a few quirks.

The final thing I did was talk to my friend Dagna at Silesia Guitars to show her my first build. In the time it took to bring it there, the cold in my trunk threw off the neck and the frets were buzzing a lot more than I expected. She gave me some tips on how to do a proper fret level and crown.

There's a lot of other tangents on this journey. I put a new nut in the neck, I tried a lot more stain and coating experiments than were shown, and there were wiring problems that were later fixed

This was a fun journey. I've already got a couple of friends that want a custom guitar built by me now, and I'm looking forward to making them something even better!

I present, the Cornicello Caster!

I don’t know when the bug hit, but it did. Maybe it was because it was over 30 years a guitar of that was held together with scotch tape was within my home and it was time to rectify the situation. Maybe it was because my daughter will be starting a guitar class soon. No matter. Time to repair. We can make it better, stronger, faster, and in under a million dollars. And maybe learn some soldering along the way. A Brother suggested I join an amateur luthier group. They were helpful, and turned me onto equipment I hadn’t heard of before. Like, the free-way switch, which increased the pickup combinations from 5 to 10 options. Surely I could increase that count. Between it, a dual gang pot, a push/push pot, and a phase reversal switch, I was able to bring that count up to 23!

It needed a new pick guard. My friend, John Cornicello, provided me with over 100 abstract bubble film photos to choose from. It was incredibly hard, but I finally found the right one to print on top. Printing courtesy of Carmedon.

Final config

Earlier incarnation

The wiring was complex, and I made even more so by adding screw terminals to pretty much everything. This will need to be redone, as the contacts inside are not as solid as if they were soldered.

Of course, why stop with one pickguard, when you can do three? Here’s the original, repaired (now with the entire top covered in acetate)

And, here’s another. It originally was going to hold Lollar Imperial pickups, but those are now slated for a new project:

The middle pickup will also be black (and super high output!)

This will be done ‘soon’, but after I finish my next guitar, a telecaster with Lollar humbuckers that is coming together nicely (thanks Rebirth Guitars for the body!)

My Talented Friends!

I always knew I had creative and artistic friends.  But when I put the call out to see how many of them had their creations for sale, I was amazed at the response.

I'll start with my projects.

I make art and sell it for charity!  You can see the work on this blog:
Gravity Painting

Also, I'm working on a card game, and will let everyone know when the Kickstarter page is up!

Without further adieu, here is a list of friends with links to their creative projects.

WRITING

Alyssa McFarland:

My lovely wife published a novel, Pieces of Home.
And she has paintings for sale, which you can see at GORDITOS on 85th https://alymcf.wordpress.com/.../gallery-fruit-voodoodles/
RedBubble Products!: http://www.redbubble.com/people/alymcf/portfolio 

Calandra Usher

http://www.amazon.com/Calandra-Usher/e/B00O9C7U6W/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1433172075&sr=8-1

FILM

Todd Gardiner:

Film producer currently shooting the short film, Last Caller.
http://www.seedandspark.com/studio/last-caller

COMIC ART

Neal Skorpen:

http://www.nealskorpen.com/store.html
 

Kyle Miller (comics & games):

gamecreature.com

VISUAL ART

Stephanie Barnette:

Runningdownpaint.tumblr.com 
spiritualanarchy.tumblr.com  
facebook.com/shiftingmetaphors

Miriam Keith:

Mimustudios.com
Facebook.com/mimustudios
 

Jennifer Lankenau:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jenniferlankenau.artist
Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/.../rose-windows-and-other...
Society6: http://society6.com/ornamentium
Blog: http://nifflankenau.com/

Courtnee Fallen Rex:

Many talents.  Support her here

Her work:
Art: http://neevita.net
Prints: http://society6.com/courtnee/prints
Music: http://courtnee.bandcamp.com
Healing: http://artfultouch.info

Elizabeth Smith:

www.rowntreestudio.com

PHOTOGRAPHY

Alison Park Douglas:

Handmade steampunk jewelry from Velvet Mechanism https://www.etsy.com/shop/velvetmechanism
Also, photography! https://alisonparkdouglas.com/

MUSIC

Jeremiah Jacobs:

http://goo.gl/ZnR23U

Brian Kirkness 

http://amzn.com/B00P1B6HXM

Crsi Tiggerlathotep Roswel:

http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?songs=79693&t=9641












 

Jonsi 4/10/2010 Concert Review: A letter to the visual designers

I just wrote this letter to 59 Productions.  They are the creative visual force behind Jonsi's current concert, and they created the best visual performance that I've ever seen in a concert in my life.


To whom it may concern,

I wanted to thank you very, very much for the incredible set and visuals at Jonsi's last night's performance at the Showbox Sodo in Seattle, Washington.

Having been to a fair number of concerts, I've never seen such visuals so perfectly integrated with the music.  These effects trump Roger Dean's association with Yes.  And, although it was not as extravagant as a Peter Gabriel show I went to several years ago, (he bounced around inside of a human sized gerbil ball, rode a tricycle upside down, and made his stage crew wear bright orange suits), it was by far the best I've seen.  It didn't seem that you threw money at a problem to solve it.  It looked like everything was very well thought out.

I like how the show started with the color palate of a Brothers Quay film, and ended on some very bright notes.  The overall transition was incredible. 

I have some dated motion graphics experience (not my profession any more).  There were some subtle things that other members of the audience may not have picked up on.  I wanted to compliment you on these technical points, as I know that it required a lot of extra work to do it the way you did.  For me, this paid off immensely.  For everyone else, I'd suspect that subconsciously they were drawn into the performance more, and had a deeper, richer experience.  Thank you for not cutting corners.

For main video sequences, I never saw any loop points.  It looked like you spent the extra time to use full lengths of footage.  If there was a loop, it was seamless.

The window pane in the background:  I liked how you slowly revealed how exactly it was aligned to your video source.  At first, images played over the whole thing.  Then, with the rain/water filling up sequence, it showed how you had some vertical alignment  (I *think* you might have used the same water source, time delayed between parts.  Am I right?  If so, this is a smart example of asset reuse.)  Finally, one song had drum beats causing the shadows of individual panes to bump out on vertical & horizontal lines.  That obviously took more time to set up.  And, I think it was very much worth it.

That last piece made me wonder one thing:  was that 'bump' effect in real-time and synched to the drum mic?  Or was it prerecorded, and the band had to use an in-ear speaker to listen to a metronome to synch up to your graphics?

I was also impressed with the live video with effects overlays in real-time.  Things certainly have changed since I've done this type of work.

So, now for only a few constructive criticisms:

On several occasions, I noticed that the video playback paused for a split second.  It was pretty minor. 
The animal and ant rendering technique was exquisite!  However, their motion (all but the fox/wolf) was a bit stiff.  The ant on the ball was the worst.
The film burn stock footage:  As it burnt, there was still a 'film scratch' footage comped over it.  These all look like pieces from the Artbeats stock footage library, and, well, once the footage get burned up, I don't think there should be any scratches left!  I doubt anyone else in the audience thought about this. 

At any rate, this was a very memorable concert experience, and I'll cherish it for a very long time.

Thanks again,
Troy McFarland

Sunny Day Real Estate

Alyssa & I just got back from the Sunny Day Real Estate concert. They started their set right on time!!! They didn't make us wait too long!!! If for no other reason, this band was teh awesome!!

Read Alyssa's review

She thought I'd mess with their name like I did with My Bloody Valentine, but the only thing I could think of was "Suni Gay Trill Relate", and that neither makes sense nor describes the event accurately.

I'd never heard really their music before, except when they were wafting from her speakers in the house. So, every song was pretty much new for me. After the show I found out that they started playing in 1994. That explains why all the young kids there were cool with these guys looking older than me. I love it when you can have a bald lead singer, and he's still hip.

About the music:
I liked most of it, even if it there wasn't as much variety between the songs as I would have liked. Within each song, there were wonderful dynamics... but each song, even their ballads followed the same structure.

They were incredibly tight. Like James Brown backup musician tight.

The lead singer reminded me of my late great uncle Larry, with overly broad shoulders, a very slight hunch, and a solid colored T-shirt that hung too far from his neck. So, I kind of expected him to be leaning over egg salad and playing cards with my family at a reunion. But he sang instead.

Their guitarist reminded me of a very happy go lucky guitar playing roommate of mine in Eugene. This one was a bit more spastic. His face held much more contrast on stage than the other players.

The Venue:
The Paramount just put their new sign up, but didn't turn on the lights. I think they're holding out to raise $150,000 before they do. Hey, the old sign used to cost them $25k a year in electric bills. If they wait 6 years before turning it on, it will have paid for itself ;-)

There was a club near the restrooms, astonishingly called "The Paramount Club" We walked in and were stopped. We were told rather snobbily that it was a private club. I was not impressed. It was mostly empty.

The interior was exquisite, of course. I kept looking at the gold leaf on the walls. Textures everywhere! The sound was incredible where we stood. (Center orchestra pit general admission, about 15 people from the front of the stage)

Where we were standing, the place smelled like Diamond Dry, (ground up corn cobs for those not in the know).
I'm guessing that was from all the rain tracked onto the old floor. Or possibly from the guy next to me.

It was really hot and humid in there, and on occasion we'd get a light wafting of cool air from the ceiling. I wish we had that the entire time, instead of every five minutes.

The crowd was mostly younger than us, I'd say just post college age.

They went out of their way to dress down and uglify themselves. All ill-fitting earth colors too warm for the venue, eyebrow rings, thick rimmed glassed. I felt like I took a time machine back to the beginning of the grunge movement. But everyone was very nice.

There was a couple in front of us, and the girl was obviously into the music and her date a lot more than he was into them or her. She was filled with nervous energy, and kept scratching his back to the music. We also noticed that she liked rubbing his butt. To the right of us was a shorter couple. The girl next to me kept trying to crowd me out, and it took until about mid show for me to realize that it was so she could get a better view. Every time I go to a general Admission show, I dream of having everyone line up from short to tall, with the tall people in the back so everyone can see. That's how it'd work if we had a *real* fascist in office!! (So quit complaining folks)

Like everyone else there with an 'eye'Phone, I felt obliged to snag a couple shots of the band. But I didn't. Take any photos. I just happened to find one on the internet when I came home tonight. Of the same show. I took one of the shots into Sketchbook Mobile tonight. Since it doesn't handle horizontal shots well yet, I had a lot of extra canvas to play with. Behold it's glory.

My Bloody Valentine. More like My Bloody Eardrums

Wow, that makes me sound old!

My wife & I just got back from the concert in Seattle at Wamu Theater, and I've never been to a louder concert. Not Scorpions in the 80s, not Joe Satrianai, not Zappa plays Zappa. My Bloody Valentine. What. The. Fawk.

Some of the security were using ear protection that is usually only seen in an airport or shooting range. They were handing out earplugs free at this venue (good for them!) Their ear plugs, however, paled in comparison to the Lazer Lite ones we brought.

I wore them the whole time and my ears are still ringing, over an hour later.

Concert quirks that I noticed:
When the first band came on, every time a certain bass note was played, my skull rattled. We moved *closer* to the stage & off to the left side. The resonance was gone! As the audience hadn't filled in yet, I decided to meander through the auditorium, mapping out all the skull shattering resonation points. The loudest ones were in the middle, with minor ones spreading out from there. I think it was where the speaker sound overlapped. It was bad!

Why does it take so long for the band to come out once the sound check is over? Every show I've ever been to is like this!

They pointed the strobes (I counted over 20) right at the audience. I never could really see the band. After a while, I just closed my eyes, and enjoyed the patterns inside my eyelids from the strobe effect. Too bad they never had it go fast enough or last long enough for a good effect.

Most of the visuals that I could see reminded me of failed animation projects I did in college, in 1992.

This show was similar to the art show I put on in college, where the entire show was only viewable from one glass window. Our mutual goal: See how much the audience was willing to put up with to enjoy our art.

As curmudgeony as this sounds, I actually had a really good time! But I think they enjoy assaulting the audience. with an over load of light & sound. Serves us right for still listening to 80s music ;)