Friday, April 25, 2014

Guitar School Adventures Episode 7: Finish to the finishline.

And on the 7th week I rested....not really. Acoustic bodies got a good wet sanding and we are introduced to another lecture. This one was on finishes. Good thing too because finish work seems to be my weakness. Its not something that is expected to be perfect the first time. I am looking forward to the point in my life where I could get some more practice in. Because finish work is my weakness now I want to turn it into my strength. While I was working on my acoustic a job opening appeared at a place out in Seattle WA. This just happens to be the area of the country that I want to be in. I just sent an email expressing my interest, hopefully I will get a response. Acoustic's neck and bridge are glued on. Next week will be setup and a written test apparently. Until then, stay tuned! -G

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Guitar School Adventures Episode 6: That's no moon, its a Les Paul Jr.

One guitar down, one to go! Finished up the electric this week. Had to suffer through much waiting due to the spray room filter fan breaking down. In the mean time we did the wet sanding and final assembly of our electrics. I sprayed my lacquer a bit too thick which was to be expected for my first time spraying. Nothing can really be done unless I sand back to the wood. Perhaps I'll "relic" the guitar once I get good at that sort of thing. My guitar was evaluated by our instructor, I received a 83% or 190/230. I was told my set-up was great, and the burst finish was one of the better ones seen. I only got points out for finish work, which was "par for the course". As soon as I brought the guitar back to the house with me it felt free. It feels like MY guitar now. Even after I was done with my electric the spray room had not been repaired. So I decided to refret my Aria acoustic I brought. I learned several things. The guitar is not special in any way. Its not a good sounding guitar (by most standards). The neck was sprayed with lacquer after assembly which caused a problem when I was cleaning the fret slots. After all the pain, function wise, its a bit better. I still love the guitar. My kids will have it one day. Currently inbetween spraying the acoustics. They should be done by the end of this coming week. We have a 3 day weekend and im making burgers tonight. I deserve a good burger...or two. -G

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Guitar School Adventures Episode 5: Super Smash Luthiers Melee.

Starting to get a little stir crazy. Ive been trying to read the Golden Compass and Ive gotten pretty good at minesweeper and spider solitaire. Thats just down time. Week 5 at school started with finish sanding the necks and bodies, leveled out fretboards and installed our fretwire. It was pretty slow, a bunch of waiting around to get people caught up. I made a new saddle for my Aria acoustic (which I found out is actually a 1973, not a 63 as I previously thought) Friday was our instructor Dave's birthday so we had cake and pizza. We were going to try getting into the spray room this week but the filter fan broke which set us back. Hopefully we will be all sprayed up next week. While our acoustics were in the spray room waiting to get coated we were reunited with out electric bodies and necks. Mistakes were made but nothing I could have prevented at my current skill level. I sprayed my lacquer too thick which resulted in some cracks. This is because the top surface dried before the under layers. The escaping moisture on the bottom layer forced the top to open up and split so it could push out. We wet sanded the bodies and necks which made me feel a little better because the lacquer may be thick but it was consistent. I have one continuous crack on my neck that starts from the tuning machine hole and travels aaaallll the way down the side and onto the heel of the neck. I laughed when I saw it. I guess that was a better reaction than pure rage. Removing the tape from the fretboard was a bit of a pain. I chipped out some of the lacquer because I wasnt paying attention the the way I was filing the sides. I guess we can spot fill it but it was still terrifying. I keep forgetting that these are all visual details. My housemate got tired of having no entertainment at the house so he bought a gamecube and super smash bros. I forget how angry that game makes me. I am much better than I was though, which is fun but I cant get too sucked in. I have more important things to worry about than jigglypuff's refusal to do as I command with my master controller. She'll learn eventually. -G

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Guitar School Adventures Episode 4: Find the center line.

4 weeks down, 4 weeks to go. This week was all about the necks. Cutting out the bulk, sanding, shaping, gluing. By Friday our necks were finally united with our bodies. Some mistakes were made, but nothing that was of any concern. Ive been thinking as I use more and more tools how I could apply these tools to my cigarbox building. Ive decided that a dremel and one of the dremel router bases Stewmac sells. I have so many applications for it. From inlays to F-holes I would have a field day! Repairs are key to starting any guitar business. A fact that was demonstrated by Bryan with another round of lectures. He finished the neck set and then decided to fix one of the other student's "drunken casualty" guitar. This guitar was an original Taylor that was smashed. A huge crack ripped around the rosewood sides. Bryan glued it back together. Humpty Dumpty wasnt pretty but he sure as hell was back together again. We returned to our necks and started carving them out. A process that was equally terrifying and fun at the same time. Starting to miss my family and friends back home. Living in a house without Wifi has made me appreciate personal interaction and sharpened my mind a bit. Its funny how much our minds get drawn into technology. (as I sit in a coffee shop with wifi posting a blog to social medias with spotify blasting "Cabo Wabo" by Van Hagar in my ear) We're supposed to be in the spray room by the end of next week, only time will tell! -G