Leaderboard

So why are the body wings so deep? Well - because the body cross section is going to have some curves. Mind you, that will mean a LOT of carving - and I will creep up on the final shape and let the guitar show where it wants to go... Here comes in play one of my favourite hand-tools - the Veritas Pull-shave. I think it's designed for scooping out wooden chair seats, but it's ideal for this kind of job: But I also use the block plane, razor planes and cabinet scrapers. Off and on over a few days, it's starting to take shape. Carve here is probably 50% done for the body. In between carving sessions, I also added frets to the (still unglued) fretboard:

Looking good already.

Cutting the pickup chambers meant that I could do a mockup to talk to Alex what his preference for the position of the controls is before I cut the control chamber: And then the control chamber could be cut and the carve continued at the back - this time switching to the trusty gooseneck card scraper: Next was fitting the trussrod, cap and gluing the fretboard after laminating it with a maple and a black veneer to give me a demarcation line: Starting to get there: Time to start the neck carve and then blend that in with the continuing body carve.

Too much. Mesa Boogie Studio preamp Mesa Boogie Triaxis preamp Marshall JMP-1 preamp (technically MOSFet but with valve flavouring) Carvin Quad X preamp Burman GX3 preamp Marshall 20/20 EL84 power amp Burman Pro501 1x12 combo Fender Princeton Reverb II Fender Concert II (in NZ) Chinese made 5F2 Princeton Tweed combo (x2) The Fender Concert has to go at some point. Same for the Carvin because it's surplus. I'm not sure I need the 5F2 combos, Burman Pro501 or GX3 but...we shall see.

Thank you! I will amuse some of you with my guitar playing at some point

Indeed! My fencing students groan at hearing the phrase “slow is smooth and smooth is fast” over and over again, but tense muscles and rushing will never give them good point control and quick ripostes. At the moment I’m at the stage of trying to (re-) learn how to change chord shapes, and the method mentioned above (slow, frequent practice, with a metronome) is necessary.

If anyone wants to hear what these are like, I just came across this video. https://youtu.be/PyM8IgQhHKo

Certainly makes a statement. I like a guitar that doesn't look entirely traditional, and dare I say, boring. Might need to have a disclaimer when you gig with it though for people with photo-sensitivity. You might get headaches like a strobe light after looking at it for any length of time!!

Exactly right. It's not just isolated to karate or any martial arts. Any kind of sport/activity that requires dexterity and speed, the more tense your muscles are, the less effective you'll be. I play golf and in the beginning I thought to hit the ball far, I have to "grip it and rip it". I was shocked to my core when my teacher told me to relax and swing easy. More consistent, and I hit it as far or even further. With guitar playing, the only tense part of my fretting hand are the fingers (when I'm barring chords). But forearm and wrist are loose. It's why I have the guitar up higher than some. Having the guitar too low when I'm standing up just tenses up my whole left arm from the elbow down.

You mention 'fast position and chord changes'. My single piece of advice would be to solve this issue by doing things slowly. Slow is the new fast. Slow is the fastest way to do fast. Whatever it is you're wanting to do, do it slowly, preferably with a metronome, or whatever you use for tempo, but set it to slow. Do whatever it is you are wanting to do, slowly, for a while (two, three weeks..? Every day, for ten-fifteen minutes..? Slowly..!). Once it can be done, slowly, well, up the tempo a little. No, just a little (60 bpm becomes 65 bpm, for example...) do this, regularly, for another 'while', and once you've become proficient at it, up the tempo a tad more (65 becomes 70..?). Repeat; if, after a 'while' it's still not smooth, clean, easy, go back down a tad with the tempo and repeat. It is useful, and recommended, to start from the original 'slow' tempo now and again, for a day or so, working back up to one's current tempo, as a refresher. Always with the metronome, or whatever you use for tempo. This is the way to obtain whatever speed one wants, and is the guaranteed fastest way. Is there a downside..? Yes, it requires a large bucketful of Patience. Those without this essential accessory will not achieve their goal, so be sure to have that bucket, and keep it well topped up. It is of no advantage to do this for hours on end, nor too many times a day, but if time permits, a couple or three sessions of 10-15 minutes (no more...) may be permitted. The key is in the regularity (every day...), in the keeping the tempo slow (hence the metronome or equivalent...) and the Patience. It cannot, and never does, fail. Douglas