OK, I'll admit to this weakness

I love natural wood. Maybe it comes from working in a cabinet factory for 5 years (high school and college), but I love to see the grain.

That can be a good thing, but it can be a bad one, too. I collect guitars. Not expensive ones, mind you; all 8 (that I have right now) wouldn't add up to $1000 in value, probably.

But I thought I'd try my hand at assembling a kit and finishing it myself. It didn't come out as well as I'd hoped (finish-wise), but I learned a lot. And it plays amazingly well.

Here it is:





Now I'm thinking I need to build a cabinet to house them all! Maybe build in an amplifier and a pedal board...

wow, cool!! I really like the finish on the back.

I don't know what's so wrong with it, but it looks great to me. Love the lines in the wood I'm sure a wooden cabinet to house them in would be a lot easier to cut and put together

I'd have to agree with you. Wood is beautiful. With a BIL being a renowned wood sculptor, my hubby who loves to make guitars, and my daughter and I are into chip carving, I guess you could say we love wood.

That guitar looks good - nice job.

Hubby finished the polishing and buffing on his and his brother's guitars this past weekend and just finished hooking up the electronics on his. He says the sound is a bit more bright than he likes but overall he is quite happy and feels that once he changes the pots he'll have the sound he wants.

I promised to take a picture and I'll try to remember to do that tonight.

BTW - if any of you ever want to check out my BIL's carvings, do a google for Neil Cox Wood Carver.

Wow, that looks great! What type of wood(s) did you use? I admire handmade woodwork of any kind, and I love guitars. It's impressive you made it all yourself! And it plays great, too?! That's awesome!

cool Guitar my friend!... ...looks terrific!...

I love to work with wood, too.
What type of finish did you use, and what type of wood?

Very beautiful! I love how the wood grain glows!

It looks beautiful to me...I can't see anything wrong with it. Nice job! .

I love wood, too. One of the main reasons I fell in love with our house is because all of the trims, floors, cabinets, etc are natural wood.

It's a burl ash top veneer, and the body is basswood, I think. Did you notice the burl ash is bookmatched? That means the piece of wood is split down the middle, then opened like a book so the grain matches down the center line.

I used a pine stain on the top and a mahogany stain on the body. That's where I made my first mistake; the straight, clear dividing line I hoped for didn't work out. Then I finished it with a satin polyurethane, brushed for the first two coats and then sprayed for about 4 more.

The neck is maple, the fingerboard rosewood, pretty standard stuff.

It's wired like a telecaster, essentially.

I got the kit on e-bay for less than $90, including shipping. A real bargain, in my book.

Very Nice!! We have a lot of pieces of at my famly home of pieces that my great uncle made for us. He was so talented and use to make big nice pieces of furniture.

Originally Posted by Yosemite

BTW - if any of you ever want to check out my BIL's carvings, do a google for Neil Cox Wood Carver.

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You have a very talented family, Linda. I would love to see some pieces that you guys have done, too.

I was amazed at just some of the work I saw from Neil Cox, just gorgeous, what a talent!!!

wow that is amazing. I like the wood myself. I am always sad to see someone paint over a beautiful wood piece

Originally Posted by mrblanche

It's a burl ash top veneer, and the body is basswood, I think. Did you notice the burl ash is bookmatched? That means the piece of wood is split down the middle, then opened like a book so the grain matches down the center line.

I used a pine stain on the top and a mahogany stain on the body. That's where I made my first mistake; the straight, clear dividing line I hoped for didn't work out. Then I finished it with a satin polyurethane, brushed for the first two coats and then sprayed for about 4 more.

The neck is maple, the fingerboard rosewood, pretty standard stuff.

It's wired like a telecaster, essentially.

I got the kit on e-bay for less than $90, including shipping. A real bargain, in my book.

Click to expand...

Did you have to do the veneer yourself or was it already done? I did notice the bookmatching but then hubby has me well trained in those things.

If the body is basswood it should be fairly light. That's actually the wood that Neil does most of his carvings from since it is softer and easier to carve.

It's a lot of work and you did a fine job. All the fine water sanding between coats of finish will give you good muscles. When the weather got cooler and DH couldn't get the high temps for drying between coats by putting the guitar in the car with all the windows closed, he started using my oven set to it's lowest setting. He's just lucky that I'm a patient wife.

Did you do the polishing with the 5 different grades of cream as well? It looks nice and shiny.

For $90, you did get a good deal and if it plays the way you like, it doesn't get any better.

cool!!!! thanks for sharing! x
Jess x

Actually, it has a pretty minimal finish on it. I was inspired by a guitar in Vintage Guitar Magazine, and I wanted to try to get close. I purposely used a satin rather than a high-gloss finish. I could do lacquer; that's what I painted with at the cabinet factory, and I can do a piano-quality finish.