So I made some inlays instead of buying them. 1) It saved probably $100 or so, 2) I love doing this sort of thing, 3) it's just really cool to be able to say "I made the inlays too".

The higher end BC Rich mockingbirds have cloud inlays. I stole this design from a guy who does REALLY nice inlay work. I thought it was a nice variation on the clouds.

The body of the clouds are maple. The sun & rays are canarywood. I tried to use the darker orange & red streaks to my advantage when doing the rays. The grain on the maple is really tight, so the color is pretty uniform.



With the top beveled, I was finally able to put the tiger-eye burst on the top. This is a pic with the first sealer coat on it. The sides are being treated with a faux-binding effect. The sapele base is being dyed black.

My Day

Happy birthday to me!

Mockingbird progress

It's been a while since I posted any progress on this bad boy. It's been sitting in limbo for a while, waiting for time-consuming things to happen. Primarily, I had to finish up some Christmas projects. Good thing I'm in no rush.

The neck is finalized as paduk. I got lucky at the woodcarvers show last month and picked up a nice long paduk board with some sapwood along one side. A lot of woodworkers wouldn't want to combine heartwood and sapwood, but in this case it will just add something to the beauty of the neck.



The fretboard is now ebony. I landed a 3-pack of slotted Martin factory seconds for around $15-$20 shipped. I got another ebony blank that had some holes drilled all the way through for free. I'm using the blank to beef out the width of the Martin boards.

The inlays will still be clouds with the sun & moon. The clouds will be maple, and everything else will be canarywood. They're still going to be made with by beloved scrollsaw.

The body is glued up and routed to shape. It now has a 3A flamed maple top. I'm going to bevel it like BC Rich does theirs. Since the top is getting a tiger-eye burst and the edges of the top are pretty squared off, I'll use the undyed maple edges to give it a faux binging. To match this, the headstock, but not the neck, is being bound in cream.

still a geek.....

scroll saw + thin stock + guitar obsession = 20 unique Christmas tree ornaments

deck the frikin' halls!

I'm such a wood geek

This is sad.

I was just scrolling out a Christmas ornament on some random rosewood I picked out of someone's cutoff pile at the woodcarvers show. I couldn't tell what it was from the looks, but I knew it was some sort of rosewood and that it'd look good as an ornament.

When I started cutting it, I was like "Oh... that's bocote. It must be flatsawn since it's pretty plain." Sure enough, a quick look at the side of the 1/4" thick piece confirmed tha tit's bocote.

Identifying the woods by sight is one thing. Doing it by smell is completely over the top.

Mockingbird: Thoughts and decisions

Not much to report here other than some thoughts and a decision.

The fretboard became a no-brainer. I landed some ebony factory seconds that have been slotted already. The only reason they're seconds is they're a bit streaky. A little linseed oil takes care of that, so the fretboard is now and forever ebony. And it'll be spectacular with the sun/moon/cloud inlays.

I've been thinking about the neck for a little bit. It needs to balance tonally and visually with the body. Sapele is very dark soncially, with the flamed maple pulling it up a bit. I couldn't have a dark sounding neck like mahogany, but I didn't want it as bright as maple for fear of overcompensating. Using Warmoth's neck tone guide as a reference point for the woods I have on hand, this leaves me with bubinga, bocote, chechen, and paduk. They're all in the 75% bright range, with maple being 100%.

Visually, the sapele is getting ebonized, so it's a neutral black, as is the fretboard. The flamed maple is getting the tiger-eye burst, so the main color is varying shades of orange. Not only that, it's a very active orange due to the flaming. I don't want the neck to compete visually with the body or fretboard, so I need it to be fairly plain. This rules out bocote.

The fretboard is 22 frets, 25.5" scale. I already know that the 'Bird is precariously balanced, so a heavy wood for the neck is just asking for trouble. This rules out bubinga.

Looking at the two remaining woods - chechen and paduk - I'm comparing the colors and weight. Overall, taking into consideration everything mentioned above, I have to go with paduk. It's lighter than the chechen, and will eventually turn into a dark burnt orange, which will compliment the top nicely.

Upcoming Projects

I don't have any particular reason, but I have the need to post something about the upcoming projects I have in various stages of planning or incompletion.

Bookshelf
My sister wants a bookshelf. It'll be pretty basic: 3/4" plywood with poplar edging, stained mahogany and bullet-proofed with polyurethane.

The plywood has been cut and the poplar milled to size.

Gretsch Jupiter/Thinderbird
This should end up a straight copy of the original. Mahogany body with a maple cap, the top painted red, gold hardware. The neck should end up mahogany or some laminate with mahogany.

The base has been glued and routed to template.

Iceman
I can't play the mirrored Iceman at church anymore because the reflection from the lights randomly blinds members of the congregation. It's one of the best sounding guitars I have though, so I HAVE to have it available to play. The only solution is to make another an scavenge the hardware.

It'll be made almost identical to the 1st one: basswood & maple body and walnut neck. The major differences will be a thinner body, traditional bolt-on neck, and it'll be painted yellow.

SG
A total Gibson SG clone. I have the hardware & pups from a '79 SG to go on it.

This one has the body glued and routed to the template.

Redneck JR
Avenger body shape with a rebel flag on top. The body base is basswood and will be dyed blue. The flag will be bloodwood, ash dyed blue, and basswood. Either the neck or fretboard will be bloodwood. The neck might end up ash.

It'll have a single P90 in the bridge and a wraparound tailpiece, like a LPjr.

The body base has been glued and routed to the template.

Airline
Chambered poplar body, bocote or chechen neck, chrome hardware, Tiesco pickups, Tiesco-style vibrato.

The body is going to be painted with rally orange automotive lacquer. The rosewood neck will match up well visually with the orange paint. I'm leaning towards a plain maple fretboard.

50's car inspired build
This will be the same shape as the Superthin. It'll be reminiscent of the side body moldings of the cars from the 50's - particularly the 55-57 Buick and the 56-61 Corvette. The "body scoop" will be outlined with chrome trim. It'll utilize an aluminum neck I got from in a trade.

Rickenbacker 4000 bass
walnut body, birdseye maple veneer top, Rockfield active music-man pickups

Rickenbacker 600 guitar
maple body, bookmatched crotch walnut top, mahogany neck, gold hardware & pickups from the other Ric600 I made.