Pictures of Stephen Casper working on the inlay... and clamping the
inlay:
http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/...utingInlay.jpg
http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/...DJEMGlueUp.jpg
Printable View
Pictures of Stephen Casper working on the inlay... and clamping the
inlay:
http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/...utingInlay.jpg
http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/...DJEMGlueUp.jpg
Wow! That is gonna be one beautiful guitar when it's done. I dig the level of craftsmanship, but would probably pass out over what this costs to build.
Routing and setting in of the truss rod:
http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/...1TrussRod1.jpg
http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/...MTrussRod2.jpg
The pickups (via SublimePickups.com) arrived from Hungary in only 3 days (to
Florida). They were attached to the pick guard and a photo sent to me. The
pick guard is a mirror... colorless... but it reflected something 'tan' in his
workshop.
http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/...sandguard1.jpg
The luthier had to custom make the truss rod cover from a sheet of steel, to
be chromed and polished before shipping to the engraver. A few more photos and
details are here:
http://caspersguitarshop.wordpress.c...ota-improvise/
http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/...ps845962d0.jpg
A shot of the body... metallic paint... dark copper (appears lighter in the
picture):
http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/...dypainted1.jpg
And a shot of the body with the pick guard and neck.
http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/...itarinFull.jpg
It's gonna be gorgeous :thumbsup
Thanks! There's still the headstock, the leaf tuner pegs, the leaf knobs, the truss rod cover (that's where I'm putting the Vai logo), and the trem plate cover (all hand engraved). The luthier told me that the picture is not picking up the true quality of this paint job... a metallic glow under the clear finish. Speaking of which, the middle pickup has the word Sublime on it (SublimePickups.com), and the word glows in the dark. As well, after 25 years of building guitars, my luthier was amazed at the weight and quality of construction of the pickups... and these hand made pickups cost the same as stock pickups from any other company. The luthier plans on contacting Sublime for future projects.
A shot of the leaf peg attached to the gears... along with a short video of
the product:
http://www.deepcutmetalart.com/clients/Leaf_peg.MOV
http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/...eadontuner.jpg
Below is the style of trem arm I want on this guitar. Such an arm does not
exist for the Schaller bridge being installed... and so the luthier is building
one from stratch.
http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2fa2a8dc.jpg
The fretboard with stainless steel frets (undressed) in.
http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/...psce9a3621.jpg
My luthier did a short blog update:
http://caspersguitarshop.wordpress.c...ject-progress/
Below is the neck a little more dressed and peg holes drilled. The truss rod
cover is shown with the Vai logo and a single pass of the engraving chisle (yet
to be fine-edged and chromed). Details on what has taken place found on the
luthier's blog:
http://wp.me/p2IaxD-1l
http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/...ps142ccc52.jpg
http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/...psfe0338ff.jpg
A picture of one of the guitar knobs lying on its side; hand engraved
(diamond to be set where you see the hole); character line work and shading,
followed by black oxidizing in the lines to follow. Argentariis does some
pretty incredible work!
http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/...psb3279df0.jpg
Hoping to have my baby in the next 2-3 weeks... here is the finished knob
(there are two of them); hand engraved and detailed!
http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/...sampTuners.jpg
Really impressed with the level of detail Brian, and thoroughly enjoyed reading your entire thread as your project has come together!
Great job!
Cheers,
David
This is incredible! Are you planning on playing this one? I'd be tempted to keep it in a secure display case :)
Wow! That's quite a beautiful project.