Archive for the ‘The Tomahawk Guitar’ Category
The Tomahawk With Frets
Posted by admin in The Tomahawk Guitar on February 2nd, 2010
Here is the Tomahawk with the frets installed. Next comes the leveling and dressing.
The Tomahawk Guitar Gets Oiled Up
Posted by admin in The Tomahawk Guitar on January 30th, 2010
This morning, I wiped on the 4th and final coat of tung oil. Now it has to sit for a day or two in order to dry. The result will be a flat sheen on top of the crimson red stain. The next step will be to instal the frets and make the nut. Hopefully, the guitar will be ready for sale by this time next week.
In the meantime, I’m waiting for delivery on a slab of hard Maple and some Black Walnut for the next project. I’m leaning towards building a neck through Legato, which will also be available for sale.
Also on the workbench is a stack of templates I made today for three different guitars. One set is for a Legato, the second is for a Tomahawk and the third is a new design I’ve currently named the Fatback. It’s a single cutaway body shape much like a Les Paul, but with forward lean. All three are neck through guitars as I find this approach the easiest to make. Especially when I recess the bridge and keep the neck flat.
My plan is to build these guitars from the best wood available. Then I’ll add top notch components (including custom, hand wound pickups) and offer them for sale on my site. I’m also thinking about using some trick wiring (think onboard, active circuitry here) to help my guitars stand out from the crowd. Should be interesting. Stay tuned!
To Lacquer Or Not To Lacquer…
Posted by admin in The Tomahawk Guitar on January 26th, 2010
…that is the question. For my latest build, the Tomahawk, I stated in my post yesterday that I planned to lacquer the body and neck. However, Canarywood needs no finish at all. And since the body is Mahogany, I’ve decided to wipe it all down with 100% pure tung oil. But let me be more specific. The first three coats on the body and neck are a 50/50 mix of mineral spirits and tung oil. This should seal the pours. The body, on the other hand, will get many more coats–1 every 24 hours–of straight tung oil. The result should be a very durable semi-gloss finish.
Speaking of finishes, check out this site: GWNN. They are using a Japanese Urushi lacquer technique for their guitar refinishing. I had thought about doing the same thing a while back as it’s truly miraculous in both the application and results. However, it’s a bit of a chore. Maybe I’ll give it a go some day if I can source the materials.
The Tomahawk Goes Red
Posted by admin in The Tomahawk Guitar on January 24th, 2010
Today the Tomahawk was stained with Crimson Red stain. Next, I'll give it a thin coat of lacquer to seal it up. Then I'll install the fret wire.
Torturing A Guitar Neck
Posted by admin in The Tomahawk Guitar on January 22nd, 2010
Normally I work in my garage/workshop, but it's 35° out there. Glue takes forever to dry when it's that cold.
The Tomahawk Fretboard
Posted by admin in The Tomahawk Guitar on January 18th, 2010
Normally I use Mother of Pearl for the dot. In this case, I used epoxy with pearl white paint. I decided to do this since the dots are so small. Why so small? Because I didn't want to cover up the cool grain.
The Tomahawk Electric Guitar So far
Posted by admin in The Tomahawk Guitar on January 17th, 2010
This is the Tomahawk so far. I've finished the major shaping and sanding.
The rough shaping is finished. Time to radius the fretboard.
The Tomahawk Neck Through Electric Guitar
Posted by admin in The Tomahawk Guitar on January 16th, 2010
Yesterday I made the neck. Today, I added the Honduran Mahogany body wings. Tomorrow, I'll start sanding like a man possessed.
Nothing Like A Good Piece Of Hickory
Posted by admin in The Tomahawk Guitar on January 15th, 2010
Actually, it's Canarywood. I just like that quote from the movie Pale Rider. This will be for a neck through guitar I started building today. God, I love my band saw!! It only took me minutes to make all the cuts.