Not done yet.

So there is a rumor going around that I am finished building/blogging.... pshhh... I hope that I didnt give people this impression by posting a blog about the show. We still have a lot more work to do.
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So the next step was to fit a heel cap onto my heel.This is mostly an aesthetic thing I deicided to use some of my left over back wood.


I used titebond too glue it up and held it on with masking tape for about an hour.

Next I used this circular file to cut ramps for my slotted headstock.



The ramps are needed to match the angle of the strings so they wont rub against the head stock while attached to the tuning machines. The result is a pretty cool look.


OK so a few blogs ago I put in the new frets but now I decidied to go into how to do a successful fretjob. First I adjust the truss rod to make sure the fingerboard is flat. then I use a leveling bar with sand paper on the bottom to sand all the frets an equal height.I dont want to go to low ... I try to take off only about .005".

Next I check to make sure I dont have any high spots using a tool called a "fret rocker"... which was coincidentally my nickname in high school.



The frets now have a flat spot on the top of them... My goal is to make this spot as thin as I can and place it directly in the middle of the fret. I do this so that it has the best intonation it can have. I use a crowning file to do this.


Next I sand off those crowning scratches with 400, 600 grit sandpaper

and finish it off with steel wool.


I also use a tiny file to smooth over the edges of the frets so no one will cut there little fingers when they play it.


I could do a more to the frets and polish them up to a mirror shine but they already look pretty darn good.... and they are going to get scratched up when the strings are on... so.... After that I made a cover for the truss rod out of rosewood... to cover up that ugly truss rod.




LET THE SANDING BEGIN. Preparing the guitar for finishing requires a lot of sanding. The average guitar requires about 16 hours of sanding... thats 2 whole working days... nothing but sanding.... ugh. I didnt take a lot of pictures of sanding cause its boring... I did take a picture of my teacher using the air powered random orbital sander. I used this to do my back but did the rest of the guitar by hand up to 220 grit starting with the darkest woods first.



The only thing I have left to sand is the top which I will do after I do a final voicing. While I wait I start to make a bridge for my guitar out of cocobolo to match my fingerboard.


Thanks a lot guys.. I cant wait to spray this thing and string it up... I want everyone of you guys to play it!!!