We got there in the end!
It was not easy though, the last 2 days were especially hard work. With hindsight I wish we had worked a bit later on previous days, so I will bear this in mind for the next ‘custom’ course.Headless Hans, Paul and Luc complete their custom instruments. Steve finished the woodwork but left his with us for spraying as he wanted the full gloss.
Day 6: The calm before the storm……most of the day was spent working on the bodies. Hans’ body was quite complicted and very small with not a lot of room for error. Paul spent a long time time carving the neck join on his thru neck bass. Luc did the binding on his body. Steve finished carving his body. All fairly stress free……
Day 7: Sanding storm! Also drilling the holes to mount the hardware and checking the fit of all parts. This is where time started to run away with us. Steve and Luc had to glue their necks in before handing the guitars over to Billy for spraying. The guitars are left overnight to dry ready for assembly tommorow. Lets just say we worked late…….But not as late as Billy who worked into the night to get them sprayed ready for the morning. Thanks Billy!
Day 8: LAST DAY! When making guitars, every job you do can make the next one easier or harder, depending on how well it is done. This is crunch time when you find out if all the checking and double checking along the way has paid off. If all is well it should fit together with no problems and only a fret dress and set up are left to do. The frets are levelled before being reshaped, and then sanded and polished. The ‘set up’ is basically three jobs: Set the truss rod, Set the action, and finally the intonation. We worked late again to finish the guitars before heading straight for the pub to celebrate with a much needed and well earned drink. Cheers All!
The course is very intense – I liken it to climbing a mountain….It can be very difficult at times – there are certainly some scary parts along the way. By the end of it, although it is just over a week, it seems like we have all known each other for a long time. But check out the view from the top……The lads have made 4 fantastic instruments – I wish them all to live long and prosper.