bits & pieces going on.

the mando is done but for a label & a little setting up:







and I got a start made on a traditional shaped bouzouki.

body mould started but nowhere near finished.....



and long scale ebony fretboard slotted.



the strings for the pew guitar & the two other zouks SHOULD arrive tomorrow (as I paid the import VAT on them today). I'd LIKE to get at least one bridge on tomorrow, and the other two on before the weekend.

Endpin preamp into the pew guitar.....



Tuners onto the Zouks......



and the beveled mando has the neck on, frets on, and first coat of varnish





I'm stalled now as I wait for the strings I've ordered to arrive from www.juststrings.com. GREAT value supplier, but being in the US, they take a little time to get here.

Once they arrive it'll be time to line up the bridges and get everything tidied up. it's POSSIBLE that all 4 of these will be done before Easter...... if I get 2 done I'll be happy!!

tuners on the pew guitar



and the bridge where it will be once I get it glued up.



and I finally got a chance to look at the dread mando again.

neck rough cut, truss rod slot cut & headstock ears glued on.

both zouks and the pew build have had a few coats, then allowed to dry over the weekend, been wet & dry sanded and then sprayed some more.....





and the bridges are progressing.......

first zouk has 3 coats on now.....

another couple tomorrow, then leave it over the weekend to harden, then sand it down Monday and then start spraying the finish coats.....





2nd zouk has the neck on & heel cap glued in place.....



and I fired up the CNC router today to have a go at making bridges for them both.....

this is rough... still needs a LOT of work, but at least it's symmetrical!!.......

Church pew guitar....neck glued on, heel cap glued in....



and first coat of varnish to spot any glue splodges that still need sanded out...



close up of the rosette



one of the zouks, neck on, heel cap on



First coat of "spot the glue" varnish.....

some work on the zouks.

one neck rough carved, marker dots on headstock shaped & tuner holes drilled.....



I have the neck cut out on the other one, but not much more than that.

the pew guitar has the frets in.....



I'd REALLY like to get all three of these done before Easter, but that's only 3 weeks.......

finished the pickup in mando #42. It'll be in the post tomorrow, all being well.

some more neck work on the Pew guitar.

fret marker dots on & cut the profile then started sanding.

the headstock needs a fair bit of work too..... and the neck joint is barely started.

nowhere near done yet, but on the road at least......

Some sanding done today which doesn't look at all exciting, the fretboard glued onto the pew guitar...



and a start made on fitting the pickup to mando #42.

the strap jack is screwed onto the tailpiece......



and the new bridge is made, with the slot for the pickup and bone saddle, and a hole in the top to allow the cable to feed through. the hole through the bridge is big enough to allow a little wiggle room to allow for adjustment for intonation

Once the tape comes off, it's over to the sander to cut down to the bevel angle.



side view



and here's a family photo!!

mando, ready for sanding

two zouks, binding on, ready for tidying the binding & sanding

church pew guitar ready for sanding



then a bunch of necks to make!!

mando arm bevel progress...

top glued on...



then I worked out where I'd cut it and made a routing guide.....



binding channel routed....



routing guide clamped in place...



bearing cutter lined up for same depth as binding channel



and routed...



binding to follow!!

so zouks.....

binding channel in top cut...



step cut for herringbone purfling



and then binding & herringbone bent & glued in place on both zouks

1st zouk top braced and fitted......





two necks glued up... simple two piece for strength & stability.



and the back of the closed box bound with the matching rosewood.



the church pew guitar is closed too.....





and bound, again with rosewood.....



and the mando?

well, I had a brainstorm today.

in the future I plan to build a guitar for myself with a fanned fretboard and a bevelled armrest.

the fanned fretboard I've built a jig for, but the bevelled armrest? well I decided to have a dry run on the dread mando, so first I removed the linings from the top edge.....



then cut a block of mahogany to match the curve.....



add a veneer of rosewood....



and glue it all up



no idea how it'll turn out, but I reckon I'm going to loose less if I screw up a mando than if I screw up a guitar!!