lots more sanding and a first coat of finish on the 00 zouk







and a start made on the neck for the jumbo.

5 piece laminate: mahogany, cherry, mahogany, cherry, mahogany, and for the REALLY pedantic, the outer two layers are MDF clamping cauls, not layers of neck!!

Lots of sanding done on the 00 zouk.

the neck permenantly attached



and the heel cap glued in place

jumbo has the bandages off....





and a fair bit of work on the 00 zouk...

tuner holes drilled



neck fitted (temporarally at least!)




still a LOAD of sanding to do before glueing the neck in and sorting the heel cap, but its starting to look like it actually might be a musical instrument soon!

jumbo top rough cut out....



tail "wedge" done using the piece of wood that was cut from the end of the side, so its a REALLY good match, with two pencil lines of maple to carry the eye from the front binding to the back.....



and the binding is on!!

Glen's Les Paul Jr continues....

the remaining fret slots were cut, the body was shaped to the correct outline and the long sanding process begins.......

Jumbo has the body closed..... forgot to take a pic of the carved braces... ah well!!



00 zouk....

neck dots.

mark,



Drill





glue in the rod



cut flush





frets in,



and neck pocket STARTED. there is a LOT more work to be done before then neck/body join is done.

some more bracing onto the jumbo.....



and a support patch bend & glued into where the soundport will be....



fretboard profiled and marker dots fitted to the neck of the 00 Zouk

bandages off the 00....

Lots of sanding to do, but that's normal.





the back is on the Jumbo and the edges are rough trimmed.....



and the soundhole support patch glued in and soundhole cut, and some of the braces on...

would you believe I've started a student!!

one of my 1st year technology pupils, (11/12 years old) wants to make a guitar, so who am I to stand in his way? he's keen, his Mum is keen, even his big sister is keen, so here we go!!

he's decided on a Les Paul Junior type of thing.

here's the wooden bits...

Braz. mahogany body & 3 piece neck & ebony fretboard

I've priced around to see how much this little block would cost "off the shelf".....

over £100 inluding post......

I think I may have underquoted his Mum for this fine old piece from my stash.... but hey, life's too short to let a few £ get in the way of having fun, right?



neck glued up



fret slots measaured, marked and started sawing

so, Christmas has been and gone, as has the school open night, so I can at LAST get back to some guitar making.

Rosewood binding on the 00 zouk



and some carving on the neck.....





the cutaway jumbo....

at last, the abalone ring arrived from the US for the rosette.....



back braces glued in...



and the linings on one side of the body...