Cleat Clamps

These are called Cleat Clamps. I know they look weird.
The thin guitar string is passed through the spruce top with a glued Cleat under the top, tightening the guitar string pulls the Cleat against the top nice and tight. I use this method to keep cracks from getting larger.

Freestyle Bass in progress

I've begun working on the first Freestyle Bass.
There will be no prototyping on this as we have a customer who ordered it to his specs.
The Body is 2 piece Mahogany. The Neck will be Maple with PBass specs.
In the shots you can see I have begun carving the contours.
More to come.

Taking a Break

The First Production Model Freestyle Del Rey to see action and kick butt.
From what I was told she played a solid hour and a half without a hitch and sounded amazing.

I'm just a proud father.

In the Shop

Just wanted to share.
The first shot is a Mahogany blank being thickness sanded for a bass.
The second shot is four Alder and 2 Mahogany body blanks
thickness sanded to just over 1 7/8" and ready for cutting.

Final Batocaster

Here are the final shots of the Batocaster.
The Client was very pleased and I've had some great feedback.
I would NOT hesitate to do another one.
It was a challenge but with lessons learned, the next should be easier.

Freestyle Red

The Red Freestyle is assembled and ready for final tweaks.

The Shadow - Blackout Telecaster Done

I'm very proud of this one.
This Telecaster has a Licensed Fender neck on a custom hand cut body.
Built new with a well played look and feel. Feel was very important on this one. I wanted the neck to look and feel 50 years old and play like an original neck from that time period plays.
It Does! and I'm very happy with the way she sounds too.

Specs:
She's got 52 Tele RI neck by Mighty Might with a Tusk nut. Kluson Split shaft tuners and a Gotoh top loading Bridge. She's wired with a 4 way switch that incorporates the out of phase selection. The Black Nitro finish has been oil rubbed to create the flat black appearance.

But the best part about her is she plays real easy and sounds like a 52 Tele.
I'm going to try this again in another color... Maybe in the TV Yellow?

Stay Tuned.

In the Shop

I've been away a bit, No Excuses, just busy.

What's going on?

From the shots above you can see the latest on the Maleficent guitar.
I've got a few more hours of carving then I should be ready for finish.
You can see the stain I'm testing for the base color. The Dragon is Purple and Black in the original Movie "Sleeping Beauty" so that is what I'm going for. I'm also working on some inlays for the neck as well as a tossing around ideas for fret thickness.

Next up is the Telecaster that I am calling "The Shadow"
It's a classic Maple neck, aged to look like it's been well played since 52'. I'll try to get some Up Close shots to post when it's completed. The body is a standard Tele cut, finished in Black Nitro with a matte oil rubbed finish. All the hardware is black, and I've just ordered a cover for the neck pickup in black. I've got her wired up with a four position switch so the very first position is the two pickups out of faze, then the other three positions are normal Tele positions.
I'm hoping she sounds as good as she looks. I already have four customers interested.
If she sounds good I'll have to build 3 more. Fingers Crossed.

More to Come!

2nd Prototypes

My Partner Steve and I just recently finished our second prototype.
This one has a Static, Top Loading Bridge and a 24.75" Scale neck.
Same Pickups and wiring as the 1st prototype.
Were on a roll now.
Next up will be the 4 string Bass and a Shredder model guitar.

NAMM 2013

There she is the First Freestyle Del Rey at the NAMM show getting a full on workout by my very good friend Joey Delgado of the Delgado Brothers.

2 years in the making and she Sang her heart out... I'm very Proud.

Thanks Joey for giving her a chance and giving my new venture some exposure.

Freestyle Del Rey

OK, Here she is the First Ever Freestyle Del Rey.
Top shot is me on the left and my partner Steve on the right, our 3rd Ryan is taking the shot.
Middle shot is 2 of the colors we've agreed on.
Bottom shot is the Finished prototype.

Going to NAMM tomorrow and Hopefully my friend Joey Delgado of the Delgado Brothers will have the time to play it on stage at the Sheraton Park Hotel in Anaheim CA.
The Delgado Brothers go on at 8:30 if your in the neighborhood it's open to the public, no NAMM passes are required to get in. I can't wait to hear her on stage...

Unofficial Launch of the Freestyle Musical Instrument Company

http://www.freestylemusicalinstruments.com/

Our official Web Page has a spot now.
Now we just need to build a website...

Freestyle Musical Instruments

My Partners and I are very excited to introduce the "Freestyle Del Rey".
We will have 2 versions ready for production in January 2013:
One model with a Static Schaller bridge and one with a Bigsby and roller bridge.
We will be offering 25.5inch and 24.75inch compound radius necks.
A limited choice of colors and pickups at this point.

We are just waiting for our aluminum pick guards to come back from the machine shop and I'll have 2 models for you to see.
Keep your eyes open for the "Freestyle" website under construction as I type this.

Cutting F Holes

It's Christmas...
I got bored while waiting for the cookies and pies to bake, so I headed down to the workshop and cut this F-hole in a cigar box that I'll be attaching that Uke neck too.

F-holes are a nice change of pace, Usually. Normally the wood your cutting through is no more than an 1/8th of an inch thick at the most... this was a good 1/4 inch thick top.

As you can see by the top pic I drilled 3 holes and reamed out the holes to size.
I then used a Push Saw, like a jig saw with a wooden handle that you push and pull to cut, to cut the arms. After the cutting I used micro files to smooth out the cut lines and a sharpie to darken the wood inside the F-hole.

I chose to cut an F-hole in the body as a sound hole instead of just drilling holes. I think it give the old cigar box a bit more character and class.

Teaser FREESTYLE Guitars

This is a teaser!
Coming Soon! the First Freestyle Guitar!
Prototype's aren't even finished and we've got orders.

This is the first production model of the "Freestyle Del Rey" Should be playable by January.

This is a custom color requested by the client...
My partners and I aren't sure this will be a regular color.

We've go the logo nailed. Working on paint chips. Outsourced our necks and pick guards. Bodies and paint are in house right now. Everything that is sourced is made and manufactured in the U.S.
I'll post the pics of the finished guitar as soon as the pick guards arrive.

We should have a website up and running by the end of January, fingers crossed.
But right now word of mouth is gold.
Keep yours eyes and ears open, Freestyle Musical Instruments are coming!

Old Tuner Repair

In the upper photo you can see these Vintage Martin/Kluson tuners that the plastic buttons just rotted off. Unfortunately this happens a lot. To make matters worse, these tuners were only made to these specifications for 3 years back in the 1950's. This means there are no replacement tuners available with post and screw holes that will line up correctly. This also means if I chose some vintage looking tuners, I'll have to drill new screw holes... Ich!.
The answer here was replacement tuner buttons.
I used a wrench to hold the tuner steady (using a plastic shield to protect the post from the wrench). Then, I heated up the old tuner shank using a soldering gun (the same one I use to heat up frets for removal). During the heating process, I'll gently push the new button onto the shank until I reach the point where the old button stopped.
Once the shank has cooled down, I add a drop of super glue to fill the hole left over by the shank as it enters the button. It's not needed for strength, but it gives a nice completed look.
This old girl is now all tuned up and sounding amazing, as she should.

The lower photo is the completed Uke neck from a previous post, ready for a cigar box.
I can't believe how pretty it turned out... all from scraps.
I'm going to have to dive into my scrap box again and look around for more.
I've got a ton of Cigar Box's.

More Uke Stuff

I'm still working on Prototypes but during the sealing and painting process there is time to goof off...

Here you can see one of the Cigar Box Uke necks I'm working on.
This is a Maple neck with a Cherry stripe, Walnut finger board and an Ebony Headstock cap... All the wood came from my scrap pile.

I've shaped the back, contoured the fretboard as well as slotting for frets and drilling the holes for the friction tuners.
The next step will be to shape the headstock, seal the wood and install the frets.
It will then be ready to be installed on a cigar box.

Little bit of this and that

Busy weekend... along with tweaking prototypes I got to do some fret slotting for some upcoming Cigar Box Ukes. And a long distance client Matt, asked me to make him an aluminum jack plate.

Matt's request wasn't all that difficult, but a little odd for me. I don't normally work this small.
His request was for a 26x32mm plate... that's pretty small.
In the photo you can see I started with a slug. Squared it off, marked my drill holes, drilled and countersunk the screw holes. I then gave it a rough sanding with 1200 grit sandpaper.
I mounted it to a piece of plywood so I can polish it with rubbing compound... it's hard to polish something that small without having it attached to something.
The finished product had a nice billet shine.

Anniversary Gift Finished just in time for the Holidays

For those of you who watched the building of this from the beginning, here is the final product. This tray is 30 inches long and 20 inches wide. Built from American Walnut scrap that I picked up at my local lumber yard. I milled and book matched the pieces, glued them up, routed and mitered the sides and finished with a bit of distressing, dark stain and a gloss lacquer finish. I then buffed down to a dull aged shine for the final look.
In the pics you can see the final finish drying in the sun and the finished piece sitting where it will spend the rest of its life... hopefully getting used quite a bit.
My Wife was overwhelmed. And I finished just in time for Thanksgiving. About 2 weeks late for the anniversary but just in time since we are hosting for Turkey day this year...

Batocaster Progress

Finally got the top on this baby, but i'm not liking the way the top back and sides meet.
I'm thinking about pinstipe tape on the edges. Lets see what the client thinks.