KVR Audio

Bombadil · Post by **Bombadil** » Sun Jan 29, 2023 3:21 pm

choochcat wrote: ↑Sun Jan 29, 2023 2:58 pm or i could learn to press 'submit' once

submit once, and you'll always be submittin'!

Bombadil · Post by **Bombadil** » Sun Jan 29, 2023 4:06 pm

sjm wrote: ↑Sat Jan 28, 2023 3:16 pm Something a little different, and probably the cheapest guitars in here (beating even DT's). These are 2 guitars from a DIY kits that cost around EUR 60 a pop. I bought the kits as lockdown projects to do with my wife, whose is a trained carpenter and a quite talented artist. The carpentry skills came in handy for the first one, which was still pretty rough around the edges and needed quite a bit of sanding before we could think about a paint job.

DIY tele finished_sm.png

I think she used acrylic paint on this one, at any rate it was hand painted using brushes, and took quite a while to finish. I very much like the way it looks. It's not a particularly great guitar to play though. The stock pick-ups and strings are the very definition of meh, but it does play. This one also requires me to solder all the parts together, which actually went surprisingly well - I hadn't soldered anything for at least a decade, probably two. I'm not that bothered by it not being great to play though, it was always conceived of as being an artwork more than an instrument. I was more interested in seeing how things went, given that this was the first DIY kit I built. Lessons were learned, and it has sentimental value.

I built a bass after that, but I just oiled the wood (my wife wasn't involved), so it's nothing spectacular. So I'm not sharing that. But it plays pretty well and the pick-ups are decent enough. Definitely usable and a nice alternative to my Fender J-bass.

The third DIY kit was another joint project, and this time things worked out really well. We ditched the idea of painting the body by hand, and the kit was much higher quality than the first one. Pretty much no sanding required this time. The electrics also required no soldering, which was slightly disappointing but also a lot easier. Intonation was perfect with no adjustment (a miracle!) and the pickups sound very decent for a EUR 60 guitar.

The idea behing this one was to celebrate me becoming an Irish citizen and thus securing my right to stay and work in the EU following the Brexit disaster. This time we decided to airbrush the body, which required us to buy an airbrush. We'd both taken part in a course where we used airbrushes to create designs for T-shirts, and had very much enjoyed it. So we bought an airbrush (which cost many times what the kit cost) and a bunch of stencils, going for a celtic theme. This time I was also involved in the painting process - it's a lot easier to use stencils if you are graphically incompetent, though I let my wife take care of most of the more complicated scale design.

Green Dragon Guitar - front_sm.jpg

Green Dragon Guitar - back_sm.jpg

Green Dragon Guitar - dragon_sm.jpg

And yes, we didn't bother doing anything fancy in terms of shaping the headstock. We've only got hand saws at home, and that seemed like far too much effort and far too much sawdust to be worth it.

Very nicely done!

sjm · Post by **sjm** » Mon Jan 30, 2023 8:32 am

Bombadil wrote: ↑Sun Jan 29, 2023 4:06 pm Very nicely done!

Thanks! Most of the credit goes to my wife. But I'll accept the plaudits anyway

At least I was involved in the design and painting of the green one.

I'd actually like to do another one - maybe something a little more flashy and showy, like a double-necked one or a flying V for the lulz. However, there's not really any space for more guitars - I already had to buy a new stand recently. The only free space I have are 2 floor stands. I like to keep those empty so I can use them to hold the guitar between takes if I'm recording or for when someone comes over for a jam session. One day, when I have a mansion...

Bombadil · Post by **Bombadil** » Mon Jan 30, 2023 9:11 am

I've thought of doing something like that, but I screwed up model airplanes when I was a kid, so, best not.

sjm · Post by **sjm** » Mon Jan 30, 2023 10:30 am

Tbh, I don' think you can do that much wrong with the Harley Benton kits from Thomann, at least in my experience. No soldering, well cut without any rough edges and thus pretty foolproof to assemble. Possibly too easy!

The bolt on necks are just a case of tighetning some screws, ditto for the pick guards and input jack, and everything on the pickguard is already taken care of. The fun thing being that you can go wild and do your own design. If you're useless at the visual arts like I am, an airbrush and stencils again means you probably can't mess it up that badly if you have at least a vague idea of how to use and airbrush and don't go crazy with too much paint. Just let the layers dry and coat them evenly.

Another alternative would be to go all "steampunk" and just stick random pieces of rusty metal to the body and call that a design

There are some kits using really beautiful pieces of wood (I particularly like the zebra wood) from Pitbull guitars, but they're in Australia, so it would get pretty expensive with shipping.

vurt · Post by **vurt** » Mon Jan 30, 2023 10:34 am

Bombadil wrote: ↑Mon Jan 30, 2023 9:11 am I've thought of doing something like that, but I screwed up model airplanes when I was a kid, so, best not.

why was camouflage so bloody hard to paint??
could never get it to look like actual camo

and i used to paint wizards and elves n stuff!!

tapper mike · Post by **tapper mike** » Mon Jan 30, 2023 10:55 am

Bombadil wrote: ↑Mon Jan 30, 2023 9:11 am I've thought of doing something like that, but I screwed up model airplanes when I was a kid, so, best not.

I decided I wanted to paint one of my drones orange so it would be more visible in the sky.
After looking at all the detail required to mask it all off I went with orange decals. Bad idea very bad. I couldn't align the contact paper to save my life.

vurt · Post by **vurt** » Mon Jan 30, 2023 11:15 am

tapper mike wrote: ↑Mon Jan 30, 2023 10:55 am
Bombadil wrote: ↑Mon Jan 30, 2023 9:11 am I've thought of doing something like that, but I screwed up model airplanes when I was a kid, so, best not.
I decided I wanted to paint one of my drones orange so it would be more visible in the sky.
After looking at all the detail required to mask it all off I went with orange decals. Bad idea very bad. I couldn't align the contact paper to save my life.

couple of strips of neon orange ribbon

hang off like a short kite tail.

Bombadil · Post by **Bombadil** » Tue Jan 31, 2023 9:32 am

My 2009 'Inspired By John Lennon' Casino. This is a very good guitar that I see selling for significantly more than I paid for it, as it is discontinued. The pups are American Gibson P-90s, it has a nice case, the finish is satin, not that high-gloss glop that the standard Casinos have. I was on a P-90 kick around that time, I think I had 5 P-90 gits. This is the last one. Sustain is crap due to it being hollow-body, but with some overdrive it does quite nicely. Very light, and can be played acoustically.

IMG_1039.jpeg

thecontrolcentre · Post by **thecontrolcentre** » Sat Feb 04, 2023 3:30 pm

Here are most of my guitars ...

tcc_guitars_jan_2023.jpg

Schecter Tempest Extreme (with Bigsby whammy bar), PRS Standard, Fender Telecaster, Epiphone Thunderbird and LAG Tramontane ... mostly swapped for other gear or bought very cheap second-hand (no more than £100 each). The Tele was a gift.

tcc_telecaster_web.jpg

I also have an Ibanez V280 acoustic ...

thecontrolcentre · Post by **thecontrolcentre** » Sat Feb 04, 2023 3:53 pm

Bombadil wrote: ↑Tue Jan 31, 2023 9:32 am My 2009 'Inspired By John Lennon' Casino.

That's just lovely.

I think I have the NAD cassette deck that goes with your hifi system

thecontrolcentre · Post by **thecontrolcentre** » Wed Feb 08, 2023 1:13 pm

My Ibanez V-280 ...

tcc_ibanez_v280.jpg

I've owned this one for 40 years now. It's the guitar that I learned to play on, while my second child was on the way.

Bombadil · Post by **Bombadil** » Wed Feb 08, 2023 5:42 pm

Cool that you still have it! I had a Norman B-30, made ca. 1977, I got it off my brother in 1979. Long story about that one, but that guitar stayed with me through homelessness, and managed to last until 1996, or so. One or more of the top braces were loose, so bass notes caused unpleasant rattling, the back was disintegrating at the shoulder, it had a crack in front. So, by the time I left Canada in 2004, I left it behind, thinking it was unsalvageable.
Three years after I got here, I met a luthier who could've restored it. I would've happily paid for it. That guitar literally kept me alive.

Bombadil · Post by **Bombadil** » Sat Feb 18, 2023 8:55 am

My Run-Into-A Burning-House Guitar.

2013 Martin OM-21. Sitka/EIR. I'm glad I bought my Martins when I had the money, because they are waaaay out of my reach these days.

IMG_1064.jpeg

Bombadil · Post by **Bombadil** » Sat Feb 18, 2023 10:10 am

thecontrolcentre wrote: ↑Sat Feb 04, 2023 3:53 pm
Bombadil wrote: ↑Tue Jan 31, 2023 9:32 am My 2009 'Inspired By John Lennon' Casino.
That's just lovely.

I think I have the NAD cassette deck that goes with your hifi system

Thx. There's a guy on ebay classifieds trying to get 2800€ for one. I paid 700€ in 2010, new. I won't ever sell it.

https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-anz ... 53-74-9062

That's just crazy.

EDIT: Someone offered to buy mine for 1200€ last year. Well, I put up a non-binding offer. He accepted, and was eager to do so, which made me go....erm....nööööö.

Show and Tell - Your guitar(s)