It has been quite a while since I updated the blog. I have been on some travel for work and been pretty busy since my last post. I have a few guitars in work, and I also have a friend that is building a guitar in my shop. The newest thing I have done is to experiment with stainless steel frets. I re-fretted the Classic-T guitar from the Sept 2010 post with them. I really like the frets, the polish up to a mirror finish and are smooth as glass to play on. I don’t think they really did anything tonally to the guitar, it was already really bright. I highly recommend the stainless steel frets. They cost a bit more but are really worth it in the end, I am really considering re-fretting all of my personal guitars with them.
Another one done. Solid body Classic-T type body style made out of Ash. 5 Piece Maple/Black Walnut neck, 25″ scale, jumbo frets, 2-way truss rod with neck matching cover and Wilkinson EZ LOK tuners. I put an aluminum tone block in the back for the strings, and the pickups are GFS “Pure Vintage” Neovin noiseless. The body has a light brown stain that was sanded back to pop the grain, and an open pore Tru-oil finish. The neck is also Tru-oil and is bolt in style with stainless steel inserts in the neck and steel machine screws holding it on and is contoured to allow access to all 22 frets. It sounds fantastically bright like you would expect from this style, and it sustains for ever. This one was not built for anyone in particular and I will probably have a hard time letting this one go, but I’m sure I will for the right price.
Here are some pictures of a guitar I am working on. It is the prototype for my Classic-T style. As you can see it is a bolt on neck and I am using stainless steel inserts in the neck and machine bolts for the attachment. I was experimenting to see if two bolts would suffice to make a solid joint but it seems that it is allowing the neck to flex a little bit in the neck pocket so I am planning to add a couple more bolts to it. As always the neck goes under the neck pickup, and the heel is sculpted to allow maximum access to the upper frets. The neck carve is new, a medium U shape somewhere between my Fat and Thin neck carves. If I can find any free time I hope to finish this up in a week or two. It is going to have GFS Neovin pickups, chrome hardware and a Tru-oil finish for the entire guitar.
Its been a while since I have posted…seems to be a trend. I recently had 2 weeks off of work and was able to finish a guitar that has been in the works for a long time. I say done, but there are still a few minor things to do to it. It needs a chrome pickup ring for the bridge pickup, and I still need to shield the electronics cavity, but other than that it is done. Here are the specs:
Neck: 5 Piece, Maple/Black Walnut, Rosewood fingerboard with side dots only. Tru-oil open pore finish.
Body: African Mahogany with carved 1 piece flamed Maple top. High gloss, blue Burst finish with faux binding.
Hardware and Electronics: GFS Crunchy rail Neck and Bridge pickups (which I am pleasantly impressed by), wired through one tone, one volume and a 5 way rotary switch with coil splitting options. Wilkinson tremolo, Planet Wave auto-trim-lok tuners and graphite nut and D’addario XL 0.010 strings.
This is the first bolt on neck that I have done in quite some time. I finished the body on this guitar about a year ago, but messed up the neck and had to throw it away. It was originally intended to be a set neck, but the neck pocket on the body was already routed specifically for the neck I messed up. The odds were that I would not make an identical neck to fit that pocket and get the quality of glue joint that I require. So, I decided to try a bolt on style where metal inserts are put into the neck and machine screws, instead of wood screws, are used to attach the neck. I was curious if using the inserts would compare favorably to a set neck as far as sound and sustain are concerned. So far I am quite pleased it. I think it sounds great with no compromise to sustain. I am however going to do another guitar with this type of bolt on, but with a “press in” tight neck joint like what I normally do for a set neck. I think that will sound even better.
Enjoy the pictures!
I have a lot of things going on in the shop lately. Have 6 bodies in various stages of being complete. Also a bunch of necks in work to go with those bodies. I have been pretty busy at my day job lately but I am slowly making progress on all of these. Here are some pictures of the ones I am working on.
Here are three Icarus’ that I have going. The blue one is flamed maple on mahogany, Ash in the center and Black Walnut on the right.
Here are three different single cutaways that I have been working. The one in the middle is the redesign of my Interceptor model. It is Flamed Koa on Black Walnut. The guitar on the left is my take on a classic T type of guitar in Ash, and the one on the right is my take on a classic LP style. It is flamed redwood and will probably go on mahogany but I have not quite decided yet.
That’s all for now, Enjoy!
It has been a while since I have updated the blog. Life has been pretty busy with the move and training that I have been doing. I finally have the new shop all set up and ready to work on the guitars. I am really excited about the new shop because it will be the first time I don’t have to move tools all around just to use one of them. I have a few projects that I am working on including a Flamed Koa on Black Walnut Interceptor which is one of my promised new re-designs. I will try and get some snap shots of it for all to see.
I pretty much have my new shop all put together and hope to be working on some new projects soon. I have a lot more space in my new shop and am really excited to get to work in there. I am still traveling for work right now though, so I might not get anything done until after Christmas.
This Indivia is now for sale, $1500 or best offer. It is one of my prototypes and I have been using it as a demo. please email me if you have any questions or to inquire.
Update: This guitar has been Sold
Black Indivia
For those of you who know me you probably know that I am moving from California to Maryland. I am in the process of packing up my shop and due to training at my new assignment, I don’t anticipate having it set up by the end of the year. However, when I do get it set up I am going to have a much bigger shop and hopefully finish a bunch of guitars that I have in work. So I started the blog just in time to have no news for a few months.
I started this blog as a way to keep people somewhat up to date on what is happening with Iszac Guitars. I was attempting to do this with the forum, but this seems like this will be easier. Keep checking back or subscribe to the RSS to see what is going on.
As I have guitars for sale I will be posting those here.
Right now I have a lot of guitar bodies glued up and as I start the woodworking I will be posting progress pictures here.