Guitars and Things

Hi! I'm Ryan. I play guitar, and listen to Zeppelin a lot. :-)

[fret-buzz]

Kelsey Grammer would make a great mime. I'm sure of it.

[fret-buzz]

I managed to take my lazy butt out to the garage after work to continue with the Ukulele!

It had been ages since my last under spray, but I hadn't yet sanded it down, so I started with that. After the body was all sanded, I had a think about how i'd like it finished, and I decided that I'd try it blue with black binding, so I started putting masking tape all around the edges of the body (which took like 2 hours. seriously. I get crazy OCD sometimes ;-P)

The line of the tape does look rough, but the inside edges are pretty smooth, so it's all good... After this was done, I realised that I kinda liked the way it looked being black with the white faux-binding. If I ever do another, then it'll probably be in that style.

And then I simply sprayed!

It turned out pretty alright on the first spraying! (I must be getting better). I left the necks to do at another stage, and then realised how cool they look being black with the blue body, so once it's dry, I'll peel the masking tape off and see if it still looks cool with the black faux-binding. If it does, I'll fix it up properly that way!

Sooooo yeah! That's the story so far!

[fret-buzz]

Bands that suck, but have crazy awesome guitars.

[hustlebones-deactivated20130211]

[fret-buzz]

And we're back in business! Today I received the Ukulele bridges in the post, and on top of having two sets of Machine Heads, I now have everything I need to continue with the build! I'll measure the position for the bridges, and then continue spraying and sanding. It shouldn't be much longer till it's finished now!

[fret-buzz]

[fret-buzz]

I've had some problems with the Ukulele Bridges. The only place I could find the right sizes being sold was on ebay, from a seller in Taiwan. I placed an order and it said that it would take 4-6 weeks or something like that to get to me. I realised that it had taken ages and was over the delivery time and they hadn't arrived. I emailed the seller and after a lot of misunderstood emails, he decided to refund me, which was fair enough. I didn't get a chance to look online for new bridges for a while because of work and stuff, but went onto ebay right there, and there was a listing from the UK selling much better, and much dearer bridges! So I've literally just placed an order, and they should be here next week at some point! So yeah, sorry about the break from building, it's been a pain over here not being able to go any further with it, but it'll be continuing soon, so watch this space! :-)

[fret-buzz]

BLACK SABBATH ARE PLAYING GLASGOW. I'M GETTING A TICKET. I HAVE TO.

[fret-buzz]

Just a quick update! Sorry there haven't been any more pictures of the Uke project so far, I haven't managed to do anything since the last update. :-/ We're going through a cold snap right now, so I don't fancy standing in a cold garage painting and sanding when the temperature will probably mess up the work anyway, and I've been kind of stuck for time recently too. BUT NOT TO WORRY! I've ordered some bridges and saddles and machine-heads from ebay, so I'm waiting on them to arrive, and when they do, I'll get it all measured up, painted, coated, assembled, and strung! So yeah, that's where I'm at! I anyone has any questions, feel free to ask!

[fret-buzz]

That's (what i hope is) the last undercoat finally sprayed on and beginning to dry. After that, possibly tonight, I'll get the first coat of Blue on! It's quite exciting! I couldn't take a picture because I'd forgotten my mobile when I went outside, So you'll just have to believe me ;-P

[fret-buzz]

I can't decide whether to make the Ukulele Blue for the entire body, neck and headstock with a Black headstock face, Or make the body, neck and headstock black with a Blue Burst on the front of the body, with a Black or Blue headstock Face...

**Edit - Make this plural wherever it needs it. It was late. I was tired. ;-)** Any suggestions?

[fret-buzz]

Tonight (like an hour ago) I prepared the Uke for painting.

I used masking tape and covered up the fretboard, leaving just enough on the neck sides of the 'board to give a faux-binding sort of effect, (I hope it turns out okay!) and I covered up the space for the bridge too, then I stuffed the body with newspaper so that paint didn't get inside it. Then I sprayed an undercoat!

I took this picture as soon as I was done, so it's still really wet in places, it'll look better dry. (Remember, this is just the undercoat!) Once it's dry, I'll have a look around it, sand it if I need to (god I hope not), and then do the headstock, which I had to leave unsprayed so that I could hang it up. More posts as it happens!

[fret-buzz]

Today was sanding day. Actually, it was sanding for three and a half bloody painful hours day. My hands are soooo sore, but it was worth it! Check it out, Here's a (nothing new) "before", 

And here I REALLY had to stop myself from just stopping where I was at this point, because it looked so cool!

And this is the surprisingly satisfying "after",

...my handssssss...

I think the next steps will be the painting! Watch this space! ;-)

[fret-buzz]

I found a Fisheye camera lens in a box of stuff in work, so I held it over my mobile's camera, and it worked!

[fret-buzz]

Today I used some wood filler that my grandad gave me for it, and I just went around the joint, whether it needed it or not, just to be safe, and I also went over where the original bridges had snapped off, to level it out.

It's now hanging up to dry.

Yep, dem laces again. ;-P Next: SANDING!

[fret-buzz]

On Friday night I finished gluing the two bodies together, and left it to dry, and by Saturday morning it finally was double necked!

...yeah, that's my old pink shoelaces. It worked though...

[fret-buzz]

The double necked Ukulele is under way! On Thursday I cut the edges off of each uke, and started the gluing process...