White/Gold

AZGuitars · Post by **AZGuitars** » Tue Dec 15, 2015 10:24 am

Starting off with the first couple of photos . . . .

Headstock on the mill:

Prelim fit of head stock to raw neck blank:

Post by **Genebaby** » Tue Dec 15, 2015 4:49 pm

Man, this is going to be awesome! The master at work, building a piece of playable art.

shramiac · Post by **shramiac** » Tue Dec 15, 2015 9:20 pm

Baaaaa BIONG!!!!

birnie · Post by **birnie** » Tue Dec 15, 2015 9:50 pm

Gideyup !
Love this shit !

poserboy71 · Post by **poserboy71** » Wed Dec 16, 2015 2:41 am

This man surely knows how to tickle our balls ! Kudos to the Master Builder !

Slayer · Post by **Slayer** » Wed Dec 16, 2015 5:45 am

Too much fun!

thattimeofyear87 · Post by **thattimeofyear87** » Wed Dec 16, 2015 8:16 am

Very cool... Look forward to more updates!

Slayer · Post by **Slayer** » Wed Dec 16, 2015 4:44 pm

AZGuitars · Post by **AZGuitars** » Thu Dec 17, 2015 12:13 pm

Here's the neck and head stock getting glued together in my nifty gluing jig. I usually make all
of my own special function jigs for each type of guitar I build. Especially if I'm making more than
one of each design.

Next I'll be putting this assembly back on the mill to add the neck angle which will be blended
into the head stock. I'll then add the truss rod channel and check fit the rod into it to see if it
needs any adjustments. If all that is ok my next operation will be to cut out the neck top and
side profiles in preparation for carving the neck shape.

AZGuitars · Post by **AZGuitars** » Tue Jan 05, 2016 3:29 am

Milled Truss Rod Slot . . . .

Truss rod fitting . . . .

AZGuitars · Post by **AZGuitars** » Tue Jan 05, 2016 5:02 am

VV Wings Templates. Cutting them out today and adding champhers to the edges.
Will post photos of them when done.
Note: the 1 & 3/4" thick block of soft Maple under the templates.

Post by **Genebaby** » Tue Jan 05, 2016 6:50 am

Looking good!

tukoztukoz · Post by **tukoztukoz** » Tue Jan 05, 2016 7:20 am

Great job, and very interesting pics! I'd like to be a luthier sometimes...
Is this guitar for a VVFforum member? Just curious

AZGuitars · Post by **AZGuitars** » Tue Jan 05, 2016 7:36 am

Yes it is for one of the guys . . . . More will be revealed as I go along.

tukoztukoz · Post by **tukoztukoz** » Tue Jan 05, 2016 8:53 am

Ok, don't say it too soon, so we can try to guess!

AZGuitars · Post by **AZGuitars** » Wed Jan 06, 2016 11:21 am

Rough cutting the fins on my Band Saw:

Rough fins assembly:

The next operation is to plane the wings on my planer to the correct sizes
and then use the hand plane to bevel the edges on the parts. After that the
wings are ready to be glued to the neck. But before I do that I need to get the
fret board cut to size, route cavities for the V inlays and glue the white bindings
on the sides. Once the inlays are glued in and any edge gaps filled with a mixture
of Ebony powder and epoxy I will add the radius to to Fret Board. The FB will then
be glued to the neck and the neck will be shaped to the proper radius. After that
the fins will be glued to the neck. Then it's time for milling the pickup and trem cavities.

shramiac · Post by **shramiac** » Wed Jan 06, 2016 11:50 am

Tom, the shadow fins look a little chunkier than you normally do them (but closer to the Jackson/Carvin shape)? Is this per request of the buyer?

AZGuitars · Post by **AZGuitars** » Thu Jan 07, 2016 2:42 am

All of the fins are a little over sized at this point. I still have to do some trimming on all the edges
on them. They will look better then. Also I'm using the templates that were created when I built
the original 4 guitars for the NAMM show and those were made from the outline that Vinnie sent me.

AZGuitars · Post by **AZGuitars** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 6:02 am

Now we're getting down to details. I've got the bevels laid out now on the wings
and I'm ready to put the plane to them. When that is done they will be ready to
glue onto the neck. But first I need to route for and glue the "V" inlays into the
fret board, add the binding, glue the FB to the neck and shape the neck as well.
Stay tuned.

birnie · Post by **birnie** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 8:31 am

Niiice

BigEd · Post by **BigEd** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 10:24 am

As always....Nice work Tom !!!
I'm getting a "Woody" looking at this and I don't even own or play the guitar !!!

Arjen · Post by **Arjen** » Tue Jan 12, 2016 12:17 am

I can look at these work-in-progress photos for hours, Tom. It's truly fantastic these beauties are finally available. Can't wait for the next update!

mfoster · Post by **mfoster** » Tue Jan 12, 2016 11:35 am

It's amazing to watch a real craftsman at work

poserboy71 · Post by **poserboy71** » Wed Jan 13, 2016 12:55 pm

!!!!
Love seeing the guitar taking shape next to a photograph of what it will become.

Tom, Was there ever any thought to painting the guitar and extra wings separately THEN connecting them ?

Extra wings? Now I'm hungry !

Post by **Genebaby** » Wed Jan 13, 2016 5:34 pm

I'm ALWAYS down for extra wings.

AZGuitars · Post by **AZGuitars** » Thu Jan 14, 2016 2:41 am

It's a lot better to glue the wings together first thus eliminating the chances of
getting any glue on the paint job. Masking is much easier and a lot safer than
repairing and/or repainting. Plus the mask and paint is done before clear coating
so any little edges will get covered up by, at least, 6 clear coats.

By the way, I have not had breakfast yet so thanks for the wings photo which is now
making me very hungry . . . . .

samiam · Post by **samiam** » Wed Jan 20, 2016 7:53 am

Forum FNG (military jargon, sorry)...new guy here, but just wanted to say that build looks killer already! Looking forward to seeing the entire process come along!

poserboy71 · Post by **poserboy71** » Wed Jan 20, 2016 10:23 am

I am amazed that the bevels are made AFTER the wings are attached.

AZGuitars · Post by **AZGuitars** » Wed Jan 20, 2016 11:03 am

Actually PB, in that shot, they are not glued together yet. I do the bevels before gluing the wings together.
And yes it would be a pain in the butt if they were glued together first. You can relax now.

shramiac · Post by **shramiac** » Wed Jan 20, 2016 5:49 pm

Didn't everyone know that Tom is a Jenga master as well!!!!???

AZGuitars · Post by **AZGuitars** » Sat Jan 30, 2016 9:53 am

Things are moving along in the guitar shop. Here's a photo of the Fret board and Inlay work in progress.
I just finished gluing the white binding onto the FB which has been slotted for the frets. I use Acetone
on a artist brush to melt the binding onto the sides of the FB at this point.
I've got my Mother of Pearl blanks almost ready to cut out the V inlays and I need to do some size adjustments
to my drawing of the inlays so I can cut the images out and glue them to the pearl blanks as cutout guides.
Next I'll take some shots of that process to post here.

AZGuitars · Post by **AZGuitars** » Fri Feb 05, 2016 11:45 am

Final readjusted inlays ready for cut out. I have new (sharp) razor saws coming on UPS so I'm going to be a real cut-up tomorrow.

poserboy71 · Post by **poserboy71** » Fri Feb 05, 2016 1:45 pm

Post by **Genebaby** » Fri Feb 05, 2016 4:53 pm

Very nice!

wolfgang161272 · Post by **wolfgang161272** » Fri Feb 05, 2016 7:10 pm

Another masterpiece in progress !
Wolf

AZGuitars · Post by **AZGuitars** » Sat Feb 13, 2016 4:17 am

Progress is being made on this build, see below. Next I will be concentrating on the fret-board, getting the inlays cut out and
inlay'd. Then comes FB radius and attachment to the neck. Following that I'm shaping the neck and gluing on the fin sets. I'll
provide more pics as well as I go along so stay tuned.

By the way, this photo shows a "dry fit" of the parts at this stage:

shramiac · Post by **shramiac** » Sat Feb 13, 2016 10:03 am

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm................................

AZGuitars · Post by **AZGuitars** » Thu Feb 18, 2016 8:14 am

I've started inlay cut outs with the two smallest and skinny-est inlays, 24-A and 24-B.
The photo is a quick shot of inlay #21 where I'm now starting to cut out the
material between it's wings. It's a slow go since the wings are so slender I
need to take it easy so as to NOT break them off while I'm cutting.
The saw in the photo is a very fine Razor Saw with 50 teeth per inch.

shramiac · Post by **shramiac** » Thu Feb 18, 2016 9:25 am

This is why I don't make guitars!

Because they'd all end up like this,

AZGuitars · Post by **AZGuitars** » Thu Feb 18, 2016 9:41 am

Best to do a lot of reading and practice before attempting to do this stuff. "Stewart McDonald Guitar Shop Supply" (www.stewmac.com)
has a lot of "How To" books of which I have several. I've also been building since 1984 so I have a bit of experience now.
That guitar in the photo looks like a car ran over it though.

tukoztukoz · Post by **tukoztukoz** » Fri Feb 19, 2016 3:18 am

AZGuitars wrote:Best to do a lot of reading and practice before attempting to do this stuff. "Stewart McDonald Guitar Shop Supply" (http://www.stewmac.com)
has a lot of "How To" books of which I have several. I've also been building since 1984 so I have a bit of experience now.
That guitar in the photo looks like a car ran over it though.

Great info, Tom, thanks! It seems to be easier today than in 1984 to make a guitar, with that kind of site, and threads like yours, isn't it?

Ok, information is one thing, practice, experience and "je ne sais quoi" are another...

AZGuitars · Post by **AZGuitars** » Fri Feb 19, 2016 3:51 am

Basically, Practice Makes Perfect.
I also had 2 Music Stores close to me when I lived in California. I got a lot of repair work from them as well and some of the band guys would come directly to my shop for tune-ups too.

SonOfTheAnkh · Post by **SonOfTheAnkh** » Tue Feb 23, 2016 7:33 am

Will these guitars be available again?

Post by **Genebaby** » Tue Feb 23, 2016 7:52 am

Send Tom a message, I'm sure he can help you out.

poserboy71 · Post by **poserboy71** » Tue Feb 23, 2016 8:45 am

SonOfTheAnkh wrote:Will these guitars be available again?

They are !!!! Contact Tom Palecki NOW !!!!

SonOfTheAnkh · Post by **SonOfTheAnkh** » Thu Feb 25, 2016 2:54 am

Thanks for notifying me!!

GrumpyKat · Post by **GrumpyKat** » Tue Mar 01, 2016 3:45 pm

Thanks for showing us the progress of one of theses V's. I've known many custom builders,have a few custom pieces and seen a lot of wild designs but never the detail you showing us on the Shadow V.Thanks Again!

AZGuitars · Post by **AZGuitars** » Wed Mar 02, 2016 3:26 am

There's a lot more to come too as I progress through the build . . . .

AZGuitars · Post by **AZGuitars** » Fri Mar 04, 2016 3:58 am

White Pearl V's all cut out and ready for inlay into the Ebony FB.
Once that is done I'll be radiusing the fret board prior to gluing it on the neck blank.

shramiac · Post by **shramiac** » Fri Mar 04, 2016 10:04 am

What scale is this one, Tom?