Build Process

Design

Each of my designs are meticulously planned and executed with the heaviest attention to detail in playability, Sound, Weight, Appearance, Physics & ergonomics.

The heavy lifting is done in the CAD/CAM software Fusion 360. it is here where every minute detail is taken into account, and the manufacturing process is developed.

Material

Each piece of wood is carefully hand selected by myself using a strict process based on weight, grain pattern, colour, moisture content, and structural integrity.

I continue to take pride in this extremely selective process and happily deem around 90% of the wood I touch, “Unusable”. Each piece goes through at least 6 Months of various cutting and storing methods before it is put into use on any project.

This allows the wood to acclimate to my work shop, and move around, destress, before becoming a guitar.

Manufacturing

Utilizing CNC manufacturing techniques to obtain the most precise dimensions as humanly(robotically?) possible. Capable of achieving results not previously possible, in a timely, scalable manner.

Fit, Glue, Sand

Once every thing is checked for fit, we start by sanding the guitar to a minimum of 320 on the "flats" and 600 on End Grain as it tends to soak up more finish and become darker and uneven in colour. This higher grit closes off more of the pores allowing less finish to flow in.

Finish

After the guitars are inspected and free of scratches, defects, and other unwanted surface imperfections, the guitar is given a generous coat of a 2 part, Hard Wax Oil+Catalyst. This Hard Wax Oil Finish is a blend of oils and waxes that do not build up layers on the wood but rather absorb into the wood to seal and protect it. This allows the wood to keep a very natural finished surface without obscuring the touch and visibility of the grain.

We allow this first coat to really absorb into the pores of the wood, followed by carefully buffing all of the excess off. After 2 days of hang drying we come back, scuff it up and give it a second coat. After a few days the oil is fully cured, and inert. At this point we can give it a grain fill, and repeat the coating process one final time before leaving it to hang for another week. We use this same process for both the neck and body.

After a week has passed, and the oil has cured, we continue the finishing process on the neck with a coat of finishing paste wax, and readily available tung oil for the fretboard.

The body is followed up with a 2 part Ceramics kit, consisting of 2 base coats at a 9h hardness, and a top coat at 7h hardness. The top coat is softer than the base coat and the reasoning behind that is the base coat is where you will get the majority of this added durability. The Top coat on the other hand is going to act as a malleable layer over top that will protect the base coat.

Fret-work

Frets are levelled with the strings on, Under full tension, in playing position. This allows for a perfectly levelled fretboard, in a normal playing environment, with comparable results to a PLEK.

They are then crowned to a razor thin sliver, and the ends carefully rounded to a hemisphere. After inspection the fingerboard is masked off and the frets are polished on all sides using a range of grits from 320 to 12,000(Invisible to the human eye!). This high polish helps protect against corrosion, increase material durability, and retains its mirror like sheen.

Set-up

A precise setup requires precise tools. Always double(triple) checking for accuracy using calipers and dial indicators to ensure that your guitar comes to you with the perfect playability.