Customizing a Guitar with Wood & Epoxy Inlays

[@TotalBoat]

Wow, absolutely gorgeous!!

[@strieck]

I’ve watched a lot of your videos, Tim. This is probably the best looking and sounding I’ve seen you make.

[@timsway]

thanks!

[@Metalpug79]

That white shadow line actually made it look really nice and pop a lot more between the black & red. That's definitely a happy accident, looks great! ✌️😎

[@timsway]

100% agree

[@robinleebraun7739]

Your training is complete. You are a Jedi now. A true masterpiece, worthy of not only a luthier, but an artist. I usually watch the videos about CNC projects because of my insatiable curiosity but this one was exceptional. I love the “accidental” shadow line on the inlay. I like the music too.

[@timsway]

thanks man! glad you dig it. Still a little ways from being full Jedi, tho :)

[@jandavis1523]

The sound of this guitar is sublime. Beautiful finish & epoxy. Nicely Done!

[@garagemonkeysan]

Nice video. Super guitar. High level of detail. Cool use of downed urban trees. 🙂👍🤙

[@MillerCustomGuitars]

This might be my favorite guitar I’ve ever seen you make. So classy and great looking.

[@gregmadden5474]

Excellent job on that guitar Tim that is a pretty guitar nice!

[@trance9158]

Pretty cool.

[@Gatherersmusic]

This the most "classic" style guitar I have seen you do, looks awesome.

[@jawshwaa]

Dig the epoxy work, very subtle , but it also stands out. Keep up the good work Mr. Sway

[@timsway]

thanks!

[@nickyd9361]

The white shadow lines makes the peaks look more like, well, peaks. I'm loving the wooden bobbins on the pickups.

[@timsway]

it still would have been a clean line against the epoxy, but the gap really accentuates it. I will remember that.

[@jamescopeland5358]

That is fantastic Tim

[@timsway]

thanks!

[@josefeliciano9418]

Your work is very inspiring. I loved how the inlays came out

[@timsway]

thanks! Me too

[@rauschguitars]

That white shadow line really makes it pop! Nice work!

[@timsway]

Yea, Bob Ross would call that a happy accident!

[@sgsax]

Cool way to demonstrate a hint of the possibilities of customization with a kit guitar. The two-tone inlays look great, and nice way to use the customer's own wood to make it extra special. Dig the tracks, as always. Thanks for sharing!

[@Scodiddly]

Wow, what a pretty guitar! I'm just amazed at how tight that CNC stuff worked out with the mountains.

[@sapelesteve]

Fantastic build & awesome guitar Tim! Over the top on that one for sure! Love that Maple wood! I am currently making two keepsake Jewelry boxes out of curly Maple & Walnut! Keep up the great work Tim! 👍👍🎸🎸👏👏

[@timsway]

those two woods always look great together

[@dfbess]

Love the songs Tim.. you need to put out more of your work on your videos.. And love the way you married the two woods together ..looks amazing.

[@timsway]

thanks! it was my first time trying this vcarve technique. looking forward to experimenting more with it

[@bleigh6562]

Such a cool guitar. Love the bear inlays and just the shape of the guitar too. Thanks for the music too... 😊

[@timsway]

cheers!

[@matthewf1979]

Beautiful CNC work there, Tim!

[@timsway]

thanks. I'm learning :)

[@davebauerart]

Love it. The art the wood and the instrument are one. Just recorded an episode of my podcast all about embracing imperfections, what timing.

[@zumazmusic]

Sound example (just some noodling) is beautiful! Nicely done in both playing and in the tone of this new beast.

[@LukeTheJoker]

Love the little footprints!

[@salmonti9707]

Love the fret markers, the pickups, the neck joint, etc.... Lot of great stuff tim..... Keep it up.

[@stevepethel6843]

Nice color finish shape and it sounds good too...God continue bless you

[@markgordon4368]

Really nice guitar

[@martinmanuel6228]

Nice work as usual Tim!

[@1000nthInLine]

That is a gorgeous guitar. You seem to be elevating your game, color me impressed.

[@guitfidle]

I love everything about this! Cool guitar, I love locally sourced woods, and you're making it for a friend. I really like the new pickups too, what are you using for magnets on those?

[@timsway]

thanks. I just used Alnico 5 poles on this one, pretty standard.

[@MangledGuitars]

Love it Tim!

[@neurocosm]

Dude. Wow!

[@3cardmonty602]

Love that guitar too. Are those P90’s ? I love P90’s.

[@timsway]

They're a single coil pickup, similar in design and shape to a p90. I make them myself.

[@stubrakon9683]

Great work! Enjoyed watching 👍😎😃🤘

[@simonpark843]

The guitar looks good, and you clearly enjoyed playing it. I loved the music in this video too.

[@timsway]

thanks! those are old songs off a solo album I made a long time ago.

[@briansimpson8116]

Tell me you're deaf without telling me you're deaf.

[@simonpark843]

@@briansimpson8116 - Pardon?

[@timsway]

@@briansimpson8116 we look forward to seeing and hearing your work! Please share :)

[@gothridercreations]

Looks awesome Tim. Did you make the string tree bar? And what did you spray on the wood before adding the epoxy to the inlays? Cheers.

[@timsway]

String tree bar is a standard "floyd style". I sprayed a little shellac sealer on the wood to help keep the epoxy colors from running.

[@ramilak]

Lovely work! Any advice for hunting down usable reclaimed wood? Future video perhaps? ❤

[@timsway]

I've done some older videos on it. besides the usual barnwood, firewood and pallets, a great source is used, dated furniture. Anything from the 70s or older is probably real, solid wood.

[@TheM00ndawg]

Shot in the dark if you see this. but I'm getting a high pitched whine when the volume goes above a certain level on a guitar i'm trying to make, when i touch the strings/knobs. Thats a ground issue right? Nice work as usual.

[@timsway]

maybe? A bad capacitor? Or it could be your amp or the specific amp/guitar? It could be a frequency feeding back. Does it do it in every amp? Here's how I find stuff like that. On low volume, plugged in and on, open the guitar up and poke around the electronics with a paperclip or small screwdriver, one spot at a time. Usually when you touch the loose connection or the thing that's acting up you'll know it

[@TheM00ndawg]

@@timsway I've only tried it on my headphone amp. the pots are pretty close together. could that be a problem? I'll try poking around. Cheers for the assistance.

[@timsway]

@@TheM00ndawg try another amp. I wouldn't be surprised if the problem is that.

[@TheM00ndawg]

@@timsway doing some searching/reading, i might have just embarassingly reversed the sleeve and tip on my output jack...

[@timsway]

@@TheM00ndawg easy to do!

[@greylocke100]

Hey Tim, have you ever tried making something from Ironwood? I've read that a couple of luthiers used Ironwood for fretboards but had to stain them very dark as the wood is lighter than maple. I was wondering what your thoughts on how that would look unstained.

[@timsway]

Ironwood is an import wood on my "no use" list unless it turns up in something reclaimed. Even though that particular species (there are a few) is not listed as endangered, we gotta stop supporting the whole business of importing wood from Africa and South America for our unnecessary whims. It makes no sense to me when the two beautiful types of wood used in this guitar grow literally in my back yard and are taken down daily here. With that said, I have had the opportunity yo use many types of imported wood from reclamation including, I believe, ironwood. Sometimes those real dense woods are kind of stringy/splintery and difficult to work.

[@greylocke100]

@@timsway Hophornbeam is an american ironwood. and grows all over the north eastern US and even down to parts of Texas. There is another variety that grows in the western US, called simply desert ironwood or Olneya tesota but it's colors are much different. That is one of the reasons why I thought you might like to try them, as they are harder than ebony and according to the botanical site, they are not endangered and quite common in the US.

[@jeffreytgilbert]

Is that a chuck mounted fret press in a drill press? Where do i find one of those?

[@timsway]

It's just the basic StewMac fret press caul designed for an arbor press, but I don't have an arbor press so I chuck it in my drill press :)

[@jeffreytgilbert]

@@timsway thanks!

[@foujj]

Where can I get these songs? I'd like to play them on my radio show.

[@timsway]

Cheers. They were both on an album I made in 2007 called "Black, White & One Other Color" that has a few good songs and a few, really bad ones. It's available on itunes, spotify etc, because the album is a little "out of my hands" due to the way I published it. Nowadays any recordings I make I sell only on my website personally, keeping them out of the machinery.

[@foujj]

@@timsway I understand, keep up the good work dude. I'll let you know when I play it

[@cmdrerniepaul]

Very nice as always Tim! I like that you've been putting your music to these recent videos. Is there a place where we can get these albums?

[@timsway]

That old album (which is hit or miss in song quality, lol) is on all the usual places (itunes, spotify, etc) because I used a service when I published it in 2007. Since then, all the new songs I make (which are not all that often) are available for sale and download ONLY on newperspectivesmusic.com ($1 ea) because, well, F those guys :)

[@greysonguitar8453]

What did you use for the dark brown wood veneer? Really awesome aesthetic!

[@greysonguitar8453]

Nvm… you explained it in last 30 seconds!

[@YeTi2055]

great stuff ----glad I became a subscriber

[@jamesreaves5534]

Nice guitar but I can't figure out why you wouldn't you use an AANJ (All Access Neck Joint) style neck joint like an Ibanez (the first to use this style neck joint) and so many other guitars are using now. The All Access Neck Joint is nothing more than a nicely rounded corner on the High E side of the neck pocket with the flat portion of the neck rounded to match the rounded corner on the body so that when your neck and body are screwed together both the body and the back of the neck match perfectly with that nicely rounded the corner which takes the corner totally out of the way of your thumb when you're playing on the last few Frets making it as easy as a sculpted neck joint like you see on a set neck or a neck through guitar. It is such a simple thing to do it's a no-brainer and I don't know why anybody wouldn't be using this at this point. The regular block joint like you have here with the hard corner is totally obsolete in this day and time at least it should be. This neck joint is so easy to replicate. It's just as easy to make or maybe even easier than a block joint. If you had this nick join it would make you're beautiful guitar even more perfect than it already is. This is not meant as a criticism. I was just simply giving you an idea to try and help you. God Bless You and Yourn!! Jimmy in NC....

[@timsway]

Thanks! I've dabbles in a few different neck joints. This body design is intended as a DIY kit (one can download the cnc files or buy the parts from me) so I kept this most crucial part of the guitar build simple and strong.

[@ПашаПашенько]

🤘💙👍

[@briansimpson8116]

The visual was the EXACT antithesis of the audio (music). Which is to say, the video was AWESOME!! I've no idea who that band is. And I thank GOD for letting me live 55 years without ever having to listen to them. 😂🤣😂🤣🤣🤣Christ they suck! I had to turn the volume off.

[@timsway]

It was 100% me circa 2007. Thanks for the kind words.

[@trance9158]

Ever used wood from a weeping willow tree?

[@timsway]

That is one I don't think I have!

[@timsway]

although I have fond memories of playing in a weeping willow tree on my grandparent's property as a little kid

[@eolasmfg]

raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad