duh Travel Guitar

[duh Padma]

Padma I think it's time you introduced your photographer.

Oh my dear and esteemed friend Matthew,

Your request me must take as a compliment. Thank you.

But it has also made the Padma very sad, here me be pouring me heart out in laying down this here build and you wanna talk about "my photographer."

Is like dis , you see Matthew, I, me, duh Padma is a "one man band", a loner, fly solo, no old lady, do me own wash, cook and cleaning act, oh ya, and me right hand an me get along just fine. Doggy is me best friend.

So my photographer is the Vivitar digital cameras 10 second time delay perched on a
390 Manfroto tripod. Me gotts about 6 or 7 tripods...from cheap to high end exotic but me likes the 390 the best for movin around the shop with.

Made lots of $ once in a previous incarnation taking pics of stuff. Thats when you needed a shoulder bag with 50 lbs of lenses. Glad them days are gone.

Me hear tell the them I-thingies from Mac can take the pics, proses them in a photo shop app, up
link them while listening to toons, checking your email and surfing Mizbiggtits.com All at the same time Too!

Thinks me gonna get one of them one day, perhaps ...maybe.


blessings
duh Padma

[sebastiaan56]

See not being from down under, me not familiar with your Oz colloquiums such as "friggin cack" But must afford you the benefit of the "no bout a dout it" and as such say "thank you."

A rough translation would read "makes me laugh", ie I enjoy your humour. Friggin refers to masturbation and cack is the short for cackle from chicken noises. Both terms have migrated in meaning over time.

[matthew]

yeah ... a friggin cack is similar to a bloody hoot.

[Alan Stassforth]

Thank you, Padma, for posting these techniques.
We all learn from them.
Thank you!

[Nick]

and me right hand an me get along just fine. Doggy is me best friend.

Don't want to have those two statements together around here Pad, people will get the wrong idea, they give us Kiwi's a hard time about us & our sheep, let alone the sheep dogs!

[duh Padma]

and me right hand an me get along just fine. Doggy is me best friend.

Don't want to have those two statements together around here Pad, people will get the wrong idea, they give us Kiwi's a hard time about us & our sheep, let alone the sheep dogs!

You think? Naw...really?...naw.


blessings

[matthew]

Hey there how's duh travel geetar comin along? I've been busy myself!

[Lillian]

Matthew, is your avatar a self-portrait? It seems to have that same look in the eyes as you do in the photo.

[kiwigeo]

Hey there how's duh travel geetar comin along? I've been busy myself!

Thats a nasty static charge building up on that T shirt. Youre obviously working that plane a bit too hard.

[Allen]

Keep the fire extinguisher handy. Those shavings are going to catch an second now.

[kiwigeo]

Aw shit...was not no Zen! Just stupid typo.

ROFL......a non Zen response!!!

[duh Padma]

Hey there how's duh travel geetar comin along?

Well matthew,

thank you for asking.
got 2 more pieces of banding to install.
16 pieces, in total @ least 2 trial cut fit and fidget per piece... well thats over 60 times ...takes time.
Ya, its moving kind slow. So me took the last 5 days off, went on retreat up Crystal Mtn. Just got back.

Umm mattew...looks like you doing another bath tub build. Ya! One day me gonna get around to doing one Got all the lumber, birch and spruce air drying for 7 years now...so sooner or later me too build a bath tub....but not today.

Will post to this build when the banding is all done did...probably another day or so.


blessings

[duh Padma]

.

Here be pic of the rejects...there were more but kindling was needed for to start the stove.





Glued in the heal block of coco with some sap edge, or maybe it's a chunk of Black African...same difference. Me think this piece came from Ron.





Try out fit and fidget.








Here is the finished banding before the clean up starts.






Here you can see the scallops in the ribs. This lets me know how much me can sculpt away from the banding and the ribs. Is about 32nd of meat left and its break through to the lining. Don't wanna be doing that.





Rough sculpting of the ribs on the belt sanders wheelie. Really gotta keep the box moving or me could cut through to the lining. Did me mention me don't wanna be doing that. No! Then its on to final shaping with a bastard and scrapers.





Scraping her down. You can now really start to see the rounding over of the ribs and get
a feel for how the instrument gonna feel all rounded over, full and voluptuous.






Rough carving of a lotus petal into the heal block.








Here she be all sculpted, scraped and ready for sanding.





Will be doing the head stock cover and making the wedge shaped, cantilevered fret board tomorrow.


Blessings
duh Padma

[Nick]

Is that a bit of Purpleheart you've used on the bindings there Padma? It's certainly starting to look the part.

[duh Padma]

Actualy Nick ...

Its Padauk. Me was gonna be banding it with padauk and so the corner blocks were done in padauk.
However, the banding was breaking left right and center when I went to bend it so me switched to sierari....by the time me gets it all bursted it won't be noticed.

Heres how far me got today.

[Dominic]

This very cool thing of yours has really opened up my mind on carved top guitars Padma. I've really enjoyed seeing it progress. And when I see it I end up throwing around ideas in my head for variations on typical carved tops.
Look forward to seeing it finished and strung up and hearing it if you organise it.
Cheers Dom

[Kamusur]

Matthew thats gotta be the biggest Ukulele i've ever seen

Steve

[matthew]

Matthew thats gotta be the biggest Ukulele i've ever seen

It ain't what you do with it that matters. Its the size.

[Clancy]

Hey Padma, that looks like a mandolin bridge.
Have you just plonked one one that was hany for the demo or do you plan to use it.
I realise you can adjust the intonation on it easily enough, but is it wide enough for a (6 string) guitar?
BTW, liking the build very much

[duh Padma]

@ ~ matthew

Well matthew, size don't matter...Yoda taught us that. Don't matter what you do with it ether, its how you do it. Sorta like quality verses quantity. Quantity is always cheap. But I'll leave you and Steve to kick that one around.

@ ~ Craig....thank you - very observant... yes it was handy for the demo. Me don't care much for them screw up and down bridges and much prefer a solid hunk of hard maple. Is hard enough to get the energy from the stings down through the bridge and into the top as is, me don't need brass or steel gears and wheels in between to mess thing up. Well thats me thinking.


blessings
duh Padma

[duh Padma]

.

Glued on the fret baord, and headstock with holly and sirari. Black wood cover plate and nut. Zerro fret added after me level the other frets.





Shaping the neck...10~ 15 min max.




Here she be ready for sanding. Nice day....may sit on porch and sand her down. Might even get a flash coat or two on today.





Heres a shot down the neck showing the twist in what appears to be the neck but in
reality its in the body. The instrument has been propped up on one side to simulate the
weight of the players right fore are which would then twist the body the 15 degrees
seen in this photo.







Wanna get her singing by the full moon.


blessings
duh Padma

[Alan Stassforth]

Shady Grove,
my true love...........

[charangohabsburg]

Uncommon geometry as usual, especially that ergonomic 15° angle. I find it interesting how you defy parallel lines and right angles, getting in the end aesthetically pleasing shapes (well, this might also be a matter of taste).

Is that 15° angle a new feature? I haven't seen it on your other builds.

[duh Padma]

Uncommon geometry as usual, especially that ergonomic 15° angle. I find it interesting how you defy parallel lines and right angles, getting in the end aesthetically pleasing shapes (well, this might also be a matter of taste).

Is that 15° angle a new feature? I haven't seen it on your other builds.

Well they say me is an uncommon kind of guy, so maybe that explains it eh?

Every so often me build one with a twist to her. Once did a 23 deg twist build with a neck whos sides or edges were "S" shaped like a gentle snake with outrageously fanned frets... carved a wrathful deity in the heal stock and a non symmetrical body. The most common comment was "How the hell can you play that thing?"

The sucker sold the first day it was on display at the local music store....never got a pic of her. That was long ago, once upon a time way back when. Often thought of doing another similar...one day.


Blessings
duh
Padma

[charangohabsburg]

It seems that uncommon products of uncommon guys are pretty popular items!
I'm inclined to believe that being uncommon is one of the most important features that distinguishes human kind from, let's say ants. Some times in our favor, some times against it. Anyway, with instrument building we never can go really wrong because in the worst case we just learn something, and in the best case too.