What's Happening At Flushtone

[Hesh1956]

I have been pretty busy building now armed with a slightly different set of goals. These days I am trying to refine my processes in order to build guitars faster but still retain the same voice that is now my signature voice.

Anyway I thought that I would share some of the things happening here.

My 15th guitar is now being finished by Joe White who is located in Indiana. Joe is providing poly finishes and I wanted to try one out. So JJ and I met Joe in Indiana for lunch and had an old lady stand up behind JJ while we were eating and fart loudly right in our general direction........ The things you have to put up to get a good finish.

Some of the advantages of poly is that the guitar will only take 10-20 days to finish. Poly is thinner and harder then cat urethane which is what I have been using. And Joe White is a great guy and a pleasure to deal with.

Here are some progress pics of #15 after only one coat of poly was sprayed:







Next I started #16 and finished the rim in 4 hours........ This will be a Cuban Mahogany/German OM and it will have a black top, bridge, fretboard, and head plate. Since I am using Cuban I am naming it Charo also since naming it Fidel makes me think of an elderly Cuban leader in a jogging suit......







And lastly since I am trying to gain some weight back I have been eating like a pig and cooking anything that I want too. I enjoy cooking and have been trying to perfect the art of pizza making from scratch. Here is my latest attempt. The tap tone sucks, it gets sauce all over your ear when taping it, but it projects well (the next day....).



And really lastly but most importantly my friend from the ANZLF Sebastiaan out of the kindness of his heart made me a beautiful pen and sent it to me!!!!! I did not know it was coming and there was no return addy so I had no idea who sent it.

It is made from Fijian plantation Mahogany and is the most beautiful pen that I have ever had the sincere pleasure to own and use. Many, many thanks Sebastiaan!!!!!



Thanks for looking!!

[Sam Price]

Gosh, that's a nice looking pizza!! Lookit the burl on that!!

[sebastiaan56]

Hi Hesh,

Nice pizza mate! Its 4:30am here and Im hungry looking at it, go figure. Also, thanks for the flatulence and finishing tip, maybe some oatbran in the pizza? Seriously that finish doesnt look like it will need mouch finishing, if you know what I mean.

Sebastiaan

[Colonial Tonewoods]

Nice looking guitar Hesh. I bet that's gonna be a cannon when you string it up.

Did the old lady by chance say, "Pull my finger" before she let loose?

[Kim]

Did the old lady by chance say, "Pull my finger" before she let loose?

I doubt it, I think when old ladies get to a certain age flirtation is replaced by constipation. The necessary dietary roughage required to over come this condition dictates that an event like a pull finger fart becomes very risky business.


No 15 is a Great looking guitar Hesh.

No 16, 4 hours and you finished the rim!! You a freak and your making everyone else look shabby .

I notice that you seem to be using wider bias tape on the sides these days than you use to back when you done the tute, or is that just me?

Cheers

Kim

[Hesh1956]

Thanks folks!

When the lady farted we all tried, for 2 seconds to mind our own business and then it was me of course who could not stand it any longer...... So I accused someone at our table of doing it and he pointed at the old lady. I looked at her and then her husband who looked at me and rolled his eyes and started to laugh too....... That was it and we all started laughing out loud and the old lady ran out of the place after that.......

We were three grown men aging from 45 to the early 60's and still we found this hysterical......... Men never grow up.......

Steve buddy yes it will be a cannon and the last 6 that I built exactly this way are all cannons. I just hope the barrels don't at some point explode......

But let's face it when you go to a bike shop there are heavy weight bikes for kids and lighter weight bikes for adults who will not be jumping curbs etc....... I am not making guitars for someone who is going to leave it in the trunk of a car instead favoring to push the edge a bit in anticipation that my guitars will be played and enjoyed by a mature person. One who does not find fart humor funny......

Good eye Kim my friend I think that the tapes are wider too and that is purely a function of what I could get in the fabric store that was a color match and not pink.........

Sam my friend my pizzas are excellent and I make my dough from scratch too now.

[Dave Anderson]

Hey Hesh, Nice lookin guitar so far, Great lookin' pizza, and
nice pen too!
That sounds so hilarious with that old lady cuttin' one!

[Tigermyrtle]

Great Guitar, but my God would i love a piece of that Pizza, regards Bob,

I have been pretty busy building now armed with a slightly different set of goals. These days I am trying to refine my processes in order to build guitars faster but still retain the same voice that is now my signature voice.

Anyway I thought that I would share some of the things happening here.

My 15th guitar is now being finished by Joe White who is located in Indiana. Joe is providing poly finishes and I wanted to try one out. So JJ and I met Joe in Indiana for lunch and had an old lady stand up behind JJ while we were eating and fart loudly right in our general direction........ The things you have to put up to get a good finish.

Some of the advantages of poly is that the guitar will only take 10-20 days to finish. Poly is thinner and harder then cat urethane which is what I have been using. And Joe White is a great guy and a pleasure to deal with.

Here are some progress pics of #15 after only one coat of poly was sprayed:







Next I started #16 and finished the rim in 4 hours........ This will be a Cuban Mahogany/German OM and it will have a black top, bridge, fretboard, and head plate. Since I am using Cuban I am naming it Charo also since naming it Fidel makes me think of an elderly Cuban leader in a jogging suit......







And lastly since I am trying to gain some weight back I have been eating like a pig and cooking anything that I want too. I enjoy cooking and have been trying to perfect the art of pizza making from scratch. Here is my latest attempt. The tap tone sucks, it gets sauce all over your ear when taping it, but it projects well (the next day....).



And really lastly but most importantly my friend from the ANZLF Sebastiaan out of the kindness of his heart made me a beautiful pen and sent it to me!!!!! I did not know it was coming and there was no return addy so I had no idea who sent it.

It is made from Fijian plantation Mahogany and is the most beautiful pen that I have ever had the sincere pleasure to own and use. Many, many thanks Sebastiaan!!!!!



Thanks for looking!!

[BillyT]

Awesome looking instrument Hesh! I like that lighter colored woods! Nice grain coming through on the neck too! Very, very nice!

Home made Pizza is the best! I gave a talk on pizza in college and brought HM pizza! Was it ever a hit! I cook it on a tile I got from the BORG(No glazing)! Turn the oven up full blast and let it cook for about a half an hour then put on the pizza.

Funny burned pizza gets an immediate rejection from the pizza parlour but a little burned actually tastes better in HM.

And forget the freak'in peal, just lay the already rolled out dough on the stone then dress with toppings!

I found the simplest doughs to be the best, flour, water, EVOO, yeast, salt!

[Tigermyrtle]

well there you go we are getting interest in Pizza, lets start a Pizza Forum.

Awesome looking instrument Hesh! I like that lighter colored woods! Nice grain coming through on the neck too! Very, very nice!

Home made Pizza is the best! I gave a talk on pizza in college and brought HM pizza! Was it ever a hit! I cook it on a tile I got from the BORG(No glazing)! Turn the oven up full blast and let it cook for about a half an hour then put on the pizza.

Funny burned pizza gets an immediate rejection from the pizza parlour but a little burned actually tastes better in HM.

And forget the freak'in peal, just lay the already rolled out dough on the stone then dress with toppings!

I found the simplest doughs to be the best, flour, water, EVOO, yeast, salt!

[Paul B]

Recipes you lot, lets see em...

Great looking pizza Hesh.

[Serge]

Nice gitter and what a finish bro, lookin' mighty fine from here!

Geting hungry suddenly! Back to Le Fridge!

[James Mc]

yep can't beat a thin crust homemade pizza cooked on a hot terracotta tile. You can buy a special pizza tray made from terracotta for about 80 bucks from the yuppy homeware shop but a tile only costs about $5.

Nice look'n guitar there Hesh! Talk about speed, it takes me to decide on what timbers I want to use than it does for you to build one from go to wo.

I'm loving the wide laminate strips you're using in your necks. I hope you don’t have a patent on it, because I fully intend to use the idea and I’m much too povo for anyone to get much joy out of suing.

[Bob Connor]

The new guitar is looking good Hesh. So too the pizza.

What is the time scale that you are hoping to achieve from start to finish?

Bob

[Craig]

G'day Hesh ,
Beautiful guitar once again old mate. Love the shape and the woods.

Of course your craftsmanship still sucks a great deal. But then again ,I suppose you've realized that .

The speed at what you and Bob/Dave are turning these out is making most us feel a little inadequate

Howzabout slowing down the pace a little Huh ?

Superb instrument Hesh.


Cheers Craig

[Hesh1956]

Thanks folks!

Regarding the pizza I think that the primary reason why many homemade pizzas suck is that pizza parlors use much hotter ovens - in the neighborhood of 600F. So the stone is a good idea and I will have to check that out.

Craig bro sorry about my craftsmanship I'll have to get better with Photoshop....

Bob I have about 50 hours into this one so far and much of the rest of it is done and just minor glue-ups that will take me no time at all. The frets are leveled and recrowned, the ends are done. So I anticipate that making the stinking nut and saddle and setting it up will take probably 6-8 hours additional and then it is done. Remember too that I am outsourcing the finishing which skews my results.

I am shooting for under 40 hours for the current one. I spent a lot of time inside the box in the past cleaning things up but now I am going to be happy with 120 grit for anything that does not show. Also, having looked at some 30's-40's Martins and Gibsons now inside the box they rarely cleaned up any glue squeeze-out so I am going to get the globs but not worry about this much going forward.

Even though I have sold some guitars now, reluctantly...., I realize that the economics of this completely suck. So the only way to turn any thing resembling profit, let alone recouping costs, is to get very fast at it.

James buddy the neck lams have been used by everyone for all of time so it's yours too to do as you wish with.

Bob (Tiger) be careful I am known to send things to people just because they asked so you might receive a 2 week old soggy pizza in the mail

Billy you guys have fish tacos in California and I LOVE fish tacos but I don't know what kind of fish to use/grill - any idea?

[Dennis Leahy]

Hi Hesh,

40 hours, 50 hours... I have heard a more typical number like 80 hours to 120 hours from many pros building one-at-a-time. 40 seems rocketship fast, but maybe that's about right with outsourcing the necks and finishing.

[If I ever did it professionally, and had specific "models" with known dimensions (as opposed to creating one-of-a-kind instruments to specifications for each player), I'd outsource those same two tasks, plus bridges.]

I don't think shaving 10 hours off of your present build time is the way to turn the economics around so it doesn't suck. I think you need to charge more. I see some luthiers charging $1500 to $1800 (US) as a base price, and I think that is crazy for handbuilt guitars. In 2008, (not counting extras like ultra-expensive back and side set or extensive inlay), I think a more reasonable starting point is probably around $2500 to $3000 - then add on for extras. I bet you'd end up with 20% less sales and 30% more profit, meaning you'd be better paid for the time spent. Once you have a "name" and an order backlog, add $1000 to the base price. Two years later, add another $1000 to the base price.

"...be careful I am known to send things to people just because they asked..." Well, I won't ask you to send me a guitar, because I'd be too embarrassed not to be able to reciprocate, but maybe some day if I get good at lutherie, I'll offer to do a build swap with you.

Dennis

[Allen]

Thats another fine looking instrument. I like the lighter colored ones as well, and they are always more difficult to hid the tiny flaws, so you have to work that much more carefully.

I've never actually did a time log of every hour spent on building, but I would recon it's certainly in the 120++++ hour range. But I build everything except herringbone purfs. The finish takes at least 1/3rd of the build time if you are including all the prep time before you even think about throwing finish in the gun. But who's counting when it's a hobby.

What's happened Hesh? No more room in that gorgeous guitar rack? Are you hopping to give up the day job?

And when we want a pizza fast, we use those leb-bread shells that they wrap kebabs in as a fast pizza base. Just throw on your toppings and pop into the oven. Pizza in about 10 minutes.

[BillyT]

Billy you guys have fish tacos in California and I LOVE fish tacos but I don't know what kind of fish to use/grill - any idea?

Yes! I do ! It the fish you find in water! That's the fish that works the best!

Doesn't really matter as long as it grilled! Any good white fish will do! I use talapia! OUTSTANDING! I don't know if you grill fish much, but I give the grill a quick rub down with oil right before laying out the fish. Sometiomes I brush a little pulverized garlic mirowaved in some EVOO and a little sprinkle of chili powder! Excellent!!!

Tilapia is a very common fish used in Mexican cooking though it could be anything Tilapia is probably what your talking about!

Dont forget to make some homemade tamales too! Incredible!

I just had a great idea for making an awesome enchilada pie! Kind of like lasagna only using layers of quick fried tortillas instead of pasta and layered with mexican crema(kind of like a ricotta) and enchilada sauce and shredded pork shoulder, covered with cheddar, baked!

Got the idea from a cooking show I saw a couple of days ago! Can't wait to jump in! I don't know how many Mexican restaurants the Ozzie has down there, but if there's any good ones give'em a try!

[James Mc]

We have plenty of Mexican restaurants down under, just not sure you would rate many of them as good though.

Talapia is a feral pest here, it's against the law to have them in your possession. You can fish for them but if you catch them you have to kill em and leave them on the river bank. The idea being to discourage people from moving them to new waterways so they can fish for them closer to home (because they are yummy and easy to catch). They have caused the localised extinction of Barramundi and other native species in many waterholes where they have become established.

[Allen]

I've been to few Mexican resturants here, and I wouldn't consider any of them to serve even semi edible food. It's been so modified for what is perceived to be the Ozzie taste that it doesn't even resemble Mexican food. There might be a few authentic ones, but I haven't been able to find 'em.

I was really surprised that you use Talapia. The first time that I heard of the fish was when we moved to Cairns. Like James said. Feral pest, and you get the impression that it would taste like crap....apparently not so. I guess just like the carp in the Murray. 1.3+ billion Chinese seem to love them.

Billy, got any recipes for Cane Toads? 'Cause I got a ton of them.

[James Mc]

Carp do taste like crap, was like eating mud with bones!

From fresh water Talapia are better than Barra... much better! But not as good as Barra from the salt. This is why the government is so paranoid about people spreading them to every inland river in the country.

[Serge]

Hesh, if you were to give a lady name to each of your guitars or a theme name per say, that you would put a price tag somewhere between $1800 to $3500 that customer would have to inquire about , that they would sell like litlle hot buns so maybe, may i suggest that you keep the calm pace that you had like Dennis said so that you don't lose the love and don't stop enjoying it as much. I know how much you love building but i'll tell you this bro, if building guitars becomes a stress, you will get away from it, just a fix a price that you judge fair depending on the beauty of the guitar as a whole and depending of the expensive materials that you use, your guitars are TOP NOTCH and deserve to be acknowledged as such, i just want you to keep doing what you love best in a way that it doesn't become a burden so don't be shy in asking what they are worth, they are all different precious jewels man!

Brother Serge

[sebastiaan56]

Hi Guys,

Ill echo the comments on the Mexican food in Aus being lousy. I ate Tex Mex in Houston and I can assure you that the real stuff is much better than the Aussie. Also the Margaritas, Aussies just dont get it.

Hesh,

So there is an investment in CNC equipment coming?, a couple of staff maybe? Im told the inlay from Vietnam is cheap and prompt. Nah.... I couldnt imagine it from you mate. Im with Serge in that for me this is a hobby, Ive already got some businesses and dont want to turn pleasure into business, quite apart from the fact that Im just not good enuff at it (read into that what you will). There is also the rarity factor, a Heshtone is not a commodity. A Martin / Fender / Gibson / Ovation, etc, etc is. That said, if you can maintain your quality, well.... a bit of fame and fortune never hust anyone mate.

Sebastiaan

[BillyT]

Billy, got any recipes for Cane Toads? 'Cause I got a ton of them.

I've never even seen a cane toad! Do they crush them and boil the juice to get sugars for rum? You might try Buffalo Cane Toad legs

Man! Too bad about Aussie TexMex! It's nearly a stable here in California.

Even here we have REAL bad Mexican food depending on the restaurant! I'm not a great cook but maybe I should get together a few dishes and post them in the recipe thread!

Tilapia- You should rid your water ways as soon as possible AND EAT THEM!