When I first started watching this I didn't think much of it... cover a guitar in copper, no big deal right? I became fascinated with watching your work. You are truly a master craftsman! Thank you for sharing these videos, amazing work and thought that went into this build.
Looks good. You've come a long way with your metal working. Just a thought on finish. Olympic white paint with a heavy relic to show the copper underneath.
What about a block of aluminum for the bridge? Could be a solid anchor. Might be good for the neck pocket too.. Can’t wait to see it finished and hear it!
I believe last time I said I was looking forward to how you would deal with the neck pocket. Well now I know. I was thinking some sort of wood block under the neck for support. It all looks great James.
Thanks Dane. I thought about a wood block but I really wanted an entire metal body without wood so I just built a metal pocket Lol! Did I miss your episode where you finished the finish on the LPJ? I feel like I remember seeing color go down but that was it. Really looking forward to seeing the build.
@@Ninety2guits you did not miss it. I haven't made the final vid yet. My macbook has almost half the screen covered with random lines patterns or just blacked out. And a new screen is over 800 bucks and this id the second time. So it's out of action. My old 2016 Dell laptop had to be restored and I put a new battery in it but it's still not quite normal. Long way of saying it's hard to make videos right now. And mac files don't play nice in other computers. And I've reloaded filmora for an editor but I'll have to relearn it. Aaaggg!!
String ferrules could be flared (plumbing flare tool is cheap and easy to master) on the back and dropped through the finished body then soldered on both front and back and then ground flush on the front.
I really liked this idea and mentioned your comment in one of the clips I recorded. Apparently I cut that part of the clip or didn't use it which is a shame. This is a great idea!!!
Mild patina for me - copper will develop a patina in time anyway with playing, contact with the player's hand, sweat, humidity etc... No way to keep it shiny spotless. Looking pretty cool.
Looks good James.If you polish it, I think it would be a major mistake. Every single mark will stick out like the worst sore thumb you have seen. Patina it. But you better do the research on doing copper patina up well. It is going to be a learning curve. I patina and rust stuff all the time. 5 years in doing this, and man... I am still learning
Patina is my vote. It would give it lots of character. I look forward to watching the build but as guitar player I’m really curious on what it will sound like and P/U selection. Nice work👍
Nice! My vote's for patina too. Copper round stock for dot inlays? Do you plan on boxing it in under the bridge and to the neck pocket? I have no idea if it needs the reinforcement but my gut says it may move quite a bit without it.
James, shall I state something stupid that you must already have known about? This guitar is going to be incredibly neck heavy. In first vid, I thought for sure there was going to be at least a 4 inch wide wooden centre block from front to back and endpin to endpin, and that would take care of it. I was wrong. ALSO... I think with what you are speaking of doing for the bolts/ telescoping hollow pieces thing, it is not at all going to work without distorting everything. Once it is tightened down, it will do one thing, the guitar being strung up will be another thing, and the guitar strung up for a year will be something else entirely. You know already how much I think of ya and love what you do (and how you do it) but without something down that centre tieing all of it together, this is destined for wall hanger status. It took 24 hours for me to get the guts to write this too James. This is also not gonna stop me thinking about getting you building me the first tritone either. Love and respect to you from wayyyyyyyy northern British Columbia.
Kerry. You are exactly correct... but not to worry, I have a plan. No wall hangers over here. There will be bracing inside for sure. I'm already working on the bridge mounting and I think we will be ok. Have you ever seen the Trussart tele's, I've got a little inspiration from him, he's got it figured out. Thanks for looking out for me.
I've been testing different temperature solders lately. Some of the temperature differences aren't great enough that I can control one temperature over the other. It pretty finicky. I've been testing brass and copper colored solder as well but they don't seem as strong. Also the brass colored solder I've only found in very thin gauge and very small rolls and very expensive. It's hard to find jewelers solder that is thick enough and affordable enough to use for constructing these bodies. I'm always willing to try though.
Nice work once again! I would go for a polished finish but can I suggest you have a look at etching designs on copper - I think that would work well. Chris
I'd hand-engrave a design onto the copper, then maybe fill the engraved parts with paint, but leave the rest bare, and let the copper age in its own way. What wood is that neck?
Hand engrave? Whoa! You should see my hand writing. Years ago I bought an engraver but I try not to bring it up, it was not good, serious lack of artistic talent here. The neck is very old growth Hickory. I've made about 10 necks from the same chunk of hickory I bought years ago. They have all been really great necks.
Man, that guitar will have NO hum. Everything will be copper shielded. I like the patina idea in theory, but I've found that applied patinas tend to pale greatly in comparison to naturally patinaed copper. I'd say leave it bare and let it patina naturally.
I've been looking for a place that does nickel plating around here but I can't find anything. Probably environmental reasons, I think the only thing we are allowed to make in California is broccoli. I was just watching you play that Baritone National, really looking forward to doing one of those.
@@Ninety2guits- the baritone National is a vintage National Triolian steel body that was already on it’s 2nd neck (a 12-string neck, made & fitted by Don Young, when he still worked at Dobro) when I got it. Someone had repainted it too.The neck did n’t have a truss rod and had warped and banana’d. So, I took the neck off and stripped off the non-original paint. One of the UK’s top resonator luthiers, Dave King, made the new baritone neck, and we sent the guitar body to the same electro-platers that were used for Beltona resonator guitars. They hadn’t played steel before, let alone old steel that had been painted multiple times. Its all in the prep though ! Spending time to get a highly polished surface is the key to getting a good plated surface finish. I suppose they were “managing my expectations” ! It actually turned out fab though. That was 20yrs ago - and I’ve sold it since
thank you for letting us watch your process.
When I first started watching this I didn't think much of it... cover a guitar in copper, no big deal right? I became fascinated with watching your work. You are truly a master craftsman! Thank you for sharing these videos, amazing work and thought that went into this build.
Wow!! Thank you. I appreciate that.
Excellent job!! I like to watch your build and like to wait your video. see you next time!!
It's going fast on this one. Patina will be nice. Well done.
I’ve always believed guitars can be art for artists. That Tele is a beautiful piece of art. Great work James.
🎵🎶☮️
Looks good. You've come a long way with your metal working. Just a thought on finish. Olympic white paint with a heavy relic to show the copper underneath.
Very cool build
Hey that is a great piece of engineering. I'm loving the idea.
What about a block of aluminum for the bridge? Could be a solid anchor. Might be good for the neck pocket too..
Can’t wait to see it finished and hear it!
I believe last time I said I was looking forward to how you would deal with the neck pocket. Well now I know. I was thinking some sort of wood block under the neck for support. It all looks great James.
Thanks Dane. I thought about a wood block but I really wanted an entire metal body without wood so I just built a metal pocket Lol! Did I miss your episode where you finished the finish on the LPJ? I feel like I remember seeing color go down but that was it. Really looking forward to seeing the build.
@@Ninety2guits you did not miss it. I haven't made the final vid yet. My macbook has almost half the screen covered with random lines patterns or just blacked out. And a new screen is over 800 bucks and this id the second time. So it's out of action. My old 2016 Dell laptop had to be restored and I put a new battery in it but it's still not quite normal. Long way of saying it's hard to make videos right now. And mac files don't play nice in other computers. And I've reloaded filmora for an editor but I'll have to relearn it. Aaaggg!!
String ferrules could be flared (plumbing flare tool is cheap and easy to master) on the back and dropped through the finished body then soldered on both front and back and then ground flush on the front.
I really liked this idea and mentioned your comment in one of the clips I recorded. Apparently I cut that part of the clip or didn't use it which is a shame. This is a great idea!!!
As always, excellent work. I enjoy watching the progress on this build.
Amazing
Mild patina for me - copper will develop a patina in time anyway with playing, contact with the player's hand, sweat, humidity etc... No way to keep it shiny spotless.
Looking pretty cool.
Looks good James.If you polish it, I think it would be a major mistake. Every single mark will stick out like the worst sore thumb you have seen. Patina it. But you better do the research on doing copper patina up well. It is going to be a learning curve. I patina and rust stuff all the time. 5 years in doing this, and man... I am still learning
Thanks Kerry. Sounds like my research needs to start with you :).
Patina is my vote. It would give it lots of character. I look forward to watching the build but as guitar player I’m really curious on what it will sound like and P/U selection. Nice work👍
The guitar will look amazing either way. My vote would be for a patina finish with a polished pick guard or vice versa.
Nice! My vote's for patina too. Copper round stock for dot inlays? Do you plan on boxing it in under the bridge and to the neck pocket? I have no idea if it needs the reinforcement but my gut says it may move quite a bit without it.
James, shall I state something stupid that you must already have known about? This guitar is going to be incredibly neck heavy. In first vid, I thought for sure there was going to be at least a 4 inch wide wooden centre block from front to back and endpin to endpin, and that would take care of it. I was wrong. ALSO... I think with what you are speaking of doing for the bolts/ telescoping hollow pieces thing, it is not at all going to work without distorting everything. Once it is tightened down, it will do one thing, the guitar being strung up will be another thing, and the guitar strung up for a year will be something else entirely. You know already how much I think of ya and love what you do (and how you do it) but without something down that centre tieing all of it together, this is destined for wall hanger status. It took 24 hours for me to get the guts to write this too James. This is also not gonna stop me thinking about getting you building me the first tritone either. Love and respect to you from wayyyyyyyy northern British Columbia.
Kerry. You are exactly correct... but not to worry, I have a plan. No wall hangers over here. There will be bracing inside for sure. I'm already working on the bridge mounting and I think we will be ok. Have you ever seen the Trussart tele's, I've got a little inspiration from him, he's got it figured out. Thanks for looking out for me.
I have seen a few of them in person, but never picked one up. I don't play electric at all. Thanks for understanding Bucko.
@@Ninety2guits
Waiting!
Jewellers have hard med and soft solder to deal with the accidental reheating and desoldering issue.
I've been testing different temperature solders lately. Some of the temperature differences aren't great enough that I can control one temperature over the other. It pretty finicky. I've been testing brass and copper colored solder as well but they don't seem as strong. Also the brass colored solder I've only found in very thin gauge and very small rolls and very expensive. It's hard to find jewelers solder that is thick enough and affordable enough to use for constructing these bodies. I'm always willing to try though.
Nice work once again! I would go for a polished finish but can I suggest you have a look at etching designs on copper - I think that would work well.
Chris
@a6cjn Nice idea on the etching, that could look great.
Patina!
I'd hand-engrave a design onto the copper, then maybe fill the engraved parts with paint, but leave the rest bare, and let the copper age in its own way. What wood is that neck?
Hand engrave? Whoa! You should see my hand writing. Years ago I bought an engraver but I try not to bring it up, it was not good, serious lack of artistic talent here. The neck is very old growth Hickory. I've made about 10 necks from the same chunk of hickory I bought years ago. They have all been really great necks.
Man, that guitar will have NO hum. Everything will be copper shielded.
I like the patina idea in theory, but I've found that applied patinas tend to pale greatly in comparison to naturally patinaed copper. I'd say leave it bare and let it patina naturally.
patina - or Flame Painting
Which solder did you end up using? Also what gauge was #2?
put a resonator in it
Polish!!
What do you think it will weigh when finished?
Hi polish - then nickel-plate it !!!
I've been looking for a place that does nickel plating around here but I can't find anything. Probably environmental reasons, I think the only thing we are allowed to make in California is broccoli.
I was just watching you play that Baritone National, really looking forward to doing one of those.
@@Ninety2guits- the baritone National is a vintage National Triolian steel body that was already on it’s 2nd neck (a 12-string neck, made & fitted by Don Young, when he still worked at Dobro) when I got it. Someone had repainted it too.The neck did n’t have a truss rod and had warped and banana’d.
So, I took the neck off and stripped off the non-original paint. One of the UK’s top resonator luthiers, Dave King, made the new baritone neck, and we sent the guitar body to the same electro-platers that were used for Beltona resonator guitars. They hadn’t played steel before, let alone old steel that had been painted multiple times.
Its all in the prep though !
Spending time to get a highly polished surface is the key to getting a good plated surface finish. I suppose they were “managing my expectations” !
It actually turned out fab though. That was 20yrs ago - and I’ve sold it since