First week back in the shop after Denver. This one is a walk through what came home from the Great American Guitar Build Off and what is lined up next, including a build I have never attempted before.
Disco Tele pickups
The thing I am most excited about is a set of Telecaster pickups from Dylan at Dylan Talks Tone. He calls them Disco. They came labeled with the Build Off logo, and by now also with my fingerprints all over them.
They are going into the Zora, the Telecaster style guitar named after my daughter. Which means the next job is finishing the neck on the CNC, and that is a two sided operation I am still learning.
The rest of the swag bag
VIP got a leather strap name badge, shop pencils, guitar picks in the spirit of the USonian that Texas Toast built, screw wax, candles, and a koozie. There was also a handwritten note from Matt Flaherty thanking us for coming, which is a small thing that tells you a lot about how that whole event was run.
The screw wax is the sleeper item. If you have ever stripped a pickguard screw or cracked a guard driving one in dry, wax the threads. It is the cheapest insurance in the shop.
I gave my candles to my friend Tom because I am allergic. IT guy problems.
Two sided CNC necks
The next real project is finishing a guitar neck on the CNC, machined from both sides. I am being trained on it by Martin Harmer at Guitar Assembly, who has a Fusion 360 course for guitar building coming out. If you want to learn Fusion specifically for instruments rather than generic CAD tutorials, watch his site or his Facebook groups, or reach out to him for one on one.
Drum caddy, or Carver Caddy
In the video I asked whether the drum caddy should keep that name, since you do not have to be a drummer to want somewhere to put your drink and your keys. The answer came back and it is now the Carver Caddy.
The 12 inch is in hand and there are 8 inch models heading to a drum shop in Denver. One of them landed with Van Romaine, who drums for Enrique Iglesias and is taking it out on tour. That one still does not feel real.
Racks, and an electric dulcimer
There is a guitar rack prototype in the shop that started life around a String Swing hanger. Next up are some dulcimer hangers, probably in black walnut. I did the first ones by hand and I want to work out how to cut them on the CNC.
Which leads to the thing I am most curious about. My wife’s aunt and her wife play dulcimer and asked me whether I would build an electric one. Obviously the answer was yes. I have no idea how to do it yet. It gets designed in Fusion, and I am going to ask Dylan whether he has a four string pickup that would work.
That is the pattern around here. Somebody asks for a thing that does not exist, and instead of saying no you go find out.
Tools and gear mentioned
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People mentioned
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One guy in a small shop on his father-in-law’s property in Lindsborg, Kansas. IT Director by day, maker by obsession. Equal parts problem solver, craftsman, and curious human. If you’re the kind of person who takes things apart to see how they work, or watches people who do, you’re in the right place.
Uncut shop sessions go up on YouTube and I stream on Twitch. Everything is @carverwoodworking. There is merch in the shop, or you can buy me a coffee.