At this point, my woodworking skills are somewhat better than average, as I’ve had training in joinery, glue-ups, clamping, finishing, etc. I looked at acoustic kits in the past, but the list of tools required was fairly daunting. Kits for solid body guitars are pretty simple and straightforward without the need for a ton of clamps and other tools. That said, if I can ever get the basement cleared out, it would be a good place to give hollow body kits a shot. Still, it’s a kit, not something created from scratch; I guess you have to start somewhere, though.
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OneCentStamp**, short and sweet:
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“this is nothing, nothing new, and what good is the rule
if the exception is always you?” This is a killer lyric, and if I had a beer, I’d be crying into it. -
Really like your guitar sound and style, although, IMO, your tone on “Hookers” could stand a bit of EQ
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The drums really need some treatment, IMO
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My ears are basically wrecked anymore, so the last two points may be total BS
– Your stuff shows real craftsmanship, and you should keep at it
Eonwe and WordMan, thanks for the straight dope. 
Are you familiar with StewMac? They carry a lot of guitar hardware and luthier tools.
they have several acoustic guitar kits.
http://www.stewmac.com/Materials_and_Supplies/Kits/Acoustic_Guitar_Kits/
I’ve wondered how practical it is to refinish a guitar? Find one worth restoring. Strip it,sand, and refinish.
Thank you so much for the kind words and the feedback. What do you think the guitar needs, in terms of EQ? I’m curious to know what you’re hearing.
Wow… blast from the past! That one did turn out nice. Looking back I probably would use a standard 3 barrel brass saddled bridge now, but all-in-all, a great guitar.
What I remember more than anything else about that build was the weight of it. It was hefty. I loved the sustain it had when i strummed the first chord. It was a great piece of wood. I build a Strat out of that same slab of Korina…
Here’s the old thread on that Strat from on a different message board that Wordman and I belong to:
SWMBO has bought my last two guitars for me as Anniversary/Birthday gifts. She also buys me a doz manflowers (aka beer) when I’ve collected enough Husband Points… she’s a keeper.
Heh, color me unsurprised that WordMan is a TGPer. 
It can be done, but you really have to know what kind of finish is on it, and how the neck is joined. It is much easier to get into the corners when the neck is off, but if you are careful you can work all the old finish out if you’re nervous about pulling a neck off. Your best bet is to find a garage sale special", do a little searching online, and have at’er. We did this with a project Tele that my son uses, and after he removed the poly finish that was on it, sanded it down and stained it, turned out quite nice. We used Circa 1850 furniture stripper and lots of sanding to get down to bare wood and smooth out some of the dings and scratches. 220-400-600-1200. We probably could have stopped at 400 but we wanted to get it as smooth as possible.
I am in awe of that Start. Thanks for sharing!
I know, shocking, right? 
Sorry I haven’t chimed in on your tracks, OneCentStamp - swamped at work getting started for the new year. I listened to the first track Longest Hallway and liked it. And yeah, that lyric cited by **Enter the Flagon **is great - I am working on that type of thing with my son (the songwriter) right now.
If you do it again, you might try a Danish Oil finish (after sanding to 400) applied with abrasive paper starting with 400 grit and ending with 8000 grit. It gives a brilliant finish and is easily maintained.
aceplace57: I’ve looked at StewMac many times. I like that they offer the tools to do the job. I looked at one other site that basically said “We give you the materials to do the job, but tools aren’t our problem, and fuck you if you want to know how to finish the wood.” I won’t be buying from them.
OK, through my system I get just the slightest hint of, well - you know when midrange honkiness gets excessive and borders on shoutiness? It was kinda there, almost, yesterday. Less so today.
And, this might just be an effect of my high frequency hearing loss, so take it with a grain of salt. But you might try scooping the mids a touch or turning the Mesa’s bright switch on, and see if you like it. Scooping the mids should have the added effect of reducing the (already not excessive) amp overdrive for a more articulate type of sound.
Now, not every player is up to having every tiny nuance of their playing exposed, but you seem like you could handle it, and when it works, it really works - see Gilmour, David - who, if you’re going to be inspired by someone, is a damn fine someone to be inspired by.
And that’s all I got, really. All in all, it’s pretty good. Heck, today, even the drums, sound OK.
Ack, double post! Senility alert! 
I thought it was worth passing on this tip about Schaller strap locks. Most of the time they are packaged with only one set of screws. If they are too short for your guitar then there’s issues getting them to tighten. Glued in toothpicks. Ugh!
By luck I saw a set on ebay last summer that included two lengths of screws. The longer screw was a perfect replacement for my PRS strap post. Look for this packaging
For some reason they are hard to find. I looked through a dozen Ebay listings a couple days ago. I finally went to my Ebay order history and found the seller from last summer. Even he doesn’t mention the extra screws in his description. The packaging photo is the only clue.
I’m getting Schallers for the Fender Mustang Bass I just ordered. I like them for the security when I’m playing. Plus the strap is easy to remove when the instrument goes in its case. I use the Levy MSSC80 - 2" Heavyweight Cotton straps. Black for my electric instruments
We finished with wipe on polyurethane sorry I didn’t mention that. For his guitar I wanted a relatively no fuss finish. LMII has a vids explaining a lot and have a nice selection of woods. You may also want to look at www.luth.org, for ideas and a great resource to get help if you decide to build a kit, which I would say"Go For It!"
I will give the Danish Oil treatment some thought, I was going to do the neck on my Hawaiian LP project with Tru-Oil which is the same idea. I have bought a few tools from StewMac but I have also built/bought from other sources that were just as good and cheaper. Lee Valley and Busy Bee Tools have gotten a fair bit of business from me as well.
Heck, I just found a guy: I have a friend in town who does cabinetry AND is a guitar tech for a Broadway show (it helps to live close to NYC). I traded him some Yankees tix (;)) for the finish on my guitar. He sprayed nitro - has a vented set up in the corner of his garage…
A thread on The Gear Page showing something that Seymour Duncan is talking about on his FB Page: http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=1526434
I would try it on a piece of scrap wood first. The only problem with it is that it will come off on clothing, so perhaps it’s not the best choice. You could also try a wiping shellac, which would dry to a harder finish.
ok, I got my first bass question. I want to play a super simple country bass line from piano sheet music. the first 4 bars are four whole notes of C. Then it drops an octave to the double ledger line C (a half note) and a G half note. Next bar is two half notes of double ledger line C . very simple, but it will add a lot to fill in this recording that I’m working on.
but, a guitar bass don’t go that low. LOL according to this chart I’m close with my ledger line E but no cigar…
So, whats the best choice? I guess I can only play the 3rd fret A string C? and ignore the octave change? Should I switch to the 8th fret C on the E string? Its the same note.
I will be taking lessons. But this bass line is all half notes and quarter notes. Nothing hard. I should be able to play it.