Go Suck A Lemon
On the first of August most of the ill feelings about the car drifted away. I refocused my attention to the thing most important to me, building the guitar. I kept thinking about my neck and I knew I still needed abalone for the rosette on the soundboard. My grandmother and I went on a little adventure trying to find abalone locally. I found this small shop on the wharf but they only sold shells, beautiful shells but I needed something pre-cut. From the looks of it I'd need more than one shell to make a flat circular rosette On the same adventure I called Dave looking to buy a shorter truss rod to fit my unfinished neck. He didn't pick up and I figured I must have said something to offend him.
By the time we got home he called up saying he might be able to stop by. This all from the guy who didn't seem to want to be found at all.
Later that day he came by and checked out the shop. I think he was a little offended I started on the back plate without him. He rough housed it a little and this made me damned nervous. He looked at the neck and I think suggested I should keep trying to make it work. He also kept hinting to use the mostly unused table saw. It remains grounded because I'd have to bolt it onto the workbench. As it is now to bolt it down would reduce the work area by another quarter which would limit my space.
Dave and my grandmother traded small talk.
It was interesting seeing this other part of Dave and not just the grumpy luthier I'd come to know.
He sold me a very nice mahogany neck, a truss rod to fit it, and a rosewood fretboard to boot. At $80 that was a pretty good deal.
With that in mind I could now work on the neck without worrying about it being totally useless.
If it ended up the neck I built wouldn't work I could always refit it with the blank he gave me.
Of course the greater price for the neck I'm building to fail would be time.
At least now I shouldn't be afraid to work on it though the fear is still there.
That same week I shaped the back braces at first there was still that thumpy cardboard sound on the tap.
After a few days of sanding I started to hear a light ring this instantly brought a smile to my face.
Maybe the wood I picked out wasn't all that bad after all.
I treated myself to a beach day on a hazy fog type day.
Still it was good to get out and just be anywhere but in the shop.
I needed the fresh air, and it always cools the soul to see waves crashing.
As is every Saturday I cleaned up the shop then cut out a fretboard from scrap redwood.
Even after sanding, fretting, and inlaying I'd have no way to tell whether this was a good idea or not till after finally assembly when the guitar is finally stringed.
The next week I wanted to do a 1k week, I would do a 1 mile run everyday, then do as many reps of said exercises and try to hit 1000 reps of said exercises at the end of the 7 day period. It ended up getting cut short with family intervention after 4 days. On one night I ran outside toward what could only be a no man's land. Plains, shrubbery, no people or so it seemed for miles. While running I caught something at the corner of my eye. A rather bright light that I thought was a firefly. After a while I got edgy since no firefly is that bright or moves like that. Instead of running away from it, I ran at it thinking it was an alien. The light retreated and then stopped and stared. It was just a dude walking his dog. Still I had to laugh, "Dude I thought you were an alien!"
That small adventure and the workouts left me feeling pumped.
I went back to the guitar and started working with the soundboard. I cut out the soundhole and started rounding it over with sandpaper then I put down another thin plate of the same wood for the backing plate. This too needed to be glued down rounded, and reduced. I'd done all that on and off that week.
Some other health obligations took me away from the guitar. By the 17th I'd hit the 90 day mark and had gone through a little less then half the hide glue. The next part on the soundboard would be to get the X-braces glued down. I called Dave asking if he thought using a book to clamp down the X-braces was a good idea, "its all about experimenting." I also wanted to make sure there were no gaps underneath the x-braces so I used a flash light and was sadly dissapointed. There were gaps on all four braces which would mean less glue surface and the vibe would travel underneath them.
I ended up trying to shape them to flatness, it went from tedious, to annoying, to frustrating and finally aggrovating.
At that point I looked for a substitute solution, and that was to build a strip of lining on each side of the X-braces. This would add glue surface and plug the gaps. It would also add weight and I'd have no idea how it would effect the sound till after final assembly.
I got a little ahead of myself and tried doing three things at once at some point and the x-braces came unhinged, I forgot to add these filler stubs to add glue surface.
It was again tedious requiring a couple of tries before they stuck together.
However the book idea using a high level vice to clamp down the x-braces worked.
I took a couple of days to sand and shape the x-braces and lining. I spent a few days on the upper and lower tone bars weighting them down with the endblock itself with clamps piled on top of it to add weight. The next task was to get the A-braces butted to the X-braces and glued down. I was trying to get a perfect fit on the A-braces and I over cut one of them with the bandsaw. I was forced to build another A-brace to make sure it wouldn't be short from the heel. With the A-braces glued down and shaped all I had left was the spreader bar and the support braces on the bass and treble side of the soundboard.
There were some frustrations with the spreader bar I needed to precarve it to fit the A-braces and at some point I carved too deep which almost took off a large chunk of wood with it. I ended up having to quickly glue and clamp it to avoid it falling apart. I really spent no time outside the shop a quick lunch break, dinner, then bed. History will note this as the Seven Day Soundboard Push. It was a little ambitious and I made some hopefully minor mistakes in the end. But having done what I set out to do I could move onto to other things. Like the neck and bending the ribs.
Onto other things that happened or didn't happen in between.
I tried to find local Yoga resources and wasn't surprised to find that there are plenty of them.
Unfortunately none of them are affordable or in running distance.
For what I'd have to pay for one month of membership it would cost me a year's membership with my usual yoga hangout.
Also taking the bus wouldn't be all that pleasant either, yes they are cleaner and wayyyy safer then any bus in New York will ever be. But the time and money spent on a bus would best be invested into the car or guitar.
As for the car its still in the shop, they rebuilt the engine but they found another problem.
I knew the engine had been burning oil so whatever they found ended up being non-repairable.
He said he was going to look into another engine swap which is perfect.
The longer it takes for them to get her street worthy the better I will be in a position to pay for their hard work.
Sometimes denial is a very strong motivator, maybe the car will never run again but the illusion that it might aids me in not giving a shit.
Not giving a shit has so far really paid off I focused on the guitar, even had time to exercise in between, and write.
As for my writing ever since I'd been typing it up bit by bit I'd had a sense of oppression. I asked myself why I kept feeling this way and the answer was simple, "the audience." With that in mind I figured the best way to avoid this problem was to not to cater to an audience at all. Type it up as I would for myself, print up a nice brown leather copy with an embroidery and a silk ribbon book mark and only print one copy. Who cares if I don't make a million or even five dollars if I'd sold one copy.
So with that in mind I'm going to keep writing into the draft, why stop at 300 pages, go for a 1000.
The last friday in the month which was supposed to be a rather quiet day ended with a free piano. Well almost free, $20 it seems too good to be true but there it is.
The real work was moving it but the man who gave it to us had a large hand in helping us get it in the house.
I could see the only real problem was the chair, which seemed to me to just need some glue.
Suddenly I found myself being a repairer and ended up using some hide glue on the seat.
This was a rather productive month and nothing went south on me.
The only sad news I received was about a New York friend trying to make it up in San Francisco had fled for Long Island. Broke, jobless, nearly homeless, if he'd asked to stay I am sure we could've worked something out. My grandmother would probably be reasonable with rent, and hell thats more gambling money for her in the end.
The other health issue my teeth is still unresolved I wanted to know about the car before committing to any dental work.
I've needed a crown on a moller for a while. I'd been wanting to save up enough to get it all done in one go. This is probably still possible as long as the tooth doesn't just break. At some point I started suffering pain. Fluoride and mouthwash did nothing to ease the pain. So I trusted my instincts and grabbed some lemons and limes at the super market. I squeezed them into a juice even rubbed them on my gums and it worked. Now maybe this is just some kind of self defense or it could be the dental industry is based on bullshit. I'm more inclined to believe the latter.
Hell if I could get some enamel and tooth repair products I'd do it myself despite any pain.
With that dental industry I say, "Go Suck A Lemon!"
On that note its Saturday, time to clean the shop, put on some shorts and run to the beach.
Keepin' it |_
-Astral Samurai
By the time we got home he called up saying he might be able to stop by. This all from the guy who didn't seem to want to be found at all.
Later that day he came by and checked out the shop. I think he was a little offended I started on the back plate without him. He rough housed it a little and this made me damned nervous. He looked at the neck and I think suggested I should keep trying to make it work. He also kept hinting to use the mostly unused table saw. It remains grounded because I'd have to bolt it onto the workbench. As it is now to bolt it down would reduce the work area by another quarter which would limit my space.
Dave and my grandmother traded small talk.
It was interesting seeing this other part of Dave and not just the grumpy luthier I'd come to know.
He sold me a very nice mahogany neck, a truss rod to fit it, and a rosewood fretboard to boot. At $80 that was a pretty good deal.
With that in mind I could now work on the neck without worrying about it being totally useless.
If it ended up the neck I built wouldn't work I could always refit it with the blank he gave me.
Of course the greater price for the neck I'm building to fail would be time.
At least now I shouldn't be afraid to work on it though the fear is still there.
That same week I shaped the back braces at first there was still that thumpy cardboard sound on the tap.
After a few days of sanding I started to hear a light ring this instantly brought a smile to my face.
Maybe the wood I picked out wasn't all that bad after all.
I treated myself to a beach day on a hazy fog type day.
Still it was good to get out and just be anywhere but in the shop.
I needed the fresh air, and it always cools the soul to see waves crashing.
As is every Saturday I cleaned up the shop then cut out a fretboard from scrap redwood.
Even after sanding, fretting, and inlaying I'd have no way to tell whether this was a good idea or not till after finally assembly when the guitar is finally stringed.
The next week I wanted to do a 1k week, I would do a 1 mile run everyday, then do as many reps of said exercises and try to hit 1000 reps of said exercises at the end of the 7 day period. It ended up getting cut short with family intervention after 4 days. On one night I ran outside toward what could only be a no man's land. Plains, shrubbery, no people or so it seemed for miles. While running I caught something at the corner of my eye. A rather bright light that I thought was a firefly. After a while I got edgy since no firefly is that bright or moves like that. Instead of running away from it, I ran at it thinking it was an alien. The light retreated and then stopped and stared. It was just a dude walking his dog. Still I had to laugh, "Dude I thought you were an alien!"
That small adventure and the workouts left me feeling pumped.
I went back to the guitar and started working with the soundboard. I cut out the soundhole and started rounding it over with sandpaper then I put down another thin plate of the same wood for the backing plate. This too needed to be glued down rounded, and reduced. I'd done all that on and off that week.
Some other health obligations took me away from the guitar. By the 17th I'd hit the 90 day mark and had gone through a little less then half the hide glue. The next part on the soundboard would be to get the X-braces glued down. I called Dave asking if he thought using a book to clamp down the X-braces was a good idea, "its all about experimenting." I also wanted to make sure there were no gaps underneath the x-braces so I used a flash light and was sadly dissapointed. There were gaps on all four braces which would mean less glue surface and the vibe would travel underneath them.
I ended up trying to shape them to flatness, it went from tedious, to annoying, to frustrating and finally aggrovating.
At that point I looked for a substitute solution, and that was to build a strip of lining on each side of the X-braces. This would add glue surface and plug the gaps. It would also add weight and I'd have no idea how it would effect the sound till after final assembly.
I got a little ahead of myself and tried doing three things at once at some point and the x-braces came unhinged, I forgot to add these filler stubs to add glue surface.
It was again tedious requiring a couple of tries before they stuck together.
However the book idea using a high level vice to clamp down the x-braces worked.
I took a couple of days to sand and shape the x-braces and lining. I spent a few days on the upper and lower tone bars weighting them down with the endblock itself with clamps piled on top of it to add weight. The next task was to get the A-braces butted to the X-braces and glued down. I was trying to get a perfect fit on the A-braces and I over cut one of them with the bandsaw. I was forced to build another A-brace to make sure it wouldn't be short from the heel. With the A-braces glued down and shaped all I had left was the spreader bar and the support braces on the bass and treble side of the soundboard.
There were some frustrations with the spreader bar I needed to precarve it to fit the A-braces and at some point I carved too deep which almost took off a large chunk of wood with it. I ended up having to quickly glue and clamp it to avoid it falling apart. I really spent no time outside the shop a quick lunch break, dinner, then bed. History will note this as the Seven Day Soundboard Push. It was a little ambitious and I made some hopefully minor mistakes in the end. But having done what I set out to do I could move onto to other things. Like the neck and bending the ribs.
Onto other things that happened or didn't happen in between.
I tried to find local Yoga resources and wasn't surprised to find that there are plenty of them.
Unfortunately none of them are affordable or in running distance.
For what I'd have to pay for one month of membership it would cost me a year's membership with my usual yoga hangout.
Also taking the bus wouldn't be all that pleasant either, yes they are cleaner and wayyyy safer then any bus in New York will ever be. But the time and money spent on a bus would best be invested into the car or guitar.
As for the car its still in the shop, they rebuilt the engine but they found another problem.
I knew the engine had been burning oil so whatever they found ended up being non-repairable.
He said he was going to look into another engine swap which is perfect.
The longer it takes for them to get her street worthy the better I will be in a position to pay for their hard work.
Sometimes denial is a very strong motivator, maybe the car will never run again but the illusion that it might aids me in not giving a shit.
Not giving a shit has so far really paid off I focused on the guitar, even had time to exercise in between, and write.
As for my writing ever since I'd been typing it up bit by bit I'd had a sense of oppression. I asked myself why I kept feeling this way and the answer was simple, "the audience." With that in mind I figured the best way to avoid this problem was to not to cater to an audience at all. Type it up as I would for myself, print up a nice brown leather copy with an embroidery and a silk ribbon book mark and only print one copy. Who cares if I don't make a million or even five dollars if I'd sold one copy.
So with that in mind I'm going to keep writing into the draft, why stop at 300 pages, go for a 1000.
The last friday in the month which was supposed to be a rather quiet day ended with a free piano. Well almost free, $20 it seems too good to be true but there it is.
The real work was moving it but the man who gave it to us had a large hand in helping us get it in the house.
I could see the only real problem was the chair, which seemed to me to just need some glue.
Suddenly I found myself being a repairer and ended up using some hide glue on the seat.
This was a rather productive month and nothing went south on me.
The only sad news I received was about a New York friend trying to make it up in San Francisco had fled for Long Island. Broke, jobless, nearly homeless, if he'd asked to stay I am sure we could've worked something out. My grandmother would probably be reasonable with rent, and hell thats more gambling money for her in the end.
The other health issue my teeth is still unresolved I wanted to know about the car before committing to any dental work.
I've needed a crown on a moller for a while. I'd been wanting to save up enough to get it all done in one go. This is probably still possible as long as the tooth doesn't just break. At some point I started suffering pain. Fluoride and mouthwash did nothing to ease the pain. So I trusted my instincts and grabbed some lemons and limes at the super market. I squeezed them into a juice even rubbed them on my gums and it worked. Now maybe this is just some kind of self defense or it could be the dental industry is based on bullshit. I'm more inclined to believe the latter.
Hell if I could get some enamel and tooth repair products I'd do it myself despite any pain.
With that dental industry I say, "Go Suck A Lemon!"
On that note its Saturday, time to clean the shop, put on some shorts and run to the beach.
Keepin' it |_
-Astral Samurai
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