Hey Phil,
I finally took some photos of the last three kits I got from you. The photos seem really bad which I will blame on low batteries.
My Dad passed away last September, so I was not able to get any work done on these guitars last year. I am really happy with the sound and playability of all three and they do look fantastic in person. I suspect taking a photo of Gold Top gold is as difficult as getting a good finish with Gold Top gold. I did match it to some photos I have of 50s Gold Tops where the top clear coat had turned yellow to give it that older look. All guitars were painted with rattle cans and no dye on the tops so the flame moves with the viewing angle.
I wound all the pickups and made the back plates for the carve tops. I was experimenting with magnets and other things which is why some are still double creme. I like the look, and sound, of the open coils on the sunburst, but the gold top is going to get raw covers at the next string change. I also wired in a secret weapon in the Gold Top where one knob rolls off the volume to one coil, on both pickups, so you can get humbucking power, single coil sweetness or any mix you want. Pull up on the knob and it chooses the opposite coil(s).
I really love the ebony headstock overlay! I was debating on whether I should leave it raw or spray it and as you can see spray it won. I feel like I finally have the faux binding scraping under control and I really like how it looks with more clear maple exposed on the sunburst. Hot hide glue was used for all neck joints and nuts, and while I can’t compare it to using titebond since I have never used it, I would definitely choose my guitars over anything the big G makes! You can also see how the logo you printed for me looks on the finished product.
I still have a Vee, for my son, and a Bound & Flamed carve top kit to complete, but the weather is colder and wetter than it was in February! It needs to warm up and dry out before I can do much else. I guess I could get going on the pickups for the six guitars I have in progress. The next kit I plan to order will be the carve top with the smoothed neck joint unless you can do the 1958 Jr. with a carved top of flame maple (hint) as it is the best shape for slide with all the fretboard exposed.
