Apologies to Zoe

While this entry will in fact contain that which the subject heading references, I just want to say that I really, really like thatphrase .It reads nicely. It has 'A to Z' in it.It just sounds nice, like something you can have done at a really expensive sauna: "Would you prefer our Scalding Mud Bath body cleansing or Apologies to Zoe?" See? Ahhhhhh...Maybe I should apologize for that paragraph.

But never mind. On to the realapology.

And since this is not a Patrick Kong movie, you can trust that it is indeed thereal apology and not just a plot twist revealed at the end of the movie.

Yesterday, Zoe Lee was kind enough to become a fan. She did so on the same day that I put up a blog entry about... something I don't even want to talk about.

So I guess I should apologize for introducing myself in such a manner.

But at least you didn't find me the day I reviewed Dragonball Evolution.

On to better things...

Lots of people here, including Zoe, compliment me about my guitars. I am very grateful, because I try very hard to build nice guitars.

And since I am in the process of building 5 more, I wanted to share some photos.

I've already shown you the NRFB (non-reverse Firebird), and the Seafoam Green Stratocaster won't be here for 4-8 weeks, so there's only three to see. But I think you'll like them.

Artist, AnD artist, and the first person whose art I 'get', Mimi Leung agreed to paint a guitar for me. Then I asked if she'd paint two guitars if I built her a third one. Luckily, she agreed. So I've got three guitar bodies to work with.

When I get them, they are plain wood. I have to seal them to protect the wood and to make a smooth surface for the paint. It's not as hard as it seems, just time-consuming. Lots of sanding and dust.

Like a Sharon Stone makeover, I suppose.

 I'm painting the background colors; Mimi will paint on that.

There are challenges to painting in Hong Kong. The biggest is the weather. Spray paint doesn't like humidity.

Neither do I, for that matter.

So there's not a lot of time you can spray. January and February are best.

But the other challenge is the space in which to work.

Don't use spray paint indoors. Trust me.

Ideally, do it in a clean, well-ventilated area. My conditions are not ideal; I paint guitars on the rubbish pile at my housing estate:I have no choice; it's the only place I have. Today a bug flew onto one of the guitars as I was painting it. Luckily it was a small bug.

Of course, you can't hold the guitar while you paint it, and you cant put the neck on it (because the neck will get paint on it), so you have to use a stick:That way you can manipulate the body as you spray it. It's not easy, because sometimes the body is heavy and it's hard to reach all the spots. I get paint on my hands. No big deal.

Like I said, if I were doing this in better conditions, I'd have ways of improving the process.

Also, because of the nature of the process, I have to take the spray paint and a body on a stick from my flat to the elevator, down to the lobby, out the door, turn right, 50 yards down. Reverse that when I'm done.

Grab second guitar. Repeat sequence.

Grab third guitar. Repeat sequence.

In my flat, I hang them up the best I can, leaving them face up so that the most visible part has the optimal position for the paint to dry.

My flat is very small, so I have to be... inventive with my drying areas. This one is in my bedroom:I thought the only white body that would ever be in that bed was mine...That one is called a Soloist. It's one of the two I'll keep.

I hang them in the living room too. This is Mimi's guitar, a Telecaster. You can see the 'comfor contours" for your forearm (front) and tummy (rear):Don't let the curtains fool you; I haven't had a drink in 21 years. Those six holes are where you feed the strings through the body. The cavity is where the contols go.

I even hang guitars in my workshop (other bedroom):Is it me, or could this guitar easily say "Luke... I am your father"?It's called an Iceman, and it's the other guitar I'll keep. I think her work looks great on white or black, so I figured I should get one of each.

The Iceman shape is very unique, and I must concede that it's the last kind of guitar a middle-aged man should be seen playing. I just thought Mimi's work would fit with the aesthetic of the body. Here it is a few coats of paint ago:I ordered necks for all of these guitars from Warmoth.

The Soloist gets this 'Superwide' neck made entirely out of Purpleheart.The fretboard is so wide that it overhangs the neck's normal dimensions:I mean the overhang on the sides, not the end. Notice the lip below the hole; you can see the ends of the frets. The hole is there so you can adjust the neck without taking it off the guitar. This photo is much closer to the real color of the wood than the first one.

Mimi's Telecaster will get a 'CBS'-era Straocaster neck. We're simply talking headstock  shapes (the part that holds the tuners):I painted the headstock white because I thought it looked nicer with her guitar.

The Iceman neck doesn't have the headstock cut out yet. I'll have to do that and drill the holes for the tuners. But as you can see, I have a template:It doesn't have marker dots on the fretboard. I may leave it that way or make up some custom color dots. We'll see. I'll paint the headstock face black, but dye the rest of the neck black and finish it with clear lacquer. I don't like the way a painted neck feels.

How much do I love guitars? I dedicated my spare/children's bedroom to it.

I don't mean my kids; I have none. The bed platform is smaller than the one in my room, and is designed for kids.

How many people do you know that turn a bed into a workbench?:I have so much stuff that the closet is full too:In order to keep things straight (but obviously not tidy), when I am building guitars I put all the pieces (other than neck and body) into containers:This helps me know where they are and make sure I have everything for that specific guitar so that if not, I can order it.

And buy another f@#$ing guitar while I'm ordering...

Some things are just extras, so I keep them sorted by what they are: I have too many guitars. It's official: 

There's even one hiding behind the others:

This one is on time out in the workshp. It has a twin brother in red that's in a box in the closet: I also have this neck hanging around. It was on the yellow one, and I need to remount it. In fact, it's the neck on the photo at the top of my AnD page. But I better put it back together; I might need it!

So there's my guitar addiction at the moment. If you didn't count them, there are 20. I need to do some individual posts about specific guitars, but for now I hope this will do.

Thanks to everyone who reads this, and I hope to see you at the AnD birthday party!