Prairie Custom Guitars

Here is a build that was inspired by one a build by Rich Rice of Rice Custom Guitars

Here is a link to his build on another great place for info The Gear Page

Here is a direct link to the build Rice Custom Walnut Build- #99

Here are some shots of the walnut at the beginning

 I picked the best end,cut it off,bookmatched it

 Then it was off to the router to cut out the body and the top

 And then lets hollow this puppy out

 We have a top and a bottom
 Time for a f-hole

 Glued it up and did some binding

I guess we have to decide on pickups,finish and what kind of neck to use

Got a chance to work on this a bit tonight

Got the output hole drilled.I countersunk it a bit

Just gives it a nice clean look 

Then I did the ferrule holes.These turned out better than normal

Helps when you square up you drill press

This thing is really starting to look nice. 

Really has a nice ring to it.Nice acoustic sound

 Weight is pretty good too

 This is kinda what I have in mind

The pickguard will need to be trimmed

Now what pickups

Now we need some cavities for pickups etc

And we have routes 

 I guess this is what we end up with.Not much more to come off

 She is about ready for finish

Now comes the long part.Getting some finish on this thing

Not to sure what I am going to use yet,Deft or Wipe-on Poly

I doesn't matter on which I decide on I want to put a coat on sealer on it 

Her it is with the sealer applied.I have used this under poly and Deft so I can still change my mind 

Well we sanded down the sealer tonight and decided to go with Deft on this one too

It just gives such a deep looking finish that should really look good  on the walnut

Here it is after it's first coat

 Well she got a light sanding,and another coat today

This thing is starting to look amazing 

Another round of Deft tonight

 Decided to give this a good wetsand to level it out

It come out pretty nice. 

Just a few small low spots that a few more coats of Deft will fix 

Well the dog officially got banned from the workshop tonight

Hairy little bugger

I noticed it before I put any coats over it so it sanded right out 

A couple more coats later

This one is getting close 

This one is finished

Last coat Apr 3rd

Time to sit.A higher res pic

Time to buff out

She has been giving me the stink-eye for a couple days

Out with the sandpaper and compound

 You know,as much as I hate to,I'm going to give this one up

Got to start selling some of these

I hope it likes it's new home

Kinda like a kid,sad to see it go

I have to re-route the neck pickup for a humbucker tomorrow

Then it's back in the box and off to Texas on Monday