epoxy coat on the top, shows the bearclaw figure
inlays under epoxy
sides and flamed maple binding under epoxy
back under epoxy
front and sides, and flamed maple binding under epoxy

there were some dings above and below the soundhole, and after trying and failing to bring them back up using steam, i decided to inlay some abalone shell to add a little "bling" to the top.
abalone dots.
fret markers
fret marker installation
holes drilled for fret markers

new bridges for both guitars. the one on my gypsy guitar was too heavy and didn't really have a great tone, so i decided to make a new one out of macasser ebony.
stock bridge in front, new bridge in back, still pretty rough looking
bridge for the new guitar
fitting the bridge feet
looking pretty good

fretboard glued on

beginning of fretting
all fretted, ready to nip the fret ends off, then file, level, and polish the frets.
the 21st fret wasn't sitting well so i had to remove it and reinstall it, which tore out a chunk of the bocote. i took another scrap piece of bocote and fit it to the missing spot, then reinstalled the fret.

headstock, with a bite taken out of it

czech 50 crown coin inlaid in the headstock. it says Praga Mater Urbium, latin for Prague, mother of cities

tenon cut into the neck
mortise cut into the body

awwwww yyyeeaaahhh

neck blanks cut out, two piece walnut neck

gluing the top on to the sides
awwww yeeeaahh
it's coming together quite nicely

carving out the top
pickup mounting rings being made from bocote, will match the fingerboard and pickguard.
inside of the top, pickup holes and soundholes routed out

gluing in the kerfing

1. pick made from Ipe for weakflesh, aka dude who bought my charger

2. pick from Macasser Ebony

3. various picks

4. piece of bocote. using it for the pickguard, fretboard, truss rod cover, and maybe a few other cosmetic things. it'll all match pretty nicely

5. ebony and bocote shavings

1. back of bocote pickguard

2. front of bocote pickguard, check out the sapwood at the top

3. laid onto my guitar's pattern

4. planed ebony for a good while, turned my hands black. picture was taken after scrubbing my hands for a few minutes