Launch of the SBO website.
Feels great to finally have the business looking more professional. With the launch of a website and our official email available, it really feels like this entire project is going to take off this year.
What is happening behind the scenes though?:
Well as of today I have two bodies being cut that will eventually be sold. One of which someone already has dibs on. And I have the second prototype about 95% finished. Unfortunitly due to tooling and previous supply issues, I wasn’t entirely pleased with the final result. To start with, the original wood I was supplied was very soft and hard to work with without it splintering or just launching chunks of wood at me as I routed. Now, I’ve discovered that part of the reason was in that the issue may have partially laid with the bench router. I will investigate it further, until then I will use the hand router to clean off the edges.
Other issues I had was my original stencils were not perfect and had to be replaced by proper ones made by other people. These stencils were for the neck pocket and the bridge so it wont affect the overall design of the guitar.
The next issue was the paint. Being that the wood was so soft, it drank any paint up like it was stranded in the desert. Making it very difficult to have any smooth finish. So despite it’s near finished appearance, it does look fairly reliced without even trying. However, it is mostly complete, so I’ve been able to test out a few things such as it’s balance and the way it feels to play it. And I can say that it feels great. Once I’ve sorted these small issues with it, there’s no reason why the second prototype wont become one of my favourite guitars to play.
What’s next then?:
Firstly I have to get these bodies cut and ready to be painted. This also includes all the holes drilled and the cavities sorted. If all goes well they should be done fairly soon. The next part is the pull apart, fix, and reverse engineer some of the parts of the second prototype. There were many things that worked out perfectly on the prototype that I wish to carry over onto the production models. This includes the wiring, the pickguard, the placement of strap pins, the jack point, the tummy and arm cuts, and the placement of the switches and knobs. Once I have a concrete idea of how to efficiently build these beauties, I’ll be able to have many coming out each month throughout the year. I guess all I can say is watch this space!
~Steve
