Guitar – Carl Bratcher dot Com

27/09/201505/10/2015

Lap Steel DIY

I was looking at buying a lap steel (dunno why) and fell over this site http://www.guitarworld.com/diy-musician-how-build-2×4-lap-steel-guitar and decided sod it I’ll bloody build one instead. So a brief hunt through the shed gave me an old timber dining table that deserved to be cut up so that was the wood side sorted but as you can see from the pictures I got a tad carried away in that mine isn’t going to be a single 2×4 I’m going to recess it in to a wider piece. Why? Well I thought I might knock up some legs for it too 😉

When will it be finished? Buggered if I know, probably mid next week – I hate sanding and I’ve got a lot to do although I’ll get the notch cut out of the body to sit the neck in today.

Update (a few hours after the original post): From Picture 7 you’ll see I got well carried away, got it all sanded as well as sorting the ‘neck’ pocket – gettin’ there. It’s going to have a single Strat pup with just the volume control, the input jack is going in the right side of the body – just gotta work out the best way to set the strings, through body or Gibson tune-o-matic style bridge although I’m leaning toward through body.

Update (the following day): From Picture 12 (dunno what happened to 11) you’ll see I’ve dismantled a Strat tremolo bridge and it makes an ideal string mount, I’ve recessed the Strat pup, used a spade bit to make the holes for the volume control and input, cross drilled everthing for the wiring and dry fit it all to make sure I hadn’t stuffed it up.. I even got carried away and milled a track for the pup wiring to sit nicely and not cause any grief with the neck. What you can’t see is the earth wire from the String mount as that’s all through the timber 😉

Update (Yet another day passes): Got the frets marked but for some reason near the pick up end of the neck they are off, dunno what happened there. Also got the Machine head cut out, the tuners lined up and everything varnished. It should be assembled tomorrow. 😉

Update (A good few days later): It’s finished, up to and including making a cover (Picture 12) for the holes that make it a damn sight easier to sort the wiring than not being there, I’m just waiting on a new set of heavier strings and then I can call it completely finished – total build time was six days 😉

Next is going to be a three string CBG or a Cigar Box Guitar, I’ve already started on the neck so drop back in a week or so to see how I’m getting on.

Picture 1 The Table Remains	Picture 2 The Main Body
Picture 3 The Neck	Picture 4 The Neck With Routed Edges
Picture 5 The Body With Routed Edges	Picture 6 Bits In Place As Guide
Picture 7 Semi-Finished Bits	Picture 8 Neck Pocket Milled Out
Picture 9 Neck Milled At Machine Head	Picture 10 Neck Sits Nicely
Picture 10 Neck Sits Nicely	Picture 12 Dry Fit of Pickup, Naked Strat String Mount, Volume and Input
Picture 13 Dry Fit of Pickup, Naked Strat String Mount, Volume and Input	Picture 14 Dry Fit of Pickup, Naked Strat String Mount, Volume and Input
Picture 15 Strat Pickup, String Mount and Scrap Timber Bridge	Picture 16 Scrap Timber Bridge – The Nut is the Same
Picture 17 Frets Marked (Badly) and Varnished	Picture 19 Varnished Body and Bridge n Nut
Picture 20 – Mostly Finished	Picture 21 – Mostly Finished
Picture 22 – Mostly Finished	Picture 23 – Mostly Finished
Picture 24 – Strung But Needs New Strings, The Ones On It Are A Mix Of Gauges	Picture 25 – Strung But Needs New Strings, The Ones On It Are A Mix Of Gauges
Picture 26 – Strung But Needs New Strings, The Ones On It Are A Mix Of Gauges	Picture 27 – Input Jack
Picture 28 – Machine Head	Picture 29 – Pickup, String Mount and Bridge

04/09/2012

More Guitars – Asturcon’s This Time

Picked up two more guitars, both Asturcon’s – short run instruments that kick arse 😛 I’ll add pics of them as soon as I get a new camera seein as mine went tits up grrrrrrrrr and I hate using my stoopid fone.
The first is an Asturcon Carlos Garcia signature “Maestro de Metal” with Humbucker Single Humbucker pup setup, a single run of 150 in 2008, mine is number 19 – what an ear melter NYAH!! LOL the 2nd is an Asturcon “Grey Wolf” Single and Split pup bass, same vintage. The serial numbering is a tad confusing though – you have to add 50 to the last two digits and mine is 58 so that makes it a 2008 so if you had a number like 050958 (just made that number up) the actual serial number is 0509 with 58 being the 2008 year, 05 is the model so that leaves 09 which is the manufacture month so that’s September.
05 – Maestro de Metal
09 – September
58 – 2008
19 – run number (sig’s only)

Confusing bastards 🙂 but the give-aways for genuines are the numbers are on the back of the headstock next to the Carlos Garcia signature and stamped in to the neck stock on a cock-eyed angle – sig versions like mine also have in the neck stock a CG after the serial number indicating a sig series. I’m having less luck finding info the Grey Wolf but I’ll keep searching.

27/02/2012

Online Auctions

As is my want, I spend alot of time wandering online auctions and wholesale sites mainly because I have this continual thought that maybe I might be lucky enough to fall over a bargain. Now of late all I can honestly say I’ve fallen over is total crap, crap as in sellers and whiney buyers – I shall elaborate.

Now I bought a set of Lucas knock off blinkers for the Bonneville off eBay and yes they didn’t arrive, neither did the replacement set they said they sent hmmmm methinks they are trying to take me for a ride – one Paypal refund later and that’s them sorted. Bought another set of Lucas knock off blinkers only these were dearer but I’d dealt with the seller before, anyway within 2 days I get an email saying that one of the blinkers wasn’t up to scratch and the shipping had been delayed by a week. Funny thing is, I got that same email off em when I bought the other set *pondering the significance of such a statement* – anyhoo I sent them an email and told em unless I get by the 2nd March I’ll be requesting a refund.

It gets better ya know 😛 I also bought a studio mic pop filter and seeing as I was bored and it was coming up on week three I sent that seller an email asking where it was. Their response? Well it can take up to 40 days for the item to arrive. 40 days????????? where the f**k is it coming from, or more to the point do they feed the pigeons before attaching the items to their legs and sending em on their merry way – 40 days my arse, they also got the 2nd March deadline.
I did however buy a bass guitar from Melbourne, took 5 days to arrive – I unpacked it and inspected it and it looked sweet. Plugged it all in, tuned it then went to do summut, came back an hour later to have a muck about with it and damn near sliced me hand on the bloody great split in the neck – I swore, as you do!! I will give the seller their due, I emailed em, they sent me a prepaid post thingy and said send it back and we’ll give you another, cool now I just wait – again!

Now I did mention whiney buyers too and this was pure 100% classic. A nob head bought a ‘Fender‘ Strat for $325 inc postage ermmm I was pretty sure Strats were a little more expensive, but I digress. The site has a feedback section so I thought I’d check the seller out and what do I find, yep Captain Whiney Buyer Shit Head. And this was his feedback “This guitar is a fake, they sold me a fake, I want my money back” ROFLMFAO I think the price is a giveaway YOU DICK!!

Anyway, here are a few recommendations from yours truly of eBay sellers that in my opinion are bloody good sellers.

ccslightsound – I bought a Behringer 1002FX Mixer, a Behringer C1 Studio Mic and a Behringer UCA202 off this seller and talk about good comms and delivery time.
BelfieldMusic – Bought a triple guitar stand off them
Oz-Supplier – That was the bass
Pick_Guru – bought a 100 mixed medium weight picks and a guitar strap for Dylan who got himself a strat copy and amp, case etc.
Swamp-Industries – bought various studio cabling off them
Jackmusical – bought a basic acoustic guitar rebuild kit for her who must be obeyed, she’s had the thing for nigh on 40 years so I thought I’d tidy it up for her, she can’t play it but her dad bought it for her so thats a good enough reason.
There are a couple more that I won’t add just yet as I’ve only just started dealings with them, although one of em is proving to be a nob head already so we’ll see.