Thanks Jude!Fun little morning project. I hadn't had Faded Glory out for a while. Felt good to lay hands on it again.
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Midriff-ter MTB...My home from May 1 - Aug 1...pg 15 !
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Thanks Jude!Fun little morning project. I hadn't had Faded Glory out for a while. Felt good to lay hands on it again.
Will definitely try that on a pair of all to bright and white new Kendas. They replaced lovely cream colored Panaracer Magic. Would like some NOS Magics but they cost an arm and a leg. Your technique rocks
I have used it on tires as well. I had these clay colored Fat Franks on my Desert Rat build, and they were the only 'new' looking part, along with my Thompson Classic Grips from @ifitsfreeitsforme . I used an acrylic paint in the same way to age them to fit this very crusty looking build.
Before....
After...
afterglow
noun
af·ter·glow ˈaf-tər-ˌglō: a pleasant effect or feeling that lingers after something is done, experienced, or achieved
The question is, do we bask in the 'afterglow' of a completed build, or do we move on to another passion and keep our hands busy, and our minds creating? I choose the latter.
In 2003, I had some time available to take a sabbatical for a year. Many of my colleagues often traveled for a particular study, or wrote a book, or worked on an advanced degree / paper. Because of my inclination towards music and working with my hands, and at that time my 38 years of experience playing the violin; I enrolled in a technical school that had a 2-of-a-kind in the USA degree program in violin family instrument repair. It was about 40 miles from my home, and I went to school Monday - Thursday for 9 months from 8 am - 3 pm, and still put in around 20 hrs a week at my position at the university.
I graduated with that degree, and spent the next 15 years working pretty steadily out of my home repair shop for 3 independent music stores, our St Paul school system, and private customers doing violin, viola, cello, and upright bass repairs. Along with my bike shop employment, post-career jobs.
At this same tech college, there was a guitar program for repair, and a guitar building class on Fridays. I didn't formally take the guitar building class, but watched and learned as my fellow students went through the building process. After graduating in the Spring of 2004, I built my first solid body electric guitar out of a nice piece of Peruvian Black Walnut, with a simple direct hook-up (no volume or tone controls) of a humbucker in the neck position. A fun project, and it played great!
That satisfied me until about 4 years ago, when I decided to go one step further. I built a Telecaster style guitar, the Tel-Lee Barncaster, out of piece of trim from our cedar house and a birch top over a chambered body. The next year, I built another, and another one this past year.
I've had an electric violin that I picked up from our local shop that couldn't be repaired because of the cheap plastic and 'fake wood' construction that wouldn't hold up to the 40 lbs of string tension required for the violin stings. It kept bending. The last couple weeks, after re-discovering this in my instrument closet, I decided to build a 'Fiddlecaster' semi-hollow bodied electric violin using the electronics, fingerboard, and tail piece from this one and a body of my own design and construction.
It's particularly unusual in that it has 5 strings, the typical G - D - A - E along with a low C (the lowest string on a viola). I've never played one with 5 strings, so this should be fun!
I had some birch ply with a nice veneer on one side that I used on Barncaster left over, so that will be the top on Fiddlecaster.
And some leather dye technique later...
A nice piece of solid mahogany for the body, drilled and then routed for a lighter and more resonant body.
Sanding in process right now....
Quick mock-up....
Wait... You finished!?
Yeah, been riding it for a couple weeks now. You've been busy with the end of school stuff. Welcome back to the RRB BO 18 action!
That fiddle is awesome. Are you going to give it some rat-tina too?
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Looks cool! Did you seal it with anything to protect your clothing?
Yes,I used a matte acrylic clear spray,and have re-applied it once since the original coat. Holds up well.
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Wow, that blue hollow body is really nice! Impressive work!
Thanks! It's chambered on the bass side and solid on the treble. The figured Maple takes to the dye / sand off / dye method well. Love the feel of the Ebony fretboards. Mahogany body like the fiddle. Warm tones.Wow, that blue hollow body is really nice! Impressive work!
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Beautiful work Oddjob. I can only imagine the pleasure you get from handcrafting your own musical instrument. I have a friend who builds high end classical and acoustic guitars using exotic timber such as Brazilian rosewood. I love going to his shop to see the instruments he is building or has in for repair.
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Thanks, JA! I learned my love for woods and working with my hands from my dad. He could make anything out of wood, and make it look good.
Awesome work on the instruments.
Thanks Brian! It's a lot like building the bikes we build; the real pleasure is in getting to 'play' with them!
As I was driving down our main access street, Highwood Ave which is just one block south, I spotted Art out wheeling his garbage can down his driveway. I hailed him, and he heard me, turned, and as he got closer, recognized me in the car.
We chatted, then he said, "Pull in the driveway and come up, I have something for you."
That 'something' was a copy of his new book that just came out on Modern Press this Spring.
It's his personal memoir of the creation and evolution of the Park Tool company, which he and his best friend Howie Hawkins founded.
His forward to the book explains it well:
Art is into his 90's now, and is as vibrant and quick-witted as ever!
We chatted, then he said, "Pull in the driveway and come up, I have something for you."
That 'something' was a copy of his new book that just came out on Modern Press this Spring.
It's his personal memoir of the creation and evolution of the Park Tool company, which he and his best friend Howie Hawkins founded.
His forward to the book explains it well:
Art is into his 90's now, and is as vibrant and quick-witted as ever!
We had our annual Garden Party for neighbors and friends in the 'Near BACK40' on Friday. It was a perfect Summer night in the upper Midwest.
Here's one of our tunes, "Feelin' Alright", made famous by Joe Cocker. We get about as funky as 3 long in the tooth white guys can get.
We even improvised as our drummer kept rolling the first time we were going to end the song. Turned out to be a fun way to end the tune.
Headphones or good speakers recommended to get all the tones, bass guitar, drum and cymbals. My phone wasn't in front of the P.A. speaker, so we lose a little vocals, but you get the idea.
Here's one of our tunes, "Feelin' Alright", made famous by Joe Cocker. We get about as funky as 3 long in the tooth white guys can get.
We even improvised as our drummer kept rolling the first time we were going to end the song. Turned out to be a fun way to end the tune.Headphones or good speakers recommended to get all the tones, bass guitar, drum and cymbals. My phone wasn't in front of the P.A. speaker, so we lose a little vocals, but you get the idea.
Looks like you guys had a blast.
I finished fiddling around out in the garage...
Granddaughter number 1 would love that. She just recently started teaching herself violin, she's doing well so far. Always had an ear for music. I think this is instrument number 5 for her.
Anyway. Gonna show her this video, see what she thinks.
