Bridge making

I did second round of Epoxy filler apply. I sanded for body and neck, and then applied Epoxy filler again. Next week, the body and neck are ready for final cote apply.

This week, I did a bridge making for 12-strings model. This bridge has a unique hybrid design between a pin-less and a conventional pin design. Conventional bridge design for 12-strings needs a large foot print to accommodate 12-pin holes. This hybrid design does not need a large foot print. Actuary, the bridge size is exactly the same as my 6-strings size. Last two photos show a six strings bridge and a 12-strings hybrid bridge. 6-strings bridge is made by Madagascar rose wood. 12-strings bridge looks like an ebony. However, this material is a more than 100-years old Brazilian rosewood. This material has really dark chocolate color.  It is almost impossible to find this quality of bridge material today.

Epoxy filler

MD and SSJ 12-strings are ready for finishing work. I applied Epoxy filler with silica powder. I have been using System-3 epoxy for my finishing work. Epoxy filler is a really nice time saver for the pore filling process. Epoxy filler also does not sacrifice clearness for the finishing coat. I might need one more filling and sanding session to get a perfect pore free surface. So, I will do the same thing next weekend.

Sound port making

     I did sound ports making. Adding sound ports is a recent design trend. Many players want to add sound ports. I do not think the sound port has some kind of functionally for improving sound quality. However, I do agree with improving sound monitoring character. So, a player is able to monitor his playing sound more naturally and directly from it guitar's sound ports.
     This guitar has Kevin Ryan style sound ports on the arm rest bevel. I added six oval sound ports. After I finish the final sanding, I will die those sound ports with black oil stain.

Neck complete

   I finished neck shaping, peg-hole drilling, and nut channel making. Now, both MD and SSJ necks have pretty much done. Both necks have beautiful volute. This is a Gibson style volute that have been commonly used for electrical guitar necks. However, factory manufactured electrical guitars do not have back-side head plate veneer. My guitars are always have head-plate veneers for top and back.
   12-strings guitar has a common issue of weight balance due to the 12-machine heads on the neck head. I minimized neck head size. Also, the machine head for this SSJ model is Gotoh SG381-MG which has the smallest foot print size among the tuning machines. MD model employed Gotoh SGL510Z which has 1:21 gear ratio. This makes super accurate tuning capability for players.