Hamy V Update

Henry and I have been making progress on the "Hamy V" project guitar.

When faced with a roadblock, I'll ponder for a while, be that days, weeks, or months.  I'll come up with a few solutions and then get up the guts to try it.  Doing the work usually takes all of fifteen minutes, but I'm so afraid of screwing it up permanently that I put it off.

At first, we were going to put mother of pearl (okay, 1/4 inch ounch outs from a celuloid guitar pick) into the fretboard as markers, but getting the drill press depth consistent was impossible.  The I found a suggestion for instant epoxy mixed with pigment.  Cheryl's craft cabinet had metallic powder in silver, with copper marking the 12th fret.  We used toothpics to put the misture in the middle of the hole and pushed outward until it clung to the sides.  Some rose just a bit above the fretboard level, but they won't interfere with playability.

Here I am sanding the body down smooth.

Don't the fret markers look pretty good?

 Vs just have an awesome shape.  They're so agressive.  This is something I would have made out of Legos if I could have.

Here's last night's commitment.  We needed a channel for the pickup lead to the control box.  Since we're going to put a Sapele veneer top on this, this simplest route was to rout a channel back.  It looks ugly now, but it will serve the purpose.

And here's what I ordered for veneer:  A Sapele, which will cover the top and probably the peghead.  I got a lot of it, so I can experiment with finishing it  separately.  The sides and back of teh guitar will be done in a color.  Henry's thinking a deep sapphire blue and/or silver sparkle.  Maybe a blue back with silver sparkle neck and blue again on the back of the headstock, faded between?