Live Edge Guitars

sometimes things go south

2010-06-17T14:46:00.000-07:00

So the AS10 in black and the AS20 in grey I was working on have both gone south. I tried a new finish and it did not work out as I had hoped. the finish was WAY to soft and as a result, I kept burning through the finish during final buff. The stuff never really dried into a hard coat, it stayed pretty soft and was very elastic. DAMNIT...........So now it's back to the start appying the color then 10 coats of the good hard finish I've always used. Should have known better than to switch finishes when you have one you already like.

New Projects

2010-06-01T15:05:00.000-07:00

I'm working on 3 new projects. One Black AS10NT with gold hardware. She's gonna be sweet. Also, a Gray AS20BT with black hardware. These 2 guitars are looking for a new home so if you are interested, e-mail me at andy@apscustom.com

The third is a AS10BTXL. It has a Babinga top and a chambered Jatoba body. I will have pics of these 3 guitars later this week.

I also started drawing out plans for MY VERSION of a flying V. Just like the last post says, it is not a copy, nor a tribute.....Just the flying V the way I see it. I am going to include a trem on it....because I can.

Use some imagination please

2010-03-09T11:48:00.000-08:00

OK, this blog is going to be a rant. One of my "friends" on facebook posted a picture of a Gibson Les Paul that was being constructed by a fellow builder. Now of course this was not a Gibson Les Paul but it might as well been, It was EXACTLY the same with EXACTLY the same wood combination. Why do builders do this? And for the love of god, why do people get excited about it. Would these same people who are owing and awing do the same if Gibson released pics of their cookie cutter guitars? Oh wait, they just might. Oh look ANOTHER flamed maple Les Paul, Oh my god, ANOTHER goldtop. Oh, Oh, you gotta see this.....a BLACK Les Paul with CREAM BINDING......Oh my god, I think I just pee'd myself.

So my question is, why do custom builders build the exact same knockoffs? Custom should be just that...CUSTOM. I have no problem with being INSPIRED by the Les Paul and building a guitar similar in style. But building the damn same guitar to the same specs and putting your name on it is just stupid. If Gibson has it down pat and all we do is copy their design, then why the hell are we building guitars? We might as well go work for Gibson or Fender and get paid vacations and a dental plan. I just don't see the point of building the exact same thing and everyone going gaga about it.

Now, one of my models DO use a standard shape of a strat. However the similarities end there. I DON'T use VINTAGE single coil pickups for that VINTAGE sound. Why would I? Buy a strat if you want a strat. I don't build strats, if I did I would go work for Fender.....See how easy this is. So back to my AS10 (better than a strat) guitar. I use 2 humbuckers. Hums are the best. You can do ANYTHING with them. You can make it behave just like a single coil pickup with the flick of a switch. You can also get that single coil sound while still cancelling 60 cycle hum (it's called parallel mode) or a number of other sounds. With a 3-way mini switch (which I offer, stock on the higher end models) you can get 15.....yah, that's right.....15 different tones. I also offer the AS30 which has a Les Paul look to it but has flattened sides and does not offer the standard control layout of the Paul, and why should it? Again, if you want a Paul, go pay outrageous amounts of money for a cookie cutter guitar……just like the one your friend has.

Wood? Let’s talk about that for a minute. There are TONS of different woods out there and you know what......MOST OF THEM SOUND AWSOME in an electric guitar. You don't need to go with Mahogany for the body and flamed or quilted maple for the top. My god there are woods that look amazing and sound amazing....like Bubinga. Yeah, you can use that on electric guitars....IT'S NOT JUST FOR BASSES ANYMORE!!!! I don't know why the regular guitar player is so locked into a narrow minded belief of what a guitar should be that they can't see the awesome options open to them.

And one more thing. I work at a very small music store 2 days a week just to get out of the shop. If I hear another person complain about the weight of an electric guitar I think I'm gonna kill myself. People, Wood has weight, get over it. At the store we have a bunch of Strat CLONES.....blah, blah, blah (more copy cat companies) and I get people in their 20's to 40's complaining all the time that it's too heavy and their neck and shoulders hurt if they play it for to long. Gezz buddy, buy a wider strap/padded strap...or build some damn muscle. problem solved. And if the aforementioned is buying one for his/her kid....well forget it. "Oh, Billy won't be able to lift that and play it for very long" Well holy crap, maybe Billy should step away from the video games for awhile and run around outside and build some muscle. Unbelievable!! Are we becoming a society of weaklings? I mean hell, if the damn guitar is not made out of Basswood (or plywood for that matter), then it's too heavy? Give me a break! As I said before...wood has weight. Now, there are ways to use quality wood and reduce the weight (chambering), but most people want light, and cheap, and chambering a piece of wood is not cheap. I’ll tell you a little side story about how weak we have gotten. At the store we had an old Roland keyboard come in. You know, wood ends, clunky sliders, large knobs, etc. Well it was on the show floor, and the guy (I’d say is his late 20’s early 30’s wanted to plug it in just to confirm it worked. Fair enough….I carry it to the back of the store and we plug it into an amp. Yup, works fine so I carry it back up to the front of the store. He then inquires about a pedal for it. I have one but since the keyboard is very old I say lets try it to confirm. I carry it to the back of the store again. We try the pedal, it does not work. No problem, He thinks he may have one at home that works. I carry it back to the front again. He pays for it and goes to pick it up and all I can hear is him bitching about how heavy it is and how he is ever going to get it to his car which is parked right around the corner. I’m thinking to myself you have got to be kidding me. I just moved this thing around the store for you with NO PROBLEM what so ever, what kind of little girl are you, you pussy. If I was him, I would have been SO EMBARASSED that someone almost twice his age had no problem lifting and moving this keyboard, while he could not. Finally, his buddy had to come and help him carry it out. I mean, how sad is that.

So to finish……..builders, try something new. Players, embrace the new ideas, you will be amazed at what can come of it. And to the 20 to 40 year olds, guitars have SOME weight to them, it won't kill ya so stop your crying. And if you have kids.......do some parenting and kick their butts outside to run around and play so they have enough strength to stand up and play the electric guitar.

THAT IS ALL

Coming along nicely

2010-02-11T08:54:00.000-08:00

Here are 2 new pictures of the 5-string bass and the Cherry AS20 guitar. The bass has 3 coats of oil so far and the guitar is at 2. Each will get 5 coats that are sanded into the wood. This creates a slurry of wood dust that helps fill in the pores and makes the finish incredibly smooth to the touch, it's like glass when it's done. Once the bodies are done I will get going on the necks.

Pictures of the neck jig. I'm finally back to working on it!!!!

2010-01-25T20:49:00.001-08:00

OK, I'm done with the 3 guitar repairs. Lots to do on each of them but it is now done. So back to the neck jig project. As I said before, I don't recall where I saw a pic of this device or even know how close I am to the original design. I think everything that I would need for it to work has been incorporated, but then again.....who knows until I try it. So here it is.

So the unshaped neck gets attached to the underside of the structure. The screws will attach to the neck where the truss rod channel will be routed out after the fact.

It's off centered because the mitre slots on the table saw are not an equal distance from the dado blade on each side. I still have to add the sides of the unit to what you see here . These sides will be what slides in the mitre slots. Well I was just about to go and add the sides but my wife just brought me a huge bowl of ice cream. And The big bang theroy is on in 20 mins......Oh well, tomorrow?

working on a few new projects, try to finish some old projects

2010-01-20T08:39:00.000-08:00

Where does the time go? I've got to find more time in the day for guitars. So lets start on the oldest projects. I'm still working on the Cherry AS20 bolt on and the 5-string Bass. I ran into a road block as I had to install a subpanel for my bandsaw. So that is all fixed up and finally ready to go. Next is the neck jig. I was hoping to have that done 2 nights ago but I had to go install a shelf for a friend of mine, then go pick up a computer that needs fixing.......I guess being a "retired" IT guy means I still work on computers.....drat!! Then last night I picked up 3 repair jobs on some vintage Fenders (bass and tele) as well as a Aria Pro II bass. That one is my favorite, I can't get enough of the Aria Pro stuff.
So I have all this on my plate as well as working 6 days a week right now with some friends of mine. Where does the time go?

Working on a new jig

2010-01-18T12:54:00.000-08:00

So yesterday, I started working on a jig that rough cuts the back profile of the neck. It basically hangs the guitar neck over a dado blade and with incremental movements from side to side it cuts the curved profile of the neck. I for the life of me can't remember where I saw a picture of one in use, but it sure appeared to be a great tool that would get tons of use in the shop. Right now I route the neck blank down to the thickness I want it, then pull out the rasps and files and go to work on the contour of the neck. If this jig works as I hope it does it will remove a ton of time that I currently spend shaping. I'm about half way finished with it, but it should be ready to try out tonight. I'll post some pics of it. Like I said, I don't remember where this idea came from and I only remember seeing one picture of the jig in operation. It could be that it won't work at all cause I didn't remember some hugely important element, or more likely, didn't see some hugely important element in the picture. Oh well, it's still fun to build things and try them out.

Custom Pickguard

2010-01-13T22:52:00.000-08:00

Hey all!! Just wanted to post a picture of the latest little project completed. A custom wood pickguard. This one is solid Walnut and replaces a broken plastic single ply guard on a Yamaha Pacifica. It is Tung oiled and sanded to 1000 grit, then waxed to match the finish on the guitar itself. Check out the pictures. If you have a pick guard that needs replacement, let me know. Custom wood pickguards can be had for 120.00 and up. Yeah, it's expensive, but they look WAY COOLER than the standard plastic pile of crap and it beats buying a new guitar...Although, I can supply you with a brand new APS Custom guitar instead if you like.......lol

Holy cow it's almost Christmas

2009-12-22T20:43:00.000-08:00

Hey all,

I can't believe it's almost here. just got the tree up and it's looking good. Anyway, hope everyone has a great christmas and most excellent new year. I'm busy working on a few guitars as well as a number of side projects.....not related to guitars but at least wood working related. Things have slowed down in the workshop this season but fully expect things to pick up in the new year. So for now, happy holidays and lets rock in the new year.

Thanks,
Andy

New Projects

2009-11-18T08:44:00.000-08:00

I am currently working on 2 projects. One is an awsome looking cherry top AS20 bolt-on. It's gonna be killer. The other is a 5-string bass made of Paduk and maple. Paduk is one of the most amazing looking woods once it is all oiled up and sanded. I like working with it much more than quilted maple, and I think it is much nicer. These guitars will be amazing, call or e-mail me if you are interested.
Andy
http://www.apscustom.com/
andy@apscustom.com

Finally, I'm getting my shop space back!!

2009-10-06T07:45:00.000-07:00

Finally, after what feels like months of getting no work done, the shop is mine again. We have been storing the contents of my mother in law's house in our garage. Not to mention, the non-required contents of our own house. Well that has finally been moved out onto the driveway for a garage sale this weekend. Now I have the daunting task of arranging the shop. that always takes a few trys to get it right but at least it is coming together. The first project, a 5-string bass. Look out boys, I'm back in business.....YES!!

Live Edge guitar has been accepted

2009-09-22T08:42:00.000-07:00

I got the e-mail yesterday that my latest live edge guitar has been accepted into the Sidney
Fine Art Show. Check it out at the following link:http://blog.sidneyfineartshow.com/
Remember, the art can be purchased at the show so don't wait, get your live edge guitar from the show....and tell your friends.
Talk to you soon.

First pics of the new Live Edge guitar

2009-09-09T19:48:00.000-07:00

Well, here are the first pictues of the new live edge AS10 guitar. This thing is SICK. What a great guitar. It sounds as good as it looks. I went really simple in this design. Single humbucker and volume control. Strat style bridge, Grover tuners, Graphtech Tusq nut. Neck wood is maple and walnut laminations. Body is Flame maple with a Jatoba back. Control cavity cover is Paduk. Anyway, here are the pics. I will get some better for the website tomorrow but for now, here they are.

The Live Edge guitar is done

2009-09-09T09:31:00.000-07:00

The shop is still out of commision but I have managed to finish the Latest Live edge masterpiece. Well, almost finish. I still have to setup the guitar and attach the truss rod cover but it is mostly ready to go. It will be going into the Sidney Fine Art show that is coming up in October in Sidney B.C. I will have pictures for the website and the blog by tonight I hope.
The shop is still disaster zone, I don't know when the hell I will get my space back. So all I can do right now is work on guitars that don't require any cutting. The table saw, jointer, bandsaw are all out of commision right now. The drill press, Spindle sander, and routers can be used as well as any of the hand tools and finishing equipment. There MIGHT be time this weekend to do the garage sale and get rid of this stuff once and for all.
andy
www.apscustom.com
andy@apscustom.com

Well the shop is full.....AGAIN!!

2009-08-13T08:24:00.000-07:00

Well, guitar building has again ground to a halt. The shop is again full of "non-guitar building" stuff. I can't even move in there at this point. This is all due to our latest move.
We have TOOOO much stuff. We are going to be having a mother of a garage sale in the coming weeks. It's crazy how much stuff we have.
So on a positive note, the Live edge guitar neck is done, just needs to be put on the body now. When I can get in the shop to do so...... At least I'm mostly caught up on the custom orders. This is getting frustrating!!

Andy
www.apscustom.com

APS Custom necks and bodies

2009-08-06T08:51:00.000-07:00

The neck for the live edge guitar is coming along nicely. I'm putting on the third coat of finish this morning. The necks feel like silk when I'm done with them. There is no heavy gloss finish that will slow you down, it feels incredible.

And the next guitar to be worked on is actually the first prototype I built for the company. Things have changed since that first one and I want to update it with latest cool things I do. So I'm stripping off the old finish and I might install a floyd trem on it. I will see about that as things progress. Anyway, off to the workshop......

Andy
www.apscustom.com

Live edge neck all shaped and ready for fretting

2009-08-04T08:29:00.000-07:00

The neck is all shaped. I have my first coat of finish on it and today's task is to get it all fretted up. I have no absolute method in doing necks. Sometimes I fret the neck before shaping and sometimes after. the pros in doing it after the shaping are if you damage the fretboard while shaping the back (the fretboard is clamped down to a surface, thus can get damaged, even with taking the proper percautions) you can resand afterwards to reflatten it. If you have already put the frets in....to bad for you. however, if you fret it before the neck is rounded it makes the fret job extra easy as it does not shimmy around from side to side when installing the frets. So each method has it's pros and cons and I just go with my gut instinct on each job.

Building necks today

2009-08-03T08:52:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm working on necks today. I want to get the newest live edge guitar neck all rounded over and ready for fretting and finish. I also will be working on gluing up 1 or 2 new necks for some upcoming guitars. It should be a fun couple of days. I even still get a little nervous when rounding a neck. I always worry about going to deep and exposing the truss rod, or putting the neck attachment bolt into the back of the neck and having it come out the top, destroying the fretboard. These things have never happened, but I still worry about them.....crazy!!! Although, on one of my first necks I built I was convinced I had put the trussrod in upside down. So I had to rip off the fret board (I could have taken it off carfully but.....I was far to mad with myself) and sure enough I discovered it was on correctly. So a perfectly good neck, down the drain, but I was able to reuse the truss rod.....lol. Note to self, don't freak out, you most likely did it right. relax and take your time.

I'm published.......lol

2009-07-31T12:12:00.001-07:00

Hey all,
Just wanted to let you know about a news (and video) article about me and my guitars. View it here at:
http://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver_island_south/peninsulanewsreview/news/52086117.html

It was the RAM

2009-07-30T20:16:00.000-07:00

So, I was finally able to get the PC up and running and it was the damn RAM. removed 64 megs (hell there were only 192 megs in the first place) so down to 128 but the thing is running like a true champ. Anyway, I was able to get the codes install what I needed to install and the pictures are up. Check them out at www.apscustom.com on the AS10 page under guitars.

No new pictures yet......

2009-07-30T09:39:00.000-07:00

BECAUSE I HATE COMPUTERS............. Every time my computer goes down and I have to fix it reminds me why I got out of the field in the first place. IT SUCKS. So this is the senario. I have taken pictues for the website with the digital camera and want to download them, edit them, and get them on the website. Problem is, I have a new computer and none of my editing software is on it yet. My old one was having all sorts of issues with blue screens. Now, in XP blue screens are very uncommon so you can imagine the problems the PC has. I can't install the editing software on the new PC because the install codes are in a document on the old PC and it won't stay up long enough to go into the document and get them. So, "reinstall XP" I says to myself. "Installing XP is easy and quick" I again says to myself. Well 36 hours later It APPEARS........like it is going to work. The installs kept erroring out, blue screening, etc. I thought the boot disk was bad, then the CD rom drive was bad, then the MB cache was bad, then the CD rom cable was bad.........Well, it appears none of that was bad. it appears I had a faulty stick of RAM. The install is still going but I'm well past the usual crap out point so it appears to have fixed the problem. Holy CRAP, 36 hours (not straight) just to open a document to get a product key so I can install an application. What a pain in the ass. However, the pictures SHOULD be up later today on the site for the Holycaster.........stay tuned!

Holycaster is now done.

2009-07-28T07:39:00.000-07:00

Finished it last night. It looks and sounds amazing. This one was made out of Jatoba and uses very simple electronics, 1 pickup, 1 volume, standard bridge........but what a great sound. Here is a "just done" picture of it. I will take some better ones for the website later today.

Hey, and let me know who is reading this. Leave me a message or send me an e-mail at andy@apscustom.com. Now, on to the "Live Edge" guitar. I want to get that one finished pretty quickly

The Holy guitar almost complete

2009-07-27T07:51:00.000-07:00

Well, I have the shop in a usable state now. Large tools are not in their proper place but at least I can use them. I still have to install a subpanel to be able to get my 220 volts for the bandsaw but that will come with time. So with the makeshift shop I was able to work on the Holy guitar......or better yet.....the Holycaster. installed the bridge, pickup, did the wiring, and installed the hardware. Only thing left to do is attach the neck, string it and set it up. It should be done tonight, or tomorrow.
It always amazes me when you move what stuff seems to go missing. I have my shop and can find everything but my fret hammer and a can of WD-40. I have no idea where either of those items have got to. I'm hoping they are at the other house, but what strange things to loose??

2009-07-22T12:23:00.000-07:00

Well, the shoulder spasm/nerve pinch is finally gone, but now I'm sick. This is just pathetic. However, I'm going to fight through it and get some much needed work done in the shop today. It is finally looking like a shop and I can work on things that don't require the big machinery, like some necks to add to the live edge guitar I'm working on. Here is a quick look at the new guitars I have on the go right now. They are both pretty impressive. One is a live edge guitar with Jatoba back and Flame maple top. The other is full on Jatoba but with circles cut all the way through the body to make it a little different. Believe me, you won't see Fender or Gibson building guitars like these....EVER. The live edge guitar will be 2300.00 CAD and the circle guitar will be 2000.00 And each of them will be worth every penny. The finsh is super smooth, but you can feel the wood. It takes a ton of time to get these finishes just right, but it's worth it.

Oh, the pain of it all

2009-07-20T08:18:00.000-07:00

My neck and shoulder are all messed up this morning. It feels like a nerve pinch or a muscle that is in spasm and just won't unlock. I've had it for a few days now but this morning is the worst. Makes it real hard to build guitars when you can't move your arm. Oh well, I'll try some more heat and see if it will loosen up. In the mean time I guess I will have a coffee and enjoy the morning.

Andy

Pictures from the shop

2009-07-17T08:41:00.000-07:00

Well, as you can see I'm still knee deep in moving the shop. It's slowly coming together. Just have to get the table saw and jointer from the old location moved in and then I can start planning the dust collection routing. Setting up tools with dust collection is an art. Some tools you need to be able to access the front and back, like a planer, some tools need to face a certain direction so it can be connected to the dust collection unit and not interfere with the tools next to it, etc, etc. It usually takes a few trys in order to get everything setup right. I don't like having to pull tools out, use them, then put them back. Everything must be available all the time. OK gotta go and get this place setup.

Later,

Andy

News from the Live Edge guy, Andy

2009-07-16T11:13:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm now part of the blogging world. For those that don't know me or what the hell a live edge guitar is, let me broden your horizons on what an electric guitar can be.

I'm Andy and currently living and building guitars in Victoria BC. I've been doing it as a hobby for 20+ years now but decided to get into it as a business a few years ago (http://www.apscustom.com/). I have been doing the same old designs that everyone else is doing, changing it up with exotic woods, and making some killer guitars, but still not doing anything radically different, until now.

A friend of mine turned me on to "Live Edge". Meaning, using the Edge of the tree as the edge of the guitar. This has been done with furniture for years, but never with a guitar.

So this was the first of many more to come using the live edge style. The back is a select piece of Walnut while the top is a natural piece of maple. These guitars look INCREDIBLE and they play even better.

I just moved locations and am busy getting the shop up and running again. Everything has been moved with the exception of the table saw and jointer. So, I should be ready to go in about a week.

So there you go, my first blog and your first look at the live edge guitar.