Greg's Shop Log

Life in holiday

2011-12-25T10:00:00.000-09:00

Soon to be back in the shop but also
time for me to re-evaluate my-space-in-time

still remaining g

Forbearing-Anticipation

Fall / Still outside-workin

2011-09-25T13:11:00.001-08:00

The primary building project is still goin on,,,,, after the house is completed I'll be back in the shop !!!
The place has a terrible case-of-cute with the Dutch-hip and rap-around porch
still remaining________g

Summer work

2011-07-26T06:46:00.000-08:00

I'm out of the Shop for the summer and fall. I'm in the middle of my clients' house building project.
I shall return for show & tell of any instruments I've started.

Hope all are having a great summer.........greg

Model/North Rim-Ziricote (primary wood)

2011-04-02T12:35:00.000-08:00

This model / North Rim taking shape , seen in the rough with over sized heel close-to fit and side-port. The neck is a five piece (Sapele,Cherry, Maple,Cherry Sapele) with rear headstock overlay of curly maple.

A very curly Sitka spruce top, abalone rosette and Ziricote fingerboard & headstock overlay.

The masking tape for center reference.

Spring is on its way,,,,,greg

Electric Chena Uke (Tenor)

2011-03-22T08:45:00.001-08:00

Its still moving along.......

Then neck's Rosewood finger board and headstock overlay are in place......

The neck reenforcement is #2 carbonfiber strips 1/8x3/8 with the standard classical flat fingerboard

bound to the Walnut/Maple primary neck wood.........all is well spring is coming.....g

Beginning Koa/Mahog E-Chena Uke (Electric solid-body)

2011-03-14T17:58:00.000-08:00

So curious to hear this one......same 17.5 inch scale as the previous electric Tenor Solid-body.
Koa wood top and mahogany main core with a hollow tone/ chamber inside.
With three piece walnut and maple neck with rosewood headstock veneer in the for-ground..........g

Ziricote/Model North Rim-Steel string guit

2011-02-15T11:37:00.001-09:00

Whats a boy to do ??

Avery figured Sitka spruce top getting the back installed.........

Glue something !!!

Tesla Pickups

2011-02-02T18:09:00.005-09:00

Over the Last year I've run across talk on the web about the Tesla pickup company and felt compelled to try one. So, I'm now trying out a Tesla split pickup as in a P-Bass style / the VR-B3........
The pickup came very nicely packaged with the black plastic pickup cover having a very attractive radius on all outside corners and nice satin finish. Also came with the appropriate screws without the lift springs.

The tone, well simply put its got the P-bass punch and growl definition that one would expect from this variety of split pickup but all these features are bumped up maybe another 15-20% and thats not to say that its over the top either (meaning too much gain), its not.
I will have to try some others from Tesla in the future.
It gets an A-Grade......

The Bass your viewing is one of my designs the 32 Special (32"scale Hybred nicely compact ). If you go back a couple blogs you'll get another viewing with different pickups.
..........Still remaining greg

Electric Ukulele / E-Chena Uke (solidbody)

2010-12-22T12:32:00.001-09:00

The dirty deed is done and the darn thing sounds very good,,,,it pretty much just sounds like an electrified
Ukulele......all is well with the Uke world

I'll try to put together a sound clip,,,,soon......................greg

Electric Ukulele / The E-Chena Uke (Tenor solid-body Electric)

2010-12-12T22:05:00.004-09:00

It now has the transducer pick-up.
The instrument is totally dependent on the transducer pickup, from the instrument to an out board preamp to the Combo Amplifier......
The tenor has a 17.5 inch scale with the traditional flat fingerboard and a large hollow acoustical chamber
So, a few test runs and it sounds very good indeed.......
The next E-Chena I'll plan on an on-board preamp,,,,,,we'll see

Still remaining.....g

E-Chena Tenor Ukulele today (solid-body)

2010-11-27T19:45:00.003-09:00

Carbon fiber re-enforcement on all instrument necks...

This is what we get....life is good.......

Tuning pegs are a 4-1 gear ratio ,quality machines

17 1/2 inch scale , rear headstock veneer / rosewood.....

E-Chena Ukulele (solid-body)

2010-11-22T13:13:00.009-09:00

A wash of shelac for a little look-see.....
Bubinga top with tone-hollow chambers.....

Now onto the neck details........greg

Marcias' Lens-Eye

Solid-Body Ukulele ( E-Chena Uke )

2010-11-17T17:23:00.003-09:00

Coming down the shoot
The eventuality of an electric/solid Uke, the E-Chena Uke, with a few tone-hollows for a hopeful
splash of tone.....Now prepping the primary template. Later to be Mahogany as primary core wood with a figured Buginga wood top overlay and a Mahogany neck...pretty much in the tradition of a modern electric guitar except for having a transducer pickup rather than a magnetic pickup.

Still remaining .....greg

The #32 Special Bass

2010-11-09T11:43:00.003-09:00

From the shop

The #32 Special B,,,,,,32" scale ( lending a very comfortable playing posture with all the good tone ), Rosewood Bridge, Mammoth Ivory saddle, beneathe saddle is a transduce pickup, in the field is a magnetic Nordstrand pickup in the classic P-style configuration.
The Primary wood is a walnut core with Oregon Myrtle wood overlay, the neck is a 5 piece walnut and Myrtlewood glue-up and headstock overlay of Rosewood. Also brandishing light weight Hipshot tuners.
The pickups are controlled via Master volume, a turn split between the two pickups and tone control.
The body shape is my own design.........it sounds warm and snappy....

On its way is ; another lap steel ( LSH#1 LapSteel Heaven ) , A Ziricote Acoustic ( North Rim )
and a Koa Tenor Ukulele ( The Chena Uke )

The body also has a hollow, making a tone chamber.....the darn thing looks edible.............

Still remaining Greg P.

LapSteel Heaven - #1

2010-11-02T09:38:00.001-08:00

Latest to come out of the shop, LSH-1
Came with; 24.75 scale length, a Seymour Duncan P-Rail pickup (with split control), my Handmade Aluminum bridge, Brass Palm-rest and Hipshot tuners.

The primary wood; Mahogany, secondary Maple, Koa and Rosewood fingerboard

Still remaining greg

Tim with his new LSH-1

The GypsyPik Work/Station

2010-10-16T08:36:00.000-08:00

Muskox Horn..... rare, expensive and uniquely beautiful within.

Making my Instrument picks

The GypsyPik A Tortoise Alternative

2010-10-11T18:06:00.004-08:00

Updated Oct 16th
So I'm trying to drum up interest in these new instruments picks of mine. Material from rare Muskox Horn. I've gotten many E-mls concerning the GypsyPik. There's postings on a few Forums now mostly the Gypsy Jazz forums which really helps. The other day I had an inquiry from Singapore........
   Lately been getting quite few orders from Europe to Asia to the states. The GypsyPik sells for $30 plus shipping, they're fashioned one at a time with a fare bit of hand work and they vary widely in appearance. All are quite stunning and very translucent thickness 2.25mm-3mm


There are two shapes I'm working with now the GypsyPik Standard and the New J-Hook(Jazz Hook)
The J-Hook has a small cresent cut-out to help steady the axis of the pick while in use. The striking points now all have what I call a Compound-Bevel .

   Below; The J-Hook

Below; The GypsyPik Standard

Back in the shop now cleaning up from my season of working my day job ,,,,,now getting ready for instrument related activity......g

Tortoise Alternative - Muskox / The GypsyPik

2010-07-28T23:17:00.014-08:00

A 3mm heavy flat-pickin GypsyPik,,,My favorite is the Muskox Horn (far right)

Left-to-right Alaska Ivory, Rosewood, and a beautiful Muskox Horn.

I am now considering a minor production of the Muskox piks.
" If I can drum-up interest "
Materials are hard to come by but very exceptional In a class by itself........

Polished Muskox horn has a jewel-like quality thats of exceptional beauty........

Still remaining,,,greg

John Jorgenson Quintet

2010-03-07T11:20:00.010-09:00

Recently experienced the Gypsy/Django style music of the John Jorgenson Quintet and was absolutely floored
by the style, selection of musical pieces, and the accuracy of instrumentation. I was also fortunate enough
to meet with him after the concert. He viewed one of my guitars and said some very nice things
about this particular North Rim model, which has one of my side Sound/ports.

Here's what John Jorgenson's had to say about the North Rim:

"In my travels I often get the chance to sample the wares of luthiers all over the world. Every once in awhile a guitar stands out in my memory for its exceptional tone and response. Greg Pacetti's is one of these-I didn't want to stop playing it, as the rich, even tone and impeccable intonation was inspirational, just what a player wants from a top-quality instrument."

"...it was a joy to play your guitar!"

Cheers,

John Jorgenson

Further down in this blog is a photo of this very same instrument..........

Lap-Steel Heaven

2010-02-28T18:52:00.019-09:00

Almost completed Pacetti 6 string Lap-Steel, 24 3/4" scale with basically a two octave/plus reach. Its been an interesting design and build project. I tried to go for an Art-Deco design of my own, I think I'm sort-of there. Comes with a Seymour Duncan , the Cool Rail pkup. Its a humbucker thats trying to be a single coil variety,,,,I have it with a push/pull volume switch that splits the humbucker to a single coil, also there's space left to insert a second pick-up later if needed. The darn thing sounds great, i've been keeping it in a G6th tuning most the time. The primary wood is Mahogany, a solid block thru to the tip of the headstok. Secondary woods are Maple, Koa, Rosewood and the fingerboard is Brazilian Rose
wood. It has a solid Brass nut and solid Brass

Palm-rest, I made the bridge from a chunk of Aluminum. The Palm rest swivels to reveal the string-thru bridge mount. There's two Koa cover plates, one for the electronic potentiometers etc. and the other for the 1/4 inch jack and also has a small storage area for a possible second steel slide picks etc. The fret markers are inlayed maple... I intend to give this model a name but it hasn't revealed itself .

Still Remaining
g. pacetti on a beautiful winters day

Liquid Hide Glue

2010-02-21T09:32:00.004-09:00

I've done a few a few test gluings with the Old Brown Glue and it is working very very well in its strength catagory and working time as well as set time. I've mated several pieces of small stock and later broke them. Of course what we wanted to see was the failure in the wood and not in the glue itself and that was the case. The glue dries to a very hard and translucent state exactly the same as the Hot Hide glue variety.

The photos show post intensional joint failure with the released adjacent wood fibers.
Old Brown Glue definitely requires a full 24 hours for a positive set. This glue might change my life.......

Hide Glue

2010-01-30T05:58:00.002-09:00

Just received some liquid Hide Glue
As some folks might know liquid hide glue is generally thought to be an unreliable glue, well I recently found a brand of home-made liquid Hide glue thats suppose to work exceptionally well (meaning with the same properties as hot hide glue without the heating-up hassle)with a shelf life from 6 months to a year. Old Brown Glue is the product, I'll give an update in the near future on its workability.
Still Remaining.....greg

Repair tool

2010-01-09T00:07:00.004-09:00

Newly made deep throat take apart C-clamp inspired by a great repairman Frank Ford off his frets.com site ( his is of aluminum).

Mine is primarily of maple and a couple bolts, you take it to the sound hole in pieces, assemble within the sound hole and slide it in deep and then pinch the hole thing with another clamp, thus inducing the clamping pressure..............Later greg

My Winter Thingy

2010-01-05T22:37:00.004-09:00

A 1976 Gibson J160E with many cracks,,,it might be irretrievable...... but we'll try....

Fortunately for me my shop moves to a nice 40% humidity in the winter here in Fairbanks, Alaska.
This shop climate is ideal for instrument making and repair. The rest of the year I'm doing other carpenter/cabinet making related works within my background of residential construction. If I pursue instrument construction in the summer months I'll need to set the humidity right in the shop. My spray-booth closet doubles as a humidity booth when conditions require so , good-day........g

Back In The Fray

2010-01-02T16:08:00.009-09:00

Safe-T-Planer

Back at it again on the acoustics, guitars and Ukes. Constructing the acoustic bodies...........

Applying carbon fiber on the necks is a given now with my work. Also I've done my tapers on the neck shafts, of course using the Safe-T-Planer on the drill-press.
Heres' some related pics.......

Spin-Top Heaven

2009-12-27T22:38:00.004-09:00

To make a nice spin-top for your little friends or adults.

   Spin-top without a Lathe
   I recently dove into this wonderful witness of a natural law of rotation , centrifugally speaking.
You need a drill-press circle cutter and you need to deal with this tool following the manufacturers specs.
It can be done with wood or Corian or a pre-made little wooden wheel,,,I used Corian material and then buffed it for a jewel quality finish. You'll need some launching twine and a block of wood (the launcher ) with the appropriate hole. You'll need a thru-bolt to act as the axle/shaft. You'll need some patience but it certainly is not too difficult, be safe on that drill-press. My photos will be a nice directive. Loading the spin-twine is critical....
   To launch you place the launching block on top and pull the string quickly. Try different string lengths.
The brass pieces in the photo are used as spacers and I do recommend using these types of bolts, designed for furniture assembly also use an acorn nut for the bottom axis to spin upon. A good launch will run 3 minutes plus, its a beautiful thing...
  I tell my friends they're Prayer Spin-tops, when you spin one your giving thanks to all for all.
   greg,,,,,,

Dangerously Low Humidity

2009-11-28T09:57:00.008-09:00

I do give thanks for all my family and friends. Happy Thanks Giving

Well things have slowed quite a bit in the shop. I'm dealing with instruments that I was asked to place in a local gallery that I wrongfully assumed had a controlled environment. Two Ukuleles' and one acoustic guitar all went through horrendous

low humidity conditions. I paid a visit and was absolutely floored. They are now back in the shop trying to take on moisture to bring they're sunken and rippled parts back to normal. There is some success but the jury is still out.......Folks all stringed instruments endure best from 40% to 65% and they all react with they're own personality. I believe these instruments saw something in the 20% or lower. I'm sure they're house Hygrometer isn't that accurate. g Pacetti saturday

3:57PM Its still looking like they'll come back....

G/Bass 4St Hybred-getting closer (32 Special)

2009-11-16T07:38:00.004-09:00

This Bass is getting closer to going to the finish booth ,,,looking forward to a listen.
Five piece neck, Walnut and Myrtlewood ,reinforced with two strips of carbon fiber, mated to a 32" scale..I might be callin this one ,the 32 Special...........
Still remaining/Greg

G/Bass 4St Hybred

2009-11-01T12:24:00.001-09:00

More work on my creative off-spring on a crispy 18*F day,,,,got the world series and my dog Gracie

Grady's Base/New in the Works

2009-10-19T12:49:00.003-08:00

I've started the New GB Bass.....Design complemented with a 32"scale length & 1.60" nut width. Choice of body wood Primary/Walnut and overlay of figured Myrtle wood (incredible beauty) and also has an acoustical chamber. Neck material, a 5-piece lay-up of Walnut & Myrtle wood and reinforced with carbon fiber. A glued in-place Rosewood Bridge (strung thru-body) with an under saddle transducer (PUTW pickups) and a Nordstrand NP-4 P-Base type magnetic pickup (from Steamco Music). Will be using an Electronic preamp buffer from PUTW pickups specific to this configuration........greg "a chilly monday"

The Mission

2009-09-20T22:20:00.002-08:00

Later this winter I expect to start another batch of instruments , a couple guitars (North Rim) and Tenor Ukulele's (Chena PS). I'm hoping to make it to the Healdsburg Guitar Show next summer so I'd like a little inventory build.

Of late I've recovered from the Flu and plan to go back to my regular carpenter/handyman/ kinda thing. The leaves will be gone in the next 5 days.....

"here we go" Time to take the dog out..........yours Truly Still Remaining

A beautiful Fall

2009-09-16T15:46:00.005-08:00

Very tired today....not working.................Trying to figure out the BlOG thingy,,, I think I'm gettin it now .