The perils of Danish oil

I wanted to make my guitar look pretty and make the body colour match the neck so I decided to apply some danish oil as this was far easier to apply than varnish, I had heard not being hard like a varnish that it could effect the sound quality but considered my box guitar to lowly for it to notice WHAT A MISTAKE! The moment I wiped some across the sound board it was like my strings had aged a year or two! Instant mahogany to plywood! I know it hasn't had a chance to dry yet but  I've already unstrung it and scraped down the top under the strings and intend to do the rest in time,the top is super thick so it isn't exactly risky and  hopefully it will start to improve once the oil has dried a bit more. 

 --------------------------- That was on Tuesday, last night (Friday) it had improved a little but not back to anything like how it was but I took it out to an acoustic open floor night but was glad I took an amp bcz it was almost inaudible even in a quiet venue like that. But through an amp it sounded GREAT and got encouraging comments from other players, I think I have a new main gigging guitar!

Free recycled guitar done!

I still want to scrape down some of the sides but basically it's finished. I need to practice a song so I can take it to an open mic on Friday.  It's not the easiest guitar to play but is quite rewarding, reminds of Dave Rawlings sound, a sweet trebely sound that stands out well against other acoustics.I'm still not sure wheather or not to Danish oil it or not, I quite like the worn  look.

Electrics

Opening up the hole for the preamp to sit in proved the guitar really needs a larger sound hole as it sounded better, more open like the top was moving more so maybe a small one on the front in line with the existing port?? Recessing it like this hides it a little and makes the controls less likely to be damaged. Also I have to fit the battery somewhere and the output jack. I hope it hasn't spoilt it's vintage look too much but it came from the same guitar so seemed to make sense to use it

Box guitar strung up and playing!

At first it sounded far to harsh and tinny but as the strings are wearing in a more mellow tone is appearing, it is fairly quiet but that's to be expected, it has a very precise almost  hifi sound absolutely no muddyness or boomyness,seems to lend itself to clear lead lines. and has a long sustain. I just hooked up the electronics and even through a tiny amp it sounded very good so I will be installing it. In all a success.more photos once it's got the preamp in the top and has been danish oiled, and maybe a video.

Strings on...tomorrow

The top and back are scrapped down to remove all the old varnish and the neck is glued in,  at present it's face down with my valve amp sitting on top of it having its bridge glued on, I wouldn't recommend this technique for a standard acoustic guitar! Face down because I can't access the inside of the body to get the nuts on the two screws that are in the bridge so I fitted two extra long M3 screws dipped in tightbond  and hope that the glue will run down towards the top and make a hard plug around them. I'm a bit nervous about tuning it up because it was very hard to get all of Tanglewood's filler off the back of the bridge so I scored it up best i could. Tomorrow I'll string it up and discover what I have created! Gem or junk! If all is well I'll fit the electronics finish scraping the box and danish oil it.

Neck joint block in place.

I've glued in a block to support the neck joint and am using temporary screws to clamp  it in place, the top one will disappear under the heel on the neck and the bottom on will be filled and re-drilled for the strap button.

As you can see the box is very scruffy and maybe now would be the best time to sand it down before I fit the neck and bridge. I'm annoyed that last summer I stupidly damaged the top with my plane right near the sound port and it is probably not possible to make the thing look pristine anymore, but would that really be in keeping with the spirit of the project? It's just ironic that the parts that came from the skip are like the day they left the shop! I have a can of danish oil but that would mean sanding off all of the varnish, it's snowing out side and the workshop is a mess and freezing cold so a no go zone, maybe if I sand down the parts that are hard to access later (around the neck joint and bridge) I have can finish the rest after it is playing....also I'll know if is worth the effort- or not!!

Nothing glued in yet but making good progress! I've just cut a block to support the full length of the original neck joint . Also need to make to truss rod adjuster slot a little larger in the body before I fit the neck.