Official Luthiers Forum!

Thanks man!
I just picked up the backplate & control knobs - almost done!

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"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

Yeah the drawing skills definitely come in handy - you have quite the "eye" tho Chris for the overall design of your guitars - don't shortchange yerselph bro! Thanks man for ALL of your help Chris!

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

OK everyone - here we go - THE DUELING DRAGONS GUITAR BUILD IS DONE! I officially finished it today at 3:00 pm.... the ONLY thing is that the 5-way selector switch was defective(It only plays on 4 positions), so StewMac shipped me a replacement yesterday, so I should have it by Friday- not sure if that counts, but I fired up the cigar @ 3:00 - So here is the final photo shoot for everyone - I took the pics in my backyard to get some better light on the situation - thanks everyone!

Final specs/credits
Name: Dueling Dragons
Style: Double-cutaway set neck
24 frets
25" scale
16" Radius
Tuners: 4/top 2/bottom Gold Gotoh's
Black Tusq Nut
Pickups: Gold PRS Dragon II Neck & Treble
Electronics: Vol, Tone & 5-way selector dial
Bridge: Schroeder Custom Gold Stoptail
Body: African Mahogany/ Flamed Maple soundboard/ Gabon Ebony Top
Neck: Hard Maple - neck blank cut by Penta Guitarworks
Fretboard: Indian Rosewood/Gabon Ebony side strips - addition neck work and fretboard work done by Tony Bonaventura of Southern WoodWorks
Headstock: Flamed maple veneer, 1/8" Gabon Ebony Inset
Pickup rings: Tamboti wood
Headstock Decal: Art: Virgil, made by Scary Creative
Gabon Cap & edge/: Tony Bonaventura
Burl dying: Jim Huston
Guru guidance: Rick Penta, Woodmeister and tool loaner/time giver: Tony Bonaventura
Other elves: OLF users/luthiers.
Finishing: Moe Roberts of Moecolors
Design, building, inlay and everything else: Virgil Mandanici

Inlay Materials/Dragons:
Padauk
Leopardwood
Wengewood
Rosewood
Camatillo wood
Dyed Burl
Gold MOP
White MOP
Black MOP
Pink MOP
Green Abalone
Paua Abalone
Bubinga w/ Sapwood
Macassar Ebony w/ Sapwood
Kewazinga (bubinga)
Box Elder
Snakewood
Various dyed Burls
Prehistoric Shark's teeth
Our puppy's eye teeth(For the horns)
Prehistoric Sanshark teeth(for dragons claws)
Hawaiian Koa wood
Turquoise Recon Stone
Sterling Silver Tongue & whiskers (lower Dragon)
14k Gold tongue & whiskers (upper dragon)
Gold & Red Nail polish/epoxy & coffee can lid for eyes

Trussrod Cover:
African Blackwood
Koa
White figured MOP
Black MOP
Red MOP
14k Gold

Knobs:
Padauk sandwiched in between Gabon Ebony
Turquoise Recon Stone

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

I dropped off a strat body and a set-neck at Moe's, must've been right before you got there as the knobs and coverplate were still there. He showed me pictures, and I was like, "Hey, I've seen that before!".
An awesome guitar, finished off by an awesome finisher.
Great jobs, both!
I use Moe for all my finish stuff.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

Ha! There you are! Moe said that you saw my stuff on the forum - it's a small world - but I wouldn't want to paint it! hehehe We'll let Moe do the painting around here!

Appreciate your kind words!

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

Ha! Just when you all thought this post was gonna fall off the page! I am in the middle of a documentary film I am putting together for the dd build, but I squeezed out a video today so you all can actually hear this thing:

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

Positively incredible! Museum worthy for sure. But I always feel bad for instruments in museums, deprived from doing what they were made to do. Sounds awesome, and I like the tune. What sort of amp setup are you running it through? I still haven't ever managed to coax a decent sound out of an electric before. Or any sound that doesn't come with a loud background hum. That's one of the reasons I build acoustics.

I especially love the black and turquoise together. And the webbing in the turquoise (recon stone, I assume?). The bridge shape fits the vibe most excellently. And I think I said this before, but the headstock shape with the angled tuners is too cool, plus the straight string paths to the nut look good. One thing bothers me though... can you get that big truss rod cover out of its cage to make adjustments, without taking the strings off?

Can't wait to see the "making of" documentary. Not that we didn't get a pretty good live feed on it here at the forum, but videos are a bit easier to review than a 5 page thread with many massive pictures

Amazing what the force of will can accomplish.
I bow before you, I kiss your feet.... you are THE MAN!

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Hey Dennis! Thanks man - I agree about the museum thing, but I also have some mixed feelings in regards to that - yes, it is a piece of art, but in reality, it should be played - it IS a guitar, right? On the other hand, by playing it, you are eventually going to put wear on it that will decrease its value.

In regards to the tone - thanks... this jas been something that I have searched for for over 35 years... I actually traded in some guitars, my amp and some other goods to buy the AxeFX Ultra. It is one of the "End-all" processors available to date, IMO. I researched the heck out of these then wound up waiting 3 months to get one(Waiting list!). Nobody sells them once they get one. So I have the clean rhythm guitar on the track done as well with the Dueling Dragons (DD). Ironically, the song I played for the sample was the exact rhythm of my very first song I recorded on my first 4-track about 18 years ago. I will hopefully build an acoustic(s) eventually. I have an equal passion playing elec. & acoustic.
Yes, it is recon stone on the turquoise and I agree on the looks on the bridge - Jason Schroeder made such a badazz design and when I first saw it, I knew it should be implemented into my build.

The alignment of the strings were dead on from me doing almost "CAD" design on the initial plans (I actually have worked in Adobe Illustrator for years). As for the trussrod cover, it comes off just as easy as any of my guitars, without taking strings off. It's the only part that isn't finished is the trussrod cover - I only put carnauba wax on it.

And finally, I have ANOTHER MASSIVE picture for ya - heheh - my friend Kent did a photo shoot over the weekend and I will be using these for the film, but I had to share at least 1 shot with the users - thanks again Dennis!

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

Hehehe Hi Chris - there has been quite a bit of talk around these parts in regards to "Will", "Self-Determination" and the likes. In reality I think there is a bit of a "curve" per say around those definitions.

There was NEVER any thought of how much work needed to be done, as opposed to what was at hand for any particular day.
Any procedures that common folk would consider "repetitive" of "boring", I found to be not only "Soothing", but also took advantage of that time to think and plan out all of the future steps.
To be real honest, allot of my life was chaotic and stressful (mostly self-inflicted I might add) until I stated working with wood last year (oh yeah AND INLAY!)
Sawing is cool, sanding is better. I may have compulsive disorder tendencies - not sure, but I was totally at peace within myself during this build. This is why I have already started on #2, which will be quite a bit more complex than my first "Practice" build. I am having so much fiun with ALL of this, and it was awesome to meet everyone like yourself who have already gone down allot of these paths I have not yet taken. Thanks again for your kind words and encouragement.

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

I've just took the time to view your entire thread!

I'm very impressed, this is fantastic work, I wish that my first guitar was as good as this one!

You can be very proud of yourself

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http://hufschmidguitars.com

Thanks Patrick - that meant allot to me especially from a builder like yourself. It was funny, I kept talking myself out of posting my build to this forum - I felt that everyone would start calling me a madman for everything I was doing, but I ended up doing it and everyone has been very encouraging - I was quite a ways into the build when I finally started posting all the pics and now that I look back, I'm glad I posted the entire journey on here.

Not sure if I would ever be able to sell this guitar, someone would have to cough up a little change for not only the blood, sweat and tears, or the costs involved with all of the materials, but the fact that it is a first build and plays the way it does bumped the ante up even more. I wish I could play it more, but I hate to put any wear on it! Thanks again and I look forward to seeing MORE guitars from YOU sir!

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

Sadly in this world, unless your name is Picasso (but dont forget people consider him and pay so much money now because he is dead), people do not know the meaning of "art"...

Today is more like: "hey why should I pay more for the same features when this other builder can do the same for less???"

Clearly this person is treating your hard work, art, style like a "product" without thinking and considering your reputation, your personal style, the country in which you live etc...

So if for exemple a guitar builder from Poland (cheap ass country) would build the same instrument (a perfect replica) and sell it OF COURSE way cheaper, chances are 9 times out if 10 the consumerr would pick the cheaper version...

How sad is that?

Another danger with highly inlayed guitars is conotation on internet and stereotypes... The more you will tell people that you can build guitars without inlays, the more people will stereotypically think that you dont and only use heavy inlays, scientifics call this the "the first based opinion's impression" - the human bug

exemple: I post 2 guitars with black hardware on my website, despite the fact that there are also some chrome hardware guitars on the same page they visited, you can be sure that I will receive 15 emails asking to me if I also build chrome hardware instruments... Next day on a forum somebody will ask if my guitars also come with chrome hardware and if by any chance there is a hater in there, you can be sure that he will post something like "no, hufschmid only does black hardware...."



Just saying so that you dont get any suprises in the futur


PS: did you check my "dragon" on my topic?

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http://hufschmidguitars.com

Hi Patrick!
If you are referencing your "little dragon" as the letters carved in the back of your axe, then YES, I did - very cool indeed - looks almost "Lord Of The RingsISH" more badazz elements for an already badazz guitar.

You got me shaking all the thoughts out of my head this morning in regards to how I see the value of the dragons... I TOTALLY agree with you that there are plenty of places in the world that can produce a relatively close look-alike, however, my guess is that it would never be attempted - mainly because of the complexity of JUST the different materials. They could NEVER produce an exact replica of this guitar, but if anyone did, I would actually be honored! IMHO, I would not be able to do an exact replica of the guitar, nor would I actually spend that time to do something I already did.... it doesn't make sense in my mind, no matter the price. My plans (for now) is to simply create pieces of art, that can be played as guitars and each one will be totally-unique kind of pieces. If nobody ever buys one, then I must accept that as well - I will have a pretty cool art collection hanging in my studio, that I will be able to play anytime. My only desire to sell one would be for the simple fact of being able to afford materials to make more. This is like a new addiction for me - I love the process of inlay, building and plugging in after a completed build.

I can only be happy now if I am building - if there will be an interested buyer somewhere along the way, it would be in line with "Happiness"...... ""Happiness is not a destination in life, it's just a perk."

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

First off, gorgeous work! Completely beats the hell out of any guitar I have ever built. I was wondering if the bridge was misplaced slghtly or if that is an optical illusion on the e strings not being spaced the same down the fretboard.

Sharp eye - it's one of the "unexplained happenings" with my first build - there is a slight more amount of room of fretboard above the Low E string. I had triple checked all measurements before making the crucial drill holes for the studs, yet noticed the same thing as you. The spacing between strings is dead on, just a slight bit more of fretboard towards the higher frets.

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

Hi All,
I finally have some video for the Dueling Dragons guitar... part of the documentary film I made, I ended up bringing the new axe to Todd Grubbs' studio. After playing guitar for about 17 years, I felt like I hit a brick wall and studied under Todd - that was about 18 years ago. Since that time we became friends, I do all of his artwork for his CD's and his web site for him. I wanted him to give a crack at this guitar, so this is about a minute snippet from my new documentary film "Release The Dragons" which I will post shortly. You can hear more of Todd's music at http://www.toddgrubbs.com

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

For the longest time, I was thinking of selling this guitar, but after really thinking about things, I have decided to keep it. I went through so may "valuations" on what people thought it was worth, but in all honesty, I don't think anyone could get that part right - mainly because they were comparing it to similar builds.... the big problem I have with that is that this was a first build, and I have yet to see a guitar go as far as this one did for a first-time build. So at the end of the day, this guitar becomes "priceless", meaning that I could never get the tru value as to what I think it is and at the end of the day, it's pretty awesome that I get to look at it and have a year's worth of memories flash by me, and even on occasion, I just may plug this sucker in.

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

Makes sense. How do you evaluate a sentimental object? The market only looks at what similar objects sell for, from an unsentimental viewpoint. I wish I'd kept my very first completely handmade instrument. At least I know where it is though, and who's playing it.

_________________
Old growth, shmold growth!

True that brother... AND it was even coming with a Blu-Ray documentary of the build... how many guitars come with that these days? Mine will

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

Last night I was asked to do a presentation at the University of Florida in Gainesville in March to graphic design students learning Illustrator.... I will be showing them part of my documentary film, the Dueling Dragons guitar (Possibly the Silver Willow as well) and how Illustrator made the dream become a reality... I will be also showing them some Kung Fu moves in Illustrator. I also know how to design in 3d, but since I don't have a CNC machine, I decided to do all of my guitar designs in Illustrator - the printouts from that prog are dead-on and definitely attributed to the accuracy of the inlay and design of the guitar.

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

Good luck! I love me some Illustrator

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-Marcus
http://www.bailieguitars.com
Instagram | YouTube

I'm taking Microcomputer Applications at PHCC. Microsoft Office.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

LOL, you are about as far behind me on computers as I am behind you on guitar building!

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

I needs me some compooter edumakashun.

_________________
Old growth, shmold growth!