Name:
Location: Los Angeles, California, United States

I have been a Los Angeles City firefighter for 20 years. I work in the Glassell Park section of Los Angeles. In 1985-1986 I worked for Charvel/Jackson in Glendora, California. It was a great experience, regardless of it being just a $5.00 an hour job. I worked in the wood shop and did the inlaying and fretting. I did get to see Neal Schon, from Journey, in one of his videos use a guitar I worked on and fretted. That was over 23 years ago. I was watching MTV with my cousin when I saw the guitar. I said, "Jim, look, I made that guitar." "And how much did they pay you...?" he asked. "Five dollar an hour" I told him. "Five dollars?...that's it?" Then he changed the channel. Making only $5.00 per hour puts things into perspective. But it still was fun. Now, it's just simple tools and equipment. It ain't perfect, but it is fun.

Saturday, August 19, 2006



I was going to install the Stew-Mac truss rod, but needed a 7/32" router bit. As I only had a 1/4" bit, I used my Luthier's Mercantile truss rod. I had to make two passes and that caused a slight enlargment of the slot. I will buy the 7/32" bit so the fit will be perfect next time. I messed up on the first pass when the bit grabbed some wood and went off course. Lesson learned: Route from left to right. Going right to left caused the bit to grab too much wood. Keep pressure on the guide piece and go slow. (The guide piece was away from me). No big deal, as I fixed the route with some walnut scrap. I am using a body adjustable design. As it will have one pickup, the wood removal is minimal. The mahogany body is so small as my uncle Abe gave me a piece of Honduran Mahogany over 20 years ago, and I thought I'd use it "one of these days." Well, it's "one of these days," and so, the narrow design.

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