# Accidental Solar Flare.



## pondman (Feb 24, 2017)

Cleaning out my shop today and came across a quilt Maple top that I don't remember buying. One thing lead to another and ....

Pommele Sapele body.
Quilt Maple top.
Maple neck.
Hellbound Cocobolo ferret.



DSC_0291 by

DSC_0292 by

DSC_0297 by

DSC_0299 by

DSC_0294 by [url=https://


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## Danukenator (Feb 24, 2017)

There will reach a point where threads in this sub are comprised 50% of pondman builds .

What is the inspiration for that shape; I don't recognize it off the top of my head.


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## that short guy (Feb 24, 2017)

That fretboard is insane. Is that the actual name/term for that kind of figuring?


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## MAJ Meadows SF (Feb 24, 2017)

Dude!!! That fret board. Wow. I love the top and shape too, but man that is a wicked piece of cocobolo.


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## mnemonic (Feb 25, 2017)

Can you seriously get that much work done in a day? That's pretty impressive.


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## Sephiroth952 (Feb 25, 2017)

Wow that fret board looks like Jupiter.


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## Lemonbaby (Feb 25, 2017)

Wow, so jealous about that Cocobolo ferret. Do you use Epoxy instead of PVA? I usually don't open my clamps under 12h drying time so I have no chance to glue a two piece body and the top in only one day... 

Besides, the top is already burst dyed. You're probably just trying to intimidate everyone by saying that's done in one day. Please confess now or enjoy being a true hero.


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## pondman (Feb 25, 2017)

Lemonbaby said:


> Wow, so jealous about that Cocobolo ferret. Do you use Epoxy instead of PVA? I usually don't open my clamps under 12h drying time so I have no chance to glue a two piece body and the top in only one day...
> 
> Besides, the top is already burst dyed. You're probably just trying to intimidate everyone by saying that's done in one day. Please confess now or enjoy being a true hero.



"Intimidate"  Just posting a fever build. Sometimes I take a few weeks, sometimes a few days. It all depends on the mood. I use Titebond original which is advised to be un-clamped after 20 mins. I actually glued and clamped the 2 body halves together and noticed it was out of level so I de-clamped and tried to separate the halves after just 7 mins and they were well and truly stuck, I had to use the band saw to part the bastards  thats how quick Tite bond is. The slight top burst took about 8 minutes using the fan heater to dry.

Its not a race but sometimes I just get carried away.


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## jairic (Feb 25, 2017)

Really like how that fretboard is looking. Great work as always.


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## Lemonbaby (Feb 25, 2017)

pondman said:


> Its not a race but sometimes I just get carried away.



That's what I told HER...


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## MoonJelly (Feb 26, 2017)

I use Titebond 3, instructions say 20 minutes minimum, but longer is better...

Wait, are we talking about guitars still?


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## pondman (Feb 26, 2017)

MoonJelly said:


> I use Titebond 3, instructions say 20 minutes minimum, but longer is better...
> 
> Wait, are we talking about guitars still?



"Dont" use Titebond 3, it gives a flexible joint that has disastrous consequences. Believe me, I learned the hard way


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## Grindspine (Feb 26, 2017)

Amazing work pairing the fret board and finish!


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## pondman (Feb 26, 2017)

2 words - exploding router


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## Lemonbaby (Feb 26, 2017)

Titebond 3 contains more filler and should be applied in the thinnest layer absolutely needed, but shouldn't generally cause problems. I use both II and III (when I need the longer open time)...


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## pondman (Feb 26, 2017)

Lemonbaby said:


> Titebond 3 contains more filler and should be applied in the thinnest layer absolutely needed, but shouldn't generally cause problems. I use both II and III (when I need the longer open time)...



It does cause problems in creating a rubbery joint. If you paint or clear a guitar that has been glued together with TB 2 or 3 you will eventually get cracks in the clear coat. Its well known by a lot of luthiers that avoid it like the plague.


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## Petar Bogdanov (Feb 26, 2017)

pondman said:


> 2 words - exploding router



That's scary as hell! I binned a router just for starting to vibrate more.


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## pondman (Feb 26, 2017)

Petar Bogdanov said:


> That's scary as hell! I binned a router just for starting to vibrate more.



It was an explosion of sparks, smoke and red hot ball bearings. I'm guessing the bearings went and sent the rotor in to gyroscope mode ripping up and melting the winding's. A few of the ball bearings went into my lovely hair and burned my scalp  Mrs pondman thought it was hilarious


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## MoonJelly (Feb 26, 2017)

Yeesh! Duly noted. On the serious side, that wood color is phenomenal.


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## electriceye (Feb 26, 2017)

It takes me two months to get a neck right and you do that in like 4 hours....


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## KnightBrolaire (Feb 27, 2017)

electriceye said:


> It takes me two months to get a neck right and you do that in like 4 hours....



the only solution is to build more guitars so you get more practice


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## pondman (Feb 27, 2017)

Danukenator said:


> There will reach a point where threads in this sub are comprised 50% of pondman builds .
> 
> What is the inspiration for that shape; I don't recognize it off the top of my head.



Its a shape I used last year on that "Dark Side build". Cant remember where I got the idea but nothings ever new.



that short guy said:


> That fretboard is insane. Is that the actual name/term for that kind of figuring?



No, I just see something devilish in the colour.

Going out to buy a new router today so this should be more or less finished tonight apart from the finish coat


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## endmysuffering (Feb 27, 2017)

This is really cool (as usual), I think a white binding on the body and neck would this look even classier.


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## electriceye (Feb 27, 2017)

KnightBrolaire said:


> the only solution is to build more guitars so you get more practice



I'm just busting chops...sorta.  It's actually a matter of time. When you have two little kids, and they play hockey, some weekends are shot. Luckily, they're done as of yesterday for the season!


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## pondman (Feb 27, 2017)

P1010928 by

P1010926 by

P1010923 by

P1010922 by

P1010921 by [url=https://


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## MoonJelly (Feb 27, 2017)




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## DistinguishedPapyrus (Feb 27, 2017)

pondman said:


> "Dont" use Titebond 3, it gives a flexible joint that has disastrous consequences. Believe me, I learned the hard way



^^^ This 100%. I use Titebond original for all my builds too, great stuff. If you get a few drops on a concrete floor and come back a few days later, the Titebond original will be hard and brittle, but Titebond III will be gummy still, you can dig your thumb nail into it. III is recommended for outdoor projects but for a guitar that will spend its life indoors in a controlled environment, I go with the glue that acts more like the wood itself.


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## BlackMastodon (Mar 7, 2017)

Pommele sapele pommele sapele pommele sapele. That's just really fun to say.


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## pondman (Jun 17, 2017)

This one was ready to assemble but I decided that I didn't like it at all. Could be a fire or a total strip down or whatever.


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## MikeNeal (Jun 17, 2017)

Ship me the body. I'll put it to good use


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## thinkpad20 (Jun 17, 2017)

What?!? It looks amazing! Sell it to me...


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## otisct20 (Jun 17, 2017)

My god. Do want


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## Grand Rabbit (Jun 18, 2017)

pondman said:


> Its a shape I used last year on that "Dark Side build". Cant remember where I got the idea but nothings ever new.



 that's right. For instance, I've been designing a guitar all week ( a design which I've evolved over the past month ) and actually freaking called it a "Solar Flare" and it looks incredibly similar to the body shape you used on this build. There are some significant differences, I'm still gonna use it, but I thought that was kind of funny that we had designed what amounts to the same 'style' of body with the exact same name at different times with no correspondence. 

Now I gotta follow it up with a build thread once I get started


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## pondman (Jun 18, 2017)




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## ASoC (Jun 18, 2017)

I will take one for the team and take it off your hands, Pondsir


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## dxjxrose (Jun 18, 2017)

thats awesome looking man


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## spilla (Jun 20, 2017)

Hell yeah, nice work (as always) man! Love that fb.


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## Mr_Mar10 (Jun 21, 2017)

Really? That was looking slick mate..

Someone would snap ur hands off if u sell it 








( how much??  Wanna swap for some Purple Heart tops n chestnut blanks? Lol )


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## IGC (Jun 23, 2017)

pondman said:


> Cleaning out my shop today and came across a quilt Maple top that I don't remember buying. One thing lead to another and ....
> 
> Pommele Sapele body.
> Quilt Maple top.
> ...



Sweet!!! Do you have a YouTube channel?


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## pondman (Jun 24, 2017)

IGC said:


> Sweet!!! Do you have a YouTube channel?



No. I have this page though
https://www.facebook.com/customguitarpage/


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## IGC (Jun 24, 2017)

pondman said:


> No. I have this page though
> https://www.facebook.com/customguitarpage/


 Thanks! I love how you have all your guitars hanging on your walls on those hangers around your computer desk. I'v been dreaming about doing something like that. You can look at all of them and jam on any one whenever you please with little effort.  Where do you get those hangers from looks pretty custom.


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## pondman (Jun 24, 2017)

IGC said:


> Thanks! I love how you have all your guitars hanging on your walls on those hangers around your computer desk. I'v been dreaming about doing something like that. You can look at all of them and jam on any one whenever you please with little effort.  Where do you get those hangers from looks pretty custom.



I just kept my eye on ebay for someone selling 2nd hand job lots of guitar shop hangers and got lucky on two occasions which landed me around 65 hangers for £40. I obviously had to custom make the wall plate receiving contraption which is made from timber and metal plate reinforcement . That amount of guitars creates some serious weight so they are firmly bolted to the walls. My serious collection is all cased.


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## IGC (Jun 24, 2017)

pondman said:


> I just kept my eye on ebay for someone selling 2nd hand job lots of guitar shop hangers and got lucky on two occasions which landed me around 65 hangers for £40. I obviously had to custom make the wall plate receiving contraption which is made from timber and metal plate reinforcement . That amount of guitars creates some serious weight so they are firmly bolted to the walls. My serious collection is all cased.



Don't mean to sway from this threads original topic, but it's all relative. Yeah some serious weight would be generated with all those instruments. Think I would couple it to the floor with some 2x4 gussets or something. Are there pics of your serious collection on your Facebook?


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## Lemonbaby (Jun 25, 2017)

pondman said:


> [...] My serious collection is all cased.


Just out of pure curiosity: how big are both your collections (“serious“ and... ehrm... “unserious“)?


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## pondman (Jun 25, 2017)

I honestly don't know anymore. I'll have to have a look later in the year when I have some time.


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## Lemonbaby (Jun 25, 2017)

Haha, that indicates a massive collection... 

“So, how many guitars do you have?“
“Give me six months to count...“


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## pondman (Jun 25, 2017)

IGC said:


> Don't mean to sway from this threads original topic, but it's all relative. Yeah some serious weight would be generated with all those instruments. Think I would couple it to the floor with some 2x4 gussets or something. Are there pics of your serious collection on your Facebook?


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## pondman (Jun 25, 2017)

I used to have most of those in my albums on here but they were all lost when the site changed over 


IGC said:


> Don't mean to sway from this threads original topic, but it's all relative. Yeah some serious weight would be generated with all those instruments. Think I would couple it to the floor with some 2x4 gussets or something. Are there pics of your serious collection on your Facebook?


I used to have most of those on my albums on here but they all disappeared when the site changed over


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## IGC (Jun 26, 2017)

pondman said:


> I used to have most of those in my albums on here but they were all lost when the site changed over
> 
> I used to have most of those on my albums on here but they all disappeared when the site changed over



Oh yeah, I lost my little album too. Yeah I think I checked yours out earlier before the change, I think I remember a lot of nice gems, yeah that album was probably a lot of work. Looks like we now must get a year subscription for 1 gig album...no biggie, I'm gonna get one when I get some stuff really worth adding...


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## pondman (Dec 17, 2017)

This ones finished and over in NGD here http://sevenstring.org/threads/ngd-accidental-solar-flare.326848/



DSCN6770 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/


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