I respect the person that can program a C and C machine to get the desired results...I admire the person that has the skill and talent to do it by hand.
Came here to say this. *One* flower, near the top of the fretboard, would look awesome as long as it can match the design of the leaves. Sunflower maybe? Half of a sunflower?
This has helped me remember two things. 1. Sharp blades are sharp. I still carry scares on my thumbs from cutting lino blocks for printing at school in 1968. 2. With all this detail in this video, this is why I use big brushes when I paint. For me Impressions are better than exact copies. However, I'm glad someone like you loves detailed work. It is impressive. Thank you.
Two weeks to build a guitar. Let’s cut out the centre of all the mother of Pearl ! Looks absolutely amazing. And thats why you build guitars for a living, and I don’t. Absolute legend.
What a great help you have been. I love your accent. I do not have an accent, being born and raised in Alabama. Thanks a Lot Ben, You are fantastic Mate.
Yesterday i saw a build of an acoustic bass with an oval headstock. The tuners were mounted on the outside, pins inside the whole with a deep angle cut so the strings can reach the nut freely. Absolutely gorgeous!
I've been following you since the beginning, I even own some of your luthier tools. I have to tell you, your skills have become out of this world... IT DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER!
Love the tip about the masking tape propellor to clear the dust, blowing it away with a running router invariable leads to unwanted movement and an ensuing re-design 😣 I'll use that thanks👍🏼
This inlay work is amazing and was cool to watch. Ben, this years GGBO is top notch with some very talented luthiers in the fray. You have started something that is bringing the industry into the limelight and hope you continue to do so for years to come!
Cheers from Texas! Subtlety is within the realm of fine detail. Subtlety keeps the guitar player from getting blurry vision, from all the bling 😁 Looking fabulous! Rock on! M 🤘😎🤘
Pancakes and waffles and 🍯😆 Thanks for going to the effort to film and narrate all these wonderful videos Ben. I love every one of them and have been inspired to start building guitars from scratch. Keep up the amazing work
Do you know what, you never cease to amaze me. I'm watching this as a forty something but feel like a kid, this build is getting better and better, giddygumdrops,. Where's nebula 2 BTW.
... it's stunning, if you're feeling like adding more, maybe some accents to the stems and a flower at the first fret, but whatever you decide will be a win
This is incredible looking Ben! Love the fact that you also hollowed them. Add a few more I'd say, on the 7th and 9th, but who are we to even suggest, you'll probably put lasers in them by the time we get to next week!
Nice job! I like that black superglue, I use the ink from a black pen and mix it with 5 minute epoxy- your way is neater and quicker. Also like the tape as a fan to blow away dust. I usually rub chalk in the tracing cuts to see them more clearly. I can get quite finicky turning the shell in all directions and being sure to look at it in the angle it will be viewed. That way you can get the best light refraction, but then again I'm making jewelry and not a whole fretboard.....
Hey James, I really should use chalk too, and do mess about with refraction etc though, with the time constraints, I did sort of wing it thing time :) B
A tip for the Dremel for those side bits: You can use a cam clamp to create a stop, which is a bit more accurate than the masking tape. I even use this with my plough plane and it works well!
@@Jester-Riddle I realise my comment isn't clear. Ben marked the border of his cut with tape. Here I like to use a clamp as a hard stop so that no mistakes can happen.
Ben, I have problems routing out and inlaying six ink letters in a transom that I fill with colored epoxy on boats. A vine life inlay on a fret board seems daunting. I have played guitar for 69 young years now and want to build a remarkable playing guitar. I guess I need to take a few classes. You make it look so easy but I build cabinets and, boats and I will need more training.
Fantastic work! My goodness, your touch with your tools is awe inspiring. As usual, the editing keeps getting better every video. You’re lucky Talitha is your sister, otherwise some editing company would have haired her by now.
Hi Ben, I find for jewellery work, I get a lot more out of a blade if it's loubed. I tend to use bee's wax. Having said that, maybe the abrasiveness of the inlay material might counter the lubrication...
I love the inlays! I would suggest extending them in some minimal capacity closer to the nut, the first 2 frets just look a little bare. I know the first frets typically don't have anything special on them but I think something needs to happen. But if the headstock is awesome (which I'm positive it will be because you're super talented) perhaps it'll look fine.
I have a Dremel with a StewMac router base and a Proxxon with the correct base. I haven't been brave enough to do do any inlay work yet, but as a long time watcher of your channel I'm starting to think I should have a go. Obviously not at your insane level, but I might design a logo and do it in a few scraps just for crisps and pickles.
You sir, are a complete madman. I thought you'd be filling the middle of those leaves with black superglue, but OH NO, you CUT them INTO the fretboard! egad man... Also: I'm betting the vines will pop out once there is oil on that ebony - the fretboard will be darker than the vines...here's hoping :)
Hi Ben! Thanks for adding the realtime counter. All the time lapsing usually leaves a subconscious impression that these things can be done quickly (ie 2 hours or so) Dunno if it was the video but the vines were hard to see against the fretboard. Probably it'll change once fretboard is oiled though. Thanks for yet another great vid!
Dear Ben. Always love your Builds, love the White Leafs but Sadly to say the Branches should have Been Green or Dark Green. Your Sister is #1 just like my Big Sister is to Me. Please Ben next Year to a Bass Guitar. I still trying to teach this Old Dog play the lefthand Bass Guitar. Peace Be With You . Glad you are putting this design as a Production 🎸. Greg of the States
The best inlays/binding I’ve seen on a non-custom guitar was the Charvel Desolation. I sold mine and regret it. I think I just wasn’t happy with the feel or the tuning stability. I paid very little for it and it was one of very few guitars that I sold for more than I paid for it. But now I want another one and they’re 3x as much.
At the moment, I feel the abalone gets somewhat lost in the fretboard, but I've learned that how things look during the build is never as good as they look when everything's done so I'll shut up now. Apart from saying that I love this inlay.
Likewise, my initial thought was this type of inlay would look best with a contrasting dark fingerboard, such as traditional ebony ... However, it'll be fascinating to see the 'Rabbit' that Ben pulls out of the proverbial 'Hat' at the end ...
Pretty awesome neck, Ben. I like the subtlety of the abalone vine. It makes the leaves pop. Not sure if polishing will make it stand out more, but it's not a bad thing if it doesn't. I'm just wondering how much of this guitar will translate into the production model you want to produce. Cheers....
That inlay is looking great. I'm not sure about the Abalone ("Ab-a-low-knee") bits. I do think they are blending in to the background. I kind of wish you had done them pretty side up, but the edges do look more like a woody stem. I just hope they pop a little more when all is said and done. I also hope you will come to your senses about using bolts to hold the body together. I'd much rather you turned some wood posts on the lathe. I imagine something like wooden wine glass stems, or double ended golf tees, looking far more elegant and in keeping with the airy feel of this guitar. I know you like to mix wood and metal, but I don't see that looking right on this one.
Great video as always and enjoying the inlay process in detail but not convinced with the inlay yet. It lacks something. Could be as you say that the vine/abalone is too subtle compared to the pearl leaves?
Dear Ben, can you please clarify something to an amateur hobby guitar builder. The LP nut’s width is 42-43mn, so is the width of an unbound fretboard. But in case you bind a neck, do you make the fretboard narrower to account for the width of the binding tape? Or the f-board is still 42-43mm and the binding just increases the total width of the neck? Thank you 🙏
Hi Ben - you've inspired me to have a go at this (although not as complex for my first one!) - how deep do you/can you cut with the 0.6mm router bit and do you make multiple passes at different depths?
Somehow out of all those amazing things you've done in this video that little masking tape propeller impressed me the most.
That trick is awesome. But beware the dremeling will sound like a turbine. You should use ear protection
10:45 he says he uses 0.06mm router bits but that's the width of 42 gauge wire and human hair. 0.6mm is what he meant (common pcb drill size).
@Călin Guga Thank you for the correction 👍
I respect the person that can program a C and C machine to get the desired results...I admire the person that has the skill and talent to do it by hand.
CNC. Not C&C. Stands for "Computer Numerical Control".
@@IrisGalaxis Thanks for the info and correction. I always appreciate learning opportunities.
As far as the flower is concerned, I think a single flower at the end of the vine between the first fret and the nut would look nice
Came here to say this. *One* flower, near the top of the fretboard, would look awesome as long as it can match the design of the leaves. Sunflower maybe? Half of a sunflower?
This has helped me remember two things. 1. Sharp blades are sharp. I still carry scares on my thumbs from cutting lino blocks for printing at school in 1968. 2. With all this detail in this video, this is why I use big brushes when I paint. For me Impressions are better than exact copies. However, I'm glad someone like you loves detailed work. It is impressive. Thank you.
10:49 The masking tape propeller blew my mind away aswell.
not my idea but one I am happy to share, it makes such a difference when doing this sort of work. B
Two weeks to build a guitar.
Let’s cut out the centre of all the mother of Pearl !
Looks absolutely amazing.
And thats why you build guitars for a living, and I don’t.
Absolute legend.
BIG yes to adding some flowers! That would get my vote
I can't decide if you're brilliant or deeply masochistic on this one. That said, well done that man. Carry on......
What a great help you have been. I love your accent. I do not have an accent, being born and raised in Alabama. Thanks a Lot Ben, You are fantastic Mate.
Yesterday i saw a build of an acoustic bass with an oval headstock. The tuners were mounted on the outside, pins inside the whole with a deep angle cut so the strings can reach the nut freely. Absolutely gorgeous!
A large flower up the top would be awesome in my opinion
Liking how the guitar is coming along.
Next time you should try and do one matching the shape of the Crimson logo!
Cool idea!
You didn't suffer, Ben. You loved EVERY SECOND of it!!
I loved how you put some detailed work and then continued the rest with a time lapse. Please keep doing that
The time lapse really gives you an idea of how intensive a process the inlay work was! Ben still made it look easy!
I've been following you since the beginning, I even own some of your luthier tools. I have to tell you, your skills have become out of this world... IT DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER!
You sir, have the patients of the gods.
You've outdone yourself again... while i do think the vines need to show more i think its a gorgeous inlay!
You are an absolute genius and artist. Thanks for this piece of information!
I was skeptical when you started.....end result is sick! I apologize for doubting you mastet
Love the tip about the masking tape propellor to clear the dust, blowing it away with a running router invariable leads to unwanted movement and an ensuing re-design 😣 I'll use that thanks👍🏼
Ben Crowe, King of Inlays.
'Ooh, I'm in a hurry, better make the inlay as complicated and time consuming as possible' XD
I think I have an illness... maybe clinical masochism? :) B
"Hollow out the internals" sickest metal band name
Me: Not sure anyone could even come close to the grace Kelly’s eyes fretboard...
Ben: hold my stunning stains
I chuckled on my Guinness 😂
Still no where near the beauty he achieved back then
Not a patch on grace kellys eyes inlay
But still, he has already done that, the eyes. I think his last guitars are stunning! 🤓🤓
It's entertaining to watch you do this. Wow that sure is some delicate tedious work, but the results should be incredible.
This inlay work is amazing and was cool to watch. Ben, this years GGBO is top notch with some very talented luthiers in the fray. You have started something that is bringing the industry into the limelight and hope you continue to do so for years to come!
Cheers from Texas!
Subtlety is within the realm of fine detail. Subtlety keeps the guitar player from getting blurry vision, from all the bling 😁
Looking fabulous!
Rock on!
M
🤘😎🤘
Pancakes and waffles and 🍯😆
Thanks for going to the effort to film and narrate all these wonderful videos Ben. I love every one of them and have been inspired to start building guitars from scratch. Keep up the amazing work
What a beautiful masterpiece fretboard you have created there.
Whoa making such big inlays is a lot of work but in the end so worth it. Looks amazing my man!
Do you know what, you never cease to amaze me. I'm watching this as a forty something but feel like a kid, this build is getting better and better, giddygumdrops,. Where's nebula 2 BTW.
Beautiful craftsmanship Ben!
Your creativity in guitar building astounds me with every video. You can never quit, you know that right? :D
Ben, gotta say it is so cool watching your work. Especially as we know it’s going to be awesome.
Coming along quite nicely !! That vine inlay is gorgeous !! Thanks , Ben !!
... it's stunning, if you're feeling like adding more, maybe some accents to the stems and a flower at the first fret, but whatever you decide will be a win
I personally love the subtlety of the stems
if you feel sad just turn to 16:47 and say: AWWWWW!!! THANK YOU BEN.
Jeez, is there no end to your skills? Looks beautiful Ben
This is amazing, ive yet to build a guitar but have a couple kits to work on once I get my shop organized. Thanks for all the information Ben!
my pleasure, and good luck with the kits and workshop.. I have yet to achieve a properly organised shop :) B
Just incredible. I love every second of your builds. Beautiful!
You have my vote. Insane mind blowing work you do chap!
This is incredible looking Ben! Love the fact that you also hollowed them. Add a few more I'd say, on the 7th and 9th, but who are we to even suggest, you'll probably put lasers in them by the time we get to next week!
lasers!?! Now there's a thought :) B
Very nice work, you should add a fretboard inlay course to the other great courses crimson offers
Amazing work per usual Ben !
Ben youve always built amazing guitars. Id have to chief up with all that detail😂
Very good Poerpop today! And a good lesson...
Nice job! I like that black superglue, I use the ink from a black pen and mix it with 5 minute epoxy- your way is neater and quicker. Also like the tape as a fan to blow away dust. I usually rub chalk in the tracing cuts to see them more clearly. I can get quite finicky turning the shell in all directions and being sure to look at it in the angle it will be viewed. That way you can get the best light refraction, but then again I'm making jewelry and not a whole fretboard.....
Hey James, I really should use chalk too, and do mess about with refraction etc though, with the time constraints, I did sort of wing it thing time :) B
I gotta say it's pretty nice to see something like this come together without having to do all that work.
BEN- the solution to the proxxon to dremel problem is to get a proxxon, that means you can use the proxxon footswitch to turn it off and on.
beautiful work Ben!
A tip for the Dremel for those side bits: You can use a cam clamp to create a stop, which is a bit more accurate than the masking tape. I even use this with my plough plane and it works well!
I think Ben used the Masking Tape as a 'Fan' to blow dust away, rather than to mark depth in this instance ...
Still, your comments are noted.
@@Jester-Riddle I realise my comment isn't clear. Ben marked the border of his cut with tape. Here I like to use a clamp as a hard stop so that no mistakes can happen.
Love the Proxxon router base mod for the Dremel, the pucker Dremel one is dreadful for pretty much the same money.
Burning the midnight oil not only pollutes, but offends Aussie music fans. Looking good man!✌
Ben this is looking absolutely stunning!!! I can’t wait to to see this headstock! You have my vote already 😉
Ben, I have problems routing out and inlaying six ink letters in a transom that I fill with colored epoxy on boats. A vine life inlay on a fret board seems daunting. I have played guitar for 69 young years now and want to build a remarkable playing guitar. I guess I need to take a few classes. You make it look so easy but I build cabinets and, boats and I will need more training.
Fantastic work! My goodness, your touch with your tools is awe inspiring.
As usual, the editing keeps getting better every video. You’re lucky Talitha is your sister, otherwise some editing company would have haired her by now.
she really is rather good isn't she? :) B
Loving the inlay
Really starting to pull together, great work
If not the best luthier the best channel.
I watch this channel more that any other
Another holy shit that's so good guitar on it's way.
Hi Ben, I find for jewellery work, I get a lot more out of a blade if it's loubed. I tend to use bee's wax. Having said that, maybe the abrasiveness of the inlay material might counter the lubrication...
I love the inlays! I would suggest extending them in some minimal capacity closer to the nut, the first 2 frets just look a little bare. I know the first frets typically don't have anything special on them but I think something needs to happen. But if the headstock is awesome (which I'm positive it will be because you're super talented) perhaps it'll look fine.
I have a Dremel with a StewMac router base and a Proxxon with the correct base. I haven't been brave enough to do do any inlay work yet, but as a long time watcher of your channel I'm starting to think I should have a go. Obviously not at your insane level, but I might design a logo and do it in a few scraps just for crisps and pickles.
Great looking inlays
Absolutely amazing.
FLOWERS! YES!
You gave me a heart , but in the end, no flowers😢
You sir, are a complete madman. I thought you'd be filling the middle of those leaves with black superglue, but OH NO, you CUT them INTO the fretboard! egad man...
Also: I'm betting the vines will pop out once there is oil on that ebony - the fretboard will be darker than the vines...here's hoping :)
Nice work Ben.
ua-cam.com/video/oYNiYlSdAI0/v-deo.html
Stunning as always.
I’ll order one, would look good with a spalted top and a burst finish.
Hi Ben! Thanks for adding the realtime counter. All the time lapsing usually leaves a subconscious impression that these things can be done quickly (ie 2 hours or so)
Dunno if it was the video but the vines were hard to see against the fretboard. Probably it'll change once fretboard is oiled though. Thanks for yet another great vid!
the vines do need a little something more.. I'm thinking powdered mother of pearl and glue perhaps.. B
10:00 and here I thought that the engineer's lathe was going to make another appearance
Fabulous. Can’t believe you only lost one leaf. I think subtle wins over adding more, but hey, who am I?
Well done Ben!
Spectacular job dear man 😊💜👍
Concidering shape of the body I would turn headtock upwards.
Looks amazing Ben
How about a fine copper or gold thread running next to the branches to look like a highlight?
What happened to nebula 2?
It's on hold (and spray/finishing) during this GBBO build ... It'll be back afterwards.
Dear Ben. Always love your Builds, love the White Leafs but Sadly to say the Branches should have Been Green or Dark Green. Your Sister is #1 just like my Big Sister is to Me. Please Ben next Year to a Bass Guitar. I still trying to teach this Old Dog play the lefthand Bass Guitar. Peace Be With You . Glad you are putting this design as a Production 🎸. Greg of the States
The best inlays/binding I’ve seen on a non-custom guitar was the Charvel Desolation. I sold mine and regret it. I think I just wasn’t happy with the feel or the tuning stability. I paid very little for it and it was one of very few guitars that I sold for more than I paid for it. But now I want another one and they’re 3x as much.
thank you Ben
I almost enjoyed this video in between the multitude of adverts!!
automatic thing we have to go in and manually fix after the fact, sorry. B
DAMN HARD WORK, VERY COOL BEANS.
At the moment, I feel the abalone gets somewhat lost in the fretboard, but I've learned that how things look during the build is never as good as they look when everything's done so I'll shut up now.
Apart from saying that I love this inlay.
Likewise, my initial thought was this type of inlay would look best with a contrasting dark fingerboard, such as traditional ebony ... However, it'll be fascinating to see the 'Rabbit' that Ben pulls out of the proverbial 'Hat' at the end ...
I bet once the fretboard is oiled it will pop a bit more.
One day time-lapse, no coffee break?
Fantastic stuff.
"I'm old and frail ..." says a guy who's 20 years younger than me. Thanks, Ben. 😂
Set one or two tiny diamonds as dew drops at the twelfth fret...
oooh! That could be fun. B
Pretty awesome neck, Ben. I like the subtlety of the abalone vine. It makes the leaves pop. Not sure if polishing will make it stand out more, but it's not a bad thing if it doesn't. I'm just wondering how much of this guitar will translate into the production model you want to produce. Cheers....
That inlay is looking great. I'm not sure about the Abalone ("Ab-a-low-knee") bits. I do think they are blending in to the background. I kind of wish you had done them pretty side up, but the edges do look more like a woody stem. I just hope they pop a little more when all is said and done.
I also hope you will come to your senses about using bolts to hold the body together. I'd much rather you turned some wood posts on the lathe. I imagine something like wooden wine glass stems, or double ended golf tees, looking far more elegant and in keeping with the airy feel of this guitar. I know you like to mix wood and metal, but I don't see that looking right on this one.
Thats looking great. Less is more ben. Let it be :)
Ben now u got to inlay the headstock
Great video as always and enjoying the inlay process in detail but not convinced with the inlay yet. It lacks something. Could be as you say that the vine/abalone is too subtle compared to the pearl leaves?
too subtle for sure.. B
Dear Ben, can you please clarify something to an amateur hobby guitar builder. The LP nut’s width is 42-43mn, so is the width of an unbound fretboard. But in case you bind a neck, do you make the fretboard narrower to account for the width of the binding tape? Or the f-board is still 42-43mm and the binding just increases the total width of the neck? Thank you 🙏
Looks great Ben! 👍
Incredible!
Those skills would have seem you burned at the stake 500 years ago! Amazing.
Hi Ben - you've inspired me to have a go at this (although not as complex for my first one!) - how deep do you/can you cut with the 0.6mm router bit and do you make multiple passes at different depths?