On the bench…

In this section we’ll keep you up to date with the new guitars and different models that we’re building. We’ll also show you some snazzy shots of the construction, ageing and finishing processes. You can also follow our regular updates on Facebook…

April 16th, 2013

3.. 2… 1… and you’re back in the room. Apologies for being absent from this page for so long – there are various reasons, both tech related and a huge work load that led to the absence but regular updates will be appearing here again very soon…

May 3rd, 2012

I’ve just completed another custom build named ‘The Red Dragon’ which is a variation on my E-Type guitar and pictured above – click here for full details. I’ve also moved the workshop! I’m now based in Chichester so please feel free to contact me or come along for a visit – the new address and opening times are below:

Eternal Guitars, 3 Guildhall Street, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1NJ – Workshop open from 10am to 4pm Tuesday to Saturday. Tel: 07970 245818

 

April 20th, 2012

First up this month is the restoration and refinish of a real Fender 1963 Jazzmaster. The body and neck had been refinished sometime in the ’80s in a horrid thick polyester finish. I stripped the lot and painted the body in Sherwood Green Nitrocellulose which will age gracefully. The fingerboard had been almost destroyed by some amatuer fretwork so I pulled what was left of the frets, planed the ‘board back to a true shape and then installed some nice Dunlop 6105 frets – a little higher than the originals would have been but much nicer to play on. A new bone nut was also installed before the neck was stripped and refinished in a tinted nitro. Most of the electronic components were sound but the original wiring had been replaced with some plastic shielded rubbish so I also rewired it using cloth covered and shielded hook up wire…
She now looks great and sounds fantastic…!

I also had the pleasure of helping a customer to finish his own project ‘Coodercaster’. Most of the work was complete, but it needed a bespoke scratchplate which was hand cut from some tricky to source material, and I also finished and aged the neck.

March 19th, 2012

Thank you to everyone to came and said hello at the Great British Guitar Show – we had a fantastic time and the compliments and feedback were humbling and very inspiring… After a few days recovery time March kicked off with an order for a custom one-pickup T-Type and I also finished work on our T-Bass and a mahogany bodied S-Type. There are a couple of images below and more plus full spec. to follow…

February 13th, 2012

I’m very happy to confirm that we’ll be at the ‘Great British Guitar Show’ on 25th and 26th February in Birmingham http://www.ukguitarshows.co.uk/ Come and try the guitars or just to say hello… We’ll also be unveiling a new bass model over the weekend…

February 8th, 2012

‘Betty’ is complete and has been shipped to her new home in the Midlands – based on our Micawber model and built for Stephen Reid, Betty is a lightly aged T-Type with a one-off neck profile carved specifically for Steve. With a chunky but soft V section opening up to a full C higher up the neck – add in a 9.5″ radius and Dunlop 6105 frets and she’s a beaut to play.

Full spec. can be found here.

Also on the bench is a genuine ’63 Jazzmaster for a full refinish and restoration plus a cracking Eternal Bass that will be unveiled very soon..

January 23rd, 2012

The Tokyo-D is finished and has been shipped to Japan and it’s owner Davy Bergier – for full spec. and images click here

I’m also building another ‘Micawber’ T-Type for a customer in the UK and this one will be a subtly aged version with a very tasty neck profile. More details to follow soon…

December 19th, 2011

A very busy couple of months here and some interesting and unusual guitars ordered and built! First up is the ‘Beat Club’ S-Type that was commissioned by Roger Wahlin (pictured above) – a Jeff Beck fan from Sweden. Based on an obscure early ’50s Strat it took a lot of research and email images to nail down, but the finished guitar was collected by Roger last week and he seemed very pleased! Click here to read more of the story as written by Roger and view the finished guitar…

Also on the bench is a Custom T-Type built for Davy Bergier – a french guitarist based in Tokyo. Davy wanted a very unusual finish based on one of his own designs. The guitar will be completed in the next few weeks, but for now here’s a glimpse at the bespoke finish…

November 10th, 2011

We’ve just added a couple of new models to our range of J-Type guitars – named Lola and Wilf one is a truly worn classic with vintage hardware and custom wound pickups, while the other is a reverse bodied single pickup rock beast. For more info. on our J-Type guitars click here

October 7th, 2011

So that was summer, eh? Busy times here though – as well as adding a couple more dealers to our list including Nevada Music in Portsmouth and GB Music in sunny old Bognor Regis, we’ve built a few new models and ploughed through a load of repair work.

I’ve finally begun work on a slightly unusual Bass guitar for a Mr Chris Williams and you can follow its progress here

There’s also a new model called the T-Type Jr which mixes the best bits of a coupe of classic vintage guitars but with a twist. You can see a full gallery and read more about it here

And finally, I was asked to repair and modify/upgrade a ‘courier damaged’ Tokai LP for my friends at Sound Venture Guitar Boutique. The instrument had a smashed neck which was repaired before the pickups were upgraded with our own ET’58 nickel covered humbuckers and the whole thing was given a light relic look. Images of the completed guitar below:

August 17th, 2011

Well hello again. It’s been a busy couple of months – some very snazzy builds going on and lots of repair work coming through the door. It’s time that I updated not just this page but also the ‘Guitars’ section with some new models but for now here are a few images of the most recent builds (more details and images will be found on the relevant site section as well as on Facebook for those that follow us there). Eleanor is a Dakota Red T-Type hybrid – designed to look semi-vintage but with the playing feel and guts of an Ibanez Jem. This Sunburst Micawber mimics all the the good things about our standard Micawber model but with a glorious three-tone sunburst replacing the usual butterscotch blonde finish. Commissioned by a customer (who loved the look of Dave Gilmour’s old tele, but wanted a few sonic changes and much less wear) the finished guitar is a cracker… A sneek peek here of a soon to be finished model. Blending the best bits of an old Gibbo LP Jr and a vintage T-Type, this one is being built for a very special player – more info. and images to follow shortly…

22nd June, 2011

Here’s your chance to win an Eternal Guitar for the price of a stamp in this months Guitar & Bass Magazine! Click on the link below to read how: Guitar Mag Competition

June 2nd, 2011

Leonard the J-Type guitar is finally finished having been sidelined while work on the Sound Venture guitars took over. I’ve also completed the first humbucker equipped Eternal T-Type as a kind of companion to the Dennis model that I made earlier in the year. There are a few images below and more detail and spec can be found on the Guitars page of this site. Next up are a Sunburst Micawber Model and a very special T-Type Jr for a very special player…

May 11th, 2011

Five new guitars completed since my last post – they were commissioned by a new boutique guitar shop opening soon in Scotland. There’ll be a load of promotion coming soon but for now here’s a link to their temporary website page www.sound-venture.co.uk and a few images below of the completed guitars – more images and full spec. will be added to the main site very soon…

 

April 8th, 2011

A very busy month here. In addition to a room full of repair work and the ‘Leonard’ and ‘Dolly’ models that are almost finished, I was recently comissioned to build five guitars for a new shop opening in Scotland very soon. The owner asked for three T-Types – two of them in unusual or very worn finishes and two S-Types – one simple and the other not so simple! All is going well however, and there are some shots below of the build process to date. Once complete there wil be a full gallery dedicated to these guitars plus tonnes of literature, links, advertising and possibly even some video posted on the site… For now, it’s back to the dusty workshop for me – have a good weekend one and all….

 

March 17th, 2011

Well, Happy Paddy’s Day to you all!!! Just a few images below of the three-tone sunburst being applied to ‘Leonard’. More updates early next week…

 

March 13th, 2011

The Eternal JM-Type that has been on the drawing board for a while is finally coming together. Named ‘Leonard’ he is a late ’50s inspired off-set guitar in alder and will soon have a three-tone sunburst finish added. Before that, the body will be bleached and then stained yellow before the outer sunburst colours are applied. Some images of the whole process to follow, but for now here he is at the early mock-up stage.

I’m also building ‘Dolly’ at the same time. Based on a late ’50s/early ’60s T-Type with a difference – under the Blonde nitro finish Dolly is hollow (similar to our Hollow Blonde model but without f-holes) and also has a rosewood fingerboard, chrome bridge with steel saddles and a white scratchplate. She’s a featherweight on a strap but very loud acoustically… there are a few images of the build below and shots of the finished guitar should be up by the end of this week…

February 27th, 2011

The ‘Roadnight’ Leftie S-Type is finished and has been collected by her new owner who has re-christened her ‘Mabel’. The weather has been awful so no lovely images as yet but in the meantime here’s a shot of the almost complete instrument…

 

February 20th, 2011

The ’59 Blonde S-Type named ‘Betsy’ is now complete – I’ve been subtle with the wear on this one as the the worn and faded finish looks so good, but I may add in a few more dings if requsted by its new owner. You can see more images of the finished instrument here.

The Roadnight left-handed S-Type is also finished and will be collected this week – I’ll take some nice shots and post them here before she leaves me forever for her new home in London…

We’ll also be confirming two new dealers this week and there’s a new model on the bench too – the finish work on this one is gonna be very involved so I’ll be posting regular updates of its progress in the coming weeks…

January 28th, 2011

‘Robin’ is now complete and awaiting delivery to its new home in Chichester. You can see more images of the finished guitar here.

The Blonde ’59 S-Type named ‘Betsy’ is also almost complete – all the lacquer work is finished and there are a few shots below of the aged and faded finish. Just the wear and tear to be added before final assembly and set-up…

January 18th, 2011

A busy January so far here – we have a couple of new pickup options available and you can see them on our ‘Pickups’page. There’s also some exciting news about new dealers who’ll be stocking the guitars this year – details to follow…

Back in the workshop, the left-hand ‘Roadnight S-Type’ is coming together nicely. The neck is almost complete with just the wear to be added, while the body has it’s two-tone sunburst finish applied and is waiting for clear lacquer top coats. Both will be left to cure for a week or so before assembly.

I’m also building another S-Type – this one is a ’59 Blonde Ash model with a rosewood fingerboard called ‘Betsy’. I’ve installed larger (than my usual preference) Dunlop 6110 fret wire and the neck feels incredible. The body is a beautiful piece of lightweight swamp ash and it’s gonna be a killer guitar when finished. There are some shots below of the blonde finish which will be tinted slightly before the wear is added – the neck needs a little bit more relic work, but is almost complete. All the hardware and pickups are aged and ready to go, so look out for some final shots in a week or so.

January 10th, 2011

The Sherwwod Green T-Type is coming together nicely – here’s a shot of the assembled guitar now named ‘Robin’. The body wear and tear will be added next, before a full assembly, set-up and then posh photography. Shots of the finished guitar should be up within the week….

 

January 4th, 2011

Well, Happy New Year to you all! Since my last post I’ve been waiting for various parts to arrive to complete some new projects so in the meantime, I put together a new T-Type. The rosewood neck originally intended for ‘Dennis’ has found a home on a Sherwood Metallic Green body and perfectly matches some lovely aged nickel parts that I had on the shelf since the summer. In the mock-up pic below you’ll see the body primed in white cellulose – the best undercoat for metallic green in my opinion. We do a full assembly mock up at this stage to check the fit of the parts before comitting to the colour coats and as all was well, we moved on to the lacquer stage. Now the colour is on, it will hang and dry for a few days before the tinted and clear lacquer coats go on. Once thay’ve cured, the ageing process will begin. I’ll post some more pic’s when it’s complete…

December 20th, 2010

We’ve been busy taking enquiries for custom orders and all sorts since a review of our ‘Micawber’ and ‘Hollow Blonde’ T-Types in Guitar & Bass Magazine hit the newstands last week. We’ve had a few requests for a late 50s or early 60s ‘J-Type’ electric, so that’s also in the works and as I’d like to finish the first one in sunburst (with an andodized pickguard of course) I plan to do the finish work at the same time as the Roadnight S-Type… Will post some shots of one or both just after Christmas. In the meantime, I hope you all have a cracking festive season and thank you all for your support in our maiden year. Cheers!! Dave & Kevin

 

November 19th, 2010

Work has begun on a beautiful left-handed ash bodied S-Type. Tentatively titled ‘The Roadnight’ after it’s soon to be owner – the very talented Mark Roadnight… I’ve used ash because Mark loved the two-tone sunburst model on this site so I’m gonna recreate that finish on this lefty version. The neck is a cracker with a deep soft V profile, which subject to Mark’s approval will be finished in a similar aged and worn tint. At the moment we’re deciding between a straight forward lefty vibrato or possibly an SRV like upside down unit. The yellow stain, sealer coats and nitro work will begin next week and I’ll post some shots of the progress, but for now here she is in all her naked glory…

November 3rd, 2010

The One pickup T-Type is almost complete and has been named ‘Dennis’. I went for the all maple neck in the end as it just looked ‘right’ against the Sonic Blue finish. The relic wear will be added soon and then Dennis will be strung and set-up to play beautifully before being shipped off for higher quality photography.

 

Next up on the bench, will be a left-handed swamp ash S-Type with a difference….

October 22nd, 2010

The ‘Sonic Blue One-Pickup E-Type’ is shaping up nicely. The first pic shows the body primed in white nitro and then the beautiful pastel Sonic Blue lacquer. The next step is the lightly tinted and clear top coats which should go on tomorrow and then once it has dried sufficently, the wear will be added. There also a shot of two necks: originally I was planning on using the rosewood fingerboard neck but I’m now leaning toward the all maple… we’ll see.

October 17th, 2010

The Fiesta Red S-Type is complete and has been shipped to Regent Sounds in Denmark Street. The final colour is closer to the correct orange-red than the bright pink-red in the above shots. Take a look at the higher quality shots of the complete guitar on our S-Type page – click on the link or the thumbnail below and then scroll down to the ’60s Fiesta Red S-Type to view.

Lacquer work begins tomorrow on the new one-pickup E-Type, and I’ll post some pics of how it’s shaping up early in the week…

 

9th October, 2010

The Fiesta Red ’60s S-Type is almost complete and awaiting some final set-up tweaks and body wear before photography. Next on the bench is the one-pickup T-Type which at the moment is gonna be Sonic Blue with a rosewood fingerboard. There’ll be some build progress pictures posted early next week… For now, here’s the red S-Type lounging in the south coast sun…

 

October 7th, 2010

Blackie and the ’50s S-Type are away being photographed at our posh London studio, so we’ve turned our attention to a Fiesta red ’60s S-Type and a one-pickup, stripped back T-Type. Can’t yet decide on a colour for the T-Type so in the meantime, here’s a few shots of the Fiesta Red S-Type which will receive a mint green scratchplate and aged hardware this weekend…

 

27th September, 2010

A few shots of the almost complete guitars: wiring, stringing and an exhaustive final set-up to ensure that they play to their best to follow…

23rd September, 2010

Some real progress on two S-Types this week. All the components are aged and ready for fitting and both necks are now almost complete. After a final full mock-up to check component fit, the guitars are disassembled and the bodies are aged. This can be a slow process and I’ll post some shots later in the week. For now though, here are a few shots of the Blackie neck being fretted before nitrocellulose finishing/ageing, the almost finished necks and a couple of mock-up shots. More to follow soon….

Ageing the bodies… The first stage is to carefully remove the finish before moving on to ageing the exposed wood below. More shots to follow…

17th September, 2010

The ’50s Swamp Ash S-Type got its two-tone sunburst and first clear top coats today. And we also gave the alder-bodied ‘Blackie’ a few clear coats of nitro. Once all the clear coats are thoroughly dry, we’ll begin to test fit the vibrato, double check the neck fitting and then the ageing process will begin…

15th September, 2010

Sunshine on the south coast today, so a good time for some nitro-cellulose finishing…

We’re using Swamp Ash for the ’50s S-type body and after grain filling and ALOT of sanding, the body was stained yellow to achieve the most realistic look, before sealing in nitro in prep for the darker band of its two-tone sunburst finish. This is one of the traditional ways of applying this particular ‘burst finish – we could do it all in lacquer but for us the original yellow stain plus tobacco burst gives the finish a truly authentic look.

We also continued work on the neck finish for the same guitar and began the colour coats on the body for a ‘Blackie’ S-Type. More to follow later this week…

 

 

50′s S-Type neck after some loving wear and tear…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ‘Blackie’ S-Type gets it first coats of black nitro and the Swamp Ash ’50s S-type body (and naked friend) hang about waiting for staining and sealer coats…

 

11th September, 2010

Today was spent ageing a ’50s T-Type Standard body and spraying/ageing a ’50s S-Type neck. Sometimes we do this before fretting and sometimes after (as it used to be done in the ’50s) but in this case, as we’re going for a very worn, re-fretted and ‘nicotine-stained’ finish, we decided to install the frets after lacquering. I’ll post some shots of the finished result later this week…