1. Ryan McLaughlin’s Guitar Spring 2015

2. Theme: Desert Surf

3. Initiation

4. Progress

5. Outline and Basic Shape In Real LifeOn Instagram

6. Measure Twice Drill Once

7. Fretboard Abalone Shell Inlay

8. Radiusing (Patience)

9. Measure Once, Drill Thrice

10. Fretting: Hardest Part This took a while, getting the frets in themselves was pretty easy, but getting them even was difficult. Another component of this process was sanding down the edges so you don’t shred your fingers. Don’t skip this step!

11. Laser Engraving!

12. Engraving Cont.. This process was very cool Sandra Hall helped me use the laser engraver, and line up everything so it looks perfect Headstock logo is a company I made up called “Zia-Tone”. Back engraving is the Zia symbol, the State symbol of New Mexico. Tilted it some to make it look like it was scratched in by a black bear, our State mammal

13. Drilling and Installing Pickups This was pretty fun, not too difficult The predrilling of holes and then using the wax to guide them in is a *genius* trick! Will definitely use this on other building projects in the future

14. Staining/Finishing This was very fun as well. Chris helping me make a custom color using dark walnut and another brown. Used the same color for the neck Cool to watch other people do theirs in creative ways as well

15. Electronics Time! Was a little nervous about this. Electronics diagram looked very complicated. Turns out: not really that complicated at all.

16. Electronics Cont. Chris taught me how to use the soldering gun, and Sandra helped me a bit with holding the wires in place while I soldered them in place. Another fun and useful skill I learned in this class

17. Attaching the Bridge and Strings Once I knew the pre-drilling tricks, it was pretty easy. These are some hard woods! Note the potentiometers!

18. Tuning Keys with Strings At first, not all the tuning keys would fit in the holes. To fix this, took a drill bit without the drill, and scraped around the edges slowly until it fit. Neat!

19. The Finished Guitar! Very pleased with the way it turned out. Is fun to show off, people are very impressed. I am impressed with myself, building a guitar is difficult! Very good class.

20. Thank You! And have a great summer