Progress on the custom guitar slowed a bit as I was having issues with my spray guns, but I have fixed the problem and moved forward. After a few more coats of nitrocellulose lacquer, it was time for sanding. I started to level the surface with 320 grit sandpaper then 600 and finally 1500. I have to wait a few more days for the finish to harden then I'll be able to buff the body to a shine. The neck is getting the same treatment and is still a few days behind the body. If all goes to plan, I'll be gluing the neck to the body next week... I'm excited!

The pictures below show the body sanded to 600 grit.

And these pictures show the body sanded to 1500 grit.

So, I've decided to go ahead and do a sleeper conversion on the Keith Urban guitar that I'm fixing up to donate to the Healing Box Project. While the paint on the guitar is really pretty, I had to put a new headstock on and patch up the couple of holes that were in the body. So the guitar doesn't look new anymore, obviously. BUT, I figured that I could at least make it sound better with a sleeper conversion. When I get done, this will be the most expensive Keith Urban Player guitar ever created. 

​Take a look at the pictures below. The top one is what I found when I opened up the Keith Urban Player guitar. The bottom one is what a sleeper conversion looks like. The bracing is optimized for tone on the sleeper conversion.

The Keith Urban guitar had a very crude scalloped bracing (which is at least something because a lot of times the braces are block braces). Something you can't see from the pictures is the bridge plate on the Keith Urban is plywood construction, not solid wood.

I'm not quite sure how the neck is attached to the body. Generally, there is a dovetail that holds the neck on the body and I can steam that off. Or on some models, they have a bolt on neck that I can take off. However, I've run into the case where a neck is held onto the body with dowel rods and there is not really a nice way of getting it off so that I can put it back together the way it was originally. With that lack of knowledge, I decided to try something new to open the guitar up and was very happy with how that turned out. 

Follow the progress on Facebook and on Instagram @RobertBrooks1911. Stay tuned!

I've recently reached out to Dave at The Healing Box Project to sponsor the great work they are doing with injured veterans. If you haven't heard about them, you should definitely check them out. Dave and CJ are always looking for support to help them get guitars into the hands of veterans. They provide guitars and guitar lessons to veterans as a sort of rehabilitation.

I came across this broken Keith Urban guitar that had the headstock completely broken off and a couple of holes in it where it had controls for a pickup. Unlike with Dillon's guitar, I didn't have the headstock for this one so you'll see that I had to create one to glue on. 

It really is a very beautiful guitar. I considered taking the back off of it and doing a conversion but I think I'm going to keep it as it is (at least for now. Who knows if I'll change my mind later?). 

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend! Maybe you BBQ'd with the family. Or went fishing with friends. Or enjoyed the day on the river. How did you spend Labor Day of 2018? I got to spend a portion of the day with this guy. 

Yes, that's right. That is Dillon Wilfong, from the awesome band The Matching Shoe, playing Humpty Dumpty! He absolutely shredded that guitar. It's no wonder that he and his band have generated such a high-energy following of "Shoe-Heads"! 

I had the pleasure of repairing a broken headstock on one of his favored guitars. Snapped right off! 

He was extremely happy to get his guitar back in playing condition. As you can see, I repair headstocks uniquely. My background in carpentry caused me to think a little differently about how to make these types of repairs, and I immediately brought my knowledge into the field of guitar repair when I started school. This is a repair that is made to last. 

Lots of exciting things happening at the shop lately!

With the remake of the website, I decided that we also needed to make some updates to the shop itself, more specifically the office/waiting area. While the original office served its purpose for a while, I wanted to get some mud on the drywall and get fresh paint throughout. In addition, I thought I needed something a little nicer on the floors (rather than the plain concrete that was already there). 

I also moved everything around in the shop. Originally, my work station was in the front office area but that didn't leave a lot of room for people who were waiting, so I moved my work station into the main shop area. Of course, adding in a big toolbox and a big desk to that area caused cramping so I had to get some big shelves and reorganize everything to make better use of what I had.

Then, I decided to add some comforts for customers to enjoy as they wait. So now, as you wait for minor repairs to be done, you can enjoy some water, coffee, other drinks (you know, the drinks that take the powder packets), and can play the guitars (which will eventually be hanging on the wall once I figure out how I want to do that). 

Also, John Bayer, the Grand Prize Winner of the Guitar Giveaway came by to pick up his prize. He mentioned that he doesn't know how to play guitar yet, but has wanted to learn for a while now. Hopefully, John, this sleeper conversion will inspire you to learn a few chords!