Eastern Maple Carved Tops (EMCT) - Bartlett Woodworking *Sponsor*

[Pooker]

Originally Posted by decoy205

woah Look at that darkburst!!!! Omg more pics please!

Yes, that darkburst does look superb

[Nostalgia]

were your necks made from very dry wood?

[alk-3]

Originally Posted by Nostalgia

were your necks made from very dry wood?

Yes. The necks are made from kiln dried lumber, quarter sawn and left to 'rest' before final machining.

[Nostalgia]

Originally Posted by alk-3

Yes. The necks are made from kiln dried lumber, quarter sawn and left to 'rest' before final machining.

Alright! I'm just saving money for my first burst replica. and for sure Its going to be a Bartlett!

[The baron of norsworthy]

Originally Posted by alk-3

Completed kits:

I can't see all the pics, is their a problem with some??

[peach64]

count me in, I'll be sending my maple in too, is it possible to get an aged make over, ala Dave Johnson/Pearly Gates aged/distressed finish?

[alk-3]

Originally Posted by peach64

count me in, I'll be sending my maple in too, is it possible to get an aged make over, ala Dave Johnson/Pearly Gates aged/distressed finish?

yep, i can do any finish you like. all the correct materials and methods

[alk-3]

Originally Posted by The baron of norsworthy

I can't see all the pics, is their a problem with some??

I guess there is.. i move files around sometimes without realizing the impact
Sorry!

[alk-3]

[ledlover01]

All i can say is wow, let me know about that MM Tom cause the stuff you do looks AMAZING!!!

[Frails]

WOW is right. You certainly are NOT helping my Darkburst gas.

[Barker]

Originally Posted by Frails

WOW is right. You certainly are NOT helping my Darkburst gas.

Mine either.... !

Wow one more time, that is some fine work.... !

[hardwood]

any new tops to be added soon?

[alk-3]

Originally Posted by hardwood

any new tops to be added soon?

Yes, I have a bunch of new tops in the works. Email me to be put on the list to be notified when they go on the site.

[hardwood]

I'll just check your web every couple of days. Thanks for all the other parts!

[alk-3]

new tops are up! AAAAA

[52trapeze]

Nice!!!! Tom check your email! Man those tops look great.

[alk-3]

new tops are up for grabs!

[Tomcaster]

Hey Tom!

I'd love to retop my plain top with that. Can you do provide a 'Gibson factory' thickness?

[alk-3]

Originally Posted by Tomcaster

Hey Tom!

I'd love to retop my plain top with that. Can you do provide a 'Gibson factory' thickness?

If you tell me how thick it needs to be, I can cut it that thick for you.

[alk-3]

After a very long time researching and developping we are finally happy to announce we are nearly ready to bring to market our own m-69 pickup rings!

Pickup Rings

These pickup rings are exact replicas of cream "M-69" pickup rings made in the late 1950's.

Every effort has been made to make these as close to identical as possible.

These smell correct, look correct and feel correct, because they are correct!




The Plastic

The plastic was made by grinding up an original ring and having the plastic analyzed for chemical makeup and consistency. We were able to read the amount of plasticizer present, and calculate how much off gassing had occurred to the original part based on its age. This allowed us to determine the correct amount of plasticizer needed to create an absolutely authentic part.
Colour, texture and opacity were all matched to a set of original cream rings, and compared to many more original sets for verification.


The plastic itself is Cellulose Acetate Butyrate (C.A.B.), and is formulated just as it was in the late 1950's. The plastic off-gases a unique smell - a tell tale sign of C.A.B.

Modern C.A.B often has an 'odor mask' added to remove or mask the unpleasant smell, often with sweet smelling perfumed scents, but that was not what we wanted for an absolutely faithful replica part.


These small pieces of plastic may seem insignificant, but they are the only thing that bridges the gap between the wood of your guitar and the pickups. They need to be right in order to be as faithful to the originals as possible.

These rings will bring your guitar that much closer to being a true replica of a 1950's 'Burst.

The Tooling

The tooling for these rings is faithful down to the very finest details. Even surface texture of the underside is reproduced faithfully.

In the late 1950's the original tooling sustained some damage and was repaired by hand. Our tooling has the same repair so it is identical to the original.

The slightly rounded over edges and bowed short ends are classic signs that these rings are authentic in every detail.
These are the subtleties that set these rings apart from everything else made after the originals.
The original tooling was made long before the advent of CNC technology, so all the hand worked surfaces and old school machining is apparent in the finished part. We have worked very hard to ensure these rings have every detail reproduced, even those little ‘accidents’ that the originals have are present.


The Process

These rings are injection molded properly with no cold joint that could lead to cracking/splitting. You do not need to use hot water to bend these rings.

The original tooling has “gate’s” that allow the plastic to flow into the mold. These gates need to be placed in the correct spots to avoid having a cold joint in a weak area of the ring.
Properly gating the molds means these can be flexed and bent over the top of your guitar without fear of them ever splitting, or ever having to use hot water. The original rings from the 50’s never split at cold joints, and neither do these.
The neck and bridge ring are both injected into the mold at the same time, and are a ‘matched set’. This way the conditions for each of the two rings is identical.
After the parts are injected, the plastic is allowed to cool in the mold to prevent shrinkage and distortion. This process takes time, but it is a requirement to produce absolutely faithful replica parts.
After the plastic cools sufficiently, they are ejected from the mold at just the right moment. This leaves small impressions in the plastic from the ejector pins that press into the slightly soft plastic and leave their mark.
These pins are all placed accurately. Even the texture applied to the ends of the pins is faithfully reproduced, which leaves the same markings on the finished parts as the originals.
Finally - after the part is ejected, they need to be manually separated. This is done by carefully snipping away the ‘flash’ and ‘trim’ this is the plastic the leads to the molds, and cools without being integrated into the finished part. Often this waste plastic, or ‘flash’ is reground and used again in the mold to reduce waste, however, this ‘regrind’ changes the compound after being heated and cooled repeatedly. We do not use any regrind in our rings.
Once the flash is removed, we must manually finish each ring one at a time by grinding down the gate area flush by hand, and finishing the parts cleanup.
Finally the rings are aged one at a time individually for the perfect finished product.

Please take a look at the photos below and see for yourself the level of detail these rings have.

[pinodorato]

Well done Tom! I can't wait to see them in person

[decoy205]

They look really great!

[jbutler]

Is it too soon to give us an idea on the pricing, Tom? I'll be looking to buy rings fairly soon and these look great...

[alk-3]

Originally Posted by jbutler

Is it too soon to give us an idea on the pricing, Tom? I'll be looking to buy rings fairly soon and these look great...

Yes, it's a bit too soon. It depends greatly on how many rings we get, but we will be pricing them as low as we possibly can.
We should know if a few weeks

[alk-3]

Originally Posted by decoy205

They look really great!

Originally Posted by pinodorato

Well done Tom! I can't wait to see them in person

Thank you guys!! We worked very hard to get these right, and pulled in a lot of favours from many very helpful friends!

[Barker]

Those look great Tom! I'll be watching....

[silverkw]

Wow these look great!

[alk-3]

Originally Posted by Barker

Those look great Tom! I'll be watching....

Originally Posted by silverkw

Wow these look great!

Thanks guys! Ive been getting a lot of emails asking about these. I've started a little list of people to notify as soon as they are ready. If anyone wants to get on the list, just send me an email

[Luke Gibson]

Can't wait to get a set!!!