Trent Guitars - From the Workshop

TrentGuitars

Lebarque said:

@TrentGuitars I love the look, craftsmanship and ethos behind your guitars. As someone who works in copywriting/branding etc., I wonder whether you could play on the environmentally-friendly /sustainable angle more? It's certainly something the chaps on here (including me) love.

Given that your finishes are water-based and you're near the coast, maybe your models/colours could be things like 'tide', 'wave', 'marine', 'float', 'Solent', 'shore' etc. I know another company has done surf green, shell pink etc., but you know what I mean.

The water-based finish is a real USP and it would be good to play on it IMO. Just some thoughts from a fellow-fretboarder who would love to see you do well.

Heck, even the Trent is a river!

Love your thoughts there and really appreciate the kind words!

Yeah, that's one of the main bits of feedback I've had, people love the water-based! 

Some great ideas there, I'll certainly be in touch when I'm developing more :-)

Lebarque

TrentGuitars said:

Lebarque said:

@TrentGuitars I love the look, craftsmanship and ethos behind your guitars. As someone who works in copywriting/branding etc., I wonder whether you could play on the environmentally-friendly /sustainable angle more? It's certainly something the chaps on here (including me) love.

Given that your finishes are water-based and you're near the coast, maybe your models/colours could be things like 'tide', 'wave', 'marine', 'float', 'Solent', 'shore' etc. I know another company has done surf green, shell pink etc., but you know what I mean.

The water-based finish is a real USP and it would be good to play on it IMO. Just some thoughts from a fellow-fretboarder who would love to see you do well.

Heck, even the Trent is a river!

Love your thoughts there and really appreciate the kind words!

Yeah, that's one of the main bits of feedback I've had, people love the water-based! 

Some great ideas there, I'll certainly be in touch when I'm developing more :-)

You're welcome. I'd be happy to help.

donbot

Just spotted this in my news feed: https://guitar.com/features/opinion-analysis/confessions-of-a-hopeless-guitarist-a-visit-to-the-clinic/ 
No mention of Trent Guitars in the article though. I assume they must have one in for review or something.

TrentGuitars

donbot said:

Just spotted this in my news feed: https://guitar.com/features/opinion-analysis/confessions-of-a-hopeless-guitarist-a-visit-to-the-clinic/ 
No mention of Trent Guitars in the article though. I assume they must have one in for review or something.

Yeah a friend linked that to me, they don’t currently have one of mine in. That’s one of my images I sent in for my feature, I think there might be some confusion and they think it’s one they took themselves. I’m ok with it though, I don’t want to kick up a fuss!

TrentGuitars

Fretwork today!

So I recently switched back over to 3M blue tape, its as thick as the frog stuff but doesnt come in the stupid plastic packaging (what are they thinking)

First job, set the board flat with the notched straight edge



Next step, tape up the board nice and clean, you'd be suprised how quick you get at doing this after a while



I then introduce the slight chamfer onto the fret ends, the main thing here is to not go crazy, you dont want to lose playing surface



I then break out the sharpie, mark the frets, then begin levelling, I use 400 grit on a levelling beam. The key here is to not apply a lot of pressure, you do not want to be putting deflection into the neck. It really doesn't take a lot to level them.



One all the sharpie is uniformly removed - which doesnt take long, I check the whole job for rocks. I then add a slight amount of fallaway in the higher frets to allow for a really low action if people are looking for that.



It's then a case of adding sharpie again to the frets and using the crowning file to establish the crown again. I really can't over emphasise how amazing the Stewmac z-file is. There are so many reasons why its so great, the main ones being that it's diamond so not only cuts quicker but also leaves a finer surface than a traditional tool steel file. It's also completely foolproof, you can be having a bad day and still get great results due to its design. You don't end up with those crazy harsh pyarmids that you see from triangular files in a less experienced hand due to the way you can rock it back and left and right as you go and not worry about taking the top off.



We are looking for that nice thin line of sharpie left, perfect.

I check my work again at this point with the rocker, I do a total of 3 checks on a fret job - once after levelling, once after crowning and lastly after sanding (before polish).

I lightly easy the edges with a end file, it only takes a couple swipes, its all about retstraint here.



Now it's time to bring the frets back up to a beautiful finish. I being with 400 grit and first sand along the length of the fret to remove the scratch marks from the file, I then hold paper loosely and work over the board across to begin the sanding up to 1200 grit.

https://i.ibb.co/gZ7yRS5/7-F204793-D44-F-43-E2-9829-060-C737-C66-AE.jpg

I check my work again for the last time with a rocker, and then procede to polish the frets with a dremel





And we're done!

Schmo

My favourite thread on TFB ever

Teyeplayer

Those frets look perfectly finished. Great work.

TTony

Teyeplayer said:

Those frets look perfectly finished. Great work.

Having played one today, and the day before, and the day before that, I can confirm your judgement is correct @Teyeplayer ;

Not only do they look it, they feel it when you're playing too.

Teyeplayer

TTony said:

Teyeplayer said:

Those frets look perfectly finished. Great work.

Having played one today, and the day before, and the day before that, I can confirm your judgement is correct @Teyeplayer ;

Not only do they look it, they feel it when you're playing too.

I was tempted to add that I should probably pop a few necks in the post to Elliot as he is clearly doing a much better job than the big F&G. 

TrentGuitars

You guys are too kind! 

And if you did happen to need some fret work done and didnt have anyone you can trust let me know @Teyeplayer !

TrentGuitars

One of the couple im finishing up over the last few days,

The first Model 1 Custom off the line!

24" Scale, Gotoh In-Tune cutaway ash tray, 

EDIT: The brief was a 6lb 8oz guitar, I'm pleased to say this is 6lb 6oz (and it doesn't neck dive, I checked!)

The eagle eyed of you will notice we are now ready to pour the concrete in the extension for the sub floor.

reubenmakesmusic

TrentGuitars said:

Green!




Quite a nice colour lineup for this batch!

We neeeeed to see this lineup but with the necks on!!

TrentGuitars

reubenmakesmusic said:

TrentGuitars said:

Green!




Quite a nice colour lineup for this batch!

We neeeeed to see this lineup but with the necks on!!

Soooon!

your best in line ;-)

TrentGuitars

Sorry the lack of posts guys! Had my head down finishing up a joinery job which I finally delivered today (wohoo!) 

Back to guitars now, and for the forseable future!

Here's couple updates,

I have the orange body for @reubenmakesmusic nearly dry enough for polish, and the red one thats going out soon is ready for buffing!

I also am doing a custom order for Steve Fox-Harris of Gary Newman fame, he has toured with his band as his guitarist for years now, such a nice bloke and he's really into everything I'm trying to do!

It's a fat 52 kinda neck, huge 25.4mm at the 1st and 12th! Got a nice rich tint on it, and the body will soon be sprayed as the neck is now complete.






Also for those guys who missed the NGD from @Rich31k I got his guitar to him last week, here is one of his fantastic images

TrentGuitars

https://i.ibb.co/1RJKZyJ/139-E91-E6-86-CE-43-FE-BD5-E-C9-B6-DA311569.jpg

SteveRobinson

Wow that's shiny!

reubenmakesmusic

the paintjob is SO CLEAN

Lebarque

For the Android users... Lovely thing

TrentGuitars

Orange day!




Certainly takes on different colours in different lights, love it!

punchesjudy

I love the orange and I'm glad it's finally happened. Now can someone order black please.