From-scratch guitar build

So I’m building an electric guitar from scratch. I’ve been tinkering with them for a while now, and have built a few from parts, but this is gonna be a whole ‘nother ballgame. I’ve spent the last week or so aquiring tools and ordering wood and parts, and I’m about ready get started.

Here’s the design I came up with by doodling:

Paper design 

I then took a picture of the sketch, imported it into TurboCAD, and created the following result after a bunch of experimenting:

Full Guitar 

Steve hooked me up with a large format printer from work, so we went over there and I printed several copies of the design full-size:

Templates 42x42 

Then I cut one of them out, taped it to some 1/2″ MDF, and traced the lines with an Exacto knife. I rough-cut the MDF with a band saw, then used a spindle sander to smooth the template to the exact shape of the inscribed knife marks:

Template taped 

I followed the same procedure to create templates for the neck pocket, the pickup cavities, the fretboard and the headstock:

Other Templates 

So far so good. The wood should arrive on Monday, at which point I’ll have more to do. In the meantime, here are a couple shots of my super-slick basement shop:

Shop View #1 

Shop View #2

Stuff! Stuff on the blog!

Yes folks, we are back after a rather extended hiatus. Back to blogging and back to school following an unexpected medical adventure. I’ve been woefully unproductive photography-wise, and I hope to remedy the situation in the year ahead, but in the meantime I do have a few snapshots from the summer.



This is about the only artful picture I’ve taken in the last few months. We used to walk up to this cabin all the time when I was a wee lad, but for a while now it’s been the exclusive domain of the sheep who have free range of hundreds of acres surrounding it.


Cabin



I went to Block Island for a few days with Nori and Pa. It’s a small island (10 square miles) off the coast of Rhode Island, reachable via a 45-minute ferry ride. We left the car on the shore and brought along some bikes. I was in the middle of a doxycycline regimen (ask me about Ehrlichiosis!) and was feeling a bit trodden upon, but I still managed to have fun. The thing is, doxycycline can induce a photosensitivity reaction, and I wasn’t supposed to be out in the bright sunlight. More on this later.


Nori on Ferry


Pa on Ferry



The first night there was a killer double rainbow during dinner on our hotel porch. The very next evening the exact same rainbow appeared. Auspicious.


Rainbow over Harbor


Nori and Pa on Beach


Pa Applying Clay



I’m not quite sure what the idea was here, but it was fun.


Nori and Pa Applying Clay


Pa with Clay on Legs


Clay Cliffs



This was advertised as a “labyrinth”, and I was expecting the type of hedge-enclosed structure in which little kids get lost and start crying, but it was just a path on the ground that snaked its way to a central pile of rocks/alter. We spent about ten minutes walking in, and then just stepped over the path to get out.


Labyrinth


Lighthouse


Trio at Lighthouse


Swimming Beach


Umbrella with Nori and Pa


Wave Breaking



This is the public beach, with our hotel visible in the background. It was the only beach with any people on it — all the beaches that we biked to were pretty much deserted.


Public Beach



Alright, so remember what I said about doxycycline and photosensitivity? The last day was pretty sunny, and as we biked around the island my hands and feet started to feel a little weird and these red blotches started popping up. On the ferry ride back the blotches deepened and started to get pretty painful, then very painful. Basically, I was developing a bad sunburn, but mostly just on the sides (not tops) of my fingers and toes. Anyway, it was bad for a couple days but faded pretty quickly. Now I can tell patients about this side effect with the authority of personal experience.


Dori Beach with Nori and Pa



I went to the Columbia County Fair with my Dad. It’s a genuine old-timey country fair, with a big 4-H presence, classic rides, and horribly disgusting food that will kill you if you eat it more than once a year.


Musik Express and Slide



Ricky Skaggs was there performing with his band, which was kinda surprising for such a small venue. A seriously talented group of musicians.


Scaggs and Band



That’s all for now. Stay tuned for Seth’s Bar Mitzvah!


White Coat Ceremony and Weekend with G&G

This post is gonna be short on words, ’cause I think the photos pretty much speak for themselves.


“White coat” ceremony a few days ago, marking the supposed end of the clinical years and our entrance into the hospital (too bad about those four exams we still have…):


Me Before Ceremony
View from Above
Row of White Coats
Me During Ceremony
Me After Oath
Me Talking to Nihal
Me with G&G
Pa and Janet
Grandpa at Ceremony
Spot the Interloper
Mom and Nori at Restaurant
Me and Nori at Restaurant
Ben at Restaurant
Nori Self-Portrait
Ben Wants Food



Thursday morning I headed to GB, and we all went to the May Day celebration at my alma mater.


May Day Musicians
Morris Dancers
Jack of the Green
Maypole Dance



Just another weekend evening at the Lazerson/Schmolze household, with siblings lovingly sparring and Grandpa playing bridge on the Palm.


Nori and Ben Boxing 01
Nori and Ben Boxing 02



We did some trespassing and went for a nice walk on the cold and foggy weather.


Hike Panorama



The barn project is nearing completion. First picture is from a couple weeks back, second is from yesterday.


Barn Being Painted
Barn Panorama



Grandma and Grandpa take their leave this morning.


Grandpa
Mom with G&G
Kids with G&G 01
Kids with G&G 02

Pre-Spring in the Berkshires

Here are some photos from my Spring break a week ago. I decided to pass up offers for Mexico and Florida, and instead spent the week lounging about in Great Barrington.



I stayed in Worcester Friday night, and picked my Mom up at IMS in nearby Barre, where she was doing a meditation retreat.


IMS


It started raining on the ride home, and the high winds and torrential rain didn’t let up until late the next evening, when Steve went out to pick up a friend’s daughter at the Steiner School. A few minutes later he was back empty-handed, and explained that he had met someone who told him the road was blocked by a fallen tree, and by the flooded Green River in the other direction. He grabbed his chainsaw, and he and I set out, all pumped up for some manly road clearing. Unfortunately, someone with a snow plow had already pushed the tree out of the way, so we made it to the school without incident. Disappointed, we collected the girls and headed home, only to find that in the meantime another tree had fallen across the road. Hurray! We got to work, and with the help of another motorist, we had the road cleared in short order.


Steve Cutting Tree



The next I set out to check out the flooded river. It had already subsided substantially, and the road to the school was now passable.


Flood Panorama



Here you can see the water line from the night before:


Receding Flood Waters

Flood Vortex



Mom and I took a walk. Here’s the result of our handiwork from the previous night:


Mom Examines Tree



Later we went to Bartholomew’s Cobble (in before the ticks!).


Cobble Trail

Cobble Woods

Mom at Cobble



We had one really gorgeous day, and Mom, Ben and I walked to the brook.


Ben and Mom in Sunny Field

Ben and Mom on Bridge 02

Ben and Mom on Bridge

Willows at Brook

Mom in Sunlight

Ice on Willow Branches

Bush and Tree

Tree Branches and Water

Bridge




Other random pictures of the neighborhood:


Gate and Tree

Horsey Head

Sheep




The water did plenty of damage to roads and driveways. Case in point:


Eroded Driveway

Black Sheep in Meadow

Gate and Snow

Haybails and Tree

Cabin in Dramatic Light




One day Mom and I did a little bushwhacking through the woods, and had to cross a stream using a fallen log. Mom took off her shoes and crawled, and despite a minor freakout at the end, managed to make it.


Mom Crossing Stream on Log




Progress on the barn workout studio conversion project continues. Ben and Gio finished up the sheet rocking, so all that remains is spackling, painting and installing the floor.


Hayloft Panorama

Ben Spackling

Class Show

We had our class show over the weekend, and it was awesome. I’d been doing tons of editing, filming and acting for it, and it was great to see it all come together. We ended up with way more material than we could use, and many skits got cut (including a live one I starred in), but the final product was top-notch. Jake came along and did some filming inside the auditorium, which left me free to take pictures backstage.



Backstage 12


Backstage 04


Backstage 36


Backstage 48


Backstage 58


Backstage 30



After the show there was a party, naturally. Probably the best one of the year, with tons of people showing up from all the classes. Jake had a really good time too. Ehem. (Details not suitable for public dissemination).



Party 04


Jake was fully bedecked in my duds for the evening. Take special note of the lucky hat.


Party 14


Party 79



I take a bajillion photos. Check ‘em all out on Flickr.


Next up, videos! Here are some skits I edited/filmed/acted in. They probably won’t make much sense, but at least they’ll give you an idea of what the show was like.
















Other news. My new camera died after a few days of use from an apparently common problem, but Newegg was great at getting me a new one pronto. Here are some photos from a few weeks ago from my neighborhood:



View from Parking Lot


Tree Church and Street


Tree in Light


Buildings with Railings


View of Pleasant Street


Church and High-rise


View from Parking Lot-2


Sylvia's and the Great Wall


Federal Square



In more other news, I’m sick. Not too surprising what with the running myself ragged for the show, but it really sucks since we’re right in the middle of a bunch of exams.

Things and whatnot

I gots me a new camera!


Powershot G9



I’ve been wanting something small that I could have with me wherever I went, and this one shoots in RAW so I can use the same post-processing workflow as with my big camera. It does video too, so now I can take the self-indulgence to a whole new level. Check it out:






In other news, the med school prom was last night! Hard to believe it’s been a year since the last one. Due to various technical difficulties (malfunctioning autofocus, an unfortunate wine spill, the fact that I forgot my brand-new camera) I dropped the ball bigtime in the photo department, but here are a few representative examples. Behold the future doctors of America and tremble in fear:


People Dancing


Julie Jill and Me



It all ended very abruptly at 1:00 AM, and a few of us were still revved up and feeling hungry, so we went to the Boulevard Diner. It was packed, and we had to wait about 10 minutes for some bar stools.


At Diner


Diner Table Shot



Other highlights of the evening included nearly running over a classmate’s head after he slipped on ice. All in all a fine time. I finally got to bed at about 4:00 AM.



Note: still working out the kinks on my new host (image borders, etc.).

Aaaand we’re back

Well, sorta. My previous host managed to delete all my data. OK, granted I had been using them for free for five years (courtesy account from a former employer), but still! I really hope they’ll be able to get my old posts back, but I’m not holding my breath.