Dark Matter Guitars http://www.darkmatterguitars.com Handmade acoustic and electric guitars in the UK Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:44:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.1.2 en Work on the Spray booth continues http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/work-on-the-spray-booth-continues/ http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/work-on-the-spray-booth-continues/#comments Fri, 11 Apr 2008 10:14:12 +0000 Andy Matthews http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/work-on-the-spray-booth-continues/ The shed arrived a couple of weeks ago and work has continued since then. The building is 6ft by 8ft floor space, 8ft high at one side, dropping to 7ft4 at the other - lots of room! Two of the walls have large windows on to allow lots of all important light in. First job upon arrival was to insulate - the product I’ve used provides the same insulation rating as around 250mm of fiberglass matting.
Next came electrical. 4mm SWA cable runs down from the main consumer unit in my workshop and feeds a “shed” consumer with it’s own RCD - I should be able to draw around 4-5kw down here with little problem.
Over the past couple of days I’ve been working on a fume extraction system for the booth, what I’ve settled on is a little “ghetto” but I think it should work fine! Five 120mm brushless fans pull clean air in from outside and blow it down the wall. The Five fans at the bottom will draw this air through a filter medium (not yet installed) and send it back through the wall. If I spray towards this “waterfall” overspray should be caught and filtered without a problem. The fans may seem a little weedy but each bank of five is capable of moving 400 cubic feet of air a minute (to put that in to context the volume of the booth is only 320 cu ft)
When the installation is finished I will isolate all the electrical installation from the fumes in the shed using a combination of air-tight cupboards and vapor barrier.

Andy

]]> http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/work-on-the-spray-booth-continues/feed/ Work on the new spray booth starts http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/work-on-the-new-spray-booth-starts/ http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/work-on-the-new-spray-booth-starts/#comments Thu, 06 Mar 2008 17:55:03 +0000 Andy Matthews http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/work-on-the-new-spray-booth-starts/ First of all I must mention that after talks with my local chamber of commerce I’ve been confirmed for a small business “kick start” grant, as well as a grant from the Prince’s Trust. I’m over the moon with this result, and I’m starting to spend the money on the new booth and spray setup.

Over the past couple of days I’ve been clearing the area where my new spray booth will be erected. Today, with help from my Dad I laid flags to sit the shed on and built a small retaining wall. I’m not exactly a pro builder, but more than happy with the results! (Please ignore the wall at the back, I had nothing to do with it and it’s due for a re-build!)

Andy

]]> http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/work-on-the-new-spray-booth-starts/feed/ What a Weekend! http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/what-a-weekend/ http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/what-a-weekend/#comments Mon, 04 Feb 2008 12:40:29 +0000 Andy Matthews http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/what-a-weekend/ This weekend brought round the 4th Jazz on a Winter’s Weekend festival in Southport. 3 days of world class Jazz later, and I’m knackered!

I was displaying some instruments at the festival, and was lucky enough to have Russell Malone (Saturday night’s headliner) stop at the stand and play some of my guitars. Russell is an incredible guitarist and it was great to hear my guitars played by a professional musician.

I took some videos of Russell playing both DMG002, my baritone acoustic, and the semi-hollow DMG002E which I completed just before the festival. These can be seen on my youtube page

Click here to watch my videos

Andy

]]> http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/what-a-weekend/feed/ In The Booth http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/in-the-booth/ http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/in-the-booth/#comments Mon, 28 Jan 2008 20:35:04 +0000 Andy Matthews http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/in-the-booth/ The semi-hollow has has it’s first couple of coats and the wood’s really starting to shine - I’m very happy with the way this one’s turning out.

Preparations are also underway for the “Jazz on a Winter’s Weekend” festival in Southport at which I will have a stall displaying some of my instruments. Please check out www.jazzinsouthport.co.uk for more information.

Andy

]]> http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/in-the-booth/feed/ The first string/wire up http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/the-first-stringwire-up/ http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/the-first-stringwire-up/#comments Wed, 16 Jan 2008 18:56:04 +0000 Andy Matthews http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/the-first-stringwire-up/ Well this things moved along quite a bit! I’ve had my first play on it today and I’m happy.

Now for a lot of sanding/shaping, and some spraying. I’ll be in the booth on Tuesday

Andy

]]> http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/the-first-stringwire-up/feed/ Tops done. Ish http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/tops-done-ish/ http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/tops-done-ish/#comments Wed, 31 Oct 2007 19:07:37 +0000 Andy Matthews http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/tops-done-ish/ The top’s ready to go on, now the “F” hole is cut. On this picture the top is still about 1/4 oversize all round.

Andy

]]> http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/tops-done-ish/feed/ Semi-hollow progress - A dusty day! http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/semi-hollow-progress-a-dusty-day/ http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/semi-hollow-progress-a-dusty-day/#comments Mon, 29 Oct 2007 22:11:43 +0000 Andy Matthews http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/semi-hollow-progress-a-dusty-day/ I spent this afternoon hollowing out the wings and thicknessing the neck section which runs through the body. And after tea, I glued the wings on. I may even have the top on tomorrow…

Andy

]]> http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/semi-hollow-progress-a-dusty-day/feed/ Semi hollow Jazzer http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/semi-hollow-jazzer/ http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/semi-hollow-jazzer/#comments Sat, 27 Oct 2007 12:28:39 +0000 Andy Matthews http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/semi-hollow-jazzer/ As I’m going to have a stall at my uncle’s “Jazz on a winter weekend” festival in February I thought it would be appropriate to make an instrument suited to this style of music.

The guitar will have a 27″ scale length, EMG85 neck pickup and a graphtec ghost piezo bridge. As you can see in the picture, the majority of construction is mahogany, but will feature a flamed black walnut top. Apologies for the low quality photo.

Andy

]]> http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/semi-hollow-jazzer/feed/ An OM For My Brother http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/an-om-for-my-brother/ http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/an-om-for-my-brother/#comments Wed, 24 Oct 2007 21:41:32 +0000 Andy Matthews http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/an-om-for-my-brother/ This one’s been in the pipeline for a while, but I’ve actually done something today! I finished the back bracing and got the back on. It’s looking good!

Andy

]]> http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/an-om-for-my-brother/feed/ Seven string fanned fret guitar finished http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/seven-string-fanned-fret-guitar-finished/ http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/seven-string-fanned-fret-guitar-finished/#comments Thu, 26 Jul 2007 15:46:25 +0000 Andy Matthews http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/seven-string-fanned-fret-guitar-finished/ It’s done, at last! Just some photos from the phone at the moment. Expect to see high quality photos and a showcase page for this guitar soon.

Andy

]]> http://www.darkmatterguitars.com/diaries/seven-string-fanned-fret-guitar-finished/feed/