Cutting it Close...

The Arlington Guitar Show is this weekend and it looks like the original thought of having five new models to show would be too much to ask. Time, repairs and custom builds tend to suck up a lot of Don's time. But we should at least have two new models ready for viewing at the show. The "SS-V" and the "SS-E".

Above: The CNC machine does Don's bidding and routs out the control panel section for the SS-V.

Ed Roland Jazz Blaster is Complete...

Front-man Ed Roland of Collective Soul will soon be the proud owner of this Bell Custom Guitars JazzBlaster. Notice the stripe that surrounds the body. This was Ed's idea. It provides a more traditional cue without being traditional at all. Hopefully we will see the Bell on stage with Collective Soul soon!

Working Away...

Don's hard at work getting 5 or 6 of the new stock of Bell guitars ready for the Arlington Show in October. We are hoping to have two Vs, two Explorer shapes, and a Jazzblaster. If we have time, the Tele will make it into the mix. All of the parts for 40 guitars are just a few more steps away from being ready for assembly.


The new apparatus for connecting the plexi and wood. With Don's advent of the new body/plex joint, this method is necessary and should provide a seamless joint that's unseen from the outside.


Here's my tiny contribution to all 40 guitars. Machining the light poles that house the LEDs...

Funny GRO video...

Here's a pretty funny look at GRO opening for David Cook in West Virginia. You almost don't notice the Double Bell guitars! Enjoy...

Guitar Show and Collective Soul Collecting...

The big Arlington guitar show is coming up in October and we've got parts sitting around that will make up like 40 guitars, but none complete. So, the focus shifts from refurbs and repairs to the new batch of guitars. As I mentioned before, there will be JazzBlasters, Teles, Explorers and Vs. Each of them sporting some design improvements over the previous batch.

Brett, this means your tele will be in your hands sooner than later! Maybe before Christmas!

About 5 of these are already spoken for, two of which are going to Ed Rolan, the front man of Collective Soul. Ed had his people call Don's people (Don) and arrange a meeting so he could play some Bells and talk to Don about what he wants in a guitar. By the end of the night, Ed chose a JazzBlaster like Jamie Ice's (Green River Ordinance) and a flying V, too.

My Ebo has a thin layer of shop dust on it.

P

Back to the shop

OK, I'm back from a 2 week vacation and what do I do when I return to the shop?
SAND! This time with water, though. The eb0 is now prepped and ready for paint. Hopefully I will be posting painting process pics next week. It's hard to finish this with just 3 hours at the shop a week, but I have to take what I can get.

While I was gone Don worked on getting his shop's electricity finished up in the spray booth as well as a bunch of acoustic repairs. Now that I'm back , I can urge him to get crackin' on the new Bells and the Tele proto for Brett.

eb0 headstock and prep / back to the Bells!

Did some painting last night. Sprayed the headstock and then had to scrape away to the inlays underneath. I was quite a calming bit of work. There's something about scraping that lets you tune out the rest of the world as you focus on the job in front of you.


Also did the final 2 coats of clear before the black goes on. Oh, of course there's some sanding to do before we paint it, but that will have to wait until I'm back from vacation.


We have developed a new method for fusing the wood to the acrylic which will create a stronger bond and a much cleaner look. This took developing a vice-like tool for the CNC machine to simulate 3d cutting. Don's a visionary, for sure. So this means we are back to the Bells after a long stint of repair work. There's really no telling when the guitars will be ready, but it'll definately be before the next guitar show. We should be rolling out 4 models. A V, JazzBlaster, Tele, and Explorer. Then development begins on some original shapes of mine in the fall.

Here's the tool created to cut the new fusing system.