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HOW WE MAKE OUR GUITARS

Welcome to the online tour of Sin City Guitar.

We pride ourselves on our quality guitars and the way they are constructed.

We hope you enjoy a look at the way we build.

We start with wood. If you don’t have quality wood you are not going to have a quality guitar. Our guitars are crafted of maple, mahogany, basswood, alder and ash. We sort the wood billets by hand, matching it by grade and then stacking the billets in the drying house. Temperature and humidity are closely controlled during this process to yield a perfect cure for the wood. The wood is placed in this room for 45-90 days depending on the wood and guitar we are making. This process is critical to ensure the wood will not only transfer the sound properly, but also so that there is no warping or unwanted moisture content in the finished product.
	After the wood is removed from the kiln, it is again inspected for quality and sorted by grade and type. We then proceed to combine billets together, pairing them with a suitable match for the body. We then glue the wood together and put it in a vice until it is completely dry. After the glue is dry, we again inspect each piece before we send it to the plane machine.
The neck blanks are constructed in a similar fashion. Two pieces of wood are joined together create the appropriate headstock angle and are clamped until dry. After the glue is dry, we proceed to inspect each piece for proper angle, fit and quality before we send it to the rough-cut area.
	After the wood is removed from the drying room, it is sent through a wood plane until the desired thickness is achieved and consistent. This process also removes the excess glue and other undesirable blemishes from the gluing process and prepares the body blank for cutting.
After the blanks are the right thickness, they are inspected and graded once again for the final approval. The blanks are then sent to the band saw for cutting of the rough shape of the guitar.
	Blanks are cut to the rough shape of the guitar being made by a band saw. After the rough cut, they are then taken to a router for further shaping and smoothing. After the bodies pass a visual inspection they are taken to a slack belt sander to shape the guitar into a body blank.
The guitar body is then prepared for a wood veneer to be glued to the front and back. We use several veneers including quilted maple, flamed maple, zebra wood, spalted maple and ash burl. This is a rough-cut SG-type body being prepped to receive a veneer top.
	After glue is applied, the veneer is pressed under pressure, and heat is applied to permanently affix the veneer to the body of the guitar. This process is repeated for each side of the guitar, and then the headstock.
After the veneer is complete, the body is then taken to the routing station, where rough holes for pickups, switches, pots, hardware and wiring are routed out and cleaned. If the guitar model has binding on the body, it is at this stage where we take the guitar to a special saw, called a rabbet and we route a channel or grove along the side of the body for the binding.
	A similar process is used to cut, route and shape the guitar necks. Once the neck blank has its rough shape, we cut a channel for the truss rod and set it in place with glue.
The rough cut necks are set aside and allowed time for the glued truss rods to completely dry. The neck step is to join the fingerboard to the neck blank with glue under pressure.
	A fingerboard made of rosewood or maple is prepared for frets by this machine, which cuts grooves for the fret wire all at once by these 24 spinning blades.
After the fingerboard is grooved for frets, it goes to the binding station where the binding and inlays are installed.
	The binding and inlays are glued to the fingerboard and bound temporarily with tape. Once dry these will be rough sanded and prepared for joining with the neck blank.
Binding is also applied to sides of the neck. Some models, such as this have binding on the headstock as well. Once the binding has been completed, the fingerboard is glued to the neck blank.
	The neck blanks with the fingerboard attached are allowed to dry overnight before they are sent to be shaped and sanded into guitar necks.
This is a finished rough neck with custom inlay and binding. The back of the neck has been sanded and shaped and the next step is to create a radius on the fingerboard.
	The necks are inserted into this machine, which has a radius top above a belt sander. It will perfectly shape the top of the fingerboard into a radius and complete the neck. The neck is then taken to the fretting station where fret wire is installed.
After the frets have been installed and sanded, the guitar is taken to the detail station, where the neck, binding and fingerboard are meticulously sanded, shaped and detailed.
	At this point, the guitars are given their first color coat and proceed to get shaped and sanded. The next step is to set the neck with glue.
The necks are set to the body using glue and a jig to create the right angle, scale length and alignment. After the neck is set, a worker carefully examines each guitar to make sure it is within specifications.
	The guitars are starting to look like, well guitars at this point and are now off to the slack belt sanders again for more shaping and sanding.
After vigorous sanding and shaping, the guitars are given there first coat of lacquer and placed the drying room. They are kept in the drying room under high heat for about 6-8 hours.
	For our strat style guitars, they necks also get their first coat of lacquer and placed the drying room. They are also kept in the drying room under high heat for about 6-8 hours.
After each coat of lacquer, the guitar is scuff sanded down to level the lacquer until smooth to the touch. All imperfections and small bubbles are sanded out and its back to get another coat of lacquer.
	This process is repeated five times. Color coats will be added as needed for depth and effect we are after. Later a top-coat is applied two times for a final finish. Each time the guitar has lacquer applied, drying in the curing room and then scuff sanded down smooth. This eliminates the lumps in the lacquer known as orange peel.
The guitars are given another color coat and put in the drying room. The color is really starting to take on depth and bring out the natural beauty of the woods.
	And then we sand them down again……
And blast them with more color and more lacquer is applied. These guitars are in the final color coat stage and will be starting the top-coat process next. Models that have airbrushed and blending work are given their final coats at this point and are sent to the drying room one last time. The guitars are then coated with a final top-coat of lacquer and baked to a hard finish. They are then sanded with a ultra fine grain grit and then buffed to a ultra high gloss shine.
	The guitars are then finished. The peg heads are reamed out and then tuning machines are mounted. The fingerboard receives their final touches and is polished and oiled. The guitar toggle switches, pots and wire assemblies are then soldered together and tested. Electronics and hardware are then completed and sent to Q.A. for inspection.