9 things i can't live without:

1. chocolates - who wants vegetables anyway?

2. coffee - i'm not addicted i just need to stay awake till the mix is right

3. pen and paper - where all good ideas start

4. my phone - annoying when it rings, frustrating when it doesn't

5. music - because my life is a movie and i need a soundtrack

6. my guitar - because a rock god is nothing without it ;)

7. my sneakers - they witnessed - almost - all my adventures

8. ctrl+z - because even i can make a mistake ;p

9. my macbook - i just don't want to record with anything else

before staining the guitar

now that i'm happy with the shape and contours of the guitar i can stain it. i'm using real wood stain for the dark stripes - mulberry - and just normal clothing dye for the lighter red parts. but before staining the wood you have to wet it with a flannel/cloth soaked in hot water. then vigorously rub the wood where you're going to stain - why? because when wood gets wet the cells swell and when it's dry you can sand it off to nice smooth surface. after you've sanded back the raised grain - wait till it's dry - you can stain! i used the back of the guitar to test the stain because the longer you leave wood stain the darker it gets. it's not the same for the clothing dye.

mic protection from humidity

saw these "Glad - Snap Lock" bags the other day when i went to the shops and thought it would work great for protecting my microphones from the humidity here in Auckland. i also threw in a silicone bag for some extra dryness :) i guess if you're going to record vocals every other day it's going to be a royal pain to bag and un-bag all the time, but it's perfect for my needs.

guitar body cut and carved

at last i'm satisfied with the contours of the body! even though it looks like i copied the strat contours it's actually my own body contours. i simply pressed the guitar against my body and traced the line with a pencil - i pressed it pretty hard! and then the same for the area where my arm will rest. luckily the bass wood is easy to work with! i only used a rough file to create the contours - something like this. next i'll wet the body to raise the grain of the wood to make it ready for the wood stain. isn't that the meanest ankle biter ever?!