My friend Pat Capocci sent  me an e-mail today to say his pickguard arrived safely, along with a couple of photos of it on his Tele…..

For the last few years I’ve been pretty good about not taking on any new personal  projects as I whittle away at the list I currently have. I’ve been making some progress, but last month while in San Diego a friend said I could have this old Kay if I wanted to do something with it. I took a quick look and said “sure, I’ll take it!”  Its a late 50′s Kay model K-161 with a screwed up neck and no hardware. I’ve always wanted to build a neck from scratch but never really had a good reason to do so. Now I do! I want it to look like a guitar Paul Bigsby would have modified.

Last Sunday it didn’t take much to get the finger board off, and the dovetail joint apart. I also made a couple of pick guard patterns. This proved to be a little tricker, trying to hide the existing  holes and still look Bigsbyish. I plan on using a pair of PA1946′s for pickups, the vibrato I had in my parts stash. I’ll post as I make progress so check back from time to time. Here’s some mock up photos. I’m leaning towards mock up #3.

For the last few years I’ve been waiting for the right model B engine for my roadster pickup to come along. The few I’ve gotten close to have either been beyond my budget or I’ve been way to late. So last week this one came my way and I bought it! It was taken out of a ’29 model ‘A’ pickup that was being put back to stock specifications back in 1981 and has been in storage ever since.  The Model ‘B’ engine was an improved version of the model ‘A’.  It’s stronger and more powerful, so it was sought after by racers and hot rodders.  It first came out in 1932 and they’re getting harder to find.  It came with a ’32 gearbox that will be an improvement over my model ‘A’ gearbox.

Also last month, I finally had a chance to make a 3-piece hood for my roadster. It’s made of 18 gauge steel.  I formed the top over a piece of 4’’ pipe that was fastened to a sawhorse. I modified a pair of vice grips to form the bead along the back of the hood. A friend in Riverside punched the louvers for me.

I should also say RIP to the great George Shearing whom we lost last month. I listen to his early trio and quintet on an almost daily basis.

When we originally talked about our Lifetime Doormat, we shared a version that was made for a double door. This time, the client wanted a doormat custom made to fit in a recessed area to create a seamless entry. The patio is made of  bricks, but this application could be used with any surrounding material. Sand and debris will fall below the mat and it can be removed for periodic cleaning underneath. They will never purchase a doormat again!

Everybody loves “before and after” photos so we thought we would share a few of our kitchen. 7487 had a very overall “grey” look and feel when we first moved in. Grey tile, grey paint, grey stained curtains. Within hours of moving in, we ripped out the tile and cabinets. We wanted to stay with the mid-century esthetic the house was meant to have, but with modern convenience. The layout of the original kitchen wasn’t  bad so as we re-built, we kept the plumbing and appliances pretty much where they were originally. The simplest way to save money. We took this room down to the studs so we could do a bit of plumbing work in the walls with copper pipe in preparation of the day that our 1960 galvanized pipes decide to blow.TK put up new drywall, built the cabinets of euro-ply with formica countertops and ran gas, which already existed in the house, to the cooking area. Even with keeping the original configuration, we were able to maximize storage and countertop space in the re-build. We have been really happy with the results.  The  finish on the cabinets becomes even more beautiful over time as it deepens in color with age.

Over the years, we have replaced so many doormats that we lost count. When we moved into a house with double doors, it was an even bigger challenge to find something that looked appropriate, that might last for more than one summer. TK came up with what we call the Lifetime Doormat. Made of rectangular steel tubing that has been sliced into 3/4″ pieces and welded together, we will never shop for a doormat again! This mat does it’s job perfectly no matter what time of year. It’s great for stomping sand off your shoes throughout the year, gets the snow off in the winter and in the rare occasion that we have rain, is great to scrape the mud off before entering the house.  It is heavy so instead of shaking it off like you would a normal mat, it catches the debris in between each steel ring and you just run the shop vac over it once in a while to clean it up. It could be inset into concrete or wood decking for a smooth finish. Our Lifetime Doormat can be made any size to accommodate a double or single door entry.

When we were remodeling our first house, we decided to go all the way in the living room and get rid of one of the biggest eyesores in most homes, the big boxy television. (back in 2003 anyway) Our house was small and there was only one wall that would work to hang our new flat screen TV. Problem was, that when you walked in the front door, we didn’t want the first thing you see to be the side of it. TK came up with a solution by making a narrow screen that added interest to the room and blocked the side view of our new toy.

The rails are made of 1″ square tubing, the cross rods are 5/16″ steel rod spaced at 6″ apart, the woven wood came from an 1/8″ door skin that he had left over from a previous project, and there are threaded feet at the top and bottom to help lock it into place. He cut the door skin into 1 3/4″ strips, powder coated the frame and once put together, we had a stylish, economical solution to our problem.

The photo above and the first one below, are of the screen in it’s original location. The other photos are of it in our current home where we placed the screen to give a bit of separation in our open entrance/ living/dining area’s. The close up photo, which was taken by Morgan Satterfield of The Brick House when she came for a visit, shows the simple design, and the other photos I took on a snowy day in the desert. Even if you are a novice welder, you could try this project yourself, or if not, TK can create one for you in any size. Please contact us with questions.

TK is sooo close to finishing the roadster pickup that he has been building in his free time for more than ten years.We picked the car up from the upholsterer this morning. Mike Peterson of Peterson Upholstery executed a beautiful chocolate brown 2″ tuck n roll on the interior sides, back and seat cushions. We were so inspired on the way home that we stopped in at the Frank Lloyd Wright and Lloyd Wright designed Joshua Tree Retreat center to snap some photos.

TK made these steps for his Roadster Pickup that he has been building for many years. These are one of the final few details. He made the brackets from 1/2″ steel and foundry pattern of MDF with lettering cut out of acrylic. Last weekend, TK was able to start up the roaster for the first time! It’s been a long time coming but this project is almost complete. See a history of the build .

You hear jokes about guys who fix everything with duct tape. If using a small amount of duct tape is kind of funny, the hardcore use of it in 7487 made our new home a laughing stock! It had been used on everything from light fixtures to pipes to the kitchen sink, literally. When we moved in, we had to renovate the main bath immediately, and wanted to save anything original that we could. In this case that meant the bathtub, the tile around the tub, and the large mirror above the vanity. We needed to strip it down to its core, but we wanted to keep this simple, which is what we did. We started by removing the glass tub surround, taking up the floor tile, taking down the mirror and putting it aside for safe keeping, removing wallpaper, taking out the old electric wall heater next to the window and throwing out the old toilet. To put it back together we ground the concrete floors, put on a clear coat of urethane , patched the holes in the walls, cleaned the tub and tile, had the tub resurfaced, painted, made new baseboards, ordered a hospital track and shower curtain from a hospital supply, got new light fixture from e-bay, new bathroom door, ordered Kohler sink and fixtures and then my favorite part of the bathroom, a new vanity made by T.K.. Aside from looking exactly like I had wanted, it created so much amazing storage that the Costco toilet paper pack would never be a challenge again! Made of Maple Euro-Ply with a white Formica counter-top, by putting the vanity back where the original was, we saved money by not moving plumbing  or electric, although we did add a few additional outlets. TK installed the new sink and simple white tile as a back splash and put the original mirror back in it’s place. A few paintings and accessories later and we had a clean, simple modern bathroom. The vanity in this bath was the first of many cabinets throughout our house, and other homes as well, that T.K. has built in this style. We think the clean design works well in any era home. They can be made of maple or walnut plywood. Check out “before” and “after” photos on flickr. What renovations do you have planned for the new year? Maybe we can help?