Guess the Year

(Edited by me to remove references which would give away the year) 
"After [the election...both parties] concentrated on reinforcing the allegiance of previously committed voters to rouse the faithful rather than on making converts....  They developed elaborate organizations coordinated during presidential campaigns by central committees in Washington and extending to states, congressional districts, counties, towns, precincts, and wards that identified voters who favored their party and tried to get them to the polls.  Both depended heavily on skillful [media] editors...to denounce the enemy in hyperbolic terms as some dreadful monster intent on destroying republicanism.  Both parties utilized hurrah techniques...to mobilize their contituents and draw the uninitiated into their ranks."

1840.

From "The Rise and Fall of the American Whig Party" by Michael F. Holt

Logo for Res-O-Glas Guitar

Res-O-Glas Guitar Finished

 Overview

 Roller string trees

Tailpiece.
I still have some setup tweaking to do; the nut slots need to be filed down a little deeper; I have a new grounding buzz going on, so I have to check my wiring job and eliminate that, but it's playable and sounds good (when plugged in, of course--unplugged it sounds like a plastic toy guitar).  The GFS Retrotron Liverpool pups sound really nice.  Total cost about $550 or so.

Res-O-Glas Guitar Project #4

 I got the pickups installed, then ran into a snag.  The tailpiece screws didn't bite deeply enough into the center block, and when I replaced them with longer screws, it changed the string alignment just enough that the polepieces on the pups were out of place.  So I had to pull the pickups, drill new holes for the pole pieces and mounts, and re-install them.

Next, I  cut and beveled the pickguards.  Now all that is left to do is drill the holes for the pots, jack, and switch, and wire it up.  Hopefully.

Res-O-Glas Guitar Project #3

 Body blocks epoxied in and clamped to dry; these blocks are where the back screws onto the front.

 Foam applied to the body blocks.

 Testing the layout of the pickup mounting rings, bridge, knobs.

Vintage-style Wilkinson tuners.

Res-O-Glas Guitar Project #2

 I clamped the neck in the neck pocket and used a straight edge to mark the center of the body.

Here I've epoxied the maple block into the top of the body.  The neck will be bolted to this block.  The neck is next to the body.  I've put several coats of black paint on it; I'll be putting a few more coats of clear gloss nitrocellulose lacquer on it, then sanding and polishing it. 

Res-O-Glas Guitar Project #1

I'm accumulating the parts to build this.  I've done the custom cut on the headstock and I'm lacquering the neck black; I still have to sand and polish it.  The tremolo was missing the spring, but the guys at GuitarFetish.com have already sent one out to me.  I should get the pickups (GFS Liverpool Retrotrons) and the tuners (Wilkinson vintage-style chrome) in the next day or so.  I think I'm going to change out the nut for a graphite one.  I'm still contemplating the layout of the controls; I think I'll just go with a simple master volume and master tone.