# River Bottom Nightmare



## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

No, the guitar isn't a nightmare at all so far. I just named it after a childhood film I have watched and loved each year, named Emmit Otter's Jug Band Christmas. The music was written by Paul Williams and Jim Henson did the puppetry.

The bad guys in that one had a band they called the River Bottom Nightmare Band. It's what popped into my brain and stuck there when Amanda sent me these pics. The white caulking you see is a latex dam she uses to isolate the resin pour and is removed when she paints.



















After this dries, she will scrape the paint away, exposing the resin pocket.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Because I expect some may wonder, the resin and stones don't make it all that heavy. These have a swimming pool route so they're fairly light to begin with.


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## leftysg (Mar 29, 2008)

I also remember enjoying the show. Just a pondering, with the stones, does the guitar sound like a GoodnPlenty box when you move it around?


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

You really wanted... Rock and roll... With that guitar.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

leftysg said:


> I also remember enjoying the show. Just a pondering, with the stones, does the guitar sound like a GoodnPlenty box when you move it around?


Yeah it's a great show. We watch it every Christmas. 

The stones and dirt are solidly embedded in acrylic resin. It will feel solid.


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## 1SweetRide (Oct 25, 2016)

Neat that you could bring something non-guitar related to a guitar that you'll make music with. Very cool.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Budda said:


> You really wanted... Rock and roll... With that guitar.



Rock anyway.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

1SweetRide said:


> Neat that you could bring something non-guitar related to a guitar that you'll make music with. Very cool.


This is the second of two kits I bought from Solo Music. I encouraged Amanda to be creative and free to experiment on them with the only limitation being that she had to keep it functional (don't screw with the neck pocket, bridge area, et cetera).

I like what she has done.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)




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## TVvoodoo (Feb 17, 2010)

Cool idea. a feminine gold cross on a chain laying in the stones would make it slightly more nighmarish. Maybe not keeping in the puppetry theme, but would add some dark interest
love your stuff man


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

TVvoodoo said:


> Cool idea. a feminine gold cross on a chain laying in the stones would make it slightly more nighmarish. Maybe not keeping in the puppetry theme, but would add some dark interest
> love your stuff man


Cool idea. I tend to give her concepts, themes et cetera and let her run with them.


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## jdto (Sep 30, 2015)

That's really cool. I look forward to seeing how it comes together.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

jdto said:


> That's really cool. I look forward to seeing how it comes together.


Thank you.

If it turns out anywhere as good as the last one I'll be quite happy.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Maybe we'll also make one in tribute to the "good guys" band. Frogtown Hollow Jubilee Jug Band.

Say isn't that @laristotle on the washtub bass....


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## laristotle (Aug 29, 2019)

Milkman said:


> Say isn't that @laristotle on the washtub bass....


Except that I wouldn't have my fretting hand under the string. lol


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

laristotle said:


> Except that I wouldn't have my fretting hand under the string. lol



Nor would you be playing a Chinese knock off Washtub!!


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## laristotle (Aug 29, 2019)

Milkman said:


> Nor would you be playing a Chinese knock off Washtub!!


I dunno. Looked vintage MIJ to me.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

laristotle said:


> I dunno. Looked vintage MIJ to me.


Made in* J*im Henson's shop?


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## Paul M (Mar 27, 2015)

Didja ever wonder, if, (when in a moment of inattentiveness or panic), Jim Henson ever used Kermit as an oven mitt?


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Paul M said:


> Didja ever wonder, if, (when in a moment of inattentiveness or panic), Jim Henson ever used Kermit as an oven mitt?



Or for something else....

I also recall an episode of Seinfeld where George Costanza was threatened with being turned into a personal hand puppet.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

I bought a set of DiMarzios plus a Fender Single coil from @Schmart (good deal, shipped lightening quick).

They look great as is, but I'm a covered Humbucker fan so I ordered a couple of covers from our friends at Next Gen.

Because DiMarzios have dual rows of allen screws, I couldn't use a typical Gibson style cover.

Instead I selected these.

I'll pot them in wax and solder them on. They fit perfectly.

The bridge is an H-1 labeled Dimarzio Super 3, the neck is a Dimarzio DP-100 Super Distortion.


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## Rollin Hand (Jul 12, 2012)

Both look great. How is she doing the paint? Is it a hydro dip swirl like the old Ibanez Universes?


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Rollin Hand said:


> Both look great. How is she doing the paint? Is it a hydro dip swirl like the old Ibanez Universes?


No, it's a pour, or a series of pours.

This clip is Amanda painting the Balrog.


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

No fear of paint on the hands, must of enjoyed finger painting as a kid...a very interesting technique.


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## 1SweetRide (Oct 25, 2016)

It's fascinating and each piece is 100% unique.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Paul Running said:


> No fear of paint on the hands, must of enjoyed finger painting as a kid...a very interesting technique.


It's a combination of science and scorcery. I have a clip of her "manipulating / altering" the paint with a torch, a drinking straw and other interference in the flow.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

1SweetRide said:


> It's fascinating and each piece is 100% unique.


I agree thank you. I feel very fortunate to have her talent to work with.


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## jdto (Sep 30, 2015)

Does she do other media? Like canvas or something?


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

jdto said:


> Does she do other media? Like canvas or something?


Yes, that's how this started. She was doing canvas paintings and I mean a LOT of them. It occurred to me that the art she creates would look cool on guitars so I gave her a body and now we've probably made 18 or 20.

In fact, with each guitar she creates a companion piece on canvas with the same colour schemes and signs it. That serves as a sort of C.O.A.

She also does a lot of acrylic resin casting.


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## jdto (Sep 30, 2015)

Milkman said:


> Yes, that's how this started. She was doing canvas paintings and I mean a LOT of them. It occurred to me that the art she creates would look cool on guitars so I gave her a body and now we've probably made 18 or 20.
> 
> In fact, with each guitar she creates a companion piece on canvas with the same colour schemes and signs it. That serves as a sort of C.O.A.
> 
> She also does a lot of acrylic resin casting.


That's really cool. Where might someone view her work? I'm not sure I could pull off a guitar like that, but I might dig some canvas.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

jdto said:


> That's really cool. Where might someone view her work? I'm not sure I could pull off a guitar like that, but I might dig some canvas.


I'll ask her for links. She has all sorts of social media.


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## ArtisticAmandolin (Jan 14, 2021)

jdto said:


> That's really cool. Where might someone view her work? I'm not sure I could pull off a guitar like that, but I might dig some canvas.





jdto said:


> That's really cool. Where might someone view her work? I'm not sure I could pull off a guitar like that, but I might dig some canvas.





jdto said:


> That's really cool. Where might someone view her work? I'm not sure I could pull off a guitar like that, but I might dig some canvas.



Thank you kindly for the interest in my work! Currently I post most of my pieces on my instagram, and occasionally when I remember I also update my Facebook art page

My Instagram is @ amandolin777 

My current obsession is resin casting, I use a deep casting epoxy resin, and I've created my own collection of one of a kind skulls. I on occasion paint on canvas, and I'm currently very obsessed with abstract style. Feel free to reach out to me on my Instagram page with any further questions.


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## ArtisticAmandolin (Jan 14, 2021)

Paul Running said:


> No fear of paint on the hands, must of enjoyed finger painting as a kid...a very interesting technique.


That is a fair and accurate guess! 
I have always been very tactile and hands on in my art. 
I often came home with pen drawn tattoos, charcole smudges, and almost always paint somewhere on my clothing.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Milkman said:


>


Well with the thread title someone had to post that video.
I'd like to cover it.

As for the guitar--cool, different type of look for sure.


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## jdto (Sep 30, 2015)

ArtisticAmandolin said:


> Thank you kindly for the interest in my work! Currently I post most of my pieces on my instagram, and occasionally when I remember I also update my Facebook art page
> 
> My Instagram is @ amandolin777
> 
> My current obsession is resin casting, I use a deep casting epoxy resin, and I've created my own collection of one of a kind skulls. I on occasion paint on canvas, and I'm currently very obsessed with abstract style. Feel free to reach out to me on my Instagram page with any further questions.


Great! I’ll definitely check it out. Thanks!


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

ArtisticAmandolin said:


> That is a fair and accurate guess!
> I have always been very tactile and hands on in my art.
> I often came home with pen drawn tattoos, charcole smudges, and almost always paint somewhere on my clothing.


Bonding closely with the medium, much like a gardener who uses their hands directly, to massage the soil...hand tools isolate you from the soil; it's passion.


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## ArtisticAmandolin (Jan 14, 2021)

zontar said:


> Well with the thread title someone had to post that video.
> I'd like to cover it.
> 
> As for the guitar--cool, different type of look for sure.


This was one of the movies we would watch together every year as a family for christmas. The music played a huge role in my love of music and its ability to tell a story. When I sent my dad some process pictures of the whole I had dremeled out and filled with stones we have collected, I referred to it as the river table guitar, and he corrected me and called it the river bottom. It's incredibly accurate. Although I'm not sure if it will be the final name for the piece. It's hard for me to not picture Chuck with his sweet sunglasses and his overbite complaining that he's hungry, sorry, correction, HUUUUNNNNGGGGRRRY!


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## ArtisticAmandolin (Jan 14, 2021)

Paul Running said:


> Bonding closely with the medium, much like a gardener who uses their hands directly, to massage the soil...hand tools isolate you from the soil; it's passion.


I'm certainly in no shortage of that. In fact being an artist is somewhere teetering the border between genius and madness most days.
In fact, I really only started painting fairly recently, for that exact reason. Being forced to use a paint brush made me feel very detached from what I was creating. Even pencil crayons I would often find myself blending with my fingers. When I first discovered fluid art, and how.. Hands-On I could be, I very quickly fell in love.

Although having a musician father, I never took to any instrument growing up. And always gravitated towards art. And it is only in the past few years, creating these guitars with my father, that I've truly appreciated the magnificence that is the body of a guitar. I don't mind painting telecasters here and there, but there's something about the curves of a strat I tell ya! The way the paint Cascades over the edges.... true bliss


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Amanda Lynn/ Amandolin on TikTok


The backside of my newest guitar. #fluidart #paint #painter #guitar #customguitar #desert #sunset #abstract #abstractart #sanddunes #artistsoftiktok




vm.tiktok.com


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## 1SweetRide (Oct 25, 2016)

ArtisticAmandolin said:


> Thank you kindly for the interest in my work! Currently I post most of my pieces on my instagram, and occasionally when I remember I also update my Facebook art page
> 
> My Instagram is @ amandolin777
> 
> My current obsession is resin casting, I use a deep casting epoxy resin, and I've created my own collection of one of a kind skulls. I on occasion paint on canvas, and I'm currently very obsessed with abstract style. Feel free to reach out to me on my Instagram page with any further questions.


I’m impressed with how clear the resin is. That can’t be easy to achieve.


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## Paul M (Mar 27, 2015)

Milkman said:


> View attachment 383783
> 
> View attachment 383784
> 
> ...


Less abstract.....steering towards impressionism, in my humble eyesight opinion. I like.


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## ArtisticAmandolin (Jan 14, 2021)

1SweetRide said:


> I’m impressed with how clear the resin is. That can’t be easy to achieve.


Thank you kindly! Definitely not easy, achieved over a year of a lot of trial and error and hard work and dedication.
There is resin work in this guitar as well. I'm incredibly excited to see it after it has its nitrocellulose layer! Really shines it up nicely


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## ArtisticAmandolin (Jan 14, 2021)

Paul M said:


> Less abstract.....steering towards impressionism, in my humble eyesight opinion. I like.


I would say that's a fair assessment! I definitely struggle with true abstract. I always wanted to look like something, even if just vaguely.
This piece was inspired after a very strange dream I had, where I was wandering around a desert on some alien planet. The Golden Sun in the sky at first seemed a bit like ours, but it never moved.
Thankfully I came across a random stream in this dream. Which is reflected very quite literally in this piece. I've always had an incredibly strong bond to the river, growing up literally across from one definitely had its impact.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Nitro today.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Now I have a bit of an obstacle. It's now too cold to spray nitro "outdoors" and it's way too toxic to spray in the house.......

I guess I could devise or purchase some sort of an air exchange / evacuation system...

$2k for this one!!!






And a DIY booth. I'm wondering why he uses filters. If you're trying to evacuate the fumes, why put resistance in the path?


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## 1SweetRide (Oct 25, 2016)

Bring it a body shop?


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

1SweetRide said:


> Bring it a body shop?



Well that's a possibility but not really very practical. I spray a body several times in the course of a day and I don't know any shop that would allow me to spray and leave guitar bodies hanging around.

I think I need to build a booth similar to the one in the second clip I posted. 

Or, build a shop. That's really what I want, but money doesn't grow on trees as the saying goes.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Got lucky with the weather today and managed to spray the body.
Hopefully I can sand and buff now.
It’s hanging.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

As always, while sanding I found a few spots that need touch ups / repairs. Hanging again.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

First it has to be a guitar.

Then it can become electric.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)




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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Pre-assy of the pickguard.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

I initially intended to use a Gotoh 1996 bridge which I have on the shelf, but when I built the last one (identical kit) I discovered that the spacing of the bridge post holes (pre-drilled) were slightly narrower than the Gotoh required. I was obliged to dowel one hole and re-drill both to the slightly larger diameter for the Gotoh inserts. It was a successful mod and the action and intonation ended up spot on.

This time I opted to go with the bridge that came with the kit (Floyd Rose Licenced). That meant gold hardware and that also meant I couldn't really use the chrome pick up covers I was planning on installing. I just ordered a set in gold, but for now, uncovered pickups. I can always cover them later.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Wired it up. I'll have to reverse the wires on the middle pickups I think. Other than that it all works as it should. I wired it to auto coil cut the humbuckers in positions two and four as I usually do.

I just ordered some gold pick up covers and a few more of those cool O-Ring knobs from Next Gen (you can see I had to use mismatched knobs) and a gold switch tip from an Amazon seller (not listed in Next Gen).

But, it lives.


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