Well, it’s been a busy month trying to get the first two prototypes (or at least one of them) done in time for the Post-NAMM JAMM at my friend Kevan’s house. Unfortunately, time constraints meant they weren’t complete in time, but they’re almost there.

Even in their unfinished state, people were able to pick up and hold both models, to get a sense for the ergonomics, the neck carves and the on-strap balance. Both the Javelin and the Aviator were very warmly received. Thanks, guys!

Proto 1 has been fretted, and all the extra little bits of drilling and routing have been done. I still have to thin down the headstock a little to accommodate the tuners, install side dots and do a little bit of filling and sanding. Then it’s just a matter of applying the tung oil and beeswax finish, installing hardware and electronics, then doing the final setup.

Proto 2 is almost at the same stage, it’s just awaiting fret installation, then it’ll be the same steps, with the exception of the finish, which i’m still thinking about sending out for a solid white paint job. (With a secret twist…)

So i’m likely going to start doing a big push on getting bodies and necks glued up and cut out. Proto 3 is on deck and just about ready to go. And i have some wood for the next couple of instruments after that… a mahogany Javelin and a swamp ash Stealth. These will very likely be officially designated dB1 and dB2… the first serial-numbered Decibels!

But don’t hold your breath… I also want to update you on what’s happening with Decibel’s shop space. Thus far, i’ve been borrowing shop space from our good friend Brian Bowes. For the last couple of months, life events have resulted in Brian needing to close down his workshop, so Decibel will no longer have a dedicated space in which to work as of the end of April.

But fear not… in the few weeks we have left, i’m hoping to get at least a couple more bodies and necks cut and prepped, so i can keep working on my own in a limited capacity until my own shop space is up and running. (If anyone out there has a shop i can borrow time in, that would be awesome!) Hopefully things will be back on track by the end of the summer, but i’ll continue to post updates and get whatever done that i can.

The neck has been carved and fretboard bound and radiused on Prototype 2!

I’m very pleased with the results. I smoothed out the contours on the heel to flow more seamlessly into the neck. It’s now a little more “SR-71″ and less “F-117″… you aviation geeks will know what i mean.

I actually did some of the final shaping of the neck joint with the neck bolted up to the body. There’s a seamless flow from the neck into the body like i’ve never seen before on a bolt-on instrument.

Take a look at the Prototype 2 build page to see the whole evolution.