Hand Crafted Resonator, Electric, and Cigar Box Guitars by New Orleans based artist and musician, Michael Cain

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Mercury Lab Guitars Rezentine distressed plum finish close up
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Mercury Lab Guitars — Hand Crafted Resonator, Electric, and Cigar Box Guitars

While each and every customer is important, I take special care of left-handed players, as I am one. Every instrument is hand-built in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Scroll to Gallery at end of page for images of the building process. First the body. Then the neck.

The DCS slide version left handed
Mercury Lab Guitars "leftie" Resolution with spun aluminum finish

Introducing the IMS

Integrated Microphone/pickup System

Removable compact microphone internally routed through the guitar in tandem with choice of magnetic or piezo pickup/s

Integrated microphone/pickup system
Aluminum strips and resonator rings, the raw materials – Mercury Lab Guitars, New Orleans
They all start out this way. The only CNC parts are the rings.
Resonator guitar body process. Forming the sides pic 1
Forming the sides
Resonator guitar body process. Beginning to form the sides
Following the pattern
Rolling the sides
Rollling the sides
Resonator guitar body process. Checking the accuracy of the walls
Checking accuracy
Resonator guitar body process. Finishing up the walls
Finishing the walls
Resonator guitar body process. The tops
Finishing the tops
Resonator guitar body process. Fitting the neck pocket.
Fitting the neck pocket
Resonator guitar body process. Beginning the welding
Beginning to weld
Resonator guitar body process. Welding the edge in sections
Welding in stitches to avoid warping
Finished seams
Finished seams
Resonator guitar body process. Finishing the welding
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More weld removal
Grinding the welds
Flushing out neck pocket
Flushing out neck pocket
Welds finished
Welds finished
Resonator guitar body process. More grinding of the edge
Smoothing the surface
Resonator guitar body process. grinding complete
Body finished, ready for sound hole and pickup cavity
Resonator guitar bodies in process. The sound holes
Cutting the sound holes
Guitar body process. Marking pickup cavity
Marking the pickup cavity
Resonator guitar body process. Routing the pickup cavity
Routing the cavity
Resonator guitar process. Pickup cavity routed
Finished routing
Various bodies
Various bodies ready for final surfacing
Resonator guitar body process. Brushing the aluminum
Brushing lines
Resonator guitar in process. marking lines
Marking the lines for spinning
Resonator guitar body process. Making spun pattern
Applying spun pattern with drill press
Resonator guitar process. Clear coat
Clear coating the body
Resonator guitar body process. Painting.
Painting the body with candy colors
Resonator guitar in process. Installing cone
Inserting the cone
Mercury Lab Guitars Resolution with spun aluminum finish
Finished leftie
Mercury Lab Guitars Resolution full view ruby shimmer fade finish
Finished righty
Guitar fingerboards. Fret slotting in progress
Fretboard Blanks (mostly)
Neck blanks
Neck blanks
Beautiful Ebony black and white
Some beautiful Madasgar Ebony
Guitar neck process. Beginning of a scarf joint
Beginning of a scarf joint
Guitar neck process. Gluing the scarf joint
Gluing the scarf joint
Guitar neck process. Finished scarf joint
Ready for truss rod channel
Guitar neck process. Truss rod channel
The truss rod channel
Checking the depth
Checking the depth
Guitar neck process. Shaping the headstock
Shaping the headstock
Guitar neck process. Finishing the headstock
Drilling the peg heads
More of that beautiful Ebony in progress
More of that beautiful Ebony in progress
Guitar neck process. Neck jig
Jig for the neck taper
Guitar neck process. Pre profile shaping
Tapered and ready for neck profile
Resonator guitar neck process. About to shape neck profile
Routing the profile
Guitar neck process. Neck profile
Ready for hand carving of heel and volute
Guitar neck process. Shaping the fingerboard radius
Meanwhile, shaping the fretboard radius
Guitar neck process. Fingerboard profile
Radius profile
Exotic wood fretboards
Fret slots cut
Drilling the inlays
Drilling the inlays
Guitar neck process. Koa fingerboard
Beautiful Koa fretboard
Guitar neck process. Neck and fingerboard before gluing
Neck and fretboard cut to size
Guitar neck process. Prepping the neck for the fingerboard
taping the truss rod to keep free of glue
Guitar neck process. Gluing on fingerboard
Gluing and clamping
Guitar neck process. Fingerboard and neck unfinished
All put together
Guitar neck process. Setting the side dot markers
Adding the side dots
Guitar neck process. Koa neck with fingerboard glued
Koa neck ready for frets
Resonator and electric guitar necks unfinished
More necks ready to fret
Guitar neck process. Pressing the frets
Pressing the frets
Guitar neck process. Setting the frets
Finished with pressing
Guitar neck process. Trimming the fret ends
Ready to trim frets
Guitar neck process. Shaving the fret ends
Filing fret ends
Guitar neck process. Frets almost finished
Finished fret ends
Guitar neck process. Checking the level of the frets
Checking fret level
Guitar neck process. Fret leveling
Leveling and recrowning frets
Guitar neck process. Frets finished and polished
Polishing to a nice shine
Resonator guitar neck process. Clear coating.
Finished necks getting lacquer
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