Hi @GRiker, congrats on making your guitar decision. You're going to love having one! To answer your questions:
1. For framing slabs of ganache or meltaways, I would LOVE to have real caramel rulers but have never been able to justify the expense. So instead I use 12 inch lengths of half inch aluminum bar and just arrange them on a sheet of acetate so the opening is either 6x9 or 6x12 (I'm still figuring out the optimal size for my small guitar). I ordered the aluminum bars from OnlineMetals.com years ago, and they've worked very well for me. They are very lightweight, however, so I "glue" them in place on the acetate sheet with untempered melted chocolate before I pour the slab.
2. Yep, hand dipping everything. I use the Revolation 2 chocolate tempering machine. It's small, but adequate for my purposes—it holds about a pound and a half of chocolate and I can dip about 60 truffles before I have to start over with a fresh batch of chocolate. My only real complaint about it is that it is SO LOUD. I actually built a box out of dense insulation sheet one year to damp the noise. Which worked surprisingly well, but was a different kind of annoyance. So now I just wear ear plugs when I use it.
3A. I painstakingly mark and cut all my caramel by hand into 3/4" x 1" rectangles. The next piece of serious confectionery equipment for me is going to be a caramel marker with changeable spacers. I actually tried making one of these once, but it flexed too much to be useful. I'm fussy about the size because sometimes I like wrapping them in colored foils like tiny Christmas presents and put them in candy cups so I can pack them neatly in the same boxes I use for chocolates. Obsessive, I know, but they're so pretty that way. When I do this I listen to the best caramel wrapping theme song of all time: "I Wanna be Sedated" by the Ramones. 🤪
3B. Please do not even consider using your guitar to cut caramel. It will make you very sad. If you're lucky, you will only end up with broken wires. If you are unlucky, you could seriously damage the guitar. And probably ruin a lot of delicious caramel in the process.
