Muzz Posted June 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 Sanded the finish to 2000 with wet and dry, the headstock is still to be done in this photo, now I realize why everyone says the camera doesn't get red colours right, the colour looks browner in the photos than in real life, no biggie Then polished the finish up to 12, 000 with micromesh Ready for buffing Before I paint the front of the headstock black I am going to leave it woodgrain for a while, just for $#1&$ and giggles I'll put an old school style logo on it I started work on the neck pocket template, looking forward to cutting that out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Our Souls inc. Posted June 28, 2012 Report Share Posted June 28, 2012 your new friend has a very nice collection !! The neck is looking stellar- nice work so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pestvic Posted June 28, 2012 Report Share Posted June 28, 2012 whoa where can i find those micro mesh pads? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maull Posted June 28, 2012 Report Share Posted June 28, 2012 Stew Mac sells the micro mesh pads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted June 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2012 whoa where can i find those micro mesh pads? Yep Maull is right they have them at Stew Mac, but you can also get them from lots of other woodworking shops. I got mine from a guy who runs this great shop out of his garage, he has some really cool gear there, and his pet turtle is in the shop too. I didn't know that turtles often live longer than 120 years. your new friend has a very nice collection !! The neck is looking stellar- nice work so far. Mang, I was in there today, he has some seriously cool guitars there, I asked him, Q. How many guitars does a guitarist need? A. Just one more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted June 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2012 So on the advice of a friend I ordered some GFS pickups for this guitar, are they any good? They are cheap as chips so nothing really to loose giving them a try for a change from DiMarzio. Just checked on the tracking site and they are in Jamaica, NY at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted June 30, 2012 Report Share Posted June 30, 2012 I've never tried them, but I've never heard anything but good reports about them. I have some Chinese Artec pups - likely wound in the same factory - which sound surprisingly good for how little they cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted June 30, 2012 Report Share Posted June 30, 2012 GFS pickups sound good...I bought some and can't complain...they sound like the description. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted July 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2012 I've never tried them, but I've never heard anything but good reports about them. I have some Chinese Artec pups - likely wound in the same factory - which sound surprisingly good for how little they cost. Yes I think some of these Chinese pickup factories are getting better with the quality, Belcat is another brand I have heard about, but never tried. GFS pickups sound good...I bought some and can't complain...they sound like the description. Great, I'll look forward to trying them out then, some of the guitars at Guitar Fetish look amazing especially for the price they are charging. Today I made the neck pocket template and routed the pocket. I still haven't seen anyone else use this technique for making templates. I use the straight edge on 6 mm pieces of MDF and screw them into 18 mm MDF. Then route through using the edges of the 6mm as the template. I drew a centre line on the piece of MDF, lined the neck up on it so it is centred. Screwed the first piece of MDF on, I countersunk the screws in at least a mm over the head, you don't want those scratching your router. Then clamped pieces each side of the neck and screwed them on Then cut out most of the inside and routed out the rest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted July 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2012 Lined the template on the body and clamped it down, 4 clamps, I don't want that template slipping. Routing down And this is a pic of me holding the guitar up with no screws or glue in the po ......... oh no, disaster ........ Just kidding, always wanted to do that, here is the cliche photograph and that's it, I am never, ever posting the body hanging on to the neck with pure tightness photo again that is just guitar building nerdness Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curtisa Posted July 1, 2012 Report Share Posted July 1, 2012 Yah!!! Giant neck!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted July 1, 2012 Report Share Posted July 1, 2012 Today I made the neck pocket template and routed the pocket. I still haven't seen anyone else use this technique for making templates. I've done something similar, just not to the extreme that you've gone. I don't believe I ever posted pics of it either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pestvic Posted July 2, 2012 Report Share Posted July 2, 2012 LOL wow.. I actually fell for the guitar falling... Looks awesome though. I am definitely going to use this technique for the neck pocket template. For some reason its the hardest/ least favorite route that I have to do on my builds... Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted July 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2012 (edited) Today I made the neck pocket template and routed the pocket. I still haven't seen anyone else use this technique for making templates. I've done something similar, just not to the extreme that you've gone. I don't believe I ever posted pics of it either. We will have to come up with a name for it then LOL wow.. I actually fell for the guitar falling... Looks awesome though. I am definitely going to use this technique for the neck pocket template. For some reason its the hardest/ least favorite route that I have to do on my builds... Thanks! Cheers, when you get all the pencil centre marks lined up, you can just relax and enjoy routing it down, let us know how you go with it. Edited July 2, 2012 by Muzz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted July 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 I drew in the screw line and positioned the trem, And strung it up with fishing line Everything looking OK, but after checking the measurements twice I thought I was being obsessive doing it again, but on the third check I realized I had positioned the screw line at 25.20 inches instead of 25.25 Fixed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted July 5, 2012 Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 Yah!!! Giant neck!!! Serious neck dive candidate! Puts it all into perspective doesn't it? Looking good Muzz. I'm looking forward to seeing this turn red. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted July 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2012 Yah!!! Giant neck!!! Serious neck dive candidate! Puts it all into perspective doesn't it? Looking good Muzz. I'm looking forward to seeing this turn red. SR Same here Scott, it shouldn't be too far away, I am going to get going on the body routes tomorrow. I used the plans that Paulie sent me to make templates for the trem route. This one is the top block cavity, it turned out 1 mm to long, but I just used it to make one the right size then I used the top cavity template to make the back block cavity, and used my Floyd spring cavity template to make the slightly shorter Strat style cavity I'll get going tomorrow, I'll get in the right frame of mind listening to this 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Posted July 7, 2012 Report Share Posted July 7, 2012 Yah!!! Giant neck!!! Serious neck dive candidate! Puts it all into perspective doesn't it? Looking good Muzz. I'm looking forward to seeing this turn red. SR Same here Scott, it shouldn't be too far away, I am going to get going on the body routes tomorrow. I used the plans that Paulie sent me to make templates for the trem route. This one is the top block cavity, it turned out 1 mm to long, but I just used it to make one the right size then I used the top cavity template to make the back block cavity, and used my Floyd spring cavity template to make the slightly shorter Strat style cavity I'll get going tomorrow, I'll get in the right frame of mind listening to this Saw them live last month. Phenomenal. And this build is fantastic btw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted July 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2012 (edited) I am so envious you caught Halestorm, they are amazing I would love to see them. Glad you are liking the build I started routing the top block hole, about 20 mm down, I didn’t check the router could spin freely on start up and I heard the dreaded clack. I checked out the damage, it was OK, most of it will get routed out when the back route gets done. But I still hate tearout, what am I saying? Who likes it? So I cut wafers of wood and glued them in. A few bit more went in after this pic A friend called up so we went and got fish and chips at the pub and checked out some music stores. Got back routed the repair Edited July 7, 2012 by Muzz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted July 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2012 Got down to about 40 mm. Drilled through from the top, cut some would out and then filed out enough so I could get a bit in from the back and finished it off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piercefield Posted July 7, 2012 Report Share Posted July 7, 2012 I like the fact you repaired it even though it would have never shown... True pride in craftmanship! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted July 7, 2012 Report Share Posted July 7, 2012 Good to see Testament is still in the magazines...I have been a huge fan since '87,and I love all their work except for those two albums in the 90s...Souls of Black and The Ritual..still good,but not as heavy as I would have liked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted July 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2012 I like the fact you repaired it even though it would have never shown... True pride in craftmanship! Oh man, I could never leave that big hack there, I have not had a chunk out like that since I first started using a router, thinking back I wonder how I survived that learning curve, I didn't have a clue and started straight on making a few cupboard doors, I learnt real fast after the router nearly got ripped out of my hands as I was trying to take out too much in one go Yesterday was a wake up call, check everything twice before flicking the switch on the router. Good to see Testament is still in the magazines...I have been a huge fan since '87,and I love all their work except for those two albums in the 90s...Souls of Black and The Ritual..still good,but not as heavy as I would have liked. Testament are awesome, one of the few metal bands with such a sense of melody, Chuck Billy one of the few growly vocalists that can really sing. Alex Skolnick can run rings around a lot of his contemporaries, his melodic sense and music theory let's him do so much with his solos. I like that he realised back in the day that an Ibanez Tubescreamer set on about half into the front end of a gain on 10 80's tube amp not only kicked it into real high gain but gave such a great definition perfect for precision metal riffs. Did he also play with an ADA preamp for a while? Great that he went with The Heritage guitars. I must have a listen to his jazz stuff sometime. Yep but I think he veered away from the heaviness in the 90s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted July 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2012 Ledge route Spring cavity template lined up, no Stew Mac templates here (not that there is anything wrong with that) Trem route finished Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted July 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2012 Mucking around on PowerPoint making a template for the bridge screw positions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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