86barettaguy

I've used Catia V5 for my virtual guitar. CAD is just a tool (I know, I use it every day) and you have to know what you are aiming to do and figure it all out. The computer is not going to do any work for you, it's just going to help you visualize it all so you can avoid making too many obvious mistakes.

I will always need more information, tips and tricks on the black art of carving a neck profile Actually, everything about neck-making seems a major mystery to me

drawings for rev. 01 sent to Dean and kpcrash

somehow I cannot seem to get in contact with people in the industry (though I did get a 2D igs from Gotoh). And I do think the local guitar store would ban me if I started taking guitars apart to measure the little things I did get the pics of the strat blueprints (body and neck) which seem to be floating around and they seem to verify the measurements I got from my main guitar (which is not a strat btw). A pic of the latest CAD progress can be found over at my blog (iguitarer.blogspot.com). Latest updates included a tighter neck pocket, slightly revised headstock (which is sort of pointless as the neck is only there for reference anyway, I modelled it as an exercise to avoid getting too rusty), revised floyd cavity depths and a control cavity (just because, it's really not a proper design). Just leave a comment there if you want a pdf copy of the drawings to have a look at *edit to add: Dean, NotYou and kpcrash: I'll do what I can to get you pdf drawings. A3 format (based on my assumption that most people can't print A2 and larger). *edit again: don't have your email adresses, any suggestion on how I get the files to you? shoot me a PM

This fall, I spent some time making CAD models based on one of my guitars and then thought maybe I should make some drawings so I could get to actually building a guitar. Now I've come to a point where the models/drawings need to be verified and I figured that I would see if I could get my fellow guitarers to help me out. In exchange for having the drawings verified and getting feedback on various improvements (drawing improvements as well as design improvements) as well as pictures of started, on-going and completed projects I would supply the drawings for free. So far, no luck. Is there any interest around here or am I beating a dead horse?

I don't think Hiscock's book goes into any detail on how to install a floyd rose trem (or any other bridge, apart from telling us to mind the scale length). If you can't print the templates from floydrose.com to scale then just get a ruler and make a drawing based on the given measurements. Then check the other info on floydrose.com and if you can't figure out the approximate position of the pivot posts, just put your tools away and ask someone to help you.

while much is written about the mainstream materials for solid guitars like maple, alder, poplar and mahogany, I find it hard to find information on the less orthodox materials such as birch, pine etc. What materials would be suited for what components and what effect should they be expected to have on tone? I'm sure the information is available on the net, I just haven't been able to find it...

sorry for bringing an old topic up to the top, but this is one of my pet peeves and I've just seen it said too many times in one week now. A floyd, or any other floating trem such as the fender-style synchronized tremolo, is either: A: Floating or B: non-floating (blocked) There is no such thing as a semi-floating trem, and therefore there is no such thing as a full-floating trem. The recessed rout does one thing: it allows the trem to be mounted lower. That's it. The benefit of this is that you can use the trem to raise pitch without raising the trem to an uncomfortable position (the non-recessed rout allows you to raise pitch, but the more you want to raise pitch, the higher off the body the trem needs to be and the more of a neck angle you will need).

I'm not sure about these single-locking licensed floyds. are they really as stable as a double-locking design? no chance of the ball-ends moving around and getting stuck as you use the trem? I guess if you used fender speed-bullets or whatever they call them it should work fine. I'd still prefer getting a used OFR or Edge trem (or Gotoh licensed floyd). They look and play great and will stand up to some serious abuse.

except of course that I would be more interested in going from a straight string-pull to a kramer-style pointy-head. on a neck-through. in reality, I won't do it because I lack both skill and money, but it's still interesting...

just wondering if it's doable. replacing a headstock that is. anyone done it?

so, are we getting any update on this project?

check musicyo.com from time to time to see if they have any steinberger parts. they used to have the r-trem, s-trem and transtrem for sale...

you make me want to have a go at my fr404... now that I won't have money to actually build a guitar for quite a while, I've been thinking of some refinishing and general modding... anyway, I think you're supposed to sand between every coat you apply, but I don't know what grade paper you should be using... it's looking nice

fender does a contoured heel which is pretty nice. it's also pretty easy to contour a normal strat heel this way. check pics of HM Strats and Sambora signatures (the MIA and MIJ ones) to see what it looks like. the heel is still there, and it's still blocky, but at least it's comfier... personally, I don't find the strat heel all that annoying these days...

the scale length won't be affected by how you design the neck, as long as you design the body to work with it. So you wouldn't be able to use a standard tele body with a true 24-fret neck. personally, I think that the kramer pointy headstock would work better with a metal tele, but that's just me. I think there's a pic of a tele-like creation at vintagekramer.com, but I'm not sure. also, about the pickup, look for more than just high output. high output isn't fun if it's all mud. My suggestion would be EMGs. but then again, I don't know what you're gonna be playing.

I finished my neck with no sanding at all. of course, I used nitro-cellulose laquer and did just 3 or 4 coats with about an hour between each coat. needless to say it's not very shiny and feels kinda "raw", but I think it plays damn well anyway. I guess time will tell if I'm a complete idiot (as usual) or a lucky fool

I didn't know schaller had a new low-profile floyd... is it any different to the Floyd Rose Pro (as used on the kramer proaxe and nightswan 2 in the early 90´s)? interesting... anyway, I'd suggest the OFR or maybe the gotoh floyd simply because I haven't heard a bad thing about them so far (plus of course the OFR works flawlessly in my guitars).

that's probably me... and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who doesn't have lots of skill or the desire to destroy a guitar...

I prefer the original bolt-through-neck version simply because I don't trust small screws. don't know why... with a fat neck (like my allparts), or a volute (like my kramer), I don't think it makes that much of a difference. The neck is still strong enough to take a fall or two. I guess it's different with thinner necks without volutes (like most modern superstrats)... besides, I take my guitars apart all the time, and the large screws are more easily found in the mess I create

there is at least one more. I don't recall the name of the author, but I think the book is called "build your own electric guitar and bass" or something like that. a bunch of nice pics, as I recall it (I've managed to misplace the book...), from the building of a bolt-on guitar and a neck-through bass.

A-A: basically just the way they attack anyway, I've moved on to the trussrod thing. what trussrod do I use? a single-action trussrod is cheaper, but requires a bit more work. a dual-action is more expensive, but should be easier to install. but is it all that much easier? still making at least one jig for the trussrod channel. is it easier to make a one-piece neck (rear-loaded trussrod) than a two-piece (separate fingerboard and front-loaded trussrod) when putting in a single-action trussrod? does anyone know what kind of trussrod was used by kramer in the mid-80´s? I'm guessing single-action, but I'm unsure. how would you know what trussrod is fitted to any given guitar? where can I read up on trussrods? where can I find pics of trussrod installations? where do I find info on how deep the channel for a single-action trussrod would usually have to be?

Seconded! The guy off New Yanky Workshop (discovery H&L) has loadsa fancy tools and he always put boards through his surface planer or jointer. How do these differ? Is it that the jointer will make 2 sides a square and the planer will only do one side but take off more material...or....no i'm guessing, i have no idea Chris took a quick look at a pic of a jointer (didn't know what the hell it was either and the dictionary wasn't helping). the way I understand it, a planer makes two opposite sides flat and parallell to eachother. a jointer is a variation of the planer where a support allows you to get the sides of your body-blank perpendicular (at 90° angle to the face of the blank). so with a jointer, you can make a completely square piece of wood. with a planer, you can make a piece of wood where at least one side is flat (and depending on model, probably two sides are flat and parallell to eachother)

so, what neck-woods would you suggest other than maple or mahogany? any that could be found almost anywhere (going to visit the local supplier of building material to see what he's got)? think I'll bring the neck from my '86 baretta to work some day and measure it up. just in case I go for a bolt-on. besides, a drawing of this masterpiece would be nice, wouldn't it? along with drawings for the neck pocket and floyd routs that could be pretty useful... unless the other guys insist on occupying the machine with worthless job-related crap that is...

so, what would happen if you got the wrong angle anyway? I guess that's one of the best reasons to go with a bolt-on; the angle can be changed after the guitar is finished...