DrummerDude

I'm good with this guitar for now, folks. Thanks for all your help. Will continue the tweaking process after the holidays. I will start by flipping the saddles on the thicker strings. It looks like doing this would get them some extra 4mm closer to the neck! I think this would be enough to fix the problem with the lowers strings going flat at the 12th. Thanks for noticing this, Swedish Luthier. I will also change the strings, as WezV advised. I may even put on thinner strings of good quality and see how it goes.

The idea with this guitar is to have low action and thin strings for easy playing. I sure can use thicker gauge bottom strings on the guitar and this would fix the intonation problem that is caused by the too distant bridge, but that would also kill the initial idea of having soft strings. Oh, and by the way: the slots in the nut don't allow for anything thicker than what I am using now (I guess 0.09's), so thicker strings won't go in the slots without the need of filing them wider. At this stage I'm too busy enjoying the holidays to bother with that new issue too. BTW, Merry Christmas to all!

Thanks for bringing this up. The bridge is positioned too far back. The thicker gauge strings go flat at the 12th fret octave and the studs need to be moved towards the neck. However, the studs are already moved forward to their Max. The bridge is just too far back and I can't do anything about it. Adding thicker gauge strings could solve this problem but I don't want to use thick ones. So I guess I will just have to live with a guitar that can't be intonated properly.

WezV, I am very happy with my current setup. As I mentioned, I was able to get 1mm action at the 12th without any fret buzz by raising the TOM just a hair on the side of the thicker strings. This magically fixed the fret buzz on the thinner strings too, even if I did not tweak that side of the TOM bridge. What I have learned is that an action of 1mm at the 12th sounds cool on paper but for some reason it still feels to high to my fingers... I guess I'm just going action-crazy here. Today I tuned the guitar half a step down to E flat (a.k.a. D sharp) and now I am getting a little bit of fret buzz because of the sloppier strings. They wobble a lot because I'm a heavy picker and I'm using picks made out of coins. That little bit of fret buzz is not a biggie though, I can perfectly live with that.

I have only checked the relief between the 16th and the 1st frets, as advised by WezV. The relief at the 7th fret is equal to the thickness of the G string. Don't really know how much is that in millimeters but I believe that it is less than 1/3mm. EDIT: I just checked the relief of the neck between the 22th and the 1st fret and it's roughly about 1/2mm at the 12th fret.

I get buzz on the 12+ frets but the buzz appears only when I am fretting up there. There is no buzz if I am playing something on the lower frets. I guess this means that the 12+ frets are not leveled well. I also get buzz on the lower positions on thicker strings. I really don't know what the string gauge is, but I suggest they are 0.08s or 0.09s - it's the string set the guitar came with. These strings are way too thin for my liking but I am trying to get a softer and lower feel on the strings because I have been playing with 0.11s for the last 5 years and those are quite hard, not only in standard E, but also in the low drop tunings that I use for my death metal project.

I am trying to customize an inexpensive Les Paul copy that came in solid black. I would love to have its top converted to flame maple look but I think its arched top would make it difficult to apply real wood veneer. Or am I wrong? Is there away to apply veneer to an uneven, non-flat surface?

Hi, I need some more info about the so called "photo flame". Is it some sort of a decal? Or is it a more complicated sort of finish? I understand that photo flame is an artificial thing and is not the same thing as 1mm veneer. I read that it is some sort of a film. The thing that interests me the most is: is it possible to apply a photo flame finish at home? Are there any decal kits for that, any methods, etc? Thanks!

I believe that Jackson even marketed many of their models as having Alder bodies while in reality the bodies were made out of Poplar. There are many kinds of poplar. Some of them show fantastic burl / flame / quilt effects - pretty awesome looking. Ibanez have a whole model that is especially topped by polar burl. It is a rather high-end guitar that sells in the $1300 - $1700 range. It sure looks killer, check it out here: http://www.guitar-village.co.uk/product-de...ew%2C+Inc.+Case For me Poplar burl is one of the coolest looking effects in wood, if not the coolest looking. Yes, you can use Poplar as your body material.

Forget about this topic, mates. It is pretty clear that spruce just doesn't work OK, no matter what "revolutionary" implants you put in it (in my case - a piece of beech bread cutting board). PS: Pride?! It's just an old and long forgotten "project" that ended up in the trash bin. Actually it's pretty damn close to a humorous sketch and I am surprised that nobody has noticed the funny part yet. There is just one video of this piece of pine on YouTube, not two, but I must confess that it kinda made my YouTube account popular. Just like my other video about alien abductions and extraterrestrial dinosaurs.

I just got my top wood. It is not a thick piece of poplar burl but a thin but WONDERFUL birdseye maple veneer. It's just freaking awesome - never seen such a beautiful birdseye before. It has a ton of quilt in it too. I'm just loving it and I hope that I will not screw up this beautiful piece of poetry in the actual veneering process. Don't have a vacuum press, so I will have to do it the dreaded, tricky and dangerous way - using a lot of vices. Any tips or tricks on the bookmatching are welcome. Here are some photos of the birdseye: http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/268/s5002652oz3.jpg http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/2765/s5002642zy3.jpg http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/8800/s5002647bb2.jpg http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/843/s5002650rr0.jpg

I want to buy OR exchange a set of 6-in-line tuners that have a 8mm base and are in black. If you would prefer an exchange (I do, by the way), I am offering this set of tuners (10mm base):

It's cool, looks like a Russian mandolin (balalaika)

This is outstanding, man. The combination of flame for the back and quilt for the face adds an extra dimension to the whole build. I love V-shaped guitars but never liked the classic Gibson Flying V. Your build totally changed my mind - it's just wicked cool!!!

I *think* that I may be able to get a piece of awesome poplar burl. If I can get it indeed, I will use it for the top of the guitar for sure. It's around 5 millimeters thick and looks awesome (never knew that poplar could be that flashy and cool). I made a sketch or a visual plan that I will try to follow. I have in mind figurative poplar burl top in clear gloss laquer, black "modern" Strat-style hardtail bridge, no neck pickup, no electronics (just an optional switch for the 6 possible positions of the humbucker). The back, sides and bevels of the guitar will be gloss black. Here's the sketch: