82cabby

Thanks gang. Based on the votes of confidence, I'm going to proceed as is. Although, I'm going to keep the HOK candy idea in the back of my mind for the next build! I will post a picture when its done for reference. Thanks all!

That looks great! Man that blue pops! I could sand it back and spray the burst, but I was hoping to use a 2k clear on it. I think I would have to stick with nitro if I was going to spray the burst. Plus I have to sand virtually all the color out to get rid of the dots.

Hi all- I am working on builds #6 and #7 and this is the first time I have tried the "dark dye, sand it back, light dye" technique. I am working on two guitars, both with figured maple caps. One was dyed black, sanded back and then dyed blue. The other was dyed reddish brown, sanded back and then dyed amber. My method was: Sand the body to 320 wet it and let it dry to raise the grain knock down the grain with 320 wet the body apply the dark stain to the whole body until the color is pretty dense, let it dry sand back the dark color wet the body and apply lighter dye work with both colors until it looks right. Dye is transtint in water. 25 - 40 drops of dye per 25 ml of water. I tried everything first on scrap pieces and it worked fine with both colors. The blue and black body came out great. However, on the reddish brown / amber one I am getting tiny 'dots' of color that appear about 5 minutes after I am done. It seems like there are still tiny reservoirs of the darker dye left in pores and the light dye is bringing it out, but I didn't have this problem on the test pieces or the other body. I have sanded back and re-applied the amber 3 times and I keep getting the same result each time with the same intensity. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do from here? Here is a photo of the body: and a closeup of the dots: Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Hi all, Does anyone know where I can get a good 2 part wood bleach without having to buy 2 gallons and spend $90? I only have one, maybe two tops to bleach and don't need a lifetime supply! Thanks in advance

Hi all- I have a used set of humbuckers I would like to use in a project, but the leads are very short ( 2 inches). Any trick to adding on a length of shielded wire or is it as straight forward as it sounds?

Thank you for the replies. I am not dead set on walnut for the fingerboard. It would give the look I was going for and I happen to have a lot of it in the shop. I also have maple I could use. I'll have to mock the guitar up and see if I could live the look of the maple fingerboard on the walnut neck. Worst comes to worst I can order an ebony fingerboard which will maintain the dark coloration I was planning on. Thanks for the advice!

Hi all - I found this thread using the search, but it was originally created several years ago and the posts won't display, so... Before I waste a lot of time making one, how does black walnut work as a fretboard? I am in the planning stages of a guitar that will have a walnut neck and body with a figured maple cap. I was planning on making the fretboard from the same walnut as the neck and body. Is it suitable? Thanks for any pointers.

True, but if you go too deep...

Also, apparently this one is also height adjustable: http://www.allparts.com/GB-2585-010-Gotoh-510BN-Chrome-Height-Adustable-Bridge_p_1645.html

Fair enough. The design I am starting will have a carved top and I thought the easiest way to go with a bridge would be T.O.M. style. Here is the bridge I found with adjustable string heights: http://fullcontacthardware.com/fch-tune-o-matic-bridge

Hi all- Does anyone know of a Tune-o-matic style bridge that has adjustments for both string spacing and radius? I have found several with an adjustable radius and one (Shaller's roller bridge) that has adjustable string spacing, but I can't find one with both. I am in the design phase of a guitar that will have a carved top and would like to be able to tweak the bridge as much as possible. Thanks in advance for any help!

WOW what a great resource, thank you!

Glad to hear that Walnut can work as a neck wood. I wasn't sure it had the strength. I have never built a guitar with a binding before, but I think this time I will attempt it. Are there problems with the walnut dust contaminating a wooden binding (like holly, which sound gorgeous)?

Thanks! It's not all 100% perfect. Some of the slabs that went through the heart of the tree only have decent figure on the margins. Big question is what to build with it that would be unique... and how much carving/shaping can I do with the 5/8 thickness (rough cut). Also I would like to use walnut as the body wood, so what do I do with the neck? Walnut? Figured maple? Basically I need design inspiration!

yeah, my heart sunk when he told me he split all the wood. But at least we got some of it. He would like to make a humidor, with accents of quilted maple, but that can all come out of the firewood pieces I saved. I probably should have had the sawyer cut some thicker, but I was trying to maximize the wood. What do you think about a one piece cap versus book matched? I could do either. Carving down to 1/8" at the edge and then binding makes sense. I don't suppose I could laminate two pieces back together to get a thicker cap. The glue line would show when I colored the cap.