Bizman62

An acetone based glue like @Prostheta suggested is a good option. However there's differences in the binding materials. The old style stuff melts well but the new stuff not that easily. A good option to glue plastic to wood is Zap/Pacer Formula 560 Canopy Glue. It can be wiped off with a damp rag when it's still wet and it dries clear.

I have no knowledge about engineering, my first occupational studies were about bookkeeping and the last about PC help. But I get what you mean, a small base like the cap spreads pressure to a smaller area than a larger rim or even a washer.

I haven't done much binding so far but now you made me think about it... Some smoothing has most likely to be done if there's any clearcoat over the binding as a sharp edge would be prone to chipping. So that raises the question about the radius to be used for a crisp looking lines - would 1/4 mm be crisp enough yet providing a round enough corner for the clearcoat to be shockproof? Or an even smaller radius? Or perhaps just beveling the binding so that there's no 90 degree edge which would also make the binding look thicker? Ooh, my brain hurts!

For clarification I didn't mean to solely rely on the plywood-and-wedge clamps. However they can be a nice addition. Also, a lot of their pressure depends on several things: How thick is the plywood i,e, does it give in, for the same reason the depth; the angle of the wedges and the method you push the wedges in also matter. Long shallow wedges tightened with a sledgehammer sure do apply a lot of pressure... Another easy to build clamp can be made out of scrap pieces, carriage bolts and wingnuts. Regular hex bolts and nuts would allow using wrenches which should apply any desired pressure. A torque wrench would even allow for using the same pressure everywhere.

Why not make some clamps by yourself? A bunch of plywood C shaped pieces and wedges made out of offcuts are an inexpensive yet effective way.

Bungee cord is also good, it's widely available at hardware stores in various thicknesses. I got some nice lengths from a patio recliner whose canvas was broken. Agreed, it's not as tacky as bare rubber but the wowen cover still holds quite well. Surgical tube is another good option.

Oiling doesn't do any damage and if nothing else it fills the tiniest pores. IMHO oil is a much nicer alternative than grime to fill the grain and pores - no matter how shiny you get your wood there'll always be gaps and grooves. Consider oiling as a proactive step for cleaning!

You've really rubbed your wood shiny there!

Nylon strings are like a rubber band, it takes a whole lot of stretching even for a semitone. That's why you can't bend nylon strings and that's also (partially) why you don't need to slant the bridge. Further, the outermost strings on a uke are the thinnest. As the slanting is done to compensate the thickness (and stiffness) of the strings you can't do it similarly to a steel stringed guitar where you intonate the E strings and slant the bridge accordingly. Individual bridge pieces could be used but most likely the effect would be insignificant.

No matter the style or type, a well built instrument always looks good. This one is no exception to that rule. Outstanding workmanship!

Back at school at the age of 11 or so we built a small "Fortuna" (like pinball without flippers) game at the woodworking class. The board was a bit smaller than the body of a LP guitar. The curved end wall was made out of 3 mm 3 ply Baltic Birch plywood, the hard stuff. But it bent very easily in one direction, cross grain being on both sides. Laminating another similarly cut strip then stabilized the curve. So yes, if you can bend a foot-long strip to a ring it won't prevent anything from cupping that direction.

A lot depends on the wood itself. A veneer will help to an extent but plywood isn't the best option: In a three-ply plywood there can be two layers having the same grain direction with the actual piece! That won't prevent cupping at all since thin (less than 6 mm/1/4") plywood flexes easily cross-grain. A better option is to laminate a thin single veneer so that the grains are crossed. As it seems by the pictures your plywood is almost as thick as the actual piece. Having used the same wood would most likely have counteracted the warping. I'm not 100% sure about your idea of damping and vacuuming. I'd rather try less radical methods first, like putting the piece upside down compared to how it was before on the very same surface. If that helps, the next step is to ensure proper airflow on both sides. That kind of cupping often happens because the open face breathes while the face on the table is air tight. A grille or even some coarse cloth should help.

Fake binding? And you're worried about the dye on the back bleeding? That has been done before and there's tricks to do it relatively easily. One trick is to apply some clearcoat over the binding area. It's much easier to tape for lacquer than for dye. Even nail varnish will do, although using the same product for clearcoat would eliminate compatibility issues.

Nice to hear news about your project, it's been under progress for quite some while now! Unfortunately I can't help you with the electrickery, I just want you to know that you're being followed.

How much misfortune can one man have?

Wow! A Sovjet Shtrato-Cyushter! Is that a 5 pin DIN socket hanging from the last pot? That reminds me of a Sovjet solidbody I saw at a nearby guitar shop some 25 years ago, when the USSR still strongly existed. The Russian border is only 100 km from here and half of that where the shop was so there was quite a many Russian bands playing in dance restaurants - cheaper to hire than local bands... And of course they wanted to buy "real" instruments of at least vaguely known brands with the little money they got. The problem with the guitar was that there was no sound, or at least the shop personnel couldn't get more than a whisper out of it. It may have been faulty, or they just didn't have a proper adapter, or it would have required a strong preamp. I never heard how the story of it ended.

That's an interesting construction! Unfortunately my Spanish is non-existent but for what I could understand the sound is both richer and more pronounced. At least there's no fear for the fret ends popping!

I don't make that much in two years!

Fixed.

As you may remember I wasn't too impressed about it earlier. Now with the pickguard I think it works, the creamy stripes of the ebony make a big difference!

Our local musical instrument dealer still praises Samick after some 25 years since the first ones came to his shop. They have to be a good quality manufacturer as they have built instruments for many big names including Yamaha, Ibanez, LTD, PRS, Epiphone, Jackson... Not Fender, though Price or brand doesn't tell how well a guitar plays. The best guitar vendors adjust every guitar they sell as the factory setup rarely is good enough. Often the nut has been left tall which makes chording a pain. The fret ends may also stick out, either because of poor filing or shrunk fretboard. The intonation may be off, the truss rod loose as well as bolts and screws... Some issues may be intentional to be fine tuned for the actual player, some may be because of climate changes during transport and some may be for eliminating tension related problems during transport. Shortly put, a well set up guitar plays well. Regarding sound, the sound of the solid body guitar comes mostly from the pickups. The neck has an effect to the sustain which is part of the tone, it also affects the overall "feel" or "responsiveness" as it vibrates. The player has a big role as well - you can't really judge the sound of certain guitars by hearing each of them played by a different player! Just give me any great guitar and it will say "thump, thump" when I play it! And lastly, the body has quite a minor part in the sound of a solid body electric. Congrats for a great instrument!

Yepp. That's the basic Strat wiring. The "B" pot is volume, the two "A" pots are tones. There's lots of snake oil information about grounding but it's really very simple: All ground wires and grounded parts have to end up to the sleeve of the output jack. The style is free, from a spider web to a single metal plate and anything in between. In the picture you can see that the cover of the volume pot is a collecting point for all ground wires, in your harness I suppose it's the white wire. If you're worrying about soldering three extra wires to the pot, you can combine the pickup grounds and solder them to a piece of wire which you then solder to the pot. A 3-to-1 adapter if you will. If you do that, remember to use tape or shrinking tube to protect the joint.

You were lucky! Super glue and pale dust usually end up much darker than expected, mostly because of the heat produced by the hardening process - you may even see smoke sometimes! On darker woods it works fine, though, and as your fretboard has those darker lines the choice was most likely right.

Ahh, didn't understand that. In that case there's no problem at all. Thanks for clarifying.

I'm not one to tell how others should do. But so you know we have members with names referring to their own company. Also, what do you think TGF thinks about using their trademark as a nick?