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Thanks Bassisgreat, appreciate the response!

Got the chambers routed to the right depth:

guit12.jpg

Also finally took the time to get the neck set up for the truss rod route...next time I'll be sure to do that before adding the ears/cutting down the neck.

guit11.jpg

Unfortunately on my last pass I guess I didn't get the depth locked all the way, and it managed to creep a bit deep on me as I did the route. I was shooting for 7/16" deep for the Hot Rod truss rod, but as it stands the slot is at just over 1/2" deep. Is this going to create any problems? Should I lay a strip on the bottom to get it back to the right depth, or will it not be an issue?

Thanks

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I started to write this last night as I figured someone who has done it would have posted, but since not I will post. I was just going to say, often times with one way rods and others people routed the truss channel a tad deeper and put a cap over the truss rod. Just put the rod in, fit the cap into the channel, glue it in and then plane it down even with the neck, then glue on your fretboard. I believe this was quite common as in there might even be a number of tutorials floating around on how to do it. As Kenny said, check the depth again and make certain you are not going to carve into the channel. If it is really deep, you'll need to leave some thickness to the neck, though the difference between 7/16 and 1/2 isn't that bad, though you said it was over a 1/2. Anyhow, hopefully some more ideas will get posted, I just wanted to add some thoughts to get the discussion going, but I think I would cap the truss rod with a strip of wood and be very careful during the carve, but wait for a few more experienced answers and see what the consensus is. Best of luck with everything, hope it all works out for you. J

Edited by jmrentis
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well if you havnt done much on the fretboard you still have the option of knocking a mm or two off that to get overall thickness to where it needs to be. The hot rods seems to rule out really skinny necks anyway

a slightly v profiled neck can be very comfortable and still give you the thickness needed

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Thanks for your replies Wez, J, and Kenny, I appreciate your input. As it stands the thinnest part of the neck is now 3/16" thick, which seems very thin to me but I have nothing to really compare that to. I will certainly have to be careful with the carve, probably will end up with a different shape than I had originally planned but maybe it will all be for the best! Thanks again.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Spring break's over, back to work on the guitar. I got most of my parts in, so I can really start making progress.

I glued a strip in to the bottom of the truss rod channel, got it to the perfect height. Got the Hot Rod in there with a little silicone, then glued on the fingerboard. Also got the neck to the right taper (still need take one side down a bit more to get the right width, but the taper should be good). Finally, I got the fingerboard sanded down to a 12" radius.

guit13.jpg

Nice and shiny

Edited by mpatton
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Thanks guys. The padauk's been great to work with, love the color and it's been easy to shape. It does seem to work its way into the figure of the maple when I'm sanding, but I've found that going over the maple with an eraser will clean it up.

One other thing about padauk..err, how does one actually say "padauk?" I feel a bit foolish when people ask me what this crazy orange wood is and I stumble around the pronunciation.

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Little update. Got the neck glued in, a bit more carving done on the heel.

guit20.jpg

I'm very happy with how comfortable it is to reach the upper frets, much nicer than my old guitar. Not so happy about the maple "accent"...at the time, I thought it would be cool to have something provide a bit of contrast, but now that it's glued up (of course) I think I regret using maple. Maybe ebony or something similar would have looked good, but I think the maple there just looks like some sort of hole in the neck. Maybe it will grow on my once it gets carved a bit more, if not I might end up staining that piece a different color.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just a little update, finally got going on the binding, as you can see still have the other side to do. Also need to decide if I want to do binding on the inside of the horns...I was thinking I might sort of scallop them instead.

guit22.jpg

Binding closeup

Also while thinking of what to do about staining the guitar I noticed some printer ink refills sitting around, and wondered how they might work on wood. I experimented a bit on some spare wood, a couple different colors (black sanded back then blue, just plain blue, blue with a bit of yellow).

It seemed to work well enough..still deciding on what color to do, but does anyone see any reason why to not use these inks?

guit24.jpg

A couple quick photoshop mockups of color ideas...again I'm lost at the moment on the color, the hardware I've got is black. I kind of like the black, but at the same time would like something colorful to contrast with the red/orange padauk and white maple.

color.jpg

Edited by mpatton
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Thanks for the reply. Yes, that was my main concern...I certainly wouldn't want the color to fade on me because I was too cheap to get some real dye. I was hoping someone might have some sort of experience with this, but as you say this is a "mystery ink," and I'd be surprised if anyone knew anything about using printer inks on a guitar :D

Guess that means I'll need to pick some colors...any particular dyes you would recommend? I need to make an order from Stewmac soon and might get some of their ColorTone Concentrated stain, though I would be happier if I could find something a bit cheaper.

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I've got two year old photos printed, and their color sure as HECK ain't staying true.

I'd invest in the stains. Using the inks is great for color testing especially seeing how it behaves with the figuring of the wood. Once you pick your scheme, just buy the wood dyes, knowing those are designed to stay their color forever without fading or discoloring from UV deterioration.

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Okay. Totally being obtrusive here, but want to throw this idea out there in case you dig it.

The top of the body looks awesome, but the bottom looks very plain and round. To me, it needs a little styling there as well.

guitarideaxc6.jpg

And in that little cutout, you can install your output jack.

Thoughts?

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