avengers63 Posted January 8, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2008 I was told that the neck will be shipped this week. We'll see. I bought it about a month ago. He had to bandsaw the headstock, drill the tuner holes, inlay the dots, and do the frets. I don't know how long that takes, but it doesn't seem like it should take a month. I ordered the pups today. I'm getting a set from Bill Lawrence - an L200T set. I'm getting them from Bill himself, not that company that uses his name. I talked to Becky, told her about the axe & what I was looking for. She said the L200T set should do me nicely. Now, I have nothing but confidence that these will be really nice. BUT, even if they're only average, set of name-brand pups for just under $100 brand new & shipped to my door aint too bad. I also ordered the electrosocket jackplate, Steinberger tuners, pots, & shielding/wiring kit yesterday from StweMac. After devouring the wood finishing book, I centered in on using spray can nitro. Checking StewMac's prices at $9.60/can and seeing that I'm likely to need 4-6 cans, I went to Home Depot. Their cans of spray nitro are $5.50. No contest, especially in light of the statement in Flexner's book about "most aerosol lacquer is nitro". If, and this is a big 'if' (the neck), everything somes in within a week, I should be up & playing by the middle of February. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted January 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Here's a question for all you experienced guys: Are there any issues I should be aware of if I recess the p/g, pup ring, and conrtol plate into the top? I was shaping things a bit last night and drilling screw holes. When I saw it all there, screwed into the body, I began thinging that it might really look awsome if the parts were recessed into the body, making the top completely flat. Aside of making sure that the routs are deep enough to accept the electronics 1/8 inch deeper, are there any other considerations? FWIW: I'm considering the same thing with the neckplate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 When I saw it all there, screwed into the body, I began thinging that it might really look awsome if the parts were recessed into the body, making the top completely flat. Aside of making sure that the routs are deep enough to accept the electronics 1/8 inch deeper, are there any other considerations? I would highly recommend you drop this idea and just assemble it as normal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted January 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 I would highly recommend you drop this idea and just assemble it as normal. Would that be because it's too advanced for me right now, or is it more trouble than it's worth even for veterans? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted January 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Understood. Thanks for looking out for me AND for pointing out the real risks. I'll just keep this one on the shelf for later. I think it's a cool idea and probably very do-able, but you're right: I don't thing I can absorb the hit right now if I screw it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted January 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Experimenting on some scrap sounds like a great idea. It doesn't SEEM like it would be all that complicated. All you're doing is tracing the outline on the body, then making a precise, shallow rout. Thinking about it, though, the more idiot proof something is, the easier it is to mess up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted January 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 MOVED OVER TO THE "INLAY & FINISHING" SECTION - CONTINUED THERE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted January 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Why do you want to move the conversation to the inlay area? You have a whole guitar to build my man, this is only one single issue you will go thru. I think this is the right forum to leave it in (IMO). I transfered it over there because we were starting to go off on a tangent. It's an interesting tangent, and I want to explore it, but at the same time I didn't want to hijack the thread - especialy since it's the thread on my guitar! Also, since I NOT going to try it on this one, I thought it odd to continue it on this thread. The point was moot, but the conversation wasn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattharris75 Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 With regard to inlaying a pick guard; Low End Fuzz did this fairly recently in his SG bass build. Check out this thread: SG Bass Build Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted January 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 I'm kinda meaning a practice body, kinda not. My thought was to go through the process of making the body, but stopping at either "belt sanding to the final shape" or "rounding the edges of the top". For alignment purposes, the neck pocket might need to be routed, but that's it. Even if a little time is taken to level the top completely (sealer & block), no other work on the body is done. Also, it's made thick - 2 inches or so. If we go with a 1/8 inch depth, that'd give us probably three attempts on before it got too thin to be usable as a body. If it was tried on a standard, inexpensive wood (maple, alder, etc), the body could easily be unloaded on eBay if we didn't want to mess with it anymore. Unless you needed some nice coasters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted January 11, 2008 Report Share Posted January 11, 2008 Yup, I do need me some good Coasters. : Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted January 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 WOO HOO! The neck is in at last. Now I can drill the remaining holes and start spraying the finish. Which, of course, brings up another question. The bridge is a tune-o-matic roller bridge. Every TOM bridge is installed with a slight angle. What is this angle and how do I calculate it? I have Hyssock's book, but I can't seem to find it in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 its on page 23-26 of the second edition of the book, it tells you how to work it out rather than giving you all the answers... but there are also some good pointers in the tutorial section of this site http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=14036 doh... unless you mean the compensation rather than the neck angle... I put the treble side 1 mm back from the scale length and the bass 2-3mm back. measured at the studs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted January 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 doh... unless you mean the compensation rather than the neck angle... I put the treble side 1 mm back from the scale length and the bass 2-3mm back. measured at the studs. THAT'S what I was looking for. I'll check out the other items you referenced as well before I drill the holes for the bushings, just in case. Thanks, Wez. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted January 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2008 I got a little work done on the tele this weekend. Most if my time was spend on the yellow learning project and watching the NFL playoffs. Somewhere in the middle, I got to play with this. First, the neck came in! I have a hand-powered drill (pin vise), so I was able to to a test install on the Steinberger gearless tuners. The pickguard and control plate weren't lining up like they needed to - they were overlapping a bit! I did a little reshaping on the p/g to make everything fit on the body right. I think it turned out OK. I did a test fit of the electrosocket and controls as well, but I didn't get a picture. All of the holes for the p/g, plate, jack, and strap buttons have been drilled. I'm holding off on the pup ring until the pups come in, just to make sure everything is in the cavity right. This week I'm going to seal the neck, lightly resand & seal the p/g, pup ring, & control plate, and start spraying the finish. I might not actually get to the finish until next week, but that's OK. I still need to take the body to my brother-in-laws place and borrow his drill press for the bridge bushings & neck plate. Here's a really important question at this point: Some fretboard woods need to be finished, like maple. Some can just be oiled and be left alone, like rosewood. What category does padauk fall into? The f/b feels GREAT - it's smooth like silk - so I dearly want to avoid putting ANYTHING on it if I don't have to. Does it even need to be oiled? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supernova9 Posted January 14, 2008 Report Share Posted January 14, 2008 See, I look at that guitar, and just think that there's not enough of a contrast between the pickguard/control cover and the rest of the guitar. They're the same species of wood as the parts of the body, but the grain doesn't match on the maple so it looks off, and the colour doesn't quite match on the paduak stripes. Really doesn't work for the guitar if you ask me, black plastic would look much better. But again, opinions are like assholes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjlen Posted January 15, 2008 Report Share Posted January 15, 2008 Have you thought about trying to make wooden control knobs for it and a wooden tip for the selector switch? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted January 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2008 Have you thought about trying to make wooden control knobs for it and a wooden tip for the selector switch? I did look into it. Spalted knobs are gonna run me $12. Padauk will be 18, but they'll be finished already. Nobody will do a knob for the switch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim_ado Posted January 15, 2008 Report Share Posted January 15, 2008 make them all yourself for free out of scrap wood..easy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted January 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2008 The Bill Lawrence pups came in today. I'm pretty eager to hear them. Unfortunately, it'll be another month at least. I'm not going to rush on the finish. No need to post any pics right now. All I'm doing is spraying the pup ring, control plate, and p/g. I sealed the neck earlier this week. This weekend, I'll have the fretboard all taped off so I can start spraying the neck. I should be able to start spraying the Sunday. I'm using spray can lacquor I got from Home Depot for $5.50/can. I decided on lacquor because of it's properties of "melting" into the previous layer. I figured this would make the finishing process a LOT easier for a newbie. I decided to only seal the padauk fretboard and not finish it. We'll just wait and see what happens over time. Right now, it feels great. Very smooth & silky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.