ToddW Posted March 25, 2008 Report Share Posted March 25, 2008 (edited) Hi all, I've rough shaped the neck on my neck-through project, but figure I still have a good 1/8" to take off in thickness, and I'm almost set to glue the fingerboard on. But the neck is a few hundreds of an inch off strait, with a slight dip back from say the 5th fret to the 15th. It's much less than the thickness of a piece of news paper, but I don't have my gauges. So I'm wondering if I should glue on the fingerboard, finish shaping, and then flatten/ straighten it to perfect later. Or if I should sand a couple of hundreds off from the 5th fret to the nut area, and expect the string tension to move it that much? ? ? Any thoughts? Thanks, Todd Edited March 25, 2008 by ToddW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted March 25, 2008 Report Share Posted March 25, 2008 If it's actually less than the thickness of a sheet of newspaper, I have no idea how you could have eyeballed that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToddW Posted March 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2008 (edited) If it's actually less than the thickness of a sheet of newspaper, I have no idea how you could have eyeballed that. Easy. I have my .001" straight edge and a lamp, so I can see the light, but if I put a piece of newspaper where the gap is thickes, right in the middle, you can't move the newspaper because it's thicker than the gap. Enough thicker that you can see the difference in the width of the light shining through. Edited March 25, 2008 by ToddW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
low end fuzz Posted March 25, 2008 Report Share Posted March 25, 2008 if you cant feel it, its not there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToddW Posted March 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2008 (edited) if you cant feel it, its not there I actually spent another 30 to 40 minutes with a small sanding block and some 100 grit. Now it's almost gone. I was mostly worried about having varying fret heights later to get them level, but with where it is now, I think I'm pretty safe. OK, very safe until I screw something up later. . . Guess I just needed some reassurance. Thanks, Todd Edited March 25, 2008 by ToddW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 25, 2008 Report Share Posted March 25, 2008 With that exacting attitude, I can't see how you can go wrong....keep working on those lines and you'll do well as long as you don't stress over a newspaper sheet's thickness here or there :-D At least I can't perceive your threads having the word "Bondo" creep in. That stuff needs to be divorced from the lands of luthiery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted March 25, 2008 Report Share Posted March 25, 2008 Bondo? What's bondo? Sorry, couldn't resist That's someone else's guitar. Not mine. I swear. Never build your guitar next to the heater in the basement. Makes the wood all wonky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean Posted March 25, 2008 Report Share Posted March 25, 2008 Bondo? What's bondo? Sorry, couldn't resist That's someone else's guitar. Not mine. I swear. Never build your guitar next to the heater in the basement. Makes the wood all wonky. That's just not right !!! But it did make me smile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MescaBug Posted March 25, 2008 Report Share Posted March 25, 2008 I was mostly worried about having varying fret heights later to get them level You're talking hudreds of an inch... It's good to be as precise as possible, but don't go crazy either. Anyway, frets are sitting on the fingerboard right? Even if the neck is not NASA approved, you can still level the fingerboard surface to perfection before fretting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted March 25, 2008 Report Share Posted March 25, 2008 Great attitude tward accuracy! You keep your standards up One thing I have found is that the higher your standards the smoother and faster your work becomes. Final product of course benifit all the way around. Use your measuring tools as you have been, visually you can see very small gaps using light, touch is good also (but you need to rely on measuring tools in some applications). When you do get around to leveling before fretting, get it spot on, this will make fretting go much better, and if you do it well you may need liitle or no leveling (this is where accuracy pays off big time). Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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