N.O.T. Posted June 19, 2010 Report Share Posted June 19, 2010 My first "oh ****" moment is still very recent. I finished my first build about 2 months ago and realized my Floyd Rose Trem was about 1/2 an inch too far back. Measured and measured and measured, but still missed by that much. I've got a plan for repair but will wait until my pocketbook and ego recover. Ended up with a beautiful Swamp Ash VIP that makes a nice wall hanging. I guess just my first step in my education process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mors Phagist Posted June 20, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2010 My first "oh ****" moment is still very recent. I finished my first build about 2 months ago and realized my Floyd Rose Trem was about 1/2 an inch too far back. Measured and measured and measured, but still missed by that much. I've got a plan for repair but will wait until my pocketbook and ego recover. Ended up with a beautiful Swamp Ash VIP that makes a nice wall hanging. I guess just my first step in my education process. So a 26" scale? Now that Im finished with my first build, Its not so much "Oh ****". Now its more "Sigh". Apparently my bridge position was off, so the scale length was right, but the Heavy E almost hangs off the fretboard. *SIGH* The action is huge, due to it being fretless with a non action adjustable bridge. I had to add an extra 1/8th inch of wedges just to get the string buzz on the FB to stop. *SIGH* On this next one though, Im almost all done with the neck, the body is ready for work, and I haven't said "Oh ****" yet. More "Damn.", and "That'll probably sand out..." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedley Posted June 20, 2010 Report Share Posted June 20, 2010 Was thicknessing a body blank today and went a 1/16" too far , oh well, it will be fine(i think ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Abbett Posted June 21, 2010 Report Share Posted June 21, 2010 1/16 thinner.. That's custom. Charge Extra. -john Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mors Phagist Posted June 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2010 (edited) 1/16 thinner.. That's custom. Charge Extra. Thats GENIUS! Edited June 21, 2010 by Mors Phagist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supplebanana Posted June 22, 2010 Report Share Posted June 22, 2010 nothing major..... had an electric planer explode on me when I hit a blind nail in the bottom a door I was resizing.... bits of blade & sharp plastic flying everywhere - how it missed me I don't know. guitar wise - my biggest "oh ****" moment was when my wife knocked my 1st build over (SG) within an hour of me getting it completed - put a large pressure dent in the front face of the paint behind the tailpiece. near death experience/least intelligent moment that I actually survived - trying to solder a ring on the end cap of an EXTINCT .22 shell casing to make a pendant when I was 17 - lets just say scorched & solder splattered face, bent soldering iron, dented ceiling, temporary deafness, temporary blindness, ringing ears, laughing brother,etc. etc. this thread should definately be stickied & be proclaimed up there with Melvyn's tome for compulsory reading BEFORE attempting to build a guitar - or use power tools come to that!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mors Phagist Posted June 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2010 this thread should definately be stickied & be proclaimed up there with Melvyn's tome for compulsory reading BEFORE attempting to build a guitar - or use power tools come to that!! Also, its funny as hell to read. near death experience/least intelligent moment that I actually survived - trying to solder a ring on the end cap of an EXTINCT .22 shell casing to make a pendant when I was 17 - lets just say scorched & solder splattered face, bent soldering iron, dented ceiling, temporary deafness, temporary blindness, ringing ears, laughing brother,etc. etc. So you tried to solder a bullet casing? What happened? Was there still powder in it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggravated_alien Posted June 22, 2010 Report Share Posted June 22, 2010 * Polishing gold plated pickup covers with metal polish and taking the plating right off. * Masking gold plated pickup and pull the plated off when removing the tape. * Changing the radius of a 16 inch Jackson Neck to a 7.25 and sanding away the sides of the inlay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Abbett Posted June 22, 2010 Report Share Posted June 22, 2010 It's nice to know I'm not alone.. Sometimes I feel like the guys on the board come up with these perfect guitars, what you don't see is all the re-do's and pain and anguish. My guitars come out nice, but I have to work hard to get them that way. I'm finishing one now that I've stripped twice because I didn't like the way the burst came out. I was really getting bummed about it until I read this thread.. My last attempt at finishing this latest guitar, the paint can ran out while doing the shading on the sides and threw droplets all over the sides instead of nice fade. I knew better, didn't want to go to the store for another can when all I needed was one little bit.. Ugh. I think half of my problem is that I rush things. With life moving by so fast, kids, work, responsibiliteis I get an hour here and an hour there. When I get in there I rush to get as much done as I can. That's always a bad Idea. I need to put a neon sign over the door saying SLOW DOWN STUPID! Hmm.. SDS.. Catchy. -John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted June 22, 2010 Report Share Posted June 22, 2010 I hear you on that one John. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supplebanana Posted June 22, 2010 Report Share Posted June 22, 2010 near death experience/least intelligent moment that I actually survived - trying to solder a ring on the end cap of an EXTINCT .22 shell casing to make a pendant when I was 17 - lets just say scorched & solder splattered face, bent soldering iron, dented ceiling, temporary deafness, temporary blindness, ringing ears, laughing brother,etc. etc. So you tried to solder a bullet casing? What happened? Was there still powder in it? well - my brother gave me a bullet - he said he'd pulled the projectile out with pliers, poured the powder out, put it in a vice & set it off with a hammer & nail & then rinsed it out with water. foolishly I believed him & didn't do anything further myself. soldering iron on the end of the casing to tin it ........ BANG!!!!! couldn't hear, couldn't see, face was stinging, if you've seen Saving Private Ryan, the beach scene, shell lands nearby, GI in Tom Hanks' face screaming "What do we do now, SIR?" but TH can't hear anything but a loud whistling..... that was me! My face & hands were stinging because of powder burns & solder splashes, my eye's felt like & I'd been pegged down & my eyelids pinned open & forced to stare at the sun for 3hrs. Soldering iron was "L" shaped, board I'd had the casing stood on was scorched, there was a .5" dent in the ceiling & I never found the casing for 3 weeks!!! when I confronted him screaming "Are you trying to f******g well kill me?!!!!?" - he just laughed.... stopped laughing when he found my fist in his face...... but hey, that's brothers for you!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted June 22, 2010 Report Share Posted June 22, 2010 Maybe this thread should have been called "I'm a dumba$$ stories". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalandser Posted August 30, 2010 Report Share Posted August 30, 2010 (edited) I agree. I made a move that, looking back, was some dumb@$$ery: I had my big mistake today. I couldn't get some threaded inserts to go vertically into the neck I installed them in and I couldn't figure out how to get them back out so I figured I'd bore them out and dowel the holes and try again, this time using a better thought out technique (involving my drill press, a philips head bit, a machine screw and two stainless steel lock nuts - the brass ones I used stripped out and got me into this mess) to get them to drive into the neck vertically. It's been awhile since I've done any work with shop machines (bought my $50 drill press last week) and I forgot to start with a small drill size to core out the middle of the insert and went straight to the same size drill bit that had been used to drill the hole that the insert was now in. Pushed the insert into the neck and cracked the thing in a few directions (3 piece wizard II neck) and popped the fretboard away from the maple for about 1.5" on one side above the area in question. So far I bored out all the inserts the correct way and dowelled the hole I made the mistake on, filling it up with titebond II first so that the glue flushed throughout the cracks I made as I pushed the dowell in and clamped the neck to stay over night. I used a razor knife to open up a couple of the cracks that didn't look like the got impregnated with glue and squished glue in there with my finger. Next I'm thinking of lifting the fretboard off the neck above the screws and regluing it just to make sure that I fix my mistake completely. I checked out the tutorial for this so hopefully it'll be smooth sailing from here. Any pointers will be appreciated. Thank You, Anthony Edited August 30, 2010 by dalandser Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalandser Posted August 30, 2010 Report Share Posted August 30, 2010 (edited) I've been thinking about it and I ordered some thin super glue last night to squirt into the cracks and I think I'll just keep the fret board on and use the superglue there as well, being careful not to get it all over anything. As for putting in the inserts I don't think I can use the drill press since I can't make it crawl like a hand drill. With stronger lock nuts maybe I'll get better results. Any suggestions are welcome. Thank You, Anthony Edited August 30, 2010 by dalandser Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalandser Posted October 5, 2010 Report Share Posted October 5, 2010 .... I was putting the inserts in backwards... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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