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tele for a cop...


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so... kind of a lot going on this weekend.  bought a portable ac unit so was able to cool the garage a bit... and had to do some testing of my cnc (don't ask)... in the meantime got to work on fixing the cracks in my first prototype body.  

I did not envision being able to hide the cracks so well.  both were probably 2-2.5" long and fairly open.  both required some odd pressure to be applied... ended up using a number of clamps and then a ratchet strap to pull fwd on the clamp handle to get it right.  not perfect but better than i'd have thought it would go.

exhibit a... just to the right of that dark mark near the bridge pickup cavity... you can just make out a faint line mirroring the darker grain line there...

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can maybe see it a little better here

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and another crack was here about 1/2" to the right of the neck pocket

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little better shot here...

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here I drew a line next to the cracks...

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seeing how good this turned out... I'm fond of this one.  it won't fit the push/pulls I so like to use so will have to do a more mundane wiring or perhaps some toggle switchery... but this body is featherweight being 1/4+ thinner.  underdog is becoming my fav!  I'm guessing I'll have to do a nat finish on this as any dye is going to make those cracks stand out like a sore thumb... but that's a nice problem to have.

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did some re-work on the neck.  did the frets but it went horribly wrong - first time that's happened to me.  had a number of problems in terms of not getting the neck straight and then leveling... got too deep before I woke up and realized what was going on.  so... learning experience afa fret removal.  only did it one other time but it went pretty good.  had two very small chips that I had to patch up.  will regroup, sand smooth one last time and check that it's flat. 

note-to-self... if you check for flat in doors and then toss neck in garage that is 115degrees - chances are it won't be perfectly flat when you go to level it!  lesson learned.  so there you have it... some of my mistakes on display.  only counts if you can't fix it!

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2 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

Fixed cracks save precious wood so it's an ecological choice saving the planet! Good job!

I also save all the plastic bags I get in my truck and use them for garbage bags... and napkins lol... but that's more because I'm utilitarian. hehe.thanks

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On 7/11/2021 at 6:32 AM, Armaan said:

This is really nice!

well thank you very much for saying so!!

 

for the record (and those who care about my progress) I was working this morning on putting frets back on as I had a bit of a snafu when leveling and am now back to a point where I can reinstall them.  Hope to move to finishing after I finish fret install/leveling.

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1 hour ago, ScottR said:

Pulling and reinstalling frets is valuable experience.

I'll be willing to bet you've learned a bunch of stuff you wouldn't have otherwise.

SR

true.  this is only my second time doing it and what I've learned is that I hope I never have to do it again! 

seriously tho... maple is really a dif animal than ebony or rosewood -if it chips you are not going to hide it at all. 

I took great care to not pull any chips out... it was slow and a lot of work.  ended up buying those step mac chip preventers and they worked pretty good altho I didn't use the sm puller - just heated em up and worked the edges slowly with a razor blade.  

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  • 1 month later...
10 minutes ago, ScottR said:

That looks good enough to eat just as it is.

SR

well thank u fer sayin' so.  it occurs to me after the fact... that sand back is reall not much of an option after natural binding... and drawing the top color off with alcohol like I usually do might be problematic too.  Off to research the effects of mineral spirits on nitro laquer!

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5 minutes ago, mistermikev said:

well thank u fer sayin' so.  it occurs to me after the fact... that sand back is reall not much of an option after natural binding... and drawing the top color off with alcohol like I usually do might be problematic too.  Off to research the effects of mineral spirits on nitro laquer!

It has no effect on nitro. It is often used to wet sand instead of water.

SR

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Just now, ScottR said:

It has no effect on nitro. It is often used to wet sand instead of water.

SR

well aren't u just the most helpful.  very much appreciate it.  have a lot of sticker scum to get rid of too... hopefully it will handle that for me.  thank you again!!

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52 minutes ago, ShatnersBassoon said:

Gorgeous as always! There’s something about the bevelling on the edge of that fretboard that really tickles my fancy (she said) 😉

I have been working on rolling those edges... and trying to get close to a fav tele neck I have.  it is heavily rolled which means refretting it would be akin to refretting a scalloped neck as the wood under the fret has to remain straight out to the edge... but the rollover comes in quite a bit.  comfy as all get out.  I appreciate that that detail was even noticable!

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16 minutes ago, ScottR said:

Looking forward to seeing some clear on that color. I'll bet it will be spectacular.

SR

thank you sir... yes, really comes alive when wet so... just have to get the burst done.  working on it today.  thanks for the support!

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