nakedzen Posted January 15, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2022 True! Just wasn't sure if it was safe to level the frets with a slightly curved neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nakedzen Posted January 17, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2022 (edited) Got bored waiting for the bridge to arrive, so to entertain myself I printed out a paper copy and checked the neck alignment. Noticed some mystery dents on the first fret area while doing this. Thankfully a couple drops of water, a shirt and a clothes iron did the trick. Now I have nothing to wear for prom. Edited January 17, 2022 by nakedzen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted January 17, 2022 Report Share Posted January 17, 2022 Yikes! A soldering iron plus small balls of wet toilet paper are safer for steaming out dents....I just hope you didn't loosen the fingerboard with the iron. S-curves in a neck can be indicative of several things depending on when they occur. I'd say that you should really not be dialling out unevenness via the fretwork and doing so through the fingerboard. Frets should be fitted into a fingerboard whose surface is absolutely as close to perfect as possible....even when the high spots are levelled out in the fretwire, once the neck is under string tension and starts to find a balance between the strings and the truss rod, any weirdnesses in the neck will cause more high and low spots to reveal themselves through the frets. Let's see how this pans out and how the instrument is once you have it strung up. An instrument isn't always guaranteed to start playing games like that, however it is likely. At this stage I'm unsure how much can be done in terms of backtracking to the cause of the problem without causing additional problems through that work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nakedzen Posted January 17, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2022 (edited) I'm pretty sure 2-3 seconds of heating did nothing to the glue, having removed a fretboard with an iron before. That took good 20-30 seconds to heat it up enough to soften, and this was a very small area too. Edited January 17, 2022 by nakedzen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted January 17, 2022 Report Share Posted January 17, 2022 Excellent. That's a problem you don't want to have to deal with! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nakedzen Posted January 21, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2022 Cavities and holes done! I took ages faffing over which style control cavity to do. I think the tele style will look ok for this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted January 21, 2022 Report Share Posted January 21, 2022 No doing any neck dive bends with that! A lot of Vs have "Tele" style long thin routs, so it's the right move. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nakedzen Posted January 29, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2022 Bottom coats done and level sanded with 320-400 after 48 hrs. Still some filling and sanding to do before I start the top coats. Lower wing especially was pretty bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nakedzen Posted February 23, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2022 Much sanding and spot painting later. Still work to be done. Cheeky test fit. Really needs the logo to not look plain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted February 23, 2022 Report Share Posted February 23, 2022 Getting there, bit by bit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted February 24, 2022 Report Share Posted February 24, 2022 16 hours ago, Prostheta said: Getting there, bit by bit. I agree - it's coming together nicely @nakedzen That's a mighty large bore through hole for the cables. What kind of drill did you use and how did you keep the alignment of that sort of length? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nakedzen Posted February 24, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2022 Hand drill and hand-eye coordination. But it was pretty scary. It needs that large hole for EMG quick connectors to fit through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted February 24, 2022 Report Share Posted February 24, 2022 1 minute ago, nakedzen said: It needs that large hole for EMG quick connectors to fit through. Ah - of course. Respect, mate 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nakedzen Posted February 26, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2022 Easel makes a good stand for drying guitars too. Didn't want to keep it for weeks in our shed outside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted February 26, 2022 Report Share Posted February 26, 2022 Yeah, the dry cold will play all sorts of hell with the paint. It's defrosting and refreezing here in Varsinais-Suomi, so I don't like leaving myself outside either! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nakedzen Posted February 26, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2022 Also I like to see the guitar, so there's that. Swapped the easel for this contraption. Built it so I can have better way of painting the guitars. It has casters underneath. Hasn't fallen apart yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted February 26, 2022 Report Share Posted February 26, 2022 Hah, yeah that's a bit crazy. I'm hanging my Frankenstrat from the ceiling using a hook that I put in there. It marries well with the eye loop in the back. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nakedzen Posted February 26, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2022 (edited) Wife doesn't want any screws in the ceiling, otherwise I'd done that too. This has the added benefit I can carry it outside and paint the guitar on it. Edited February 26, 2022 by nakedzen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nakedzen Posted March 9, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2022 Vanilla Ice taking shape. Tomorrow finally I can take some steel wool to it to satinize the nitro. Hopefully I won't go through anywhere, it was so much work to get it all covered. Couple new holes need to be drilled, then install the hardware. Fretwork to be done. Nut needs to be cut. Not much left! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted March 10, 2022 Report Share Posted March 10, 2022 That is indeed a cool shape 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nakedzen Posted March 11, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2022 Thanks! Small delay in the scheduled programming. Went to route the electronics cavity deeper, router decided to start slipping lower from it's casing, I guess the locking nut wasn't as locking it was supposed to be. Well as it usually goes trying to correct a router before complete disaster... Ah well, more filling painting and sanding. Blah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 11, 2022 Report Share Posted March 11, 2022 Oh yikes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nakedzen Posted March 11, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2022 Well it looks worse than it is. Definitely easier to fix than if the router had lowered all the way through the top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nakedzen Posted March 15, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2022 Happy accidents were made. The rothko&frost decal crimpled when I applied the clearcoar, but now it's sort of embossed 3D looking so I'm pleased. Clearcoat done. Applied Boston satin nitro on top of the white. White nitro without clear really sucks in every piece of dirt and dust. Gave the white a nicer satin sheen than I could've done by hand though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nakedzen Posted March 17, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2022 Moving on... it makes noise! Really happy with the sound so far. EMG PA2 has really been a pleasant surprise, not at all gimmicky. Basically it's a clean signal boost, similar effect to raising the pickups closer to the strings, so you can have the pickups lower but still have the high gain output available. Fixing high frets with my SuperCheap™ solution. 400 grit knife sharpener, plus fret file, rocker and gauges from thomann. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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