soapbarstrat

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to figure out a way to rig a dial indicator to the dremel router, so if i need it to cut .001" deeper, I can set it to that depth. Also, the locking nut needs to sit lower on the high E side, so whatever jig the router is riding on, has to be able to be adjusted for that. I want to be able to rout the ledge that the locking nut sits on, so that I end up with an exact string height over the first fret of .009" for high E, .015" for low E. So far, I have the idea in my head, of the neck mounting in my neck-jig, held in the playing position. Then a jig suspended over the lock-nut area, held there with threaded rods coming up from the table top. That way the jig can be made to slant lower on the treble side. That's the idea so far. Yes, StewMac sold a locking nut router jig for quite a while, I guess. I'm looking at it right now in their autumn 1996 catalog. It was part # 1356 and cost $61.55 (what a freakin' odd price). 'Guitar Player Repair Guide' mentions it and says it came with very detailed instructions. My guess is that there must have been a flaw, which made them stop making it, or it was too much trouble to make, or anyone who wanted one, had already bought one, and they just couldn't sell anymore. I have all the StewMac catalogs going back to 1987. There's been a few tools that are no longer available, but you'd think they should still be. Like the 'lock nut monster' : a clever little device that pulls the locking nut up while the guitar is strung up, so you can fine-tune what size shims to put under the lock-nut. Or maybe they still sell it. I'm too lazy to check on that. Rob

I mentioned in another posts that I'm afraid to use a Dremel to rout the ledge where the locking nut sits on, but I'm not happy with using a small sanding block either. So, now I'm considering the Dremel method again, and would like to find out how others are doing this. any good web-pages on this ? I know about the jig Stewmac used to sell for doing this, but I'm looking for more detail than " yeah there's some jig they use" I'm interested in things like using a dial indicator mounted to the dremel to get precise depth cuts, etc. Stuff that'll real give me a nice fat headache. Thanks, Rob

I've found that my benches that are against the wall, basically just get used to set things on, and I always prefer my 'luthier's workstation' from StewMac plans. I have it so I can walk around it, with only one end near the wall. I have a regular vise mounted on one corner, pipe flanges screwed to one end for a pipe clamp vise like Kathy Matsushita has (which I'm sure we both got the idea from Stewmac's 'trade secrets'). The top rotates. http://www.onlinerock.com/services/soapbar...//workshop7.jpg http://www.onlinerock.com/services/soapbar...//pipevise1.jpg http://www.onlinerock.com/services/soapbar.../neck-jig2b.jpg http://www.onlinerock.com/services/soapbar...fret-work30.jpg If I had to do it all over, I would have made it out of used wood, because the new maple shrunk, and I had to square up all the pieces with a router after a few years to get 'em all fitting tight again. Also, if I would have used old "banged up" wood, I wouldn't have been so afraid to drill holes all over to mount jigs, etc. I would have made the top out of solid core door (dense particle board), then made those slats screwed on to it out of boards off pallets. I'm slowly gathering scraps that people throw out (solid doors, cabinets, pallets) and when I get enough, I might build another one. Nothing beats a rock-solid bench that you don't mind beating the piss out of. Rob

"There was some sort of tutorial guitar with LED's for every note on every fret" I think that was called "fret light" or something like that. I wanted one BAD, because it lights up all the scales on the board. Now that I'm more into rhythm playing, I'm not really looking for one, because I can just look at different tabs for songs to pick up new chords. Leds have a positive and negative side, which must be wired correctly. I used to have a Stewmac video that showed how to put LED position markers on a fret-board, but I sold that video. The video was called 'shop talk ' 2. 3, or 4. I forget the number. It would be good if you're playing in crappy clubs, where the audience is drunk and makes rude comments to you while you're playing. You could flip a switch, and have ' F*** off and die ' light up on the fret-board. Rob

Machine screws/ threaded inserts provide a tighter connection of body and neck, allow you to keep bare wood pieces in tight contact with each other. No glue to dampen the tone, plus it can be taken apart. Most ebay necks are warped, twisted. Ok, I don't have enough experience with ebay necks to say this, BUT, I've had 3 Ebay necks sent to me for fret-work in the past 4 months. All 3 had bowing that the truss-rod couldn't get out, a "rising tongue". 2 were twisted pretty good. But people pay for these ebay necks as if they are necks in perfect condition. makes it impossible to get a neck in need of repair for a really good price (that would allow you to fix the neck and be able to sell it and make money from your work)

Forgot to say that I've been fretting for a long time, so if you are starting out, you might need extra wire. maybe 6 feet for a neck to be safe. You wouldn't want to order only 4 feet, pay the shipping, mess up some wire, need just 2.5 inches more wire, then have to make a whole other order to get it. Just bought a big handful of StewMac #155. This is THE wire, I've been wanting for my own neck for quite a while now. I consider it to be the perfect size. I like the actual size of the pieces I have better than Stewmacs listed specs, which are .050" high .080" wide Mine is .048" high .082"--.088" wide And if you're fretting a bass, consider how stupid it is to put high wire on a bass neck. The damn big-ass strings already keep your fingers off the board wood. I didn't come up with the idea to use small frets on bass. Ive read about it here and there, and it makes perfect sense.

I know that. many say to lower it, and don't mind if it gets too low, then they raise it back up with shims.

I need info on fast and accurate ways to lower locking nuts, that don't have any shims, and I don't want to have to put a shim in, I want a way to lower the wood faster than I have been for the last 2 hours, which is using a damn little sanding block, then putting the locknut back on, finding out I only lowered it by .001" after it appeared I sanded off .005" of wood. Good thing there's no vodka around right now. I got a dremel router jig for locknuts, that I made, but I don't trust it. too easy to take too much wood off. Rob

I've used jigsaws such as the one's built by Bosh that worked better than some cheap bandsaws do

The "hard tail " bridge on my current main strat has a Gibson string spacing. I know it must because it makes my strings line up about perfect with Gibson spaced pickups. I guess it makes my E strings have a little more room from the edges of the neck, but I haven't even thought about it. Strat neck nut widths go all over the place. Just get a blank that fits the slot, and make it the same width as the neck at the nut slot, then lay out your e strings, and space the other strings within that. Washburn wonderbar eh ? man, I remember when those came out in the mid-80's. Almost put one on my Fender Lead II. Glad I didn't. Those things must be a bitch to find parts for now.

Made a nut out of steel. It caused something weird to happen when an open G was played. I'm not sure what you call it, but there's a sound that submarines make in the movies, if you know what I'm talking about. Well, I think from the steel nut, to the tuner post, it was causing it to make that "submarine sound". I recorded with it and left it in the song. I think Corian is a good nut material. Makes the open string sound like a fretted note. Remember a fretted note has your tone robbing finger right behind it. Burnish the nut slots with feeler gauges, etc, to create a hardened surface. Had my carpenter business partner cut me some 1/8" thick pieces of ceramic so I can make nuts out of them. So far, it's impossible, the stuff is too hard, plus when Corian is so cheap and sounds absolutely fine, why try to deal with a super-hard material for a nut ?

Takes 4 feet of wire for me to do a 22 fret neck, typical neck width. I don't use a lot of over-hang. But it's such a shame to cut up those nice 2 foot long pieces of fret-wire. Why can't we just leave them as they are, and make 2 foot wide, 60 string guitar necks with them ?

I used an 80's Ibanez for a good part of this year when I was away from my US home. That guitar had the typical lacquer finish covering an all maple neck. It really made me miss my rosewood board neck. Now I'm currently working on a Wolfgang neck with a light oil finish and it makes me really want an oil finished maple neck now. It's SO much better feeling than a plastic feeling lacquer type finish. And an oil finish is so easy to do, it's funny. Rob

You can't tell hardly anything from that photo. Of course the nut looks lower on the High E side, the string is smaller and closer to the fret-board. And the Low E side might be thicker than it has to be (making the low E string pretty high off the frets) . I agree that the nut looks funny, but the headstock doesn't seem to show much twist. First few frets look quite odd, and do look to be slanted downward on the treble side. From how those frets look, I suspect some twist or dip in the fret-board. Well, the main thing is, that more pics would be needed with much better lighting. What would be good is a pic from the far body end. looking at the neck. Also what would be good, is the guitar with the body clamped to a light colored table top, with the neck close to the table top. Headstock barely above table top. I'd like to see what that headstock is up to. Your first few frets look problematic, but from that photo, I can't tell if would take normal refret board leveling to make the problem go away, or if the neck is a "lost cause". I wish I had before photos of my Bass neck. I doubt you got a twist as bad as that sucker, and I took the twist out of the fret-board (fret board got sanded down to almost nothing in some places). Headstock stayed twisted. Plays good, though. Most necks develop some twisting and warping. A fret-job usually rectifies the problem ,and if done right (or better than right with a 'neck-jig') the guitar will play better than when it was new. *** I edited this post. I had written that you could have someone heat-treat it to try to take out the twist, but I doubt that heat can cure a twist. Rob

Yeah, 100 damn dollars, which is why I never bought one. I've been trying to make one, and keep failing in my attempts, and now I am getting much more busy with repairs coming in, so I finally gave in and ordered it. I could have gone out and got a plastic T square to make an economy one, but what the hell. What sucks is that it's 100 bucks and is only good for 2 scales. Now, I guess after using it, I'm going to start depending on it, like I do with everything I buy from stew-mac. What am I gonna do with the next bass that comes in, or 25" scale guitar, and I ain't got a notch-edge for those ?

Dave, I hope you don't think I was making fun of you, it's just not everyday you hear about body-bag use around the house. What length bar is " the ****" ?, 'cause I just ordered the 16" one (and got carried away, and ordered the notched straight-edge, fret-rocker straightedge, bulk fret-wire, nut files. and several other post-x-mas stocking stuffers) CHRISTMAS GIFT MONEY HAS LEFT THE BUILDING ! Rob

" I used to use discarded body bags (Don't ask!) to protect the guitar bodies ". Ok, I ain't askin' nuthin, but I hope I can make a comment or 2. Ummm, ok, so these aren't just body bags that I would like to assume are new. They are *discarded* body bags, which brings it to a whole other level. Also it had also been mentioned to use clear straight edges. I made some short ones , and I have to say, clear straight edges are a real pain in the ass. Really makes the "backlight" method hard to do. They will work for the method of "rocking" because you can use your ears instead of your eyes for that. How the hell did I become an advanced member ? I haven't even given Brian anything for Christmas. Rob

Being the compulsive son-of-a-bitch that I am, I searched high and low for a couple of hours and found out "V82 V50" is also called SHER-WOOD® PENETRATING OIL, by the same company. Did a search on that and got a 'pdf" file with some specs, such as: "uses the same resin as SW wiping stain concentrates", " mix 1 part V82 V50 to 1-2 parts naptha for a penetrating oil solution". Ok, it's getting damn boring (since I tend to run topics into the ground), but I'm almost willing to bet money it's about the same as a Danish oil.

Speedy, you are cool. Many thanks, because I doubt I would have found such a great source of info in regard to my question. "Sherwin Williams penetrating oil V82 V50" I'm gonna look that up, but there's a sherwin williams shop a mile away. Rob

Looked on their site just now, and found a message by a Peavey employee saying there's nothing but a lemon oil finish. Never been on their forum before. Peavey can't be too happy about all the messages there, with people raving about all kinds of non-peavey guitars. I've got a huge bottle of lemon oil, so things aren't lookin' too bad , so far. Rob

A Wolfgang neck is on it's way in for fret-work. Customer says the fret-board has some "warping" problems. He'd rather I try to compensate for the problem with just a fret-mill, but if that won't do, a re-fret is in order. I know these necks have an "oil finish" , but I hear different people say it's different kinds of oils. I've heard it's Tung oil, and to the other extreme, I've heard it's just lemon oil. If anyone knows what it really is, I'd like to know. I'll probably contact Peavey, but you know how it goes with big companies. Usually the person answering the phone doesn't know the company product specs that well. Thanks, Rob

Yeah, it had this smell like a mixture of newspaper and some kind of industrial glue/plastic mixture. Well, does it cause damage ? I went to a lung doctor in the summer of '02. They put me on a machine to do test to see how my lungs are, and they said I do have lung problems. Phenolic, super-glue, acetone, lacquer. lacquer thinner, etc etc. What can one expect ? If you really want the stuff, it's got to be out there, but black might be a problem. I'm saying that because last time I was in a plastics shop and wanted something in white, they said " no colors". But I think I paid 14 bucks a piece for those phenolic fret-board blanks from LM, which seems pretty damn high for 9-10 years ago. I'd prefer to never have to work with the stuff again, but I've done fret-work on some steinbergers over the last several years, which have phenolic boards. Rob

Hey! I wouldn't mind a "make your own phenolic FB" tutorial. It's been 9 years since I did those. 2 of 'em. I didn't make the phenolic from scratch, I bought it from Luthiers mercantile. You work it just like wood, but it's harder. It's probably kinda like SS frets compared to the standard Nickel silver frets. Carbide is king, for sure in this case, for you're routing bits. Or imagine that really hard synthetic nut material you've probably used, only now you got a fret-board like that (phenolic makes a nice nut for a bass, and that's exactly what I used the scraps for). I used epoxy to glue them to the wood necks. Now for the insane part. On both phenolic board necks, I scalloped the whole neck. Not little shallow scallops, but the big one's just like the one photo in 'Guitar player repair guide'. roughed in the scallops using a drum sander on an electric drill. Measured all the time, not to go farther than I wanted, then cleaned up with files and sandpaper. An oval Bic lighter covered in sandpaper held with carpet tape was great for up to the 12th fret, or so, then round rasps, files, pencils wrapped in sandpaper. The drum sander ruined the frets, which was fine. they were pulled out later and the necks re-fretted. Can't think of any good tips for working with phenolic, other than the warning that it's like working with the hardest, hardwood you can imagine. It's consistant, so you don't have to worry about coming across harder and softer spots, which happens in real wood pretty often. Also, it actually appears to have a slight "grain" because the stuff is made from layers of paper pressed together, then saturated with the resin stuff, then I think it's heated. Something like that, but I'm just going by things I read about how it's made and what it's made of. But I did see the "grain" since I worked with the stuff. The scallops show a very slight interesting "grain", but the stuff is pretty much dead cold black. There very well could be different ways that the stuff is made, so if you were to ever get any, it might not be exactly the same as what I had. It's very tough on small dremel dental type bits and broke many of mine. Rob

Depends what kind of person you are. Some guys are real "high tech" and use the latest lazer guided diamond leveling block to give the slightest level to their already perfectly seated frets, while others like Mike Stevens pound with a hammer with the neck on an old piece of train track underneath and take lord knows how much metal off the frets to get them level. Some have an "old craftsman" style, some are trying to be a human CNC or something. I prefer the most up-to-date method , short of setting up shop on a star trek space ship, but there's something appealing about the way these "old timer" types go about it. And they get by with only enough fretting tools to fit in a lunch box. Stew-mac'll have ya adding an extra room to the house for tool storage space. Rob

Depends a lot on what type of strings. The flat wounds are quite a bit easier on a wood board. Don't forget violins, cellos. acoustic upright basses have ebony fretless boards. I've made phenolic fret-boards. Man, you want a damn hard board, that's it.