soapbarstrat

I mean the stuff that's just a little thicker than the "water thin", not the stuff thats as thick as epoxy. I think it would mostly soak in too. Of course if this board has been oiled, waxed, had lord knows what wiped on it, it could be hard to get anything soaking in and staying on the surface. Should be cleaned with naptha, mineral spirits, amonia and water, maybe alcohol, maybe lacquer thinner. There's a certain order of what you use first to last, but I don't have the list near my computer. I would use acetone as the last step, probably, depending on the type of wood and inlays, binding.

super glue would make it hard. I guess I'd use the medium if I were to do it that way. Super glue is supposed to be much less of a "tone sink" than epoxy.

Drak sounds fine to me, and I can totally picture it on a headstock. Initials remind me of big corporations that are run by tons of people and make all kinds of compromises to make the most money. I wish people with funny last names would make guitars, and have their name on the headstock, like the name Bumstead. Wayne Chavel sure came up with some silly names for his guitars. I think at one point it was 'Mister X guitars " . Holy crap. Guitars from China should have chinese writing on the headstock. Then when you call the music store to ask if they have any, the real fun begins. One of my favorite last names is 'Lawless'. I guess that would be a cool name on a headstock.

I think in the US, the customs form says you can have up to $800 in merchandise, and not have to pay tax unless you have more than that. So it sounds like Australia is much more strict. Maybe if the stuff doesn't look new it also helps. Hmmm, maybe that's the real idea behind the relic guitar craze. Rob

Mahogany with all that missing wood; it's not up there with the strongest necks, for sure. And if it's got a classical type body, the addition of 6 extra strings could really cause problems or weird stuff. PLUS, is this the nylon stringed guitar, you want to switch to steel strings ? From 6 nylon to 12 steel ? Uh oh. Rob

I can't think of why you can't just act like you've brought the guitar(s) from Australia and are just taking them back home. I have taken my strat to Europe twice and take the neck off and have the neck and body in a regular suitcase. last time I came back I had a bunch of tools I bought, even still had the price tags on them. Claimed them on the customs card, but no tax. find an ad for a guitar that looks similar, but is a super-cheap one, so you can say that's the guitar you bought, that is, if you really have to tell customs. Should I tell about the 4,000 year old vase I had to transport early this year ? No, better not. Still puts a knot in my stomach thinking about it. Rob

26.25 inch = 666.75 millimeter I use this site a lot : http://www.onlineconversion.com/length_common.htm I would always double check using rulers, when marking it out on wood. Oh ****, it's got '666' in it.

Oh man, I guess I had been right about Derek. Derek, PM me some winning lotto #'s if you get the chance.

I see what you mean. I was wondering if Derek had some kind of telepathy power

Almost looks like something soaked into the wood at the end of the body near the knob holes. What's the Ed Roman connection ?

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even though I seem to know the "correct way" to solder, I have the worse damn luck with solder guns. I go through them like water and that wouldn't be so bad, but soldering is a very small part of what I do. I keep trying to "upgrade" and the same crap happens anyway. The gun just doesn't get hot enough after only a few months. Also, sometimes I leave them on overnight by mistake (don't tell my insurance co) and they never work as good after that. Maybe it's time for one of those 3-prong jobs. The Craftsman is my latest, seemed real heavy duty, now it's getting to be a weak little piece of crap. Rob

"I use a gun. I dont even touch the pots. It melts the solder so well, that I just hold it above and the stuff does its own job. Flux helpd too. " I thought the way to solder was to make the actual parts (pot lug, wire) hot enough that they melt the solder when solder is applied to them, but solder isn't applied directly to the iron, except to tin it.

Yeah, it's not being played enough to get a real good idea, but I was noticing a bit of "clang" in the tone. I think the sound of the frets comes through a lot when an instrument is played through an amp. The metal strings make direct contact with the frets, so they influence the tone of the string to the pickup, in my opinion. Not everyone hears the same, though. And not everyone agrees with acoustic versus plugged in sound. Rob

Ok, didn't realize you took information sharing about that particular saw so personal.

it's not so hard to do : http://groups.google.com/groups?q=+Ryobi++...G=Google+Search

Look up all the info you can about that bandsaw on newsgroups, woodworking forums etc. I don't want to put it down, but I was on a forum about 2 days ago, where they were talking about a Ryobi drill press and several people said it was very poorly made. One guy said his father-in-law bought one and the spindle run-out was really bad. They took it back, and actually ended up getting a cheaper drill press at harbor freight that had a better spindle. You might not even read this until after you buy it. It's probably ok, but I always check on the internet. I found out that listening to what others say about particular tools goes a long way. I should have avoided harbor freight drill bits after reading only negative comments on the internet about them. Rob

I don't think i saw anyone mention using foam under the pickups, which works like a spring, but maybe absorbs some vibration, but maybe that's good.

Is it a headless steinberger, or one of those that has a headstock with those cool tuners that are straight, like a super high-tech banjo tuner ? Stew mac sold those darn things for a while and had a photo of them on a strat neck. I wanted to buy some, but didn't get around to it. Not sure if I still want them, but I really do need to buy some tuners. So, now that you say the bergers have the same ratio, we can assume that both are using the same fine-thread, which results in a 40:1 ratio.

Notched straight-edges for 34", 32" bass scale. and also for 24" and 25" guitar scale. The elves better have a machinist back-ground, or I won't be too happy with how these tools turn out. Stainless steel fret-wire. Enough to totally fill a large stocking hanging from the fire-place. Peterson VS 2 tuner

Tuning Ratio 40:1 -- versus other tuners (at least MOST other) that have a 12 to 16:1 ratio. You know how on a typical tuner, it's real easy to turn the knob just a little, but you suddenly are way too sharp or flat ? Well, with something like 40:1, you would make the same amount of turn, but the pitch would change much less, so it's easier to fine-tune the note right where you want it. But 40:1 seems like it might be too fine, but I haven't used them, so can't really say. They are gearless, which means there's no gear to wear out, but there must be some kind of threads, and those could also wear, but it depends how strong the metal is. But the thread also has string tension on it, which of course is pretty hard on a thread, being turned while being pulled on, at the same time. grease on the threads would certainly keep the wear down, and I guess they are sealed with grease in them. Rob

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Thanks LGM, I'll check that place out. 100 bucks is high, but I've got a pretty long list of several things I need from a place like that, and I've been looking at MSC and Mcmaster carr for a while trying to figure out what the hell I need (various screws, metal bars, rod and sheets, some taps, etc) But, ALL the online catalogs for places like that are a pain to deal with. Someone could make big bucks coming up with a internet catalog program that can really simulate thumbing through a printed catalog. Brian, Dremel even sends free parts sometimes. At least they did with me. When I bought my late 80's/early 90's Dremel (the long one), I found that the new designed SUCKED, and made the chuck wiggle. I wrote to them saying it was crap, and as a reply they sent me a new shaft/bearing assembly (the end part that the chuck screws on). Of course, it was just like the one in my tool, so I didn't put the new one in there, because it was a design flaw, not bad bearings. I still have that extra part, even though I sold that Dremel. I think I'll hold on to it, because I'm pretty sure my step-father has one of those Dremels, and I guess it'll be mine someday. I also just saw that Stew-mac has little Dremel router bits that are carbide tipped. Starting to piss me off that I'm so busy I can't even notice whats in a stew-mac catalog that I've had for 10 months already. Rob

Depends on the fret-board width difference between the nut end and last fret at the body, and the exact path of your sanding block is going. If you level exactly in line with the strings, it can be pretty subtle, like 9.5-10" at the nut and 11-12"" at the last fret at the body end. If you make a little more effort to exaggerate the path of the outer strings, it will make the radius difference between the nut and body end greater. You have to use radius gauges and check what's going on, so you don't sand more than you should. I hated always having to make a real effort to keep radius sanding blocks lined up with the neck center-line while sanding with them. I never did buy stew-macs wood radius blocks, because I made my own. But I wondered how straight theirs were, and thought they probably warp a little after a while. It's much easier to check a flat block, plus a longer block (13"-18") that is dead flat, makes a more buzz-free neck, than using 4-8" wood radius blocks that could very well have some kind of twist/warp that is hard to detect. Of course I'm not the only one who feels this way, because stew-mac has come out with those sanding bars, long after they've been offering the radius blocks.

Where's the best place to buy 'em from ? I got some machinist supply catalogs, but I don't even bother looking in them anymore, 'cause they don't even explain what the f*** the stuff is used for, and it all seems too expensive. I have heard of end-mills, but never thought about seeing if they have small ones for a dremel. Hell, I want some kind of 1/4" shank gizmo to chuck in my big router to do a *little* bit of metal grinding on some SS screw heads. That's what sucks about machinists and machinists supply places, they don't want non-machinists to know that they could also have some uses for their specialized tools. I joined a machinist forum yesterday and learned about using a "center drill" to get holes started in the exact right spot. Now I have to find out where I can get this thing. Rob