JOAMdude

since OFR nut's have a radius of 10" and my fretboard is going to be around 14' or 16', is there a way that i can compensate for this or adjust the action for the individual strings?

Basically would a OFR work on a 14" fretboard. cuz jackson does that with high end models and still keep that flat jackson feel so..... how? how do they do it? with custom nuts?

thanks for the help

make sure you determine the neck angle . i made a neck thru les paul style a few years ago . from where the nut would be to the back end of the body was straight then i glued my fingerboard on top. when i put the strings on the action was too high & i could'nt lower the bridge the only way to fix it was to sink the bridge in the body pretty much junk but it was one of my first projects

hrrmmm, ok ill do that too.

also if the OFR was recessed and i had a thick fretboard,w ould that also help?

Is there a way for the strings to be absolutely parallel with the fretboard? i mean i know that every guitar i've played the action is higher towards the 12th fret and also wider but just a question. thanks for the warning!

you gota be a little more specific.. by semi gloss do you mean just a satin shine and not a mirror finish? IM also assuming that you want it to be a wood finish and not a painted one by your context. I usually dont clear coat wood finish guitars, i go with danish oil so it still looks like wood, and not a piece of plastic.

this is the exact finish im going for

http://beatstreetmusic.com/images/NJCMGNM_1.jpg

so i would prep the wood, use danish oil, seal, then clear coat?

for getting a plain semi-glossy clear coat does one just fill the grain

and then run some clear coats over that?

(ov course after sanding the body down)

also, when sanding should i dampen it to raise the grain?

Thanks

-JOhn

Okay,but let me give you a suggestion or two.

To shape the back of the neck with it attached,the most inexpensive tool you gan get that will work well would be a good wood rasp.A long one,because you will need the length to shape around the body join.

I hope you already have the neck face jointed,because doing that with the neck attached will require a certain level of skill with a hand plane.

I don't recall if you said what type of bridge you were going to use,but if you have not already decided,then you are going to have to try to find one with sufficiently low string height to allow for the extremely low body/fretboard ratio,since you don't seem to have a neck angle.I don't believe that you will be able to make a standard 1/4" fretboard work for that.Most times(without a neck angle)the BOTTOM of the fretboard is 1/8" to 3/16" above the guitar top,and that is to allow clearance for a RECESSED floyd rose....one of the lowest bridges you can find.

So you will have to choose carefully.I think you said last you were turning it into a bass?scale length problems aside for now,look into the Badass bass bridges.I am only slightly familiar with them,but i believe they may have a working height similar to a recessed floyd.

Now back t the scale length.You have enough neck length for the minimum 32" bass scale??(there may be a 30",I am not all that familiar with bass guitars..)

The thing is,playable stringed instruments are built to EXACT measurements as far as the playing surface goes.You can play around with headstock angles,string trees,body shape,pickup placement,and all that stuff to a fair degree...but you don't jack with the playing surface.

Is an OFR non recessed a bridge that is good for a guitar without a neck angle?

See im not really sure on how thick the fretboard is going to be.

I'll measure my own tonight to kinda gett a feel for it, but in general would an OFR be OK for a flat neck-to-body

What do you need a tutorial for? Take the correct measurements, tape down the template, and route accordingly. Are you having trouble locating a floyd rose template?

yes

1.About fret slotting I'd say buy a slotted fretboard, unless you REALLY want to slot it yourself for some reason.

2.You can use the stew mac templates for a floyd rose, but and your post is suggesting that you might have to read up on templates and how to use them.

3.I don't really understand the concern here since you said you're building a mockingbird.

im sorry what was 3 replying to? the jointing thing?

i just saw someone say it around here and wondered

Hi guys

I am planning on building my first guitar.

It will have mahogany sides with a maple neck-thru (it's ok that im using mahogany on my first time because my uncle builds boats so all of that is covered).

Also planning on OFR with locking nut humbuckers 25.5 scale length 24 frets you know (oh and no inlays).

I just have a few questions.

I have been to the thread about what mistakes not to make and yeah all good advice thanks guys

But is there anything that i really should watch out for other than being careful about 1. Fret slotting 2. OFR routing 3. Body shape?

also does one cut out the wings of the guitar and then glue it all together?

or does one glue ALL the wood together and then put in truss rod/route shape/ shape neck+yadayadayada

and i saw the routing templates on stewmac for the OFR but i noticed it didn't really help in the way of depth and it said that they were made for guitars with standard fender tremolos so can anyone recommend reliable routing templates for that stuff?

i ordered the template and am waiting for that and have the mahogany but is there another place then stewmac to buy maple QUARTERSAWN blanks?

thanks for all the help in the future

-John

EDIT- what does it mean to joint the body pieces before gluing and clamping?

I suggest jointing the boards before gluing.

what does it mean to joint something?

yeah this info would be really helpful to me as well