Phil Mailloux

12 inches. Have you ever bought wood at the Arnhem Fijn hout handel? Is it affordable for neck wood? Reason I ask is I tried to buy a piece of wood for a bass neck in a wood yard here in the Hague and for a piece of maple just a little bit bigger than a bass neck (1" X 5" X 30") or (25mm X 125mm X 750mm) I was asked for 55€ Ouch! Needless to say, I didn't buy it, and I bought enough mahogany in a lumber yard back home in Montreal to build 2 necks and a body for about 50€ during christmas vacation, which I brought back here.

Oh jeez.... not exactly what I want to hear. I guess i'll try to level the fretboard for now, If worse comes to worse I guess i'll have to redo a new neck. What sucks though, is that I now have to buy a radiused sanding block and fretsaw in case I have to reslot if I sand down to low. Which pretty much means I bought a pre-radiused and pre-slotted fingerboard for nothing.

I've got my money on the mahogany developing a back twist. We checked it originally when it was planed, it really was straight then. If I put a straight egde on the side of the neck along the lines where the fretboard meets the neck wood, you can see the curvature. so it really is a backbow of some sorts. i'm just pissed that after installing a big ass trussrod and two carbon rods I still get that!

I only have photos of what you see on this thread, and I don't have a digital camera. I haven't done any work since those photos were taken. You don't happen to live in The Hague area by any chance, huh? I wouldn't mind showing it to you.

VERY unfortunately, is it a one-way rod, i'm about ready to kick my own ass right now. I at least learned a lesson here! and another lesson is to not listen to the guy at Vox Humana next time when he says that a two-way rod "is niet nodig". The truss rod is also completely loose...

Since this is my first instrument I guess i'm allowed stupid mistakes..... I didn't check with a straight edge before I glued. The fingerboard seemed straight and the mahogany neck was straight because we passed it in the planer before we bandsawed it. But that was in december, so it was about two months in that shape before I glued the neck on. You think the neck might have twisted in that time?

Okay, I'm building a 5-string bass out of mahogany (neck & body). I installed 2 carbon fiber rods and one of those trussrods-in-a-square-box. Fingerboard is a pre-slotted, pre-radiused PauFerro board from LMII. Everything seemed straight before I glued the fingerboard on. Now that its glued on, when I put a straight edge on the top of the fingerboard I can clearly see a gap (backbow) of 1/8" (3mm)!! What should I do to fix this?? Someone recommended to me to install the neck on the body and string it to see if the string pressure would bring the bow back. Would this work? What about sanding? Do I have to sand the board until the backbow is out? 3mm sounds like a lot of wood gone from the fingerboard, not to count the fact that the part where the fingerboard touches the neck on the sides will have a radius line. Any suggestions anyone?? I should mention that the neck is not shaped yet in the back and not fretted yet. Here's a bunch of pictures to show exactly what I did with it. This is a picture of the neck as it is right now. On this picture you can see where the carbon rods and the truss rod finish in the neck. Carbon rods, somewhere between the 1rst fret and nut. Trussrod between 2nd and 1rst fret. The stuff i'm putting in is silicone to stop the rods from rattling and moving in the channel. This is the end of the neck where the rod will be ajusted. Again, the white spots are silicone, that stuff dries transparant. And if you guys are curious, just for the hell of it here's the body where this neck will end up.

Can anyone tell me how to post photos on a thread, not just a link? I assume I need some kind of photo server? What are the best free servers?

KeithHowell, you don't have a picture of that set-up by any chance? I'm not sure I get it exactly and would like to see what that looks like. I'm also trying to find alternative pressing methods...

I've dealt a few times with LMI and I love them. www.lmii.com You can choose which wood, radii and scale lenght for the fretboard.

I own the best kind of routers, a free one!! It's a 25 year old Black & Decker router I got from a friend. He told me the motor wasn't that fast so I would have to do multiple passes for really deep cavities. Never had a problem with it. He's got three other ones that are much faster, better, tougher ect... The point is, the cheaper routers will work, it might not be as smooth as top of the line equipment but will do the job all right. If you can't afford the expensive stuff or don't plan on ever using it again after you're done with your work, then why not? p.s. my drill must be about 40 years old, it was my wife's father's drill. It's casing is made of metal, it's only got one speed and and you see blue flames coming out of the motor when you work with it, but hey! It does drill holes!! and these two items are the only electric tools i've got in the house and I was still able to build my bass

Have a look at this link , Jeremy. That's much cheaper than having it done by someone and the tools and books will last you forever after this. Stew-Mac Fretting Set

My vote goes for the Jackson/Randy Rhoads copy. Even nicer than the originals!!!

I had a Bigsby in a mid-seventies Gibson SG I had and I hated the thing! Just touching the thing garantees to detune your guitar and it really didn't sound that nice to me.

Stahler, The U channel truss rod I used is from a company called ABM. It's in reality a square channel one, not U. So, yes, you can use a square channel. In my truss rod, though, there is tape that was wound around the rod itself in the middle of the lenght of the rod. This makes it bend backwards easier (or so the luthier that sold it to me said) He also mentioned that I should install the rod "with the open side of the channel again the neck wood. (facing downwards from the fretboard)

Hi Morben (wish i'd know your name!), The way you did it sounds pretty much like what I want to do. I got a couple of questions more for you: You applied all you layers of sanding sealer before you spayed the dyes on? Or just one to lock the filler in? Then you spray the dye mix(without nitro)of the red color on? Then spray sealer again? Then spray brown dye mix without nitro? Then seal again? Then black dye mix? And finally all the clear coats, right? You mentioned spraying the dyes with an airbrush, can I spray all this with a small automotive spraygun? that's all I have... Thanks

I was also looking into making my own truss rod. Probably will on my next guitar. I'm building a 5-string bass with a very thin neck, I used a U-shaped rod in it like your "truss rod 2" link also with two carbon fiber rods. That truss rod is in my opinion much better suited for a thin neck. The other one will not leave enough wood at the back of the neck once you've shaped it.

Hi, I'm building myself a 5-string bass, it's a copy of warrior instruments' soldier model. Here's a photo that I lifted off their site. Warrior Bass That bass is made of mahogany. I want this same exact finish. On their website they call it "translucend mojo purple" Does anybody think there's actually a purple dye in there?? I've read the reranch tutorial on sunbursting, so I am familliar with the process. However, I won't be buying their sprays since i'm in Europe. I'm buying the anyline dyes from LMII. My mahogany body is quite reddish/lite brown colored. What color dye should I use to make the center color?? For the sides, can I use the black dyes in the dye set from LMII and mix it with nitro? Or will this make the black translucend? Or is it better to use black pigment? Thanks

I guess, it makes sense, wood is pretty heavy.... If I was you i'd look for a good wood dealer in Italy, i'm sure you can find something if you look hard enough. You might not easily find american wood, but probably will find some good african wood.

Are we talking about the Yngwie Malmsteen "throw-the-guitar-behind-your-neck" move? AAAHHH! The good ol' memories it brings, I remember when I was a teener back in '87 and i'd throw that good ol' les paul copy behind my neck until it hit the concrete wall behind it. I sure could've used some good strap locks then....

You should check out the www.ax84.com website and forum, these guys build guitar tube amps for a hobby. They'll definitely know anything you throw at them about tube amps.

Eigenlijk, misschien heb je gelijk... Translation again, (although i'm not Dutch myself) "You're probably right" I'm only halfway through my first guitar but i'm already planning my next...3!!

I just bought a cheap gravity feed spray gun here in the Netherlands for 25€. I'm getting all the dyes from LMII.com. I'm going to rent a compressor from a tool rental place. It costs 17€ for one week's rental. That might be a good solution for you. From what i've seen the guns seem to all work the same way. I know the cheaper ones have cheaper pieces and will break down sooner, but i'm only really going to be making one or two guitars, so...

Thanks for the sites Lovekraft, i'll definitely keep myself busy reading there for a while. I've already done a good amount of research, also done lots of read-up on PCB design and etching. If it comes to that I don't mind getting the stuff and experimentinga bit.

Thanks guys, I should mention that i'm an electronics beginner. I've soldered a couple of small DIY velleman kits and also soldered other household things in the past but my theory of electronics is a bit low... I was thinking of just using one of those online schems and just plain reproducing what I see there on perfboard. I want to use only one MM humbucker but also have a three way switch like MM basses (single coil / parallel / series). Those 3-way switch schems are on their website so I think I can manage that, they're also on the bartolini website. I will obviously build the pups with 4 connecting wires to allow the 3-way switch. I don't really care for the tone controls when i'm in the passive mode. They can be bypassed no problem in my opinion. I'll only use passive in case my battery ever goes dead in a gig, you can always fiddle with the tone controls on the amp. Ansil: What you say absolutely fantastic!!!! If you can draw me up something I would definitely be the happiest man alive but unfortunately, like I said i'm not too familliar with some of those electronics terms you mentioned I do understand that my pick ups with distort if the output is too high but then again, i've haven't build them yet. I got specs for MM pups and other companies' MM replacement pups but they all have different different output specs so I was thinking of just messing around with what I get when I start building them. You could also tell me what would be a good resistance that I could make, we could match the preamp to the pick-ups. My goal of course is to have pick-ups that will work either in passive or active mode. here's some of the specs i've found on the net: Japanese MM copies; D.C.Ohm(k) : 5.80, Inductance(L) : 2.34 Tone chart(Low):12,(mid-low):13 (mid-high):13, (high):14 (I don't understand what the tone chart is and if that is calculable wether with a multimeter of math solution) This is a passive pup but this company also sells active electronics that can be used with those pups, I guess that could be good specs for me... Quote I got on the MM basses forum: I believe each coil is approx 1.4H and 3.8K ohms. The two coils are in parallel giving 700mH and 1.9K ohms. Kent Armstrong MM copies: D.C. =13K- I'm not set on one of those yet, although I believe the original Stingray ones won't work passively.