DC Ross

Cat Crap works reasonably well. I think it's a combination of soap and wax.

Now I personally love the JB/Jazz combo, but I think that JB might be a bight too bright of a pickup for walnut.

I have a JB/59 combo in a Walnut guitar, and it's definitely not too bright of a tone. It's very balanced & pleasant sounding. But I'm in the camp that thinks the woods play a minor part in the overall tone.

That's not actually a locking nut, it's a Kahler string lock that goes behind the nut.

I understand what you're talking about, the same thing happens with my Model 4 but it's never been an issue for me personally. If you're really adamant about finding a solution, pull the string lock off and replace your tuning machines with locking tuners - they perform the same function.

^ Totally agreed. Ipe is great for decking, but trying to shape it for a neck would be extremely difficult.

+1. That's plenty of meat -- more than Gibson or PRS uses.

anybody ever used a dremell , those thin cutting disc look good for the job, but was wondering if anyones ever used one on m.o.p or abalone, im just about to start and mop and abalone faced flying v project, alternate mop/abalone rings in a bullseye, so lots of shell blanks to cut.

I imagine it would be tantamount to cutting the body shape with a chainsaw. Shell out the 15 bucks for a jeweler's saw, you can find them at hobby shops or bead shops. Get it? "Shell"? Ha! Sorry, it's early...

errr. Maybe I missed it, but why are your bass tuners upside-down?

I like the wood choices with the white (cream?) accent.

Beautiful wood! What did you use for the black accent veneer?

Tahnk you every one and yes i have read the book and it is just confusing me even more but thanks for how to ground and all that and i will post pics when im building churz

Keep re-reading until you can visualize how things work. Everything will start to make sense.

I can't say for sure, but I'd bet it's oil from the truss rod seeping through, especially if it's a thin profile. I just got a bunch of rods from Allied, and they are dripping with oil...

Just to clarify, polishing can be done with very fine 0000 steel wool; not the detergent-impregnated SOS pads

Thomastik-Infeld Jazz Flats are great, they're what I use on my Conklin fretless. The string tension is very even and the tone is full and warm. The strings themselves feel smooth, not sticky like some flats.

Where are you located? Maybe there's a charitable-feeling member here that could take a look...

If your neck is sloped back (that is, away from the strings), tightening the truss rod would exacerbate the problem. If this is what's happening, you'll want to loosen the truss rod to allow the strings to pull the neck straight.

That's what I figured. I was really hoping for new components (without having to purchase a new guitar).

Thanks, fookgub!

Here's a strange question: why are the SD '59's legs so long? 1.076" from top to bottom seems a bit much compared to the 0.776" of the Jazz... I have to reroute a pickup cavity to accomodate the depth of this thing, which prompted the question.

I have the JB / '59 (4-wire) combo in two guitars, and it's extremely versatile.

Without resorting to a donor guitar, does anyone know where to purchase Variax electronics? Line 6 won't sell them directly.

Thanks!

I don't think that's a burst, that's a shadow from the carve on the bottom. I'd be willing to bet that's Tortoise Shell

PRS' Tobacco Burst is much lighter

Don't forget to check your local library, it's an invaluable resource. In addition to Flexner's book, I found Larry Robinson's Inlay Techniques book and Frank Finocchio's 9 hour-long acoustic building videos

(Just make sure to return them when they're due -- pet peeve of mine)

The plug is not something you can just pull out, how was it removed? For that matter, how were you able to remove the truss rod nut?

Ditto. Looks like kindling to me

I've used LePage glue, it seems to work just fine. I'm not sure on the Danish oil though.

Carved laminations can be very striking. Gunsmiths have been doing it for years, check these out:

My preference is to route around the edge the depth of the carve as a gauge, then use an angle grinder with a 60 grit flap wheel to rough it out, then a random orbit sander starting at 80 and working my way up through the grits. For me, it's the fastest, easiest, most consistent way of doing it. I'm sure there are others with different approches.