VanKirk

dude You don't like... have any pets do you?

Stew-mac sells different thicknesses of glue (from water to honey in thickness). Maybe if you tried the very thin stuff you could get it where you wanted without making a mess on the finish?

Here's a thread that may help. I typed potentiometer in the search engine and that topic looked most relevant but there were many more topics with good info.

I mounted the tom bridge posts in my body today. I measured several times & got the size & spacing correct but the depth was too shallow. I set the base so that my body started 1" from the bit & measured the length of the post then added that to my 1" spacing for my desired depth setting on my drill press. I checked it by moving the chuck to the top of the body and measured how far the drill bit lowered. After I drilled the holes and got the posts in I noticed they didn't quite seat fully into the body because the tip of my drill bit (like most) had a 1/8" taper to the tip. I can pull the posts and drill deeper but they are in REAL tight (I had to tap them in with a rubber mallet) so it's gonna be a pain. I will now account for drill bit taper at the tip from now on. I also realized that I need to pull the posts out anyways 'cause I forgot to drill a hole from the cavity to the post so I can ground the bridge. Luckily, I can make these screwups right but I made more work than neccessary.

Has it been a year already?! Happy Birthday Setch!

BINGO! That's it. It looks fantastic.

Don't do drugs. Drugs 'r bad hmmmkay. Couldn't resist

Here's a few threads that should help. Soldering to 'pot' casings More on soldering to pots Soldering tips & tricks I never blow on solder joints because the outside can cool quicker than the inside causing problems similar to a 'cold solder joint' which is a solder connection where one or more points being soldered are not heated up fully. Solder flows into and sticks to a clean surface (free of oil and contaminates) that's been properly heated. You need the heat to transfer from your tip, into the solder then to each point that is being connected till the solder flows onto the components. Flux helps heat transfer and solder flow. If your solder doesn't transfer off your tip onto the component then the component hasn't been heated enough. The trick is to get on, heat it quickly and fully, then get off (sounds kinky I know ) One thing I've found, especially on SMD components, is that if too much flux is used and not cleaned off properly it can make a sticky surface that dust particles stick to. Sometimes dust particles contain conductive material and can short a line.

I like these Dimarzio Virtual Vintage PAFs I got from Brian (owner of this site) at universaljems.com. I have the same interests as you as far as having single coil strats and one w/2 single coils and bridge humbucker. I play blues and rock (getting into heavier stuff lately though) and wanted to build myself a dual humbucker guitar. I decided to use a Hipshot Babygrand hardtail bridge, concentric pots so I don't have to cut many holes in the top and a superswitch so I can split the coils (especially the neck pup so I can get close to that single coil neck pup bluesy sound). The body is alder with a flame maple carve top that I really need to finish the last small bit of carve on with a bolt-on neck. I too am thinking about my next project being a neck through with walnut/maple/mahagony laminates as well as 3x3 tilted headstock. Looks like we've been inspired to build from somewhat similar ideas. Good luck on your project!

That's exactly what Tommy at USACG uses to glue his tops on with. He has a hardwood board at the base and another one on the upper, press side reinforced with some brackets out to the edges. It's PLENTY of force to glue the tops on. Good find!

If you decide to try soldering it yourself again, you could read through this thread about soldering. There's some good advice there that may help ya (I hope). A good book that could also help with soldering advice, wiring mods and set-ups is Guitar Player Repair Guide by Dan Erlewine. ISBN 0-87930-291-7 & it's published by Backbeat Books. Stew-mac sells it but I found it at Borders Books & Music store.

Well said. There's tons of things that are bad for you but that doesn't mean they should all be illegal and regulated by the government.

When I worked at Kurzweil Music Systems we had to drop UPS. Music stores would return synths because they were overstocked and we'd receive a busted up box full of broken pieces that didn't even look like a keyboard anymore. Once we switched to FedEx our damaged returned stock % dropped considerably.

Great that you pointed out the exact name of the product. Awhile ago I bought a used tweed Fender Blues Deville and noticed the pots were a little scratchy so I asked the shop I was gonna buy it from if they'd clean them up first. After I got it home about 20 minutes later, the pots spun freely and didn't work. I took it back and they found out they used the wrong contact cleaner. They made it right by installing all new pots and they've been working great every since.

I agree with Dugz. Dremel disks burn the wood and you have to go over it again with a scraper or sharper hardened tools. The severity of the 'fuzzing' varies with the hardness of the wood though. Using a dremel disk will burn the wood and leave many small gouges all over that may be a bigger pain to get smooth again and increase the chances of an uneven looking carve - hills and valleys - "ooops, took to much off in that lil spot, not enough in that one. Ahhh crap, now it doesn't look right cause I had to overcompensate in that area to get an even carve." For carving a top I found that a good 'ol scraper does a good job. You can take off the wood a little at a time but over a much wider area with great control. You can choose the best angle to sharpen your scraper depending on how much material you want to remove with each pass...doh, goin off track a lil.

Would it be possible to move your bridge instead of the neck? I don't know what kinda set-up you have on the body. It may be more of a pain depending on your bridge style and pick-up routes. I'm trying to think of options for ya. Just a thought (not a very good one, hehe).

I see no link to what you're talking about. Is this your way of keeping us from seeing it? You tease!

I'm guessing that it's the "Master" volume pot? Sounds like a bad pot. You may be able to have someone clean it or have it replaced. I've found that when pots are left at the same setting for long periods of time, that spot on the pot can get scratchy or cut out when it's move through that area. I have an old Fender twin reverb and I pretty much leave the settings the same but every now and then I'll move all the pots back and forth a few times to keep from getting dust & corrossion build-up on that part of the contacts inside each pot. I do that with just about every piece of equipment that I own. From stereos, amps & multitrack recorders to the sliders on my synth.

Well, check this out. Seems like it's a forum bug maybe not.

Put those bullet hole stickers on it. I've seen them at auto parts stores. I agree though, your playing should be your signature. When your guitar is naturally relic'd from your playin, that's the best 'signature' mark you could put on it.

Interesting how your #009 guitar was dyed using the same colors and technique but with red dye as the base instead of amber & brown like this one. Just different ratios of each color. Is that correct? These pics and tutorial give me confidence that I can get the effect I want with practice. Thanks again!

Thanks to LGM's time invested in this tutorial I didn't buy the Aztec A-470. I came close but I remembered to check here. PHEW! I'm now leaning towards the Paasche H airbrush now.

I've tried Vintage Noiseless & Texas Specials in Fender guitars that were almost identicle through the same amp. I found the Noiseless to be more "strat-like" and clearer sounding than the Texas Specials so I bought them and like the sound. Especially, when using all 3 pickups at the same time on a clean amp setting. Almost acoustic-like. I agree with Kyle that the Texas Specials sounded kinda muddy. Not sure about the lip-stick pups. I've played them and like the tone but I haven't tried them in a "taste-test" kinda way so I can't give an accurate opinion.

I like the square picguard the best. Maybe you could have the upper uhh..."horn" part of the p/g go up as high as the curve on the 2nd one but squared off? Hmm, probably wouldn't look right. I think it looks better when the p/g keeps the square motif like the body.

Fender does have a carved top tele but I find the carve to be too shallow. It's barely noticable. I'm doing a carved top tele style myself...er was doing it, it has been sitting for a long time unfinished. Here's my carved top tele style project . I need to take some side view pics to show how deep the carve is. PRS deep carve. I still need to finish up the upper bout carve though.