avengers63

You'd be a LOT better off starting in the stud hole and aiming at the control cavity. The cavity is a much bigger target, therefore harder to miss. Other than that, it sounds OK.

+1 to the georgous walnut. Very pretty.

I'll probably buy it on eBay. Unless, of course, someone here wants to do some work at a reasonable price. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. I was envisioning some kinds of uneven coverage around the frets or issues of major bleeding into the neck itself.

I have a project in mind for the future which involves dyeing a maple fretboard deep blue. Actually, it doesn't have to be maple, but maple would be the easiest to acquire. I have no intention of making necks or doing my own fretwork. I have no doubt that an unfinished maple fretboard can be dyed after the fretwork has been done. My question is: what difficulties would I run into when dyeing it after the frets are in?

DUDE! :D This is amazing. Excellent work so far.

Personally, I'm not having anything to do with a bear's wood. That's just..... I mean... NO! Bare wood, however, is just fine.

I would argue against Tesla being an "image" band. I always thought they had pretty good musicianship. What probably held them back a little was that they were too metal to be mainstream rock, but not metal enough to be fully accepted by the metal crowd. It seemed at the time that there was no place for straight-forward rock bands. I'm put Georgia Satellites & Black Crowes in the came category with Tesla.

As an aside, that may be true, but I am not as good as those guys. As such, I need all the help I can get (hence my preoccupation with fret access, and other factors). -Cheers I would doubt that any of us are. I'm certainly not! I was just making a point, which I'm glad you understood. I get what you're saying: What's the point of having frets if you can't get to them easily. For pure access with an unaltered body, an SG or a V is great. For looks on a strat-like body, though, I'd go with the PRS, but that's just a matter of personal taste. It's your axe. Sorry... I'm no help on the Khaler trem question. Bigsby makes archtop models....

NEVER MIND!!! After I got home tonight, I re-read and re-read again the page in Flexner's book the page on crackle finishes. It covered pretty much all the questions I had. So, with that being settled, does anyone have any pics of their successful crackle finishes to show off?

Personally, I'll argue all day long that body shape has nothing to do with shredding. That's all in the player, not the instrument. Prince, Les Paul, and Yngwie Malmsteen all shred on vastly different body shapes. From your words, I hear you concerned with upper fret access. As long as there body is cut deep enough, the exact body shape is relative immaterial and all a matter of personal taste. An important aspect to define now would be what type of neck joint you'll be using: bolt on, set, or through. All three pose different problems and solutions for enhancing access.

After the tele build is finished, I'm going to re-finish the strat-bodied axe I've been playing. I want to do something very similar to the crackle finish that was used in the late 80's & early 90's. I know dang good and well that I'm NOT going to get those types of results. I'll be happy with something similar. After reading up on the way crackle finishes are done, and taking into account that I don't have a spray booth, the real option is to use rattle can spray. The big question for me is will the crackle finish mess with the colors underneath? What I'm envisioning is laying the undercolors, sanding them flat, then laying a thin layer of clear to act as a buffer between the color & the crackle. Is the buffer layer necessary? After the crackle is on & dry, the question of top finish appears. I'm under the notion that the crackle will be HIGHLY textured. Is this inseed the case? If so, how will I ever get the finish flat without messinf up the crackle? Please tell me someone has some experience with this.

I stumbled across a thread mentioning Maguires swirl remover/polishing agent and that it's an automotive finish product. So I figgered "What do I have to lose?" DUDE! It didn't take long for the lacquer to completely mirror out. The wood looks a foot deep. This is EXACTLY what I was wanting to see. You can't really see it in the pics, but it's just like glass and totally reflective. I'm REALLY excited now! I can't wait until the whole thing is ready to go. It's extremely gratifying to have something go just the way it's supposed to with no real glitches. It's a pleasant change of pace.

Karosa neck I recently bought this neck. The truss rod is rattling around inside the neck! I've never encountered this before. I emailed the maker, but he hasn't replied yet. Does it just need to be tightened up so it's secure, or could something be wrong?

+1 to leaving it alone because of history. Memories are potent and important things. Messing with them is risky. Items which represent & hold our memories are often more important to us that we realize. Unfortunately, we don't realize their importance until it's too late & the item is gone. It's ultimately up to you, of course, but I'd only do whatever is necessary to keep it working.

The meaning here is quite clear and simple to understand. Sounds fair enough!! Too bad you're only getting one side of the situation. That one side is not only well out of context but the information is picked & chosen to serve only one side, not to tell the entire story. All I'll say on this matter is this: I thought his shoulders were broad enough to handle being called to the mat. That the moderator eventually warned both arguing parties to stop serves as backup to my position. It would seem that at this point, Drak is intent on being offended and is taking his ball & going home. I'll say no more on this here. It's juvinile and will only hijack the thread. So... any other options for polishing out the finish by hand? I was considering a lamb's wool pad and a polishing agent, but I don't know if that's appropriate. Would the Stew-Mac pads be easier in the long run? If it'd be a wash, I have a hunch the wool/polish might be more cost effective down the line. Thoughts?

Doesn't Stew-Mac ship to Canada?

I'm only speculating here... I think I made him mad last week. He was being a weenie in a different thread. I stepped in and pleaded for him to stop being antagonistic. A moderator eventually stepped in as well. I'm guessing that I made him mad, so he deleted his comments. Who knows. If that's the case, it's a real shame. I'd like to have had his input here. I'd like to have ANYONE'S input, actually! One option has been put out there for the Micro Mesh Finishing Pads. I'd love to hear other options. (hint hint hint!!!)

I FINALLY HAVE SOME MORE PROGRESS!!!!! It's a snow day here in the St. Louis area. We don't get much snow around here, so when we get 8 inches overnight, the area pretty much shuts down. And it's on a Friday, too. Darn the luck! This means I can sand up the small pieces! And sand them I did. 1000 grit 1200 grit 1500 grit It was at this point that I noticed the gunk building up in the screw holes. GUNKY!!! Oh well. It's only the screw holes. Once a screw is in them.... 2000 grit 2500 grit I knew going into the polishing that there would be grain lines on the padauk. I should have used grain filler. This'll be one of those lessons learned for the future. The padauk mirrored out really nicely. The maple... not so much. Is this just the nature of maple? Anyway, now that these pieces are all sanded up to 3000 grit, how should I do the final polish? I don't have an arbor or a wheel for the drill, and I'm not in a position to buy one. That only leaves doing it by hand. What are my options, and how would I go about doing it?

"Real" Les Pauls have always had a ton of binding. We're used to seeing them that way. Whenever Gibson makes one without all the decorations (like binding) they call it "studio" or "light" or some other name which implies that it's not worthy of being called a "real" L.P. So... when we see one w/o all the bells & whistles, we tend not to think as much of it. It's all in the conditioning (brainwashing). That being said, I agree that it might be better with binding on the top too. The paint job is GREAT! First go at it AND it's with cans? Gowan wit'chur bad self!

Black Oak Arkansas, Orleans, J.D. Blackfoot, Dr. Hook... Don't get me going. Listening to it now, disco is pretty fun. At the time, it was on the verge of killing classic rock - like grunge did to hair metal. Now, years later, it's not so bad. Here in the states, we don't get much of England's classic bands - like Budgie or Slade. It's a shame that we're a little cut off from that stuff. The only reason I know about Slade is through Quiet Riot. Can I get any suggested listening from the Brits?

Even better if the hand drill's trigger can work as a throttle. Do it backwards slowly at first. Get through the finish before going into the wood. If you go through the finish too quickly, friction might scorch it. I don't think the burns would ever come out, so a re-touch would be necessary. Good luck!

You could have got them to read the sleeve notes........ No hold on, that wouldn't work That's how I learned the lyrics. It's interesting, thinking back. Before I started playing (1987), I didn't like thrash. It wasn't until after I learned that it's not the easiest thing in the world to play that i got an appreciation for it.

DUDE! Having the body shaped to accomodate 4 seated playing positions is brilliant! It looks like it'd be extremely comfortable to play. Of course, that's the whole point of ergonomics.

Personally, I can't stand EMGs. I think they're too steryl. I have a pair of Bartolini HBs in my currnet main ax. They're great. I don't have too much experience with singles, so I can't comment on them.

I get it. I was in HS in the 80's - graduated in '89. I remember Metallica & Anthrax being on the edge. I get a pretty big kick out of what the kids are calling Punk today. I tell them to listen to the Ramones & the Sex Pistols if they want REAL punk. It's all about "three chords & a bad attitude". If the Ramones ever broke the Billboard Top 100, they'd call the album (yes, a vinyl album!) a failure. "If people like us, we're doing it wrong." Punk does NOT get radio play. Now get offa my lawn, you little sunsabiches!