avengers63

I got a little work done on the tele this weekend. Most if my time was spend on the yellow learning project and watching the NFL playoffs. Somewhere in the middle, I got to play with this. First, the neck came in! I have a hand-powered drill (pin vise), so I was able to to a test install on the Steinberger gearless tuners. The pickguard and control plate weren't lining up like they needed to - they were overlapping a bit! I did a little reshaping on the p/g to make everything fit on the body right. I think it turned out OK. I did a test fit of the electrosocket and controls as well, but I didn't get a picture. All of the holes for the p/g, plate, jack, and strap buttons have been drilled. I'm holding off on the pup ring until the pups come in, just to make sure everything is in the cavity right. This week I'm going to seal the neck, lightly resand & seal the p/g, pup ring, & control plate, and start spraying the finish. I might not actually get to the finish until next week, but that's OK. I still need to take the body to my brother-in-laws place and borrow his drill press for the bridge bushings & neck plate. Here's a really important question at this point: Some fretboard woods need to be finished, like maple. Some can just be oiled and be left alone, like rosewood. What category does padauk fall into? The f/b feels GREAT - it's smooth like silk - so I dearly want to avoid putting ANYTHING on it if I don't have to. Does it even need to be oiled?

Is there any choice other than black with white binding? Seriously, when I see a Ric bass, all I can envision is Geddy Lee.

Thanks. I understood the basic principle already, but I thought it was going to involve some complex geometry or wood shaping. Folded up business cards will really do the trick?

Is there a tutorial for how to do it? I don't know how.

ALL DONE!!!! I had some issues with the pickguard, so it got reshaped. I'm not unhappy with the end shape, so it's all good. The action is DANG high. The neck angle isn't great, and I didn't use the bridge that came on it originally. The bridge I have sits higher. This will be addressable when I make a different body later. Also, when I remake it, I'll not have a pickguard on it - it'll be rear routed for the control cavity. The input jack hole is a little hosed up, so I'll make it top mount as well. All in all, though, it's been a very valuable learning experience for me. I offer my thanks to everyone who both answered my questions and offered their advise.

THAT'S what I was looking for. I'll check out the other items you referenced as well before I drill the holes for the bushings, just in case. Thanks, Wez.

WOO HOO! The neck is in at last. Now I can drill the remaining holes and start spraying the finish. Which, of course, brings up another question. The bridge is a tune-o-matic roller bridge. Every TOM bridge is installed with a slight angle. What is this angle and how do I calculate it? I have Hyssock's book, but I can't seem to find it in there.

I would suggest doing it the other way. Make your words out of whatever solid, non-porous material you like. Very thin plexiglass would be an option you can get it at Lowes & Home Depot cheap. Attach it to the body somehow, but not with glue. Glue will discolor the wood when you put a finish on it. After the rest of the body is sprayed, the words can be removed, leaving bare wood. It might be possible to do it with blue painter's tape. I used it to mask off the sides & back of teh headstock I just painted, and the very mild adhesive left no residue on the wood. You could lay the paint down, then CAREFULLY cut out the letters with an x-acto knife. If you do this, be very careful not to gut into the body too far. After the letters are cut out, make dang sure the edges of the tape letters are secure. When the letters are removed, any paint that crept under the tape can be carefully scraped off. With either method, have an x-acto or razor blade with you when you lift the letters. First, take your time and gently peel the barrier away at an angle. If the paint wants to peel when the letters are lifted, gently cut around the lettering with the blade, then slowly lift again. I wouldn't try to rout out the letters with a dremel. It's be way too easy to accidentally take some wood out. If that happens, you're in a really bad place. If the paint job flops, you can sand it off & have another go. Once the wood is gone, it's gone.

The mass public likes what they're told to like. They think what they're told to think. They don't want to do any investigation for themselves. Uncaring laziness, unconcerned apathy. Apparently, DF became popular because of GH. That they wer eput into a game called Guitar Hero must mean that Herman Li is a.... (wait for it.....) guitar hero. A guitar hero is by defination a great guitarise, therefore DF must be a great band. The public was told they're good, therefore the puiblic thinks they are. We could go on forever and cite example after example of this in every area of life: politics, religion, fashion, recreation, technology, etc. When someone rises from the crowd and tells the public to think for themselves, they're executed by the very ones who tell everyone what to think. Don't believe me? Martin Luther King went against the grain and told America to think for themselves instead of doing what they're told. He told the public to do what's right, not what's established. Bang - dead. (Not starting a religous debate, just citing the events!) Jesus told the public to follow the scriptures instead of the Pharasees & Saducees. That would have taken power from the P&S's, so he was sent through a kangaroo court & executed with the support of the masses. Bang - dead. Maybe I went off on a pretty far tangent, but the underlying principle is the same. The public thinks what they're told to think. If you go against the grain and think for yourself, you're a freak and just don't get it. If you encourage others to do the same, you're a dangerous revolutionary and must be eliminated.

I'm ALMOST to the point of witing it all up. Before I do, here's a question. As I have a big sheet of stamped aluminum as the p/g, does it need to be shielded? The body cavity does, of course... I'm meaning the p/g. I don't know if aluminum is a shielding/grounding metal or not.

I had a productive day yesterday. I managed to cut out an entire pickguard without messing it up! Here's the hardware in approximate placement as well. I'm waiting for the chrome pup ring & jack plate to come in. Then, I'll be able to do some more cutting on the p/g and wire it all up.

Yep. Doing a pot swap eliminates the need to drill more holes in the body to put in the additional switches. They're incorporated into the pot. It's a LOT less invasive.

I'm kinda meaning a practice body, kinda not. My thought was to go through the process of making the body, but stopping at either "belt sanding to the final shape" or "rounding the edges of the top". For alignment purposes, the neck pocket might need to be routed, but that's it. Even if a little time is taken to level the top completely (sealer & block), no other work on the body is done. Also, it's made thick - 2 inches or so. If we go with a 1/8 inch depth, that'd give us probably three attempts on before it got too thin to be usable as a body. If it was tried on a standard, inexpensive wood (maple, alder, etc), the body could easily be unloaded on eBay if we didn't want to mess with it anymore. Unless you needed some nice coasters.

I'm certainly not an expert by any means, but here's my 2-cents worth. Try a pickup & pot change. DiMarzio makes a great PAF. They built the company on the Super Distortion. If you went with a PAF-neck & a SD-bridge, I think you'd be getting what you want. The SD is basically a hot-rodded PAF. I don't know Seymour Duncan's line very well, but I'm sure they have something very similar. The PAF is very versital. It can handle anything from country to blues to rock to metal to... you get the picture. With the pots, try push/pull pots. The HBs can come with 4-conductor wiring so you can have the coils go series, parallel, or tapped. This will let you get a pretty close simulation of a true single coil. My main ax has 2 Bartolini HBs wired to go series & parallel, and I have a phase switch in there too. Personally, I don't like tapped HBs, but that's just me. I get a great HB punch when I want it, and a pretty good SC twang. Remember this: everything is subjective & personal. What works for me might not work for you. The sound I like might sound horrible to you. Also, we can't hear your ax personally, so these are only suggestions with NO first-hand knowledge.

I transfered it over there because we were starting to go off on a tangent. It's an interesting tangent, and I want to explore it, but at the same time I didn't want to hijack the thread - especialy since it's the thread on my guitar! Also, since I NOT going to try it on this one, I thought it odd to continue it on this thread. The point was moot, but the conversation wasn't.

That entirely depends on 1) what the tone is now, and 2) what you want it to be.

In-line thoughts, responses, and ideas 1) So, it would sem that you're going at it routing from the outside and going in. Why not start in the middle. Wouldn't this lessen (not eliminate) the level & wobbling issues? Let's say that the top has been leveled to near perfection. That's not really so hard to do: shiny wood sealer & a wide sanding block. Let's also say that you're using a dremel & the routing base. I believe it's footprint is smaller than a standard router. I don't have either yet, so I can't say for sure, but it LOOKS like it is to me. With a smaller footprint and weight, the control would skyrocket. With the whole thing being maybe 3/8 to 1/4 inch, it could be done in one pass (so to speak) - no re-adjusting the height for another cut. If you start from the inside and work towards the edge, and you use a small router for greater control, I think the main area could be done pretty evenly. I think you'd have a greater possiblity of dips than humps. 2) No arguement there. One little slip on the perimiter would blow the whole thing. ANY tearout would do it in too. 3) The "negative" template would ease the possiblities of badness on the edge. I concede that it's be a lot of trouble for a possibly one-off project. That'd be a judgement call if it's worth it or not. It could be re-used though, so the effort might not be seemingly wasted. 4) The "very first time" would only apply to the body rout. You can hose up the p/g and still remake it. One suggestion for this might be to make the body, but don't put too much time on anything but basic shaping. Leave the body a little thick. If the rout on the body gets messed up, it can still be salvaged by planing it down past the rout and either starting over or using it as an un-recessed body. If you get it too thin to use as a body.... I guess you can still slice off sheets of it to use as tops for chambered bodies. Maybe some nice coasters. Or some heat pads for the dining room table.

MOVED OVER TO THE "INLAY & FINISHING" SECTION - CONTINUED THERE

Experimenting on some scrap sounds like a great idea. It doesn't SEEM like it would be all that complicated. All you're doing is tracing the outline on the body, then making a precise, shallow rout. Thinking about it, though, the more idiot proof something is, the easier it is to mess up.

I absolutely HATE Guitar Hero. It's not because the game isn't fun or that it's mega-popular or anything like that. All this money, time, and effort is spent learning to be really good at PRETENDING to play guitar. Take all the money, time, and effort and put it into playing a REAL guitar instead. Real is better than pretend any day of the week in this case.

Understood. Thanks for looking out for me AND for pointing out the real risks. I'll just keep this one on the shelf for later. I think it's a cool idea and probably very do-able, but you're right: I don't thing I can absorb the hit right now if I screw it up.

Would that be because it's too advanced for me right now, or is it more trouble than it's worth even for veterans?

Here's a question for all you experienced guys: Are there any issues I should be aware of if I recess the p/g, pup ring, and conrtol plate into the top? I was shaping things a bit last night and drilling screw holes. When I saw it all there, screwed into the body, I began thinging that it might really look awsome if the parts were recessed into the body, making the top completely flat. Aside of making sure that the routs are deep enough to accept the electronics 1/8 inch deeper, are there any other considerations? FWIW: I'm considering the same thing with the neckplate.

That would be "Jackal". I don't mind Jackal so much either. I'm not a big fan, but I won't knock them too much either. They know what they are, they don't pretend to be anything other than that, and they don't take themselves too seriously. (getting on the soapbox) Speaking of lack of recognition, how about Rush! Snubbed every year by the R&R-HoF, largely ignored by radio, and generally considered "also-rans" in the guitar magazines unless there's a new album. Geddy & Neil are almost universally recognized as among the top 2-3 in their instrument. I don't know is Alex is capable of thinking inside the box. Insightful lyrics, masterful musicianship, critical acclaim by their peers.... Yea, I can see why nobody acknowledges them.

This will happen eventually regardless of the density of the wood. I've had my Steinberger since 1989. As we all know, the carbon-resin-whatever they use on their necks is EXTREMELY dense & durable. Even still, I have spots on the neck similar to what was shown in that article. They're not nearly as pronounced or as deep, but they're there. Actually, I didn't know what they were until I saw this article. (Thanks WezV ) After seeing it, though, they're easily identified.