avengers63

So in other words... Because you wanted it that way. Good enough for me.

Kill & Drak: Why didn't you try and taper the bevel?

I agree that the easiest way would be to alter the headstock shape, oversizing it.

All BS aside, you've never used a Kahler before?

I thought maybe you'd be interested in seeing the finished piece. While I'm at it, here's a "stained glass window" I just finished up today.

I'll not talk bad about using an arbor press for the frets. I'm positive they work exceptionally well. However.... This is one of my "block of wood" tools. The working name is "Block of wood with a channel cut in it for the fret press insert". The name's a bit clunky, but it's as accurate as you're gonna get. I use it to hammer in the frets. I used to use a $9 deadblow hammer from Grizzly. It did the job, but there was a lot of cleanup leveling that needed to be done. Using this to hammer them in produces a result 50 times better than with the deadblow alone. One good whack with a 22oz hammer right in the middle of the fret does most of the work. A couple on each side for good measure finishes it off with a little insurance. I might have one or two frets that need to be cleaned up with the deadblow, and then only on the far outside edges. Levelling only takes a couple of swipes with 600 grit and they're damn-near perfect. The insert tuns around $5. The block of oak was a cutoff. I already had the hammer. Take a look in the tutorial section. There are plenty of ways described there for you to get the same results without shelling out hundreds of dollars on overpriced specialty tools.

amen And don't look to Stew-Mac or LMII as the 1st place to get something. Unless it's something specialized, like the crowning file I mentioned earlier, you can find it somewhere else for a LOT less.

That's where I put it on both the '58 V and the Dynasty, and both of them balance great.

So is this 'Bird gonna fly anytime soon?

I decided that the old body was way too heavy, so I needed to make another for it. It sounds a little bright, but I'm OK with that. I was never 100% happy with the height of the strings from the body, but it didn't effect the playing. Still, there's more than one thing that can be improved, so here we go. I'm wanting to keep the neck, but I'm not satisfied with the headstock. I might end up doing surgery on it, but I don't know yet. We'll cross that bridge later. The old body was right at 2" thick, and weighed a ton. I'm a large guy and can handle the weight, but still.... It was mahogany & cherry. An odd, really heavy strain of mahogany that smell of antiseptic when it's worked. I'm wondering if it was really mahogany at all. I checked the specs on the BC Rich website and they make the 'Birds 1 3/4", so that's what I'm going with. This one will have a 7/8" sapele base with a 7/8" canarywood top. Sapele is REALLY dark, and canary is reported to be pretty bright, do it should balance fairly well. I'm planning on carving the top just like BC Rich does it. Canary is really to begin with, but it will really come to life once it gets contoured. The streaks of red & orange should be great as they're revealed in the carve. I'm unsure whether I'll paint the back and bind the edges or leave it all natural. I might ebonize the sapele since it takes it so well. I suppose it depends somewhat on how deep the carve goes and how tall the binding is. Of course, this will need to be determined pretty quickly. I have time to mull it over though. I just started the glue-up today, and have another three day's worth to go before I can do anything else to it. I'll be using the rest of the sapele & canary to make some bodies for sale. Maybe I'll be able to try out some things on them before doing it on mine.

HD file set I've used these files to clean the flash and mold likes off of miniatures for 15+ years. I now use them for filing & shaping the ends of the frets and other small guitar-related applications. They work wonderfully and are not very expensive.

The hammer & file are probably OK, but the "pullers" are most likely junk. For files, you can get a set of small files at Lowes or Home Depot for +/- $15. You'll need a crowning file still, but for general use these do me just fine. A deadblow hammer is essentially the same regardless of where you get it. The important thing is to have a brass head. I got mine from Grizzly for $9.

I have been saying that for years and gotten some pretty outraged responces. I am glad I am not the only one anymore. Have you ever seen tapes of him playing live? Led Zep wasn't that great live because he was usually so bombed he could barely stand, much less play. That being said, I don't care if you're technical or sloppy, so long as you sound good and can play your instrument. I don't like a lot of effects, which is why I don't like listening to Satriani & Vai. I'd rather listen to Los Lonely Boys than them.

I agree with Drak. The numbers listed on that site will be what is typical for that species. What an individual piece will feel like can be completely different from the one next to it on the shelf. By way of example, I've been working with a strain of mahogany that is pretty heavy. I also have some African mahogany that is really light. Most of the mahogany I've had is somewhere in the middle. With just that one example, you'll need to be careful about thinking that one type of wood will automatically be good based solely on it's name. Most importantly, take EVERYTHING we'll say with a grain of salt. We all have our own loves and preferences, and our own way of thinking things through. Look at all of this, as well as everything else you'll ever read here, as a type of information buffet. Take what looks good, leave the rest. If it tastes good to you, great. If not, try something else.

This site has a wood library with a LOT of numerical information about nearly every commercially available species. I know there are a LOT of different factors involved is what is suitable for a neck, and I'm not the one to quote you which ones are most important. What I CAN say is that this site will allow you to compare bending strength, hardness, shearing strength, weight, and other measurables so you can make an informed decision.

It's always a great feeling when it finally starts looking like a guitar....

I'm not knocking Danish oil and I believe your testimony. According to Flexner, Danish oil usually falls into the wiping varnish" category, so I don't use it anymore. Nothing wrong with it, but I'd rather use a curing oil for an oil finish than a wiping varnish.

Personally, I'd rather use linseed oil. But that's me.

Before you try the mineral spirits trick let me see what it looks like this morning... and how the oil goes on. cool If it workes well, I'd probably only want to do it on a piece that's just getting oiled. Otherwise it'd make more sense to me to let the finish fill the grain and sand back.

I'll have to try wetsanding with mineral spirits sometime. I'm loving the back on this one, but not the front. I like zebra, and I like it carved, but I don't like a carved strat-like shape.

verhoevenc - The old Tiesco pups are nearly always a one-time sale. They usually come in around $25/pup. MuffinPunch - It's not 100% done yet. The intonation isn't set and the strap buttons aren't on. Believe me - they do get cut off. Trimming the ends of the strings is my little sign to myself that I'm completely done with it. I do that last because there have been numerous times when I'll need to shim the neck or adjust something under the strings, and I usually can't identify that need until I've played it for a bit. If I trim the strings too early, I might not be able to get them back on.

SWEET MOTHER OF TWANG THIS THING SOUNDS FANTASTIC!!!!! I'm completely in love with these pickups. Tons of twang, and with 4 of them and 4 on/off switches I can dial in the low/mid/high that is needed for the song. They come in at 5.5-6K each. I really think they're an absolute steal at $20-$25 a piece. The neck would be a little thick for most folks, but with my huge hands it's just fine. The action dialed itself in nice & low right off the bat. There has been no need to tough the truss rod either. I usually have to bow it forward a little, but not this time. The Rickenbacker style bridge takes a bit to get used to, but I barely noticed it after 30 minutes or so. In all honesty, the vibrato unit is more for looks than anything. It works well enough, but I don't use them very much.

Looking at the pics... yea, you're stuck doing it like you had it the first time. While it's a standard practice to have the headstock end up somewhere in the 1/2" - 5/8" range, it's certainly not necessary to fall exactly within those parameters. Then end thickness will purely be a matter of taste. It's pretty easy to put a recess around the tuner bushings/washer so that they fit well. For the faceplate itself, I wouldn't think that 1/16" would add enough strength to bother doing it. I wouldn't use any less than 1/8". If you were to do a backstrap as well you might be able to get away with both of them being 1/16", but I can't confirm that one.