Hoser Rob

That's ridiculously common ... designers try to patent something for the guitar and discover Leo Fender patented it in 1957.

High frets are easier to bend on but low frets are popular for sliding and speed licks. I guess that's why medium fretwire is so popular. I don't think the width makes as much difference but a wider fret won't need dressing as often. A low radius (more arched) fretboard like a 7.25" vintage Fender is easier to play barre chords on. Back in the 50s when Fenders came out the guitarists played a lot more rhythm so that's what they wanted. Remember, Leo Fender put what the pro guitarists he consulted with into his guitars. That's why they're still so popular. It's harder to bend on a highly arched instrument, though, unless you raise the action. It'll choke the string as you bend up more. The 16" Martin radius is good but I prefer the 12" Gibson radius for electrics. Absolutely. It's the biggest difference between a Fender and a Gibson, and I've done the research to back that statement up. That's the opinion of top pro luthiers (Roger Sadowsky for one), not amateurs. It's why Fenders are so popular for rhythm and Gibsons for single note stuff. The longer scale makes the pick bounce more when you're strumming and that's what you want for rhythm. It's easier to bend strings on a short scale guitar too. It's the biggest factor in the differences in tone between a Fender and Gibson too. I've tried the set neck Fender things with a mahogany body and humbuckers and they don't really sound like a Gibson. The chords blend together nicely with the short scale but the long scale gives you a lot more prescence. Soundwise it depends how you want to use it ... in the 70s guitar bands (1 or 2 guitars and rhythm section) Gibsons were everywhere. In the 80s all of a sudden the bands had 1 or 2 synth players and the guitars were all maple neck Fenders because they had a lot of other noise to cut through. In a live situation a Fender will cut through the room better than a Gibson even if the Gibson has a more powerful amp. Sort of ... it depends on your hands. The palms of my hands are fairly big and a lot of those skinny electric necks aren't comfortable for me. If you have small hands they're great but if the neck doesn't fill your hand it'll get cramped up. If someone you know has a neck that feels great to you do go to www.stewmac.com in the free info section and do the neck tracing trick. One great trick to make a neck feel great is to round the edges of the fingerboard a little. If you've ever picked up a $750 Tele and then a $1500 one, that's the reason the neck on the expensive one feels so good.

I didn't know the Micro-Nut was back out again. It's from the 60s, I think, and didn't last too long. If you want to get an idea why, look at the price in the above link! There's a lot of parts there. I think about 80, just to make the G sound in tune a bit better. A common solution is to shorten the fingerboard at the nut end by .020" or so. That's an old idea too ... and that's exactly what the Buzz Feiten system does. He didn't invent it, he just trademarked it. With most factory guitars the tuning problems in the lower positions have very little to do with the nut design anyway. The nut slots are simply cut too high.

Yes, measure the string spacing from the center of the outside strings. You could use saddles that are narrower than the ones on your guitar but not wider. I'm assuming it's a standard Strat type vibrato bridge. www.stewmac.com sells lots of replacement electric saddles and they usually have measurements for their parts on the site. They have a $30 minimum order but also lots and lots of other cool stuff.

Yes, sticker it. You could in theory wet it ... sometimes if a piece is warped you paint water on the concave side only before stickering but 2 mm isnt that bad.

Yes, they do change the sound. But it's more because of the extra mass than anything else. If you want 'vintage' go for the single one, but I'd go for the double myself. There's one very respected high end builder who gets double action from a single rod. He tightens the rod about half way and then planes the fretboard level. Very clever but not something I'd try for my first neck.

That's a bit thin in the neck. The Hot Rod takes a 7/16" deep channel so you're going to have a rather thin piece of neck wood under the rod at the headstock. I'd suggest inlaying graphite bars into the neck such that they pass through to the headstock area. You could cut them at the headstock end the same angle as the scarf. And about the 1/4" headstock ... you're going to have to put 2 layers of 1/8" headplates on there. Your tuning machines aren't going to fit otherwise. Use quartersawn material, ebony isn't unless it's macassar ebony or something similar. Something dark with a flamed maple veneer between would actually look pretty good. The other question I'd have is ... I'd never be able to use a neck that thin. My hand would cramp up. What about you?

You mean like 1/8" thick top material? I don't know ... it does ding pretty easily. No big belt buckles.

I think you could use flatsawn no problem as long as the wood is seasoned enough. The truss rod has little effect past the point where the neck thickens as it gets near the body. I'd probably use a scarf joint and a headstock truss adjustment with a good double action rod. That way if the rod ever breaks (well, it does happen) you stand a chance of getting it out without removing the fretboard. You could also inlay graphite bars into the neck.

Yes, at www.daddariostrings.com ... it's in the support/faq section.

It's really problematic trying to accurately measure the vibration modes on a violin. Much harder than with guitar. A guitar's sound comes mostly from the top ... any real luthier will tell you that acoustic guitar tone comes 80 to 90% from the top, the backs and sides just color the tone. There are laser interferometry measurements on the web somewhere that show this clearly. Don't remember exactly where but www.mimf.com has a link I think. Anyone who wants to build needs to know about their site anyway. However a violin produces sound all over, which is a big reason they're so damn loud. It's extremely difficult to accurately measure the vibration properties of something which radiates over 360 degrees. While there are a lot of theories, and I think an expert on wood is just as qualified as a luthier in this case, that's the real problem.

There's no best brand for metal or any other kind of music. What you want, I'd think, is a light top, heavy bottom set. They go .010 to .052. If you want big ol' chunks that's the way to go. If you don't want to spend a lot of $$$ forget stainless steel strings. They'll destroy your frets, especially if you bend a lot. Strings are much cheaper than a refretying job.

Just leave the damn thing the way it is. The Fender Custom Shop charges big $$$ to make a guitar look like that.

What do you mean by "self explanatory"? I hate to say it but if you have no idea how to remove the nut you may need to do a bit more research on the saddle. See www.frets.com for a pretty good tutorial on saddle making, though he freehands it to lower it and I find a small square is best to keep the bottom square. And I guarantee if it's not the tone will get worse, not better. Plus, the fit should be snug bit not too tight. If so you can split the bridge. Or you could just check out www.guitarsaddles.com ... Bob makes nice saddles, that's what I put in my Seagull. Gull saddles have rather complicated compensation so I went with his semi custom approach. If my saddle just had a rounded top (or just B string compensation) I'd have bought bone blanks that had the bottom already milled flat. Then you can just work on it from the top. You obviously have to know what the height should be (which isn't as easy as many say) but that way you know you're going to get good contact with the bottom of the saddle slot. Assuming the slot bottom is actually flat ... not that self explanatory, is it? The abvve mentioned sources are probably a good place to go for making a nut, but that's not something I'd do anyway. It's fiddly ... a couple of thou really make a difference. And if you don't have files (some people hack out saws from feeler gauges but I don't see how you're going to get smooth string slots that way) you could get a new nut made by a professional for much less than the tools cost. As I said, I wouldn't make a nut but if you want to tinker, go ahead.

It's true about the neck pocket ... if it's not tight enough the glue isn't really the problem. There's no question that one or two piece bodies sound better ... that's one of the reasons those vintage guitars, made when the wood selection was a lot better than it is now, sound so good. But it's not because of the glue, it's becausethe wood itself in a one or two piece body resonates better.

Go to the freeinfo section at www.stewmac.com and there's a pdf set of instructions for assembling a resonator kit. You may want to print it out ... I don't think they make the kit anymore so it may not be on there forever.

See www.frets.com ... the best web resource for luthiery out there.

First, go to www.frets.com ... the best web guitar and luthier resource around ... and look up "buzz diagnosis". I don't understand what the problem with the fret levels are if, as you indicated in your first post, you've already leveled them. When you say the neck is dead straight did you measure it or just eyeball it? A difference of .005" or so will cause buzzing. You need to get a good straightedge and a couple of good books. Start with Dan Erlewine's Guitar Player Repair Guide. Also frets.com which is the first place a pro luthier will send you to (unless they're flogging their own).

It's possible a fret could've worked loose. It's also possible the steam process caused a swelling in the fingerboard and you've got a hump in it now. A lot of online tutorials don't mention these little snafus you can have. Which one did you use? What you're going to have to do is get a good straightedge to evaluate the fretboard. Also some feeler gauges to check under the frets to see if you've got a raised one. Also read www.frets.com ... it's simply absolutely the best web lutherie resource there is. It's acoustic but frets are frets. You are quite possibly looking at a fret levelling job here if one of them didn't lift.

From the pics I'd agree that it'd be a good piece to practice carving on. But, for a real guitar you want real quartersawn wood. Knots or not (sorry). That's the most important thing however dry it is.

If you go to www.stewmac.com you'll find a set of pliers specially ground for removing frets. Nothing like the right tool for the job. Also, when in doubt see www.frets.com ... it's the best lutherie resource on the web, bar none.

Yes, a tight neck pocket is what you want unless yout crack the body. Warmoth advises putting their necks into the pocket by sliding them straight down into it, not lengthwise. One of the most important tone factors with bolt on necks is the fit. Not only that, if you've ever played one with a gap in it and bumped the neck you'll appreciate a good neck joint. Totally throws it out of tune. just ridiculously.

Since tone is subjective, there is no 'proof' whatsoever that adding mass at the headstock will improve it, though it'll almost certainly give you more sustain. More sustain does not equal better tone, in case anyone is confused about that. I've known some excellent (and quite knowledgeable) guitarists who've changed their tuners from the old style stamped Klusons to heavier tuners and immediately put the old ones back on because they didn't like the sound. If you want to see if you like the difference it's absurdly simple. Get some poster adhesive like Blu Tack and glob a bunch onto your headstock. It you like the way it sounds, get the brass thing.

A glass fingerboard on a fretted guitar would make no sense to me. How would you adjust relief? Fretless bassists often use zero relief but fretted bass players don't. Maybe the same idea works on fretless guitars too. Me, I don't think so, though I like playing slide. I have enough trouble with frets.

Not one of the experts either, but I don't think you can really diagnose these sort of things without seeing the guitar anyway. The first thing you should check in a setup is the neck relief, which is the thing most likely to go amiss when a guitar is shipped. Relief measurements aren't meaningful unless you've had the neck evaluated for straightness and fret condition. If you don't know how to do this, take it to a shop, especially if you're not experienced with adjusting truss rods. It may be the nut, but you should still evaluate the relief first. I'm guessing it'd be sharp too, indicating a too high nut. That'd be unusual in a 335 but could be caused by fret wear too. If it were a $150 Jay Turser I may be inclined to mess with it but I'd take a $2K Gibbie to someone who actually knows what they're doing and can actually get their hands on it. If there's anything I've learned about setting a guitar up, it's that a great deal has to do with being able to tell what you have to work with, and that you don't want to approach adjusting the truss rod lightly. It's easy to screw up the guitar if you don;t know what you're doing. That's why some expensive guitars don't come with a truss rod adjustment wrench.